{"id":3708,"date":"2006-06-26T16:28:56","date_gmt":"2006-06-27T00:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spynotebook.org\/chip\/wordpress\/?p=3708"},"modified":"2006-06-26T16:28:56","modified_gmt":"2006-06-27T00:28:56","slug":"wired-love-chapter-one-sounds-from-a-distant-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/2006\/06\/26\/wired-love-chapter-one-sounds-from-a-distant-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Wired Love, Chapter One: "Sounds from a Distant "C.""},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: I am finally getting around to posting Wired Love<\/em>. I will post it a chapter at a time starting right now. If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out my posts about it here<\/a>. It has just taken a bit longer than planned.<\/p>\n

Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes<\/em>
\nby
\nElla Cheever Thayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chapter I: \u201cSounds from a Distant \u201cC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just a noise, that is all.
\nBut a very significant noise to Miss Nathalie Rogers, or Nattie, as she was usually
\nabbreviated; a noise that caused her to lay aside her book, and jump up hastily, exclaiming, with a gesture of impatience :\u2014
\n\u201cSomebody always \u2018calls\u2019 me in the middle of every entertaining chapter!\u201d
\nFor that noise, that little clatter, like, and yet too irregular to be the ticking of a clock, expressed to Nattie these four mystic letters :\u2014
\n\u201cBm\u2014Xn;\u201d
\nwhich same four mystic letters, interpreted, meant that the name, or, to use the technical word \u201ccall,\u201d of the telegraph office over which she was present sole presiding genius, was \u201cB m,\u201d and that \u201cB m\u201d was wanted by another office on the wire, designated as \u201cX n.\u201d
\nA little, out-of-the-way, country office, some fifty miles down the line, was \u201cX n,\u201d and, as Nattie signaled in reply to the \u201ccall\u201d her readiness to receive any communications, therefrom, she was conscious of holding in some slight contempt the possible abilities of the human portion of its machinery.\/
\nFor who but an operator very green in the profession would stay there<\/em>?<\/p>\n


\nConsequently, she was quite unprepared for the velocity with which the telegraph, alphabet of sounds in dots and dashes rattled over the instrument, appropriately termed a \u201csounder,\u201d upon which messages are received, and found herself wholly unable to write down the words as fast as they came.
\n\u201cDear me !\u201c she thought, rather nervously, \u201cthe country is certainly ahead of the city this time! I wonder if this smart operator is a lady or gentleman !\u201d
\nAnd, notwithstanding all her efforts, she was compelled to \u201cbreak \u201c\u2014 that is, open her \u201ckey,\u201d thereby breaking the circuit, and interrupting \u201cX n\u201d with the request,
\n\u201cPlease repeat.\u201d
\n\u201cX n\u201d took the interruption very good-naturedly \u2014 it was after dinner \u2014 and obeyed without expressing any impatience.
\nBut, alas! Nattie was even now unable to keep up with this too expert individual of uncertain sex; and was obliged again to \u201cbreak,\u201d with the humiliating petition,
\n\u201cPlease send slower!\u201d
\n\u201cOh!\u201d responded \u201cX n.\u201d
\nFor a small one, \u201cOh!\u201d is a very expressive word. But whether this particular one signified impatience, or, as Nattie sensitively feared, contempt for her abilities, she could not tell. But certain it was that \u201cX n\u201d sent along the letters now in such a slow, funereal procession that she was driven half frantic with nervousness in the attempt to piece them together into words. They had not proceeded far, however, before a small, thin voice fell upon the ears of the agitated Nattie.
\n\u201cAre you taking a message now ?\u201cit asked.
\nNattie glanced over her shoulder, and saw a sharp, inquisitive nose, a green veil, a pair of eyeglasses, and a strained smile, sticking through her little window.
