midnight
Then I suddenly stopped and ducked into a doorway . For a moment after I saw a taxicab come clattering into the avenue out of Thirty-third Street I discovered that , at her repeated gesture , it was pulling up beside the curb . I stood well back in the shadow until she had climbed into the seat , the door had slammed shut , and the driver had turned his vehicle about and started northward again . Then I skirted along the shop fronts , darted across the street , and made straight for the hotel cabstand and a taxi driver drowsily exhaling cigarette smoke up toward the tepid midnight skies . The bill I thrust into his hand took all the sleep out of his body and ended the incense to the morning stars . `` Up the avenue , '' I said as I clambered in . `` And follow that taxicab two blocks behind until it turns , and then run up on it and wait . ''