"Prosperity," I said, with seasonable greeting. (For no excess of
consideration is too great to be lavished upon these, who unite within
themselves the courage of a high warrior, the expertness of a
three-handed magician, and the courtesy of a genial mandarin.) "I seek
two, apparelled thus and thus. Did you, by any chance, mark the
direction of their footsteps?"
"Oh," he said, regarding this person with a most flattering
application, "YOU seek them, do you? Well, they've just gone off in
a hansom, and they'll want a lot of seeking for the next week or two.
You let them carry your purse, perhaps?"
"Assuredly," I replied. "As a mark of confidence; this person, for his
part, receiving a like token at their hands."
"That's it," said the official watcher, conveying into his voice a
subtle indication that he had become excessively fatigued. "It's like
a nursery tale--never too old to take with the kids. Well, come along,
poor lamb, the station isn't far."
So great had become the reliance which by this time I habitually
reposed in these men, that I never sought to oppose their
pronouncements (such a course being not only useless but undignified),
and we therefore together reached the place which the one by my side
had described as a station.
From the outside the building was in no way imposing, but upon
reaching an inner dungeon it at once became plain that no matter with
what crime a person might be charged, even the most stubborn
resistance would be unavailing.
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