These men also had been touched, either by some priest's
voice or other divine word, with a sense of the duties of
the occasion, and were just looking round to know where
they might spread their second table. Five of them
joined the fourteen, and the whole company, after a rapid
conversation, agreed that they would try No. 277 on the
other side of the Avenue. And here their fortunes
changed.
For here it proved that the "cops" on that beat,
finding nights growing somewhat cold, and that there was
no provision made by the police commissioners for a club-
room for gentlemen of their profession, had themselves
arranged in the polling-booth a convenient place for
the reading of the evening newspapers and for conference
on their mutual affairs. These "cops" were unmarried
men, and did not much know where was the home in which
the governor requested them to spend their Thanksgiving.
They had therefore determined to spread their own table
in their club-room, and this evening had been making
preparations for a picnic feast there at midnight on
Thanksgiving Day, when they should be relieved from their
more pressing duties. They also had found the liberality
of each member of the force had brought in more than
would be requisite, and were considering the same subject
which had oppressed the consciences of the leaders of the
other bands.
Pages:
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331