\nNodding a hasty answer to the question, she wrote down another word of the message, that she had been able to catch, notwithstanding the interruption. As she did so the voice again queried,
\n\u201cDo you take them entirely by sound ?\u201d
\nWith a determined endeavor not to \u201cbreak,\u201d Nattie replied only with a frown. But fate was evidently against her establishing a reputation for being a good operator with \u201cX n.\u201d
\n\u201cHere, please attend to this quick !\u201d exclaimed a new voice, and a tall gentleman pounded impatiently on the shelf outside the little window with one hand, and with the other held forth a message.
\nWith despair in her heart, once more Nattie interrupted \u201cX n,\u201d took the impatient gentleman\u2019s message, studied out its illegible characters, and changed a bill, the owner of the nose looking on attentively meanwhile; this done, she bade the really much-abused \u201cX n\u201d to proceed, or in telegraphic terms, to
\n\u201cG. A. \u2014 the.\u201d
\n\u201cG. A.\u201d being the telegraphic abbreviation for \u201cgo ahead,\u201d and \u201cthe\u201d the last word she had received of the message.
\nAnd this time not even the fact of its being after dinner restrained \u201cX n\u2019s\u201d feelings, and \u201cX n\u201d made the sarcastic inquiry,
\n\u201cHad you not better go home and send down some one who is capable of receiving this message?\u201d
\nNow it would seem as if two persons sixty or seventy miles apart might severally fly into a rage and nurse their wrath comfortably without particularly annoying each other at the moment. But not under present conditions; and Nattie turned red and bit her nails excitedly under the displeasure of the distant person of unknown sex, at \u201cX n.\u201d But no instrument had yet been invented by which she could see the expression on the face of this operator at \u201cX n,\u201d as she retorted, and her fingers formed the letters very sharply ;
\n\u201cDo you think it will help the matter at all for you to make a display of your charming disposition? G.A. \u2014 the \u2014.\u201d
\n\u201cI am happy to be able to return the compliment implied!\u201d was \u201cX n\u2019s\u201d preface to the continuation of the message.
\nAnd now indeed Nattie might have recovered some of her fallen glories, being angry enough to be fiercely determined, had not the owner of the nose again made her presence manifest by the sudden question:
\n\u201cDo you have a different sound for every word, or syllable, or what?\u201d
\nAnd, turning quickly around to scowl this persevering questioner into silence, Nattie\u2019s elbow hit and knocked over the inkstand, its contents pouring over her hands, dress, the desk and floor, and proving beyond a doubt, as it descended, the truth of its label\u2014
\n\u201cSuperior Black Ink !\u201d
\nAnd then, save for the clatter of the \u201csounder,\u201d there was silence.
\nFor a moment Nattie gazed blankly at her besmeared hands and ruined dress, at the \u201csounder,\u201d and at the owner of the nose, who returned her look with that expression of serene amusement often noticeable in those who contemplate from afar the mishaps of their fellow beings; then with the courage of despair, she for the, fourth time \u201cbroke\u201d \u201cX n,\u201d saying, with inky impression on the instrument,
\n\u201cExcuse me, but you will have to wait! I am all ink, and I am being cross-examined !\u201c
\nHaving thus delivered herself, she turned a deliberately deaf ear to \u201cX n\u2019s\u201d response, which, judging from the way the movable portion of the \u201csounder\u201d danced, was emphatic.
\n\u201cA little new milk will take that out !\u201d complacently said the owner of the nose, watching Nattie\u2019s efforts to remove the ink from her dress with blotting paper.
\n\u201cUnfortunately I do not keep a cow here !\u201d Nattie replied, tartly.
\nNot quite polite in Nattie, this. But do not the circumstances plead strongly in her excuse? For, remember, she was not one of those impossible, angelic young ladies of whom we read, but one of the ordinary human beings we meet every day.
\nThe owner of the nose, however, was not charitable, and drew herself up loftily, as she said in imperative accents,
\n\u201cYou did not answer my question! Do you have to learn the sound of each letter so as to distinguish them from each other ?\u201d
\nNattie constrained herself to reply, very shortly, \u201cYes!\u201d
\n\u201cCan you take a message and talk to me at the same time?\u201d pursued the investigator.
