It was from Patsy, and read:
"Alvarez woman and Moreno started for Boston on four-thirty train.
"Patsy."
"Moreno, too! That’s good."
Then addressing Chick, Nick said:
"You meet Moreno at the railroad depot. I have to go to Worcester by the six-forty train. And see here. If anything serious turns up, telegraph to me at the Bay State Hotel."
It was just nine o’clock when the Boston train rolled into Worcester station.
The ground was still covered with snow from the storm of a few days before; but it had been freezing hard, and now a heavy crust made walking rather pleasant.
Nick stood outside the depot for a moment, and looked at the sky and the snow-covered road, as if considering[Pg 34] whether he would walk to the hotel or ride. While he was thus engaged, he heard the rumbling of an incoming train.
"This is the New York express," said he, and he immediately withdrew into the shadow of the ticket office and watched the passengers as they came out.