Edward Sylvester Ellis

“ A minute after two men were heard approaching, and became dimly visible in the partial illumination of the street. It so happened 143 that they walked directly by where Ben was standing. They did not notice him, though he plainly saw them. They were of large frame, and walked with a slight unsteadiness, as though under the influence of liquor.
“There’s the bank,” said one, in an undertone, as though he was imparting a momentous secret to the other.
“That’s so; if we could only get in, knock the watchman on the head, and kick in the door of the safe, we would make a good haul.” ”

“ On the night that Ben Mayberry started across the bridge to deliver the cipher message to Mr. Burkhill in Moorestown, he had reached the center span before he felt he was in personal danger. The few lamps which twinkled at long distances from each other were barely enough for him to see where he was going, and they did little more than make the darkness visible. ”

“ I exclaimed, with a sudden thrill of hope. “Ben Mayberry is one of the best swimmers I ever saw; he went down with the lumber of the central span, and even if he could not swim, he had a good chance to float himself on some of the timbers or blocks of ice which are buoyant enough to support a dozen men.”
“All that is very true,” replied the policeman, who seemed to have thought of everything; “and I don’t deny that there is just the barest possibility in the world that you’re right. ”

“ There is a fascination in the presence of danger which we all feel. The news of the dreadful disaster spread with astonishing rapidity, and when I reached the river-side it seemed as if all Damietta were there. ”

“ Some doubted his presence in Damietta, but the superior officer of the city felt that courtesy demanded that Maxx should report to him before trying to follow up any trail of his own. If he was with us, he was so effectually disguised that no one suspected his identity.
“I wonder whether that seedy, tramp-like fellow who stole the cipher dispatch, can be Detective Maxx?” said Ben to me on Wednesday night before he started for home.
“It is not impossible,” I answered, “for detectives are forced to assume all manner of disguises. ”

“ I married Dolly shortly after my promotion to the office of general superintendent, and the little fellow that is learning to lisp ‘papa,’ you know, has been named after you, my old, true, and invaluable friend, to whose counsel and kindness I feel I am so much indebted.
“Dolly sits at my elbow and continually reminds me that I must insist that you come down and spend Christmas with us. A chair and plate will be placed at the table for you, and you must allow nothing less than Providence itself to keep you away. ”

“ This is the first step, Ben; in this country anything is possible to the boy who has brains, pluck, and application. Everything now depends on yourself; with the help of Heaven you will succeed; if you fail, it will be your own fault. ”

“ To-day you start on your career, which will lead to success and happiness or to failure and misery.”
Ben listened respectfully to what I said, and seemed impressed by my words. I took him inside the office, explained to him more particularly his duties, gave him a key with which to 19 enter in the morning, and told him to be on hand at six o’clock on the morrow, until which time he was excused. His wages were to be two dollars a week, to begin from the day on which I engaged him. Ben raised his hat, bade me good-day, and went home, and I am sure there was no happier boy in Damietta than he. ”

“ It was hard for Ben to suppress his laughter, but the farmer was looking straight at him, and the boy would not hurt his feelings. He surveyed the message a minute, and then said:
“Perhaps I can help you a little on this.”
“You can try if you want to,” grunted the old man; “but I don’t think you can improve much on that.”
Under the skillful magic of the boy’s pencil the telegram was speedily boiled into this shape:
“Met Jim—all well—meet me with roan to-morrow afternoon.
J. A. Jones.”
“There are ten words,” explained Ben, “and that will cost you twenty-five cents. ”

“ But this debility is often the fault of the operators themselves, who sit bent over their desks, smoking villainous cigarettes or strong tobacco, who ride in street cars when they should gladly seize the chance to walk briskly, and who, I am sorry to say, drink intoxicating liquors, which appear to tempt sedentary persons with peculiar power.
Ben Mayberry had none of these baneful habits. He lived a long distance from the office, and although the street cars passed within a block of his home, I never knew him to ride on one, no matter how severe the weather might be. ”

“ One single letter gave it to me.”
“How was that?”
“If you will look at the telegram,” said Ben, spreading it out before me, “you will notice that in one instance only is a single letter seen standing by itself. That is the letter ‘b,’ which I concluded must stand for the article ‘a,’ for I know of no other, unless it is ‘I.’ Now, the letter ‘b’ is the second one in the alphabet, and stands next in order to ‘a.’ If this system is followed throughout the cipher, we have only to take, instead of the letters as written, the next in order as they occur in the alphabet. ”

“ I am convinced that the inciting cause was the remark made by Ben Mayberry to the effect that he believed the seedy individual was a confederate of Burkhill, and that the two were 118 perfecting a scheme for robbing one of the banks—most likely the Mechanics’.
“Ben is right,” I said to myself. “His bright mind has enabled him to grasp the truth by intuition, as a woman sometimes does when a man has been laboring for hours to reach the same point.” ”