\n\u201cNo !\u201d was Nattie\u2019s emphatic answer, as she looked ruefully at her dress.
\n\u201cBut your instrument there is going it now. Ain\u2019t they sending you a message ?\u201d went on the relentless owner of the nose.
\nAt this Nattie turned her attention a moment to what was being done \u201con the wire,\u201d and breathed a sigh of relief. For \u201cX n\u201d had given place to another office and she replied,
\n\u201cNo! Some office on the wire is sending to some other office.\u201d
\nThe nose: elevated itself in surprise.
\n\u201cCan you hear everything that is sent from every other office ?\u201d
\n\u201cYes,\u201d was the weary reply, as Nattie rubbed her dress.
\n\u201cWhat!\u201d exclaimed the owner of the nose, in accents of incredulous wonder. \u201cAll over the world?\u201d
\n\u201cCertainly not! only the offices on this wire; there are about twenty,\u201d was the impatient reply.
\n\u201cAh !\u201c evidently relieved. \u201cBut,\u201d considering, \u201csupposing you do not catch all the sounds, what do you do then?\u201d
\n\u201cBreak.\u201d
\n\u201cBreak! Break what? the instruments?\u201d queried the owner of the nose, perplexedly, and looking as if that must be a very expensive habit.
\n\u201cBreak the circuit\u2014the connection,\u2014open the key and ask the sending office to repeat from the last word I have been able to catch !\u201d
\nThen seeing unmistakable evidence of more questions in the nose, Nattie threw the ink-soaked blotting-paper and her last remnant of patience into the waste basket, and added,
\n\u201cBut you must excuse me, I am too busy to be annoy\u2014interrupted longer, and there are books that will give you all the information that you require!\u201d
\nSo saying, Nattie turned her back, and the owner of the nose withdrew it, its tip glistening with indignation, as she walked away. As it vanished, Nattie gave a sigh of relief, and sat down to mourn her ruined dress. Whatever may have been her previous opinion, she was positive now that this was the prettiest, the most becoming dress she had ever possessed, or might ever possess! Only the old, old story! We prize most what is gone forever!
\n\u201cAnd all that dreadful man\u2019s\u2014or woman\u2019s\u2014fault at X n !\u201d cried Nattie, savagely. Unjustly too, for if any one was responsible for the accident, it was the owner of the nose.
\nBut not long did Nattie dare give way to her misery. That fatal message was not yet received.
\nGlancing over the few words she had of it, she read; \u201cSend the hearse ,\u201d and then she began anxiously \u201ccalling\u201d \u201cX n.\u201d
\n\u201cHearse,\u201d looked too serious for trifling. But either \u201cX n\u2019s\u201d attention was now occupied in some other direction, or else he\u2014or she\u2014was too much out of humor to reply, for it was full twenty minutes before came the answering,
\n\u201cX n.\u201d
\nAt which Nattie said as fiercely as fingers could,
\n\u201cI have been after you nearly half an hour!\u201d
\n\u201cHave you?\u201d came coolly back from \u201cX n.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, you are not alone, many are after me\u2014my landlord among others\u2014not to mention a washer woman or two!\u201d
\nThen followed the figure \u201c4,\u201d which means, \u201cWhen shall I go ahead?\u201d
\n\u201cWaxing jocose, are you?\u201d Nattie murmured to herself, as she replied:
\n\u201cG. A.\u2014hearse\u201d
\n\u201cG. A.\u2014what ?\u201d
\n\u201cHearse,\u201d repeated Nattie, in firm, clear characters.
\nTo her surprise and displeasure \u201cX n\u201d laughed \u2014the circumstance being conveyed to her understanding in the usual way, by the two letters \u201cH a!\u201d
\n\u201cWhat are you laughing at ?\u201d she asked.
