reat. Just when they're all sitting down
around the table, all of a sudden the 'phone will ring-"

"Yop," I said, "and Marjorie will answer it, because she always answers the
'phone, on account of Charlie Wentworth all the time calling her up. He's
in Philadelphia. That's what makes the 'phone service so bad, because he
keeps all the operators busy. Believe me, they ought to have a private
wire. Anyway, that's what my father says."

"I bet you won't be able to get her," Westy said.

"There you go," I told him; "Calamity Jane!"

"To call her up, you'll have to call Central down," he said.

"I should worry," I told him.

CHAPTER XXXV

WHAT I HEARD ON THE TELEPHONE

That station stood all by itself, and it was pitch dark all around. It
reminded me of the Grand Central Station, it was so different. First we
tried the door and it was locked. Then we tried one of the windows and it
opened.

I said, "Do you think it would be all right to climb in?"

"Sure it would," Westy said; "because the window doesn't open into the
ticket agent's room, only into the waiting room. Go ahead."

I didn't see any harm in climbing in, because the window was part open and
there was a sign outside that said "Public Telephone."

"Anyway," Westy said; "if anybody should come and find us here, we could
say we just wanted to 'phone. And we could prove that's all we wanted, too,
by our really getting the number."

First I didn't know what we ought to do, but as long as we didn't have to
break anything open, and as long as all we wanted was to 'phone, I decided
it would be all right.

So we climbed in and I saw there was a booth in the corner. I dropped a
nickel into the 'phone and held the receiver to my ear and waited and
waited and waited and waited. Gee, I waited about as long as three whole
chapters would be.

Then I heard a girl's voice. It said, "Hello, hello."

I said, "I want three, two, one, Bridgeboro, New Jersey, and please hurry
up, because my sister's having a party."

I guess the wire was crossed, the girl was awful excited, and every time I
said hello, she'd say, "Hello, hello, is this you, father?"

I guess she was so rattled, she didn't know who she was talking to.

By this time I was getting kind of sore at the operator, because I wanted
to get my sister the minute of ten o'clock, and she was sort of spoiling
my plan. I had just three more minutes to get her, because Westy lighted
a match and looked at his w