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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5901-h.zip b/5901-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a13ab73 --- /dev/null +++ b/5901-h.zip diff --git a/5901-h/5901-h.htm b/5901-h/5901-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1116e03 --- /dev/null +++ b/5901-h/5901-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14875 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective, +by Frank Pinkerton +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter { text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: larger ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective, by Frank Pinkerton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective + Or, The Crime of the Midnight Express + +Author: Frank Pinkerton + +Posting Date: January 24, 2009 [EBook #5901] +Release Date: June, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Or +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE CRIME OF THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS +</H2> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +By FRANK PINKERTON +</H2> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +1886 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="dykedarrel"></A> +<H2> +<A HREF="#dykedarrel">DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE</A> +</H2> + +<H2> +<A HREF="#wonbycrime">WON BY CRIME</A> +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">A STARTLING CRIME.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">DYKE DARREL'S TRICK.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">SCALPED.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">ELLISTON'S REBUFF.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">DYKE DARREL'S DANGER.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">WHAT A HANDKERCHIEF REVEALED.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">A PLUNGE TO DEATH.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">WORDS THAT STARTLE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">BLACK HOLLOW.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">POOR SIBYL!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">A BURNING TRAP.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">A SAD FATE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">DYKE DARREL ASTOUNDED.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A BAFFLED VILLAIN.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">NELL MISSING.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">NELL IN THE TOILS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">BEATEN BACK.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE DETECTIVE FOOLED.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">OVERMATCHED BY A GIRL.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">A BOUT IN THE CELLAR.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE EMPTY SEAT.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">DYKE DARREL ON THE TRAIL.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">A RACE FOR LIFE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">SAVED!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">THE MYSTERIOUS WART.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">THE STORY OF A WART.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">THE REVELATIONS OF A SATCHEL.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">RETRIBUTION.</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A STARTLING CRIME. +</H3> + +<P> +"The most audacious crime of my remembrance." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel flung down the morning paper, damp from the press, and +began pacing the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Dyke?" questioned the detective's sister Nell, who at +that moment thrust her head into the room. +</P> + +<P> +Nell was a pretty girl of twenty, with midnight hair and eyes, almost +in direct contrast with her brother, the famous detective, whose deeds +of cunning and daring were the theme of press and people the wide West +over. +</P> + +<P> +"An express robbery," returned Dyke, pausing in front of Nell and +holding up the paper. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," uttered the girl, with a pout. "I shan't have you with +me for the week that I promised myself. I am always afraid something +will happen every time you go out on the trail of a criminal, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"And something usually DOES happen," returned the detective, grimly. +"My last detective work did not pan out as I expected, but I do not +consider that entirely off yet. It may be that the one who murdered +Captain Osborne had a hand in this latest crime." +</P> + +<P> +"An express robbery, you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"And murder." +</P> + +<P> +"And murder!" +</P> + +<P> +The young girl's cheek blanched. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. The express messenger on the Central road was murdered last +night, and booty to the amount of thirty thousand dollars secured." +</P> + +<P> +"Terrible!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is a bold piece of work, and will set the detectives on the +trail." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you know the murdered messenger, Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was Arnold Nicholson." +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl reeled, and clutched the table at her side for support. The +name uttered by her brother was that of a friend of the Barrels, a man +of family, and one who had been in the employ of the express company +for many years. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder Nell Darrel was shocked at learning the name of the victim. +</P> + +<P> +"You see how it is, Nell?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," returned the girl, recovering her self-possession. "I meant to +ask you to forego this man-hunt, but I see that it would be of no +use." +</P> + +<P> +"Not the least, Nell," returned Dyke, with a compression of the lips. +"I would hunt these scoundrels down without one cent reward. Nicholson +was my friend, and a good one. He helped me once, when to do so was of +great inconvenience to himself. It is my duty to see that his cowardly +assassins are brought to justice." +</P> + +<P> +Even as Dyke Darrel uttered the last words a man ran up to the steps +and opened the front door. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope I don't intrude," he said, as he put his face into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"No; you are always welcome, Elliston," cried Dyke, extending his +hand. The new-comer accepted the proffered hand, then turned and +smiled on Nell. He was a tall man, with smoothly-cut beard and a tinge +of gray in his curling black hair. +</P> + +<P> +Harper Elliston was past thirty, and on the best of terms with Dyke +Darrel and his sister, who considered him a very good friend. +</P> + +<P> +"You have read the news?" Elliston said, as his keen, black eyes +rested on the paper that lay on the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," returned the detective. "It's a most villainous affair." +</P> + +<P> +"One of the worst." +</P> + +<P> +"I was never so shocked," said Nell. "Do you imagine the robbers will +be captured, Mr. Elliston?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, if your brother takes the trail, although I hope he will +not." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you hope so?" questioned Dyke. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear boy, it's dangerous—-" +</P> + +<P> +A low laugh cut short the further speech of Mr. Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I supposed you knew me too well, Harper, to imagine that danger ever +deterred Dyke Darrel from doing his duty." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course; but this is a different case. 'Tis said that four men were +engaged in the foul work, and that they belong to a league of +desperate ruffians, as hard to deal with as ever the James and Younger +brothers. Better leave it to the Chicago and St. Louis force, Dyke. I +should hate to see you made the victim of these scoundrels." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston laid his hand on the detective's arm in a friendly way, +and seemed deeply anxious. +</P> + +<P> +"Harper, are you aware that the murdered messenger was my friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Was he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. I would be less than human did I refuse to take the trail +of his vile assassins. You make me blush when you insinuate that +danger should deter me from doing my duty." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not aware that I said such a thing," answered Elliston. "I did +not mean it if I did. It would please me to have you remain off this +trail, however, Dyke. I will see to it that the best Chicago +detectives are set to work; that ought to satisfy you." +</P> + +<P> +"And I sit with my hands folded meantime?" +</P> + +<P> +A look of questioning surprise filled the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he +regarded Mr. Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"No. But you promised Nell to take her East this spring, to New York-" +</P> + +<P> +"He did, but I forego that pleasure," cried the girl, quickly. "I +realize that Dyke has a duty to perform in Illinois." +</P> + +<P> +"And so you, too, side with your brother," cried Mr. Elliston, forcing +a laugh. "In that case, I surrender at discretion." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke picked up and examined the paper once more. "DIED FOR DUTY. BOLD +AND BLOODY CRIME AT NIGHT ON THE CENTRAL RAILROAD." +</P> + +<P> +That was the heading to the article announcing the assassination of +the express messenger. The train on which the deed had been committed, +had left Chicago at ten in the evening, and at one o'clock, when the +train was halted at a station, the deed was discovered. Arnold +Nicholson was found with his skull crushed and his body terribly +beaten, while, in the bloody hands of the dead, was clutched a tuft of +red hair. This went to show that one of the messenger's assailants was +a man with florid locks. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving Nell and Mr. Elliston together, Dyke Darrel hastened to the +station. He was aware that a train would pass in ten minutes, and he +wished to enter Chicago and make an examination for himself. The +detective's home was on one of the many roads crossing Illinois, and +entering the Garden City—about an hour's ride from the Gotham of the +West. +</P> + +<P> +In less than two hours after reading the notice of the crime on the +midnight express. Dyke Darrel was in Chicago. He visited the body of +the murdered messenger, and made a brief examination. It was at once +evident to Darrel, that Nicholson had made a desperate fight for life, +but that he had been overpowered by a superior force. +</P> + +<P> +A reward of ten thousand dollars was already offered for the detection +and punishment of the outlaws. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Arnold!" murmured Dyke Darrel, as he gazed at the bruised and +battered corpse. "I will not rest until the wicked demons who +compassed this foul work meet with punishment!" +</P> + +<P> +There were still several shreds of hair between the fingers of the +dead, when Dyke Darrel made his examination, since the body had just +arrived from the scene of the murder. +</P> + +<P> +The detective secured several of the hairs, believing they might help +him in his future movements. Darrel made one discovery that he did not +care to communicate to others; it was a secret that he hoped might +lead to results in the future. What the discovery was, will be +disclosed in the progress of our story. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after the body of the murdered a messenger was removed to his +home, from which the funeral was to take place. +</P> + +<P> +As Dyke Darrel was passing from the rooms of the undertaker, a hand +fell on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a detective?" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel looked into a smooth, boyish face, from which a pair of +brown eyes glowed. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it you wish?" Darrel demanded, bluntly. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to make a confidant of somebody." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, go on." +</P> + +<P> +"First tell me if you are a detective." +</P> + +<P> +"You may call me one." +</P> + +<P> +"It's about that poor fellow you've just been interviewing," said the +young stranger. "I am Watson Wilkes, and I was on the train, in the +next car, when poor Nicholson was murdered. I was acting as brakeman +at the time. Do you wish to hear what I can tell?" +</P> +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DYKE DARREL'S TRICK. +</H3> + +<P> +"Certainly I do," cried the detective. "Come with me, and we will find +a place where we can talk without danger of interruption." +</P> + +<P> +The two men moved swiftly down the street. At length Dyke Darrel +entered a well-known restaurant on Randolph street, secured a private +stall, and then bade Mr. Wilks proceed. Both men were seated at a +small table. +</P> + +<P> +"Shan't I order the wine?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," answered Dyke, with a frown. "We need clear brains for the work +in hand. If you know aught of this monstrous crime, tell it at once." +</P> + +<P> +"I do know a considerable," said Mr. Wilks. "I was the first man who +discovered Arnold Nicholson after he'd been shot. The safe was in the +very car that I occupied. I saw the men get the swag. There were three +of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"They all wore mask, so of course I could not tell who they were; but +I've an idea that they were from Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"Why have you such an idea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I saw three suspicious chaps get on at Twenty-second street. +I think they are the chaps who killed poor Arnold, and got away with +the money in the safe." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you recognize them?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—that is, I'm not positive; but I think one of 'm was a chap that +is called Skinny Joe, a hard pet, who used to work in a saloon on +Clark street." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It might be well to keep your eye out in that quarter." +</P> + +<P> +"It might," admitted Dyke Darrel. "This is all you know regarding the +midnight tragedy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no; I can give you more particulars." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's have them, then." +</P> + +<P> +"But see here, how am I to know that you are a detective? I might get +sold, you know," replied Mr. Wilks in a suspicious tone. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel lifted the lapel of his coat, exposing a silver star. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," returned Mr. Wilks, with a nod. "I'm of the opinion that +Skinny Joe's about the customer you need to look after, captain. I'll +go down with you to the fellow's old haunts, and we'll see what we can +find." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Wilks seemed tremendously interested. Dyke Darrel was naturally +suspicious, and he was not ready to swallow everything his companion +said as law and gospel. Of course the large reward was a stimulant for +men to be on the lookout for the midnight train robbers; and Mr. +Wilks' interest must be attributable to this. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, I was Arnold Nicholson's friend, and I'd go a long ways to +see the scoundrels get their deserts who killed him, even if there was +no reward in the case," explained the brakeman suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," answered Dyke Darrel. "I can understand how one employed +on the same train could take the deepest interest in such a sad +affair." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you go down on Clark street with me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not just now." +</P> + +<P> +"When?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will meet you here this evening, and consult on that point." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. Better take something." +</P> + +<P> +"No; not now." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Barrel rose to his feet and turned to leave the stall. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't fail me now, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I will not." +</P> + +<P> +The detective walked out. The moment he was gone a change came over +the countenance of the young brakeman. The pleasant look vanished, and +one dark and wicked took its place. +</P> + +<P> +"Go, Dyke Darrel; I am sharp enough to understand you. You distrust +me; but you're fooled all the same. It's strange you've forgotten the +boy you sent to prison from St. Louis five years ago for passing +counterfeit coin. I haven't forgotten it; and, what is more, I mean to +get even." +</P> + +<P> +Then, with a grating of even white teeth, Watson Wilks passed out. At +the bar he paused long enough to toss off a glass of brandy, and then +he went out upon the street. +</P> + +<P> +It was a raw April day, and the air cut like a knife. After glancing +up and down the street Mr. Wilks moved away. On reaching Clark street +he hurried along that thoroughfare toward the south. Arriving in a +disreputable neighborhood, he entered the side door of a dingy brick +building, and stood in the presence of a woman, who sat mending a pair +of old slippers by the light afforded by a narrow window. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge Scarlet, I've found you alone, it seems." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm generally alone," said the female, not offering to move. +</P> + +<P> +She was past the prime of life, and there were many crow's feet on a +face that had once been beautiful. Her dress was plain, and not the +neatest. The room was small, and there were few articles of furniture +on the uncarpeted floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge, where are Nick and Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell you." +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't they been here to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, not in three days." "That seems strange." +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't to me. They are out working the tramp dodge, in the +country, or into some worse iniquity, Watson. I do wish you would quit +such company, and try and behave yourself." +</P> + +<P> +At this the young man gave vent to a sarcastic laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Aunt Madge, what an idea! Do you suppose your dear nephew could +do anything wrong? Aren't I a pattern of perfection?" +</P> + +<P> +Watson Wilks drew himself up and looked as solemn as an owl. This did +not serve to bring a pleased expression to the woman's face, however. +As she said nothing, the young man proceeded: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm working on the railroad now, Madge, and haven't turned a +dishonest penny in a long time. Of course you heard of the robbery of +the midnight express down in the central part of the State last night? +Some of the morning papers have an account of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I hadn't heard." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, I will tell you about it;" and Mr. Wilks gave a brief +account of the terrible tragedy that had shocked the land. "It's a +regular Jesse James affair, and there's a big reward offered for the +outlaws." +</P> + +<P> +The woman seemed interested then, and looked hard at her nephew. +</P> + +<P> +"Watson, I hope you know nothing of this work?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I know something of it," he answered quickly. "I returned +in charge of the dead body of the messenger. I was in the next car +when he was killed, and one of the robbers put his pistol to my head +and threatened to blow my brains out if I said or did anything. You +can just bet I kept mighty still." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think so. This'll make a tremendous stir," returned the +woman. "The country'll be full of man-trackers and it'll go hard with +the outlaws if they're captured." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet; but they won't be captured." "You are confident?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've a right to be. I—-" +</P> + +<P> +Then the young man ceased to speak suddenly, and his face became +deeply suffused. +</P> + +<P> +The woman sprang up then and went to the young man's side, laying her +hand on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Watson, tell me truly that you don't know who committed this crime." +</P> + +<P> +"Bother!" and he flung her hand from his shoulder with an impatient +movement. "I hope you ain't going to turn good all to once, Madge +Scarlet. I tell you, thirty thousand dollars ain't to be sneezed at, +and I do need money—but of course <I>I</I> don't know a thing about who +did it, of course not; but I can tell you one thing, old lady, Dyke +Barrel is on the trail, and he is even now in Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke Darrel!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's who, Madam." +</P> + +<P> +For some moments a silence fell over the two that was absolutely +painful. At length the woman found her voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke Barrel! Ah! fiend of Missouri, I have good cause to remember you +and your work. Do you know, Watson, the fate of your poor uncle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should smile if I didn't," answered the young man. "He died +in a Missouri dungeon, sent there by this same Dyke Darrel, the +railroad man-tracker. Hate him? Of course you do, but not as I do. I +have sworn to have revenge for the five years I laid in a dungeon for +shoving the queer." +</P> + +<P> +"And Dyke Darrel is now in Chicago?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I parted from him not an hour since." +</P> + +<P> +"What is he here for?" +</P> + +<P> +"The crime on the midnight express brings him here." +</P> + +<P> +"And you saw and talked with him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did." +</P> + +<P> +"He recognized you of course?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, he did not; that is the best of it. I am to meet him again +to-night. It won't be long before the man who sent Uncle Dan to a +Missouri dungeon is in your presence, and you shall do with him as you +like, Madge Scarlet." +</P> + +<P> +"As I like?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have said it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then Dyke Darrel shall die!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's the talk," Madge. "THAT sounds like your old self; I am glad +you have come to your senses. If Nick and Sam come in, tell them to be +in readiness to receive a visitor." +</P> + +<P> +Then the young man turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. Just +as the shades of night were falling Watson Wilks peered into the +saloon and restaurant where he had parted from Dyke Darrel earlier in +the day. +</P> + +<P> +He saw nothing of the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"It is time he was here," muttered the young man. "Dyke Darrel is +generally prompt in filling engagements." +</P> + +<P> +"Always prompt, MARTIN SKIDWAY!" +</P> + +<P> +The young villain staggered back against the iron railing near, as +though stricken a blow in the face. +</P> + +<P> +Unconsciously he had uttered his thoughts aloud, and the voice that +uttered the reply was hissed almost in his ear. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +The detective's face wore a stern look, which was suddenly discarded +for a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I am prompt in filling engagements," said Darrel, after a moment. +"You see I have at last recognized you, and the walls of the prison +from which you escaped shall again envelop you." +</P> + +<P> +And then a sharp click was heard. The fraudulent brakeman held up his +arms helplessly—they were safely secured with handcuffs! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES. +</H3> + +<P> +It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the +one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +The noted detective had outwitted him completely. +</P> + +<P> +It was humiliating, to say the least. +</P> + +<P> +"This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to +utter. "I will call on the police for assistance if you do not at once +remove these bracelets." +</P> + +<P> +"Do so if you like," answered Dyke Darrel, coolly; so icily in fact as +to deter the young man from carrying out his threat. It might be that +the detective would delight in turning him over to the Chicago police, +a consummation that the fellow dreaded more than aught else. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me, and make no trouble. You will do so, if you know when +you are well off," said Dyke Darrel significantly. +</P> + +<P> +And Wilks walked along peacefully, allowing the sleeves of his coat to +hide the handcuffs. After going a few blocks, the detective hailed a +hack, and pushing his prisoner before him, entered and ordered the +driver to make all speed for the Union depot. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean?" demanded the prisoner, with assumed +indignation. +</P> + +<P> +"It means that you will take a trip South for your health, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +"To St. Louis?" +</P> + +<P> +"You have guessed it, Skidway." +</P> + +<P> +A troubled look touched the face of the escaped prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you call me by that name, Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because that IS your name. You have five years unexpired term yet to +serve in the Missouri penitentiary, and I conceive it my duty to see +that you keep the contract." +</P> + +<P> +"A contract necessarily requires two parties. I never agreed to serve +the State." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we won't argue the point." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am in the employ of the railroad company, and will lose my +place—-" +</P> + +<P> +"You gain another one, so it doesn't matter," retorted the detective. +"No use making a fuss, Mr. Skidway; you cannot evade the punishment +which awaits you. Any confession you choose to make I am willing to +hear. The late tragedy, for instance?" +</P> + +<P> +"You'll get nothing out of me." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you are. Did you recognize me when we first met?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. It was an afterthought." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so. You shall suffer for this. You've got the wrong man, +Mr. Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to know me." +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody does." +</P> + +<P> +"You flatter me." +</P> + +<P> +"My name isn't Skidway, but Wilks, and I can prove it." +</P> + +<P> +"Do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Release me and I will." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not that green." +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner muttered angrily. He realized that he was fairly caught, +and that it was too late now to think of deceiving the famous +detective. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel had recognized in the young man calling himself Watson +Wilks an old offender, who had made his escape from the Missouri State +prison three months before, and he at once surmised that the young +counterfeiter, who was a hard case, might have had a hand in the +murder and robbery of the express messenger. Reasoning thus, the +detective decided upon promptly arresting the fellow before proceeding +to search further. It would be safer to have Skidway in prison than at +large in any event. +</P> + +<P> +More than one pair of eyes had watched the departure of Dyke Darrel +and his prisoner from Chicago, and a little later a bearded man, with +deep-set, twinkling eyes, and the general look of a hard pet, thrust +his head into Madge Scarlet's little room, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"It are all up with the kid, Mrs. Scarlet." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that you say?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman came to her feet and confronted the new-comer with an +interested look. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all up with the kid." +</P> + +<P> +"Come in, Nick Brower, and let me have a look at your face. I want no +lies now," cried the woman sharply; and the man drew himself into a +little room, and stood regarding the female with a grin. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let me hear what you've got to tell," demanded Mrs. Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"It's ther kid—" +</P> + +<P> +"Watson?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yesum." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what has happened to him, man? Can't you speak?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's took." +</P> + +<P> +"Took?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nabbed. Got the darbies on and gone South a wisitin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean to say that Watson has been arrested?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do, mam," grunted Brower. "He's well out of town, goin' South, and +I reckin he'll be in Jeffe'son City before we hear from him agin. I +seed him a-goin' with my own eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"How did it happen?" +</P> + +<P> +The man explained how young Skidway had been seized and taken on board +the train by Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure his captor was Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't blind, I reckon," growled the man. "I heard sufficient to +tell me that the detective was takin' the kid back to Missoury, and +that was enough for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you permit it?" +</P> + +<P> +A laugh answered the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"You might have saved the boy," pursued Mrs. Scarlet, angrily. "Now he +will spend another five years in the dungeon where my poor man died of +a broken heart. Watson told me that the infamous Dyke Darrel was in +Chicago; but I had no thought of his recognizing the boy. Can you lend +me some money, Nick?" +</P> + +<P> +"A purty question, Madge. Don't you know I'm always dead-broke?" +growled Brower. "What in the nation do you want with money any how?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to St. Louis." +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am. If Dyke Darrel puts my boy behind prison bars again, I will +have no mercy. It's life for life. I am tired of living, and am +willing to die to revenge myself on that miserable detective." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet began pacing the room. She was deeply moved, and tears of +anger and sorrow glittered in her eyes. She was about to utter a +fierce tirade against the detective, when a step sounded without, +followed immediately by three raps on the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Whist!" exclaimed Brower. "It is the Professor." +</P> + +<P> +Madge Scarlet crossed the floor and admitted a visitor, a tall man +with fire-red hair and beard, who was well clad and wore blue glasses. +A plug hat, rather the worse for wear, was lifted and caressed +tenderly with one arm as the gentleman bowed before Mrs. Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"I am pleased to find you at home, Mrs. Scarlet." +</P> + +<P> +"I seldom go out, Mr. Ruggles, or Professor Darlington Ruggles, I +suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind the handle, madam. I see you have company." The Professor +turned a keen glance on Nick Brower as he spoke. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SCALPED. +</H3> + +<P> +"The gentleman is a friend," said Mrs. Scarlet. "You need not fear to +speak before him." +</P> + +<P> +"I hain't no wish to hear any private talk," said Nick Brower, and +with that he cast a keen, knowing look into the visitor's face, and +passed from the room. +</P> + +<P> +"We're alone, Professor." +</P> + +<P> +"So it seems." +</P> + +<P> +"What news do you bring?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard of the midnight express robbery?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have." +</P> + +<P> +"And that Dyke Darrel is on the trail?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard all that, and more," said the woman. "My nephew has been +arrested and taken to Missouri by this same infamous Dyke Darrel. It +was an awful blow to me; it leaves me entirely alone in the world. I +am ready to do anything to compass the ruin of the detective who +brought me to this." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to hear you say it, madam. I came here for advice and help. +I assure you that it is highly necessary for all of us that Dyke +Darrel be removed." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"He might be enticed here, and quietly disposed of." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you entice him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I might; but—-" +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" as the man hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, I've got a place to fill in the world, and don't want to mix +with anything that's unlawful," and the Professor stroked his red +beard in a solemn manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Yet you would be glad to see Dyke Darrel dead?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, woman! Walls have ears. You are imprudent. I have nothing +against Mr. Darrel in particular, only he has injured my friends, and +may be up to more of his tricks. Now, as regards Watson Wilks, you say +Dyke Darrel has gone to Missouri with the boy in charge?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. The last friend I had in the world has been torn from me, to +languish in prison. I will have the detective's heart's blood for +this," cried the woman, with passionate vehemence. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," agreed the Professor. "But of what crime was the young +man accused? Not the one on the midnight express, I hope?" The tall +visitor bent eagerly forward then, and penetrated the woman with a +keen gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," was the quick reply. "I know that Martin had no hand in +that." +</P> + +<P> +"Martin?" +</P> + +<P> +"Watson, I mean," corrected Mrs. Scarlet. "I sometimes call the boy +Martin, which is his middle name, so he has a right to it." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly. You KNOW that the boy had nothing to do with the robbery +last night. I don't wish to argue or dispute with a lady, but I shall +be compelled to question HOW you know so much. Will you answer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because—because Martin is incapable of such work. I have read all +about it in the papers, and am confident that it was the work of an +organized band." The Professor laughed until his white teeth gleamed +in the lamplight. +</P> + +<P> +"So sure!" he said. "You consider that nephew of yours a pattern of +propriety. Is this the only reason you have for believing that Watson +Wilks had no hand in the murder of Arnold Nicholson, and the rifling +of the express company's safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have another!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was in Chicago at the time the deed was done." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you prove this?" +</P> + +<P> +Professor Ruggles seemed extremely eager, as he bent forward and +touched the arm of Madge Scarlet with a white forefinger. +</P> + +<P> +"I can prove it." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good. It may never be necessary, but if the worst comes, you may +be called on. I suppose you're not in the best of circumstances, Mrs. +Scarlet?" +</P> + +<P> +The Professor drew forth his wallet. "I shall suffer, now that my boy +is gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't fear that, madam," returned Darlington Ruggles, as he laid a +bank note for a large amount in her hand. "Providence and your friends +will take care of you. You have rendered me more than one good +service, and I may call on you for more, soon, much sooner than you +imagine." +</P> + +<P> +"Anything I can do, Professor, will be gladly performed;" was the +woman's answer, as she clutched the bank note eagerly, and thrust it +from sight. +</P> + +<P> +Then Professor Ruggles turned to the door. Here he paused and faced +the woman once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Madge, what charge was your nephew arrested under?" +</P> + +<P> +"An old one." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not an answer," and the man frowned. +</P> + +<P> +"The charge is for uttering counterfeit coin. I believe the boy was +innocent, but there was money on the other side, and Martin was sent +up for ten years; my husband for fifteen. My man died of a broken +heart, being innocent, and Martin served five years and then escaped." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand. I don't think the boy will ever serve out his time." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope he may not, but—-" +</P> + +<P> +"Keep a stout heart, Mrs. Scarlet. Influences are at work to free the +boy. It will not do to permit him to languish in prison. I tell you +Providence is on your side." +</P> + +<P> +Then Mr. Darlington Ruggles passed from the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Strange man," muttered the woman, after he had gone. "He is a +mystery. Sometimes I imagine he is not what he seems, but a detective. +I hope I have given nothing away, for I find it won't do to trust +anybody these days." +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime Professor Darlington Ruggles made his way to another +part of the city, not far from the river, and met a man in a dingy +basement room at the rear of a low doggery. +</P> + +<P> +Strange place for a learned professor, was it not? +</P> + +<P> +"You've kept me waiting awhile, boss." +</P> + +<P> +The speaker was the man we have seen at Madge Scarlet's—Nick Brower +by name. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't get away sooner," returned the professor. "How does the +land lay, Nat?" +</P> + +<P> +"In an ugly quarter." +</P> + +<P> +"I feared so myself. The young chap that Dyke Darrel took to Missouri +knows enough to hang you—-" +</P> + +<P> +"And you, too, pard; don't forget that," retorted the grizzled villain +grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"I forget nothing," said Mr. Ruggles, giving his plug hat a rub across +his left arm. "It isn't pleasant, to say the least, having matters +turn out in this way. I wish to see you in regard to this Dyke +Darrel." "I'm all ears, pard." +</P> + +<P> +"He must never see Chicago again." +</P> + +<P> +"Wal?" "I want you to see to it, Nick." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that," muttered the grosser villain. "I've shed +'bout enough blood, I reckin." +</P> + +<P> +"It is for your own safety that I speak, Nick. No trace of that last +work can ever reach me." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be too sure, Darl Ruggles. With Dyke Darrel on the trail, +there's no knowing where it'll end. He's unearthed some o' the darkest +work ever did in Chicago an' St. Louis. I WOULD breathe a durn sight +more comfortable like if Dyke Darrel was under the sod." +</P> + +<P> +"So would others." +</P> + +<P> +"Yourself, fur instance." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't deny it, Nick. I don't feel very comfortable with the young +detective free. Between you and me, Nick, I believe we can make this +the last trail Dyke Darrel ever follows. A thousand dollars to the man +who takes the detective's scalp. That is worth winning, Nick." +</P> + +<P> +"Put 'er thar, pard." +</P> + +<P> +Nick Brower held out his huge hand and clasped the small white one of +the Professor. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll win that thousan' or go beggin' the rest o' my days, Darl +Ruggles." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you may. You'd best take the next train for the Southwest. I +won't be far behind." +</P> + +<P> +And then the two separated. +</P> + +<P> +A little later Professor Darlington Ruggles stood on the dock +overlooking the river and the shipping. Although yet early in the +season the big lake was open, and several vessels laden with lumber +had entered the river from various ports on the Eastern shore during +the day. +</P> + +<P> +A tug lay on the further side, and a schooner with bare spars loomed +up in the moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +"This open sewer has witnessed more thar one crime," mused the +Professor. "I would like it if that infernal Dyke Darrel was at the +bottom of the river. He has taken into his head to hunt down the men +who killed Arnold Nicholson, and if there's a man east of the +Mississippi who can ferret out this crime, Dyke Darrel is the one. But +I don't mean to permit him to do anything of the kind if I know +myself. It's a fight between the detective and as sharp a man as any +detective that ever lived. I imagine—hello! who is this?" +</P> + +<P> +The last exclamation was caused by the sudden appearance of a dark +form coming up over the dock as if from the water. A moment later a +man paused within six feet of Professor Ruggles, and penetrated him +with a pair of glittering eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" +</P> + +<P> +It was the Professor who uttered the word, at the same time receding a +step or two, for the stranger's glance startled him considerably. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" demanded the stranger, shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"It does not concern you." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't it? We'll see about that." +</P> + +<P> +An arm shot forward. The Professor's plug fell to the ground, and the +next instant a red wig was swung aloft in the moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I thought so. You are the man I seek—" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker's words were cut off suddenly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ELLISTON'S REBUFF. +</H3> + +<P> +A mad cry fell from the lips of the Professor when he felt himself +unceremoniously scalped. The next instant his right hand drew forth a +gleaming knife. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Ah! MURDER!" +</P> + +<P> +A dark form went backward over the dock; a splash followed, and the +Professor stood alone. He peered into the muddy water to note the fact +that it flowed on calmly as before. +</P> + +<P> +Then Ruggles picked up his hat and wig, and readjusted them on his +head. +</P> + +<P> +"My soul! that was a narrow escape." +</P> + +<P> +At this moment another form was seen approaching, and the Professor, +deeming it prudent to move away, was soon striding from the spot, his +tall form disappearing in the shadows before the third person reached +the edge of the dock. +</P> + +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> + +<P> +On the day following the events last narrated, a man ran up the steps +at the Darrel cottage in Woodburg, and rang the bell. +</P> + +<P> +Nell answered, and met the gentlemanly Mr. Elliston. She led the way +at once to a room opening from the hall, where preparations had been +made for a lunch. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Dyke?" questioned the gentleman the moment he was seated. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't seen him since he left for Chicago to look into the express +robbery," returned Nell. "Haven't you met him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Strange he did not write if he meant to be gone long," remarked +Elliston. "You were about to dine, I see." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; will you keep me company?" +</P> + +<P> +"With pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought Dyke would be with me ere this," proceeded Nell, as they +discussed the edibles. "When he goes for a long stay she usually drops +me a line." +</P> + +<P> +After the lunch, Mr. Elliston left his chair and crossed the room to +glance from the window, at the same time plucking at his short beard +in an apparently nervous manner. +</P> + +<P> +Nell was on the point of removing the ware from the table, when Mr. +Elliston turned suddenly, and resumed his seat at the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, Nell, I wish a word with you." +</P> + +<P> +The girl sank once more into a chair, wondering what was coming. +</P> + +<P> +Laying both hands on her shoulders, Harper Elliston looked her in the +eyes and said: +</P> + +<P> +"You must have guessed the object of my visit to-day, Nellie Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +She blushed under his gaze, and looked away nervously. +</P> + +<P> +"N—oo, I can't say that I do. I suppose you came to see my brother." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so. It is you I wished to see, Nell. Why have I come here so +often? I know you must have guessed before this. I love you, dear +girl, and want you to be mine—" +</P> + +<P> +He could say no more then, for Nell Darrel started sharply to her +feet, pressing her hands to her burning face. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, not that." she murmured. "I never suspected that, Mr. +Elliston." +</P> + +<P> +"But listen to me, Nell," he pleaded, reaching up and attempting to +draw her hands aside. "I can give you a handsome home in New York. If +you will be my wife, I will return there at once." +</P> + +<P> +She tore herself from his hands, and her confusion vanished, a feeling +of indignation taking its place. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Elliston, I tell you I do not love you, and never can. I was +never more surprised in my life than now. You are old enough to be my +father, sir." +</P> + +<P> +He came to his feet also, and leaned with his hands clinching the top +of a chair. There was a frown on his brow and a glitter in his black +eyes unpleasant to see. +</P> + +<P> +"Must I call you coquette?" he said, in an undertone of concentrated +feeling. "You certainly have encouraged me." +</P> + +<P> +"Never, sir," was the indignant response. +</P> + +<P> +"Then our paths must lie apart hereafter, I suppose, Miss Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is as you shall determine," she answered. "As my brother's +friend, I have tolerated you, and can do so in the future." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! It was only TOLERATION then. I did not think this of you, Nell +Darrel. Do you know that many of the wealthiest, most beautiful +maidens of Gotham would jump at the offer you have just spurned so +lightly?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will not deny it." +</P> + +<P> +"I could have long ago taken a partner to share my life in my elegant +home on Fifth avenue, but do you know the reason of my not doing so? I +can tell you. I had not seen a girl to my taste. Until I came West I +believed I should never marry. From the moment of meeting you, +however, I changed my mind. To see was to love, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Please cease, Mr. Elliston," pleaded Nell Darrel, putting out her +hand deprecatingly. "This is a most painful subject to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well." +</P> + +<P> +With a sigh he crossed the floor and stood by the window once more. He +seemed struggling to keep down his emotions. At that moment the +detective's sister pitied the man, and felt really sorry that she had +unintentionally been the means of making him miserable. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Elliston, please do not feel so badly. I respect you, and hope we +may ever be friends." +</P> + +<P> +She approached him and held out her hand. He turned and regarded her +with a queer glow in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I accept your proffer of continued friendship," he said with a forced +smile. "It is better so than open war between us." +</P> + +<P> +"It would avail nothing to make war on a friend," she said simply. "I +respect you very highly, Mr. Elliston, and as Dyke's friend, shall +always hope to retain your good opinion." +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever may happen, you will have that," he returned. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after the gentleman departed. The moment he was gone Nell Darrel +sank to a chair, and, bowing her head on the table, began to cry. +</P> + +<P> +Strange proceeding, was it not, after what had taken place? Women are +enigmas that man, after ages of study, has been unable to solve. +</P> + +<P> +Another face came before the girl's mind at that moment, the face of +one to whom her heart had been given in the past, and who, for some +unaccountable reason, had failed to put in an appearance or write +during the past six months. +</P> + +<P> +"If Harry were only here," murmured the girl, as she raised her head +and wiped the tears from her pretty eyes. "I know something has +happened to him—something terrible." +</P> + +<P> +At this moment Aunt Jule, the colored housekeeper, the only other +resident of the cottage, aside from Nell Barrel and her brother, +entered the room, and her appearance at once put an end to Nell's +weeping. +</P> + +<P> +"Marse Elliston done gone. What did he want, honey?" +</P> + +<P> +"To see Dyke," answered Nell, with a slight twinge at uttering such a +monstrous falsehood. +</P> + +<P> +"Marse Dyke don't come yet. 'Deed but he's full of business dese +times. Marse Dyke a great man, honey." +</P> + +<P> +If the old negress noticed traces of tears on the face of her young +mistress, she was sharp enough to keep the discovery to herself. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, Mr. Elliston made his way to the principal hotel in +the little city and sought his room. He was a regular boarder, but, +like other men of leisure, he was not regular at meals or room. +Nevertheless, he paid his board promptly, and that was the desideratum +with the landlord. +</P> + +<P> +The man's teeth gleamed above his short, gray-streaked beard, as he +sat down and meditated on the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"So, I can be her friend still. Well, that is something. I don't mean +to give up so. Dark clouds are gathering over your life, Nell Darrel, +and when the blackest shadow of the storm bends above and howls about +you, in that hour you may conclude that even an elderly gentleman like +myself will DO." +</P> + +<P> +Again the man's teeth gleamed and the black eyes glittered. +</P> + +<P> +"I have set my heart on winning that girl. A mock marriage will do as +well as anything, and such beauty and freshness will bring money in +New York." +</P> + +<P> +Harper Elliston remained in his room until a late lour. After the +shades of evening fell he left the room and hotel with a small grip in +his hand. He turned his steps in the direction of the railway station. +Arrived at the depot, he purchased a ticket for St. Louis. Then he +sauntered outside and stood leaning against the depot in a shaded +spot. +</P> + +<P> +It would be five minutes only until the departure of the train. There +were troubled thoughts in the brain of Harper Elliston that night. +</P> + +<P> +A touch on his hand caused him to start. At thin fold of paper was +passed into his palm. Turning quickly, Elliston saw a shadowy form +disappear in the gloom. +</P> + +<P> +"Confound it, who are you?" growled the tall man, angrily. Then, +remembering the paper, he went to a light, and opening it, held it up +to his gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"HARPER ELLISTON: Go slow in your plot against Nell Darrel. She has a +friend who will see that her enemies are punished. Beware! The volcano +on which you tread is about to burst." +</P> + +<P> +No name was signed to the paper. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the express came thundering in; the conductor's "all +aboard" sounded, and, crunching the paper in his hands, Elliston had +hardly time to spring on board ere the train went rushing away into +the darkness. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DYKE DARREL'S DANGER. +</H3> + +<P> +Martin Skidway was an old offender, and through the efforts of Dyke +Darrel he and his uncle had been detected in crime and sent to the +Missouri State prison for a term of years. It was a mere accident that +the detective came upon the escaped young counterfeiter, or rather it +was through the young villain's own foolhardiness that he was again in +durance vile. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not serve my time out, you can bet high on that," asserted the +young prisoner in a confident tone. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel more than half suspected that the young counterfeiter knew +something of the late crime on the midnight express, and during the +ride to St. Louis he did all that he could to worm a confession from +the prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +"It is possible that you may get your freedom at an early day," said +the detective. "I have heard of men turning State's evidence, and +profiting by it." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so." +</P> + +<P> +"I would advise you to think on this, Martin Skidway." +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I think on it? Do you think I'm a fool, Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not quite," and the detective smiled. "I know you have been pretty +sharp, young man, but not keen enough to escape punishment. You have +five years yet to serve, at the end of which time you may be arrested +and hung for another crime." +</P> + +<P> +"You are giving me wind now." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not. A terrible crime was committed four and twenty hours since, +and on this road; a midnight crime that the whole country will work to +punish. It will we impossible for the express robbers to escape." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a braggart!" