The office, sitting-room, and kitchen, however, were
not all that the expressman and his wife possessed
in the way of accommodations. Up-stairs were two
front bedrooms, one occupied by John and Kitty, and
the other by their boy Bobby, while in the extreme
rear, over the kitchen, was a single room which was
let to any respectable man who could pay for it. These
rooms were all reached by a staircase ascending from a
narrow hall entered by a separate street-door adjoining
that of the office. The door and staircase were convenient
for the lodger wishing to stumble up to bed
without disturbing his hosts--an event, however, that
seldom happened, as Kitty was generally the last person
awake in her house.

The horses, as has been said, were kept in the livery-
stable next door--the brown mare, a recent purchase,
and the old white horse, Jim, the pride of Kitty's heart,
in a special stall. The wagons were either backed
in the shed in the rear or left overnight close to the
curb, with chains on the hind wheels. This was contrary
to regulations, and would have been so considered
but for the fact that the captain of the precinct
often got his coffee in Kitty's back kitchen, as did
Tom McGinniss, the big policeman, whose beat reached
nearly to the tunnel, both men soothing their consciences
with the argument that Kitty's job lasted so
late and began so early, sometimes a couple of hours
or so before daylight, that it was not worth while to
bother about her wagons, when everybody else was in