Page:McClure's Magazine volume 10.djvu/39

Rh with any great confidence in the success of my errand; for I had been long enough at the business now to know that there was such a thing as official courtesy on railroads, and I doubted that the superintendent would order the master mechanic to appoint me against his will. I was bound, however, to see the thing through; so I walked boldly into the office, and inquired for the superintendent. I learned that he was in, and sat down to wait the gentleman's pleasure. A good long wait I had of it, too; several times he came into the room where I was, but he was evidently very busy, and paid no attention to me. Presently he came rushing out with his hat on, pulling on his coat as he went, and his exit seemed to be the signal for dinner; for all the clerks bolted immediately in his rear, leaving me the sole occupant of the office. I, too, went home, bolted my dinner in a hurry, and hastened back, fearing to miss him on his return; for it is an old saying on the railroad, that the best time to catch a boss is on his return from lunch, when he is supposed to be in good humor and more apt to receive a petition favorably than at any other time. I found I was successful so far as that he had not returned before me.

I sat and squirmed in discomfort on that hard bench until after three o'clock; then he came bustling in, and, as usual, passed me by. Tired with my long wait, I tiptoed to the chief clerk's desk and asked in a whisper if he thought Mr. Wilkes would see me now. "What do you want with him?" said he. I told him I was seeking a fireman's position on the road. As he didn't appear to have anything else to do, he amused himself by pumping the whole story out of me, and then coolly told me he didn't think the super would see me that day, as he was very busy; I had better call some other time. His off-hand way of disposing of what was a very important matter to me roused my ire to such an extent that I declined to act on his suggestion; but, on the contrary, I promised myself that I would see and speak to that super even if I had to force my way into his sanctum.

It was nearly five o'clock when he appeared, bound, as I felt sure, for home. "Now or never," said I, and I stepped up to the gentleman, asking for a few minutes of his valuable time. He stopped short, whirled half-round, pulled out an old-fashioned silver watch with a jerk, looked at it abstractedly for a moment, and then asked, brusquely, "Well, what is it? Talk quick now; I'm in a hurry." I stated my case as briefly as possible.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" said he.

I told him that Mr. Tom Riley, an engineer, had advised me to see him, thinking, perhaps, he might intercede with the master mechanic in my behalf.

"Ever railroad any?"

"Yes, sir; nearly two years on this road."

"What doing?"

"Braking, sir."

"When did you quit?"

"I haven't quit at all; I was braking for Simmons at the time of the wreck, and have just come from the hospital."

His face flushed angrily as he replied, "You were! Well, I admire your gall!" Turning to the head clerk, he added, "Mr. Clark, have this fellow's time made out, and hand it to him," and he was off.

"Have this fellow's time made out." That meant that I was discharged, and in heaven's name, for what? I was not conscious of having done anything to merit such harsh treatment, and the sudden verdict, from which I knew there was no appeal, nearly floored me. It was a new experience, and as unexpected as it was unwelcome. It was some time before I was able to obtain any information explaining the super's conduct; at last, however, a brakeman told me that I had been discharged ever since the wreck, only, having been in hospital, I had not heard of it.

"So," said he, "when you told him you was still on the road, he thought you had come up to the office to have a little fun with him, and it made him mad."

Have fun with the superintendent? Not I. I had not yet reached the reckless stage of the hardened veteran who smokes his pipe in the powder magazine.

I asked the "braky" why I should be discharged, as I had no hand in causing the wreck. "You refused to swear that the meet and pass order read Brookdale, didn't you?"

"Certainly; how could I swear when I didn't know anything about it?"

"Well, that's your misfortune, my boy; if you can't swear to what the company wants just because you don't know, you must expect to suffer for your lack of ability," saying which, he left me with the air of a superior being who had kindly shed some of his superabundant light on my benighted ignorance.