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not say that <I>I</I> will be the one to bring these villains to +justice, but I do say that justice will be done, and I expect to see +the murderers of Arnold Nicholson hung." The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel +fixed themselves on the face of his prisoner, with a penetrating +sharpness that fairly made the fellow squirm in his seat. On more than +one occasion had the railroad detective brought confession from the +lips of guilt, through the magnetism of his terrible glance. +</P> + +<P> +He tried his powers on the man at his side, and found him yielding to +the pressure, when Skidway suddenly turned his face to the window, and +refused to encounter the gaze of his captor. +</P> + +<P> +By this means he was able to defy the magnetic powers of the +detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Martin Skidway, you may as well admit that you know something of this +latest villainy. Even if you were not connected with it, you know WHO +was?" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner remained silent. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel proceeded: +</P> + +<P> +"You said that you were a brakeman on the train on which poor +Nicholson found his death. Was that the truth?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was." +</P> + +<P> +"It is now for your own good that you make confession, Martin +Skidway!" +</P> + +<P> +"I've nothing to confess." +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful!" +</P> + +<P> +"You can't scare me into telling a lie," said the prisoner, with an +assumption of bravado that he did not feel. "I don't know anything +about the express robbers, only what I've told you; you can make the +most of that." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean to do so," assured Dyke Darrel. "I shall not leave the trail +until the perpetrators of that crime are secured and punished. In that +day you may wish that you had not been so obstinate." +</P> + +<P> +"I have told all I know." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you have!" +</P> + +<P> +"You believe I am lying, Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't matter what I believe," retorted the detective. "Of +course, you are not of the sort who believe in telling facts when a +falsehood will serve you better. I did not expect anything different." +</P> + +<P> +Arrived at the Southwestern metropolis, Dyke Darrel turned his +prisoner over to the proper officers, warning them of the dangerous +nature of young Skidway, and then he turned his thoughts and feet in +another channel. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel went to the office of the railroad company on whose road +the midnight crime had been committed, and consulted with one of the +officers in regard to the same. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a terrible affair," said Mr. Holden, the officer in question. +"I telegraphed our folks in Chicago to employ detectives in that city, +and expect to have the best talent in the country look into this." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. Any clew discovered?" +</P> + +<P> +"None." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe the villains covered their tracks well," said Dyke Darrel. +"The express messenger who was murdered was a personal friend." +</P> + +<P> +"Your friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; one I had known for years, which explains my interest in the +case. I suppose I have your good wishes in hunting down the outlaws?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of course; but it is a task that may tax the coolness and +ingenuity of skilled detectives. Amateurs have no place on this case, +I assure you." +</P> + +<P> +"Admitted," returned the young detective, with a smile. "You have +heard of Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should think I had. He is the best detective in the West, now that +Pinkerton is gone; he was a trusted friend of Allan Pinkerton, too." +</P> + +<P> +"He was." +</P> + +<P> +"I've telegraphed for our people to see about employing Dyke Darrel. I +shan't be content without." +</P> + +<P> +Again a smile swept the face of the young detective. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems that you never met Dyke Darrel, Mr. Holden." +</P> + +<P> +"Never; but—-" +</P> + +<P> +"You see him now at any rate." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>I</I> am Dyke Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"YOU?" +</P> + +<P> +"The same." +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective; the fellow who captured the +brute Crogan, and broke up the counterfeiters' nest near Iron +Mountain; the man who has sent more criminals over the road than any +other detective in the wide West—YOU?" +</P> + +<P> +"The same, at your service," and Darrel bowed and smiled again. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I AM astonished." +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless the incredulous railway official seemed pleased at the +last, and shook the young detective warmly by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Darrel, and hope we can induce you to take +up this case. A great many suspects have been reported, but I take +stock in none of them. I trust the whole affair (the management of it, +I mean) to you. Will you go into it, Mr. Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly." +</P> + +<P> +Some time longer the detective and official talked, and the lamps in +the streets were lit when Dyke Darrel left the presence of Mr. Holden, +and turned his steps toward a hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"I must send a line to Nell," mused the detective, as he moved along. +"I shall remain a short time in St. Louis, as I may pick up some +points here that will be of use to me. I am of the opinion that either +this city or Chicago holds the perpetrators of this latest railroad +crime." +</P> + +<P> +The detective did not see the shadowy form flitting along not far +behind. A man had shadowed the detective since his departure from the +railway office. Dyke Darrel, in order to make a short cut, had entered +a narrow street, where the lights were few and the buildings dingy and +of a mean order. +</P> + +<P> +Moving on, deeply wrapped in thought, the detective permitted his +"shadow" to steal upon him, and just as Dyke Darrel came opposite a +narrow alley, the shadow sprang forward and dealt him a stunning blow +on the head. +</P> + +<P> +The detective reeled, but did not fall. Partially stunned, he turned +upon his assailant, only to meet the gleam of cold steel as a knife +descended into his bosom! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT A HANDKERCHIEF REVEALED. +</H3> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was so dazed from the blow he had received as to be unable +to ward off the dirk that was thrust at his bosom by the vile +assassin, and had not a third party appeared on the scene at this +critical moment the story we are now writing would never have been +told. +</P> + +<P> +A kind Providence had on more than one occasion favored the daring +railroad detective. +</P> + +<P> +Before the point of the knife touched the breast of Dyke Darrel, a +swift-flying object sent the deadly weapon out into the middle of the +street. +</P> + +<P> +The next instant a man bounded from the shadow of a building upon the +would-be assassin. There was a short struggle, when the last comer +found, that instead of the detective's assailant, he held a coat in +his hands. +</P> + +<P> +The villain had made good his escape. +</P> + +<P> +"Confound you!" greeted the new comer. +</P> + +<P> +"Who was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw him following you, sir, and made up my mind that some villainy +was in the wind. I do not know who the villain was. Are you hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the least." +</P> + +<P> +Then the two men walked on until a lamp-post was gained. Here the +features of each were plainly revealed. +</P> + +<P> +A low exclamation fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Good thunder, Harry Bernard! how are you? Where in the world did you +spring from?" +</P> + +<P> +The detective grasped and wrung the man's hand warmly—a rather +slender young fellow, with brown hair and eyes, a mustache being the +only sign of beard on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"One question at a time, Dyke," returned the young man with a laugh. +"I mistrusted it was you all the time. It strikes me that you are +becoming careless in your old age. Hope you're not in love—THAT makes +a fool of a man sometimes?" +</P> + +<P> +"Does it? No, I'm not in any such predicament; fact is, I am wedded to +my profession and shall never marry. But, Harry, you haven't answered +my questions yet." +</P> + +<P> +"You asked me how I get on; I can answer that by saying that I was +never better in my life. I have been across the plains, among cowboys +and Indians, and it's given me strong muscles and good health. I +arrived in St. Louis this morning. It was the merest chance that +placed me in a position to do you a service, Dyke. As I said before, +it seems to me that you are getting careless. Just imagine what the +result would have been had I not put in an appearance. I have the +fellow's coat to show for the adventure." +</P> + +<P> +"True enough. I admit that I was careless," returned the detective, +"and my adventure will serve to put me on my guard hereafter. Come +with me to my room, Harry, and we will talk over matters in general. I +must take the midnight express North, and may not see you again soon, +unless you conclude to go on with me." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall remain in St. Louis for the present," returned young Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +He went with his friend to the hotel, however, and soon the two were +in the privacy of Dyke Darrel's room. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then, let us look at that coat." Harry Bernard laid the garment +down on the bed, and Darrel began a close examination of the same. It +was an ordinary sack coat, with two inside pockets. The detective was +not long in going through the pockets. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +The ejaculation was significant. +</P> + +<P> +It fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel, the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Now what?" questioned Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at that." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel held aloft a handkerchief that had once been white, but +which was now dingy with dirt. But this was not the only +discoloration. There was a stain on the square bit of linen that was +significant. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Blood!" answered Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +Then the detective made a close examination, and made still another +discovery—a name in one corner of the rumpled handkerchief. +</P> + +<P> +The keen eyes of the detective gleamed with a satisfied light. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you discovered, Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"A clew." +</P> + +<P> +"To what?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the most infamous crime of the century. This handkerchief has the +name of its owner stamped plainly in the corner." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Arnold Nicholson." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is the name on this bit of linen, which shows that it was once +the property of the murdered express messenger. Of course you have +heard of the crime on the Central?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It gave me a shock, too. Arnold was a good fellow." +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard's face wore a serious look as he took the blood-stained +handkerchief from the hand of the detective, and examined it with +mournful interest. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be that you were assaulted by one of the train robbers, +Dyke," said the youth, as he returned the relic of that midnight +crime. +</P> + +<P> +"I imagine so. The scoundrels have discovered that I am on the trail, +and they mean to put me out on the first base, if possible. Did you +see the man's face who assaulted me, Harry?" +</P> + +<P> +"Imperfectly. I know, however, that he had red hair." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +"You suspected as much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. In the dead man's fingers was a bit of red hair. It seems +conclusive that the villain who assaulted me to-night was the one who +engaged in the death struggle with poor Nicholson. The trail is +becoming plain, and before the National holiday rolls round I hope to +have the perpetrator of this crime behind prison bars." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you are not over-sanguine, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"I have ever been successful." +</P> + +<P> +"How about the Osborne case?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes; but that isn't off yet. I expect that the murderers of the +old captain will come to light about the time the railway criminals +are brought to justice." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"There are several hands engaged in these bloody crimes, and when I do +make a haul, it will be a wholesale one." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think you would need help in a work of this kind." +</P> + +<P> +"I do." +</P> + +<P> +"Can I be of any service? You may command me, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. You were of inestimable service to-night, and I believe you +can do more. It would please me to have you remain in this city and +keep an eye out, while I go up the road to the spot where the crime +was committed." +</P> + +<P> +"You know the place?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. It was near Black Hollow, a wild spot, where the woods +along the creek afforded chance for hiding. Some of the rascals are +yet in that vicinity, I believe. The one who assaulted me to-night may +not remain in the city long. You will do as I wish?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly; glad to do it, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"That settles one point, then. If I need any more help I know where I +can find it." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Elliston. He is something of a detective, you know." +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard frowned at mention of that name. The pleasant look +vanished from his face, and he relapsed into silence. +</P> + +<P> +Holding up the handkerchief, Dyke Darrel said: +</P> + +<P> +"This was used by the assassin to wipe his bloody hands after the +murder. He was a fool to keep the tell-tale linen by him; but these +fellows are always leaving some loophole open. I have made one +discovery that may have escaped your notice, Harry." +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Look." Laying the bloody handkerchief over the young man's knee, Dyke +Darrel pointed to a spot near the center, where the imprint of fingers +was plainly visible. +</P> + +<P> +"You see that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly; the marks of human fingers, but I can't see that you will +be able to make anything out of that, so many hands are alike, you +know." +</P> + +<P> +Then Harry laid his own hand against the spot stained with blood. "My +hand fits exactly." +</P> + +<P> +The eyes of Dyke Darrel began to dilate. His usually immobile features +began to twitch, and a deadly pallor overspread all. +</P> + +<P> +What was it that had caught the eye of Dyke Darrel, to cause such +terrible emotion? He had indeed made a discovery. +</P> + +<P> +A close examination of the finger-marks showed a white circle, +centered with a ragged dot of blood near the knuckle; this had +undoubtedly been caused by a wart on the hand of the assassin. It was +this fact that had attracted and interested Dyke Darrel, and what he +intended showing his friend Harry Bernard. The moment Harry laid his +hand against the print on the handkerchief the detective made a +startling discovery. Not only did the hand of Harry Bernard fit the +bloody stain exactly, but a large wart near the knuckle of the little +finger fell exactly against the spot that dotted the center of the +white circle. +</P> + +<P> +A feeling of unutterable horror filled the mind of Dyke Darrel at that +moment. Harry Bernard had been his friend for years, and he had always +found him upright and true. +</P> + +<P> +But what meant this horrible revelation of the handkerchief? +</P> + +<P> +Could it be possible that another had the same-sized hand and a wart +near the knuckle of the little finger? It was not likely. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel came to his feet, with cold perspiration oozing out upon +his brow. Before him sat Harry Bernard, smiling gently, and yet he had +a devil in his heart—THE DEVIL OF ASSASSINATION! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A PLUNGE TO DEATH. +</H3> + +<P> +For some moments neither man spoke. Harry Bernard noticed that his +friend was deeply moved, and he seemed to wonder at the cause. At +length he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke, what is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing, only—-" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, speak out," as the detective hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"It is strange that your hand should so exactly fit the marks on the +handkerchief, Harry." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yes," admitted the youth; "I hope you didn't imagine, however, +that <I>I</I> had a hand in this railway robbery and murder?" +</P> + +<P> +At the last Harry Bernard laughed lightly. Dyke Darrel did not seem to +relish the young fellow's lightness, and only frowned. +</P> + +<P> +"This is not a laughing matter, Harry Bernard," said the detective, +sternly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well I should say not. If you have a serious thought that I could do +such a deed, Dyke, place me under arrest at once." +</P> + +<P> +There was an expression of rebuke on the face of Bernard as he uttered +the last words. He did not look like a criminal, that was certain, and +after a moment Dyke Darrel felt ashamed of his suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Harry, I could not help feeling shocked. Let it pass; I +will not wrong you by suspicion. But you will admit that it was a +strange thing, your hand fitting so perfectly." +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all. Put your own hand here," returned Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel did so, but it was not so near a fit as Harry's. It was +not the size of the hand, but the imprint of the wart that had so +startled the detective. Harry had not discovered the true cause of his +friend's excitement, and the detective concluded to say nothing about +it then. +</P> + +<P> +Time was flying. The midnight express would soon leave the city. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot remain with you longer," said Dyke Darrel, at length. "I +shall leave the case at this end of the route in your hands, Harry, +and if at any time you wish to communicate with me, address me at +Woodburg." +</P> + +<P> +"All right. What shall we do with this?" +</P> + +<P> +Harry indicated the coat that still lay on the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"You may retain that, but I will keep the handkerchief. Both may be of +use in the future." +</P> + +<P> +Soon after the two men separated. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel went at once to the depot, and soon after nine that +evening he was speeding northward at the rate of forty miles an hour. +At the first stop outside of the city three passengers boarded the +train. One was a short, thick-set man, with beard and hair of a dark +color; the others were women. The man entered the smoking car and +thrust himself into an unoccupied seat, and glanced keenly about him. +</P> + +<P> +The man had no ticket, but paid the conductor to a station a hundred +miles from the city. +</P> + +<P> +While sitting with his back to the aisle, a touch on the shoulder +roused him. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, it's you, Ruggles?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ahem—seat occupied?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +The man we have met on a previous occasion, Professor Darlington +Ruggles, settled himself beside the late comer. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahem—fine evening." +</P> + +<P> +A grunt answered the Professor's attempt to be sociable. At length, +after casting a keen glance about the car, to find that but few +passengers were present, and those of but little consequence, +Professor Ruggles said: +</P> + +<P> +"He's in the next car." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I'd like to get my clutches onto him agin." +</P> + +<P> +"You had him once?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but he had help, and escaped. Do you imagine he's on the trail?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," answered Professor Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +"Then he'll get off to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so; but you must be cautious." +</P> + +<P> +"Trust me for that." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you formulated a plan?" +</P> + +<P> +"None." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let me help you." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be glad to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"If we can get the fellow onto the platform the work will be easy. You +understand, Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"Once he goes over nothing can save him." +</P> + +<P> +"True, but how will we git the cuss outside?" +</P> + +<P> +"Easy's preaching. I'll go and introduce myself and get him to wait +this car to try an excellent brand of cigars—see?" And the Professor +chuckled audibly. +</P> + +<P> +"I expect it's easier said than done," returned the thickset villain. +"Twixt you 'n me, Ruggles, Dyke Darrel's cut his eye teeth, an' he +don't walk into no traps with his eyes open, I can tell you that." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll see about it. I flatter myself that I'm sharper than any +detective that ever lived." +</P> + +<P> +Then, adjusting his glasses, the sunset-haired Professor left his seat +and walked down the aisle to the door. He came hurrying back with an +interested, perhaps anxious look on his countenance. +</P> + +<P> +"Now's your time, Sam," whispered Professor Ruggles; "the fellow's on +the platform smoking!" +</P> + +<P> +This was fully two hours after the thickset man first stepped upon the +train. He at once came to his feet, and sauntered in a careless manner +to the door. The night was not dark, and the man could plainly see a +dark form leaning against the end of the opposite car, a bright red +gleam showing the end of his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed Dyke Darrel, who had come out upon the platform to cool +his heated brow and reflect on the situation, while he smoked a cigar +for its soothing influence. +</P> + +<P> +He could not drive the thought of Harry Bernard and the train robbery +from his mind. He remembered that the young man had left Woodburg +suddenly the fall before, and nothing had been seen or heard from him +by his friends since, until Dyke's meeting him so strangely in St. +Louis. It was barely possible that the assault and the rescue by young +Bernard were part of a deep-laid plot. Dyke Darrel possessed a +suspicious mind, and he could not reconcile appearances with the +innocence of young Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +Deeply meditating, the detective scarcely noticed the opening of the +car door opposite his position. His gaze, however, soon met the form +of a man as he stepped across the narrow opening between the coaches. +</P> + +<P> +The detective was instantly on the alert. He was not to be caught +napping, as he had been once before that night. +</P> + +<P> +The moment the stranger passed to his platform, Dyke Darrel faced him +with a drawn revolver in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr., I want a word with you." +</P> + +<P> +Thus uttered the thick-set passenger, and then Dyke Darrel recognized +the man who had boarded the train at the first station outside of St. +Louis. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it you want?" demanded the detective shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"THIS!" +</P> + +<P> +With the word, the man lunged forward. Divining his movement, Dyke +Darrel sank suddenly to the steps, and his assailant plunged headlong +from the train! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WORDS THAT STARTLE. +</H3> + +<P> +It seemed a terrible plunge into eternity. Not for one moment did the +detective lose his presence of mind, however. Straightening, he +reached up and grasped the bell-cord. +</P> + +<P> +Ere many seconds the train came to a stop. +</P> + +<P> +"Man on the track," said Dyke Darrel when the conductor came hurrying +to see what was the trouble. +</P> + +<P> +Lanterns were at once brought into requisition, and men went back to +look for the body of the detective's assailant. +</P> + +<P> +No one imagined that he could possibly plunge from the speeding train +and escape death. Dyke Darrel moved along confidently expecting to +look upon the bruised corpse of the outlaw who had attempted his +destruction. +</P> + +<P> +He met with disappointment. +</P> + +<P> +No man was found. +</P> + +<P> +"He must have been a tough one to have jumped the train without +receiving a scratch," said a voice in the ear of the detective, as he +flashed the rays of a lantern down on the track. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel glanced at the speaker, a gentleman with enormous red +beard, and rather worn silk hat. +</P> + +<P> +This was the detective's first introduction to Professor Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +"I've no doubt of his being tough," answered Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"How did it happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think the fellow intended to throw me off the train." +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness! is that so? What was the trouble about?" +</P> + +<P> +"No trouble that I am aware of. I did not know the man." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it's likely he mistook you for some one else." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel eyed the speaker keenly. There seemed to be nothing +suspicious about the Professor, however, and soon after the detective +dismissed him from his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"All aboard!" shouted the conductor, a little later, and soon the +train was speeding northward at a rapid rate. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel went into the rear car, and sat down to meditate on his +adventure. He realized that his death had been planned by enemies to +law and order, and he believed by the ones who were anxious to throw +him off the trail of the outlaws who perpetrated the crime on the +midnight express a few nights before. +</P> + +<P> +It did not seem possible that the man who had attempted to throw him +from the train, and had gone over himself, had escaped unharmed. +</P> + +<P> +Doubtless, though badly hurt, he had managed to drag himself away from +the immediate vicinity of the track, where he had remained secreted +until the brief search was over. +</P> + +<P> +Since his fall was unexpected, it was not likely that any of the +villain's friends were in the vicinity, and so it might be an easy +matter to trace the outlaw. Dyke Darrel formed a plan of operation at +once, and rose to leave the train at the next stop. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you get off here?" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was somewhat surprised to see Harper Elliston on the +platform of the little station. +</P> + +<P> +"I stop here," said Dyke. "And you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought of going to Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"Postpone your trip then. I wish to consult with you on a matter of +importance." +</P> + +<P> +The tall gentleman hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +The train began to move. +</P> + +<P> +"You must decide quickly," cried the detective. +</P> + +<P> +Elliston walked the length of the narrow platform, with his hand on +the car rail, his satchel in the other hand. His hand fell from the +rail, and the express swept swiftly away in the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"Anything to accommodate, Dyke. I had some business of importance to +transact in Chicago, but it can wait." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry if I put you to extra expense, Harper, but I wish to +consult with one whom I can trust. I've got a devilish mean work on +hand," said Dyke Darrel in an explanatory tone. +</P> + +<P> +"You know I am always ready to assist you, Dyke. Is it a criminal +case?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; the last on record." +</P> + +<P> +"The express crime?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I mistrusted as much. You have been down the road?" +</P> + +<P> +"To St. Louis!" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly." +</P> + +<P> +"I took a young offender down who escaped from prison last winter. I +think the officers will look after him more closely in the future." +</P> + +<P> +"Who was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Martin Skidway." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't call to mind the name, now." +</P> + +<P> +Lights in the distance showed that the village contained one +public-house at least. So there the two men repaired. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston quaffed a glass of wine, while the detective would take +nothing but a cigar. Repairing to a room, the two men sat and +conversed for some time in the most confidential way. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel gave his friend an account of his adventure on the train, +which had induced him to stop off and investigate. +</P> + +<P> +The reader may imagine that it was extremely indiscreet for the +detective to give away his plans to Elliston, but Dyke Darrel had +known this man for more than a year, had visited him in New York, and +found him to be well thought of there, and he had more than once +confided in him, to find him as true as steel. +</P> + +<P> +At this time the detective believed Elliston to be the best friend he +had in the world. He knew the New Yorker to be a man of great ability +and thoroughly acquainted with the world, and more than once he had +done a good turn for Darrel. Why then should he not trust him? In +fact, Dyke Darrel had noticed the growing interest Mr. Elliston took +in his sister, and it pleased him. Looking upon him as almost a +brother, it is little wonder that Dyke Darrel took the man from Gotham +into his confidence to a considerable extent. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you did the right thing in leaving the train to look after +this villain," said Elliston, when he had heard the detective's story; +"but you must be aware that you run a great risk in going about the +country without disguise, avowedly in search of the perpetrators of +the express robbery. Of course, this man has friends, and they will +not hesitate to shoot or stab, as they did in the case of the express +messenger." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly—" +</P> + +<P> +"But, my dear Dyke, had I not happened at the station you might have +run into a trap. I have reason to believe there are many lawless +characters in this neighborhood. It strikes me that the man knew what +he was about when he assaulted you at this point on the road." +</P> + +<P> +To this, however, Dyke Darrel did not agree. He believed that the +villain who attempted his murder sought the first favorable +opportunity for his fell work, regardless of time and place. +</P> + +<P> +Early the next morning the detective and his friend hired a horse and +buggy of the hotel proprietor, and set off down the road to the scene +of the "accident." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was confident that he could find the spot, and, sure +enough, he was not far out in his reckoning. When in the vicinity of +where he believed the man had left the train, Darrel's quick eye +caught sight of a group of men standing under a shed, on the further +side of a distant field. +</P> + +<P> +"There is some cause of excitement over yonder," remarked Dyke Darrel, +as he drew rein, and pointed with his whip. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to mean something," admitted Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I propose to investigate." +</P> + +<P> +Securing his horse, Dyke Darrel vaulted the fence, and, closely +followed by Elliston, made his way across the field. +</P> + +<P> +A dozen men and boys stood about, regarding some object with +commiserating glances. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel pushed his way into the crowd, and was not disappointed in +what he saw—a man lying prostrate on some blankets, with white face +and blood-stained garments. +</P> + +<P> +"We found him jest off the railroad, in a fence-corner," said one of +the countrymen. "He'll never git up an' walk agin." +</P> + +<P> +"Has he said anything?" +</P> + +<P> +This last question was put by Harper Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary word. He fell off 'n ther train last night, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +Elliston knelt and felt the man's pulse. +</P> + +<P> +"He lives," said the New Yorker, "but there isn't much life; he cannot +last long." +</P> + +<P> +"A little brandy might revive him," said Dyke Darrel. "I would like to +have him speak; it is of the utmost importance." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed it is," cried Elliston. "Where is the flask of brandy you +brought from the train, Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the buggy." +</P> + +<P> +"Send a man for it." +</P> + +<P> +"I will go myself;" and Dyke Darrel set off at a rapid walk across the +field. At the same moment the man on the blanket groaned and opened +his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you feel, my man?" questioned Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I'm used up." +</P> + +<P> +"It looks so." +</P> + +<P> +Elliston bent lower. +</P> + +<P> +"You're going to die, Sam, sure's shooting," he said in a whisper at +the ear of the prostrate wretch. +</P> + +<P> +A groan was the only reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you hear me, Sam?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I—I hear," was the faint answer. +</P> + +<P> +Placing his lips to the ear of the man, Elliston continued to whisper +for some seconds. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the detective returned with a flask of brandy, which he at once +placed to the lips of the bruised and helpless wreck. A few sips +seemed to revive the man wonderfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me your name, my man," questioned the detective, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Sam Swart." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you realize your condition? You have but a few hours to live, and +if you wish to free your mind, we will listen." +</P> + +<P> +Elliston stood at the man's feet, facing him with folded arms, while +the kneeling detective addressed himself to the apparently dying man. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't nothing to tell." +</P> + +<P> +"See here, Mr. Swart, it is better that you tell what you know. Do +justice for once, and it may be better with you in the hereafter. You +attempted to murder me last night, and I believe you had a hand in the +death of Arnold Nicholson and the robbery of the express." +</P> + +<P> +"I—I did, but he coaxed me into it," articulated the poor wretch in a +husky voice. Elliston caught the words, and his cheek suddenly +blanched. He was outwardly calm, however. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel bent low to catch the faint words of Swart. It was evident +that the man was rapidly sinking, and the detective was terribly +anxious to get at the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak!" he cried, hoarsely, "WHO coaxed you to commit this crime?" +</P> + +<P> +"HE did. The boy and—and Nick was with—with me." +</P> + +<P> +"But who was the leader—the instigator of the foul deed?" +</P> + +<P> +Close to the swollen lips of the dying man bent the ear of Dyke +Darrel, every nerve on the alert to catch the faint reply. +</P> + +<P> +A name was uttered that caused Dyke Darrel to spring to his feet with +a great cry. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BLACK HOLLOW. +</H3> + +<P> +"What was it?—WHO was it?" cried Harper Elliston, seizing the arm of +Dyke Darrel, and penetrating him with a keen glance. +</P> + +<P> +"It does not matter." +</P> + +<P> +"It does. I have had a suspicion." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"He uttered the name of Harry Bernard." +</P> + +<P> +"How could you guess that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I have felt it in my bones," answered the tall New Yorker. +"Harry Bernard acted queerly before he left Woodburg the last time, +and I have since arrived at the conclusion that he was engaged in some +unlawful work." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I never entertained such a suspicion," was all the detective +vouchsafed in reply. Then he glanced at the man on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"See, the fellow is dying." +</P> + +<P> +It was true. Sam Swart, the miserable outlaw, was swiftly passing +away. Half an hour later, when Elliston and the detective returned to +their buggy, the would-be murderer of Dyke Darrel lay cold in death +under the farmer's shed. +</P> + +<P> +A serious expression pervaded the face of Dyke Darrel, and he scarcely +spoke during the drive back to town. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you find your man?" queried the landlord, when our friends +returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +Elliston entered into an explanation, while Dyke Darrel went up to his +room and threw himself into a chair in a thoughtful attitude. His brow +became corrugated, and it was evident that the detective was enjoying +a spell of the deepest perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be that the fellow's mind wandered," mused Dyke Darrel. "Of +course I cannot accept as evidence the ragged, half-conscious +utterances of a dying man. He spoke of Nick and the boy. There may be +something in that. The boy? Who could that be but Martin Skidway? I've +suspected him; he is capable of anything in the criminal line. It may +be well for me to go to Chicago and visit Martin's Aunt Scarlet. How +that woman hates me, simply because I was the means of breaking up a +gang of spurious money makers, of whom old Dan Scarlet was the chief. +Well, well, the ways of the world are curious enough. By the way, I +haven't sent that line to Nell yet. The girl will feel worried if I +don't write." +</P> + +<P> +Then, drawing several postals from his pocket, Dyke Darrel wrote a few +lines on one with a pencil, and addressed it to "Miss Nell Darrel, +Woodburg." +</P> + +<P> +Just then Elliston entered. +</P> + +<P> +"When does the next train pass, Harper?" +</P> + +<P> +"In twenty minutes. Will you go on it to Chicago?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not to Chicago. I shall stop half a hundred miles this side, or more. +I wish to do a little more investigating." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you accept what the dying Swart said as true?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not wholly." +</P> + +<P> +"Would a dying man be likely to utter a falsehood?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say. What is your opinion?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a peculiar look in the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he put the +question. +</P> + +<P> +"I should think there could be no doubt on the subject." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed; then you consider that the last name that fell from the lips +of Sam Swart was that of the man who instigated the wicked crime on +the midnight express?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, that is my opinion." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel drew out a cigar and lit it, his friend refusing to take +one. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't feel so sanguine as you seem to, Harper. Will you go on?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall go to Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"You do not care to remain with me longer?" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel regarded his friend closely through a cloud of smoke. +</P> + +<P> +"You forget that I left urgent business to keep you company last +night," answered Mr. Elliston, a tinge of rebuke in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not. You have my hearty thanks for your disinterested kindness, +Harper," returned Dyke Darrel. "If the delay has cost you anything—-" +</P> + +<P> +"See here, old chum, don't insult me," cried Elliston, as the +detective drew out a well-filled wallet. "I am able and willing to pay +my own bills, I hope." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. I meant no offense." +</P> + +<P> +"It is time we were on the move, Dyke, if we do not wish to miss the +up train." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel realized the force of his friend's words, and at once made +preparations for departure. A little later the two were on board the +morning express, speeding Northward. Dyke Darrel informed the +conductor of the fate of Sam Swart, the outlaw, but did not intimate +that the fellow was a member of the gang of train robbers, whose deed +of blood had sent a shudder of horror and indignation throughout the +nation. +</P> + +<P> +When the train halted at Black Hollow, the station at which the +terrible crime of a few days previous had been discovered, Dyke Darrel +arose to go. +</P> + +<P> +"When shall I see you again, Dyke?" questioned Mr. Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not sure. I shall be in Woodburg next week." +</P> + +<P> +"I will see you there, then." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well." +</P> + +<P> +The detective left the train, and stood alone on the platform of the +little station. There were not a dozen houses in sight, and it was not +often that the express halted at this place. Here the daring deed of +robbers had been discovered. It could not be far from here that the +outlaws left the express car, doubtless springing off and escaping in +the darkness as the train slowed up to the station. +</P> + +<P> +Not a soul in sight. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel entered the depot, to see a man standing at the window who +had been watching the moving train as it rushed away on its northern +course. +</P> + +<P> +"No public house here, sir," said the man, who proved to be the +railway agent, in answer to an inquiry from the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I must find some one who will keep me for a short time," +returned Dyke Darrel. "I am looking for a location in which to open a +gun-shop." +</P> + +<P> +"Guns would sell here, I reckon," said Mr. Bragg. "I guess maybe I can +accommodate you with a stopping-place for a day or two." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. I will pay you well." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not a shark," answered the agent. "You see that brown house up +yonder, in the edge of that grove?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"That's my place. I can't go up just now; but you may tell my wife +that I sent you, and it will be all right." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel sauntered down past several dingy-looking dwellings until +he came to the house of Mr. Bragg. It was really the most respectable +dwelling in the place, which could not have been famous for its fine +residences. +</P> + +<P> +The aspect about was not calculated to prepossess one in favor of the +country. Somehow, it seemed to the detective that Black Hollow was +half a century behind the age. Mrs. Bragg was a shy, ungainly female, +and not at all communicative. +</P> + +<P> +Darrel occupied the remainder of the day in exploring the country in +the vicinity. A creek crossed the railroad and entered a deep gulch, +the sides of which were lined with a dense growth of bushes. +</P> + +<P> +An ill-defined path led down the steep side of the gulch, and was lost +to sight in the dense growth at the bottom. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel followed this path, and soon found himself in a dense wood +that seemed to cover a strip of bottom land. Moving on, the deep +shadows soon encompassed him on every side. +</P> + +<P> +A solemn stillness seemed to pervade the place, and a feeling of +loneliness came over the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"What a splendid place for secreting plunder, or hiding from officers +of the law." +</P> + +<P> +It was almost dark ere the detective turned to retrace his steps. The +narrow path grew indistinct, and it was only with the utmost +difficulty that Dyke Darrel kept his course. +</P> + +<P> +The snapping of a dry twig suddenly startled him. +</P> + +<P> +This sound was followed almost instantly by the whip-like crack of a +rifle. A stinging sensation on the cheek, together with the whistle of +a deadly bullet, warned Dyke Darrel of a narrow escape. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +POOR SIBYL! +</H3> + +<P> +Instantly the detective drew his revolver and sought shelter behind a +tree. Then he gazed sharply in the direction from whence the sound of +the rifle had come. +</P> + +<P> +A faint line of smoke in the distance alone met the gaze of Dyke +Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +It was evident that some one had fired upon him with murderous intent. +This was the belief of the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Somebody has dogged my steps; there can be no doubt about that," +answered Dyke Darrel. "I was not wrong in my supposition that Black +Hollow is the rendezvous of a gang of outlaws. I wish I had one good +man with me to help hunt these scoundrels down." +</P> + +<P> +The darkness deepened, but no one appeared, and fearing that he would +not be able to follow the path if he tarried, Dyke Darrel, with his +revolver in hand, ready for use, moved from his shelter, and attempted +to make his way out of the labyrinth in which he found himself. +</P> + +<P> +The detective soon lost the path, however, and found himself in a +desperate tangle, with the blackness of a dismal night settling down +upon the place. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm in a pickle, now, for a fact," muttered Dyke Darrel. "I was a +little indiscreet in coming here so late in the day. It does seem as +though I must come out somewhere if I continue to strive." +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, an hour's walk in the dense undergrowth failed to bring +the detective to the bank of Black Hollow, or to any opening. "A +veritable trap for the unwary," growled Dyke, as he halted with his +back against a tree, with the perspiration oozing from every pore. +Even his wiry limbs and muscles were not proof against the tangled +nature of the wood into which he had so coolly entered. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was not in a pleasant mood as he stood meditating on the +situation. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks now as though I was destined to remain in the wood all +night." +</P> + +<P> +It was not a pleasing prospect. +</P> + +<P> +The detective was on the point of making one more effort to break +through the tangle that encompassed him, when something caught his eye +that sent a thrill to his heart. +</P> + +<P> +It was the glimmer of a light. +</P> + +<P> +It did not seem to be far away, and Dyke Darrel resumed his fight with +the thickets with renewed courage. In a little time he entered a glade +in the woods, to find himself standing in near proximity to a low log +cabin, through a narrow window of which a light glimmered. +</P> + +<P> +"Some one lives here, it seems." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel moved forward cautiously, for he still believed that the +wood was the haunt of outlaws, and this very house might be the den +where the plunder of many raids was secreted. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the detective stood on a little rise of ground, in such a +position that he could peer into the window. The interior of a small, +poorly-furnished apartment met his gaze. Beside the glowing embers of +a wood fire in a box stove crouched a human figure, seemingly the only +occupant of the lone log cabin. +</P> + +<P> +There was a wealth of golden hair flashing in the firelight, and the +black robe covered the form of what seemed to be a beautiful woman. +</P> + +<P> +As may be supposed, the detective was surprised at the sight. After a +moment of reflection he resolved to enter the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Striding to the door, he rapped gently. No answer came, and the +detective rapped again. This time the door was cautiously opened, and +a white face peered out. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" +</P> + +<P> +"A traveler who has lost his way." +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot come in. Sibyl isn't afraid, but she wishes to be alone." +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, the woman stood aside and held the door wide. This +seemed invitation enough, and the detective at once crossed the floor, +and pushed to the door at his back. +</P> + +<P> +The female receded before him, and stood at the far side of the room, +with both hands extended, waving them gently up and down. +</P> + +<P> +"Come no nearer, sir; Sibyl would view you from afar. There, stand +where you are, and do not move. It may be that you are the one I have +been looking for all these years." +</P> + +<P> +The speaker was evidently young, and possessed a weirdly beautiful +face, that strangely attracted Dyke Darrel. He stood still and watched +her singular movements curiously. +</P> + +<P> +She drew a morocco case from her bosom, opened it, and gazed at +something, evidently a picture, long and earnestly. She seemed to be +comparing the face of the picture with that of her visitor. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was puzzled, and somewhat pleased. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you are not my Hubert; he was a nobler looking gentleman by far." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you permit me to look at the picture, Miss—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; I dare not trust it out of my hands. I promised him, you +know, and I must not disappoint Hubert, for he is very exacting. +Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl secreted her prize, and lifted a warning hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you hear his step? It is Hubert—dear, dear Hubert—come back +to comfort his poor Sybil after these long, weary years." +</P> + +<P> +A low, startling laugh fell from her lips at the last. She darted +across the floor, and flung the door wide, peering out into the +darkness. +</P> + +<P> +A solemn, awful silence followed, then the door was sharply closed, +and the queerly acting girl faced Dyke Darrel once more. She looked +weirdly beautiful, with a mass of golden hair falling below her taper +waist, her face white as the winter's snow, almost too white for the +living. +</P> + +<P> +So she stood now; the dancing light from the fire fell full on her +countenance, revealing it for the first time plainly to the gaze of +the detective. +</P> + +<P> +A low, stunned cry escaped from his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"My God! It is Sibyl Osborne, the Burlington Captain's daughter." +</P> + +<P> +A low laugh fell from the girl's lips. +</P> + +<P> +She began humming a gay tune, and danced across the room with arms +outstretched, as though attempting to fly. +</P> + +<P> +The truth came with stunning force—the poor girl was crazy! Her +father, a wealthy Burlington real estate broker, had mysteriously +disappeared some months before, and it was supposed that he had met +with foul play. Despite the efforts of Dyke Darrel and other +detectives, no clew had yet been found of the missing man. The +detective had met Sibyl at her father's house, and had regarded her as +one both beautiful and accomplished. To meet her as now was a terrible +revelation indeed. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder Dyke Darrel was stunned. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments he stood in pained silence, watching the antics of +the poor unfortunate. +</P> + +<P> +"Hubert will come, Hubert will come," she sung, as she glided back and +forth across the floor. +</P> + +<P> +What had caused this awful calamity? Dyke Darrel asked this question +in saddened thoughtfulness, as he gazed upon the beautiful wreck +before him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me that Hubert will come, sir, and then I won't believe that he +wrote that cruel letter," cried Sibyl, in a mournful voice, pausing in +front of the detective. "I cannot tell you unless you show me the +letter," returned Dyke Darrel, resolving to humor her. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly she drew from her bosom a letter and placed it in the +detective's hand. +</P> + +<P> +He drew it from the wrapper, hoping to learn something that might give +him a clew to the situation. +</P> + +<P> +This is what he read: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MISS SIBYL OSBORNE: I am sorry to inform you that I cannot see you +again. I am off for Europe on my wedding tour. Forget me as soon as +possible. +<BR><BR> +"H. VANDER." