A few minutes before the hour mentioned in the above personal, a cab
came rattling down --------
Street. The driver wore a fur-cap and a great-coat buttoned up around
his ears. As he turned the corner to the -------- Building, he glanced
down at his front wheel and brought his horses up with a jerk. There was
evidently something wrong with the wheel, for he jumped down from the
box to examine it. He shook the wheel, took off the tap, and began to
move the hub carefully out toward the end of the axle. As he worked he
kept his eyes on the corner. Presently a big, plainly dressed man walked
slowly down by the building. He carried a half-open newspaper in his
right hand and seemed to be keeping a sharp lookout around him. He
stopped for a moment by the carriage, satisfied himself that it was
empty, and went on. At the next corner he climbed up on the seat of the
waiting patrol wagon and disappeared.
The cabman seemed to be engrossed with the repair of his wheel and
gave no indication that he had seen the stranger. Almost immediately
thereafter a second man passed the corner with a newspaper in prominent
evidence. He was a "hobo" of the most pronounced type and marched by
with great difficulty. After he had passed, he turned round and threw
the newspaper into the gutter with a volley of curses.
The cabman worked on at his wheel. He had now removed it to the end of
the axle and was scraping the boxing with his knife. At this moment a
young man wearing a gray overcoat and a gray slouch hat came rapidly
down the street. At the corner he put his hand quickly into his overcoat
pocket, took out a newspaper, and immediately thrust it into his other
pocket. The cabman darted across the street and touched him on the
shoulder. The man turned with a quick, nervous start. The cabman took
off his cap, said something in a low tone, and pointed to his wheel.
The two men crossed to the carriage. The cabman held the axle and the
stranger slipped the wheel into place, while the two talked in low
tones. When it was done, the stranger turned round, stepped up on the
pavement, and hurried on by the building. The cabman shut his door with
a bang, climbed up on his box, and drove rapidly down -------- Street.