He had been forbidden to monkey with any of the instruments or
the switch board in the main office, but his infernal inquisitiveness
soon ran away with his sense, and it wasn't long before he was in
trouble. He pulled a plug out of the switch board one evening, and Burke
threatened to kill him. Another evening, he went into my office and
monkeyed with an instrument that I kept there connected to the
despatcher's wire, and left it open. There was no report from any of the
offices on either side, and investigation soon revealed the culprit. The
wire was open for ten minutes and Burke was as mad as a March hare, when
he reported it to me the next morning. I sent for Master Dick and
informed him that another such a report against him would cause his
instant dismissal. He seemed penitent enough, but two nights afterwards
he short circuited all the main line batteries by his foolishness, and
raised Cain in the office for a while. The next morning his time was
presented to him and he was told to get out. He pleaded hard but his
offenses had been too numerous, and I had to let him go.
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