Then, suddenly arousing himself, he ambled back to the corner, stopping near the policeman. He looked confusedly around him, from the left to the right, and the policeman gazed at him closely, but spoke not a word. On his part, he did not seem to see the man in uniform. He stood bewildered, appearing not to know which way to turn. “Why don’t you go home, old man?” the policeman asked, this time in a softened tone of voice. “Home!” the old fellow ejaculated--his voice was like a wail, a heartbroken sob. “Home! where is it?” “The Lord bless you, man, how can I tell you, if you can’t tell yourself?” “Twenty years ago--twenty years behind darkened walls--and this----” He muttered the words in such a forlorn tone that the policeman stared at him. “Your brain is turned, old gentleman.” The old man laughed and looked up into his questioner’s face with a quizzical expression. “My brain is clear, my friend,” he replied, in a clear, harsh tone. “I have come from a prison--the world is strangely altered since I was in it before.” “In it before? Why, what do you mean? I suppose you will try and persuade me that you have been dead and have risen from the grave.” “Figuratively speaking, I have--I have been dead to the world--in prison at Sing Sing. Mark me well--Sing Sing Prison--for twenty years--to-day I was released. See me now. I am old, decrepit, hardly able to walk. Once I stood erect, my hair was as black as the raven’s wing, and now--look at me, a wreck without home or friends. Wife, children, all gone! I have never seen nor heard of them since the day I was taken out of yonder house a prisoner, by the unjust, hard, and cruel decree of a so-called court of justice. Twenty years! A prisoner, buried alive, as it were.” “You had committed a crime?” “No. I was innocent, but powerful conspirators plotted against me--the evidence was perjured--and I--I--was entombed.” “You say you lived in yonder house twenty years ago?” “Yes, and no man carried his head higher than I did. I was rich--but bah! what is the use of rehearsing those things to a stranger! Hardened as you are by association with crime, you would not believe my story. You would think that I was romancing. Things have sadly changed in this neighborhood.” “You may bet they have.” “Once all these houses were occupied by rich people, but to-day they are the abodes of the poor and the outcast.” “What is your name?” “My name! It matters not. Good night.” “Well, well, keep your secret, old man. God bless you, and may this new year bring you happiness.” “Happiness! I shall never know that again. Good night, again.” He moved off slowly, and the policeman watched him until he turned the corner into West Broadway, when he proceeded to patrol his beat. As the policeman moved away, a dark form came out of a near-by doorway and hurried around the corner.