There ain't
a bone in me that hain't got an ache in it. Sometimes I can't tell
but what it's the ache got a bone in it, ache seems the biggest."
"Why, what makes it?" asked Lemuel absently.
"Oh, it's this standin'; it's the hours, and changin' the hours so
much. You hain't got a chance to get used to one set o' hours before
they get 'em all shifted round again. Last week I was on from eight
to eight; this week it's from twelve to twelve. Lord knows what it's
going to be next week. And this is one o' the best lines in town,
too."
"I presume they pay you pretty well," said Lemuel, with awakening
interest.
"Well, they pay a dollar 'n' half a day," said the conductor.
"Why, it's more than forty dollars a month," said Lemuel.
"Well, it is," said the conductor scornfully, "if you work every day
in the week. But I can't stand it more than six days out o' seven;
and if you miss a day, or if you miss a trip, they dock you. No,
sir. It's about the meanest business _I_ ever struck. If I
wa'n't a married man, 'n' if I didn't like to be regular about my
meals and get 'em at home 'th my wife, I wouldn't stand it a minute.
But that's where it is. It's regular."
A lady from within signalled the conductor. He stopped the car, and
the lady, who had risen with her escort, remained chatting with a
friend before she got out.
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