Taxicab

“ Reanimated, he put her into the waiting taxicab, gave the chauffeur his directions, and closed the door upon their first wedded solitude.
"But this is one of the things we must not do," she told him, bringing the relief of humor to the situation. "We must not take taxis and let them wait for us with a price on the head of each moment. It is more than extravagant; it is reckless." ”

“ As though a taxicab, minus its driver and running amuck into a stone wall, was not enough hard luck to throw across the path of Motor Matt, he had also to deal with a young woman masquerading in man’s attire. ”

“ Surface cars, crawling funereally forward, felt their way with gong-strokes, as blind men feel their way with stick-taps. An occasional taxicab, swinging tentatively out of a side-street, slewed and skidded in the greasy mud. Lonely drivers watched from their seats, watched like sea captains from bridge-ends when ice has invaded their sea lanes. ”

“ He maintained a serene faith in his star, a spirited temper that refused to recognize obstacles in the way of his desire.
In the taxicab, en route to the Theatre Max, he contrived even to distil a good omen from the driving autumnal downpour itself.... The rain-swept pavements, their polished blackness shot with a thousand strands of golden brilliance; the painted bosom of the lowering, heavy sky; the tear-drenched window-panes; even the incessant crepitation on the roof of the scurrying, skidding cab seemed to lend a colour of assurance to his thoughts. ”

“ It had to swerve to avoid running over the orange-and-banana merchant. As it swerved it crashed into the side of an ancient taxicab that was bustling round the corner. The ancient taxicab overturned. There was a scream of smashing glass, and the two wheels of the taxicab revolved plaintively in the air.
“Bewty!” said the old man selling newspapers, for he was a connoisseur of accidents. The limousine had stopped. The horse was walking on quite calmly now. A little boy picked up the paper-bag, blew into it, and made a noise. ”

“ Then from the depths of the cab appeared a great bunch of roses, its wrappings fluttering about it, and settled in the carriage man's arms. He moved back, the roses nodded and becked as he strove to touch his cap, the door banged shut and the taxicab sprang away from the curb with a warning toot. But as it moved forward the girl's face and the upper part of her body appeared for a moment at the glass. Her eyes swept the sidewalk hurriedly, met Wade's eyes startledly and comprehendingly and were quickly flashed away. But Wade had caught more than the glance. ”

“ Children alone love it. They press their small faces to window-panes and watch the lights like little unripe oranges going by in the murk. A taxicab becomes something ogreish; a steam-lorry is a dragon spitting flame and grunting on its evil way. ”

“ Then came the frantic whistling for broughams and taxicabs and the hoarse shouting from the street where men cried the evening papers in the roar of the outer world. I picked up my opera-hat, which had rolled into the middle of the floor while I had slept upon the sofa, scrambled into my overcoat, rushed out into the street, and told the driver of the first taxicab I found to drive for his life at double rates⁠ ⁠... ”

“ Presently it was strident and near at hand; and then, standing like a frozen thing, not daring to stir (indeed, half petrified with fear) she saw the marauding taxicab wheel slowly past, the chauffeur scrutinising one side of the way, the man in the grey duster standing up in the body and holding the door half open, while he raked with sweeping glances the coppice wherein she stood hiding.
But it did not stop. Incredible though it seemed, she was not detected. Obviously the men were at a loss, unable to surmise which one she had chosen of a dozen ways of escape. ”

“ But now, as he approached Number 97 the second time, a taxicab turned in from Sixth Avenue, slid to the curb before that dwelling, and set down a smallish young man dressed in the extreme of fashion—a person of physical characteristics by no means to be confused with those of the man with the twisted mouth—who, negligently handing a bill to the chauffeur, ran nimbly up the steps, rang the door-bell, and promptly letting himself into the vestibule, closed the door behind him.
The taxicab swung round and made off. Not so P. Sybarite. ”

