At that time, however, each watchman had his
beat, to leave which was neglect of duty, except with a prisoner,
and then it was neglect of all the householders within the magic
compass. Had X 99 heard the baby crying across the street, which
was part of the beat of X 101, he would have passed on with a
cheery heart, for the case would have been beyond his
jurisdiction. Unhappily the baby was on his beat, and he was
delivered from the temptation of transferring it to the other by
the appearance of X 101's bull's-eye not far off. What was he to
do? The station was a mile away--the inspector would not arrive
for an hour--and it would be awkward, if not undignified, to
carry on his rounds a shouting baby wrapped in the largest daily
paper. If he left it where it was, and it perished, he might be
charged with murder. He was at his wits' end--but having got
there, he resolved on the simplest process, namely to carry it to
the station. No provision was made by the regulations of the
force to protect a beat casually deserted even for a proper
purpose. Hence, while X 99 was absent on his errand of mercy,
the valuable shop of Messrs. Trinkett and Blouse, ecclesiastical
tailors, was broken into, and several stoles, chasubles,
altar-cloths and other decorative tapestries were appropriated to
profane uses.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82