{"id":"01KG8AN330PHSXMCC1NDRJ5PR8","cid":"bafkreihlgu53vxuu6c2qdq6iiztd4pmncihzraphuesdw3dnslx7tjfg74","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":10548,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.921Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","start_line":10483,"text":"and tapping them on the shoulder--\"Hallo, I say! Will you do me a little\r\nfavor? Will you help bring some trunks in from the street? I will\r\nsatisfy you for your trouble, and be much obliged into the bargain.\"\r\n\r\nInstantly the three noddies, used to sudden awakenings, opened their\r\neyes, and stared hard; and being further enlightened by the bat's-wings\r\nand first officer, promptly brought in the luggage as desired.\r\n\r\nPierre hurriedly sat down by Isabel, and in a few words gave her to\r\nunderstand, that she was now in a perfectly secure place, however\r\nunwelcoming; that the officers would take every care of her, while he\r\nmade all possible speed in running to the house, and indubitably\r\nascertaining how matters stood there. He hoped to be back in less than\r\nten minutes with good tidings. Explaining his intention to the first\r\nofficer, and begging him not to leave the girls till he should return,\r\nhe forthwith sallied into the street. He quickly came to the house, and\r\nimmediately identified it. But all was profoundly silent and dark. He\r\nrang the bell, but no answer; and waiting long enough to be certain,\r\nthat either the house was indeed deserted, or else the old clerk was\r\nunawakeable or absent; and at all events, certain that no slightest\r\npreparation had been made for their arrival; Pierre, bitterly\r\ndisappointed, returned to Isabel with this most unpleasant information.\r\n\r\nNevertheless something must be done, and quickly. Turning to one of the\r\nofficers, he begged him to go and seek a hack, that the whole party\r\nmight be taken to some respectable lodging. But the man, as well as his\r\ncomrades, declined the errand on the score, that there was no stand on\r\ntheir beat, and they could not, on any account, leave their beat. So\r\nPierre himself must go. He by no means liked to leave Isabel and Delly\r\nagain, on an expedition which might occupy some time. But there seemed\r\nno resource, and time now imperiously pressed. Communicating his\r\nintention therefore to Isabel, and again entreating the officer's\r\nparticular services as before, and promising not to leave him\r\nunrequited; Pierre again sallied out. He looked up and down the street,\r\nand listened; but no sound of any approaching vehicle was audible. He\r\nran on, and turning the first corner, bent his rapid steps toward the\r\ngreatest and most central avenue of the city, assured that there, if\r\nanywhere, he would find what he wanted. It was some distance off; and he\r\nwas not without hope that an empty hack would meet him ere he arrived\r\nthere. But the few stray ones he encountered had all muffled fares. He\r\ncontinued on, and at last gained the great avenue. Not habitually used\r\nto such scenes, Pierre for a moment was surprised, that the instant he\r\nturned out of the narrow, and dark, and death-like bye-street, he should\r\nfind himself suddenly precipitated into the not-yet-repressed noise and\r\ncontention, and all the garish night-life of a vast thoroughfare,\r\ncrowded and wedged by day, and even now, at this late hour, brilliant\r\nwith occasional illuminations, and echoing to very many swift wheels and\r\nfootfalls.\r\n\r\n\r\nII.\r\n\r\n\"I say, my pretty one! Dear! Dear! young man! Oh, love, you are in a\r\nvast hurry, aint you? Can't you stop a bit, now, my dear: do--there's a\r\nsweet fellow.\"\r\n\r\nPierre turned; and in the flashing, sinister, evil cross-lights of a\r\ndruggist's window, his eye caught the person of a wonderfully\r\nbeautifully-featured girl; scarlet-cheeked, glaringly-arrayed, and of a\r\nfigure all natural grace but unnatural vivacity. Her whole form,\r\nhowever, was horribly lit by the green and yellow rays from the\r\ndruggist's.\r\n\r\n\"My God!\" shuddered Pierre, hurrying forward, \"the town's first welcome\r\nto youth!\"\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJTDSWGP8QJ7MKTTPBN1C","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AN330YNFSB4NYW1WBNHQW","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AN3304R47TMS6YQ261451","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:58.464Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:26.315Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}