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think my Hubert could write anything so cruel?" she +questioned, as he handed the missive back to her. +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't seem possible," answered Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +It was evident to his mind that the girl had become crazed on account +of her father's disappearance and the treachery of her lover. The +detective's heart beat sympathetically for the poor wronged girl. It +was his duty to see the girl safely on her way to the Burlington ere +he continued his search for the assassins of Arnold Nicholson. One had +already given up his account, but there were others yet to punish. +</P> + +<P> +While Dyke Darrel stood debating what course to pursue, under the +remarkable change in circumstances, the mad girl uttered a sudden, +sharp cry. +</P> + +<P> +"See! it is Hubert, my Hubert! come at last!" +</P> + +<P> +A look of mad joy sped across the white face, as one slender arm was +extended, pointing toward the window. Dyke Barrel followed with his +eyes, and then he, too, uttered an involuntary cry. +</P> + +<P> +Glued to the narrow pane was a face that was startling in the +intensity of its ghastly pallor, but it was not this that sent an +involuntary exclamation to the lips of the railroad detective. +</P> + +<P> +The face at the window was that of his friend, HARPER ELLISTON! His +presence here was one of the mysteries of that eventful night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BURNING TRAP. +</H3> + +<P> +For some moments Dyke Darrel stared at the face in the window without +moving. How came Harper Elliston in the woods at Black Hollow, when he +ought to have been in Chicago, according to his expressed intentions +of the previous day? +</P> + +<P> +With a sudden, wild scream the crazed Sibyl darted across the floor, +and thrust her hands against the window with such violence as to burst +the glass, cutting her hands severely in the operation. +</P> + +<P> +"Hubert! Hubert! come at last!" The girl staggered back and sank in a +paroxysm to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed a startling affair, yet Dyke Darrel did not lose his +presence of mind. He hurried to the door and opened it, springing +outside quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Elliston, I want you." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel stood by the broken window now, but the man he had +expected to find was not there. The apparition had vanished as though +fleeing into the upper air. +</P> + +<P> +Again the detective called the name of his friend, but without +receiving a reply. +</P> + +<P> +Here was a mystery indeed. +</P> + +<P> +Had that face at the window been an optical delusion, after all? +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was not superstitious, yet in the present case a queer +feeling oppressed him, and an awful misgiving entered his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot believe that the face at the window was other than that of +Elliston's; and yet she called him Hubert. It must be that there is a +mistake somewhere, and it seems to me that the mad girl is more apt to +be deceived than I." +</P> + +<P> +Once more Dyke Darrel returned to the house. +</P> + +<P> +Sibyl Osborne lay in a dead faint on the floor. The detective began +chafing her hands at once, and loosened her corsage. +</P> + +<P> +A morocco case fell to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +It was the one containing the alleged picture of Hubert Vander. Under +the circumstances Dyke Darrel believed he was justified in examining +it. +</P> + +<P> +He opened the case, and was soon gazing at the face of a handsome man. +</P> + +<P> +Although smoothly shaved, the face of the photograph was that of +Harper Elliston! +</P> + +<P> +A horrid suspicion now took possession of the detective's brain. +</P> + +<P> +Securing case and photograph on his own person, Dyke Darrel proceeded +in his efforts to bring the girl back to life. +</P> + +<P> +He was soon rewarded. +</P> + +<P> +"It was Hubert." +</P> + +<P> +These were the first words uttered by the girl when she opened her +eyes. Her hands were stained with blood from cuts made by the glass. +</P> + +<P> +She gazed at the blood, and grew suddenly deathly pale. +</P> + +<P> +"My God! he has tried to murder me!" +</P> + +<P> +Then she came to her feet, flinging her tangled golden hair about +wildly, and shrank to the far corner of the room. +</P> + +<P> +"You have nothing to fear from me, Miss Osborne," said Dyke. "I am +your friend." +</P> + +<P> +"And Hubert's friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Hubert's friend, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Who did this, then?" +</P> + +<P> +She held up her bleeding hands. +</P> + +<P> +He tried to explain, and she seemed to understand partially, so much +so as to lose her fear of the detective. +</P> + +<P> +She began to laugh soon, and the late adventure seemed to pass +entirely from her mind. Dyke was glad to have it so. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you not lie down and rest?" he said presently. "We have a long +journey to go in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Where? To Hubert?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to Hubert." +</P> + +<P> +Her great blue eyes regarded him wistfully, and a throb of pain +entered his heart at thought of the beautiful girl's misfortune. There +was growing in his heart a dangerous feeling, one that boded no good +to Harper Elliston, should that man prove to be as he now believed, +the Hubert Vander of the mad girl's dreams. +</P> + +<P> +"Take me to Hubert now, kind sir. I know you can do so, and I shall +die if he does not keep his word with me. He will never betray a poor +girl—such a gentleman, and so good? Yes, I will do anything to please +you, for it will bring dear Hubert back." +</P> + +<P> +She went up and laid both hands on the shoulders of the detective, and +looked so mournfully into his face as to touch the tenderness in his +nature deeply. His heart bled for the girl who had been the victim of +a villain's wiles. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down and rest, Miss Osborne; we will try and find Hubert in the +morning." +</P> + +<P> +"You are very kind." +</P> + +<P> +She seemed gentle and subdued now. It was the calm after the storm. +Dyke saw that he was not recognized, however, and the madness was not +gone from the poor girl's brain. +</P> + +<P> +It was a very sad case, indeed. +</P> + +<P> +Several stools were in the room, and some blankets hung against the +further wall, proving that some one had lately occupied the cabin. +Undoubtedly it had been used as a hiding-place for outlaws, and it was +a question in the mind of the detective as to how soon the cabin would +be revisited. The presence of the insane girl necessarily altered his +plans somewhat. He could not leave her to perish in the woods. +</P> + +<P> +Removing the blankets from the wall, Dyke Darrel improvised a bed for +the poor girl, and induced her to lie thereon. He then replenished the +fire with some dry sticks that lay beside the stove, since the night +air was chill, and sat himself upon the floor, with his head reclining +against the logs. Before doing this, however, he had taken the +precaution to secure the only door with a wooden latch that had been +made for the purpose. +</P> + +<P> +The window, of course, he was unable to secure. +</P> + +<P> +It did not seem hardly safe to sleep under the circumstances, but Dyke +Darrel was very tired, having been without much rest for several +nights, and he was on the present occasion extremely drowsy. +</P> + +<P> +Resolving not to fall into a deep slumber, the detective sat with his +revolver at his side, and went off into the land of dreams before he +was aware of it. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel slept heavily. +</P> + +<P> +A crackling sound outside did not reach his ear with sufficient force +to waken him. A face peered in at the window, dark and sinister, but +the sleeping detective heeded it not. +</P> + +<P> +Another face, girded about with bristling red hair, appeared for a +moment, and then receded. Dark forms moved about the cabin without, +and engaged in a whispered conversation. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the trees and bushes became visible, and there was a smell +of burning wood in the air. +</P> + +<P> +"It is well," uttered a voice. "They will both perish like rats in a +trap. Dyke Darrel, the famous detective, will never be heard of more, +and that girl—well, she will be better dead than living. Come, Nick, +let us go!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're sure the door's tightly fastened?" "I fixed it so Satan +himself could not open it." +</P> + +<P> +"Good." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait. I'd like to see the curse roast." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; that won't do. We'll come in the day time and look at the +bones. This old log hut has had its day, and we could not put it to a +better use than to make a mausoleum for the man-tracker of the West." +</P> + +<P> +There was no hesitating after this. +</P> + +<P> +The two men moved swiftly away in the gloom that surrounded the +burning cabin. +</P> + +<P> +A choking sensation caused the reclining man in the cabin to stir +uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +Presently he opened his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The room was full of smoke, and red tongues of flame were licking at +the logs from every side. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly Dyke Darrel came to his feet. A smell of burning garments +filled his nostrils. The bed on which Sibyl Osborne rested was on +fire! +</P> + +<P> +"My soul! this is unfortunate," cried the detective. He was equal to +the emergency, however. Springing to the side of the still sleeping +girl, Dyke lifted her in his arms and strode to the door. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly he slipped the rude bolt and grasped the latch. It refused to +yield. +</P> + +<P> +The door was firmly secured on the outside. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SAD FATE. +</H3> + +<P> +For one instant, Dyke Darrel was paralyzed. +</P> + +<P> +It was for a moment only, however. He shook the door furiously, +blinded by smoke, and almost strangled by hot air. +</P> + +<P> +The door would not yield. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment, the girl awoke and began to scream. Bits of burning +wood fell all about them. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the roof would tumble in with a crash. When that moment came, +every living thing must perish within the house. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel moved to the window, leading Sibyl. She staggered and +seemed ready to fall. +</P> + +<P> +"Courage!" he cried, "we will soon be out of this." +</P> + +<P> +Reaching the narrow window, the detective dashed out sash and glass +with a stool, and the air from outside seemed like a breath from fairy +land. +</P> + +<P> +"You must go first?" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel assisted his fair companion to the opening. An instant +later she had passed outside. +</P> + +<P> +Then something occurred that quite startled the detective and filled +him with intense alarm. +</P> + +<P> +A burning log fell from the side of the cabin with a thud that was +sickening. A horrible fear at once took possession of Darrel. With a +quick bound he gained the opening, and leaped clear of the burning +logs to the ground without. +</P> + +<P> +Turning about he uttered a cry of horror. +</P> + +<P> +Sibyl Osborne lay crushed beneath a black log that was yet smoking +with heat. With a herculean effort the detective lifted and flung the +log from the poor girl's breast, and then he lifted and carried her +beyond the reach of flame and heat, and laid her on a little mound +beneath a giant tree. +</P> + +<P> +One glance into the mad girl's face satisfied him of the mournful +truth. The falling log had done fatal work, and with his hand clasping +hers, Dyke Darrel watched the gasps that grew fainter each moment, +until the silence and quietude of eternity rested on all. +</P> + +<P> +"Dead!" +</P> + +<P> +With that one word Dyke Darrel started to his feet and gazed about +him. There was a flinty gleam in his keen eyes and a fierce grating of +white teeth. +</P> + +<P> +It had been a long time since the railroad detective was moved as at +that hour, with the work of human fiends before him. +</P> + +<P> +From the burning cabin his gaze returned to the upturned white +face of the dead girl. Pure and lovely as a lily looked the face of +the wronged and dead. +</P> + +<P> +"It is better so, perhaps," muttered the detective. +</P> + +<P> +Had the girl lived she might never have enjoyed an hour of reason. +With that dethroned, what could death be but a welcome messenger. And +yet the manner of the mad girl's taking off was shocking in the +extreme. +</P> + +<P> +Had Dyke Darrel known the way out, he would have taken the corpse in +his arms and hurried from the scene at once. As it was, the detective +deemed it wise to remain in the vicinity until morning, when it was +likely he would have little trouble in making his way out of the +woods! +</P> + +<P> +The remaining hours of the night passed slowly. Dyke Darrel dared not +sleep, and so he kept his lonely vigil beside the dead, seated in the +shadows, with revolver ready to use at a moment's notice. +</P> + +<P> +No interruption came, however, and when the gray streaks of morning +dawned the detective breathed easier. He at once went in search of a +road that would lead out of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +He met with better success than he had dared hope. He found a path +that must have been used by the owner of the cabin, and which it was +evident the mad girl had followed in her wanderings. +</P> + +<P> +How long she had been in the cabin the detective had no means of +knowing, but it seemed to him evident that she could have been there +but a few hours when discovered by him. +</P> + +<P> +The way out of the Black Hollow woods was long and tedious, but Dyke +Darrel proved equal to the task, and when he broke cover and entered +upon the open ground above, he was glad to see a team approaching, +driven by a farmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! What hev' you got there?" cried the man, in open-eyed +amazement, when he halted beside the detective and his burden. +</P> + +<P> +"A lady. She was accidentally killed last night." +</P> + +<P> +"It's awful!" +</P> + +<P> +"I quite agree with you," returned Dyke Darrel; "but if you will take +the woman aboard and drive to the house of Mr. Bragg, I will pay you +for it." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will." +</P> + +<P> +The farmer was garrulous on the way, and it required all the +detective's ingenuity to answer his questions promptly, so as not to +excite the fellow's suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +The body of the beautiful dead girl was laid in one of Agent Bragg's +rooms, and the latter telegraphed to the nearest town of importance +for a casket, which arrived at Black Hollow shortly after noon. +</P> + +<P> +"I will attend to shipping it," said Mr. Bragg. "This is a sad case. +It is a wonder to me that somebody did not see the girl yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly she got off at another station." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think she came to this vicinity on the cars?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most certainly," answered the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you go to Chicago now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not fully decided," returned Dyke Darrel. "At what hour does the +train pass?" +</P> + +<P> +"Six-fifty to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"But the down train goes earlier?" +</P> + +<P> +"At four." +</P> + +<P> +"And at Bloomington I can take the cars for Burlington?" "If you so +desire." +</P> + +<P> +"I will think about it." +</P> + +<P> +Sauntering along in the afternoon, just in the outskirts of the +village, Dyke Darrel came suddenly upon a man standing with his back +against a telegraph pole. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" ejaculated the detective, as the man turned and faced him. +</P> + +<P> +It was Harper Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you were in Chicago," pursued the mystified Dyke. And then +he remembered the face he had seen at the window of the cabin in Black +Hollow the previous night. The memory brought a harsh expression to +his countenance. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you are still here, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston smiled and held out his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand this," said Dyke Darrel. "You have deceived me in +some way, Harper. You were in Black Hollow last night." +</P> + +<P> +"There you are mistaken," assured Mr. Elliston; "I stopped off here on +the noon train." +</P> + +<P> +"You did not go to Chicago, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I did; but only remained an hour. You see the man I was looking +for was not there, but had gone to Burlington, Iowa, and so, +remembering that you stopped off here yesterday, I thought I would run +down and learn if you had made any discovery." +</P> + +<P> +"You came at noon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Why did not you call for me at Bragg's?" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you stopping there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. If you had inquired for me of the agent here, you would +have certainly found me." +</P> + +<P> +"That's exactly what I did do, and I did not find you; so now," and +Mr. Elliston laughed at the perplexed look on the detective's face. +</P> + +<P> +The actions and words of this man were indeed a puzzle to Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Harper, I want to ask you a plain question——" +</P> + +<P> +"And you want a categorical answer, Mr. Darrel," interrupted the New +Yorker with a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I do." +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"Weren't you in Black Hollow last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not. I was with a friend at least sixty miles away, near +Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you prove this?" +</P> + +<P> +"If necessary, of course; but what in the world is the matter, Dyke? I +hope you wouldn't accuse me of deception." +</P> + +<P> +"No. Will you come with me to Bragg's?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly." +</P> + +<P> +And then the two men walked away together. There was a solemn +expression pervading the face of Dyke Darrel. He had experienced many +strange things during his detective life, but this latest phase +puzzled him the most. +</P> + +<P> +He could swear that he saw the face of Elliston at the window of the +house in the gulch on the previous night, yet the assertion from his +friend that he was fifty miles away at the time seemed honest enough. +</P> + +<P> +Having been long in the detective work, Dyke Darrel had grown to be +suspicious, and so he was fast losing faith in the good intentions of +his New York friend. He had suddenly resolved on a test that he +believed would prove effectual in setting all doubts at rest. +</P> + +<P> +Arrived at the Bragg dwelling, the detective conducted Harper Elliston +at once to the room where the remains of the beautiful, dead girl lay +encoffined. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DYKE DARREL ASTOUNDED. +</H3> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel lifted a cloth from the face of the dead, and Harper +Elliston stood gazing down upon the features of wronged and murdered +Sibyl Osborne. +</P> + +<P> +The detective watched the expression of his companion's countenance +closely. +</P> + +<P> +With bated breath the man-hunter glued his gaze upon the face of the +man bending over the casket. +</P> + +<P> +"What a sad face, and yet most wonderful in its beauty. Who is she? A +daughter of the house?" +</P> + +<P> +Harper turned and regarded Dyke Darrel questioningly, a sympathetic +look in his black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you not know her?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>I</I> know her? You forget that I am a stranger in this part of the +West, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"She, too, was a stranger here, Elliston. Her home was in Burlington, +and she has been brought to this by a villain who ought to pass the +remainder of his days behind prison bars, if not conclude them at a +rope's end. Do you know Hubert Vander?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, and a look of deep, +indignant feeling pervading his face. All the time he kept his gaze +riveted on Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +That gentleman stood the ordeal without flinching, however. +</P> + +<P> +"Hubert Vander? The name is a new one to me, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +A sneer curled the lip of the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" questioned Mr. Elliston. "Am I to +understand that you connect ME in any way with this girl's death, or +that I am a friend to this Hubert Vander of whom you speak?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your pretended indignation will not deceive, Harper Elliston. Look at +THIS, and tell me what you think of it," said Dyke Darrel, with the +sternness of steel. +</P> + +<P> +The detective laid the photograph he had obtained in the Black Hollow +cabin in the hand of Mr. Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +The New Yorker did start then. +</P> + +<P> +He gazed long and constantly at the pictured face. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you to say now, Harper Elliston?" demanded Dyke Darrel, in +an awful voice. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a mighty close resemblance," returned the gentleman. "Where did +you obtain this, Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"From Sibyl Osborne." +</P> + +<P> +"Sibyl Osborne?" +</P> + +<P> +"She who lies before you. If that is not YOUR portrait, and if you are +not the man who murdered Captain Osborne and ruined his daughter, then +I am out of my senses." +</P> + +<P> +With the words Dyke Darrel presented a cocked revolver at the heart of +the cool, smiling villain before him. +</P> + +<P> +The smile left the New Yorker's face, and a serious expression +followed it. +</P> + +<P> +"What? You draw a pistol on me, Dyke Darrel? I am surprised," cried +Mr. Elliston in an injured tone. "I did not imagine that you could +lose confidence in me, let what would happen. Can it be that our +friendship was but a brittle cord, after all?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot remain friendly when my confidence has been betrayed." +</P> + +<P> +"And you deem me a most hardened scoundrel? Of course you will give me +a hearing. You are an upholder of law, and do not approve of lynching. +Here, put on the handcuffs, Dyke, and take me to prison. You will be +sorry for this some time, but now that circumstances are against me +your friendship falls to the ground. I did not expect such treatment. +However, I can live through it; but I shall never feel toward you as I +have in times past. Put on the irons, Dyke. Why do you hesitate?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is a chance for a mistake, of course," said the detective, +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad you admit that much." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that your photograph?" +</P> + +<P> +"You said it belonged to a young lady!" +</P> + +<P> +"But is it a photograph of your face?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is not." +</P> + +<P> +"You swear it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do." +</P> + +<P> +"And you were not in Black Hollow, last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was not." +</P> + +<P> +"Swear it? +</P> + +<P> +"I swear it." +</P> + +<P> +"You did not know this dead girl?" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel pointed toward the face in the coffin. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you swear to this also?" +</P> + +<P> +"With my hand on my heart I swear." +</P> + +<P> +The white hand of Mr. Elliston was laid impressively against his +bosom. +</P> + +<P> +There was such a look of honest earnestness on the man's face it was +impossible to doubt, and Dyke Darrel was forced to forego arresting +the New Yorker then and there. +</P> + +<P> +If he was not fully satisfied, he did not permit Elliston to note the +fact. +</P> + +<P> +"I did but try you, Harper," Dyke Darrel said with a smile, extending +his hand. "You are true as steel and I am glad to find it so. I have +endured misery since last night, because I feared, and came to believe +otherwise." +</P> + +<P> +"You will trust me as of old?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. Now tell me all about the facts regarding this poor girl." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel did as requested, although he kept back some things that +he did not deem it necessary for Mr. Elliston to know. +</P> + +<P> +"And you saw this Hubert Vander peering into the cabin window—the man +who looks like me!" +</P> + +<P> +"I did." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's pretty tough, and no mistake, to have a fellow of such +villainous character circulating about in this region. I hope I won't +be hung for his crime by indignant citizens. I agree with you that +this Hubert Vander is a sleek villain, and that hanging is too good +for him. It does seem that you made an important discovery last night, +however." +</P> + +<P> +"Explain." +</P> + +<P> +"This man Vander no doubt murdered Captain Osborne." +</P> + +<P> +"I am led to think so myself," said Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"He also jilted the Captain's daughter, if no worse, and the two +sorrows turned the poor girl's brain. It is a sad and terrible case. I +feel deeply interested, and hope to see the scoundrel who looks like +me brought to justice." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to hear you say so." +</P> + +<P> +"Furthermore I have another idea." +</P> + +<P> +"Proceed." +</P> + +<P> +"It is undoubtedly this Vander who planned the robbery of the midnight +express. A man who could deceive one so beautiful as this girl, would +not hesitate to do anything to feather his own nest." +</P> + +<P> +"Again I agree with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Evidently it was either this man, or friends of his, who fastened the +door of the cabin, and fired it with the hope of destroying the +detective who was dogging them so closely." +</P> + +<P> +"True, I had thought of that." +</P> + +<P> +"And here's another thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"May not this Vander and his friends conclude that the man-hunter +perished in the flames, if they fail to see him again? A disguise +would fix that easily, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"No, that will not go down." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"My enemies will visit the ruins of the cabin, and failing to discover +skeletons, will learn the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"That does not necessarily follow." +</P> + +<P> +"I think it does. I may act on your suggestion, however," returned +Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"And put on a disguise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"What will it be?" +</P> + +<P> +The detective laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't ask me, Harper," he said. "Of what use a disguise that my +friends all understood?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is this because you fear to trust me, after what has happened, Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; but I prefer to keep my own counsel!" +</P> + +<P> +"And you are right." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad you admit it." +</P> + +<P> +The friends then left the room. +</P> + +<P> +At the last moment, Dyke Darrel decided on accompanying the remains of +Captain Osborne's daughter to Burlington. He realized that it was the +proper thing to do. Elliston parted with the detective, telling him +that he meant to return to Woodburg for the present, and would meet +him there on his return from the Iowa city. +</P> + +<P> +It was a sad duty that led the railroad detective to revisit +Burlington, which he had last looked upon in the fall, shortly after +Captain Osborne's disappearance. +</P> + +<P> +Arrived in the bustling Western city, Dyke Darrel was met at the depot +by a surprise. An officer laid his hand on the detective's shoulder, +and said: +</P> + +<P> +"You are my prisoner, young man." +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? Well, now, what is this for?" demanded Dyke Darrel angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"FOR THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN OSBORNE AND HIS DAUGHTER!" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel felt the cold muzzle of a revolver touch his temple at the +last. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BAFFLED VILLAIN. +</H3> + +<P> +In the meantime Harper Elliston, true to his word for once at least, +left the train at the Woodburg depot on the same morning that his +young detective friend arrived in Burlington. +</P> + +<P> +Repairing to his room at the hotel, the New Yorker remained until the +dinner hour. After this he turned his steps in the direction of the +Darrel Cottage. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose Nell Darrel will be delighted to see me," chuckled +Elliston, as he walked up the steps and rang the bell. +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Jule opened the door. "Marse Dyke ain't home." +</P> + +<P> +"But Miss Nell is, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and deed, sir; she's got company, and can't see no one fur de +present," cried the grinning negress, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Company? A lot of chattering girls, I suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; a young gemmen——" +</P> + +<P> +"A gentleman?" +</P> + +<P> +The frown that blackened the brows of Harper Elliston was not pleasant +to see. He was not pleased that Nell should receive other male company +than himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I will enter. I think she will see me when she knows who has come," +said he, pushing past the negress, and entering the front room. +</P> + +<P> +He seated himself in an armchair, and proceeded to coolly await the +coming of the mistress of the house. +</P> + +<P> +Soon Nell Darrel came in. Her face was suffused with smiles, which +evidenced that she had heard good news. Elliston, however, flattered +himself that it was his coming that caused the pleased look on the +face of the detective's sister. +</P> + +<P> +"A pleasant day, Mr. Elliston." +</P> + +<P> +"Rather." +</P> + +<P> +He rose and held out his hand. She did not accept it, much to his +chagrin. +</P> + +<P> +"Aren't you glad to see me, Nell?" he queried. "I've been absent +almost a week, and I thought you would be longing for my company by +this time." +</P> + +<P> +A smile of self-assurance crossed his dark face. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no reason to regard you with any more consideration than on +your former visit," she said. "Have you seen my brother?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he now?" +</P> + +<P> +"In Iowa, I presume." +</P> + +<P> +"He is well?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was when I parted with him, a short time since. You haven't heard +from him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He was then in a small town in the South or West, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +Thus they chatted for some time. +</P> + +<P> +During the past few days a desperate resolve had taken possession of +Elliston's brain. He admired the pretty Nell now more than ever, and +he was determined to make one more effort to win her regard before +going to extremes. +</P> + +<P> +That morning he had braced his nerves with several draughts of brandy, +and the fumes yet affected him, thus rendering him extremely +imprudent, to say the least. +</P> + +<P> +"Nell, Jule tells me you had company when I came. Who was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"A gentleman." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, but his name?" +</P> + +<P> +The man's eyes glittered, and seemed to pierce with their keenness to +the soul of the girl who sat in front of him. She could smell his +breath, too, and the fact that he had been drinking made her a little +nervous. +</P> + +<P> +She was anxious for him to depart. +</P> + +<P> +"He is not one of your acquaintances," replied Nell, evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"But one of yours, it seems," sneered the man, in a tone that was the +least bit disrespectful. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Elliston, did you come here to insult me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not," he answered in a gentler tone. "Forgive me, Nellie; I +can't abide having another win the affections of one I so much covet. +If you only knew, Nell——" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Elliston, don't." +</P> + +<P> +Both came to their feet. +</P> + +<P> +He advanced and seized her hands once more; nay, he suddenly flung one +arm about her slender waist and drew her closely, at the same time +imprinting a kiss on her cheek. +</P> + +<P> +"I love you, Nell, and will not give you up. Fly with me, darling, +where no odious friends may come between us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Villain, release me!" +</P> + +<P> +Nell struggled with desperate energy, but she was as a child in the +hands of the tall scoundrel. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, little girl, I will not permit you to escape. I mean to make +it impossible for you to wed another," grated the man, in a meaning +voice, that sent a shudder of horror to the heart of pure Nell Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +Lucky was it for the girl that her visitor had not yet left the house. +</P> + +<P> +Nell screamed aloud, and then the hand of Elliston was pressed over +her pretty mouth. Had the man been in his sober senses, he would never +have attempted such bold work; but when in liquor Harper Elliston was +far from prudent. +</P> + +<P> +"No nonsense now," he sneered. +</P> + +<P> +And then a door opened; a slender form crossed the floor, and as +Elliston turned to confront the new-comer he received a straight +left-hander in the chest that sent him back reeling. +</P> + +<P> +Gasping, and very red, Nell started aside, and held out her hand with +a low cry of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +The stalwart Elliston soon regained his equilibrium, and faced the one +who had dealt him such a furious blow—a slender youth not yet out of +his teens, yet in whose blue eyes flashed a determined spirit. +</P> + +<P> +"Scoundrel!" ejaculated Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +He stood glaring at the boy with the venom of a mad serpent in his +black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Get from this house, or I will call the police and have you put in +the cooler," said the boy, quickly, standing with clenched hands in +front of Nell, and returning the tall man's scowls with interest. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll smash every bone in your body, you insignificant little snipe," +roared Elliston. Instead, however, of making the attempt, the man drew +a small derringer from his pocket, and lifting the hammer, leveled it +at the head of his youthful assaulter. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen, please, please desist," pleaded Nell in a shaky voice. +"This is no place for a quarrel." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't, I admit," returned the boy, "but this sneak brought it +about, and now the odds are so much against him, he has recourse to a +deadly weapon. There is just that difference between us, Harper +Elliston." +</P> + +<P> +The New Yorker started as the youth pronounced his name. He imagined +that he was not known to the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, I know you," proceeded the boy, noticing the man start. "I +have had the villain Elliston pretty well described to me, and know +that your act just now justifies me in calling you by that name. +Shoot, coward, if you dare." +</P> + +<P> +There was a cool defiance in the blue eyes of the boy, that won the +admiration of Elliston in spite of his anger. +</P> + +<P> +"No, the game is too small," retorted Elliston, lowering his weapon. +"I cannot afford to tarnish an honorable reputation by shedding the +blood of a child. I shall, nevertheless, remember you, young man, and +on the proper occasion give you the thrashing you so richly deserve." +</P> + +<P> +A look from Nell Darrel cut short the words that trembled on the lips +of the youth. +</P> + +<P> +"I bid you good afternoon, Miss Darrel," and Elliston bowed and walked +to the door. "I will see you again and explain matters." +</P> + +<P> +The door opened and closed, and the smooth villain was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven!" murmured Nell. "It might have been worse," said the +boy. "I did not miss my guess when I called him Elliston?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought not. You can see now that Harry Bernard had good reason for +warning you to beware of Harper Elliston!" +</P> + +<P> +"I can see it plainly enough," returned the girl. "When will Harry +come to Woodburg?" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand how anxious you are," said the boy, with a smile. "Harry +is assisting Dyke to ferret out the railroad express crime, and it may +be some weeks before he comes to this part of the State. I think he +will be satisfied to know that you are true to him. It was his +knowledge of Elliston's villainy that induced him to send me to see +you with a note of warning." +</P> + +<P> +"I am thankful for his kindness, Mr. Ender." +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody calls me Paul, Miss Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"And everybody (that is my friends), all call me Nell," returned the +girl, with a pleasant little laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Let it be Nell and Paul then," and the boy joined in her laugh, thus +aiding in banishing the shadows of the day. Harry Bernard's youthful +messenger soon after departed, promising to call again on the +following day, when he might have another message from young Bernard, +who was still supposed to be in St. Louis. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime the angry and discomfited Elliston repaired to the +hotel and made hasty preparations for departure. +</P> + +<P> +He left on the first train for Chicago. +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the evening that Mrs. Scarlet, in her den on Clark +street, was roused from a nap she was indulging in, with her head +against the wall, by a sharp rap at the door. +</P> + +<P> +Rousing up, she went to see who had come. +</P> + +<P> +She admitted a man with a plug hat and red whiskers. +</P> + +<P> +Professor Darlington Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +"Aren't you glad to see me, Madam?" +</P> + +<P> +He held out a white set of digits. +</P> + +<P> +"No—why should I be glad?" +</P> + +<P> +She accepted the proffer of friendship, however, and shoved a rickety +old chair for her visitor's use. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you why. Because I am the best friend you've got in +Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"That wouldn't be saying much," and Mrs. Scarlet laughed harshly. +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I say so? Nobody comes to see me now since poor Nephew Martin +was taken from me. I feel about ready to die but for one thing." +</P> + +<P> +"And that?" +</P> + +<P> +"REVENGE!" +</P> + +<P> +Her eyes snapped in their hollow sockets and the withered bosom heaved +with inward emotion. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Ruggles emitted a laugh. +</P> + +<P> +He was evidently pleased at the condition of the woman's feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad to find you in this condition, Madam," he said, after a +brief pause. "I am here to tell you how you can be revenged, if I +mistake not the object on whom your hatred rests. +</P> + +<P> +"It's that infernal Dyke Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"I knew it. You would smile and feel happy to see him suffer?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would be as beefsteak to a starving man," said the woman, +savagely. +</P> + +<P> +"Then listen. He has a most charming sister living in one of the +interior towns of the State. She is the only relative he has in the +wide world. You can strike the railroad detective through Nell +Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes—go on." +</P> + +<P> +"He is away most of his time, as you doubtless know——" +</P> + +<P> +"And the girl is alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"Save for an old negress. Don't interrupt me, please, until I tell you +the exact situation. One of my acquaintances, a gentleman of means, +and a mean gentleman, for that matter, wishes to get this girl into +his possession. What object he may have does not matter, so long as he +is willing to pay big for the work. All that is required of you, Mrs. +Scarlet, is to furnish a room, and see that when once inside, Miss +Darrel does not escape nor communicate with the outside world. Do you +understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do." +</P> + +<P> +"And you will consent to act as this girl's keeper for a time?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," cried the woman, with eager emphasis, and then a low, +half-suppressed sneeze startled them both. +</P> + +<P> +Professor Darlington Ruggles sprang up and looked toward the door. It +stood ajar, and through the opening peered a masked face, centered +with a pair of glittering eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Uttering a mad cry, Ruggles drew a concealed revolver and, leveling at +the head, fired. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NELL MISSING. +</H3> + +<P> +The reader can imagine the indignation of the railroad detective when +he found himself arrested by the Burlington officer. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon, sir," said Dyke Darrel, "but you are making a +foolish mistake. I am a detective——" +</P> + +<P> +"That won't go down. If you attempt to escape I will blow out your +brains," returned the officer, still holding his cocked weapon to the +head of Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +The detective was deeply annoyed at this. On board the train were the +remains of the daughter of one of Burlington's most prominent +citizens, and Dyke was extremely anxious to meet the friends and +explain the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"You may take me at once to the chief of police," said Dyke Darrel, at +length. "I can explain to him, since he knows me." +</P> + +<P> +Another officer approached, and the first one requested him to +handcuff his prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +A hot flush of anger shot to the cheek of the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"This is going too far," he said in a vexed tone. "If you attempt to +put the irons on me, I'll make you trouble. I tell you I am acquainted +with your chief, and demand that you take me to him." +</P> + +<P> +"That's fair enough," said the second officer. +</P> + +<P> +"But he's a dangerous character," persisted the first. +</P> + +<P> +"Whom do you take me for," Dyke demanded indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Slim Steve, the train robber." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get your information?" +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't matter." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better go slow, officer. Look at that, and tell me what you +think of it?" +</P> + +<P> +Turning back the lap of his coat Dyke Darrel revealed a glittering +silver star, and below this a flaming eye on a dark background. +</P> + +<P> +"A Pinkerton detective!" exclaimed the second officer. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a detective, and know my business without receiving instructions +from the police of a one-horse town," retorted Dyke Darrel in anger. +"I am willing, however, to visit your chief, who will confirm my +words." +</P> + +<P> +"We had orders from him to arrest you." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good. I demand that you take me before him." +</P> + +<P> +After a short consultation the two officers concluded to gratify their +prisoner, and, without attempting to handcuff him, they conducted him +from the depot to the police station. +</P> + +<P> +As luck would have it, the chief was in, and at once recognized and +greeted Dyke Darrel. Explanations soon followed. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not blame my men," said the chief, "for word was sent from +an interior town in Illinois stating that a notorious crook was on the +train, and would stop at Burlington. A description was given that +tallied with yours, and so the mistake was made." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know who sent the dispatch?" +</P> + +<P> +"A sheriff, I think." +</P> + +<P> +"Just accommodate me with the name of the town, please." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel was deeply excited at this last attempt to deprive him of +his liberty. +</P> + +<P> +The officer referred to the dispatch and read the name of the place +from whence it originated. +</P> + +<P> +"Woodburg!" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel uttered the name in wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand it," he said; "that is my own home, and I am too +well known there to merit suspicion. It must have been meant for a +practical joke," and the detective's thoughts were turned to Harper +Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"It might be, of course," admitted the chief of Burlington police, +"but it is a joke that I shouldn't relish, and you might make it warm +for the perpetrator. I can telegraph and inquire into it if you wish, +Mr. Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"Not now. I shall be in Woodburg within a few days, and then I will +find out all about it." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel repaired at once to the home of Captain Osborne, which was +occupied by relatives of the Captain, and informed them of the sad +fate that had overtaken Sibyl Osborne. +</P> + +<P> +An aunt and cousin, the latter a young man of prominence, were the +relatives mentioned. The cousin promised to attend the remains, after +listening to the strange story Dyke Darrel had to tell. Sibyl had left +home ten days before, pretending to go on a visit to friends. When she +left it was not suspected that she was out of her mind, consequently +the news was all the more sad. +</P> + +<P> +From Burlington the railroad detective returned to Black Hollow, and +from there he went to St. Louis to consult with Harry Bernard. Here he +was met with the announcement that his young friend had taken the +train for Chicago some days before. +</P> + +<P> +This was an annoying state of affairs indeed. +</P> + +<P> +Remaining a few days in St. Louis, Dyke Darrel at length left the city +en route for Woodburg. He was anxious to meet Nell, from whom he had +been absent now about a fortnight. +</P> + +<P> +On reaching Woodburg the detective found a telegram awaiting him from +Chicago: +</P> + +<P> +"Come at once. I have made an important discovery. +</P> + +<P> +"H." +</P> + +<P> +Of course this must be from Harry. It was dated some days before, +however, which annoyed Dyke. Harry Bernard might have changed his base +of operations by this time. +</P> + +<P> +"I will call at the house," mused Dyke Darrel. "I have an hour's time +before the next Chicago train." +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Jule was extremely glad to meet "Marse Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you bring the young missus wid yo?" questioned the +negress. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that? Hope you didn't think I'd committed matrimony?" and the +detective laughed lightly, at the same time chucking Aunt Jule under +her fat chin. +</P> + +<P> +"Lor-a-massy, no, Marse Dyke. I meant Missy Nell," explained the black +woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Nell? Isn't she at home?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wal, now, what a question. In coorse she ain't. Didn' yo' send fur +her yo' very self? How den yo' 'spec she's goin' to be home ef yo' +didn' done brung her, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +All this was Greek to Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the name of caution are you driving at, Aunt Jule? I haven't +seen my sister since I left home, and if she's gone to look for me +she's done a very foolish thing, for I'm not long in one place—she +ought to have known better." +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Jule flounced out of the room, to return soon with a yellow +envelope in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Dere, look a-dat now. Ef yo' didn' done writ dat, den I'd like to +know who did." +</P> + +<P> +The detective opened the letter his housekeeper placed in his hand, +and read: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"CHICAGO, April 30, 188-. +<BR> +NELL:—Come on the next train, as I wish to see you in this city. Aunt +Jule will look after the house until your return. Don't disappoint me. +<BR> +"DYKE." +</P> + +<P> +The detective glanced at the negress after reading this note, the +writing of which very much resembled his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"This came when?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Through the mail?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Marse." +</P> + +<P> +A frown darkened the brow of the detective. He crumpled the letter in +his hand and began pacing the floor with nervous strides. +</P> + +<P> +"Somefin must be wrong ef yo' didn' write that letter." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Dyke Darrel turned on the speaker and touched her huge arm +with a clinging hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Jule, when did my sister answer this letter?" he demanded, fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest the next train." +</P> + +<P> +"Last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Marse Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +Dropping his hand from Aunt Jule's huge arm, the detective rushed from +the room and the house. He was laboring under great excitement, as +well he might be, for Nell was as the apple of his eye, and she had +been enticed to the great city for a fell purpose, he believed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NELL IN THE TOILS. +</H3> + +<P> +The instant after Professor Ruggles fired, the masked face in the +doorway disappeared, and the sound of swift-moving feet was heard. +</P> + +<P> +Still clutching his weapon, the Professor strode to the door and flung +it open, gazing into the alley, which framed no reply to the question +that trembled unspoken on his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hit him, Professor?" +</P> + +<P> +"I fear I didn't." +</P> + +<P> +Professor Ruggles then made an examination of the alley that assured +him that his bullet had not been stopped by flesh and bone—instead, +it lay on the ground where it had fallen, flattened, from the brick +wall above. +</P> + +<P> +"So much for being a poor shot," sneered the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"So much for your condemned carelessness in not locking the door," he +retorted with equal severity. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe you'd better see that it is fastened now." +</P> + +<P> +Professor Darlington Ruggles turned the key in the lock, and then +assumed a seat once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see. Where did we leave off?" +</P> + +<P> +"In a mighty important place," answered the woman. "If that sneak had +been at the door long, he must have heard something of our plans." +</P> + +<P> +"And it makes you feel uneasy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't it you?" +</P> + +<P> +"A trifle. I can't imagine who the sneak was." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I." +</P> + +<P> +"It might have been one of the boys playing a joke," said Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope it's nothing more serious." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall dismiss the sneak from my mind at any rate," returned Mr. +Ruggles. "To-morrow night you may look for your guest, Mrs. Scarlet. +Remember, whatever plans for vengeance you may have formed will be +more than gratified in placing this detective's sister completely in +the power of a man who knows how to use it." +</P> + +<P> +The Professor's eyes snapped at the last, and he lifted and smoothed +his hat rapidly with one long arm. +</P> + +<P> +"I understand. Nothing can be too harsh and awful for one of the +breed," hissed Madge Scarlet, in a way that made even Professor +Ruggles' flesh creep. +</P> + +<P> +Then he rose to go. +</P> + +<P> +"I will see you again ere long." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet locked the door after the retreating form of the tall +Professor, and then, going to the little table, she sat down, and +resting her thin cheeks between her hands, she cried: +</P> + +<P> +"It is coming, it is coming! At last I am to avenge the insults heaped +upon me and mine by that scoundrel, who sends men to prison for money, +for pay doled out to him by the minions of the law. Dan'l, if you can +look down on your old widow to-night, from your home among the stars, +you will see her with tears of joy in her old eyes at thought of how +she will avenge herself on your enemies. When once that girl comes +into my hands, I will execute vengeance to suit myself, without regard +to Professor Ruggles, or any other man." +</P> + +<P> +So it would seem that even the Professor did not fully comprehend the +depth of Mrs. Scarlet's vindictiveness toward Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +It was Professor Darlington Ruggles who penned the letter to Nell +Darrel that sent the unsuspecting girl to Chicago to meet her brother. +</P> + +<P> +She was not a little surprised at not finding Dyke at the depot to +meet her, and consequently felt a thrill of alarm at seeing so many +strange faces. +</P> + +<P> +Why had he not come? +</P> + +<P> +While standing meditating on what course to pursue, a gentleman in +rather seedy garments, yet withal not bad looking, stepped up and +touched the girl's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this Miss Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," answered the girl, promptly, at the same time regarding +the tall, sunset-haired gentleman, who bowed and lifted his tall hat, +with no little curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Oscar Sims, a friend to the great detective, and ever ready to +serve his handsome sister." +</P> + +<P> +"But, sir, I do not think that it will be at all necessary. I expect +my brother at any minute, now," returned Nell, with a cool hauteur, +meant to be freezing. +</P> + +<P> +Nell had heard of the villainous sharks of the great city, who lie in +wait for unsuspecting maidens, and she did not mean to be taken in by +one of them. Mr. Sims, however, seemed to be a kind gentleman, and +when he looked hurt at her remark she hastened to apologize for +seeming rudeness. