“It is my opinion that the railway people meant to have as many folks for their money as they could get—it is such a lonely place, don’t you see? And as Sam Peters had such a swarm of children, they reckoned he would populate the depot better than any one else, so he got the berth.”
“How it came about I don’t mind, seeing that he has got it,” Nell answered, with a smile; then she asked, “Who is doing my work—that poor sickly young Robertson?”
“No; the operator is a big red-haired young man, named Scott, and he has fitted up an old freight-wagon to live in, because there is no room in Sam’s house,” Mrs. Nichols said, with an uneasy wriggle as she darted an anxious look at Nell, for Sam Peters had told her that morning that Scott was at Camp’s Gulch for a permanency, which would mean that Nell had been superseded.
She saw the anxious look, and smiled faintly. “You need not be worried about my feelings being hurt. I did not expect to go back to Camp’s Gulch; indeed, I am thinking of sending in my resignation, only it seemed better to wait a few days longer, in order to make quite sure.”
“To make quite sure of what?” asked the stout woman sharply, looking at Nell more anxiously than before.
“That I can’t be an operator any longer. I am all but certain I shall not be able to do it, because of that noise and confusion in my head. The doctor says he hopes it will get better in time, but he does not say what time, and I cannot go dragging on indefinitely.”
“Can’t you hear enough with your other ear?” asked Mrs. Nichols, but Nell shook her head.
“That was my best ear, and now I could never be sure of myself. However, there are other ways of earning one’s living, so I must just begin over again,” she said a little sadly, for beginning over again meant starting at the bottom once more, and this was disappointing.
Mrs. Nichols looked troubled too. “I’m real sorry you feel like that, especially just now, for Miss Lorimer has got to go home; will be away all winter perhaps, if her mother ain’t better, and if you had only been fit for deputy work, why you might have stayed here so comfortable,” she said regretfully.
Nell gave a little start. “Have they sent for Gertrude from Lorimer’s Clearing?” she asked.