nearly six o'clock in the evening
As the conductor called the station the train halted and the girl passed the rear seat , where the man had his bare head half out the open window , and descended from the car to the platform . A few others also alighted , to hurry away to the omnibuses or street car or walk to their destinations . Mary Louise stood quite still upon the platform until the train drew out after its brief stop . It was nearly six o'clock in the evening and fast growing dark , yet she distinctly observed the fat-nosed man , who had alighted on the opposite side of the track and was now sauntering diagonally across the rails to the depot , his hands thrust deep in his pockets and his eyes turned away from Mary Louise as if the girl occupied no part of his thoughts . But she knew better than that . Her suspicions were now fully confirmed and she sought to evade the detective in just the way any inexperienced girl might have done . Turning in the opposite direction she hastily crossed the street , putting a big building between herself and the depot , and then hurried along a cross-street .