"I hear, dearie."
"And the Cleveland sleeper wasn't touched, neither. Hear her. They say she didn't even leave the tracks. He used to say she had a rattle like a dice-box. Just the same, it was the smooth-runnin' Washington sleeper lit on the engine. Listen, Cottie, oh, listen! Just like nothin' had happened."
"Don't tremble so, darlin'. That's life every time—it just rides over its dead."
"He hated the flyer, oh—oh—"
"Don't take on so, Della darlin'. He died on his job."
"He hated the flyer; he—"
"He could have jumped like Jim Dirkey did, and lived to face the shame of it, but he died on his job. You can always say your man died on his job, Della darlin'."
Della raised her crouching head and brushed the hair back from her eyes. Helen's face that launched a thousand ships was no more fair.
"That he did—didn't he, Cottie? He died on his job."
"Sure he did, darlin'—sure he did."