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Show 176 "Too late, sonny," Jake told him. "All the lake vessels stopped runnin' yesterday, and they won't start again till spring. Too much ice in Lake Erie already. When the ice gets thick, the ships tie up for winter." Karl grimaced. "Shoot! That means I'll have to ride the rails all the way home." After receiving directions from Jake on how to reach Union Depot, Karl left the hobo jungle, glad he'd never have to spend another night there. The hoboes had been kind and generous, but at night the shack filled with their sleeping bodies smelled rank, and the badly nailed boards couldn't keep out the cold. Union Depot stood only a few blocks from the waterfront. It looked like a fortress, with a square corner tower topped by two clocks at right angles, so that people could read the time from either Fort Street or Third. Both clocks pointed to four-thirty -- Karl would have a long wait for Andy. Inside the depot, Karl peered into trash cans until he found discarded brown wrapping paper in one, and a length of string in another. He wrapped and tied his old overcoat and cap together, carrying the bundle with him when he went into the men's room. Seeing his reflection in a mirror for the first time in a week and a half, Karl was horrified at how dirty he looked. He scrubbed his face and hands, and even washed his hair in the sink, drying it on a roller towel. Since he didn't have a comb, he flattened the damp hair with his palms before setting the Homburg squarely on his head. The depot's waiting room was warm, and Karl dozed on a bench, |
