the boy his name, address and other details and inspected his license.
"What would you do if you were coming down a steep hill and both your foot brake and your emergency brake failed to work?" asked the cop suddenly.
Harold grinned. "I'd get out and jack up the car," he answered.
The cop half rose out of his chair. "What!" he roared.
"Oh, I was just kidding," Speedy hastened to add. "What I'd really do is throw her into reverse."
"Well, you don't want to attempt to kid me, young man. This is a serious business."
After a few more questions the cop reluctantly agreed that Speedy might at a stretch be entrusted with a taxicab. He was ordered to the next room to have his photograph taken. In another half hour Harold was again in his cab, the tonneau of which was adorned by a permit reading that Harold Swift was entitled to drive a taxicab and containing a bad picture of Harold and proclaiming to the world that this was a portrait of the driver and if anybody else was caught driving the cab a policeman should be summoned at once.
"Now you're all set, hey?" said Danny Ryan cheerfully, standing beside the proud Speedy as he reclined behind the wheel of his chariot. "Just follow me up to the Hotel Envoy. You're to take Tom Daly's old stand and work around that neighborhood there. It's a good hangout too. Plenty of juicy tips."
