This was all the detective heard, and the pair walked a little faster.
After a while Carter let them go and turned his attention to another part of the town.
This time he pushed his way into an upper room in one of the most disreputable localities and confronted a man who nearly leaped from a chair at sight of him.
“Never mind. Don’t get excited, Jack,” smiled the detective. “I’m not after you this time.”
The fellow, who was past thirty, with a slim face covered with a beard of a week’s growth, seemed pleased, but at the same time he snarled like a wild beast.
“I’ve got work for you,” said the detective.
“Not for me, no, sir! I won’t do any man’s work—not even yours,” he growled.
“Come, Jack. It won’t get you into trouble.”
“I won’t, there!”
The speaker settled back into his chair and looked ugly.