"You are right," answered the officer. "I am a watchman! The authority invested in me is great. I trust I duly appreciate it. I guard your dwelling when you are slumbering, unconscious of what takes place around you."
"You are very kind," remarked Harry, suddenly interrupting him, and speaking rather ironically than otherwise.
The watchman continued: "Life is to me nothing unless I can employ it in doing good. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly."
"Will you walk in?" inquired Mr. Lang, as a sudden gust of wind nearly extinguished his light.
"No, I thank you; that would be of no service to my fellow-men; and, as I am in search of the man who committed the robbery, ten minutes ago, upon Mr. Solomon Cash, the broker, I must-"
"Robbery!" exclaimed Harry, appearing perfectly astonished at the thought. "O, the degeneracy of the nineteenth century,—the sinfulness of the age!"
"Amen!" responded the officer; and, pulling his large, loose cloak more closely about him, he made a motion to continue on in the service of his fellow-men.
"But wait, my good man," said Harry. "Am I to suppose, from what you said, that 'Bold Bill' is the perpetrator of this base crime?"
"Precisely so," was the laconic reply; and the man moved on in execution of his benevolent designs.