The automobile was moving almost noiselessly, but even if the man at the wheel had honked his horn as it drew near, it wouldn’t have caused any discomfort to Officer Hicks. He was too sound a sleeper to be bothered by the ordinary sounds of street traffic.
In his somnolent moments, Mr. Hicks did not present a very picturesque appearance. Only a slender man can lean against a lamp-post and look graceful; and Officer Hicks was almost as fat as Chief of Police Hodgins. Moreover, like the latter, he had the habit of sleeping with his mouth partly open.
But in spite of its lack of picturesqueness, his appear[Pg 41]ance caused great delight to the three men in the black touring car.
That vehicle came to a stop a few feet away from the lamp-post, and one of the men leaned over the side of the tonneau, and pointed a camera toward the slumbering bluecoat.
Then there came a vivid flash of light, a dull, booming sound, and a chuckle of triumph from the man with the camera.
Possibly the dull, booming sound and the chuckle of the man would not have aroused Patrolman Hicks by themselves, but the vivid flash of light hitting him squarely on the eyelids brought him to his senses in an instant.
Springing to an erect position, he stared in ludicrous astonishment at the automobile in front of him.
He was about to step into the roadway and ask the three men what had happened, but before he could carry out his intention the automobile had started off at great speed.
“Oh, well,” Officer Hicks muttered to himself, “I guess it was nothing serious. Probably a fuse blew out, or something of that sort. Them automobiles is queer things.”
With this reflection, he once more settled himself comfortably against the lamp-post, and resumed his interrupted slumbers.