\n\u201cAt your grave mistake!\u201d was \u201cX n\u2019s\u201d answer, accompanied by another \u201cH a! To convert a horse into a hearse is really an idea that merits a smile!\u201d
\nAs the consciousness of her blunder dawned upon her, Nattie would gladly have sank into oblivion. But as that was impossible, she took a fresh blank, and very meekly said,
\n\u201cG. A.\u2014horse !\u201d
\nWith another laugh, \u201cX n\u201d complied, and Nattie now succeeded in receiving the message without further mishap.
\n\u201cWhat did you sign ?\u201d she asked, as she thankfully wrote the last word.
\nEvery operator is obliged to sign his own private \u201ccall,\u201d as well as the office \u201ccall,\u201d and \u201cO. K.\u201d at the close of each message.
\n\u201cC.\u201d was replied to Nattie\u2019s question.
\n\u201cO. K. N. B m,\u201d she then said, and added, perhaps trying to drown the memory of her ludicrous error in politeness, \u201cI hope another time I shall not cause you so much trouble.\u201d
\n\u201cC\u201d at \u201cX n\u201d was evidently not to be exceeded in little speeches of this kind, for he \u2014 or she \u2014 responded immediately,
\n\u201cOn the contrary, it was I who gave you trouble. I know I must certainly have done so, or you never could have effected such a transformation as you did. Imagine the feelings of the sender of that message, bad he found a hearse awaiting his arrival instead of a horse !\u201d
\nBiting her lip with secret mortification; but determined to make the best of the matter outwardly, Nattie replied,
\n\u201cI suppose I never shall hear the last of that hearse! But at all events it took the surliness out of you.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, when people come to a hearse they are not apt to have any more kinks in their disposition ! I confess, though,\u201d \u201cC\u201d went on frankly, \u201cI was unpardonably cross; not surly, that is out of my line, but cross. In truth, I was all out of sorts. Will you forgive me if I will never do so again ?\u201d
\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d Nattie replied readily. \u201cI am sure we are far enough apart to get on without quarreling, if, as they say, distance lends enchantment !\u201d
\n\u201cParticularly when I pride myself upon my sweet disposition !\u201d said \u201c C.\u201d
\nAt which Nattie smiled to herself, to the surprise of a passing gentleman, on whom her unconscious gaze rested, and who thought, of course, that she was smiling at him.
\nAppearances are deceitful!
\n\u201cI fear you will have to prove your sweetness before I shall believe in it,\u201d Nattie responded to \u201cC,\u201d all unaware of what she had done, or that the strange young gentleman went on his way with the firm resolve to pass by that office again and obtain another smile!
\n\u201cIt shall be my sole aim hereafter,\u201d \u201cC\u201d replied; and then asked, \u201cHave you a pleasant office there ?\u201d
\n\u201cI regret to say no.\u201d Then looking around, and describing what she saw\u2014\u201ca long, dark little room, into which the sun never shines, a crazy and a wooden chair, a high stool, desk, instruments\u2014 that is all\u2014Oh! and me!\u201d
\n\u201cLast but not least,\u201d said \u201cC ;\u201d \u201cbut what a contrast to my office! Mine is all windows, and in cold days like this the wind whistles in until my very bones rattle! The outward view is fine. As I sit I see a stable, a carpenter\u2019s shop, the roof of the new Town Hall that has ruined the town, and
\n\u201cExcuse me,\u201d\u2014some one at another office on the line here broke in\u2014and with more politeness than is sometimes shown in interrupting conversations on the wire\u2014 \u201cI have a message to send,\u201d and forthwith began calling.
\nAt this Nattie resumed her interrupted occupation of bewailing her spoiled dress, but at the same time she had a feeling of pleased surprise at the affability of \u201cC\u201d at \u201cX n.\u201d
\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d she thought, as she took up her book again, and tried to bury the remembrance of her accident therein, \u201cI do wonder if this \u2018C\u2019 is he or she?\u201d
\nSoon, however, she heard \u201cX n\u201d \u201ccall\u201d once more, and this time she laid her book aside very readily.