“ MOTOR MATT’S DUTY.
For Matt, in this queer taxicab tangle, one mystery was piling upon another. Joe McGlory, in a faster car than the “taxi,” had left New York after Matt and the girl had taken their departure. Joe might be with Mr. Random, but the girl had certainly made a misstatement when she said that the cowboy and the broker had hurried off in advance of the taxicab. But then, the girl had made many misstatements. ”

“ Seeing an opening between a taxicab and a truck in front of him, Cornwallis' chauffeur made for it. He blew his horn thrice as he did so, but instead of turning in toward the curb the driver of the truck turned outward, to the left. And the driver of the taxicab, glancing back over his shoulder, seemed to lose his head completely. He applied the brakes to his car, and it came almost to a stop. Not even the quick braking by Cornwallis' chauffeur could prevent the limousine from being jammed between the two other machines. ”

“ Random seemed excited, though, and it takes a lot to make him show his nerves.”
“Where are we going?”
“To Rye, a small place beyond Mamaroneck.”
“Great spark-plugs!” exclaimed Matt, watching the figures jump up in the dial, recording the distance they were covering in dollars and cents. “What’s the use of using a taxicab for a trip like that? You ought to have hired a touring car by the hour.”
“Oh, this was the only car handy, and Mr. Random never stops at expense.”
“Why couldn’t he and McGlory have come by way of the Flatiron Building and picked me up?” ”

“ The way you pulled the wool over the eyes of that taxicab man was splendid.”
“Doing the right thing at the right time, Pearl, is your father’s long suit. Where were you when Tibbits went past in the red car?”
“Sitting on a stone at the roadside.”
“Where was Motor Matt?”
“Back along the road in the brush, looking for the driver.”
“And those in the red car never saw him!”
“No, but he saw them and recognized McGlory.”
“Oh, well, this is our day for luck, and no mistake. Watch the road, Pearl, while we’re getting out our own car. We don’t want to be seen lifting a bound man into it.” ”

“ It may be assumed that a person taking a taxicab at the station would control the whole vehicle both as to contents, direction, and time of use, although not, so far as indicated, in such a sense as to make the driver of the machine his servant, according to familiar distinctions. ”

“ Forbes called a taxicab, a taxicab apparently being the open sesame. One might have gone afoot and have looked ever so much like a "good thing" and he would not have been admitted. But such is the simplicity of the sophistication of the keepers of such places that a motor car opens all locks and bolts. ”

“ Crossing over into Madison Square, Matt idled away his time, roaming around and building air castles for McGlory. The cowboy was a fine fellow, a lad of sterling worth, and fortune could not have visited her favors upon one more deserving.
By ten o’clock Matt was back at the Flatiron Building. As he came around on the Fifth Avenue side, a taxicab drew up at the curb, the door opened, and a lad sprang out. The youth was well dressed and carried a small tin box. ”

“ I don't know what he did there—but I remember looking toward Atlantic Avenue and seeing a yellow taxicab parked against the curb. I could see that there was no one in the driver's seat—and while I watched I saw the man who had done the shooting drag Mr. Warren's body to the taxicab. It was dark in the street—the arc light on the corner was out—
"I saw him throw Mr. Warren's body into the taxicab. It was then that I turned and fled toward the station.
"I can't tell you how I felt. At a time like that one doesn't pause to analyze one's emotional reactions. ”

“ If the taxicab has double seats, the man should take his place with his back facing the driver, unless he is an old friend of many years' standing. A new acquaintance should not take the liberty of sharing a seat in the taxicab with a young woman unless she has particularly asked him to do so. ”

“ Oldtime Londoners deplored the coming of the taxicab and the motorbus, for their coming meant the entire extinction of the driver of the horse-drawn bus, who was an institution, and the practical extinction of the hansom cabby, who was a type and very frequently a humorist too. But an American finds no fault with the present arrangement; he is amply satisfied with it.
Personally I can think of no more exciting phase of the night life of the two greatest cities of Europe than the stunt of dodging taxicabs. ”

