"That's just what I do mean to say," replied the conductor. "I've got
to send a brakeman on foot eight miles to wire the news of this
accident."
"You ought to have a telegraph instrument on the train," said the
excited man. "This delay is a bad thing for me. If I don't arrive on
time I'll sue the road. Why don't you have a telegraph instrument on
the train?"
"I don't know," replied the conductor wearily, for he realized he was
now in for a cross-fire of all sorts of questions.
"How long will we have to wait here?" asked another man.
"It's hard to say. The brakeman will go as fast as he can, but it will
take some time to get the wrecking crew here with a new engine, and
then it will take some time to get all the cars back on the track."
"Railroads oughtn't to have such accidents!" declared the excitable
man. "I'll sue 'em, that's what I'll do. What made the piston rod
break, conductor?"
"Oh-- I guess it got tired of going in and out of the cylinder,"
retorted the conductor, starting towards the baggage car.
"Humph! I'll report you for impertinence!" declared the now angry
passenger, taking out his notebook and making a memorandum lest he
forget the conductor's retort. "It's a disgrace the way this road is
managed," he went on to the crowd of passengers that had gathered.
"I'm going to write to the newspapers about it. They're always having
accidents. Why, only last week, they run over a steer, somewhere in
this locality, the engine was derailed, two cars smashed, the road bed
torn up, baggage and express stuff scattered all over, everything
upside down, topsy-turvy and--"
"Was the steer killed?" asked a little boy, who was listening with
opened mouth and eyes to the story the excited passenger was telling.
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