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not at all necessary," said Mr. Sims, with a bland smile. "Mr. +Darrel requested me to visit the depot, and look after a young lady +whom he expected on the evening train from Woodburg. I hope you will +not distrust one who has the best interests of the great detective at +heart." +</P> + +<P> +Again the red-haired gentleman bowed, and looked smilingly into the +face of the young girl. +</P> + +<P> +For the time, Nell was thrown off her guard. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I expected to meet my brother," she articulated. "He said nothing +about you—a stranger—meeting me at the depot." +</P> + +<P> +"No; and good reason why. He did not know when he wrote that it would +be impossible for him to get to the depot. A slight accident——" +</P> + +<P> +"Accident! Dyke injured? Then let me go to him at once," cried the +impulsive girl, before the man could complete his sentence. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not so very bad," said Mr. Sims, as he led the way to the walk +without, and placed his fair charge on the cushions of a hack. Giving +low instructions to the driver, he vaulted to the side of Nell Darrel, +and the hack rattled away. +</P> + +<P> +Nell sat flushed and silent for some minutes, her heart throbbing +painfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me about it," she finally said to her companion. "How did it +happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't give you the particulars, since they were not given to me," +answered he. "I only know that Dyke met with a fall on the stone +pavement, and Dr. Boneset says that his leg is broken. He is in +considerable pain, but cheerful withal, and will be mighty glad to see +Nell, as he calls you." +</P> + +<P> +Again the man smiled in the face of the girl at his side, and up to +this time no suspicion of the truth flashed upon her brain. +</P> + +<P> +Although the hack moved rapidly, it seemed to the anxious girl a long +time in reaching its destination. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Darrel is at my house," said the gentleman, "and I live at least +two miles from the depot." +</P> + +<P> +This was said to silence the growing uneasiness manifested by Miss +Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +When at length the hack came to a halt, Mr. Sims quickly alighted and +lifted Nell Darrel to the curb; then the hack sped swiftly into the +night. +</P> + +<P> +Nell gazed about her with a shudder. +</P> + +<P> +The low, dingy buildings and bad smell pervading the place startled +her. +</P> + +<P> +"It cannot be that this is the place," she cried, standing firm, as he +attempted to lead her toward a door, over which glimmered a faint +light. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes it is." +</P> + +<P> +"But I will not go in there." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll see about that," he growled, suddenly lifting her in his arms +and striding forward. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BEATEN BACK. +</H3> + +<P> +The moment Nell Darrel felt herself lifted from her feet she uttered a +wild cry, which was smothered in its inception by the hand of her +captor. +</P> + +<P> +"Quiet, child; nobody's going to hurt you if you behave yourself." +</P> + +<P> +Nell was young and vigorous, and she made a desperate struggle for +liberty. It was with the utmost difficulty that the man made his way +to the room occupied by Mrs. Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring the chloroform," said the villain. "We can't do anything with +the girl without it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll fix her!" answered the woman, in a voice that sent a shudder to +the heart of poor Nell. +</P> + +<P> +Then a subtle fume filled the girl's nostrils, and soon her senses +faded out upon a sea of nothingness—her troubles were over for the +time. +</P> + +<P> +Then the man, who was none other than Professor Ruggles, bore his +insensible burden after the steps of Mrs. Scarlet, to a room in a +gloomy basement beneath the building. +</P> + +<P> +As we have before remarked, it was in a disreputable part of the city, +and it was not likely that the friends of the fair Nell would look in +such a quarter for her. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then," said Professor Ruggles, when the twain were once more in +the room above, "I shall hold you responsible for the girl's safe +keeping, Mrs. Scarlet." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm ready to do my part," answered the woman. "How long will you keep +her here?" +</P> + +<P> +"As long as suits my purpose. I am not sure. I may conclude to wait +until Dyke Darrel is put off the trail before I take the girl to +Gotham; that city will be my ultimate destination. I must leave you +now, my dear, but I shall call to-morrow and see how my girl is +getting on." +</P> + +<P> +He turned then as if about to depart. +</P> + +<P> +"See here Professor!" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" +</P> + +<P> +He faced about once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't you forgotten something?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not." +</P> + +<P> +"The girl must eat!" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly." +</P> + +<P> +"And do you imagine <I>I</I> am going to pay the bill?" demanded the woman, +tartly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I had forgotten that a little of the root of evil was necessary +in your case." +</P> + +<P> +A smile, deepening into a disagreeable laugh, followed, as Professor +Ruggles laid a greenback in the hand of his tool. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later he was gone. +</P> + +<P> +As the door closed on his retreating form, the countenance of Madge +Scarlet underwent a change. The wrinkled face flushed with wrath, and +the skinny hands were raised on high. +</P> + +<P> +"Professor Ruggles, you may have successfully duped the girl, but you +cannot make one of me. I can read you like a book, and it maybe that I +shall conclude not to permit you to have your way in this matter. +Through this girl I shall be able to wring the heart of the man I +hate, and I mean to do it. Ah! Dyke Darrel, venomous scoundrel! The +hour of my revenge draws nigh! I shall willingly cast my soul into +Hades for this one drop of satisfaction." +</P> + +<P> +There was an awful glitter in the woman's eyes at the last, and her +fierce emotions caused her frame to tremble visibly. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, how fared it with poor Nell Darrel, who had gone thus +blindly to her doom? She did not awake from the stupor caused by the +chloroform, until another day had dawned upon the world, although but +little light was permitted to find its way into this underground +apartment, whose stone walls were damp with ooze, and from whence no +voice could penetrate to the busy world above. +</P> + +<P> +A faint light entered the place from between iron bars that spanned a +narrow window, far above the head of little Nell Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +The only furniture in this cellar was a straw cot, on which Nell had +been laid, and a low stool. The girl felt terribly sick and weak when +she came to realize her condition. +</P> + +<P> +She could understand now the truth, when too late, that she had been +enticed from home by a villain, and naturally enough her thoughts +reverted to Harper Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, why should she think of that man? Surely he was not wicked enough +to stoop to anything of this kind. +</P> + +<P> +Nell was not to be left long in suspense, however. The door to her +prison creaked on its hinges, and a man entered and stood confronting +her in the gray light. +</P> + +<P> +It was Harper Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +There was a smile on his sinister countenance, and he stroked his +beard with the coolest insolence imaginable. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you find yourself this morning, my dear?" questioned Elliston +in a low voice. +</P> + +<P> +"This is your work, villain!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush; don't speak in such a harsh tone, Nell," answered Mr. Elliston, +with a deprecatory wave of the hand. "I cannot permit you to impugn my +motive, Miss Darrel. I claim that all is fair in love and war. You +know from repeated assurances on my part that I love you; once I +wished to make you my wife. Blame me not if I have changed my mind on +that score; it is you who have driven me to it. Nevertheless, I am +constrained to deal justly and kindly with you, my girl, and again +offer to share my New York palace with you. Could anything be more +generous?" +</P> + +<P> +The infamy of his proposition roused all the fire in the nature of +Nell Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Harper Elliston, how dare you insult me in this way? Do you imagine +that I would for one moment countenance anything so base? You have +missed your mark if you imagine you can frighten me into consenting to +my own ruin." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be accomplished without your consent." +</P> + +<P> +Such a look as swept his face startled the girl. The hideous nature +of the man was now revealed in all its naked deformity. She shrank +from him as she would have shrunk from a venomous serpent. +</P> + +<P> +He continued to smile and stroke his glossy beard. +</P> + +<P> +"You see how it is, my dear," he proceeded. "The wisest thing you can +do is to submit to the inevitable." +</P> + +<P> +He advanced as lie spoke. +</P> + +<P> +She recoiled with a shudder of wild alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Back, scoundrel! Do not touch me!" she cried, warningly, an +indignant, perhaps dangerous, fire blazing in her eye. +</P> + +<P> +Again the demon laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to take my love-making hard, Miss Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"Not another step," warned Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! ho! ho! Would you try to frighten me? You can't do that, I've +tamed more than one such as you. Come, be sensible, and let me have +one kiss at least." +</P> + +<P> +Again he advanced. +</P> + +<P> +CLICK! +</P> + +<P> +Harper Elliston uttered a low yet startled cry and shrank back in +alarm. +</P> + +<P> +A cocked derringer gleamed in the hand of Nell Darrel, and the open +muzzle was pointed at his breast. +</P> + +<P> +This was as disagreeable as it was unexpected. +</P> + +<P> +A low-muttered oath fell from the lips of the baffled villain. +</P> + +<P> +"Girl, have a care, that weapon may go off," he cried, in a voice +husky with disappointment and rage. +</P> + +<P> +"It WILL go off if you do not depart at once," she answered, with all +the sternness she was able to muster. +</P> + +<P> +"Hand that pistol to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Never! Its contents you will get if you dare advance another step." +</P> + +<P> +Harper Elliston realized that he was baffled for the present. He had +never suspected the presence of a weapon on the person of Nell Darrel, +else he would have disarmed her at the outset. +</P> + +<P> +After a moment of hesitancy the villain turned and strode from the +place. When Nell attempted to follow she was confronted by a solid oak +door that Elliston had quickly closed and locked behind him. +</P> + +<P> +With a low moan Nell retreated and sank weak and trembling on the +miserable cot, and for the next few minutes gave free rein to her +alarm in tears. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime Elliston hurried above, and confronted Madge Scarlet +with a terrible frown on his brow. +</P> + +<P> +"You and that red-headed Professor have played a smart trick on me, +old woman, a mighty smart trick; but let me tell you it won't go down +for a cent. I don't like it much, neither." +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? I don't understand," said Mrs. Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll make you understand," and Elliston advanced angrily upon the +woman, and raised his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Strike if you dare!" +</P> + +<P> +She looked ugly at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +"You're just capable of strikin' a woman," sneered Madge Scarlet. +"I've seen such critters before. God never meant them for men, +however." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston held his hand. He saw that he had come near making a +mistake. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, Mrs. Scarlet," he said in a subdued voice. "I was beside +myself, but I had reason to be. Do you know that Nell Darrel is +armed?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"She IS, nevertheless, with a pistol. She's a perfect tigress, and +would as soon shoot me as not. I shall leave it for you to get the +weapon from her." +</P> + +<P> +"I can do it easy enough." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so. To-night I will have more definite plans. I may conclude +to take the girl away then." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston passed from the room. He had been gone but a few minutes +when another person entered—Nick Brower, the tool and friend of Mrs. +Scarlet and the Professor. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's the news, Nick. My nephew is still in durance vile?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered the low ruffian, "and what's more, Dyke Darrel, the +detective, is in Chicago!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DETECTIVE FOOLED. +</H3> + +<P> +Two men met unexpectedly in one of the hotel corridors of the great +city; two hands went out, and +</P> + +<P> +"How are you, Harry?" +</P> + +<P> +"How are you, Dyke, old boy?" +</P> + +<P> +"When did you leave St. Louis?" +</P> + +<P> +This from the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Not long since. I am confident that our game is in this vicinity. I +meant to come down to Woodburg soon, and consult with you. I sent a +telegram, but it brought no answer from you." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't at home. It was placed in my hands yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"And that is why you are here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not wholly." +</P> + +<P> +There was a gloomy look on the face of the detective, not natural to +it, and young Bernard knew that something had gone decidedly wrong +with his detective friend. +</P> + +<P> +"It is about Nell," said Dyke Darrel, when questioned. "She came to +the city last evening, in answer to a letter purporting to come from +me. The letter was a decoy from some villain, and I fear that Nell has +met with a terrible fate." +</P> + +<P> +A groan came at the last. +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard's face blanched, and he, too, seemed excited and deeply +moved. The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel noticed the young man's emotion, +and he felt a suspicion growing stronger each moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Nell in the city—decoyed!" exclaimed Harry at length. "Great heaven! +Dyke, this is awful!" "It is." +</P> + +<P> +Then the detective laid his hand on the young man's shoulder, and +piercing him with a stern look, said in an awful voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Harry Bernard, on your honor as a man, what do you know of this +enticing of Nell to the city?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do I know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; what do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, not to be mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +"I know only what you have just told me, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"This is the truth?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good heaven! Dyke Darrel, do you imagine that <I>I</I> had aught to do +with enticing your sister to this wicked city? My soul! You do not +understand the feeling that animates my heart for Nell Darrel. I hope +you will not insult me again with a suspicion so haggard and awful." +</P> + +<P> +The hurt look resting on the face of the young amateur detective was +sufficient to convince Dyke Darrel that Harry Bernard spoke the truth, +and this knowledge only increased his uneasiness. +</P> + +<P> +"I am fearful some terrible ill has befallen Nell," groaned Dyke. +</P> + +<P> +"My friend," said Harry, "we must let all other matters rest until we +find the girl. I have a suspicion that may lead to something definite. +Let me tell you now, that during the past year you have warmed a +serpent in your bosom in the person of Harper Elliston. I have never, +until now, dared make this assertion in your presence, knowing as I +did the great respect you had for the oily-tongued fellow. The time +for plain speaking has come, however." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall take no offense." +</P> + +<P> +"No! I am glad to hear you say that. Come to my room, Dyke, and I will +tell you something that may open your eyes a little." +</P> + +<P> +The detective complied, and when they were seated Harry poured out his +confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad you have been thus frank with me, Harry," said the +detective when his friend had finished. "I have heard enough of late +to convince me that Elliston is a wolf in sheep's clothing!" +</P> + +<P> +"And that is one point gained." +</P> + +<P> +"It is." +</P> + +<P> +"And I believe that it was Elliston who penned the decoy letter." +</P> + +<P> +"I am more than half convinced that such is the case," admitted Dyke +Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you investigated?" +</P> + +<P> +"Thoroughly, since I came into town. I learned that Nell got off at +the depot, and that she met a red-haired man, and entered a hack with +him. After that all is blank." +</P> + +<P> +"That confirms my suspicions, Dyke." "What is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"This man with the florid looks meeting Nell, and going away from the +depot in her company, Professor Ruggles, is a friend of Elliston's." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is true. I believe before another day passes, the place of the +girl's seclusion can be found. Down on Clark street is Mother +Scarlet's place, a played-out old hag, and she has been hand and glove +with this red-haired man for some time." +</P> + +<P> +"Mother Scarlet!" exclaimed the detective. "I have met her; she is the +aunt of the Martin Skidway who is now serving out the remainder of his +term for counterfeiting." +</P> + +<P> +"The same, I suppose. I move that we visit her den, and see what we +can find." +</P> + +<P> +"Agreed. Let us go at once." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel came to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, Dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"Well." +</P> + +<P> +"You are too well known by the crooks of this city to move about +without disguise." +</P> + +<P> +"I will fix that. I will meet you again in an hour." +</P> + +<P> +And then Dyke Darrel hurried away. +</P> + +<P> +It was almost dark when two men, one old and gray, with a hump on his +shoulder, called at a dingy old brick on Clark street and rapped on a +narrow door that opened into an alley. +</P> + +<P> +No answer was vouchsafed. +</P> + +<P> +Then the old man turned the knob, but the door refused to yield. +</P> + +<P> +"What's wanted, you fellers?" +</P> + +<P> +The voice came from behind the two men. Turning, they saw a stout, +ill-looking fellow, with unkempt hair and beard, peering in at them +from the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't this the house where Mrs. Scarlet stops," questioned the +elderly man. +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe 'tis." +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the woman now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bless your soul, old man, I don't know. Better call agin; she's allus +in evenings," suggested the man at the edge of the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe we had," grunted the old man at the door. Then he and his +companion moved out of the alley. They went but a little way when they +came to a full stop, and entered into a low confab. +</P> + +<P> +A pair of keen eyes was watching them during the time, however, and a +little later the man who had addressed the two strangers walked away. +He passed to the rear of the block, and made his way by a back stairs +to a room on the first floor. Here he found the one he was seeking— +Mrs. Scarlet—who was engaged in discussing a supper of bread and +beer. +</P> + +<P> +She was alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? so you're here again, Nick? Did he send ye?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Professor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who else should I mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wall, he didn't, then. I seed a couple of blokes in the alley jist +now, and they 'quired for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you send 'em up?" and the woman laughed in a way that +revealed her ragged teeth and unwholesome gums. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll be back soon 'nough," answered the man. "I've an idee they +mean mischief. Better you go below and see 'em when they do come." +</P> + +<P> +"All right." +</P> + +<P> +About an hour after darkness had settled, while Madge Scarlet sat in +the lower room, the one in which we have so many times met her, the +door was unceremoniously opened, and a man crossed the threshold. +</P> + +<P> +An old man he was, with bent form and white hair, a hump disfiguring +his shoulder, his trembling right hand resting on the top of a cane. +</P> + +<P> +"Good evening, mistress." +</P> + +<P> +The old man, who had closed the door sharply to behind him, sank to a +rickety chair as he uttered the greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know you," retorted Madge Scarlet sharply. "Haven't you got +into the wrong house?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I dunno," whined the man in a sharp falsetto voice. "I reckon +if you're Mistress Scarlet, you're the one I'm to see." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not ashamed to own to the name, old man. Let's have your business +at once." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm pretty much broke up since I came out of the bastile," said the +old man. "'Taint jest the place for a gentleman, I can tell you that. +It's mighty down-settin' on one's pride, which I had a heap of afore I +was sent to abide there." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you and what are you driving at?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet asked the question with a puzzled stare. She was +possessed of a very suspicious nature, and she was not ready to accept +a person on outward appearance alone. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm William Sugg, from Missoury," the old man answered promptly. "I +came all the way to Shecargo to see the aunt of a friend. Mebbe you'll +understand when I tell you, that Martin Skidway was one of the best +friends an old man like me had in the bastile." +</P> + +<P> +The name of her nephew opened the way to Madge Scarlet's heart at +once. +</P> + +<P> +She questioned Mr. Sugg about the young man, and he answered her with +the assurance that they had been inmates of the same prison, and that +Martin was losing flesh rapidly from melancholy. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the doings of that devil, Dyke Darrel," cried Mrs. Scarlet, +losing her temper at thought of her troubles. +</P> + +<P> +"I've kind o' thought, bein' as I was in Shecargy, I'd look up a +boardin' place and stay a spell. I've heerd that you have rooms to +rent?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have, to the right ones." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you show me some?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet rose and lifted a lamp from the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Come this way." +</P> + +<P> +As the woman led the way through a back door, into another apartment, +a pair of strong hands suddenly seized and held her fast, while a +voice hissed in her ear: +</P> + +<P> +"Not a sound or you die!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a startling situation. +</P> + +<P> +"I am here for a purpose," said the old man, a sudden change in his +voice. "I want you to lead me to the room in which Nell Darrel is +confined." +</P> + +<P> +The man's hands fell from the woman's shoulders, and when she turned +about, she found that he had her covered with a revolver. +</P> + +<P> +His voice sounded familiar. +</P> + +<P> +"You're the detective, Dyke Darrel?" +</P> + +<P> +"It matters not. Show me the way to the room where you have Nell +Darrel imprisoned," uttered the man in a stern voice. +</P> + +<P> +The menacing revolver decided the woman. The old building had been +arranged for emergencies of this kind, as the sequel will show. A +strange glitter came to the eyes of Mrs. Scarlet as she said: +</P> + +<P> +"Who told you that Nell Darrel was in this house?" +</P> + +<P> +"It matters not. Lead the way at once, or it will be the worse for +you." +</P> + +<P> +"You dare not harm me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll show you, if you attempt to play me false. A dozen policemen +have their eyes on this building at this moment." +</P> + +<P> +"Come on." +</P> + +<P> +The woman turned and walked forward. She passed into a hall, and +halting at a side door, unlocked it and pushed it open. +</P> + +<P> +"In there." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on. You shall keep me company." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet advanced, closely followed by the detective. +</P> + +<P> +The moment he crossed the threshold the door closed behind him, and +the lamp was extinguished, leaving everything in total darkness. Then +the detective felt the floor give way, and he was precipitated to his +doom, the last sound reaching his ears being a mocking laugh from Aunt +Scarlet. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OVERMATCHED BY A GIRL. +</H3> + +<P> +A low chuckle fell from the lips of Madge Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"I reckon you've met your match this time, Dyke Darrel. I will now +enjoy the sweetest revenge; it will be like honey to my blistered +tongue. You've done your last shadowing of your betters. Dan'l, +husband, you shall be avenged before to-morrow's sun rises over +Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +Lighting her lamp, the woman fiend bent down and peered through a +square opening in the floor to the depths below. It was too far down +for the rays of light to penetrate, but she could well imagine that a +mangled form lay directly below on the stone floor. +</P> + +<P> +A faint groan reached her ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! he's coming to his senses. I must see that he don't outwit Aunt +Madge yet." +</P> + +<P> +Then replacing the trap, the woman left the place, and a little later +descended a narrow stairs and entered the room beneath the trap. +</P> + +<P> +There on the stone floor lay the pretended old man, gasping in pain, +yet not able to help himself. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly Madge Scarlet bent over the prostrate and helpless victim of +her cunning, and began binding his limbs with a stout cord that she +had brought with her for the purpose. +</P> + +<P> +In a little time the work was completed, and Mrs. Scarlet stood up +with her arms akimbo viewing her work, a satisfied smile playing about +the toothless lips. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll peel you, so't there'll be no deception hereafter," muttered the +she fiend; and suiting actions to words, she tore the disguise from +the detective's head and face and flung it aside. "Thought to fool the +old woman, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +A curdling laugh followed. +</P> + +<P> +After gloating over the detective for some time, Madge Scarlet picked +up her lamp and turned away, a feeling of intense satisfaction in her +heart at the knowledge that she had her enemies so completely at her +mercy. It was satisfaction for one day at least. +</P> + +<P> +The woman passed through two basement rooms, unlocking and locking +doors, until she at length stood in the presence of Nell Darrel. "I +ain't here with supper, madam," sneered the woman, as Nell started up +and approached her. "You're not to have a mouthful to eat jest at +present; that's the compliments your husband sends." +</P> + +<P> +But Nell did not seem to appreciate the gross wit of her keeper. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not hungry, woman, but I appeal to you to permit me to go from +this place. I shall die here in a short time." +</P> + +<P> +"Die then! Nothing would please me better than to witness your last +struggles," and Mrs. Scarlet emitted a laugh that was horrible to +hear. +</P> + +<P> +Nell had much of the determined spirit of her daring brother in her +composition. She was not yet ready to give up all hope and fall +crushed in despair. Her right hand grasped the butt of the little +derringer she had been thoughtful enough to provide herself with +before leaving home. +</P> + +<P> +"Will nothing move you, woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," sneered Mrs. Scarlet. "Your brother sent my husband to a +dungeon, and to his death, and for that and other wicked work of his, +I mean to be avenged. I shall cause him to suffer through his sister. +You imagine the handsome Elliston a monster, I reckon, but <I>I</I> will +show you that he is but a child compared to Madge Scarlet." +</P> + +<P> +"Stop; I do not care to listen to you. Please hand over the keys to +this den of demons." +</P> + +<P> +A cocked pistol was brought forward to emphasize the fair prisoner's +demand. +</P> + +<P> +A sneering laugh answered the girl's demand. Madge Scarlet did not +seem to look upon the weapon as a dangerous one. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick! I have no time to parley. Fling down the keys—toss them to +the door yonder, then take your place in yonder corner. Do you hear +me?" +</P> + +<P> +So stern was the girl's voice, so full of intense meaning, as to amaze +the infamous woman who confronted her. +</P> + +<P> +"This is all a joke——." +</P> + +<P> +"It will prove a dear joke to you if you don't obey. Stop. One step +toward me and I fire! I am in deadly earnest." +</P> + +<P> +And the sneering Madge Scarlet realized that she was. It was a most +humiliating position. Once the woman thought of making a quick spring, +but a pressure of the trigger was all that was necessary to send a +bullet on an errand of death. +</P> + +<P> +With reluctance the woman drew a bundle of keys from her pocket and +flung them to the floor behind her, and close to the door that stood +ajar. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be so spiteful. Now, then, go to that corner. Move quickly!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl still threatened her keeper with the cocked derringer, and +she crossed the floor with a growl that was not pleasant to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"There, that is about right." +</P> + +<P> +Then Nell Darrel backed to the door, snatched up the bunch of keys and +lamp, passed into the next room, securing the door just as the hag +from within came against it with tremendous force, at the same time +uttering a series of the most ear-splitting yells. +</P> + +<P> +The door failed to yield, and Nell now hastened to improve her +opportunity for escape that the carelessness of Mrs. Scarlet had given +her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BOUT IN THE CELLAR. +</H3> + +<P> +It was a stout tin lamp that the fleeing girl held in her hand, and +the blaze filled the subterranean apartment but dimly. +</P> + +<P> +She found herself in a square room, larger than the one she had just +left. Advancing to a door she tried it, to find it locked. This was +made to yield, however, by one of the bunch of keys, and she proceeded +to another door that stood ajar. +</P> + +<P> +"Help!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a smothered cry that reached the girl's ears, and quite +startled her. +</P> + +<P> +The sound came from the next apartment. For a minute Nell Darrel +hesitated. She reasoned that she had nothing to fear from the hag who +kept the place, and one who was in need of help certainly could not be +a friend to Mrs. Scarlet, or those who profited by the old woman's +villainy. +</P> + +<P> +"Help!" +</P> + +<P> +Again came that cry, and Nell moved forward, pushed open the door and +flashed her light over the scene—a room much smaller than the one she +had just quitted. +</P> + +<P> +A dark object writhing on the floor startled her vision. +</P> + +<P> +"Old woman, do you mean to murder me here?" +</P> + +<P> +The man seemed to imagine that the new comer was the hag who kept the +place. With trembling step Nell Darrel advanced and flashed her light +into the face of a bound and helpless prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy! It is Dyke!" +</P> + +<P> +Stunned at the discovery, Nell was completely overcome for the time, +and stood with arms extended like one petrified. +</P> + +<P> +"Nell, is it you?" cried the yet stunned detective. "Where is the old +hag who rules this den of iniquity?" +</P> + +<P> +"Back yonder, safely locked in a room," said Nell, when she could find +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"And you did it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Cut these cords, brave girl, and we will soon be out of this." +</P> + +<P> +Placing her lamp on a box near, Nell Darrel proceeded to comply with +the request of her brother. She had with her a small open knife, and +this came into play neatly enough. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the detective's limbs were free. He found when he attempted to +rise, that he was unable to do so. +</P> + +<P> +"I received a bad fall," he said, with a groan. "Lend me a hand, Nell, +and we will get out of this before friends of that woman come to her +rescue." +</P> + +<P> +Nell assisted her brother to his feet. He groaned with pain, for it +seemed to him as though every bone in his body was broken. +</P> + +<P> +"I was a fool to run into such a trap," he muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you walk, brother?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can make a desperate try at any rate," uttered the detective, +grimly. Then, assisted by Nell's arm, he hobbled across the floor +toward a narrow stairs that promised them passage to rooms above. +</P> + +<P> +The beard and wig were left in the cellar. +</P> + +<P> +The sound of steps on the floor overhead brought brother and sister to +a sudden halt. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +"Some one is coming," uttered Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems so." +</P> + +<P> +Then the sound of an opening door startled them. +</P> + +<P> +"It's strange that Madge has left everything in such a careless way," +said a masculine voice. "Ho! Madge, where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold up thar," uttered another voice. "I reckin the old gal know'd +what she was doin'. Thar's some skulduggery goin' on down here, or my +name ain't Nick Brower. I seed an old bloke come in, and 'twixt me an +you, Professor, it was the man you'n me would give more to see out of +the world than in it." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Dyke Darrel, the detective?" +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't mean anybody else." +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, then, let's investigate." +</P> + +<P> +"Extinguish your light, Nell," cried Dyke Darrel, in a thrilling +whisper. +</P> + +<P> +The girl did so at once, but the men above flashed a light into the +basement room, and soon steps were heard descending the stairs. Dyke +felt over his person to discover that Mother Scarlet had been prudent +enough to deprive him of arms. +</P> + +<P> +Nell, white as death, yet with a determined look in her eyes, clinched +her derringer firmly, and with close-shut teeth waited the denouement. +</P> + +<P> +"If we could only get under the stairs," said the detective, in a low +voice. +</P> + +<P> +They made a move to carry out his suggestion, but it was too late. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" +</P> + +<P> +This exclamation fell from the lips of the foremost man of three who +were descending the narrow stairs. The outcry was caused at seeing two +forms gliding across the stone floor toward the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick! Hold up there, or we fire!" cried a sharp voice. Then the +three men rapidly descended to the floor and confronted Nell and the +detective. Three revolvers were leveled, and death literally stared +brother and sister in the face. +</P> + +<P> +"Caught, by the powers," sneered lips above a massive red beard, and +Professor Darlington Ruggles' eyes glittered with intense satisfaction +as they peered into the face of the famous railroad detective. +</P> + +<P> +Had Dyke Darrel been in the full vigor of his manly strength, and Nell +not by to unnerve him, his chances for escape would have been tenfold +greater. +</P> + +<P> +As it was, a terrible weakness oppressed him. His fall into the +basement had jarred him terribly, and it was with difficulty that he +could stand alone. The walls seemed to whirl about in a mad waltz, and +the faces of the three villains seemed one mass of grinning demons. +</P> + +<P> +"Halt!" +</P> + +<P> +Nell Darrel, white as death, yet with the fires of a resolute purpose +blazing in her eyes, thrust forward her pistol. +</P> + +<P> +"It's pretty Nell on a lark!" exclaimed Professor Ruggles. "It will be +better for you not to make any resistance, for the moment you attempt +it, that moment death will come to both of you. Be wise in time." +</P> + +<P> +The Professor advanced a step. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop there," sternly ordered the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye! stop there," repeated Dyke, in a voice husky from very weakness. +"We will not be taken alive. Do you know on what dangerous grounds you +are treading? This block is surrounded by members of the force, and +any harm offered to Nell or myself speedily avenged." +</P> + +<P> +A jeering laugh answered the detective. +</P> + +<P> +"It is wrong to tell such a whopper, Mr. Darrel, especially when one +is on the verge of eternity," said Ruggles, showing his teeth. +</P> + +<P> +The situation was interesting. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you permit us to depart from here?" questioned the detective, +suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +This speech brought a laugh to the lips of Darlington Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not seem to know me!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I know that you pretend to be a professor of some sort, but I believe +that you are in disguise. I think, if you would cast aside that red +hirsute covering, we should see——" +</P> + +<P> +"Zounds! Go for him, boys," cried Professor Ruggles in a loud voice, +completely drowning the faint accents of Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +The two men who kept the Professor company, made a quick move to seize +the twain in front of them. On the instant came a flash and sharp +report. +</P> + +<P> +One of the villains staggered and sank with a groan against the +stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I'm shot!" he gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"The she jade!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Nick Brower who uttered the hissing cry of rage, and the next +instant the villain's revolver flashed. +</P> + +<P> +"My God! You have killed Nell!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a cry expressive of the deepest agony, as the weak and reeling +detective caught the form of his sister in his arms, as she fell +backward, with the blood streaming down her face. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Nell! +</P> + +<P> +She hung a dead weight in the arms of Dyke Darrel—murdered by the +hand of a brutal assassin. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder the bruised and almost helpless man-hunter groaned with +inward anguish at the sight. +</P> + +<P> +He fell no easy prey into the hands of his enemies, however. +</P> + +<P> +Staggering backward, and easing his bleeding relative to the ground, +he turned with a mad cry and dashed at the throat of Professor +Darlington Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +Both men staggered across the floor against the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"I will strangle you for this," hissed the enraged detective. +</P> + +<P> +"Help!" gasped Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +Brower came to his assistance with a vengeance, and rained terrific +blows upon the head of Dyke Darrel with the butt of his revolver. Soon +the mad grip relaxed from the throat of Ruggles, and Dyke Darrel sank +a bleeding and insensible mass to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +Panting and gasping, Professor Ruggles leaned against the stairs and +gazed about him in the gloom. +</P> + +<P> +The lamp had been overturned in the struggle, and at the last, +darkness reigned supreme. +</P> + +<P> +"I've fixed him, Professor," growled Nick Brower, in a savage +undertone. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, the devil. He went for me with the venom of a tiger. Have +you a match?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's have a light. I'm afraid you have done a miserable job, Nick." +</P> + +<P> +Inside of five minutes the overturned lamp was recovered and burning +once more. Its rays revealed a ghastly scene. Two forms lay on the +floor, Dyke Darrel and Nell, both apparently dead. +</P> + +<P> +Nick's companion, who had screamed so lustily at the fire from Nell +Darrel's derringer, still leaned against the stairs seeming little the +worse for wear. +</P> + +<P> +"Mike, where are you hit?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know. I FELT the bullet goin' through my brains." +</P> + +<P> +A brief examination showed that the man had only been grazed by the +shot from the girl's pistol. When this discovery was made Professor +Ruggles became very angry. +</P> + +<P> +"You made more fuss than a man shot through the neck ought to. The +girl has been killed in consequence. Hades! this has been a bad +evening's work. I would rather have lost a thousand dollars than had +Nell Darrel slain." +</P> + +<P> +"She wan't wuth no sich money," growled Brower. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know what she was worth, you miserable brute?" snarled the +Professor, in an angry voice. "I take it, that I know more about it +than you do." +</P> + +<P> +"See here, boss, aren't you goin' on a bin run for nothin'? Whar'd you +be now if I hadn't gin Dyke Darrel his quietus? Mebbe you'd better +thank instead of curse your friend." +</P> + +<P> +There was a deal of homely sense in the words of burly Nick Brower, +and the prince of villains realized it. +</P> + +<P> +"I wanted the girl unharmed, Nick. If she's dead I don't suppose it +can be helped, however; she brought her fate upon herself." +</P> + +<P> +"That she did, Prof." +</P> + +<P> +Professor Ruggles then proceeded to make an examination of the wound +in Nell Darrel's head. He was gratified to discover that the bullet +had merely glanced across the girl's skull without making a +necessarily dangerous wound. +</P> + +<P> +"I will take the girl out of this while you dispose of the detective," +said Ruggles. "Be sure and fix him so that he will give no trouble in +the future." +</P> + +<P> +"Trust me fur thet," answered the villain Brower. +</P> + +<P> +Then Professor Ruggles passed up the stairs with Nell Darrel in his +arms, just as four men halted at the side door in the alley. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPTY SEAT. +</H3> + +<P> +A hand shook the door as Professor Ruggles entered the room. He at +once suspected something wrong, but cared only for his own safety, and +so did not attempt to warn the inmates of Mrs. Scarlet's den of their +danger. +</P> + +<P> +He hurried to the rear of the block, down an upper hall, and as he was +passing into an alley down the back stairs, the four men had burst in +the side door and rushed into Madge Scarlet's dingy sitting-room. +</P> + +<P> +"The beaks are out in force, it seems," muttered Ruggles, as he halted +for a moment on the ground to rest from his exertion. "I hope Nick and +that fool pard of his will finish Dyke Darrel before the cops get onto +them. As for me, I shall turn my back on this accursed town the moment +I am assured that Nell is out of danger. I will be quite secure in New +York, I imagine." +</P> + +<P> +And the red-haired villain made his escape from that building and, +leaving his charge in an out-of-the-way alley, went forth to find a +conveyance to take the wounded girl to a more safe retreat. He +succeeded in finding a hack that suited his purpose, and with his +insensible companion he was driven to another part of the city, on the +West Side. Ruggles had more than one resort in the great Western +metropolis, and after he had placed Nell in a cozy room, with an old +negress to watch over her, he breathed easy once more. +</P> + +<P> +Nell Darrel was badly injured, and for several days she raved in +delirium. When she came to her senses she was weak and almost +helpless. During all this time the black tool of Darlington Ruggles +cared for her in a most kindly manner. +</P> + +<P> +The negress had been instructed to do all in her power for the girl, +who, the Professor assured her, was a near relative who was not wholly +sound in mind, and this fact, combined with an accident, had brought +on the trouble from which she was now suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor little lily," murmured the negress, in a sympathetic tone, when +the girl was able to sit up and look about her. +</P> + +<P> +"Where am I?" demanded Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"Youse in good hands, chile," answered the black woman. "Your cousin +says he'll take you outen dis soon's you can trabbel." +</P> + +<P> +"My cousin?" +</P> + +<P> +Nell stared at the black, seemingly honest face in wonder. Of a sudden +the memory of the adventure in the basement on Clark street came to +the girl as a light from a clouded sky. She had indeed been under a +cloud for a long time, and had no means of judging of the passage of +time. +</P> + +<P> +What had happened during all this while? What fate had been her +brother's? A feeling of deepest anxiety filled the girl's breast. Ere +she could find voice for more words, however, the door opened and a +man entered the room. +</P> + +<P> +A low, alarmed cry fell from the lips of Nell Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +Before her stood Harper Elliston, smiling and plucking at his beard, +which was but a mere stubble now, he having shaved since she had met +him last. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Nell, you are looking bright; I trust that you feel better. You +have been very sick. How does your head feel?" +</P> + +<P> +For the first time the girl realized that there was a sore spot under +her hair at the side of her head. She touched it with her hand, and +seemed surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"You have forgotten, doubtless," he said. "You were rescued from a +band of villains nearly a fortnight since. It seems that one of them +must have fired at you, since there was a slight wound where you just +put your hand, that was doubtless made by a bullet." +</P> + +<P> +Nell Darrel was beginning to remember the scene in the cellar. +</P> + +<P> +"I was rescued, you say? Who were the rescuers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Myself among others. I think you may safely acknowledge that you owe +your life to me," said the New Yorker coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"And Dyke?" questioned Nell with intense eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"Was saved also, but he is badly hurt, and will be laid up for a month +or more. He is in one of the city hospitals." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, sir, I am thankful it is no worse. What have they done with the +villains, that sleek one with the red hair and beard?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are all in prison, and will be brought to court as soon as the +witnesses are in a condition to appear against them." +</P> + +<P> +"The witnesses?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke Darrel and yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Can I go to Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hardly," he answered with a smile. "You could not walk, that is +certain, and I am sure to attempt to ride would prove a dangerous +experiment. I am too deeply interested in your welfare to permit the +attempt." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am quite strong, I assure you," returned Nell, rising to her +feet only to sink back again with a cry of piteous weakness. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, it would not do to attempt leaving your room at present," +said the villain, still smiling. Besides, there is no need of it. Your +brother is doing as well as could be expected, and he has the +assurance that you are out of danger, which has proved a great comfort +to him, I assure you. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I suppose I ought to be thankful," sighed Nell, with tears in +her dark eyes. "I cannot understand it all just now. It seems strange +that I should be subject to such treatment. Do you know the man Sims?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sims?" +</P> + +<P> +"The one with the red beard and hair. He met me at the depot." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly. I cannot say that I know the fellow, but I suspect he is a +scoundrel of the first water. Don't bother your head about these +things now, Nell. Try and get rested and strong, so that you can get +from here and back to your own home as soon as possible. I hope you do +not fear to trust me?" +</P> + +<P> +He eyed her keenly at the last. +</P> + +<P> +She was too weak to fully realize the enormity of this man's offense. +She knew nothing of his connection with, the ruffians who made of Mrs. +Scarlet's building a rendezvous; she only knew that he had been +indiscreet and insulting once, when in liquor, but of this he might +have repented long since. At any rate, he seemed to be doing her a +good turn now, and she could do no other way than trust him. +</P> + +<P> +"I am still puzzled about one thing," she said, seeming to forget the +question he had propounded. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" asked Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"Why was I brought here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Simply because you were not able to be taken home." +</P> + +<P> +"But the hospital——" +</P> + +<P> +"Was no place for a lady. I realized that you needed the best of care, +and knowing Aunt Venus was a kind, motherly soul, an excellent nurse, +even though she had a black skin, I brought you here." +</P> + +<P> +"And here I've been—how long?" +</P> + +<P> +"About fourteen days." +</P> + +<P> +"So long?' +</P> + +<P> +"You are surprised?" +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't seem a day." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose not. You haven't been in your right mind any of the time. +Have you any word to send to Dyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to him soon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Immediately. I call at the hospital every day to inquire after the +dear boy, and I haven't been there this morning." +</P> + +<P> +His voice was gentle, and there was a moist light in his dark eyes. It +was barely possible that she had wronged the New Yorker, and the +thought caused a pang. In the time to come she would confess her +obligations, but now she was not in a mood for it. +</P> + +<P> +"If I could write a line it would do him more good than aught else," +said Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you control your hand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, easily." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you shall write the dear boy. As you say, it will be of immense +benefit to him." