“It’s all right, officer,” he said. “I’m waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we agreed to meet here tonight.
“It sounds interesting,” said the cop. “A long time between meetings, it seems to me. Have you heard from your friend since you went West?”
About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long coat came hurrying across the street. He went directly to the waiting- man.“Is that you, Bob?” he asked, doubtfully.“Is that you, Jimmy Wells?” cried the man at the door.
“It gave me everything I asked for. You’ve changed, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall. “Oh, I grew a little after I was twenty.”
The two men started along the street, arm in arm. The man from the West was beginning to tell the story of his life. The other... .listened with interest.
The man from the West stopped suddenly and pulled his arm away.“You’re not Jimmy Wells,” he said. “Twenty years is a long time,but not long enough to change the shape of a man’s nose.”
“It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one,” said the tall man. “You’ve been under arrest for ten minutes, Bob. Chicago cops thought you might be coming to New York. They told us to watch for you.
Are you coming with me quietly? That’s wise. But first here is something I was asked to give you. You may read it here at the window.It’s from a cop named Wells.”The man from the West opened the little piece of paper. His hand began to shake a little as he read.
“Bob: I was at the place on time. I saw the face of the man wanted by Chicago cops. I didn’t want to arrest you myself. So I went and got another cop and sent him to do the job. - JIMMY.”
B“It’s all right, officer,” he said. “I’m waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we agreed to meet here tonight.”