About halfway down a certain block/the police officer suddenly slowed his walk.// In the doorway of a darkened hardware store/a man leaned,/with an unlit cigar in his mouth.// As the police officer walked up to him,/the man spoke up quickly.//
　“It’s all right,/officer,”/he said,/reassuringly.// “I’m just waiting for a friend.// It’s an appointment/made twenty years ago.// Sounds a little funny to you,/doesn’t it?// Well,/I’ll explain/if you’d like to make certain/it’s all straight.// About that long ago/there used to be a restaurant/where this store stands —/‘Big Joe’ Brady’s restaurant.”//
　“Until five years ago,”/said the police officer.// “It was torn down then.”//
　The man in the doorway struck a match/and lit his cigar.// The light showed a pale,/square-jawed face/with keen eyes,/and a little white scar/near his right eyebrow.// His scarf pin was a large diamond,/oddly set.//
　“Twenty years ago tonight,”/said the man,/“I dined here at ‘Big Joe’ Brady’s/with Jimmy Wells,/my best chum,/and the finest chap in the world.// He and I were raised here in New York together,/just like two brothers.// I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty.// The next morning,/I was to start for the West/to make my fortune.// You couldn’t have dragged Jimmy out of New York;/he thought/it was the only place on earth.// Well,/we agreed that night/that we would meet here again/exactly twenty years from that date and time,/no matter what our conditions might be/or from what distance we might have to come.// We figured/that in twenty years/each of us ought to have our destiny worked out/and our fortunes made,/whatever they were going to be.”//
　“It sounds pretty interesting,”/said the police officer,/“though it seems to me/that it has been a rather long time/since you met him.// Haven’t you heard from your friend/since you left?”//
　“Well, yes,/for a time we corresponded,”/said the other.// “But after a year or two/we lost track of each other.// You see,/the West is a pretty big proposition,/and I kept hustling around it pretty lively.// But I know Jimmy will meet me here/if he’s alive,/for he always was the truest,/staunchest guy in the world.// He’ll never forget.// I came a thousand miles/to stand in this door tonight,/and it’s worth it/if my old partner turns up.”//