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston drew forth from an inner pocket a book. Opening it he +tore out a leaf and placed it, with pencil, in the lap of the invalid +girl. It was not without difficulty that she controlled her hand +sufficiently to write. +</P> + +<P> +Taking the folded note Elliston bade her good morning and passed from +the room. The moment he gained the street he tore the bit of paper to +fragments, a smile glinting over his face meantime. +</P> + +<P> +"So much for that," he muttered. "Nell is about in the right trim for +removal, and I must not delay another day. Simple little thing! She +believed every word that I told her regarding the outcome of that +racket on Clark street. What an opinion she would have of me if she +knew the exact truth. I must get me to Gotham immediately. My funds +are running low, and SHE must replenish them. I haven't seen Aunt +Scarlet since the racket. I hope she got her quietus. I believe I have +had quite enough of her disinterested assistance; quite enough of it." +</P> + +<P> +And yet the scheming gentleman was to receive more of the Clark street +hag's assistance in the future, and in a way that was not just exactly +pleasant, than he imagined. +</P> + +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> + +<P> +Night hung its sable mantle over the earth. A silver moon rode in a +clear sky, and the lightning express rattled down through the night +with a hiss and screech that rent the silence with an uncanny sound. +</P> + +<P> +The train was speeding through the Empire State, and when morning +dawned, with no accident happening, it would come thundering into the +great city by the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Two persons occupying a seat in the car next the sleeper merit our +attention. One is a heavily-veiled lady, apparently sleeping, since +her head reclines against the back of the seat, and a low breathing is +heard, or might be but for the noise made by the train rattling over +the steel rails. +</P> + +<P> +Who is the woman? +</P> + +<P> +No need to ask when we note the fact that the man sitting there +possesses red hair and beard—the irrepressible Professor Darlington +Ruggles, of Chicago. He has been eminently successful thus far in his +plot for the safe abduction of Nell Darrel. Under the influence of a +powerful drug he conveyed her to the station, and set out on the +previous day for the East. +</P> + +<P> +His companion was an invalid sister, who was in a comatose state a +portion of the time as the result of her ill health. This was the +story told by the Professor to inquisitive people, and the truth did +not come to the surface. Travelers, who become accustomed to seeing +all sorts of people, are not often suspicious. +</P> + +<P> +The villain was more successful than he could have hoped. Within a few +hours he would be in New York, and then he felt that he could bid +defiance to pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +It was now past midnight. The man from Chicago felt a deep drowsiness +stealing over him. He wished to shake it off, and so, rising and +seeing only people in an unconscious state about him, he concluded to +go into the smoking-car and enjoy a cigar. He began to feel nervous, +and such a stimulant seemed absolutely necessary. +</P> + +<P> +The train drew into a station, paused less than a minute, and then +went swiftly on its way. +</P> + +<P> +Calmly the scheming villain sat and puffed at his cigar until it was +more than half consumed, then he tossed the stump through the open +window, and once more he passed into the other car. +</P> + +<P> +When he gained the seat he had lately occupied, he could not suppress +a cry of startled wonder. +</P> + +<P> +THE SEAT WAS EMPTY! +</P> + +<P> +He had left Nell Darrel there not more than twenty minutes since, +drugged into complete insensibility. She could not have gone from the +seat of her own volition. +</P> + +<P> +An indefinable thrill of fear stole over the stalwart frame of +Professor Darlington Ruggles. He glanced up and down the car; the girl +was not in sight. But one person was awake, an old man, who said: +</P> + +<P> +"Lookin' fur the young lady?" +</P> + +<P> +The Professor nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"She got off't last station." "Got off? How—" +</P> + +<P> +"She had help, of course," explained the old passenger, quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Who helped her?" cried Ruggles, in a husky voice. +</P> + +<P> +"An old woman, who got on and off at the last station quick's wink." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DYKE DARREL ON THE TRAIL. +</H3> + +<P> +The men who burst into Aunt Scarlet's room on the night that Professor +Ruggles departed from the block with Nell Darrel in his arms, were men +of determination and friends of the detective, who had gone into the +building in the disguise of an old man, for the purpose of +investigating. +</P> + +<P> +How the investigation came out the reader has been already informed. +</P> + +<P> +The report of pistols had warned Harry Bernard, the boy Paul Ender, +and two officers in their company, that something of an interesting +nature was going on in the basement of the Scarlet block. +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke is in difficulty, that is sure," cried Harry, in an excited +voice. "We must get inside at once." +</P> + +<P> +They tried the side door, to find it locked. It was through this door +that they had seen the bold detective disappear, and it was in the +same direction that the four men proposed to go in search of their +daring friend. +</P> + +<P> +The room was in darkness, but Paul soon had the rays of a dark lantern +flashing about the place. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us move with caution," said Harry, taking the lead, and entering +the hall through the doorway which Ruggles, in his hasty flight, had +left open. Soon voices greeted them from the basement, and a light +glimmered through a half-open door at the head of the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"If we could only put him under down here," said a voice, which the +reader will recognize as that of Nick Brower, the villainous +accomplice of Professor Ruggles from the opening of our story. +</P> + +<P> +"Wal, I reckin we kin," said the villainous companion of Brower. As he +spoke, he went to the side of the fallen man-hunter, and placed the +point of a knife against his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"What now, pard? +</P> + +<P> +"Dead men tell no tales, Nick." +</P> + +<P> +"True. Send it home—-" +</P> + +<P> +SPANG! +</P> + +<P> +The sharp report of a revolver wake the echoes once more. The knife +dropped from the nerveless grasp of the would-be assassin, and with a +howl of pain he began dancing an Irish jig on the stone floor of the +cellar. +</P> + +<P> +Nick Brower whirled instantly, snatched a revolver from his hip, to +find that four glittering bulldogs confronted him from the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop that weapon, or we will drop you!" thundered Harry Bernard in a +stern voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Trapped!" cried Brower, in a despairing voice. +</P> + +<P> +Then the four men moved down into the cellar and secured Brower and +his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"We have made a good haul," said one of the police officers who +accompanied Bernard and Paul, who recognized in Brower an old +offender. +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard bent quickly and anxiously over the prostrate detective. +</P> + +<P> +"My soul!" uttered the young man, "the villains have killed poor +Darrel, I do believe." +</P> + +<P> +But the young man's belief was unfounded, since some time later Dyke +Darrel came to his senses. He was in a bad condition, however, and +those who saw him predicted that the detective had followed his last +trail. A search of the building brought to light Madge Scarlet, who +was fuming angrily over her imprisonment. +</P> + +<P> +"How did this happen?" demanded Bernard, sternly, when he came to +question the hag. She was sullen, however, and refused to answer. +</P> + +<P> +"I imagine there is a way to bring your tongue into working order," +said Bernard, in a stern voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I keep a respectable house, sir; you can't harm me." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll see about that." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you find any one?" questioned the jezabel in an apparently +careless tone. +</P> + +<P> +"We have two of your friends in limbo," returned Harry. "You will find +it no holiday affair to keep a house for the purpose of murder and +robbery. Never mind, you need say nothing, for it will not better +matters in the least. Come;" and Harry Bernard led the old woman from +the cellar. +</P> + +<P> +A patrol wagon bore the prisoners to the lock-up, and Bernard had Dyke +Darrel taken to a private hospital, where he could have the best of +care. It was some days, however, before the badly battered detective +came to his senses sufficiently to converse on the subject of the +racket in the building on Clark street. +</P> + +<P> +"My soul! Harry, has nothing been discovered of poor Nell?—was she +killed?" questioned the wounded man in a voice wrung with anguish. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think Nell was mortally hurt," returned Bernard in a +reassuring tone, although he hardly felt hopeful himself. "If she was, +why should the villains have taken her away, or the villain rather, +since, from your account, I judge that but one of them escaped, and he +the man with the red hair." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he seemed the chief scoundrel among them. I heard him called +Professor Ruggles." +</P> + +<P> +"He is about as much a professor as I am," answered Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +"HE is the man we want for that midnight crime on the express train. I +have evidence enough now, Dyke, to prove that this man is the guilty +principal, and I also believe that one of his accomplices is now in +prison." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +And then the detective groaned in anguish of spirit and of body. It +was hard to lay here, helpless as a child, while the fate of Nell was +uncertain, and there was so much need for a keen detective to be +afloat. Harry realized how his friend suffered, and soothed him as +best he could. "Leave no stone unturned to find her, Harry," urged the +detective. "If you do find and save her, great shall be your reward. +If she is dead, then I will see about avenging the deed." +</P> + +<P> +"And in that you will not be alone," assured Harry Bernard, a moist +light glittering in his eye. Even Dyke Darrel did not suspect how +deeply his young friend was interested in the fate of Nell. +</P> + +<P> +The days dragged into weeks ere Dyke Darrel was able to be on his feet +again. He was not very strong when he once more took it upon himself +to hunt down the scoundrels who had wrecked his happy home. Even the +railroad crime was forgotten for the time, so intense was his interest +centered in the fate of his sister. If not dead, Dyke Darrel believed +she had met with a far worse fate, and it was this thought that nerved +him to think of doing desperate work should the cruel abductor ever +come before him. +</P> + +<P> +Madge Scarlet was dismissed after an examination, but Nick Brower and +his companion were held to await the action of a higher court. +</P> + +<P> +One morning the pallid man in brown suit who had haunted the various +depots of the city for several days made a discovery. On one of the +early morning trains a man and veiled female had taken passage East. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel trembled with intense excitement when the depot policeman +told him of this. +</P> + +<P> +"Only this morning, you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was on one of the earliest trains, I believe, this morning. +</P> + +<P> +"A New York train?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not sure. I see so many people, you know. You might inquire at +the ticket office." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel did so. +</P> + +<P> +No ticket for New York had been sold that morning. Then the policeman +said that it was possible he might have been mistaken as to the time. +It might have been on the previous day he saw the man and his invalid +sister. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know that they took the New York train?" questioned Dyke. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I'm not positive about that, either. You might telegraph ahead +and find if such a couple is on the train." +</P> + +<P> +This was a wise suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke acted upon it, but failed to derive any satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +And there was good reason for this, since when leaving Chicago a dark +man, with smooth face and gray-tinged hair, accompanied Nell Darrel; +whereas, before reaching the borders of New York State, the place of +this man had been taken by a man with red beard and hair, blue +glasses, and a well-worn silk plug. +</P> + +<P> +This change disturbed identities completely. The change had been made +at a way station, without causing remark among the passengers, the +most of whom were not through for the great city. Once New York +whelmed them, the scheming villain and poor Nell would be lost forever +to the man-tracker of the West. +</P> + +<P> +There was a suspicion in the brain of Dyke Darrel that he scarcely +dared whisper to his own consciousness. It was that Harper Elliston +had a hand in the late villainy. The detective's eyes were open at +last, and he realized that his New York friend was not what he seemed. +It was this fact that induced Dyke Darrel to believe that the abductor +of Nell had turned his face toward the American metropolis. At once he +made search for Harry Bernard and Paul Ender. +</P> + +<P> +Neither of them was he able to find, and he had not seen them for two +days previous. +</P> + +<P> +It did not matter, however. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving word at the hotel that he had gone to New York, Dyke Darrel +once more hastened to the depot, arriving just in time to leap aboard +the express headed for the Atlantic seaboard. +</P> + +<P> +The train that had left four hours earlier was almost as fast as the +one taken by the detective, so that if no accident happened to the +earlier train, there could be little hope of running down his prey +before New York was reached. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, Dyke Darrel preserved a hopeful heart, in spite of the +terrible anxiety that oppressed him. +</P> + +<P> +The woman who had but a few days before been released from prison was +destined to complicate matters and bring about startling and +unexpected meetings, as the future will reveal. +</P> + +<P> +When night fell Dyke Darrel found himself yet hundreds of miles from +the goal of his hopes and fears. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A RACE FOR LIFE. +</H3> + +<P> +As may be supposed, Professor Ruggles was deeply stunned at the coup +de main that had deprived him of his fair charge. +</P> + +<P> +Who had robbed him? This was the question that at once suggested +itself to his mind, and he found it not difficult to frame an answer, +although, until this moment, he had supposed that Madge Scarlet was +still in prison. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be her," he muttered, as he gazed madly at the vacant seat. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure it was HER," said the old man who had first spoken. "A +queer, wrinkled old woman, too, she was." +</P> + +<P> +"Did she say anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a word." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Ruggles passed into the next car, hoping to find Nell and the +strange old woman there. +</P> + +<P> +He went the whole length of the swift-moving train, only to learn that +his fair captive had been spirited away completely. +</P> + +<P> +At first rage consumed the man's senses, and he scarcely realized the +dangers of his position. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not give up to such a sneak game," he muttered at length. +"Madge Scarlet has shadowed me for this very purpose, it seems. Can it +be possible that the friends of Nell Darrel have employed this hag to +rob me of my prize? I will not believe it, for it isn't in the nature +of Madge Scarlet to do a good action, not even for pay. No; it is to +gratify her own petty scheme of vengeance that she has stolen a march +on me; but she will not succeed. I will get on her track and wrest the +girl from her hands." +</P> + +<P> +A minute later Professor Ruggles stood before the conductor. +</P> + +<P> +"When does the next train pass going west?" +</P> + +<P> +"It passes Galien in an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Galien? Do you stop there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Soon?" +</P> + +<P> +"Within five minutes." +</P> + +<P> +When the train slowed in at the station, Professor Ruggles left the +car and entered the depot. Here he would have to wait nearly an hour +before the New York train west would pass. It was a tedious wait; but +he could do no better. With his hand satchel clutched tightly he paced +up and down like a ghost of the night. +</P> + +<P> +He was glad indeed when the train came at length thundering up to the +station, He had purchased a ticket for the station from which the +abductress had boarded the cars and stolen Nell. +</P> + +<P> +With feverish blood the scheming villain sat by the window and watched +the fleeting landscape by the light of the moon. The score of miles +that intervened between the station seemed like a hundred to the +anxious man who sat and glared at the trees and hills without. +</P> + +<P> +He was in extreme doubt as to his ability to cope with the cunning hag +who had ventured so many miles to thwart him, and indulge her own +morbid desire for revenge. +</P> + +<P> +At length the whistle sounded announcing the station. +</P> + +<P> +As the train bolted beside another train, bound in the opposite +direction, Ruggles glanced into the car not ten feet distant, to make +a startling discovery. +</P> + +<P> +He looked squarely into the face of Dyke Darrel, the railroad +detective! +</P> + +<P> +Turning his head, the Professor sat quiet. The other train was moving, +and Ruggles felt paralyzed at his discovery. Perhaps the detective had +not noticed him. He could not understand how the detective had escaped +death from the beating he had received in the basement of that +building of sin on Clark street. +</P> + +<P> +His own train was moving now, and if he would get off he must be quick +about it. +</P> + +<P> +Springing from his seat, he hastened down the aisle. +</P> + +<P> +At the open door he met Dyke Darrel face to face! The recognition was +mutual. +</P> + +<P> +The train was moving rapidly out of the station. Soon it would be +going at full speed. +</P> + +<P> +Professor Ruggles had two incentives for leaving the train now—one to +escape the detective, the other to find Nell and Madge Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +At first he thought of dashing upon Dyke Darrel and risking all in a +swift rush. Second thought, induced by the gleam of a six-shooter in +the hand of his enemy, concluded the Professor to seek another course. +Turning, he dashed down the length of the car, with Darrel in hot +pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +"Halt, or I fire!" +</P> + +<P> +But the detective's cry had no effect. +</P> + +<P> +The half-sleeping passengers were roused by the wonderful movements of +the two men. +</P> + +<P> +"Madmen!" +</P> + +<P> +"What IS the trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +Such were the exclamations, as doors slammed, and the two men swept +into the next car. From coach to coach sped the pursued and the +pursuer. It was a flight for life, on the part of Professor Ruggles. +</P> + +<P> +His plug hat flew off in the chase, and a brakeman who confronted him +in the aisle was knocked flat with terrific force. +</P> + +<P> +"Murder!" +</P> + +<P> +And then both men disappeared from the rear platform. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel believed he had his man in a corner, when he saw him dash +through the door at the rear of the long train. +</P> + +<P> +Not so, however. +</P> + +<P> +The desperate Ruggles was ready to do anything rather than come in +contact with his relentless foe. He bounded clear of the train, +landing in a soft bit of sand, sinking almost to his knees, without +harming him in the least. +</P> + +<P> +The detective did not hesitate to follow, but he made a +miscalculation, owing to his bodily weakness, and instead of landing +on his feet, he came down with stunning force across one of the rails. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel lay insensible, like one dead. +</P> + +<P> +Had his enemy come upon him then he might have finished the career of +the daring man-hunter, without the least danger to himself. For once, +Professor Ruggles missed it woefully. +</P> + +<P> +As the detective was ten yards behind the Professor, and the car was +going at good speed, there was quite twenty rods difference between +the two men when they landed. Dyke Darrel was completely hidden from +the sight of Ruggles by a clump of trees. +</P> + +<P> +Ruggles gazed up the track, but saw nothing of his pursuer. He +surmised that Dyke Darrel did not leap from the train, but it was +likely he would ring the bell and stop the cars at once, so that it +would not do to for him to remain in the vicinity unless he wished to +collide with the detective. +</P> + +<P> +Another supposition also came to the brain of the villain, preventing +his search along the track. If Dyke Darrel had leaped after him, what +more natural than his hiding in the clump of timber for the purpose of +pouncing upon him when he came up the road. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll not risk it," muttered Ruggles. "I've other fish to fry just now +than looking after detectives. I must find that hag, Madge Scarlet, +and get my hands once more on Nell Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +Then Mr. Ruggles turned his steps in the direction of the station. +Already daylight was dawning, and Professor Ruggles was almost beside +himself with anxiety. He cursed the woman who had made it necessary +for him to leave the train so many miles outside of Gotham. Such a +change in the programme might result fatally to himself. Dyke Darrel +was hot on the trail now, and it would require the best efforts of a +desperate man to throw him off the scent. +</P> + +<P> +The man with the sunset hair was desperate enough. With hurried steps +he made his way to the depot. The agent was just shutting up. +</P> + +<P> +"No train, save a way-freight, will be along till night," he said, in +answer to a question from the gentleman with the red locks. Ruggles +had taken the precaution to provide himself with a cap from his +satchel before presenting himself to the man on duty at the depot. +</P> + +<P> +"One question," said Ruggles, as the man was about to walk away. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did any passengers get off here some hours since from the New York +train east?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"None came into the depot, at any rate," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Any passengers get on?" +</P> + +<P> +"Several." +</P> + +<P> +"Among them an old woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"I saw no woman." +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I am." +</P> + +<P> +Ruggles was disappointed. Could it be possible that he had been led on +a fool's errand after all, and that Madge Scarlet, with her prize, had +been concealed on the train, and continued on to New York? The thought +was intolerable. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, how fared it with Dyke Darrel, who lay stunned and +bleeding across the railroad track. +</P> + +<P> +It was almost sun-up before he opened his eyes and groaned. His bed +was a hard one, and it seemed as though every bone in his body was +broken. The fact was, he was yet sore from his serious fall through +the trap into the basement on Clark street, consequently it is little +wonder he was badly demoralized, both in mind and body, at his last +mishap. +</P> + +<P> +Presently a strange rumbling jar filled his ears. A bend in the road +to the west hid the track, but the dazed brain of Dyke Darrel took in +the situation nevertheless—a train was thundering down upon him. +</P> + +<P> +A minute more and he would be doomed! +</P> + +<P> +He tried to move—to roll from the track. He could not. His limbs +seemed paralyzed. Another second and the train would be upon him! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SAVED! +</H3> + +<P> +Professor Ruggles had not been remiss in his judgment. It was Madge +Scarlet who stole his victim from his arms almost in the hour of his +devilish triumph. She did not get on the train from the little way +station, however. She was on the train when it drew out of the great +city by the lake, but the scheming Ruggles knew it not. +</P> + +<P> +She, too, wore a veil, and was otherwise disguised, and managed not to +show herself to the man she had once called friend. Immediately on her +release from jail she began to watch Ruggles, who kept himself out of +the way, or walked the streets only in disguise. +</P> + +<P> +She haunted the depots of the city, and was lucky enough to see him +when he took passage. Quietly boarding the same train, she bided her +time, intent on gaining possession of the detective's sister for +purposes of her own. +</P> + +<P> +The fires of insanity were already burning in the brain of the +convict's wife. +</P> + +<P> +Revenge for past wrongs seemed the sole object of her life now, and +this was the incentive that placed her on the track of a fleeing +villain and his intended victim. +</P> + +<P> +Madge saw Ruggles when he left the car. She watched her opportunity, +and lifting the partially insensible girl, bore her swiftly to the +outside, as the train halted for a minute. +</P> + +<P> +She gave vent to a chuckle as the train went thundering on its course. +</P> + +<P> +She had passed from the cars on the opposite side from the depot, and +consequently was able to elude the gaze of the depot agent. +</P> + +<P> +Along the track she went, pausing at times to rest, until she was +fully a mile from the station. In the shadow of a clump of trees the +hag came to a halt and deposited her burden on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +A moan from the drugged and helpless Nell reached her ears. +</P> + +<P> +And then Mrs. Scarlet chuckled the louder. +</P> + +<P> +"Good; she's coming out of her bad spell. I want her to realize her +fate, else there wouldn't be the least bit of pleasure in my revenge." +</P> + +<P> +Removing veil and light cloak, Mrs. Scarlet gazed down into the pallid +face of poor Nell, with only hatred gleaming from her sunken, beady +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! I've outwitted the master devil himself, and now I will have you +all to myself, to deal with in a way that will cut to the quick when +Dyke Darrel hears of it." +</P> + +<P> +Nell had on only a light summer robe under the shawl. She looked very +innocent and beautiful as she lay there under the gaze of that human +hyena. +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty's a picture," hissed the wicked Madge. "I'll all the more +delight in seeing you suffer. Ah! she is coming out of her stupor. How +do you feel, dear?" +</P> + +<P> +Nell had opened her eyes and gazed at the wicked face above her, in a +dazed semi-consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +No answer was vouchsafed. +</P> + +<P> +Then, in looking about, the gleam of steel lines under the moon's rays +seemed to attract the notice of Mrs. Scarlet for the first time—the +straight lines that marked the course of the Erie road. +</P> + +<P> +Their glitter seemed to offer a diabolical suggestion to Madge +Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I have it." +</P> + +<P> +Springing to her feet, she laid her arms about the slender form of the +helpless girl, and, lifting her, walked swiftly to the railway track. +In the centre, between the rails, she deposited her burden. +</P> + +<P> +"Revenge! sweet revenge!" cackled the hag in a blood-curdling voice. +</P> + +<P> +Again the girl moved and moaned; yet she seemed unable to change her +position. +</P> + +<P> +"Rest yourself comfortably, my girl; you won't be in trouble long," +muttered the demon woman, with a grin that was absolutely sickening. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Nell! She lay quite still after that, between the fatal rails, +only giving sign of life by a faint moan occasionally. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Scarlet retired to her leafy covert to wait the outcome. She +could see far beyond the track a farm-house, and near her a heap of +ties, and a rude fence—the moonlight revealed everything plainly. +Chuckling with hideous satisfaction, the she demon waited the coming +of the express that could not be far distant. Morning was already +brightening the East. +</P> + +<P> +Far away was the sound of a moving train. The sullen, distant roar +sent a thrill to the heart of the demon woman, who crouched in the +bushes to await the completion of her unhallowed revenge. +</P> + +<P> +The sullen jar seemed to act like a shock of electricity on the nerves +of Nell Darrel. She felt a strange and awful numbness. With a mighty +effort the girl roused herself to a consciousness of her awful +position. +</P> + +<P> +Louder and louder roared the train. It was but a mile distant now, and +the road was straight. +</P> + +<P> +Nell raised her head, and resting on her hands gazed down the track +where, in the distance, gleamed the light of the locomotive. +</P> + +<P> +"God help me!" moaned the poor girl. Then she tried to throw herself +from the track, but she could not. Her limbs were numb, and refused to +obey her will. +</P> + +<P> +A wild laugh rang out on the moonlit air. +</P> + +<P> +Madge Scarlet sprang up and glared through the bushes at her victim +with maniacal delight. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha' ha! You cannot escape! Them pretty limbs'll be crushed and torn +asunder! the white flesh cut and gashed, and that delicate body made a +horrid mass of blood and mangled fragments! THEN I will present them +to you, Dyke Darrel. Ho! ho!" +</P> + +<P> +Her voice was raised to a high pitch now, and even reached the ears of +the startled Nell. +</P> + +<P> +No help, no hope! +</P> + +<P> +On thundered the iron monster. +</P> + +<P> +On and on till the eye of the engineer catches sight of something on +the track—SOMETHING! +</P> + +<P> +Quickly the engine is reversed and the air brakes come into play. +</P> + +<P> +Too late! +</P> + +<P> +A moan of agonized terror falls from the lips of the half dead girl, +and then she sank helplessly to the ground. At the same instant help +came from an unexpected source. +</P> + +<P> +A man dashed swiftly through the moonlight and flung a heavy oak tie +in front of the slackened engine. +</P> + +<P> +A rumble and a jar, and then the train came to a dead stop, within +three feet of the prostrate girl! +</P> + +<P> +It was a narrow escape. +</P> + +<P> +The man who had come so unexpectedly out of the shadows dragged Nell +from her dangerous position. The engineer and fireman came down and +congratulated the young man on his presence. +</P> + +<P> +"The brakes couldn't quite do it," said the engineer. "That tie saved +the girl, with no damage to the train." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to be a lucky accident all round," said the young man, who +had laid Nell on a safe spot, and now turned his attention to +assisting in removing the obstruction from the rails. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Who is she?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I must be on the way," uttered the engineer, "we are behind +time now." +</P> + +<P> +By this time the conductor was on the ground, but the train was +running again, and he received a full explanation from the engineer +afterward. +</P> + +<P> +When the young man made a closer inspection of the girl he had +rescued, a cry of surprise fell from his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"As I live, it is Nell Darrel!" +</P> + +<P> +But she could not speak to thank him for his act, since she had +fainted. +</P> + +<P> +Lifting her tenderly the young man turned his steps in the direction +of the farm-house, where he had been stopping during the past two +days. +</P> + +<P> +"Curse you! curse you!" were the venomous words flung after the man by +Madge Scarlet. +</P> + +<P> +But she dared not interfere to prevent the rescue. +</P> + +<P> +When Nell Darrel again opened her eyes, it was to find herself calmly +resting on a couch in a little room, whose cozy appearance was like +home indeed. And the face that bent over her was not that of a +stranger. Could it be that she was dreaming? +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven!" murmured a manly voice, and then a mustached lip bent +and pressed a clinging kiss to the cheek of poor Nell. +</P> + +<P> +"Harry, dear Harry!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus had the lovers met after many long months of separation. +</P> + +<P> +A smile rested on the face of the fair girl as she held Harry's hand +while he talked of the past. +</P> + +<P> +She explained as best she could the strangeness of her situation; but +everything was so much like a dream, it was a hard matter to reconcile +some of the events of the past few weeks. +</P> + +<P> +"The end draws nigh," assured young Bernard, after a time. "If the +notorious man calling himself Ruggles was on the train, he will, on +discovering his loss, turn back, and then I will capture him." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MYSTERIOUS WART. +</H3> + +<P> +We left Dyke Darrel, the detective, in a critical position on the +railroad track, with the roar of a freight engine in his ears. The +rays of the rising sun touched the glittering rails as the long train +swept around the bend upon doomed Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +One more tremendous effort on the part of the detective, and he +succeeded in throwing his body squarely across one of the rails. In +this position he hung a helpless weight, with the hoarse roar of the +engine making anything but sweet music to his fainting soul. +</P> + +<P> +Ha! Look! A hand is outstretched to save at the last moment, and Dyke +Darrel is jerked from under the smoking wheels, even as their breath +fans his fevered cheek. +</P> + +<P> +The train swept on. +</P> + +<P> +A cheer greeted the man who had come opportunely to the rescue as the +engine swept on its course. +</P> + +<P> +And a little later a man, young, yet whose boyish face bore marks of +dissipation, stood beside the detective and gazed into his face now +for the first time. +</P> + +<P> +"Great Caesar!" +</P> + +<P> +The young man started as though cut by a knife, and bent low over the +fallen detective, who was now struggling to a sitting posture. +</P> + +<P> +When he looked into the face of his rescuer he uttered a great cry. +</P> + +<P> +"My soul! how came you here, Martin Skidway?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a fugitive," answered the young convict. "It wasn't through your +good will that I got out of prison, I can tell you that. Had I known +who it was on the track, I might not have put out my hand to save." +</P> + +<P> +The detective regarded the speaker in no little amazement. This was +the second time he had escaped from the Missouri prison, which argued +well for the man's keenness and capability, or else ill for the +official management of the prison. +</P> + +<P> +"It was from the St. Louis prison that I escaped," explained Martin +Skidway a little later. "I never got inside the State institution a +second time. I've had a sweet time of it thus far." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me how you made your escape," said Dyke Darrel, who sat with his +back against a tree, and regarded the young counterfeiter in wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't much to tell," returned Skidway. "I had no assistance, +but it seems that a pair of burglars had broken out by filing off the +grating to one of the corridor windows, and the opening had not been +repaired when I was taken to the jail. I was left in the corridor a +minute while the jailor was attending some other prisoners, and that +minute gave me the opportunity. I mounted a chair, climbed through the +window, and made my escape by the light of the moon. Of course there +was a big search, but I remained hidden in an old cellar under a +deserted house in a grove within the city limits, for several days, +and finally made good my escape from the State." +</P> + +<P> +"And now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am going to put the ocean between me and the beaks of American +law." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel regarded the speaker with mingled emotions. He saw in this +daring young fellow much talent, that had it been rightly directed, +might have made an honorable place in the world for Martin Skidway. +</P> + +<P> +"I am helpless to arrest your steps just at present," groaned the +detective. "Would you do it after what has happened, if you were in a +condition to do so?" demanded the convict, bending over the man on the +ground, regarding him with a menacing look. +</P> + +<P> +"Duty often calls one to do that which is disagreeable," answered Dyke +Darrel. A deep frown mantled the brows of the convict. +</P> + +<P> +"I see that my mercy was misdirected," he said. "It seems that I have +saved your life only to give you a chance to dog me to doom. Think you +I am fool enough to permit this?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a menace in the man's voice that Dyke Darrel did not like. +</P> + +<P> +"I am at present helpless," he said. "I don't imagine you will harm a +man who is in no condition to injure you if he would." +</P> + +<P> +"But you can talk. The first man who comes along will hear from you +that an escaped convict is in the rural districts of New York, and a +telegram will set ten thousand officers on the lookout for me. Without +such information I would not be recognized in this community. I am a +desperate man, Dyke Darrel, and do not propose to sacrifice myself for +your benefit." +</P> + +<P> +"What will you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"One of two things." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"You must solemnly swear that you will never reveal to another that I +am in this region, and swear also to make no effort to capture me +under a month, or else I shall have a painful duty to perform." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on!" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you take the required oath?' +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not." +</P> + +<P> +"Then the other alternative is alone left me, Dyke Darrel." +</P> + +<P> +"And that?" +</P> + +<P> +"DEATH TO YOU!" +</P> + +<P> +Straightening to his full height after uttering the three terrible +words, Martin Skidway snatched a heavy iron bolt from the ground, that +had lain long beside the track, and raised it above the head of +helpless Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Martin Skidway, hold!" +</P> + +<P> +The words of the detective came forth in a thrilling cry. +</P> + +<P> +An instant the would be assassin stayed his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You agree to my terms?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must die. It will be considered an accident, and no one will +suspect my hand in the affair." +</P> + +<P> +Again the young convict poised his weapon for deadly work. On the +instant the rumble of wheels met the ears of Martin Skidway. +</P> + +<P> +A wagon containing two men was in sight, moving down a road that ran +parallel with the railway at this point. It was evident that the +occupants of the vehicle had seen Skidway, and to strike now would but +add to the vengeance of pursuit and punishment. With a curse, he +dropped the iron bolt and turned to flee. +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke Darrel, if you inform on me, I will kill you at another time!" +hissed the convict. +</P> + +<P> +Then he rushed from the spot and disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +As the wagon came opposite it halted, and the cries of Dyke Darrel +brought both men to his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! is this you?" cried a cheery voice, and the next instant Dyke +Darrel was lifted to his feet by the strong hand of Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +It was a happy and unexpected meeting. Harry had good news to tell, +and when Dyke Darrel, assisted by his friend, reached the farmhouse +where Nell had found safety and shelter, the detective was strong +enough to stand, and assist himself in no small degree. +</P> + +<P> +Mutual explanations were entered into, and, as may be supposed, the +meeting between brother and sister was a happy one indeed. Harry was +the hero of the hour. +</P> + +<P> +When Dyke Darrel spoke of Martin Skidway, and the part he had acted in +saving his life, a word of admiration fell from the lips of Nell. +</P> + +<P> +But when Dyke proceeded to the conclusion, the girl's face blanched, +and she had no word of commendation left for the miserable convict, +who, after all, possessed but little honor. +</P> + +<P> +"So Aunt Scarlet is in the neighborhood; and also your abductor," +mused the detective. "The trail is becoming hot, indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"It is, for a fact," admitted Harry. "I believe, if the truth was +known, this man Ruggles will prove to be the man we want. Have you +that handkerchief with you, Dyke, that we found in the coat of the +rascal who attempted your murder in St. Louis?" +</P> + +<P> +This was several hours after the events of the morning, and Nell was +now resting in a large wooden rocker, very weak, yet feeling +remarkably well, considering the siege she had passed through during +the past two weeks and more. Dyke Darrel and Harry were the only +occupants of the room, the farmer being at his work in the field, and +his good wife attending preparations for supper in the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +"I have kept the tell-tale handkerchief through it all," answered the +detective, at the same time producing the article from a receptacle +beneath, his shirt. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a wonder this was not discovered when you were in the hands of +the thugs of Chicago." +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't closely searched, I suppose. You and the boys were too close +after them." +</P> + +<P> +"You give me too much credit, Dyke," returned Harry Bernard, modestly. +"I've a question to ask." +</P> + +<P> +"Ask as many as you like." +</P> + +<P> +"Was it the fact of my hand fitting this bloody imprint that so +startled you in the St. Louis hotel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did I not so claim at the time?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps; but wasn't there another coincidence that gave you reason to +suspect me? +</P> + +<P> +"There might have been." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so. It was the imprint of a large wart, such as this on the +handkerchief, that made you look with suspicion upon me. Is it not +so?" +</P> + +<P> +Harry held up his hand, so that a wart on the little finger was +plainly revealed, and which, when he placed his hand against the +tell-tale handkerchief, fitted the marks perfectly. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, Harry," cried the detective, quickly. "I know now that it +was only a remarkable duplicate; the wart belonged to another hand +than yours. The print of the wart was also on the bosom of Arnold +Nicholson's white shirt bosom, where a bloody hand had fallen. I made +this discovery when I examined the body of my dead friend. +Circumstantial evidence pointed to you, and yet I doubted—" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand," interrupted Harry. "My hand is indeed a duplicate of +the assassin's. It is a wonder that I have not been arrested ere this +by some of the detectives who are engaged in working up this case." +</P> + +<P> +"Why so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because you are not the only one who made the discovery of the wart +that adorned the hand of the assassin. A reporter got hold of the +story and published it. Don't you remember?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't read the papers closely since the murder." +</P> + +<P> +"But I have, and so has the man who killed Nicholson." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" +</P> + +<P> +"He soon learned that officers of the law were all looking for a man +with a large wart on the second joint of the little finger of the +right hand. This fact made him nervous, and one night he severed the +wart, and flung it from him, since which time he has breathed easier." +</P> + +<P> +A low exclamation from the lips of Nell startled both men. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF A WART. +</H3> + +<P> +"Nell, what is it?" questioned the surprised detective. +</P> + +<P> +Harry regarded the girl with a queer smile. Perhaps he knew what had +brought the exclamation to the lips of Miss Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"I know a man who has lost a wart," she said, slowly, a deepening +pallor coming to her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"His name?" questioned Dyke Darrel, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +But the girl did not immediately answer. It seemed that something +moved her deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"Was it Professor Ruggles?" questioned Harry, in order to help the +young girl out. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Who then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Harper Elliston!" +</P> + +<P> +A grave look chased the smile from the face of Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +The girl's announcement seemed to prove a revelation to him, even as +it did to Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not know the man who severed the wart from his hand," said +Harry Bernard, after a brief silence, "but suspected that it was +Darlington Ruggles. It seems now that I was correct." +</P> + +<P> +"How is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you not guessed the truth," queried Harry Bernard. "I made the +discovery some time since that the red-haired man and Harper Elliston +were one and the same." +</P> + +<P> +This came as a revelation to both the detective and his sister. +</P> + +<P> +"I have had suspicions," said Dyke Darrel, "but never anything +definite regarding the villainy of this man Elliston. He has played +his cards well, but I became undeceived not long after this great +railroad crime. That he was not my friend I discovered, and then I +resolved to watch him. I have reason to believe that it was to him I +owe my arrest in Burlington, Iowa. I now see the truth, that under the +assumed name of Hubert Vander, Elliston ruined a young girl of +Burlington, and, it may be, murdered her father, wealthy Captain +Osborne. It would be strange indeed, should the trail that ends with +the capture of the express robber also bring to punishment the +assassin of the Burlington Captain." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems likely to end in that way," returned Harry. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us hear what Nell has to say with regard to the wart," said the +detective, turning to his sister. +</P> + +<P> +"It will require but a few words to do that," said Nell Darrel. "I +always noticed a peculiarly shaped wart on the finger of Mr. +Elliston's shapely right hand, and once he remarked upon it to me, +saying that it was a disfigurement, and that he meant to have it +removed sometime. I think it was the first time I met Mr. Elliston +after the terrible news of the mid night express tragedy that I +noticed the absence of the wart, and a bit of surgeon's plaster +covering the spot. I laughed over his having undergone such a severe +surgical operation, and he seemed to take it in good part, assuring me +that HE was the surgeon who amputated the excrescence with a razor. Of +course I thought nothing strange of it at the time." +</P> + +<P> +"You said the wart had a peculiar shape? How is that?" questioned +Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +"It was large, and was composed of two crowns. I think, perhaps two +warts had grown together at the roots." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly. Would you know the wart if you should see it again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I should." +</P> + +<P> +"So would I," cried the detective. +</P> + +<P> +Then Harry Bernard drew a small vial from his pocket and held it up to +view. A small object, submerged in alcohol, was visible. When placed +in the hand of Nell, the girl at once exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"That is certainly the wart that once disfigured the hand of Harper +Elliston!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get it?" questioned Dyke Darrel, now deeply interested +at the links that were being rapidly forged in the chain of evidence. +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke, you know that when I left Woodburg some months ago, I went from +among you under a cloud?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will not dispute you—" +</P> + +<P> +"No explanation is necessary on your part, Dyke. I imagine I was as +much to blame as anybody. Nell and I quarreled, and I imagined that +the handsome, elderly New Yorker had stepped into my shoes, so far as +she was concerned. I did not like the man, and so I resolved to +investigate for myself, and if I found that he was not worthy of Nell, +whom I loved and should always love while life lasted, I determined to +expose him, and save your sister. During the past few months I have +been making this investigation, to find that the supposed immaculate +Harper Elliston is known in Gotham in certain circles as a gambler and +villain of the deepest dye. He has committed some crimes that are +worse than murder. Now, as to the wart: It was soon after I had heard +of the murder on the express train, that while riding in the smoking +car of an emigrant train in Iowa, I saw an old man deliberately slice +a huge wart from his little finger with a keen-edged knife. The wart +fell under the seat and rolled at my feet. The old man made no effort +to recover it, but wrapped his bleeding hand in a handkerchief and +muttered: 'THAT witness will never come up to trouble me.' There was +something in the man's voice that sounded familiar, and the strange +whiteness of his hands aroused my suspicions, for in dress and +appearance the man was a laborer of the lower class. Curiosity, if +nothing stronger, prompted me to take possession of the severed wart +that had rolled at my feet. Soon after that I read the notice in a +newspaper, to the effect that the assassin of the express train had +left the imprint of a wart on the bosom of the dead man's shirt. Since +that time I have regarded hands with no little interest, and have +looked for the old man of the emigrant car in vain." +</P> + +<P> +"An interesting recital," said the detective, when Harry Bernard came +to a pause. "Knowing all this, you kept it from me at St. Louis." +</P> + +<P> +"My reason for that was, that I did not care to arouse any foolish +theories. Of course, the reporter's story might have been false. The +wart on my own hand, somewhat similar to this, led me to keep my own +council as a matter of personal safety. Although I suspected Elliston, +I had no proof, since I had forgotten the fact of his ever having a +wart on the little finger of his right hand. My principal hope has +been in finding the old man of the emigrant train." +</P> + +<P> +"You have not found him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not unless Elliston is the man." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you suspect this before now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did; now I am convinced." +</P> + +<P> +Just then Harry Bernard chanced to raise his eyes and gaze out of the +open window. +</P> + +<P> +He came suddenly to his feet with a startled exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel glanced out of the window to notice a bent old man, with +white hair and beard, moving away from the vicinity of the house. +Evidently he had been looking into the room, if not listening to the +conversation of the trio. +</P> + +<P> +"Saints of Rome! there is the old man of the emigrant train now!" +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel staggered to the window, while Harry Bernard rushed +swiftly from the farm-house. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE REVELATIONS OF A SATCHEL. +</H3> + +<P> +"Hello, old man!" +</P> + +<P> +"Eh?" +</P> + +<P> +The man stopped, stared at Harry Bernard as if puzzled, and then began +to grin. +</P> + +<P> +"I want to speak with you, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Sortin, sortin you can." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sam Wiggs o' Yonkers. Wat can I do for ye, mister?" +</P> + +<P> +The old fellow seemed honest enough, and as Harry glanced at the dirty +hands, he saw nothing to excite his suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you a relative of Mr.—-?" naming the farmer who owned the place +on which they stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Wal, not as I knows on," drawled the old fellow, laughing until his +old head seemed ready to topple from his shoulders. "No blood +relation, any how, sir. You see, my wife's cousin's aunt's husband's +brother Jerry was a cousin to Nicodemus Dunce, who, if I don't +disremember, was related in some way to Isacker Pete's wife's sister, +and she was this ere man's niece, or somethin' o' that sort, but we +ain't blood related nohow." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think not," answered Harry, and then he returned to the +house, while the old man Wiggs proceeded unmolested on his way. +</P> + +<P> +"At a first glance, he DID resemble the man of the emigrant train +strongly," muttered Bernard, "but I see now that I was mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, how did you make out, Harry?" +</P> + +<P> +"This was from Dyke Darrel, who had been watching proceedings from the +window. +</P> + +<P> +"A case of mistaken identity," answered the young man, with a laugh. +"I was sure I had found the right man when I saw that old chap +crossing the yard, but it seems that I was mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I am." +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel watched the retreating form of the old man with no little +curiosity, however, until his bent form was lost to view down the +winding road. Naturally suspicious, the detective more than half +believed that the seemingly aged man had not come to the farm-house +for any good purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't help thinking that Wiggs, as he called himself, is destined +to give us trouble, Harry," the detective said, at length. +</P> + +<P> +"An inoffensive old man," asserted Bernard. At the same time, however, +he was not fully content to let the matter rest as it was. +</P> + +<P> +"It might be well enough to watch the old fellow, at any rate," said +Dyke Barrel, rising and walking twice across the room, peering +nervously out of the window in the direction in which old Wiggs had +gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep quiet, Dyke," said Bernard. "I will shadow the old fellow, and +see if he is other than he seems." +</P> + +<P> +Bernard was on the point of leaving the room, when a youth appeared, +walking swiftly toward the farm-house from the direction of the +station. One glance sufficed to show both men the genial face of the +boy Paul Ender. