picked a dummy wearing the uniform of a police lieutenant, and the traffic cop did not dare risk offending a superior, phoney as the latter looked. He motioned Speedy on.
The horse car had not slackened its pace during those critical seconds. It was now careening madly from side to side with its unaccustomed speed. Elated by his luck, Speedy determined to follow the shortest route to De Lacey Street by roaring right down Broadway!
He swung to the right into the famous and very crowded thoroughfare. Nellie was stepping out like a thoroughbred. She seemed to be making almost as good time as the ambulance that had whirled Speedy up to the ferry slip.
The heavy traffic on New York's principal artery proved more of a blessing than a hindrance. Speedy worked an arm of the fake police lieutenant with one of his own hands in order to wave the trucks and automobiles out of the way. They obediently scattered at the sight of the stern-looking bluecoat. A few, very close by, recognized that the cop was a fraud, but smiled good-naturedly, believing again that Speedy was perpetrating an advertising stunt. Nellie, a veteran New York horse and used to navigating in a heavy sea of cars, wove in and out of the traffic at top speed.
Policemen at the corners, catching sight of the gold braid on the front of the strange approaching vehicle, which darted out suddenly from the shield of other cars and crossed the streets, gravely saluted the supposed lieutenant and urged the horse car on.
