"Mine, too," said Hamilton; "only he represents a newspaper and I'm here for the government."
The policeman scratched his chin in perplexity.
"Do you wait here," he said, "and I'll call up the station."
He came back in a minute or two.
"The lieutenant says it'll be all right," he said. "I told him that I hadn't seen any sign of trouble—not that that means anything," he added, "but if you wait a minute the other man will be up this way; he's patrollin' the streets and you can go along with him."
"How many of you are there here?" asked the boy.
"Generally half a dozen in these two or three streets," the policeman answered, "but I guess right now there's twice that number."
Just as he had expected, another policeman appeared shortly, and Hamilton was passed on to him. His conductor was taciturn, and the boy was glad when the reporter joined them. In reply to a question, Hamilton told his purpose, and the reporter, scenting a story, volunteered to accompany them. The boy was willing enough, especially as he found the reporter had the Chinese district as his regular assignment and was well known in Chinatown.
The address given, as the first policeman had said, was merely that painted over a stairway.
"I guess we go down here," Hamilton said.