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have Paul with you, Harry?" said the detective with a pleased +smile. +</P> + +<P> +"He is my shadow, and I have found him true and brave," answered +Harry, at the same time glancing toward Nell, who had told him of the +lad's defense of her against the villain Elliston. +</P> + +<P> +"I can testify to his bravery," said the girl. "Paul and I are great +friends." +</P> + +<P> +A minute later, young Ender entered the presence of the trio, and +deposited a black satchel in the middle of the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"I have committed a theft," said the boy, with a queer look on his +face, "and am here to throw myself on the mercy of the court." +</P> + +<P> +"You speak in riddles," said Bernard. "I've been on a bully lay, as +the peelers say, and I believe have made a discovery, although it may +amount to nothing after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen the man with the red hair and beard." +</P> + +<P> +"When?" +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Over by the depot. I saw him go into an old out-house with this +satchel in his hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"I was on the watch, and when he came out I saw, not Brother Ruggles, +but a lean old man, with white locks and beard, who seemed to walk +with great difficulty." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"He hobbled away, and failed to take the satchel with him. At first I +could not believe that the sorrel gent and the old chap were the same. +I learned this by investigation. When, after waiting a spell, and no +sunset-haired gent came forth, I proceeded to investigate, and found +this satchel, which, under the law of military necessity, I proceeded +to confiscate, that the ends of justice might be furthered. If I have +done wrong, I am ready to throw myself on the mercy of the court, and +be forgiven." +</P> + +<P> +"You have done right," cried Dyke Barrel. "Have you opened the +satchel?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. It is locked, and I haven't a key that will fit." +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard produced several keys, none of which fitted the lock to +the satchel. +</P> + +<P> +"What are we to do?" cried Bernard. "The satchel is securely locked, +and its owner has the key." +</P> + +<P> +"This is no time for ceremony or undue squeamishness!" uttered Dyke +Darrel. "We are on the eve of an important discovery, and I propose to +make no delays." +</P> + +<P> +Then, drawing a knife from his pocket, the detective bent over the +satchel and slit the sides at one stroke. +</P> + +<P> +"That will open it if a key won't," he remarked, with grim +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +The contents of the satchel were a revelation. +</P> + +<P> +Red wigs and a complete suit of clothes, besides paints and powders. +</P> + +<P> +Harry uttered an exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as I suspected," uttered Dyke Darrel. "You made no, mistake when +you suspected that old man who just now left this vicinity. Doubtless +he forgot his satchel, or else thought it safe until his return. Paul, +my boy, you have done a good thing, and shall be promoted. We must now +make it a point to intercept old Wiggs." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless he has gone to the depot." +</P> + +<P> +"How far is that from here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Two miles." +</P> + +<P> +"When does the train pass?" questioned Dyke Darrel. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot say." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I." +</P> + +<P> +"Ask the farmer's wife." +</P> + +<P> +Paul sped from the room. +</P> + +<P> +"The New York express goes in ten minutes," said the boy, on his +return. +</P> + +<P> +"In ten minutes? Then we have no time to lose," cried Dyke, turning to +the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke, what would you do?" demanded Nell at this moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Capture your enemy and mine—-" +</P> + +<P> +"But you are not strong enough to take the trail. Stay with me." +</P> + +<P> +He interrupted her with: +</P> + +<P> +"Nell, I never felt stronger in my life. I mean to put the bracelets +on the villain's wrists with my own hands." +</P> + +<P> +"Dyke, leave it to me," urged Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +But the detective's blood was up, and he would listen to no one. He +was determined to be in at the death, and for the time his old +strength seemed coursing in his veins. He hastened from the house, and +ascertaining that a horse was in the barn, he at once sprang to the +animal's back. +</P> + +<P> +"You are unarmed?" said Bernard. "Yes, but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Take this; I will quickly follow," and the young man thrust a +revolver into the hand of Dyke Darrel. "Do nothing rash until help +arrives, Dyke. Our game is desperate, and will fight hard if +cornered." +</P> + +<P> +"I am aware of that, but I do not fear him. Ha! what is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"The roar of the train." +</P> + +<P> +"Then time is short." +</P> + +<P> +The horse and rider shot away down the country road like an arrow, or +a bird. On and on, with the speed of the wind, and yet the lightning +express made even greater speed than did the detective's horse. +</P> + +<P> +With a roar and a rush the train swept past. +</P> + +<P> +Too late! +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel drew rein at the depot just as the train swept madly away +on its course to the great city, and on the rear platform stood the +old man who had peered into the farm-house window but a short time +before. +</P> + +<P> +It was an aggravating situation. +</P> + +<P> +"You can use the telegraph," suggested the depot agent, when Darrel +unbosomed himself to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick! Send word to the next station, and have the man detained." +</P> + +<P> +The ticket agent went to his instrument and ticked off the desired +information. +</P> + +<P> +A little later came the reply: +</P> + +<P> +"No such person on the train." +</P> + +<P> +A malediction fell from the detective's lips. Was his enemy to thus +outwit him always? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +RETRIBUTION. +</H3> + +<P> +A tall, handsome man of middle-age stood picking his teeth with a +jaunty air beside the desk of a down-town boarding-house, when his +occupation, if such we may call it, was interrupted by a touch on his +arm. +</P> + +<P> +Looking down, the gentleman saw a small, ragged urchin standing near. +</P> + +<P> +"It is yourn—10 cents, please." +</P> + +<P> +The boy held out a yellow envelope, on which was scrawled the name +"Harper Elliston." +</P> + +<P> +The gentleman dropped the required bit of silver into the boy's hand +with the air of a king, and then tore open the envelope. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MR. ELLISTON: Meet me at Room 14, Number 388 Blank street, at seven +this evening, SHARP. Business of importance. +<BR><BR> +"B." +</P> + +<P> +The contents of the envelope puzzled Mr. Elliston, who had been but +ten days in New York since his return from the West. He had several +acquaintances whose names might with appropriateness be signed B. "I +don't think there'll be any harm in meeting Mr. B. at the place +mentioned. It may be of importance, as he says. If it should be a trap +set by Dyke Darrel—but, pshaw! that man is dead. I had it from the +lips of Martin Skidway, and he knew whereof he spoke. I will call at +388, let the consequences be what they may." Thus decided a cunning +villain, and in so doing went to his own doom. +</P> + +<P> +Ten days had Dyke Darrel and his friend Bernard searched the city of +New York ere they found their prey. Once found, the detective resolved +upon a novel manner of procedure for his capture. The sending of the +letter was part of the scheme. Had this failed, then a bolder move +would have been made. +</P> + +<P> +But it did not fail. +</P> + +<P> +When Mr. Elliston rapped at room 14, number 388 Blank street, the door +was opened, admitting the visitor to a small room containing a bed, a +few necessary articles of furniture, and a curtained alcove. +</P> + +<P> +The door was suddenly closed and locked behind Elliston, light was +turned on fully, and then the visitor found himself confronted by +Harry Bernard, whom he had met once or twice in Woodburg, many months +before. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh!" ejaculated Elliston. "So you are the man who wrote that note +requesting an interview? Well, I am glad to see you, Mr. Bernard," and +Elliston held out his hand, with a smile wreathing his thin lips. +</P> + +<P> +"I imagined you would be," returned the youth. "I am glad to see you +so well. Fact is, you are badly wanted out in Illinois at the present +time." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry that I cannot accommodate my friends out there," returned +Elliston, with a frown; "but it is wholly out of the question. I think +I will bid you good evening, Mr. Bernard. I cannot waste precious time +here." +</P> + +<P> +He turned and grasped the door-knob. It did not yield to his touch. +</P> + +<P> +"Not just yet, Mr. Elliston," said Harry. "I wish to ask you a few +questions." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know of the murder of Arnold Nicholson on the midnight +express, south of Chicago, some weeks ago?" +</P> + +<P> +"I read of it, of course." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston pulled nervously at his glove as he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know of the disappearance of Captain Osborne and the +death of his daughter?" persisted Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose I have nothing to do but answer such nonsensical +questions?" demanded Elliston, angrily. "Open this door and let me +pass out." +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet. I wish to tell you a little story, Mr. Elliston." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't time to listen." +</P> + +<P> +"Nevertheless, you must take the time," said Harry Bernard, sternly. +"Don't attempt to make trouble, sir; you will get the worst of it if +you do." +</P> + +<P> +There was a glitter in the eyes of the speaker that was not pleasant +to see. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Elliston sank to a chair, and with an air of resignation said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, this is impudent, but I will listen if it will gratify +you." +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly will. I wish to start out with the assertion that you DO +know something about the crime on the midnight express, and I will try +and convince you that <I>I</I> know what part you acted in the murder of +one of the best men in the service of the express company. Don't lose +your temper, sir, but listen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am listening." +</P> + +<P> +There was a sullen echo in the man's voice that boded an outburst +soon. +</P> + +<P> +"A gentleman of your build and complexion boarded the train at a +station just south of Chicago one night in April. At another station +two companions joined this man, according to previous agreement. One +was almost a boy in years, an escaped convict; and these three men +during the night entered the express car, murdered the agent, and went +through the safe. Just before reaching Black Hollow the three men left +the car. One of the three was tall and had red hair and beard. This +man, after the slaughter, left a trace behind that has led to his +identity. He left the imprint of a bloody hand on a white handkerchief +that he took from the pocket of his victim. That handkerchief was +afterward found, and the bloody mark compared with the hand of the +assassin." +</P> + +<P> +"That could hardly be possible. Hands are many of them alike," +articulated Mr. Elliston, nervously. +</P> + +<P> +"True, but in this case a wart, of peculiar shape, gave the man away. +The mark of his bloody hand, leaving the wart's impress, was not only +on the handkerchief, but left against the white shirt-front of the +murdered man as well. The man who committed the murder read of the +clew in a Chicago paper, and, to obliterate the tell-tale evidence, he +cut the wart from his hand and dropped it under the seat while +journeying through Iowa in disguise, on an emigrant train." +</P> + +<P> +The face of Elliston had become white as death, and he trembled from +head to foot. If Bernard had doubted before, he doubted now no longer. +</P> + +<P> +"A nice story," finally sneered Bernard's visitor. "When did you learn +so much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Weeks ago—" +</P> + +<P> +"And you have permitted this villain to run at large so long!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I propose to see that he does not flaunt his crimes in the face +of the world longer." +</P> + +<P> +Then, with a quick movement, the youth drew a vial from his pocket and +held it up to view, exhibiting to the dilating eyes of the New Yorker +a large wart with a double top. +</P> + +<P> +"Just remove the glove from your right hand, Mr. Elliston. I think we +will find a scar there that this wart will fit—" +</P> + +<P> +"Furies! this is too much," cried Elliston, coming to his feet, white +with rage and fear. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop. Keep your temper," warned Bernard. "I wish to bring a witness; +one that has been your companion in crime." +</P> + +<P> +The curtain over the alcove was brushed aside, and a man stepped +forth, a man with red whiskers and hair, the latter surmounted with a +glossy plug hat. +</P> + +<P> +Elliston stared like one bereft of sense and life. +</P> + +<P> +"Allow me to introduce Professor Darlington Ruggles, Mr. Elliston," +uttered Harry Bernard in a mocking voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Hades! what does this mean?" and the trapped villain staggered, +clutching the back of a chair for support. +</P> + +<P> +"It means that your race of crime and diabolism is run, Harper +Elliston!" +</P> + +<P> +Red hair and beard were suddenly swept aside, a revolver was thrust +into the startled countenance of Elliston; he looked, and could only +utter: +</P> + +<P> +"DYKE DARREL, THE DETECTIVE!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you deny your guilt, scoundrel?" +</P> + +<P> +But Harper Elliston sank to a seat, and bowed his head, while drops of +cold sweat covered his forehead. +</P> + +<P> +The touch of cold steel and click of closing bracelets roused him. +</P> + +<P> +He was helpless now, for his wrists were encircled by handcuffs. Black +despair confronted the villain. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel went through the pockets of his prisoner and found a +revolver, an ugly looking clasp knife, and other articles of a nature +that served to show that the owner was not pursuing an honest calling. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember that night on the dock beside the river, Elliston?" +questioned Bernard, bending suddenly over the prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +But no answer came from the bloodless lips of the cornered villain. +</P> + +<P> +"It was I who tore your mask of red hair from your head that night. I +had mistrusted you for a villain, and I meant to unmask you to save +Nell Darrel, whom I loved, from your wiles. You struck me with a knife +and pushed me into the river. I, however, was not harmed. The point of +your knife glanced on a small book that I carried in an inner pocket. +I escaped from the river, and resolved to follow you to your doom. I +overheard your plans of abducting Nell Darrel, when you fired at my +masked face that night as I peered into Mother Scarlet's room. I then +knew you to be a villain of the deepest dye. Since, I learned that you +were the man in disguise on the emigrant train in Iowa, and this wart +will, with other evidence, condemn you before an honest jury of your +peers." +</P> + +<P> +A groan alone answered the denouement made by Harry Bernard. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel removed the glove from his prisoner's right hand, and +exposed a scarcely-healed scar near the joint of the little finger. +The chain of evidence was complete. The red hair in the clutches of +the murdered Nicholson had evidently been torn from the false beard of +the disguised assassin. +</P> + +<P> +The New Yorker was removed from the house and taken at once to prison. +From thence, on the following morning, Dyke Darrel set out on his +return to the Garden City with Elliston in charge. +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard remained over at the farm-house in New York State to see +Nell, who had been left in the care of Paul Ender. Nell had almost +entirely recovered from the shock of her recent treatment, and was +overjoyed at the outcome of her friends' visit to New York. +</P> + +<P> +"Elliston will be convicted and hanged," was Bernard's verdict. +</P> + +<P> +On the very day of Harry's arrival at the farm-house, he, with the old +farmer, was summoned to visit one who had met with a fatal accident +and was about to die. +</P> + +<P> +It proved to be Martin Skidway, who lay on a barn floor with his head +in his mother's lap, gasping his life away, an ugly wound in his side. +</P> + +<P> +He had accidentally shot himself and was rapidly sinking. A fugitive +in hiding for weeks, his life had been an intolerable one. Now that he +was dying, he made a full confession, admitting his own hand in the +awful railroad crime, and implicating two others, Elliston and Nick +Brower. Sam Swart had been one of them, but he was known to be dead. +</P> + +<P> +"Without HIS urging I would never have stained my hands; in fact, it +was Elliston who struck the blow that killed the express messenger." +</P> + +<P> +Without this confession, there was evidence enough to convict the New +Yorker; with it, both Brower and the principal were found guilty of +murder in the first degree and sentenced to the gallows. Nick Brower +was the only one of the four who expiated his crime on the gallows. +Harper Elliston died in prison by his own hand. +</P> + +<P> +He left a note admitting the express crime, and also confessing to the +murder of Captain Osborne and the ruin of his daughter Sibyl. His was +a fitting end to a career of unparalleled crime. +</P> + +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> + +<P> +We now draw a veil over the scene. +</P> + +<P> +Harry Bernard and Nell Darrel were, soon after the arrest and death of +Elliston, happily married. +</P> + +<P> +Dyke Darrel considers the events leading up to the capture and +punishment of those engaged in the crime of the midnight express as +among the most thrilling and wonderful of his detective experience. To +Harry Bernard and Paul Ender he gives a large share of the credit, and +with them shared the reward. Bernard has of late worked in conjunction +with Dyke Darrel on other cases, and is fast winning a reputation +second only to that of the great railroad detective himself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="wonbycrime"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WON BY CRIME +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#chap0201">CHAPTER I</A> +<A HREF="#chap0202">CHAPTER II</A> +<A HREF="#chap0203">CHAPTER III</A> +<A HREF="#chap0204">CHAPTER IV</A> +<A HREF="#chap0205">CHAPTER V</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0201"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<P> +A young girl, about eighteen, with a slender, elegant form, beautiful +straight features, and eyes of softest darkness, sitting before a +large table covered with maps and drawings, which she was trying +vainly to study. +</P> + +<P> +"It is no use!" she cried, at last, pushing back the mass of thick +black hair falling over her white brow; "I shall never be able to get +India by heart, unless I can see the places. I wish papa would let us +go reconnoitering amongst the ruined temples and other mysterious +buildings; it is so annoying staying here day after day, never seeing +anything outside the palace." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Lianor," said her companion, a young man scarcely older than +herself, and wonderfully like her, "what new idea, have you got now?" +</P> + +<P> +"An idea of seeing more of the curious places I have read so much +about. Fancy living a lifetime in a country and never going beyond one +town! If I do not get some excitement, I shall die of ennui, so I warn +you." +</P> + +<P> +"I quite agree with you, and if uncle would only let us, it would be +delightful, seeking out the temples so long deserted. But you know he +would not," shrugging his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not so sure of that. Papa never refuses me anything, and when he +sees it is necessary to my happiness I should go, he will consent. +Anyhow, I will try," jumping eagerly to her feet. "Come, Leone." +</P> + +<P> +Her cousin rose, and took the white, outstretched hand; then like two +children they crossed the beautiful marble hall, until, arriving +before a door draped with rich curtains, Lianor paused and softly +knocked. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in!" rather impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +With a smile Lianor opened the door, and entered, followed by +Pantaleone. +</P> + +<P> +In the room, handsomely fitted up as a study, sat a fine-looking, +middle-aged man, busily wilting; his dark face wore an expression of +severity as he glanced toward the intruders. +</P> + +<P> +It quickly faded, however, on seeing the pretty figure standing there; +instead, a gentle smile wreathed his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Lianor, dearest, what is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Papa," and the girl stole noiselessly behind his chair, winding her +arms around his neck. "I am so miserable, I have nothing to amuse me, +and unless you do something to make me happier, I shall go melancholy +mad!" +</P> + +<P> +"My dearest child, what is the matter? Are you ill?" anxiously turning +to peer into the lovely face. +</P> + +<P> +"No, papa; but I am so tired of this life." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not like my little girl. And I have tried hard to make you +happy. Nothing in reason have I refused you—jewels, such as a queen +might envy; priceless stuffs to deck your pretty form, and other +things which no girl of your age ever possessed," reproachfully. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor bent down, and kissed his brow, lovingly—repentingly. +</P> + +<P> +"You have been a great deal too good to me. But there is something +more I wish to ask; it will make me happy if you will grant my +request." +</P> + +<P> +"We shall see. Tell me first what it is." +</P> + +<P> +Lianor briefly related her wish to visit the old temple which lay +beyond Goa, to search with Panteleone the curious old ruins she had so +often read of in her studies. +</P> + +<P> +Don Gracia looked grave; evidently this project did not find much +favor in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +A Portuguese by birth, but sent to Goa as Viceroy, Don Garcia de Sa +had lived there long enough to know the treacherous natures of the +Brahmins who dwelt near, and feared to let his child run the risk of +being found and captured. +</P> + +<P> +But as Lianor had truly remarked, he loved his daughter so +passionately that he very rarely refused her anything, even though he +doubted the wisdom of complying with her wishes. +</P> + +<P> +"Papa"—the sweet voice was very coaxing, and the red lips close to +his cheek—"say yes, darling; it will make me so happy." +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose any danger should threaten you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should be there to defend my cousin with my life!" Leone cried, +fervently. +</P> + +<P> +Don Gracia smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"You speak bravely, my boy; but as yet you are very young. However, as +Lianor has set her heart upon this expedition, I suppose I must say +yes. In case of danger, I will send some soldiers to escort you." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, thank you, papa! I am so glad! Come, Leone, we will make haste, so +as to set off ere the day gets more advanced." +</P> + +<P> +And warmly embracing her father, the girl sped swiftly away, followed +by her cousin. +</P> + +<P> +In half an hour the cortege was ready, and, after some little +hesitation on Don Garcia's part, they started. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor, with her two favorite maids, Lalli and Tolla, were cosily +seated in a palanquin carried by four strong men. Before, clearing her +path from all difficulties, went a body of twenty-five soldiers. +Beside her, Panteleone kept up a cheerful conversation, pointing out +the beauties of the palaces through which they passed. Some twenty +natives, armed with poignards, brought up the rear. +</P> + +<P> +Toki, a native who had grown old in the Viceroy's palace, led the way +toward one of the ruined temples—that erected to Siva, the God of +Destruction. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor gazed with awed eyes at the magnificent palace, still bearing +traces of former beauty. +</P> + +<P> +"How wonderful! I must stay here, Leone, and sketch those old statues. +We need go no farther." +</P> + +<P> +The day was beginning to get intensely hot, so the men were nothing +loth to seek shelter in the cool temple, to sleep away the sunny +hours. +</P> + +<P> +Sketch-book in hand, the girl chose a shady retreat outside, and was +soon lost in her work. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the dreamy silence was broken; faint cries from afar reached +her; and looking hastily up, Lianor saw a sight which made her stand +rooted to the spot in speechless horror. +</P> + +<P> +In the distance, pouring from out the mountains, were a multitude of +Indians clad in divers costumes, carrying in their hands fantastic +idols, and followed by a train of Brahmins, singing a low, monotonous +chant, which had warned the girl of their approach. +</P> + +<P> +Recovering her self-possession, and calling to the startled servants, +Lianor entered the temple, where Panteleone and the men were quietly +dozing. +</P> + +<P> +"Leone, awake! The Indians are coming!" +</P> + +<P> +The youth sprang to his feet, and, flinging one arm round his cousin, +he drew a sharp poignard from his sash, and clutched it firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not be afraid, Lianor. I will guard you with my life!" he said +bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"But is there no way to escape?" Lianor asked wildly, frightened at +the peril into which her folly had brought them all. +</P> + +<P> +"We might have gone; but it is too late. They are here," Toki said +gravely. "The only thing we can do is to hide amongst these broken +statues, and perhaps we may be safe from their view." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had this been done than the procession arrived, stopped +before the temple, and the men commenced building a huge square pile +of wood; on this they placed a bier, on which lay the corpse of an old +man, decked with silks and costly jewels. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor and Panteleone, watching from their hiding-place the strange +preparations, now saw a girl, very young and beautiful, but weeping +bitterly, being dragged toward the pile by a tall, hard-looking woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" she cried, in loud, ringing tones, "now is the time to uphold +the honor of your family, and show your courage!" +</P> + +<P> +With a shudder the girl drew back, and clasping her hands piteously +together, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I thus sacrifice my young life to the cruelty of your +customs? I cannot endure the thought of being burnt alive—it is too +horrible!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is your duty! A widow must follow her husband in death," coldly. +</P> + +<P> +The youthful widow burst into passionate weeping, and gave an agonized +glance around at the vindictive faces; not one among that multitude, +she thought, felt pity for the girl who was condemned to so horrible a +fate. +</P> + +<P> +She was mistaken, and a second gaze revealed a young boy, not more +than fifteen, who was quietly sobbing, an expression of deep anguish +on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Satzavan, my poor brother, you also have come to witness my painful +end!" +</P> + +<P> +The boy went toward her, and wound his arms around her slim waist, +drawing the dark head onto his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"I would that I could help you," he whispered. "But what can I do +among all these fiends?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is hard to die thus—so hard." +</P> + +<P> +"Savitre, I am more compassionate than you think, and I have here a +draught which will send you into a deep sleep. The pain of death will +thus be saved you," Konmia broke in severely, holding a vessel toward +the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" Savitre shrieked, pushing the potent drink away. "I cannot! +Think how awful to awaken with the cruel flames wreathing round my +body, and my cries for help useless, deadened by the yells of those +people. I cannot—I will not die!" +</P> + +<P> +Satzavan, deathly white, and with quivering features, drew her +shuddering frame closer to him, and led her into the temple. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave us for a moment, I implore you," he said, turning to his aunt. +"She loves me, and I may perhaps reconcile her to her fate." +</P> + +<P> +"You are the head of your family; I trust to you to bring her to +reason—to save the honor of a name until now without blemish," Konmia +replied, and placing the poisonous flask in Satzavan's hand, she left +them alone in the temple. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, Savitre; we will drink this draught together, and when they +seek you, they will find us both cold in death." +</P> + +<P> +"You also, my brother, speak of death! I must escape—I cannot +sacrifice my life!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nor shall you," a gentle voice broke in passionately, and Lianor, her +face full of tender compassion, stood before the victim, Panteleone +beside her. +</P> + +<P> +"Follow me," the latter said briefly, drawing the girl's arm through +his. "Trust us, and you will yet be saved." +</P> + +<P> +With joyful hearts the two Indians accompanied their kind protectors, +climbing among the broken gods, higher and higher, until they at last +arrived without the temple, the other side from where the Indians were +assembled. +</P> + +<P> +There they were rejoined by the soldiers and attendants, and the +little party commenced their homeward journey, hoping the wild group +would not discover their presence. +</P> + +<P> +But their hopes were not to be realized; ere they had gone many yards, +the flight of the rajah's widow had been discovered, and with hideous +cries they sought eagerly to find her. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long ere they espied the small party, and full of triumph +dashed toward them. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor, keep back—leave me to deal with these barbarians!" +Panteleone said hurriedly, and in a minute a deadly fight began +between the Indians and the soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +But what was their strength against more than five hundred strong +warriors? Ere long the brave party was captured, and while Konmia +dragged the terrified girl towards the funereal-pile, the Indians +shrieked aloud in triumphant gladness. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow Siva will receive a sacrifice that will remain forever in +the memory of those now living. To-day, our chief's widow; to-morrow, +the Portuguese prisoners!" +</P> + +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> + +<P> +After his daughter had gone, Don Garcia was filled with deep regret at +having succumbed so readily to her wishes. +</P> + +<P> +A presentiment of evil he could not control made him walk restlessly +up and down the room. +</P> + +<P> +A timid knock at the door roused him from his painful musings. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in!" he cried quickly. +</P> + +<P> +The door opened, and a tall, remarkably handsome man, dressed in the +garb of a sea-captain, entered. +</P> + +<P> +"What, Falcam, is it you, my boy?" the don cried gladly, wringing the +young man's hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, senor. I have some papers from Tonza. There has been a slight +rising at Diu, but, fortunately, we were able to suppress it in time," +handing the don a sealed packet. +</P> + +<P> +After casting his eyes rapidly over the contents, Don Garcia smiled +and turned with a pleased look towards the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Manuel tells me of your bravery in saving Diu, and asks me to promote +you. I will do all I can. I am proud to call you friend." +</P> + +<P> +Luiz flushed, and a bashful light filled his eyes; but, ere he could +answer, the don continued: +</P> + +<P> +"However, you have come in time to be of service to me. My daughter, +much against my wishes, has gone on an expedition to the Temple of +Siva. From what I have since heard, I am afraid danger threatens my +Lianor. Will you help me to rescue her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Will I lay down my life to keep her from harm! Oh, senor, how can you +ask? Let me start immediately, and ere long I will bring your child +back in safety," fervently. +</P> + +<P> +Don Garcia was surprised at the young man's eagerness, but refrained +from speaking, only to thank him for his kind offer. +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later Luiz Falcam, accompanied by a troop of brave +sailors, started off towards the Temple of Siva. +</P> + +<P> +As he neared, sounds of strife, mingled with heartrending shrieks, +broke upon his ears. Urging his trusty band, he dashed onward until he +arrived at the scene of terror. +</P> + +<P> +Startled by the sudden apparition, the Indians lost, for a time, their +self-control, and the sailors found it easy to subdue them. +</P> + +<P> +Luiz had flown at once to Lianor's side, clasping her frail form +tightly in his arms, while Panteleone wrenched Savitre from her aunt, +as she was about to fling her on the now burning pile. +</P> + +<P> +Even at the same moment, Satzavan, a smile of revengeful triumph on +his face, wound a thick scarf over Konmia's head, and threw her with +remorseless force into the flames, leaving her to meet the fate +destined for his sister. +</P> + +<P> +Those Indians who had not been taken had fled; so the band was free to +wend its way homeward, though nearly half had been killed in the +strife. +</P> + +<P> +Still holding Lianor, now weeping quietly, in his arms, Luiz led the +way towards the road, where the palanquin stood, and placing the girl +gently in, raised her white hands passionately to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor, Lianor, my own darling!" he murmured, gazing into her pallid +face with lovelit eyes. "If I had been too late, and found you gone!" +</P> + +<P> +Lianor smiled tremulously through her tears, and a blush mantled to +her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"You have saved my life. I can never repay you," earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +Panteleone, still pale and anxious, now appeared leading the little +widow, who seemed overjoyed at her release. She sank down gladly +beside Lianor, and then the palanquin was borne away, guarded by Luiz +and Panteleone, Satzavan walking behind. +</P> + +<P> +Don Garcia's delight knew no bounds when he saw the procession +entering the palace gates, and he ran eagerly to receive his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"My loved child! How unwise I was to let you go, to send you into +danger," he cried, carrying her in his arms from the palanquin to the +marble hall. "If it had not been for our young friend, Falcam, I +should never have seen you again." +</P> + +<P> +"But, papa, think! If we had not gone, this poor girl would have been +burnt to death," Lianor said, shudderingly, drawing Savitre towards +her. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes. Poor child!" stroking the young widow's glossy black hair. +"Now tell me all about it." "Not yet, papa. Let us go and arrange our +dresses; mine is torn completely to pieces," laughingly holding up a +fragment of cashmere, which in the struggle had become torn. +</P> + +<P> +Holding Savitre's hand in hers, Lianor went swiftly to her rooms, +where they could bathe their weary limbs in cool water, and change +their tattered robes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0202"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +Don Garcia was sitting in his study, regarding with some anxiety Luiz +Falcam, who, tall and handsome, stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +"You wish to ask me something, is it not so? Well, speak out, and be +sure if it is in my power I will grant it." +</P> + +<P> +"I hardly like to ask. It is, I know, daring. I am but a captain, and +you are one of the wealthiest men in India; yet I love your daughter, +and that is what I wished to tell you," earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +Don Garcia smiled indulgently, and he gazed kindly at the young +fellow's flushed face. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you I would give you what you wished, and I will not break my +word. I could safely trust Lianor to you. No other man I know has won +so large a place in my esteem. But I dare not speak until I know what +my daughter thinks. She will answer for herself touching so delicate a +subject. Tell Donna Lianor to come here," he said to Toki. +</P> + +<P> +After what seemed an anxious age to poor Luiz, Lianor entered, leaning +lightly on Savitre, somewhat astonished. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor, may I speak before Savitre?" the don asked gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, papa. I have no secrets from her." +</P> + +<P> +"My child," drawing her nearer to him, "Luiz Falcam has asked your +hand in marriage; what answer shall I give him?" +</P> + +<P> +Lianor blushed divinely, and her dark eyes shyly drooped before the +eager glance from those loving blue ones fixed upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"He saved my life, father. I will give it gladly to him," she +murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"You love him, child?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dearly. I shall be proud and happy to become the wife of Luiz," +gaining courage. +</P> + +<P> +"You have my answer, Falcam. May you be content always. I give her to +you with pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of the don's presence and Savitre's, Luiz could not refrain +from drawing the girl into his arms and pressing fervent kisses on her +smooth brow, and soft cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall never repent your choice, darling," he said tenderly. "I +cannot give you wealth, but a true heart and a brave hand are solely +yours, now and till death!" +</P> + +<P> +"I know, Luiz dear, and to me that gift is more precious than the +costliest jewels," the girl whispered fondly. +</P> + +<P> +Their happiness was not without its clouds; Luiz was compelled to +leave his betrothed to guard a fort some distance away. +</P> + +<P> +"I will return soon, dearest," he said lovingly, holding the trembling +girl in his strong arms, "and then your father has promised our +marriage shall take place." +</P> + +<P> +"And you will not run into danger, for my sake?" Lianor pleaded, +winding her white arms round his neck. "Think how desolate I should be +without you!" +</P> + +<P> +Don Garcia, having a great liking for the young man, saw him go with +some regret. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't stay away longer than you can help," he said kindly. "God keep +you, my boy." +</P> + +<P> +So Luiz parted from his love, and returned to Diu, carrying in his +heart a cherished memory of Lianor, and a tiny miniature of her in his +breast-pocket. +</P> + +<P> +When he arrived at the governor's palace, he went directly to Manuel +Tonza, to inform him of his departure. +</P> + +<P> +The governor, a tall, dark-looking man of more than thirty, bore on +his fine features a look of haughty sternness, mingled with some +cruelty. +</P> + +<P> +He glanced coldly at the young captain, and listened in silence to his +explanations; but, as Luiz drew from his breast a sealed packet, given +him by Don Garcia, Lianor's miniature fell with a crash to the ground, +the jeweled case flying open. +</P> + +<P> +Manuel picked it up from the floor with sudden swiftness, and gazed +admiringly at the pictured face. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is this?" he asked abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor de Sa, Don Garcia's daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor de Sa, and so beautiful as this!" the governor muttered +inaudibly. "I forgot she had grown from a child to a woman; I must see +her. How comes 'it, though, her miniature is in his hands? Surely they +could not have betrothed her to a captain!" +</P> + +<P> +With a gesture of disdain he flung the miniature on the table, and +told Luiz his presence was no longer needed. +</P> + +<P> +Once alone, and a singular smile crossed the governor's face. +</P> + +<P> +"I must pay Don Garcia a visit. It is long since I saw him. I never +dreamt his little daughter had grown up so lovely. Thank Heaven, I am +rich! My jewels and wealth might tempt a queen! I need not fear +refusal from a viceroy's daughter." +</P> + +<P> +Full of complacent contentment, Tonza made hasty preparations for +leaving Diu, and that same evening saw him a welcome guest of Don +Garcia. +</P> + +<P> +He was charmed with Lianor. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of himself, a deep passionate love wakened in his heart for +her, and he determined to win her for his wife. +</P> + +<P> +First he wished to gain Don Garcia over to his side, so took an early +opportunity of speaking to him on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +The viceroy listened in grave silence, and a look of regret stole into +his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," he said gently. "Why have you come too late? My child is +already betrothed." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom?" hoarsely. +</P> + +<P> +"Luiz Falcam." +</P> + +<P> +"But he is only a captain, and poor! Surely you would not sacrifice +your child to him? Think what riches I could lay at her feet! As my +wife, Lianor would be one of the most envied of women." +</P> + +<P> +"I know, and I wish now I had not been so hasty; but Luiz saved her +life, won my gratitude; then, as the price of his act, asked Lianor's +hand. I was forced to consent, as I had said I would give him whatever +he asked," with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"A promise gained like that is not binding. It was taking an unfair +advantage of your gratitude." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not like to break my promise, but I will do what I can for you; +I will ask Lianor, and if she cares for you more than for Luiz, she +shall wed you." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you; and I will try hard to gain her love," Manuel answered +hopefully. +</P> + +<P> +When Lianor heard the subject of the conference between her father and +Tonza, her indignation was unbounded. +</P> + +<P> +"How can you act so dishonorably, papa?" she cried angrily, "after +betrothing me to Luiz; now, because Tonza is rich and wishes to marry +me, you would break your word." +</P> + +<P> +"But, my dear, think how different Manuel is to Falcam! He can give +you a beautiful home, and jewels such as a queen might envy, while the +captain can give you nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"He can give me a brave, loving heart, which is worth all the world to +me! No; while Luiz lives I will be true to him. No other shall steal +my love from him," firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the answer I am to give Tonza?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Thank him for the great honor he has done me; but, as I cannot +marry two men, I choose the one I love—who first won my hand and +saved my life." +</P> + +<P> +When Manuel heard her answer he was filled with rage and hate. +</P> + +<P> +"So—so," he muttered, a sinister look creeping over his face, "she +will not wed me while Falcam lives. But should he die—what then?" +</P> + +<P> +To Lianor he was always gentle, trying by soft words and many little +attentions to win her regard; a very difficult task. Since her +father's conversation, she shrank as much as possible from him, hoping +he would understand her studied coldness. +</P> + +<P> +"Savitre," she said one evening, as they were dressing for a ball, +given in her honor, "that horrid man's attentions are becoming +intolerable! He will not see how I detest him, and am bound by love +and promise to another. I wish Luiz was here; he has been away so +long. I am tired of Tonza's persistence and papa's reproaches." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, dearest; all will be well when your brave lover returns. +Perhaps he may be even now on the way. I am sure if he knew how +terribly you were persecuted he would fly to you at once," Savitre +whispered softly. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel miserable—unhappy. Lalli, put away those robes and give me a +plain black dress. During Luiz's absence I will put on mourning, so +Tonza can read the sorrow I feel in my heart." +</P> + +<P> +"But, dear, what will your father say?" Savitre asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"He will be angry, I know. But it is partly his fault I am obliged to +act thus." +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes Lalli and Tolla had silently arrayed their young +mistress in trailing black robes, which clung softly to her beautiful +form. +</P> + +<P> +No jewelry relieved the somberness of her dress; her dark hair, thick +and long, fell like a veil over her shoulders, adding to the +mournfulness of her garb by its dusky waves. +</P> + +<P> +Below, in the handsome marble hall, stood Don Garcia and Tonza, both +watching with suppressed impatience the richly-hung staircase leading +to Lianor's apartments. +</P> + +<P> +"It is late. I hope nothing has occurred," Manuel said anxiously, +drawing the velvet curtain aside to gaze across the hall. +</P> + +<P> +Even as he did so, Lianor, leaning lightly on Satzavan's shoulder, +appeared, her graceful head held proudly erect, an expression of +supreme indifference on her face. +</P> + +<P> +Both men started with an exclamation of alarm—rage on Manuel's part. +</P> + +<P> +"What! In mourning, and for a ball?" Manuel gasped with rising +passion. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor, what does this farce mean? Why have you disguised yourself? +How dare you disobey me when I said so particularly I wished you to +appear at your best? I have been too weakly indulgent with you, and +now you take advantage of my tenderness to disgrace me by showing my +guests your foolish infatuation for a man to whom I now wish I had +never promised your hand." +</P> + +<P> +Lianor lifted her reproachful eyes to his, her pale face, even whiter +in contrast with her somber dress, full of resolute rebellion. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not ungrateful, papa, for your kindness, but I will never forget +the promise I gave Luiz. My love is not to be bought for gold; I gave +it willingly to the man to whom you betrothed me, and, father, none of +our family have ever acted dishonorably; so I am sure you will not be +the first to break your word." +</P> + +<P> +"Do not be too sure of that, Lianor. I am more than half inclined to +make you accept Tonza, and forget your vows were ever plighted to that +pauper captain." +</P> + +<P> +"You could not be so hard, knowing how my happiness is bound up in +him. I will never, while Luiz lives, give my hand to another." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Lianor; nor will Falcam let you," a deep voice broke in +suddenly, and Luiz, his face flushed with mingled pleasure and +disgust, came toward her, followed by his bosom friend, Diniz Sampayo, +a young and rich noble. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor threw herself into his arms with a glad cry, while Don Garcia +and Manuel, full of rage, stole away, leaving the lovers alone. +</P> + +<P> +"My darling, then I heard truly when they said my own dear love was +being forced to wed another. Thank Heaven, I left Diu at once, and +came to you, as your father seems inclined to listen to Manuel's +suit," Luiz said tenderly, bending to kiss the pale face. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so glad you have come, Luiz! I felt so lonely without you near +me, to give me hope and courage." +</P> + +<P> +"My poor little love! But why these robes, Lianor? I thought it was a +day of festival at the palace?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know; but I was determined, during your absence, to keep Tonza from +paying me his odious attentions by putting on mourning. He could not +fail to see where my thoughts were. Now you have returned, I will +throw them aside, and show them it is a time of rejoicing with me. +Wait, Luiz." +</P> + +<P> +With a tender smile the young lover unclasped her slender form and let +her glide swiftly away. +</P> + +<P> +But not long did he wait; soon the curtains were again lifted, and +Lianor, radiant as a bright star, in trailing robes of white and gold, +diamonds flashing on her bare arms and round her delicate throat, came +towards him. +</P> + +<P> +"My queen, my own dear love! what should I do if they took you from +me?" passionately pressing her hands to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"They will never do that, Luiz. I am determined not to allow Tonza to +win my father over to his way of thinking." +</P> + +<P> +Manuel Tonza watched the happy lovers with bitterest hate gnawing at +his heart, deadly schemes against his fortunate rival flitting through +his subtle brain. +</P> + +<P> +Late that night, when the weary guests were parting, Tonza stole +noiselessly from the palace; and when he returned, in less than half +an hour, his face wore an expression of fiendish triumph and delight. +</P> + +<P> +He was even polite to Luiz, much to that young man's surprise, though +he doubted the sincerity of Manuel's words. +</P> + +<P> +Happy and content, after a tender adieu to Lianor, the captain left +the viceroy's palace, to seek his own apartments. +</P> + +<P> +Not far had he gone, however, when a shadow stole silently behind him, +and the next moment he felt himself suddenly grasped by powerful hands +and flung to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +Almost stunned by the fall, he was yet able to see the dark face +bending over him. +</P> + +<P> +From the shadows came another form, one he recognized. A gleaming +poignard was placed in the assassin's hand, which descended ere he +could break from that strong hold, and was buried deep in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +Guiltily two forms glided away in opposite directions, leaving Luiz, +pale and cold, lying in a stream of blood—dead! +</P> + +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> + +<P> +It was still early when Lianor awoke; but in spite of the drowsiness +overpowering her, she hastily rose, and calling her maids, bade them +quickly arrange her toilet. +</P> + +<P> +"I am restless, and cannot stay longer indoors; I wish to be out in +the fresh air," she explained to Savitre, who entered soon after. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely, however, had they arrived without the palace gates, than +Diniz Sampayo, his face pale and haggard, eyes full of fear and +anguish, came hastily to her side. +</P> + +<P> +"Donna Lianor, return to your father's house; I have something to tell +you which I dare not breathe here—it is too horrible! Prepare +yourself for a great shock, my poor child! I wish some one else had +brought the awful tidings," he cried hoarsely. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor stood perfectly still, and her eyes grew wide and her face +blanched with awakened fear. Clasping her hands piteously together, +she said: +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me now. I am brave—can bear anything! Is it Luiz? Is he ill—in +danger? Oh, Diniz, for pity's sake tell me!" +</P> + +<P> +Diniz took the trembling hands in his, and quietly bidding the others +follow, led her silently through the town, until they arrived at the +house where Luiz had taken rooms with his friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps it is best you should see him. Poor Luiz! How can I break the +awful truth to you? Your betrothed—the man you loved—is dead— +murdered by a cowardly hand on his way home from your father's +palace!" +</P> + +<P> +Lianor grew deathly pale. +</P> + +<P> +"Dead!" she repeated, clasping her hands despairingly to her throbbing +brow. "It cannot be true! My darling dead—murdered!" +</P> + +<P> +"My poor child, it is only too true! This morning he was found, and +brought home, stabbed through the heart!" +</P> + +<P> +"But who could have done it?" Savitre asked in a low, hushed whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I knew. But, alas! that is a mystery!" +</P> + +<P> +Lianor gazed helplessly from one to the other, then, breaking from her +friend's gentle hold, staggered forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going, Lianor?" Diniz asked, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"To him. I must see for myself the terrible truth." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you bear it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—oh, yes!" +</P> + +<P> +Very tenderly Diniz took one of the trembling hands in his, and led +her toward a darkened chamber, where, on the blue-draped bed, lay the +still form of his young friend. +</P> + +<P> +A convulsive shudder shook Lianor's slender frame as she gazed on +those handsome features set in death's awful calm; the closed eyes, +which would never look into her own again; the cold lips which would +never breathe loving words into her ear, or press her brow in fond +affection. +</P> + +<P> +She could not weep, as Savitre wept; tears refused to ease the burning +pain at her heart. Only a low moan broke from her as she threw herself +suddenly over that loved body. +</P> + +<P> +"My love—my darling! Why did I ever let you leave me? How can I live +without you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, Lianor! Come, you can do nothing here. But one thing I promise +you, I will avenge his death at any cost! The murderer will be found +and punished—no matter who it is!" Diniz cried, earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you; and if I can aid, rely on my help," Lianor murmured, +bravely. +</P> + +<P> +Then, bending reverently to press a last kiss on the pallid brow, she +allowed Diniz to lead her from the room to her own home. +</P> + +<P> +In the hall they were met by Don Garcia, in a terrible state of +anxiety for his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Where have you been, Lianor? What is the matter? You look ill! And +what is that?" pointing to a vivid red stain which marred the white +purity of her dress. +</P> + +<P> +A low, delirious laugh broke from the girl's pale lips, and, +stretching out her arms, she waved Don Garcia back. