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Glover's train pulled into Medicine Bend, in the rain, at half-past two

o'clock The face in the Lalla Rookh had put an end to thoughts of

sleep, and he walked up to his office in the Wickiup to work until

hted a la

that echoed to the last dark corner of the zigzag hall, and, spreading

out his papers, resuun at Wind River

station But the coone fast

refused noork The Lalla Rookh curtains intruded continually

into his problems and his calculations dissolved helplessly into an

idle stare at a juh the trainmaster's rooedy of the night

It cah an ambition in itself honorable--the ambition of

Bud Cawkins to beco on the Wind River In three ent, in six months he had become an expert in station work, an

operator after a despatcher's own heart, and the life of the line; then

he began looking for trouble His quest resulted first in the

conviction that the ht to be Had Bud confided this to an agent of experience

there would have been no difficulty He would have been told that

every agent on every branch in the world, sooner or later, has the same

conviction; that he need only to let it alone, eat sparingly of brain

food, and the clot would be sure to pass unnoticed

Unfortunately, Bud concealed his conviction, and asked Morris Blood to

give him a chance at the Wickiup The first tirowled; the second tily

"Want to be a despatcher, do you? What's therailroad stories? I'll fire any man on my division that reads

railroad stories Don't be a chump You're in line now for the best