AN IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE BOARD.
Now that the telegraphic line was built, and in good working order, it
became immediately necessary to appoint another operator, for it was
quite evident that Harry could not work both ends of the line.
It was easy enough to appoint an operator, but not so easy for such
person to work the instruments. In fact, Harry was the only individual
in the company or the neighborhood who understood the duties of a
telegrapher, and his opportunities for practice had been exceedingly
limited.
It was determined to educate an operator, and Harvey Davis was chosen as
the most suitable individual for the position. So, day after day was
spent by Harry and Harvey, the one in the cabin of "One-eyed Lewston,"
and the other in that of Aunt Judy, in steady, though often
unsatisfactory, practice in the transmission and reading of telegraphic
messages.
Of course, great interest was taken in their progress, and some members
of the Board were generally present at one or the other of the stations.
Kate often came over to Aunt Judy's cabin, and almost always there were
other persons present, each of whom, whenever there was a chance, was
eager to send a telegraphic message gratis, even if it were only across
Crooked Creek.
Sometimes neither Harry nor Harvey could make out what the other one was
trying to say, and then they would run out of the station and go down to
the bank of the creek and shout across for explanations. A great many
more intelligible messages were sent in this way, for the first few
days, than were transmitted over the wire.
Tony Kirk remarked, after a performance of this kind, "It 'pears to me
that it wasn't no use to put up that ar wire, fur two fellows could a
been app'inted, one to stand on each side o' the creek, and holler the
messages across."
But, of course, such a proceeding would have been extremely irregular.
Tony was not accustomed to the strict requirements of business.
Sometimes the messages were extremely complicated. For instance, Harry,
one day about noon, carefully telegraphed the following:
I would not go home. Perhaps you can get something to eat from Aunt
Judy.
As Harvey translated this, it read:
I would gph go rapd gradsvlt bodgghip rda goqbsjcm eat dkpx Aunt
Judy.
In answer to this, Harvey attempted to send the following message:
What do you mean by eating Aunt Judy?
But Harry read:
Whatt a xdll mean rummmlgigdd Ju!
Harry thought, of course, that this seemed like a reflection on his
motives in proposing that Harvey could ask Aunt Judy to give him
something to eat, and so, of course, there had to be explanations.
After a time, however the operators became much more expert, and
although Harvey was always a little slow, he was very careful and very
patient--most excellent qualities in an operator upon such a line.
The great desire now, not only among the officers of the company, but
with many other folks in Akeville and the neighborhood, was to see the
creek "up," so that travel across it might be suspended, and the
telegraphic business commence.
To be sure, there might be other interests with which a rise in the
creek would interfere, but they, of course, were considered of small
importance, compared with the success of an enterprise like this.
But the season was very dry, and the creek very low. There were places
where a circus-man could have jumped across it with all his pockets full
of telegraphic messages.
In the mean time, the affairs of the company did not look very
flourishing. The men who assisted in the construction of the line had
not been paid in full, and they wanted their money. Kate reported that
the small sum which had been appropriated out of the capital stock for
the temporary support of Aunt Matilda was all gone. This report she made
in her capacity as a special committee of one, appointed (by herself) to
attend to the wants of Aunt Matilda. As the Treasurer of the company,
she also reported that there was not a cent in its coffers.
In this emergency, Harry called a meeting of the Board.
It met, as this was an important occasion, in Davis's corn-house,
fortunately now empty. This was a cool, shady edifice, and, though
rather small, was very well ventilated. The meetings had generally been
held under some big tree, or in various convenient spots in the woods
near the creek, but nothing of that kind would be proper for such a
meeting as this, especially as Kate, as Treasurer, was to be present.
This was her first appearance at a meeting of the Board. The boys sat on
the corn-house floor, which had been nicely swept out by John William
Webster, and Kate had a chair on the grass, just outside of the door.
There she could hear and see with great comfort without "settin' on the
floor with a passel of boys," as Miss Eliza Davis, who furnished the
chair, elegantly expressed it.
When the meeting had been called to order (and John William, who evinced
a desire to hang around and find out what was going on, had been
discharged from further attendance on the Board, or, in other words, had
been ordered to "clear out"), and the minutes of the last meeting had
been read, and the Treasurer had read her written report, and the
Secretary had read his, an air of despondency seemed to settle upon the
assembly.
An empty corn-house seemed, as Tom Selden remarked, a very excellent
place for them to meet.
The financial condition of the company was about as follows:
It owed "One-eyed Lewston" and Aunt Judy one dollar each for one month's
rent of their homesteads as stations, the arrangement having been made
about the time the instruments were ordered.
It owed four dollars and twenty cents to the wood-cutters who worked on
the construction of the line, and two dollars and a half for other
assistance at that time.
("Wish we had done it all ourselves," said Wilson Ogden.)
It owed three dollars, balance on furniture procured at Hetertown. (It
also owed one chair, borrowed.)
It owed, for spikes and some other hardware procured at the store, one
dollar and sixty cents.
In addition to this, it owed John William Webster, who had been employed
as a sort of general agent to run errands and clean up things,
seventy-five cents--balance of salary--and he wanted his money.
To meet these demands, as was before remarked, they had nothing.
Fortunately nothing was owing for Aunt Matilda's support, Harry and Kate
having from the first determined never to run in debt on her account.
But, unfortunately, poor Aunt Matilda's affairs were never in so bad a
condition. The great interest which Kate and Harry had taken in the
telegraph line had prevented them from paying much attention to their
ordinary methods of making money, and now that the company's
appropriation was spent, there seemed to be no immediate method of
getting any money for the old woman's present needs.
This matter was not strictly the business of the Board, but they
nevertheless considered it.