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 watch. Then I said, "Hello, hello."
The same voice kept saying, "Hello, hello, is this you, father?"
I said, "No, it isn't. How long does it take to get the operator in this
berg?"
The poor girl was almost crying by now. She said, "I've been trying for an
_age_ to get my father. Won't you _please_ let me get him? I want my
father! Why _don't_ they give me my father?"
Gee whiz, you'd think I had her father in my pocket.
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