“He’s better,” said the tall man,
softly; “let’s make off.”
Together they stole noiselessly up the dock.
Directly in front of it they found a row of six cabs.
The drivers on top were filled with a mighty curiosity.
They had driven hurriedly from the adjacent ferry-house
when they had seen the first running sign of an accident.
They were straining on their toes and gazing at the
tossing backs of the men in the crowd.
The wanderers made a little detour, and then went
rapidly towards a cab. They stopped in front
of it and looked up.
“Driver,” called the tall man, softly.
The man was intent.
“Driver,” breathed the freckled man.
They stood for a moment and gazed imploringly.
The cabman suddenly moved his feet. “By
Jimmy, I bet he’s a gonner,” he said,
in an ecstacy, and he again relapsed into a statue.
The freckled man groaned and wrung his hands.
The tall man climbed into the cab.
“Come in here,” he said to his companion.
The freckled man climbed in, and the tall man reached
over and pulled the door shut. Then he put his
head out the window.
“Driver,” he roared, sternly, “839
Park Place—and quick.”
The driver looked down and met the eye of the tall
man. “Eh?—Oh—839?
Park Place? Yessir.” He reluctantly
gave his horse a clump on the back. As the conveyance
rattled off the wanderers huddled back among the dingy
cushions and heaved great breaths of relief.
“Well, it’s all over,” said the
freckled man, finally. “We’re about
out of it. And quicker than I expected.
Much quicker. It looked to me sometimes that
we were doomed. I am thankful to find it not so.
I am rejoiced. And I hope and trust that you—well,
I don’t wish to—perhaps it is not
the proper time to—that is, I don’t
wish to intrude a moral at an inopportune moment,
but, my dear, dear fellow, I think the time is ripe
to point out to you that your obstinacy, your selfishness,
your villainous temper, and your various other faults
can make it just as unpleasant for your ownself, my
dear boy, as they frequently do for other people.
You can see what you brought us to, and I most sincerely
hope, my dear, dear fellow, that I shall soon see those
signs in you which shall lead me to believe that you
have become a wiser man.”
A sergeant, a corporal, and fourteen men of the Twelfth
Regiment of the Line had been sent out to occupy a
house on the main highway. They would be at least
a half of a mile in advance of any other picket of
their own people. Sergeant Morton was deeply
angry at being sent on this duty. He said that
he was over-worked. There were at least two sergeants,
he claimed furiously, whose turn it should have been
to go on this arduous mission. He was treated
unfairly; he was abused by his superiors; why did
any damned fool ever join the army? As for him
