He worked fast to allow time for a cup from the vacuum flask before the coffee could go cold on the seven-hour haul to Beaumont. Then he sat on the stool as he slurped from the steaming surface of the cup as he unlocked the black valise at his feet. The letter rested on top of the change of clothes and the Army surplus Colt .45 pistol he was required to carry as part of the bureaucratic bullroar. No bandit in his right mind would bother sticking up a milk train like this. A gun was just something else to lug around and keep under lock and key. He picked up the envelope and read the words he'd carefully penned the night before.    

   Mr. J.J. Pierpoint
   Citizen's State Bank
   
   Dear Sir,

    I apologize for the delay in my reply. Your letter did not reach me until I returned yesterday to Enid.   Run outs have kept me

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away for nearly a week. Enclosed is my check towards the amount you requested, and I hope you will do me the courtesy of finding it sufficient until the rest can be sent at the end of the month.
   
    I remain
   
    Respectfully yours,
    Jedidiah Albright
   
    He winced. What a load of crap. Pierpoint would catch a whiff of it in that ugly, fat nose of his before he even opened the envelope. Maybe he should tear it up and send the check by itself. No. The check didn't cover the past amount due. The letter had to stay. What he really needed was not a better letter, he thought. What he needed...well, he needed many things. But the top score on the service exam and a grade promotion wouldn't hurt, get him off this backwater route and onto the main train between St. Louis and Chicago with its

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