“ This view of the case staggered me, and I hardly knew what to say, except to suggest that possibly Ben had answered the call, and was unheard in the rushing waters; but the officer shook his head, and I confess I shared his doubts.
“Just as the splintering timbers went down, Jack did hear the shout of Ben; he heard, too, the scream of a woman, and that awful cry which a horse sometimes makes when in the very extremity of peril, but that was all.”
I could not sleep after such horrifying tidings, when the policeman had gone; I went into the house and donned my overshoes and 35 rubber coat. ”

“ In this world that which wins, is work, work, work!
“When I was fifteen years old, I was made the manager of the office in Damietta, with a larger salary than I was entitled to. Three years later, the partiality of Mr. Musgrave 179 made me assistant superintendent, and now I have been general superintendent of the district for more than two years, with a handsome salary, which enables me to give my dear mother comforts and elegances of which the good lady never dreamed. ”

“ But the general manager received a truthful account from me, together with the statement that Ben Mayberry alone deserved the credit for deciphering the telegram which foreshadowed an intended crime. Corporations, as a rule, are not given to lavish rewards, but the letter which the manager sent to Ben was more highly prized than if it had been a gold watch studded with diamonds, or a deed for the best house in Diamietta. ”

“ The capture of the burglars made great excitement in Damietta, and the part taken by Ben Mayberry once more placed his name in everyone’s mouth. It was he who discovered the criminals, and was the direct means of securing the desperado, Dandy Sam, the leader of the notorious gang.
It was a great shock to all, except a few, to find that Burkhill, the brother-in-law of Dolly Willard’s father, was also one of the guilty ones. But there were others (and among them 174 Mr. Willard and Mr. Grandin) who were not surprised in the least. ”

“ We have many office managers, in different parts of the country, who lack several years of their majority; but, as a rule, their stations are not very important, and their pay is nothing like what Ben received. There were exceptional circumstances in his case. He was unusually bright, he was very attentive, he was courteous, cheerful, and never shirked work. He was popular with our patrons, and much of the increase in the business of the Damietta office was due to Ben alone. ”

“ There is no cup in this life without some drops of bitterness, and, despite the promotion of Ben, which he fully appreciated, he was cast down by another circumstance, which troubled him more than he would admit to his closest friends. ”

“ When I discovered that the seedy lounger about our office had carefully taken down the cipher telegram addressed to Burkhill, I was indignant, for it was well known that one of the most important duties which the telegraph companies insist upon is the inviolability of the messages intrusted to their wires. Nothing less 58 than a peremptory order from the court is sufficient to produce the telegrams placed in our care. ”

“ They had that effeminate, exquisite appearance which satisfied me they were visitors from Boston, sauntering along the river in order to learn whether there was anything in our town worthy of their attention. They were apparently of nearly the same age, and each was certainly one or two years older than Ben Mayberry.
“Hello,” exclaimed one, as the three came to an abrupt halt, “look at that country boy out on that log over there; he thinks he’s smart.”
“He’s trying to show off, Rutherford,” said another. ”

“ I made the acquaintance of Ben Mayberry under peculiar circumstances. I had charge of the Western Union’s telegraph office in Damietta, where my duties were of the most exacting nature. I was kept hard at work through the winter months, and more of it crowded on me during the spring than I could manage with comfort. ”

“ If he should find himself beset by enemies who were too strong to be resisted, he could run as rapidly as any person in the city, and a short run in Damietta was enough to take him to a place of safety inaccessible to his assailants.
When he turned into the narrow street which led across the bridge where he had his affray with Rutherford Richmond and his companion, he reflected that it was perhaps the most dangerous spot in the neighborhood. There was a single lamp just before stepping on the 123 bridge, where one might run against another before seeing him. ”

“ Rutherford Richmond recognized Ben Mayberry at the same instant that the latter identified him. But neither gave any evidence of the fact that could be understood by other parties.
Ben took his position with Dolly by his side, and they were without doubt the handsomest couple on the floor that evening. Their mutual interest was so marked that everyone present noticed it, and it caused comment without end.
“Yes, I believe he sweeps out the office for a telegraph company. He manages to save up enough money in the course of a year to buy a decent suit of clothes.” ”

“ Ben’s blood was up, and he waited for the two to rise, intending to “lay them out” more emphatically than before. The lad whose name 103 he did not know lay still, but Rutherford recovered with remarkable quickness, and began struggling to his feet, without paying heed to his hat, which had rolled into the gutter.
“That ain’t fair to strike a fellow that way, when he ain’t expecting it,” growled the assassin. “Why didn’t you stand still like a man and not hit below the belt?” ”

“ The certainty that some unknown person, with no motive but a sinister one, is dodging at your heels, as the mountain wolf slinks along behind the belated traveler, awaiting the moment when he can spring upon him unawares, is enough to cause the bravest man to shiver with dread. ”

“ One of the stones struck Ben on the shoulder. It must have angered him, for instead of trying to dodge the rest, he used his pushing-pole with more energy than before and paid no heed to the missiles, several of which were stopped by his body.
It was plain that the valorous little fellow meant to attack the three city lads, who were pestering him not only with stones, but with taunts that were far more exasperating.
“Wonder who blacked his shoes?” 9
“Ain’t that hat a beauty? He can comb his hair without taking it off.”
“That one suspender must have cost him a good deal.” ”