\n\u201cYou did not describe the principal part of your office\u2014yourself !\u201d \u201cC\u201d said, when she answered the \u201ccall.\u201d
\n\u201cHow can I describe myself ?\u201d replied Nattie. \u201cHow can any one\u2014properly? One sees that same old face in the glass day after day, and becomes so used to it that it is almost impossible to notice even the changes in it; So I am sure I do not see how one can tell how it really does look\u2014unless one\u2019s nose is broken\u2014or one\u2019s eyes crossed\u2014and mine are not\u2014or one should not see a looking glass for a year! I can only say I am very inky just now !\u201d
\n\u201cOh! that is too bad !\u201d \u201cC\u201d said; then, with a laugh, \u201cIt has always been a source of great wonder to me how certain very plain people of my acquaintance could possibly think themselves handsome. But I see it all now! Can you not, however, leave the beauty out, and give me some sort of an idea about yourself for my imagination to work upon ?\u201d
\n\u201cCertainly !\u201c replied Nattie, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye that \u201cC\u201d knew not of. \u201cImagine, if you please, a tall young man, with
\n\u201cC\u201d \u201cbroke\u201d quickly, saying,
\n\u201cOh, no! You cannot deceive me in that way! Under protest I accept the height, but spurn the sex! \u201d
\n\u201cWhy, you do not suppose I am a lady, do you ?\u201d queried Nattie.
\n\u201cI am quite positive you are. There is a certain difference in the \u201csending,\u201d of a lady and gentleman, that I have learned to distinguish. Can you truly say I am wrong?\u201d
\nNattie evaded a direct reply, by saying,
\n\u201cPeople who think they know so much are often deceived; now I make no surmises about you, but ask, fairly and squarely, shall I call you Mr., Miss, or Mrs. \u2018C\u2019?\u201d
\n\u201cCall me neither. Call me plain \u2018C\u2019! Or picture, if you like, in place of your sounder, a blonde, fairy-like girl talking to you, with pensive cheeks and sunny \u2014 \u201c
\n\u201cDon\u2019t you believe a word of it !\u201d\u2014 some one on the wire here broke in, wishing, probably, to have a finger in the pie; \u201cpicture a hippopotamus, an elephant, but picture no fairy !\u201d
\n\u201cJudge not others by yourself, and learn to speak when spoken to !\u201d \u201cC\u201d replied to the unknown; then \u201cTo N.\u2014You know the more mystery there is about anything, the more interesting it becomes. Therefore, if I envelop myself in all the mystery possible, I will cherish hopes that you may dream of me !\u201d
\n\u201cBut I am quite sure you can, with propriety be called Mr. \u2018C\u2019 \u2014plain, as you say, I doubt not,\u201d replied Nattie. \u201cNow, as it is time for me to go home, I shall have to say good-night.\u201d
\n\u201c To be continued in our next?\u201d queried \u201cC.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you are not in a cross mood,\u201d replied Nattie.
\n\u201cNow that is a very, unkind suggestion, after my abject apology. But, although our acquaintance had a grave<\/em> re \u2014 hearse<\/em> \u2014 al, I trust it will have a happy ending !\u201d
\nNattie frowned.
\n\u201cIf you will promise never to say \u2018grave\u2019 \u2018hearse,\u2019 or anything in the undertaking line, I will agree never to say \u2018cross!\u2019 \u201d she said.
\n\u201cThe undertaking<\/em> will not be difficult; with all my heart!\u201d \u201cC\u201d answered, and with this mutual understanding they bade each other \u201cgood-night.\u201d
\n\u201cThere certainly is something romantic in talking to a mysterious person, unseen, and miles away !\u201d thought Nattie, as she put on her hat. \u201cBut I would really like to know whether my new friend employs a tailor or a dressmaker !\u201d
\nWas Nattie conscious of a feeling that it would add to the zest of the romantic acquaintance should the distant \u201cC\u201d be entitled to the use of the masculine pronoun?
\nPerhaps so! For Nattie was human, and was only nineteen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: I am finally getting around to posting Wired Love. I will post it a chapter at a time starting right now. If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out my posts about it here. It … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wired-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spynotebook.org\/chip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}