"
The conductor and engineer were both there and they smiled very audibly
at my discomfiture; in fact, it was so audible you could hear it for a
block. Bennett went over to the table, glanced at the order book and
train sheet for a minute and then said, "Oh, bosh! of course you
notified them. Here it is as big as life, 'Look out for extra east,
engine 341, leaving El Monte at 9:45 A. M.' What do you want to get such
a case of the rattles and scare us all that way for?"
I was about to depart for home to resume my sleep, and was
congratulating myself on my escape, when Bennett called me over to one
side of the room, and in a low, but very firm voice, metaphorically ran
up and down my spinal column with a rake. He asked me if I didn't know
there were other despatchers in that office besides myself; men who knew
more in a minute about the business than I did in a month; and didn't I
suppose that the order book would be verified, and the train sheet
consulted before sending out the extra? He hoped I would never show such
a case of the rattles again. That was all. Good morning.
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