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not touch me!" she cried, hoarsely. "He—my love, my darling—is +dead! See, his life-blood stains my hands—my robe! Oh, heavens, that +I should have lived to know such agony!" +</P> + +<P> +She stopped; the outstretched arms fell inertly down, the graceful +head drooped, and without one cry or moan, Lianor fell heavily to the +ground—unconscious. +</P> + +<P> +"Explain, Savitre—Sampayo, what means this strange raving? Who is +dead?" Don Garcia said, fearfully. +</P> + +<P> +"It means that Luiz Falcam was found murdered this morning! Your +daughter went to see him for the last time, and returns, overcome with +grief and sorrow." +</P> + +<P> +Without a word, but very white, the viceroy carried his child to her +room, and left her in the care of Savitre and her two attendants, +while he went to find the particulars of Falcam's tragic end. +</P> + +<P> +For days and weeks Lianor kept to her rooms, seeing no one except her +father and Sampayo, whom she looked upon as the avenger of Luiz. +</P> + +<P> +Long and tenderly was her lover's memory sorrowed over, until the once +beautiful girl was but a mere wraith. +</P> + +<P> +A few weeks later Don Garcia himself was taken ill, and one day, +feeling slightly better, he sent for his daughter, to whom he wished +to speak on important business. +</P> + +<P> +He was not kept long waiting. Lianor soon appeared, looking like a +crushed flower in her somber robes. +</P> + +<P> +"You wished to see me, papa?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Lianor; but you can almost guess for what. You know how much I +desire to see you wedded to my friend; a man who loves you and will +make you happy. I shall not live long, of that I feel sure. Manuel +Tonza has waited patiently, and I think it is only right you give him +hope. To-day you will accept his hand, and in another week, with my +consent, you will become his wife." +</P> + +<P> +Lianor reeled against the bed, and held firmly to the silken curtains +to prevent herself falling. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean this, father? His wife—when he murdered Luiz?" +</P> + +<P> +"What nonsense are you saying, child? Do not let me hear you speak +like this again. What motive could a wealthy man like Tonza have in +getting rid of one of his own employes? Grief has turned your brain. +Cast aside those weird garments, and in three hours be ready to +receive your future husband." +</P> + +<P> +A low, gasping cry fell on his ears as he finished speaking, and he +turned in time to see the slight figure sway to and fro, then fall +heavily to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +But what use was her feeble strength against the powerful wills of two +determined men? +</P> + +<P> +Ere the day was over, Lianor, with a heart full of bitter, despairing +grief for Luiz, was bound by a sacred promise to a man whom she knew +to be both bad and selfish—whom she hated! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0203"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +In one of the many straggling streets, almost hidden behind a few +large shops of curious build, stood a small boutique full of ancient +relics and jeweled bric-a-brac. +</P> + +<P> +Inside, seated by the counter, writing in a large ledger, was an old +man, whose hooked nose and piercing eyes proclaimed him at once to be +from the tribe of Israel. +</P> + +<P> +This Jew, Phenee, was not alone. Flitting about the shop, arranging +the antique curiosities, was a young and very beautiful girl, with +delicate features and lustrous, black eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Can I help you, grandfather?" the girl asked, suddenly stopping +before the desk, and leaning both dimpled arms on the dusty book. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Miriam; I have almost finished. Leave me for a few moments' +quiet." +</P> + +<P> +Miriam sank gently on a high chair, and drooping her head pensively on +her hand, sat for some time in unbroken silence, gazing out through +the open door at the motley crowds passing by. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a dusky form, clad in the garb of a fisherman, entered, and +drawing near Phenee, glanced nervously around. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to sell that. How much will you give me for it?" laying a +jeweled poignard, with a golden chain attached, on the desk. +</P> + +<P> +Phenee took it up and examined it attentively, then looked searchingly +at the man. +</P> + +<P> +Satisfied at his scrutiny, the Jew named a very low price, one which +his customer had some hesitation in accepting; but at last, seeing +Phenee was obdurate, he took the offered money, and glided off like a +spectre. +</P> + +<P> +"What a curious poignard, and how pretty!" Miriam said, lifting it +from the scales, where Phenee had placed it. "I am surprised he took +so little for it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not. One can't offer too little for stolen goods." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think this is stolen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure it is. That man never came honestly by it." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the poignard been put on one side, when two young men, +handsomely dressed, entered the shop, and asked for some emeralds. +</P> + +<P> +"While you are choosing, I will have a look round at all these +curiosities, Miguel," the youngest of the men remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"As you like; I shan't be long, Diniz." +</P> + +<P> +Sampayo nodded, and commenced his search, turning over every object +that took his fancy, aided by Miriam. +</P> + +<P> +"I will show you something very curious—a poignard strangely +fashioned," the girl said, drawing the weapon her grandfather had just +bought from its hiding place. +</P> + +<P> +Diniz took it up and examined it attentively, then a low cry broke +from his lips, and his face grew pale. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get this?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have just bought it. It is a very pretty toy for a gentleman," +Phenee broke in persuasively. +</P> + +<P> +With almost eager haste Diniz bargained for the poignard, and at last +managed to bring the Jew down to ten times the sum he had given the +fisherman. +</P> + +<P> +After his friend, Miguel Reale, had chosen the jewels he wanted, Diniz +hurried him away. +</P> + +<P> +Not many hours later, as the young Jewess sat alone, her grandfather +having gone some distance off on business, she was startled by Sampayo +suddenly reappearing, a look of intense anxiety on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Senora," he said politely, drawing from his breast the poignard, "can +you tell me from whom your father bought this?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know his name, but I believe he is a fisherman and lives in +yonder village," Miriam answered simply. +</P> + +<P> +"Should you know him again? Pardon my asking, but it is very important +I should discover the owner of this weapon. By doing so I may be able +to bring a murderer to meet his doom, and avenge the death of my best +friend!" +</P> + +<P> +Miriam gazed at him compassionately, a serious light in her dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I will help you," she said suddenly, moved as it were by a strange +impulse; "I have long wished for occupation—some useful work, though +I should have liked something less terrible than helping to trace a +murderer; still, I will aid you if I can." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you. But if he never came here again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not wait for that. To-morrow I will visit those huts in which +the fishermen dwell; I may then find the man who sold the poignard, or +at least a clew to the mystery." +</P> + +<P> +Diniz took one of the small hands in his, and pressed it reverently to +his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not go alone; I will be your companion. Together we shall +work better. But your father will he consent to your accompanying me?" +</P> + +<P> +"My grandfather loves me too dearly, and trusts me too fully, to +refuse me anything. He need not know the errand upon which I am bent," +a faint blush rising to her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +After making all necessary arrangements for the next day, Sampayo left +the Jewess, to wait impatiently until the hour arrived for him to +start on his melancholy errand. +</P> + +<P> +It was still early when he left the crowed streets, to walk quickly in +the direction of a small fishing village, some distance off. +</P> + +<P> +Half way he saw the tall, graceful figure of a young girl, whose long +veil of soft silky gauze hid her face from passers-by. He recognized +her at once—it was the beautiful Jewess. So, hastening his steps, he +soon stood before her. +</P> + +<P> +"Senora," he said gently. +</P> + +<P> +The girl started, turned, then smiled through the screening folds of +gray. +</P> + +<P> +"It is you? I was afraid you would not come," in a relieved tone. +</P> + +<P> +"I am too anxious to find that man, to lose the chance you have so +kindly given me. I only hope I am not putting you to any +inconvenience," Diniz said, gallantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all. I am only too happy to be of some use," earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +For many hours they wandered about from house to house, Miriam having +armed herself with a large sum of money, hoping by acts of charity to +gain access into the poor dwellings. +</P> + +<P> +They were almost despairing of finding a clew to the whereabouts of +the fisherman, when three little children, poor and hungry-looking, +playing outside a tiny hut, attracted Miriam's attention. +</P> + +<P> +Stooping, she spoke gently to the little things, and won from them the +tale of their excessive poverty, which she promised to relieve if they +would take her to their mother. +</P> + +<P> +This they willingly did, and Miriam found a pale, delicate-looking +woman, who, notwithstanding the raggedness of her dress, still bore +traces of having been at one time different to a poor fisherman's +wife. +</P> + +<P> +Encouraged by the soft tones of her mysterious visitor, the woman +gradually unburdened her troubled heart by telling her the history of +her wretched life; how she had been doomed to follow her husband, an +Indian chief, to death; but, loving life better, she escaped with her +little children, but would have died of hunger on the seashore if +Jarima, her second husband, had not rescued her and offered her his +name and home. +</P> + +<P> +"He is very good to me and my children; the past seems but a dream +now. If only we had money, all would be well." +</P> + +<P> +Miriam, with a few gentle, consoling words, slipped a few bright coins +into the tiny brown hands of the astonished babies; then, with a sigh, +she bade the grateful mother adieu and went out to where Diniz was +waiting. +</P> + +<P> +He read by her face that she had no better tidings, and, drawing her +hand through his arm, he turned away. +</P> + +<P> +"Will it never come—the proof I want?" he said, half bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the words left his lips when a glad cry of "Father!" rent +the air, and three small forms bounded over the white shingle towards +a tall man, dressed in white linen. +</P> + +<P> +Almost convulsively Miriam pressed Sampayo's arm to arrest his hasty +steps. +</P> + +<P> +"We need go no farther," she whispered. "That is the man you want; and +if he is that woman's husband, his name is Jarima." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven! To-morrow he will be arrested and the truth +discovered," Diniz muttered. +</P> + +<P> +Silently they watched the man walk towards his humble home, the +children clinging lovingly to his hands. The woman came forward with a +bright smile, holding up her face to receive his caress. +</P> + +<P> +"There can be no doubt. It is Jarima, and the man who sold the +poignard." +</P> + +<P> +"Luiz's murderer," Diniz added between his set teeth. +</P> + +<P> +Almost feverishly Sampayo hurried Miriam away. He was anxious to tell +Lianor of his success, and bring the assassin to justice. +</P> + +<P> +Some distance from the Jew's shop he bade Miriam adieu, promising to +call and let her know the result. +</P> + +<P> +On reaching Don Garcia's palace Diniz was surprised at the sounds of +bright music, mingled with happy voices, that floated on the air. +</P> + +<P> +Satzavan was the first to meet him, and he went forward with a +welcoming smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Lianor?" Diniz asked anxiously, glancing round the deserted +halls. +</P> + +<P> +"In the grounds. Don Garcia has his home full of guests in honor of +his daughter's betrothal with Manuel Tonza." +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor betrothed, and to him!" in consternation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," sadly; "her father has commanded her to accept him, and, since +she lost poor Falcam, she is indifferent whom she weds." +</P> + +<P> +"But Tonza above all other men!" bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +With a dark shadow on his brow, Diniz followed the young Indian into +the spacious grounds, where Lianor, surrounded by many richly-dressed +ladies, was sitting. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot speak to her before all those people. Go, Satzavan, and +bring her to me." +</P> + +<P> +The youth darted off obediently, and presently returned to the tree +where Diniz stood almost hidden by its shady branches, leading Lianor, +whose face wore a look of some wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"Diniz, is it really you? Have you brought me any news?" she asked +eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +Sampayo took her outstretched hand and kissed it reverently. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said softly; "good news." +</P> + +<P> +"What is it? Tell me!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have discovered the man who, I think, struck the blow by +instigation of the real murderer. Until he is taken I can do nothing +further." +</P> + +<P> +"But who is he? How did you find him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is a poor fisherman, named Jarima, and it was through a young +Jewess, Phenee's grandchild, to whom the poignard was sold, I found +him." +</P> + +<P> +"That was very good of her to help you." +</P> + +<P> +"It was, indeed. The whole morning she has searched with me for the +man, and at last our labor was rewarded. To-morrow Jarima will be +under arrest." +</P> + +<P> +As the words left his lips, a sudden movement amongst the trees +startled them. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure that was some one," Lianor cried, turning pale, and +clasping Diniz's arm. +</P> + +<P> +Satzavan glided noiselessly away, but soon returned to say no one had +passed by. +</P> + +<P> +Possibly the noise was occasioned by the wind rustling through the +leaves. +</P> + +<P> +"Very likely," Lianor said quietly, "though it made me nervous. +Suppose any one overheard us?" +</P> + +<P> +"Rest assured, dear, that nothing now can come between me and my +revenge. But, Lianor, is it true you are betrothed to Tonza?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Diniz, it is true. Papa has commanded me to accept him. I hate +him; but now poor Luiz is dead, I care not who becomes my husband," +hopelessly. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish it were other than Tonza, Lianor. I cannot trust him; nor will +I believe but what he had a hand in Luiz's death." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I think, but papa says it is only fancy; Manuel is too +upright to do such a treacherous thing." +</P> + +<P> +A silvery laugh broke suddenly on the silence which had fallen between +them, and Savitre, leaning lightly on Panteleone's arm, stood before +them. +</P> + +<P> +The rajah's young widow made a strange contrast to Lianor, gay with +rich colors. +</P> + +<P> +Judging from Panteleone's ardent gaze, he, at least, saw some beauty +in the dusky, changing face. +</P> + +<P> +"What, Sampayo! I did not know you were here," the young man cried +gladly, seizing Diniz's hand in a warm grip. "Have you brought good +news?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, better than I expected," Diniz answered; and briefly recounted +the success which had attended his morning's search. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not wish to meet your father to-night, Lianor; until this +business is settled, I could not enter into any amusement. First, I +will go to Henrique Ferriera, the magistrate, and arrange with him +about Jarima's capture." +</P> + +<P> +"But you will come to-morrow, will you not—to tell me the result?" +Lianor asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Assuredly; unless anything serious prevents me." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," she murmured gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +A kind hand-pressure from all, and Sampayo walked quickly away; while +Lianor, her heart somewhat lightened by this news, returned to her +father's guests with Satzavan. +</P> + +<P> +Savitre would have followed, but Panteleone held her back with a few +whispered words, and, nothing loth, the little widow sauntered with +him through the shady grounds, apart from the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Savitre," Leone said suddenly, "would you be willing to leave your +country—to go with me to Portugal?" +</P> + +<P> +Savitre gazed at him in some wonderment. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely you are not thinking of leaving India?" she cried, a sudden +anxiety dawning in her dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; my father wishes me to return, and as soon as Lianor is married +we are going." +</P> + +<P> +The girl remained silent; only a few pearly tears rolled down her +cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"Savitre, dearest one, do not weep! Would it be so dreadful for you to +quit the country?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is not that," with a stifled sob; "but I had not thought of your +leaving us, or the friendship between us being broken." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor will it, my darling! Don't you understand? I love you too dearly +to give you up; I want you to be my wife, so that none can part us. +Say my hopes are not all in vain!" +</P> + +<P> +A vivid flush mantled the clear, dark skin, and the lustrous eyes +drooped in confusion. +</P> + +<P> +"You really mean that? You love me, a girl who is not even of your own +kind?" +</P> + +<P> +"I love you with all my heart and soul. Ever since the day when It +drew you half-fainting from off the already lighted pile, I have felt +my affection growing deeper and deeper, until it has absorbed my whole +being. My happiness is never complete unless I am near you. Tell me, +darling, that you return my love!" "How could I help but love you—you +who saved my life? Oh, Leone, you cannot think how proud I am at being +chosen by you before all others!" +</P> + +<P> +With a joyous exclamation, Panteleone drew her to his breast, pressing +passionate kisses on her brow, cheeks, and lips, his heart thrilling +with rapture at the realization of his dreams. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0204"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +The next morning a small band of soldiers, headed by Henrique +Ferriera, wound their way toward the humble home of Jarima. +</P> + +<P> +On arriving, they found to their astonishment the door fastened close, +and no one to answer their knock. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, break it down," Henrique said, roughly. +</P> + +<P> +In obedience a few heavy blows fell on the woodwork, which soon gave +way beneath their force. +</P> + +<P> +Stepping over the scattered splinters, Henrique saw a sight which +filled him with horror. +</P> + +<P> +Crouching on the bare floor, her hands twined convulsively in her long +hair, was a woman, with three sleeping children leaning against her. +</P> + +<P> +On a hard straw mattress, almost in shadow, lay Jarima, his face +covered with blood, which oozed in streams from his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +Henrique gazed for an instant on the awful sight, then turned towards +his men. +</P> + +<P> +"We have arrived a little too late; blind men cannot see, or dumb ones +tell tales. Some horrible wretch has done this deed, fearful of his +betraying them. I wonder who?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman, when questioned, could tell them nothing. She only knew her +husband had been brought home in his present condition at daybreak, +and remained unconscious since. +</P> + +<P> +"I regret to say it is our painful duty to take him; every care will +be given him. He is suspected of having murdered Luiz Falcam." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; you are mistaken! It is some one else, not he. Jarima was +much too gentle to kill any one!" the woman cried, passionately. +</P> + +<P> +Her prayers and supplications were unavailing. Henrique was obliged to +do his duty, and bade his men take the suffering man to prison. +</P> + +<P> +Some hours later, as Diniz stood in his room, just before setting out +in search of Henrique, that man entered the house, followed by several +soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"Diniz Sampayo, I arrest you on the charge of having stolen a +poignard, set with jewels, from Manuel Tonza de Sepulveda." +</P> + +<P> +Diniz started, and flushed angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"I steal? When you know it is the weapon I bought from Phenee, the +Jew, as proof against the murderer." +</P> + +<P> +"So you said; but we have heard another tale to that. Anyhow, if you +are innocent, you will be set free as soon as you are tried." +</P> + +<P> +"But the man Jarima? Have you not been for him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but he is useless; when we arrived, some one had been before us, +and not only blinded him, but cut out his tongue, so that he could not +speak." +</P> + +<P> +"How horrible! How could any one have been so cold-blooded?" Diniz +gasped, turning pale. +</P> + +<P> +"Evidently it was done for some purpose. But come, Sampayo, I cannot +wait here." +</P> + +<P> +"Will nothing I say convince you I am innocent? If innocence gives +strength, I shall soon be at liberty." +</P> + +<P> +Henrique smiled scornfully, and hurried the young man away. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not be alone; your prison-cell is shared by another—Phenee, +the Jew. An old friend of yours, is he not?" Henrique asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Friend—no! I have only spoken to him once in my life. What is he +arrested for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Being a receiver of stolen goods," grimly. +</P> + +<P> +Diniz thought suddenly of Miriam, and wondered how she would bear this +blow. Her only relative and dearly-loved parent torn from her side, to +linger in a damp cell. How bitterly he blamed himself for having been +the cause of Phenee's capture! If he had not disclosed the secret of +Phenee having bought the poignard from Jarima, no one would have +suspected him. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor girl! She will regret now having helped a stranger, who, in +return, has brought her only grief and desolation," he murmured, +sorrowfully. +</P> + +<P> +Miriam passed nearly three days in sad thought, when her solitary +mourning was broken by the visit of a thickly-veiled woman, whose low, +sweet tones fell like softest music on Miriam's ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you alone?" she asked, glancing questioningly round the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Did you want me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do, very badly. I remembered only to-day that you once proved a +true friend to Diniz Sampayo, and I came to know if you would again +aid him?" throwing back her veil, and disclosing a pale, sweet face, +stamped by deepest grief. +</P> + +<P> +"Diniz Sampayo! But is he, then, in need of help—in danger?" a sudden +fear lighting up her face. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he is in prison," sadly. +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure? How can it be possible? What has he done?" in amazed +wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"He has done nothing. Only his enemies have thrown the suspicion of +his having stolen a poignard from Manuel Tonza—a poignard which I +know he bought here. It is my fault this has happened. It was to +avenge the death of the man I loved—his dearest friend—that he +placed his life in peril!" +</P> + +<P> +"I remember well. It is quite true he bought it here, soon after +Jarima, the fisherman, had sold it to my grandfather. He, poor dear, +is also in sorrow, imprisoned for having received stolen goods, as if +he could tell when things are stolen!" indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"I am very sorry, Miriam; but if you help me, you will help your +grandfather also," Lianor urged gently. +</P> + +<P> +"I will!" Miriam cried firmly; "I will never give up until I have them +both safely outside that odious prison!" +</P> + +<P> +Lianor gazed with grateful affection at the girl's expressive face, +which now wore such a look of determined courage. +</P> + +<P> +"If I can do anything, let me know directly," Lianor said, gently. +"Gold may perhaps be useful, and I have much." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, but I am rich; and I know grandfather would lose all, +rather than his liberty. You are Don Garcia's daughter, are you not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," somewhat sadly. "You know me?" +</P> + +<P> +"By sight, yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall see you again, I hope," Lianor said, as Miriam followed her +to the door. "You will tell me of your success or failure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I will come or write." +</P> + +<P> +When her charming visitor had gone, Miriam returned to her seat, a +pained expression on her bright face. +</P> + +<P> +"He also there. Poor Diniz! But I will save him yet," determinedly. +</P> + +<P> +Hastily opening a heavy iron box, she drew out a handful of gold. +</P> + +<P> +Placing this in her pocket, she softly left the house, and scarcely +knowing what instinct prompted her, she hurried towards a small hotel +not far from the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you tell me," she began breathlessly to a sunburnt man standing +near, "if there are any ships leaving here to-morrow?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, senora. I will inquire," he answered politely, and +after an absence of about ten minutes, he returned to say "that +Captain Moriz, of the Eagle, was even then preparing for departure on +the morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Where does he live?" Miriam said, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"He is staying at this hotel at present." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think I could see him? It is very important." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say. You can at least try," smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +The Jewess thanked her good-natured commissioner, and lightly ascended +the steps. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to see Captain Moriz. Is he in?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think so," the man answered after one quick glance at Miriam; "I +will inquire." +</P> + +<P> +Miriam waited with growing impatience until the man returned, and was +relieved when she heard that the captain was not only there, but would +see her. +</P> + +<P> +With wildly beating heart the girl followed her conductor to a large, +darkly-furnished room, where, by a table scattered with papers, sat a +tall, bronzed seaman. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you are leaving India to-morrow? Would you mind telling me +where you are going?" +</P> + +<P> +"To Africa," a look of surprise crossing his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to take passengers?" +</P> + +<P> +"That was not my intention." +</P> + +<P> +"But if any one asked you, would you refuse?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. I did not want any one on board," Moriz answered +uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"If you knew it would do some one a great service? I am rich, and +would pay you well; so do not hesitate on that account." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it you who wish to go?" +</P> + +<P> +Miriam blushed, and bit her lip angrily. She had not intended to +betray her secret so soon. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is I, and two other people. Will you take us, and set us down +on one of those small islands on the coast, where no one would find +us?" +</P> + +<P> +Moriz hesitated; but he could not withstand the eager pleading in the +slumbrous eyes, the intense pathos in the sweet voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said at last, very slowly, "I will take you on board; but +you must be ready by to-morrow night. I cannot wait for stragglers," +trying to force much severity into his tones. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, thank you! I am content now. Do not fear; we shall be in time. +Until then adieu," she said softly. +</P> + +<P> +And, with a graceful bow, she departed. +</P> + +<P> +Her next step was in the direction where Phenee was confined. +</P> + +<P> +She found no difficulty in finding the jailer, a hard-looking man +enough, though Miriam thought she could see a gentle expression in his +eyes when they rested on two young children, whose pale, wasted +features gave evidence of close confinement in that dreary place. +</P> + +<P> +"I may win him yet by those little ones," she murmured; "gold will +have power to touch his heart for their sakes." +</P> + +<P> +"You wished to see me, senora?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I want you to answer a few questions. First, have you not got +Phenee, the Jew, and Diniz Sampayo here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, senora." +</P> + +<P> +"Are they together?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, senora." +</P> + +<P> +"Could it be possible for you to set them free, without fear of +detection?" eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, senora; but I am not a traitor." +</P> + +<P> +"But think, Vincent: my poor grandfather has done no harm, and he will +perish in that horrible place, though innocent. And the Senor Sampayo, +as I have proof, bought the poignard himself from my grandfather. Why, +then, should you say he stole it?" indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not I who accused him; my duty here is to guard the prisoners— +not to try them." +</P> + +<P> +"Vincent," Miriam continued, in a low, pleading voice, "you are poor; +your little children are pining for want of fresh, pure air. I am +rich, and can give you enough money to live in comfort away from this +close den. Release my friends, and the power of saving your children +shall be yours. Look!" drawing one of the wondering girls to her side, +"see how pale and thin she is! Can you refuse my offer when the lives +of those you love depend upon it?" +</P> + +<P> +Vincent felt the truth of her words, and knew the only things he +cherished on earth, those innocent children, were slowly fading and +pining away for want of fresh air. +</P> + +<P> +The man raised his head, and glanced earnestly at the moved expressive +face, then in a low, hoarse voice he muttered: +</P> + +<P> +"Be it so. I will help the prisoners to escape. I cannot see my little +ones dying before my eyes, when an opportunity is given me to save +them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then to-morrow at sunset you will bring them to the Golden Lion, I +will be there, ready with the money." +</P> + +<P> +"I will not fail, senora. May Heaven forgive me if I am doing wrong!" +</P> + +<P> +After a few instructions, the happy girl went swiftly away, but ere +she had moved far, she returned, and paused before Vincent. +</P> + +<P> +"I forgot to ask you about that poor man, Jarima," she said, gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"He did not live long, senora, after he was brought here." +</P> + +<P> +"And his wife—children?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of them I know nothing," he answered quietly. +</P> + +<P> +Ere she continued her homeward way, Miriam sped swiftly toward +Jarima's poor home, and knocked gently at the door. It was opened by +the eldest of the three children, and forcing a purse of money into +his brown hand, the girl whispered sweetly: +</P> + +<P> +"For your mother, little one; from a friend," then moved silently +away, hurrying homeward to await patiently for the long hours to pass, +ere her grandfather would be released. +</P> + +<P> +Vincent, true to his word, gathered his few belongings together, and +when the evening came, went softly to the cells in which his prisoners +lay, and, setting them free, told them to follow him. +</P> + +<P> +Wondering, yet glad, Phenee, leaning on Diniz's arm for support, +slowly obeyed the jailer, who, accompanied by his two children, led +them toward the hotel Miriam had named. +</P> + +<P> +There, sure enough, the young Jewess was waiting, and after tenderly +embracing Phenee, and smiling softly at Diniz, she turned to Vincent +and placed a bag of gold in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"This is your reward. May you and your little ones live in happiness!" +she said earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"We leave Goa to-night, senora. My life would be worth nothing if I +stayed here after this. Good-by, and thank you for your generosity." +</P> + +<P> +Miriam hastened her grandfather to the ship, shocked at his +feebleness; but for Sampayo he would scarcely have been able to get +there. +</P> + +<P> +Only once he spoke to the girl ere he retired to his cabin for the +night. +</P> + +<P> +"The money and jewels, Miriam—what have you done with them?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are here, grandfather. I brought everything of value away with +me." +</P> + +<P> +"That is right, child. You are a good girl!" +</P> + +<P> +Miriam stood rather sadly beside the bulwarks, gazing at the land in +which she had been born, and which she was now leaving forever. +</P> + +<P> +A low sigh broke from her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you sigh? Are you sorry to quit your native land?" a voice +whispered in her ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; though for my grandfather's sake I cannot deeply regret it," +Miriam answered, gazing at Diniz with tear-dimmed eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I have not thanked you yet for having released me from that dreadful +place, or even a worse doom. I am still scarcely able to realize my +good fortune. What made you, a stranger, think of one whom all others +had forgotten?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not all. It was Donna Lianor who told me where you were, and asked me +to help you," Miriam said, blushing beneath his tender, grateful gaze. +"Besides, I looked upon you as a friend," almost inaudibly. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I want to be—your friend. And Lianor—how is she?— +well?" +</P> + +<P> +"As well as it is possible to be under the heavy trial she went +through this morning. She was married to Manuel Tonza," sadly. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor girl! Poor Lianor! Hers is indeed an unhappy lot!" Diniz +murmured pityingly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0205"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +In a large, handsome room, overlooking a shining river, now ablaze +with sunshine, sat a beautiful woman, wearing on her face unmistakable +signs of sadness. +</P> + +<P> +She scarcely heeded the opening door, until two pretty children came +bounding to her side, clambering onto her chair and lap. +</P> + +<P> +Then her face changed, and a sweet, tender smile chased away all +gloom; the idle hands were busy now stroking the curly heads pressed +so close against her. +</P> + +<P> +"I would have brought them to you before, but their father wished to +keep them; he is always so happy when they are near," a little, +dark-eyed woman, clad in picturesque robes of brilliant crimson and gold, +said rapidly, as she threw herself down on a pile of soft cushions +opposite the sweet, pale mother. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor sighed, but she could not look sad long with those loved +children clasped in her arms. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot understand Manuel," she said, with a puzzled expression in +her eyes; "he is so strange, sometimes gay—almost too gay; then he +relapses into a gloomy, brooding apathy, from which even the children +have no power to rouse him." +</P> + +<P> +"But you have. He is never too morose to have a smile for you. I +think, sometimes, he feels lonely. You are bound to him, yet your +heart is as unresponsive to his passionate love as if you were +strangers," Savitre said, thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think so, Savitre? I am indeed sorry; but you know how +impossible it is to forget my first love. I like Manuel, but beyond +that, affection—except for my darlings—is dead; buried in Luiz's +grave." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! here comes Manuel," Savitre whispered, warningly. +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed Manuel, older and graver-looking than of yore, with a +deep melancholy in his eyes, brought there only by intense suffering. +</P> + +<P> +Savitre, on his entrance, softly glided from the room, leaving husband +and wife alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Lianor," he began, a bright smile lighting up his face as he bent to +kiss her fair brow, "I have been thinking, and am resolved to quit +India and return to Portugal. I have been here long enough. Don't you +think that will be pleasant, dearest?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing would please me more," Lianor cried, delightedly. "The +greatest wish of my life is to see Portugal once more, to show our +country to our children," bending to kiss her tiny daughter's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Then it will be granted. Prepare to start as soon as possible. Now, I +am determined to leave here. Something seems to urge me to go at +once." +</P> + +<P> +Only too anxious, Lianor began her arrangements. +</P> + +<P> +Savitre, who had never cared to leave her friend before, even to +become Panteleone's bride, entered into the preparations with +unconcealed eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +She had faithfully promised her lover that, once in Portugal, she +would, with his father's approval, marry him. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor felt no regret at leaving India, except for a loved grave—her +father's—which she had so carefully tended. +</P> + +<P> +Not many days after, Manuel Tonza, his wife, children, Panteleone, and +Savitre, accompanied by several faithful servants, including Lalli and +Tolla, embarked in a fine stately ship, which was to bear them in +safety to their home. +</P> + +<P> +Tonza seemed full of joy as he saw the last lines of the Indian coast +disappear. He had rarely appeared so happy since his marriage with +Lianor five years before. +</P> + +<P> +For several days the good ship went steadily on her way, until one +night a terrific storm arose, and the vessel, heedless of the human +cargo it was bearing, drifted onward at the mercy of the tempest. +</P> + +<P> +Tonza, holding Lianor and his children closely to him, stood silently +dismayed, scarcely able to realize the awful danger which lay before +him and those he loved. +</P> + +<P> +Still onward, through the almost impenetrable darkness, went the +doomed ship, until, as the dense shadows began to clear and the storm +to cease, a sudden shock was felt by all—she had struck against some +rocks and was slowly sinking! +</P> + +<P> +"We must be somewhere near land," the captain cried, his voice +sounding above the roaring waters. +</P> + +<P> +By aid of the fast-breaking dawn, they could see the line of high, +dark rocks, upon which the ship had met her fate. +</P> + +<P> +With much difficulty and peril, under the captain's cool directions, +the crew managed at last to leave the sinking vessel, not without much +loss of life. Out of nearly five hundred only a few arrived in safety, +amongst whom were Tonza, his wife, children, Savitre, and Panteleone. +</P> + +<P> +When the day broke in calm splendor, the sun shown upon a mournful +sight—a group of shipwrecked men and women. +</P> + +<P> +No sign of habitation met their view; only a weary waste of bare land, +sheltered by a few trees, from whose branches hung a goodly supply of +fruit. +</P> + +<P> +"If we go farther inland, we are sure to find some natives, if only +savages," Tonza remarked gravely; and followed by the men, he +commenced the long, weary way. +</P> + +<P> +Lianor, pale but firm, holding in her arms her little daughter, walked +beside him, heedless of the fatigue which oppressed her and made her +long to sink upon the sandy ground to rest. +</P> + +<P> +Onward they went, never pausing to rest their tired feet until, as the +day was about to decline, they came to a deep waterfall, over which +they had to cross. No easy task, as the only means of doing so was by +an uneven path, made from a line of rocks, on either side of which the +boiling waters poured in terrific fury. +</P> + +<P> +Tonza—who, now the captain had perished, placed himself at the head +of the crew—was the first to put his foot upon the crossing; then, +turning to the people, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful, and not glance behind or down, or you will lose your +balance and fall." +</P> + +<P> +Lianor, who, by her husband's wish, had given her child to one of the +men, followed closely behind Manuel, who held his boy in his arms. +</P> + +<P> +Silently, without daring to murmur one word, the men walked bravely +onward. +</P> + +<P> +They were nearly half way across. +</P> + +<P> +Manuel had indeed touched firm ground, when a sudden cry from her +little girl made Lianor turn in affright to see what ailed her. +</P> + +<P> +That move was fatal; the next instant she had lost her footing and +fallen into the dashing torrent. +</P> + +<P> +With a despairing shriek Manuel stopped, and had not some one held him +back, would have dashed in after his wife. Panteleone, who saw a +chance of saving her, quickly slipped over the side, caught her in his +aims as she was about to sink, then bore her to land. +</P> + +<P> +Forgetful of all others, Manuel threw himself beside her still form, +from which all life seemed to have fled, calling wildly on her name, +pressing passionate kisses on her cold face, hoping by the warmth of +his caresses to bring back the color to her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +But it was useless; Lianor was dead; her head having struck against a +rock, caused instant unconsciousness, from which they could not rouse +her. +</P> + +<P> +When Tonza realized the awful truth he rose to his feet, pale and +haggard, his eyes full of despairing anguish. +</P> + +<P> +"It is just; my sin is punished. My wife, the only thing I loved on +earth, for whose sake I committed crime, is taken from me! She alone +had power to make me happy; without her I cannot live. It is time I +confessed all, and you shall be my judges. It was I who caused the +death of Luiz Falcam, that I might win his betrothed; and when I heard +that Diniz Sampayo had discovered partly the truth, I had him thrown +into prison on suspicion of having stolen the very poignard with which +Luiz had met his death—one that I myself had placed in the assassin's +hand! You all know how he escaped, but he is an exile for my fault. If +ever you should see him, tell him his innocence is established; he can +return to India in peace. You have heard my story, now judge me;" and +with arms crossed over his breast, his head bowed in deepest grief and +humility, he waited his sentence. +</P> + +<P> +A dead hush fell over the group, broken only by the suppressed sobs of +Savitre, who was crouching beside Lianor, and the pitiful moans of the +little girl dying in one of the rough seamen's arms. +</P> + +<P> +At last Pantaleone, a look of compassion on his face, went towards his +friend, and, laying his head on Tonza's shoulder, said gently: +</P> + +<P> +"My cousin, you have sinned, but God has sent your punishment; that is +sufficient. Live to devote your life to bringing up the little +motherless children left to you. Restore Sampayo to his own again; +then try, by true repentance, to atone for the wrong you did him." +</P> + +<P> +Tonza raised his head, and glanced gratefully at Panteleone; but his +eyes were full of firm resolution none could understand. +</P> + +<P> +"You are good, but my life is worth nothing, now she has gone. See, +this poor babe will soon follow her mother. Garcia I leave to you; he +is too young to realize his loss; but never let him know his father's +sin!" he exclaimed hoarsely; and, after pressing his boy tightly to +his breast, kissed the dying child; then softly lifting Lianor in his +arms, he first pressed his lips reverently on her pale brow, and, +before any one could prevent him, or realize what he was about to do, +he had sprang from the rock into the deep torrent, and disappeared +with his precious burden from their view. +</P> + +<P> +A cry of horror burst from the lips of all present, and many efforts +were made to find their bodies; but in vain. +</P> + +<P> +With saddened hearts the people turned away, and continued their +journey, praying they might ere long find help and shelter. +</P> + +<P> +Before the day had closed another soul had winged its flight to +Heaven, and the tiny waxen form of Lianor's baby-girl left in its last +resting-place in the golden sand. +</P> + +<P> +A small wooden house, surrounded by sweet-scented flowers of brightest +hue, amongst which a beautiful, dark-eyed woman was softly gliding, +culling large clusters of the delicate blossoms. +</P> + +<P> +As she stopped to gather a few rich carnations, singing in a low, +musical voice, a man, young and handsome, slipped from beneath the +pretty porch, and walking noiselessly behind her, suddenly lifted her +in his strong arms, pressing the slight form tenderly to his breast. +</P> + +<P> +"Take care, Diniz," she cried, warningly, a ring of deepest joy +thrilling her clear voice. "You will spoil all my flowers!" +</P> + +<P> +"Except the fairest of all—yourself. Ah, Miriam, my darling! how +happy we have been since that day when you so generously saved me from +a felon's doom!" rapturously kissing the beautiful, dark face so near +his own. +</P> + +<P> +Their bliss was broken by a crowd of brown-skinned people, moving +toward the cottage, seemingly acting under some emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened? What is it?" husband and wife cried +simultaneously. +</P> + +<P> +"We have seen a party of white men, doubtlessly shipwrecked on the +coast, coming in this direction. They are even now in sight," one man +said quickly. +</P> + +<P> +Diniz flushed, and his eyes grew bright with suppressed joy. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps some of our countrymen, Miriam. Let us hasten forward to +welcome them," he cried eagerly; and leading his wife, while the crowd +followed curiously behind, Sampayo hurried in the direction from +whence the strangers were coming. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long before they met the tired crew, now dwindled to about +twenty, many having perished on the way. +</P> + +<P> +As Diniz stepped towards the first stranger, on whose arm leaned a +young and beautiful woman, a low cry burst from his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Panteleone!" he gasped, "is it really you?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, Diniz!" and the two friends, separated for so long a time, +warmly clasped hands. +</P> + +<P> +"But how comes it that you are like this?" +</P> + +<P> +Panteleone briefly related their voyage from India, and the disastrous +end. Tears shone in his eyes when he recounted the sad death of Lianor +and her husband. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, poor girl! How sorry I am!" Diniz said mournfully, while +Miriam, scarcely able to repress her sobs, drew Lianor's orphan boy in +her arms, and bore him to their pretty home. +</P> + +<P> +"You are welcome—all!" Sampayo said gently, turning to the +haggard-looking seamen. "Come." +</P> + +<P> +A few days later a grand old ship, bound for Portugal, started from +that coast, bearing the wrecked crew to their former destination. +</P> + +<P> +Amongst those on board were Diniz and his wife (Phenee had long since +joined his forefathers), who, now his innocence was made known, had no +longer the fear of being imprisoned, and could return in safety to his +native land. +</P> + +<P> +Panteleone's father received Savitre with almost paternal love, and +some months after their arrival, when their mourning for poor Lianor +was lessened, the two faithful hearts became one. +</P> + +<P> +Little Garcia, Tonza's son, was tenderly nurtured in their tranquil +home, and the aunt he loved so dearly became a second mother, +replacing the one he had lost. +</P> + +<P> +No shadow of his father's sin darkened his young life; he lived +unconscious of the sad fate of his mother, who, won by crime, by her +death avenged Luiz Falcam, for, through her, Manuel Tonza had atoned +for all. +</P> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The latest Works of the most popular Authors. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +HER FATAL SIN; A WOMAN'S LOVE; THE TRAGEDY OF REDMOUNT. + by Mrs. M.E. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective + Or, The Crime of the Midnight Express + +Author: Frank Pinkerton + +Posting Date: January 24, 2009 [EBook #5901] +Release Date: June, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE + +Or + +THE CRIME OF THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS + +By FRANK PINKERTON + +1886 + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. A STARTLING CRIME. + II. DYKE DARREL'S TRICK. + III. PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES. + IV. SCALPED. + V. ELLISTON'S REBUFF. + VI. DYKE DARREL'S DANGER. + VII. WHAT A HANDKERCHIEF REVEALED. + VIII. A PLUNGE TO DEATH. + IX. WORDS THAT STARTLE. + X. BLACK HOLLOW. + XI. POOR SIBYL! + XII. A BURNING TRAP. + XIII. A SAD FATE. + XIV. DYKE DARREL ASTOUNDED. + XV. A BAFFLED VILLAIN. + XVI. NELL MISSING. + XVII NELL IN THE TOILS. + XVIII. BEATEN BACK. + XIX. THE DETECTIVE FOOLED. + XX. OVERMATCHED BY A GIRL. + XXI. A BOUT IN THE CELLAR. + XXII. THE EMPTY SEAT. + XXIII. DYKE DARREL ON THE TRAIL. + XXIV. A RACE FOR LIFE. + XXV. SAVED! + XXVI. THE MYSTERIOUS WART. + XXVII. THE STORY OF A WART. + XXVIII. THE REVELATIONS OF A SATCHEL. + XXIX. RETRIBUTION. + + +WON BY CRIME + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A STARTLING CRIME. + +"The most audacious crime of my remembrance." + +Dyke Darrel flung down the morning paper, damp from the press, and +began pacing the floor. + +"What is it, Dyke?" questioned the detective's sister Nell, who at +that moment thrust her head into the room. + +Nell was a pretty girl of twenty, with midnight hair and eyes, almost +in direct contrast with her brother, the famous detective, whose deeds +of cunning and daring were the theme of press and people the wide West +over. + +"An express robbery," returned Dyke, pausing in front of Nell and +holding up the paper. + +"I am sorry," uttered the girl, with a pout. "I shan't have you with +me for the week that I promised myself. I am always afraid something +will happen every time you go out on the trail of a criminal, Dyke." + +"And something usually DOES happen," returned the detective, grimly. +"My last detective work did not pan out as I expected, but I do not +consider that entirely off yet. It may be that the one who murdered +Captain Osborne had a hand in this latest crime." + +"An express robbery, you say?" + +"And murder." + +"And murder!" + +The young girl's cheek blanched. + +"Yes. The express messenger on the Central road was murdered last +night, and booty to the amount of thirty thousand dollars secured." + +"Terrible!" + +"Yes, it is a bold piece of work, and will set the detectives on the +trail." + +"Did you know the murdered messenger, Dyke?" + +"It was Arnold Nicholson." + +"No?" + +The girl reeled, and clutched the table at her side for support. The +name uttered by her brother was that of a friend of the Barrels, a man +of family, and one who had been in the employ of the express company +for many years. + +No wonder Nell Darrel was shocked at learning the name of the victim. + +"You see how it is, Nell?" + +"Yes," returned the girl, recovering her self-possession. "I meant to +ask you to forego this man-hunt, but I see that it would be of no +use." + +"Not the least, Nell," returned Dyke, with a compression of the lips. +"I would hunt these scoundrels down without one cent reward. Nicholson +was my friend, and a good one. He helped me once, when to do so was of +great inconvenience to himself. It is my duty to see that his cowardly +assassins are brought to justice." + +Even as Dyke Darrel uttered the last words a man ran up to the steps +and opened the front door. + +"I hope I don't intrude," he said, as he put his face into the room. + +"No; you are always welcome, Elliston," cried Dyke, extending his +hand. The new-comer accepted the proffered hand, then turned and +smiled on Nell. He was a tall man, with smoothly-cut beard and a tinge +of gray in his curling black hair. + +Harper Elliston was past thirty, and on the best of terms with Dyke +Darrel and his sister, who considered him a very good friend. + +"You have read the news?" Elliston said, as his keen, black eyes +rested on the paper that lay on the table. + +"Yes," returned the detective. "It's a most villainous affair." + +"One of the worst." + +"I was never so shocked," said Nell. "Do you imagine the robbers will +be captured, Mr. Elliston?" + +"Certainly, if your brother takes the trail, although I hope he will +not." + +"Why do you hope so?" questioned Dyke. + +"My dear boy, it's dangerous---" + +A low laugh cut short the further speech of Mr. Elliston. + +"I supposed you knew me too well, Harper, to imagine that danger ever +deterred Dyke Darrel from doing his duty." + +"Of course; but this is a different case. 