one o'clock in the morning
Then he looked about for a policeman . Of course , none was in sight . Policemen never are in sight on Massachusetts Avenue . As a general rule , Harleston was not inquisitive as to things that did not concern him -- especially at one o'clock in the morning ; but the waiting cab , the deserted box , the recumbent horse in the shafts excited his curiosity . The cab , probably , was from the stand in Dupont Circle ; and the cabby likely was asleep inside the cab , with a bit too much rum aboard . Nevertheless , the matter was worth a step into Eighteenth Street and a few seconds ' time . It might yield only a drunken driver 's mutterings at being disturbed ; it might yield much of profit .