“ They are standing in the dark passageway between the main waiting room and the baggage room. No light is on the corner of Jackson street. They see only one taxicab on duty. For all they know—the last street car has passed. They conceive the idea of making a single taxicab do double duty—and, knowing that the driver is across the street drinking coffee and getting warm—Warren gets into the cab from the blind side, Mrs. ”

“ That’s the way with most mysteries. If you leave them alone they’ll solve themselves.”
“What happened to you? Bat it up to me!”
Matt recounted the manner in which he had been beguiled into the open country by the supposed messenger; and he told about the accident to the taxicab, the revelation that the supposed youth was a girl, the finding of the driver, the passing of the red touring car with McGlory in the tonneau, the work of Dimmock and Sanders, a mile west of Rye, and the journey through Connecticut and into Massachusetts, finishing with his meeting with McGlory. ”

“ Tarling told the story of the stolen taxicab.
"We'll have him," said Whiteside confidently. "He'll have no pals, and without pals in the motor business it is practically impossible to get a car away."
He got into Tarling's cab, and a few minutes later they were at the nursing home. ”

“ The motor boys slept their way down the sound, and reached New York early enough to go to their hotel and have breakfast before the bank opened. Immediately after breakfast they took an elevated train for downtown.
“I’ve connected with a good lesson, pard, during this taxicab tangle,” remarked McGlory.
The cowboy was constantly thinking of various matters connected with recent experiences, and entering them on the profit side of his personal account.
“What’s this one, Joe?” asked Matt.
“Never to read an important letter aloud in a public place. ”

“ Only the other day when I was late for a Bridge party, and I had offered the chauffeur of the taxicab double fare to get me there in time, a perfectly horrid officer arrested him and insisted upon taking off both the driver and the cab to the station house, although I explained everything to him and that it was most important for me to arrive in time because it was a club party and every table was to play against the room for a prize in money. ”

“ If you failed to find a red auto-cab on the street this morning, it was because the 475 drivers of the New York Taxicab Company had gone out on strike at five o’clock. At noon the strike was still on, the men, who are members of the Chauffeurs’ Protective Association, not having reached an agreement with the company.
Most of the cabs are stored in the big Gospel Tent, next to the Y. M. C. A. building, on West Fifty-seventh Street, and if the company fails to get any of them moving by to-morrow, there is likely to be no room for the worshippers who attend the evangelistic services. ”

“ Turning to give his attention to Granger, Matt received another start. The young fellow was lying beside the taxicab, lifting himself weakly on one arm. His tin box had dropped near him, and his derby hat had fallen off. Strands of long, yellow hair, which must have been [5] done into a coil and hidden under a wig of some sort, had been released and were waving about Granger’s shoulders.
A woman! Here was a pretty tangle, and Motor Matt was astounded. ”

“ He gave an address at random, sat back and, waiting quietly until they had crossed the downtown district, paid the cabman and dismissed him. He walked swiftly for a block until he found another taxicab, engaged it, and confident now that this new driver did not know him, he gave a second address with care. ”

“ Around this motor car were twelve taxi-cabs filled with plain clothes men, four to each vehicle, and three guarding the outside, not to mention the driver, who was also in the employ of the police department. Detectives on motor cycles were on guard at various points ready to follow any rescuing taxicab. ”

“ Naturally, I did not tell him the nature of the message I received; but he'll tell you that I left immediately. Before eleven I was back here. I suppose the taxicab driver who brought me here can be found, too, if he is looked for. ”

“ There is no rule as to which side she should take in the car; she enters first and takes the furthest seat, whether it be to the right or left. In alighting the man again leads the way, assisting the woman to reach the ground safely.
A word of caution will not be amiss here. No woman or girl should ride in a taxicab with a man who is not her escort, unless she has a very good reason for doing so. ”