Levake, the leader among the mountain outlaws, was nursed back to life by the surgeon he had so nearly murdered. But his respite was a brief one. When new officers of the law were elected in Medicine Bend, the murderer was tried for one of his many crimes and paid on the scaffold the penalty of his cold-blooded cruelty. Rebstock, the fox, and his companion Seagrue escaped the exterminating raid of the vigilantes but fought shy of Medicine Bend for long afterward.
A few days after the riots Stanley sent for Bucks, who was holding a key among the operators downstairs, to come to his office.
“How long have you been a telegraph operator, Bucks?” he asked.
Bucks laughed in some embarrassment. “Since I was about twelve years old, sir.”
“Twelve years old!” echoed Stanley in amazement. “Where did you learn to telegraph at twelve?”
Bucks hesitated again. “I never learned, sir!”
“What do you mean?”
“I used to sit in the telegraph office of the road when my uncle was superintendent, and I got used to hearing the sound of the instruments. I just woke up one morning and found I could telegraph. I couldn’t the night before. That’s the only way I ever learned, sir.”
Stanley regarded the boy with interest. “How old are you now?”