The Strategy of Conductor 786
No. 786, the veteran conductor on the trolley line, had some passengers whom he liked and others he detested. On his good books were a couple who pleased him mightily by falling in love. The girl was his favorite passenger. The young man had ingratiated himself with the conductor by offering to testify for him when an unpleasant old woman threatened to report him. Day after day the young couple would strike the car with No. 786 and the conductor heartily approved of their courtship. The girl had a father, an unpleasant old man, who laid up trouble for himself by quarreling with the conductor. Going home in a grumpy frame of mind one night the father unexpectedly surprised the girl and her suitor. Like many fathers, he objected to seeing his daughter happy, ordered the young man from the house and made preparations to take the girl to a boarding school. They started off the next morning and the little god Cupid so arranged things that they took the car of Conductor No. 786. While the father was engrossed in his newspaper, the girl told her sad story and the kindly old conductor derided to aid her. He called the father to the platform, explained that the money he had given for his fare was counterfeit and before the old man could properly object he had been thrown off the car, which continued merrily on its way with the daughter he had thought to take to boarding school. A newsboy utilized as messenger to call up the young man in the case and he met the car at the end of the line, whisking the girl off to a minister. The father arrived in time to denounce the streetcar conductor, but the "lead dime with a hole in it" was evidence against him even though he told the truth when he said he had never seen it before.
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