Now, for the first time, he felt that he was working for himself, and the feeling was an agreeable one.

True, he did not yet feel wholly secure.

Pietro might possibly follow in the next train.

He inquired at the station when the next train would arrive.
"In an hour," was the reply.
It would be an hour, therefore, before Pietro could reach Newark.
He decided to walk on without stopping till he reached the outskirts of the city, and not venture back till nightfall, when there would be little or no danger.
Accordingly he plodded on for an hour and a half, till he came where the houses were few and scattered at intervals.

In a business point of view this was not good policy, but safety was to be consulted first of all.
He halted at length before a grocery store, in front of which he saw a small group of men standing.