The gurchinangoes (garroters, we might say), at those times the city's particular terror by night, never crossed his path.

Even now, in the case of this bloody-handed butcher, this ruthless garroter....

One saw the garroter creeping through the blackness of the saloon from his hiding place, forward in the cabin of the chief engineer; stationing himself at the door to Monk's quarters, with his chosen weapon, that deadly handkerchief of his trade, ready for the throat of the Lone Wolf when he should emerge, in accordance with his agreement with Mr. Mussey, the spoils of the captain's safe in his hands.

He sneaked behind him and caught him by the throat, as the garroters used to do in the fog.

Baggage-smashing, dog-smudging, ring-dropping, watch-stuffing, the patent-safe men, the confidence men, garroters, shysters, policy-dealers, mock-auction Peter Funks, bogus-ticket swindlers, are all terms which have more or less outgrown the bounds of their Alsatia of Thieves' Latin and are known of men.

He was abroad at the, same hours as the burglars and garroters, and other owls and weasels of society.

Visions of highwaymen, maniacs, garroters and the like flashed through his brain.