'Tis said that four men were +engaged in the foul work, and that they belong to a league of +desperate ruffians, as hard to deal with as ever the James and Younger +brothers. Better leave it to the Chicago and St. Louis force, Dyke. I +should hate to see you made the victim of these scoundrels." + +Mr. Elliston laid his hand on the detective's arm in a friendly way, +and seemed deeply anxious. + +"Harper, are you aware that the murdered messenger was my friend?" + +"Was he?" + +"Certainly. I would be less than human did I refuse to take the trail +of his vile assassins. You make me blush when you insinuate that +danger should deter me from doing my duty." + +"I am not aware that I said such a thing," answered Elliston. "I did +not mean it if I did. It would please me to have you remain off this +trail, however, Dyke. I will see to it that the best Chicago +detectives are set to work; that ought to satisfy you." + +"And I sit with my hands folded meantime?" + +A look of questioning surprise filled the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he +regarded Mr. Elliston. + +"No. But you promised Nell to take her East this spring, to New York-" + +"He did, but I forego that pleasure," cried the girl, quickly. "I +realize that Dyke has a duty to perform in Illinois." + +"And so you, too, side with your brother," cried Mr. Elliston, forcing +a laugh. "In that case, I surrender at discretion." + +Dyke picked up and examined the paper once more. "DIED FOR DUTY. BOLD +AND BLOODY CRIME AT NIGHT ON THE CENTRAL RAILROAD." + +That was the heading to the article announcing the assassination of +the express messenger. The train on which the deed had been committed, +had left Chicago at ten in the evening, and at one o'clock, when the +train was halted at a station, the deed was discovered. Arnold +Nicholson was found with his skull crushed and his body terribly +beaten, while, in the bloody hands of the dead, was clutched a tuft of +red hair. This went to show that one of the messenger's assailants was +a man with florid locks. + +Leaving Nell and Mr. Elliston together, Dyke Darrel hastened to the +station. He was aware that a train would pass in ten minutes, and he +wished to enter Chicago and make an examination for himself. The +detective's home was on one of the many roads crossing Illinois, and +entering the Garden City--about an hour's ride from the Gotham of the +West. + +In less than two hours after reading the notice of the crime on the +midnight express. Dyke Darrel was in Chicago. He visited the body of +the murdered messenger, and made a brief examination. It was at once +evident to Darrel, that Nicholson had made a desperate fight for life, +but that he had been overpowered by a superior force. + +A reward of ten thousand dollars was already offered for the detection +and punishment of the outlaws. + +"Poor Arnold!" murmured Dyke Darrel, as he gazed at the bruised and +battered corpse. "I will not rest until the wicked demons who +compassed this foul work meet with punishment!" + +There were still several shreds of hair between the fingers of the +dead, when Dyke Darrel made his examination, since the body had just +arrived from the scene of the murder. + +The detective secured several of the hairs, believing they might help +him in his future movements. Darrel made one discovery that he did not +care to communicate to others; it was a secret that he hoped might +lead to results in the future. What the discovery was, will be +disclosed in the progress of our story. + +Soon after the body of the murdered a messenger was removed to his +home, from which the funeral was to take place. + +As Dyke Darrel was passing from the rooms of the undertaker, a hand +fell on his shoulder. + +"You are a detective?" + +Dyke Darrel looked into a smooth, boyish face, from which a pair of +brown eyes glowed. + +"What is it you wish?" Darrel demanded, bluntly. + +"I wish to make a confidant of somebody." + +"Well, go on." + +"First tell me if you are a detective." + +"You may call me one." + +"It's about that poor fellow you've just been interviewing," said the +young stranger. "I am Watson Wilkes, and I was on the train, in the +next car, when poor Nicholson was murdered. I was acting as brakeman +at the time. Do you wish to hear what I can tell?" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +DYKE DARREL'S TRICK. + + +"Certainly I do," cried the detective. "Come with me, and we will find +a place where we can talk without danger of interruption." + +The two men moved swiftly down the street. At length Dyke Darrel +entered a well-known restaurant on Randolph street, secured a private +stall, and then bade Mr. Wilks proceed. Both men were seated at a +small table. + +"Shan't I order the wine?" + +"No," answered Dyke, with a frown. "We need clear brains for the work +in hand. If you know aught of this monstrous crime, tell it at once." + +"I do know a considerable," said Mr. Wilks. "I was the first man who +discovered Arnold Nicholson after he'd been shot. The safe was in the +very car that I occupied. I saw the men get the swag. There were three +of them." + +"Go on." + +"They all wore mask, so of course I could not tell who they were; but +I've an idea that they were from Chicago." + +"Why have you such an idea?" + +"Because I saw three suspicious chaps get on at Twenty-second street. +I think they are the chaps who killed poor Arnold, and got away with +the money in the safe." + +"Did you recognize them?" + +"No--that is, I'm not positive; but I think one of 'm was a chap that +is called Skinny Joe, a hard pet, who used to work in a saloon on +Clark street." + +"Indeed." + +"Yes. It might be well to keep your eye out in that quarter." + +"It might," admitted Dyke Darrel. "This is all you know regarding the +midnight tragedy?" + +"Oh, no; I can give you more particulars." + +"Let's have them, then." + +"But see here, how am I to know that you are a detective? I might get +sold, you know," replied Mr. Wilks in a suspicious tone. + +Dyke Darrel lifted the lapel of his coat, exposing a silver star. + +"All right," returned Mr. Wilks, with a nod. "I'm of the opinion that +Skinny Joe's about the customer you need to look after, captain. I'll +go down with you to the fellow's old haunts, and we'll see what we can +find." + +Mr. Wilks seemed tremendously interested. Dyke Darrel was naturally +suspicious, and he was not ready to swallow everything his companion +said as law and gospel. Of course the large reward was a stimulant for +men to be on the lookout for the midnight train robbers; and Mr. +Wilks' interest must be attributable to this. + +"You see, I was Arnold Nicholson's friend, and I'd go a long ways to +see the scoundrels get their deserts who killed him, even if there was +no reward in the case," explained the brakeman suddenly. + +"Certainly," answered Dyke Darrel. "I can understand how one employed +on the same train could take the deepest interest in such a sad +affair." + +"Will you go down on Clark street with me?" + +"Not just now." + +"When?" + +"I will meet you here this evening, and consult on that point." + +"Very well. Better take something." + +"No; not now." + +Dyke Barrel rose to his feet and turned to leave the stall. + +"Don't fail me now, sir." + +"I will not." + +The detective walked out. The moment he was gone a change came over +the countenance of the young brakeman. The pleasant look vanished, and +one dark and wicked took its place. + +"Go, Dyke Darrel; I am sharp enough to understand you. You distrust +me; but you're fooled all the same. It's strange you've forgotten the +boy you sent to prison from St. Louis five years ago for passing +counterfeit coin. I haven't forgotten it; and, what is more, I mean to +get even." + +Then, with a grating of even white teeth, Watson Wilks passed out. At +the bar he paused long enough to toss off a glass of brandy, and then +he went out upon the street. + +It was a raw April day, and the air cut like a knife. After glancing +up and down the street Mr. Wilks moved away. On reaching Clark street +he hurried along that thoroughfare toward the south. Arriving in a +disreputable neighborhood, he entered the side door of a dingy brick +building, and stood in the presence of a woman, who sat mending a pair +of old slippers by the light afforded by a narrow window. + +"Madge Scarlet, I've found you alone, it seems." + +"I'm generally alone," said the female, not offering to move. + +She was past the prime of life, and there were many crow's feet on a +face that had once been beautiful. Her dress was plain, and not the +neatest. The room was small, and there were few articles of furniture +on the uncarpeted floor. + +"Madge, where are Nick and Sam?" + +"I can't tell you." + +"Haven't they been here to-day?" + +"No, not in three days." "That seems strange." + +"It doesn't to me. They are out working the tramp dodge, in the +country, or into some worse iniquity, Watson. I do wish you would quit +such company, and try and behave yourself." + +At this the young man gave vent to a sarcastic laugh. + +"Now, Aunt Madge, what an idea! Do you suppose your dear nephew could +do anything wrong? Aren't I a pattern of perfection?" + +Watson Wilks drew himself up and looked as solemn as an owl. This did +not serve to bring a pleased expression to the woman's face, however. +As she said nothing, the young man proceeded: + +"I'm working on the railroad now, Madge, and haven't turned a +dishonest penny in a long time. Of course you heard of the robbery of +the midnight express down in the central part of the State last night? +Some of the morning papers have an account of it." + +"I hadn't heard." + +"Well, then, I will tell you about it;" and Mr. Wilks gave a brief +account of the terrible tragedy that had shocked the land. "It's a +regular Jesse James affair, and there's a big reward offered for the +outlaws." + +The woman seemed interested then, and looked hard at her nephew. + +"Watson, I hope you know nothing of this work?" + +"Of course I know something of it," he answered quickly. "I returned +in charge of the dead body of the messenger. I was in the next car +when he was killed, and one of the robbers put his pistol to my head +and threatened to blow my brains out if I said or did anything. You +can just bet I kept mighty still." + +"I should think so. This'll make a tremendous stir," returned the +woman. "The country'll be full of man-trackers and it'll go hard with +the outlaws if they're captured." + +"You bet; but they won't be captured." "You are confident?" + +"I've a right to be. I---" + +Then the young man ceased to speak suddenly, and his face became +deeply suffused. + +The woman sprang up then and went to the young man's side, laying her +hand on his shoulder. + +"Watson, tell me truly that you don't know who committed this crime." + +"Bother!" and he flung her hand from his shoulder with an impatient +movement. "I hope you ain't going to turn good all to once, Madge +Scarlet. I tell you, thirty thousand dollars ain't to be sneezed at, +and I do need money--but of course _I_ don't know a thing about who +did it, of course not; but I can tell you one thing, old lady, Dyke +Barrel is on the trail, and he is even now in Chicago." + +"Dyke Darrel!" + +"That's who, Madam." + +For some moments a silence fell over the two that was absolutely +painful. At length the woman found her voice. + +"Dyke Barrel! Ah! fiend of Missouri, I have good cause to remember you +and your work. Do you know, Watson, the fate of your poor uncle?" + +"Well, I should smile if I didn't," answered the young man. "He died +in a Missouri dungeon, sent there by this same Dyke Darrel, the +railroad man-tracker. Hate him? Of course you do, but not as I do. I +have sworn to have revenge for the five years I laid in a dungeon for +shoving the queer." + +"And Dyke Darrel is now in Chicago?" + +"Yes. I parted from him not an hour since." + +"What is he here for?" + +"The crime on the midnight express brings him here." + +"And you saw and talked with him?" + +"I did." + +"He recognized you of course?" + +"No, he did not; that is the best of it. I am to meet him again +to-night. It won't be long before the man who sent Uncle Dan to a +Missouri dungeon is in your presence, and you shall do with him as you +like, Madge Scarlet." + +"As I like?" + +"I have said it." + +"Then Dyke Darrel shall die!" + +"That's the talk," Madge. "THAT sounds like your old self; I am glad +you have come to your senses. If Nick and Sam come in, tell them to be +in readiness to receive a visitor." + +Then the young man turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. Just +as the shades of night were falling Watson Wilks peered into the +saloon and restaurant where he had parted from Dyke Darrel earlier in +the day. + +He saw nothing of the detective. + +"It is time he was here," muttered the young man. "Dyke Darrel is +generally prompt in filling engagements." + +"Always prompt, MARTIN SKIDWAY!" + +The young villain staggered back against the iron railing near, as +though stricken a blow in the face. + +Unconsciously he had uttered his thoughts aloud, and the voice that +uttered the reply was hissed almost in his ear. + +Dyke Darrel stood before him. + +The detective's face wore a stern look, which was suddenly discarded +for a smile. + +"I am prompt in filling engagements," said Darrel, after a moment. +"You see I have at last recognized you, and the walls of the prison +from which you escaped shall again envelop you." + +And then a sharp click was heard. The fraudulent brakeman held up his +arms helplessly--they were safely secured with handcuffs! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES. + + +It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the +one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment. + +The noted detective had outwitted him completely. + +It was humiliating, to say the least. + +"This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to +utter. "I will call on the police for assistance if you do not at once +remove these bracelets." + +"Do so if you like," answered Dyke Darrel, coolly; so icily in fact as +to deter the young man from carrying out his threat. It might be that +the detective would delight in turning him over to the Chicago police, +a consummation that the fellow dreaded more than aught else. + +"Come with me, and make no trouble. You will do so, if you know when +you are well off," said Dyke Darrel significantly. + +And Wilks walked along peacefully, allowing the sleeves of his coat to +hide the handcuffs. After going a few blocks, the detective hailed a +hack, and pushing his prisoner before him, entered and ordered the +driver to make all speed for the Union depot. + +"What does this mean?" demanded the prisoner, with assumed +indignation. + +"It means that you will take a trip South for your health, my friend." + +"To St. Louis?" + +"You have guessed it, Skidway." + +A troubled look touched the face of the escaped prisoner. + +"Why do you call me by that name, Dyke Darrel?" + +"Because that IS your name. You have five years unexpired term yet to +serve in the Missouri penitentiary, and I conceive it my duty to see +that you keep the contract." + +"A contract necessarily requires two parties. I never agreed to serve +the State." + +"Well, we won't argue the point." + +"But I am in the employ of the railroad company, and will lose my +place---" + +"You gain another one, so it doesn't matter," retorted the detective. +"No use making a fuss, Mr. Skidway; you cannot evade the punishment +which awaits you. Any confession you choose to make I am willing to +hear. The late tragedy, for instance?" + +"You'll get nothing out of me." + +"I am sorry," + +"Of course you are. Did you recognize me when we first met?" + +"No. It was an afterthought." + +"I thought so. You shall suffer for this. You've got the wrong man, +Mr. Darrel." + +"You seem to know me." + +"Everybody does." + +"You flatter me." + +"My name isn't Skidway, but Wilks, and I can prove it." + +"Do so." + +"Release me and I will." + +"I'm not that green." + +The prisoner muttered angrily. He realized that he was fairly caught, +and that it was too late now to think of deceiving the famous +detective. + +Dyke Darrel had recognized in the young man calling himself Watson +Wilks an old offender, who had made his escape from the Missouri State +prison three months before, and he at once surmised that the young +counterfeiter, who was a hard case, might have had a hand in the +murder and robbery of the express messenger. Reasoning thus, the +detective decided upon promptly arresting the fellow before proceeding +to search further. It would be safer to have Skidway in prison than at +large in any event. + +More than one pair of eyes had watched the departure of Dyke Darrel +and his prisoner from Chicago, and a little later a bearded man, with +deep-set, twinkling eyes, and the general look of a hard pet, thrust +his head into Madge Scarlet's little room, and said: + +"It are all up with the kid, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"What's that you say?" + +The woman came to her feet and confronted the new-comer with an +interested look. + +"It's all up with the kid." + +"Come in, Nick Brower, and let me have a look at your face. I want no +lies now," cried the woman sharply; and the man drew himself into a +little room, and stood regarding the female with a grin. + +"Now let me hear what you've got to tell," demanded Mrs. Scarlet. + +"It's ther kid--" + +"Watson?" + +"Yesum." + +"Well, what has happened to him, man? Can't you speak?" + +"He's took." + +"Took?" + +"Nabbed. Got the darbies on and gone South a wisitin'." + +"Do you mean to say that Watson has been arrested?" + +"I do, mam," grunted Brower. "He's well out of town, goin' South, and +I reckin he'll be in Jeffe'son City before we hear from him agin. I +seed him a-goin' with my own eyes." + +"How did it happen?" + +The man explained how young Skidway had been seized and taken on board +the train by Dyke Darrel. + +"You are sure his captor was Dyke Darrel?" + +"I ain't blind, I reckon," growled the man. "I heard sufficient to +tell me that the detective was takin' the kid back to Missoury, and +that was enough for me." + +"Why did you permit it?" + +A laugh answered the woman. + +"You might have saved the boy," pursued Mrs. Scarlet, angrily. "Now he +will spend another five years in the dungeon where my poor man died of +a broken heart. Watson told me that the infamous Dyke Darrel was in +Chicago; but I had no thought of his recognizing the boy. Can you lend +me some money, Nick?" + +"A purty question, Madge. Don't you know I'm always dead-broke?" +growled Brower. "What in the nation do you want with money any how?" + +"I'm going to St. Louis." + +"No?" + +"I am. If Dyke Darrel puts my boy behind prison bars again, I will +have no mercy. It's life for life. I am tired of living, and am +willing to die to revenge myself on that miserable detective." + +Mrs. Scarlet began pacing the room. She was deeply moved, and tears of +anger and sorrow glittered in her eyes. She was about to utter a +fierce tirade against the detective, when a step sounded without, +followed immediately by three raps on the door. + +"Whist!" exclaimed Brower. "It is the Professor." + +Madge Scarlet crossed the floor and admitted a visitor, a tall man +with fire-red hair and beard, who was well clad and wore blue glasses. +A plug hat, rather the worse for wear, was lifted and caressed +tenderly with one arm as the gentleman bowed before Mrs. Scarlet. + +"I am pleased to find you at home, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"I seldom go out, Mr. Ruggles, or Professor Darlington Ruggles, I +suppose." + +"Never mind the handle, madam. I see you have company." The Professor +turned a keen glance on Nick Brower as he spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SCALPED. + + +"The gentleman is a friend," said Mrs. Scarlet. "You need not fear to +speak before him." + +"I hain't no wish to hear any private talk," said Nick Brower, and +with that he cast a keen, knowing look into the visitor's face, and +passed from the room. + +"We're alone, Professor." + +"So it seems." + +"What news do you bring?" + +"Have you heard of the midnight express robbery?" + +"I have." + +"And that Dyke Darrel is on the trail?" + +"I have heard all that, and more," said the woman. "My nephew has been +arrested and taken to Missouri by this same infamous Dyke Darrel. It +was an awful blow to me; it leaves me entirely alone in the world. I +am ready to do anything to compass the ruin of the detective who +brought me to this." + +"I am glad to hear you say it, madam. I came here for advice and help. +I assure you that it is highly necessary for all of us that Dyke +Darrel be removed." + +"Well?" + +"He might be enticed here, and quietly disposed of." + +"Will you entice him?" + +"I might; but---" + +"Well?" as the man hesitated. + +"You see, I've got a place to fill in the world, and don't want to mix +with anything that's unlawful," and the Professor stroked his red +beard in a solemn manner. + +"Yet you would be glad to see Dyke Darrel dead?" + +"Hush, woman! Walls have ears. You are imprudent. I have nothing +against Mr. Darrel in particular, only he has injured my friends, and +may be up to more of his tricks. Now, as regards Watson Wilks, you say +Dyke Darrel has gone to Missouri with the boy in charge?" + +"Yes. The last friend I had in the world has been torn from me, to +languish in prison. I will have the detective's heart's blood for +this," cried the woman, with passionate vehemence. + +"Of course," agreed the Professor. "But of what crime was the young +man accused? Not the one on the midnight express, I hope?" The tall +visitor bent eagerly forward then, and penetrated the woman with a +keen gaze. + +"No, no," was the quick reply. "I know that Martin had no hand in +that." + +"Martin?" + +"Watson, I mean," corrected Mrs. Scarlet. "I sometimes call the boy +Martin, which is his middle name, so he has a right to it." + +"Exactly. You KNOW that the boy had nothing to do with the robbery +last night. I don't wish to argue or dispute with a lady, but I shall +be compelled to question HOW you know so much. Will you answer?" + +"Because--because Martin is incapable of such work. I have read all +about it in the papers, and am confident that it was the work of an +organized band." The Professor laughed until his white teeth gleamed +in the lamplight. + +"So sure!" he said. "You consider that nephew of yours a pattern of +propriety. Is this the only reason you have for believing that Watson +Wilks had no hand in the murder of Arnold Nicholson, and the rifling +of the express company's safe?" + +"I have another!" + +"Well?" + +"He was in Chicago at the time the deed was done." + +"Can you prove this?" + +Professor Ruggles seemed extremely eager, as he bent forward and +touched the arm of Madge Scarlet with a white forefinger. + +"I can prove it." + +"Very good. It may never be necessary, but if the worst comes, you may +be called on. I suppose you're not in the best of circumstances, Mrs. +Scarlet?" + +The Professor drew forth his wallet. "I shall suffer, now that my boy +is gone." + +"Don't fear that, madam," returned Darlington Ruggles, as he laid a +bank note for a large amount in her hand. "Providence and your friends +will take care of you. You have rendered me more than one good +service, and I may call on you for more, soon, much sooner than you +imagine." + +"Anything I can do, Professor, will be gladly performed;" was the +woman's answer, as she clutched the bank note eagerly, and thrust it +from sight. + +Then Professor Ruggles turned to the door. Here he paused and faced +the woman once more. + +"Madge, what charge was your nephew arrested under?" + +"An old one." + +"That is not an answer," and the man frowned. + +"The charge is for uttering counterfeit coin. I believe the boy was +innocent, but there was money on the other side, and Martin was sent +up for ten years; my husband for fifteen. My man died of a broken +heart, being innocent, and Martin served five years and then escaped." + +"I understand. I don't think the boy will ever serve out his time." + +"I hope he may not, but---" + +"Keep a stout heart, Mrs. Scarlet. Influences are at work to free the +boy. It will not do to permit him to languish in prison. I tell you +Providence is on your side." + +Then Mr. Darlington Ruggles passed from the room. + +"Strange man," muttered the woman, after he had gone. "He is a +mystery. Sometimes I imagine he is not what he seems, but a detective. +I hope I have given nothing away, for I find it won't do to trust +anybody these days." + +In the meantime Professor Darlington Ruggles made his way to another +part of the city, not far from the river, and met a man in a dingy +basement room at the rear of a low doggery. + +Strange place for a learned professor, was it not? + +"You've kept me waiting awhile, boss." + +The speaker was the man we have seen at Madge Scarlet's--Nick Brower +by name. + +"I couldn't get away sooner," returned the professor. "How does the +land lay, Nat?" + +"In an ugly quarter." + +"I feared so myself. The young chap that Dyke Darrel took to Missouri +knows enough to hang you---" + +"And you, too, pard; don't forget that," retorted the grizzled villain +grimly. + +"I forget nothing," said Mr. Ruggles, giving his plug hat a rub across +his left arm. "It isn't pleasant, to say the least, having matters +turn out in this way. I wish to see you in regard to this Dyke +Darrel." "I'm all ears, pard." + +"He must never see Chicago again." + +"Wal?" "I want you to see to it, Nick." + +"I don't know about that," muttered the grosser villain. "I've shed +'bout enough blood, I reckin." + +"It is for your own safety that I speak, Nick. No trace of that last +work can ever reach me." + +"Don't be too sure, Darl Ruggles. With Dyke Darrel on the trail, +there's no knowing where it'll end. He's unearthed some o' the darkest +work ever did in Chicago an' St. Louis. I WOULD breathe a durn sight +more comfortable like if Dyke Darrel was under the sod." + +"So would others." + +"Yourself, fur instance." + +"I won't deny it, Nick. I don't feel very comfortable with the young +detective free. Between you and me, Nick, I believe we can make this +the last trail Dyke Darrel ever follows. A thousand dollars to the man +who takes the detective's scalp. That is worth winning, Nick." + +"Put 'er thar, pard." + +Nick Brower held out his huge hand and clasped the small white one of +the Professor. + +"I'll win that thousan' or go beggin' the rest o' my days, Darl +Ruggles." + +"I hope you may. You'd best take the next train for the Southwest. I +won't be far behind." + +And then the two separated. + +A little later Professor Darlington Ruggles stood on the dock +overlooking the river and the shipping. Although yet early in the +season the big lake was open, and several vessels laden with lumber +had entered the river from various ports on the Eastern shore during +the day. + +A tug lay on the further side, and a schooner with bare spars loomed +up in the moonlight. + +"This open sewer has witnessed more thar one crime," mused the +Professor. "I would like it if that infernal Dyke Darrel was at the +bottom of the river. He has taken into his head to hunt down the men +who killed Arnold Nicholson, and if there's a man east of the +Mississippi who can ferret out this crime, Dyke Darrel is the one. But +I don't mean to permit him to do anything of the kind if I know +myself. It's a fight between the detective and as sharp a man as any +detective that ever lived. I imagine--hello! who is this?" + +The last exclamation was caused by the sudden appearance of a dark +form coming up over the dock as if from the water. A moment later a +man paused within six feet of Professor Ruggles, and penetrated him +with a pair of glittering eyes. + +"What do you want?" + +It was the Professor who uttered the word, at the same time receding a +step or two, for the stranger's glance startled him considerably. + +"Who are you?" demanded the stranger, shortly. + +"It does not concern you." + +"Don't it? We'll see about that." + +An arm shot forward. The Professor's plug fell to the ground, and the +next instant a red wig was swung aloft in the moonlight. + +"Ha! I thought so. You are the man I seek--" + +The speaker's words were cut off suddenly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ELLISTON'S REBUFF. + + +A mad cry fell from the lips of the Professor when he felt himself +unceremoniously scalped. The next instant his right hand drew forth a +gleaming knife. + +"Oh! Ah! MURDER!" + +A dark form went backward over the dock; a splash followed, and the +Professor stood alone. He peered into the muddy water to note the fact +that it flowed on calmly as before. + +Then Ruggles picked up his hat and wig, and readjusted them on his +head. + +"My soul! that was a narrow escape." + +At this moment another form was seen approaching, and the Professor, +deeming it prudent to move away, was soon striding from the spot, his +tall form disappearing in the shadows before the third person reached +the edge of the dock. + + * * * * * + +On the day following the events last narrated, a man ran up the steps +at the Darrel cottage in Woodburg, and rang the bell. + +Nell answered, and met the gentlemanly Mr. Elliston. She led the way +at once to a room opening from the hall, where preparations had been +made for a lunch. + +"Where is Dyke?" questioned the gentleman the moment he was seated. + +"I haven't seen him since he left for Chicago to look into the express +robbery," returned Nell. "Haven't you met him?" + +"No. Strange he did not write if he meant to be gone long," remarked +Elliston. "You were about to dine, I see." + +"Yes; will you keep me company?" + +"With pleasure." + +"I thought Dyke would be with me ere this," proceeded Nell, as they +discussed the edibles. "When he goes for a long stay she usually drops +me a line." + +After the lunch, Mr. Elliston left his chair and crossed the room to +glance from the window, at the same time plucking at his short beard +in an apparently nervous manner. + +Nell was on the point of removing the ware from the table, when Mr. +Elliston turned suddenly, and resumed his seat at the table. + +"Sit down, Nell, I wish a word with you." + +The girl sank once more into a chair, wondering what was coming. + +Laying both hands on her shoulders, Harper Elliston looked her in the +eyes and said: + +"You must have guessed the object of my visit to-day, Nellie Darrel." + +She blushed under his gaze, and looked away nervously. + +"N--oo, I can't say that I do. I suppose you came to see my brother." + +"Not so. It is you I wished to see, Nell. Why have I come here so +often? I know you must have guessed before this. I love you, dear +girl, and want you to be mine--" + +He could say no more then, for Nell Darrel started sharply to her +feet, pressing her hands to her burning face. + +"No, no, not that." she murmured. "I never suspected that, Mr. +Elliston." + +"But listen to me, Nell," he pleaded, reaching up and attempting to +draw her hands aside. "I can give you a handsome home in New York. If +you will be my wife, I will return there at once." + +She tore herself from his hands, and her confusion vanished, a feeling +of indignation taking its place. + +"Mr. Elliston, I tell you I do not love you, and never can. I was +never more surprised in my life than now. You are old enough to be my +father, sir." + +He came to his feet also, and leaned with his hands clinching the top +of a chair. There was a frown on his brow and a glitter in his black +eyes unpleasant to see. + +"Must I call you coquette?" he said, in an undertone of concentrated +feeling. "You certainly have encouraged me." + +"Never, sir," was the indignant response. + +"Then our paths must lie apart hereafter, I suppose, Miss Darrel?" + +"That is as you shall determine," she answered. "As my brother's +friend, I have tolerated you, and can do so in the future." + +"Ah! It was only TOLERATION then. I did not think this of you, Nell +Darrel. Do you know that many of the wealthiest, most beautiful +maidens of Gotham would jump at the offer you have just spurned so +lightly?" + +"I will not deny it." + +"I could have long ago taken a partner to share my life in my elegant +home on Fifth avenue, but do you know the reason of my not doing so? I +can tell you. I had not seen a girl to my taste. Until I came West I +believed I should never marry. From the moment of meeting you, +however, I changed my mind. To see was to love, and--" + +"Please cease, Mr. Elliston," pleaded Nell Darrel, putting out her +hand deprecatingly. "This is a most painful subject to me." + +"Very well." + +With a sigh he crossed the floor and stood by the window once more. He +seemed struggling to keep down his emotions. At that moment the +detective's sister pitied the man, and felt really sorry that she had +unintentionally been the means of making him miserable. + +"Mr. Elliston, please do not feel so badly. I respect you, and hope we +may ever be friends." + +She approached him and held out her hand. He turned and regarded her +with a queer glow in his eyes. + +"I accept your proffer of continued friendship," he said with a forced +smile. "It is better so than open war between us." + +"It would avail nothing to make war on a friend," she said simply. "I +respect you very highly, Mr. Elliston, and as Dyke's friend, shall +always hope to retain your good opinion." + +"Whatever may happen, you will have that," he returned. + +Soon after the gentleman departed. The moment he was gone Nell Darrel +sank to a chair, and, bowing her head on the table, began to cry. + +Strange proceeding, was it not, after what had taken place? Women are +enigmas that man, after ages of study, has been unable to solve. + +Another face came before the girl's mind at that moment, the face of +one to whom her heart had been given in the past, and who, for some +unaccountable reason, had failed to put in an appearance or write +during the past six months. + +"If Harry were only here," murmured the girl, as she raised her head +and wiped the tears from her pretty eyes. "I know something has +happened to him--something terrible." + +At this moment Aunt Jule, the colored housekeeper, the only other +resident of the cottage, aside from Nell Barrel and her brother, +entered the room, and her appearance at once put an end to Nell's +weeping. + +"Marse Elliston done gone. What did he want, honey?" + +"To see Dyke," answered Nell, with a slight twinge at uttering such a +monstrous falsehood. + +"Marse Dyke don't come yet. 'Deed but he's full of business dese +times. Marse Dyke a great man, honey." + +If the old negress noticed traces of tears on the face of her young +mistress, she was sharp enough to keep the discovery to herself. + +In the meantime, Mr. Elliston made his way to the principal hotel in +the little city and sought his room. He was a regular boarder, but, +like other men of leisure, he was not regular at meals or room. +Nevertheless, he paid his board promptly, and that was the desideratum +with the landlord. + +The man's teeth gleamed above his short, gray-streaked beard, as he +sat down and meditated on the situation. + +"So, I can be her friend still. Well, that is something. I don't mean +to give up so. Dark clouds are gathering over your life, Nell Darrel, +and when the blackest shadow of the storm bends above and howls about +you, in that hour you may conclude that even an elderly gentleman like +myself will DO." + +Again the man's teeth gleamed and the black eyes glittered. + +"I have set my heart on winning that girl. A mock marriage will do as +well as anything, and such beauty and freshness will bring money in +New York." + +Harper Elliston remained in his room until a late lour. After the +shades of evening fell he left the room and hotel with a small grip in +his hand. He turned his steps in the direction of the railway station. +Arrived at the depot, he purchased a ticket for St. Louis. Then he +sauntered outside and stood leaning against the depot in a shaded +spot. + +It would be five minutes only until the departure of the train. There +were troubled thoughts in the brain of Harper Elliston that night. + +A touch on his hand caused him to start. At thin fold of paper was +passed into his palm. Turning quickly, Elliston saw a shadowy form +disappear in the gloom. + +"Confound it, who are you?" growled the tall man, angrily. Then, +remembering the paper, he went to a light, and opening it, held it up +to his gaze. + +"HARPER ELLISTON: Go slow in your plot against Nell Darrel. She has a +friend who will see that her enemies are punished. Beware! The volcano +on which you tread is about to burst." + +No name was signed to the paper. + +At this moment the express came thundering in; the conductor's "all +aboard" sounded, and, crunching the paper in his hands, Elliston had +hardly time to spring on board ere the train went rushing away into +the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DYKE DARREL'S DANGER. + + +Martin Skidway was an old offender, and through the efforts of Dyke +Darrel he and his uncle had been detected in crime and sent to the +Missouri State prison for a term of years. It was a mere accident that +the detective came upon the escaped young counterfeiter, or rather it +was through the young villain's own foolhardiness that he was again in +durance vile. + +"I will not serve my time out, you can bet high on that," asserted the +young prisoner in a confident tone. + +Dyke Darrel more than half suspected that the young counterfeiter knew +something of the late crime on the midnight express, and during the +ride to St. Louis he did all that he could to worm a confession from +the prisoner. + +"It is possible that you may get your freedom at an early day," said +the detective. "I have heard of men turning State's evidence, and +profiting by it." + +"I suppose so." + +"I would advise you to think on this, Martin Skidway." + +"Why should I think on it? Do you think I'm a fool, Dyke Darrel?" + +"Not quite," and the detective smiled. "I know you have been pretty +sharp, young man, but not keen enough to escape punishment. You have +five years yet to serve, at the end of which time you may be arrested +and hung for another crime." + +"You are giving me wind now." + +"I am not. A terrible crime was committed four and twenty hours since, +and on this road; a midnight crime that the whole country will work to +punish. It will we impossible for the express robbers to escape." + +"You are a braggart!" + +"I do not say that _I_ will be the one to bring these villains to +justice, but I do say that justice will be done, and I expect to see +the murderers of Arnold Nicholson hung." The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel +fixed themselves on the face of his prisoner, with a penetrating +sharpness that fairly made the fellow squirm in his seat. On more than +one occasion had the railroad detective brought confession from the +lips of guilt, through the magnetism of his terrible glance. + +He tried his powers on the man at his side, and found him yielding to +the pressure, when Skidway suddenly turned his face to the window, and +refused to encounter the gaze of his captor. + +By this means he was able to defy the magnetic powers of the +detective. + +"Martin Skidway, you may as well admit that you know something of this +latest villainy. Even if you were not connected with it, you know WHO +was?" + +The prisoner remained silent. + +Dyke Darrel proceeded: + +"You said that you were a brakeman on the train on which poor +Nicholson found his death. Was that the truth?" + +"It was." + +"It is now for your own good that you make confession, Martin +Skidway!" + +"I've nothing to confess." + +"Be careful!" + +"You can't scare me into telling a lie," said the prisoner, with an +assumption of bravado that he did not feel. "I don't know anything +about the express robbers, only what I've told you; you can make the +most of that." + +"I mean to do so," assured Dyke Darrel. "I shall not leave the trail +until the perpetrators of that crime are secured and punished. In that +day you may wish that you had not been so obstinate." + +"I have told all I know." + +"I hope you have!" + +"You believe I am lying, Dyke Darrel?" + +"It doesn't matter what I believe," retorted the detective. "Of +course, you are not of the sort who believe in telling facts when a +falsehood will serve you better. I did not expect anything different." + +Arrived at the Southwestern metropolis, Dyke Darrel turned his +prisoner over to the proper officers, warning them of the dangerous +nature of young Skidway, and then he turned his thoughts and feet in +another channel. + +Dyke Darrel went to the office of the railroad company on whose road +the midnight crime had been committed, and consulted with one of the +officers in regard to the same. + +"It is a terrible affair," said Mr. Holden, the officer in question. +"I telegraphed our folks in Chicago to employ detectives in that city, +and expect to have the best talent in the country look into this." + +"Of course. Any clew discovered?" + +"None." + +"I believe the villains covered their tracks well," said Dyke Darrel. +"The express messenger who was murdered was a personal friend." + +"Your friend?" + +"Yes; one I had known for years, which explains my interest in the +case. I suppose I have your good wishes in hunting down the outlaws?" + +"Well, of course; but it is a task that may tax the coolness and +ingenuity of skilled detectives. Amateurs have no place on this case, +I assure you." + +"Admitted," returned the young detective, with a smile. "You have +heard of Dyke Darrel?" + +"I should think I had. He is the best detective in the West, now that +Pinkerton is gone; he was a trusted friend of Allan Pinkerton, too." + +"He was." + +"I've telegraphed for our people to see about employing Dyke Darrel. I +shan't be content without." + +Again a smile swept the face of the young detective. + +"It seems that you never met Dyke Darrel, Mr. Holden." + +"Never; but---" + +"You see him now at any rate." + +"What?" + +"_I_ am Dyke Darrel." + +"YOU?" + +"The same." + +"Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective; the fellow who captured the +brute Crogan, and broke up the counterfeiters' nest near Iron +Mountain; the man who has sent more criminals over the road than any +other detective in the wide West--YOU?" + +"The same, at your service," and Darrel bowed and smiled again. + +"Well, I AM astonished." + +Nevertheless the incredulous railway official seemed pleased at the +last, and shook the young detective warmly by the hand. + +"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Darrel, and hope we can induce you to take +up this case. A great many suspects have been reported, but I take +stock in none of them. I trust the whole affair (the management of it, +I mean) to you. Will you go into it, Mr. Darrel?" + +"Certainly." + +Some time longer the detective and official talked, and the lamps in +the streets were lit when Dyke Darrel left the presence of Mr. Holden, +and turned his steps toward a hotel. + +"I must send a line to Nell," mused the detective, as he moved along. +"I shall remain a short time in St. Louis, as I may pick up some +points here that will be of use to me. I am of the opinion that either +this city or Chicago holds the perpetrators of this latest railroad +crime." + +The detective did not see the shadowy form flitting along not far +behind. A man had shadowed the detective since his departure from the +railway office. Dyke Darrel, in order to make a short cut, had entered +a narrow street, where the lights were few and the buildings dingy and +of a mean order. + +Moving on, deeply wrapped in thought, the detective permitted his +"shadow" to steal upon him, and just as Dyke Darrel came opposite a +narrow alley, the shadow sprang forward and dealt him a stunning blow +on the head. + +The detective reeled, but did not fall. Partially stunned, he turned +upon his assailant, only to meet the gleam of cold steel as a knife +descended into his bosom! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WHAT A HANDKERCHIEF REVEALED. + + +Dyke Darrel was so dazed from the blow he had received as to be unable +to ward off the dirk that was thrust at his bosom by the vile +assassin, and had not a third party appeared on the scene at this +critical moment the story we are now writing would never have been +told. + +A kind Providence had on more than one occasion favored the daring +railroad detective. + +Before the point of the knife touched the breast of Dyke Darrel, a +swift-flying object sent the deadly weapon out into the middle of the +street. + +The next instant a man bounded from the shadow of a building upon the +would-be assassin. There was a short struggle, when the last comer +found, that instead of the detective's assailant, he held a coat in +his hands. + +The villain had made good his escape. + +"Confound you!" greeted the new comer. + +"Who was it?" + +"I saw him following you, sir, and made up my mind that some villainy +was in the wind. I do not know who the villain was. Are you hurt?" + +"Not in the least." + +Then the two men walked on until a lamp-post was gained. Here the +features of each were plainly revealed. + +A low exclamation fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel. + +"Good thunder, Harry Bernard! how are you? Where in the world did you +spring from?" + +The detective grasped and wrung the man's hand warmly--a rather +slender young fellow, with brown hair and eyes, a mustache being the +only sign of beard on his face. + +"One question at a time, Dyke," returned the young man with a laugh. +"I mistrusted it was you all the time. It strikes me that you are +becoming careless in your old age. Hope you're not in love--THAT makes +a fool of a man sometimes?" + +"Does it? No, I'm not in any such predicament; fact is, I am wedded to +my profession and shall never marry. But, Harry, you haven't answered +my questions yet." + +"You asked me how I get on; I can answer that by saying that I was +never better in my life. I have been across the plains, among cowboys +and Indians, and it's given me strong muscles and good health. I +arrived in St. Louis this morning. It was the merest chance that +placed me in a position to do you a service, Dyke. As I said before, +it seems to me that you are getting careless. Just imagine what the +result would have been had I not put in an appearance. I have the +fellow's coat to show for the adventure." + +"True enough. I admit that I was careless," returned the detective, +"and my adventure will serve to put me on my guard hereafter. Come +with me to my room, Harry, and we will talk over matters in general. I +must take the midnight express North, and may not see you again soon, +unless you conclude to go on with me." + +"I shall remain in St. Louis for the present," returned young Bernard. + +He went with his friend to the hotel, however, and soon the two were +in the privacy of Dyke Darrel's room. + +"Now, then, let us look at that coat." Harry Bernard laid the garment +down on the bed, and Darrel began a close examination of the same. It +was an ordinary sack coat, with two inside pockets. The detective was +not long in going through the pockets. + +"Ah!" + +The ejaculation was significant. + +It fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel, the detective. + +"Now what?" questioned Bernard. + +"Look at that." + +Dyke Darrel held aloft a handkerchief that had once been white, but +which was now dingy with dirt. But this was not the only +discoloration. There was a stain on the square bit of linen that was +significant. + +"What is it?" + +"Blood!" answered Dyke Darrel. + +Then the detective made a close examination, and made still another +discovery--a name in one corner of the rumpled handkerchief. + +The keen eyes of the detective gleamed with a satisfied light. + +"What have you discovered, Dyke?" + +"A clew." + +"To what?" + +"To the most infamous crime of the century. This handkerchief has the +name of its owner stamped plainly in the corner." + +"Well?" + +"Arnold Nicholson." + +"What?" + +"That is the name on this bit of linen, which shows that it was once +the property of the murdered express messenger. Of course you have +heard of the crime on the Central?" + +"Yes. It gave me a shock, too. Arnold was a good fellow." + +Harry Bernard's face wore a serious look as he took the blood-stained +handkerchief from the hand of the detective, and examined it with +mournful interest. + +"It must be that you were assaulted by one of the train robbers, +Dyke," said the youth, as he returned the relic of that midnight +crime. + +"I imagine so. The scoundrels have discovered that I am on the trail, +and they mean to put me out on the first base, if possible. Did you +see the man's face who assaulted me, Harry?" + +"Imperfectly. I know, however, that he had red hair." + +"Ah!" + +"You suspected as much?" + +"Yes. In the dead man's fingers was a bit of red hair. It seems +conclusive that the villain who assaulted me to-night was the one who +engaged in the death struggle with poor Nicholson. The trail is +becoming plain, and before the National holiday rolls round I hope to +have the perpetrator of this crime behind prison bars." + +"I hope you are not over-sanguine, Dyke." + +"I have ever been successful." + +"How about the Osborne case?" + +"Ah, yes; but that isn't off yet. I expect that the murderers of the +old captain will come to light about the time the railway criminals +are brought to justice." + +"Indeed." + +"There are several hands engaged in these bloody crimes, and when I do +make a haul, it will be a wholesale one." + +"I should think you would need help in a work of this kind." + +"I do." + +"Can I be of any service? You may command me, Dyke." + +"Thanks. You were of inestimable service to-night, and I believe you +can do more. It would please me to have you remain in this city and +keep an eye out, while I go up the road to the spot where the crime +was committed." + +"You know the place?" + +"Certainly. It was near Black Hollow, a wild spot, where the woods +along the creek afforded chance for hiding. Some of the rascals are +yet in that vicinity, I believe. The one who assaulted me to-night may +not remain in the city long. You will do as I wish?" + +"Certainly; glad to do it, Dyke." + +"That settles one point, then. If I need any more help I know where I +can find it." + +"Where?" + +"Elliston. He is something of a detective, you know." + +Harry Bernard frowned at mention of that name. The pleasant look +vanished from his face, and he relapsed into silence. + +Holding up the handkerchief, Dyke Darrel said: + +"This was used by the assassin to wipe his bloody hands after the +murder. He was a fool to keep the tell-tale linen by him; but these +fellows are always leaving some loophole open. I have made one +discovery that may have escaped your notice, Harry." + +"What is that?" + +"Look." Laying the bloody handkerchief over the young man's knee, Dyke +Darrel pointed to a spot near the center, where the imprint of fingers +was plainly visible. + +"You see that?" + +"Certainly; the marks of human fingers, but I can't see that you will +be able to make anything out of that, so many hands are alike, you +know." + +Then Harry laid his own hand against the spot stained with blood. "My +hand fits exactly." + +The eyes of Dyke Darrel began to dilate. His usually immobile features +began to twitch, and a deadly pallor overspread all. + +What was it that had caught the eye of Dyke Darrel, to cause such +terrible emotion? He had indeed made a discovery. + +A close examination of the finger-marks showed a white circle, +centered with a ragged dot of blood near the knuckle; this had +undoubtedly been caused by a wart on the hand of the assassin. It was +this fact that had attracted and interested Dyke Darrel, and what he +intended showing his friend Harry Bernard. The moment Harry laid his +hand against the print on the handkerchief the detective made a +startling discovery. Not only did the hand of Harry Bernard fit the +bloody stain exactly, but a large wart near the knuckle of the little +finger fell exactly against the spot that dotted the center of the +white circle. + +A feeling of unutterable horror filled the mind of Dyke Darrel at that +moment. Harry Bernard had been his friend for years, and he had always +found him upright and true. + +But what meant this horrible revelation of the handkerchief? + +Could it be possible that another had the same-sized hand and a wart +near the knuckle of the little finger? It was not likely. + +Dyke Darrel came to his feet, with cold perspiration oozing out upon +his brow. Before him sat Harry Bernard, smiling gently, and yet he had +a devil in his heart--THE DEVIL OF ASSASSINATION! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A PLUNGE TO DEATH. + + +For some moments neither man spoke. Harry Bernard noticed that his +friend was deeply moved, and he seemed to wonder at the cause. At +length he said: + +"Dyke, what is it?" + +"Nothing, only---" + +"Well, speak out," as the detective hesitated. + +"It is strange that your hand should so exactly fit the marks on the +handkerchief, Harry." + +"Well, yes," admitted the youth; "I hope you didn't imagine, however, +that _I_ had a hand in this railway robbery and murder?" + +At the last Harry Bernard laughed lightly. Dyke Darrel did not seem to +relish the young fellow's lightness, and only frowned. + +"This is not a laughing matter, Harry Bernard," said the detective, +sternly. + +"Well I should say not. If you have a serious thought that I could do +such a deed, Dyke, place me under arrest at once." + +There was an expression of rebuke on the face of Bernard as he uttered +the last words. He did not look like a criminal, that was certain, and +after a moment Dyke Darrel felt ashamed of his suspicions. + +"Never mind, Harry, I could not help feeling shocked. Let it pass; I +will not wrong you by suspicion. But you will admit that it was a +strange thing, your hand fitting so perfectly." + +"Not at all. Put your own hand here," returned Bernard. + +Dyke Darrel did so, but it was not so near a fit as Harry's. It was +not the size of the hand, but the imprint of the wart that had so +startled the detective. Harry had not discovered the true cause of his +friend's excitement, and the detective concluded to say nothing about +it then. + +Time was flying. The midnight express would soon leave the city. + +"I cannot remain with you longer," said Dyke Darrel, at length. "I +shall leave the case at this end of the route in your hands, Harry, +and if at any time you wish to communicate with me, address me at +Woodburg." + +"All right. What shall we do with this?" + +Harry indicated the coat that still lay on the bed. + +"You may retain that, but I will keep the handkerchief. Both may be of +use in the future." + +Soon after the two men separated. + +Dyke Darrel went at once to the depot, and soon after nine that +evening he was speeding northward at the rate of forty miles an hour. +At the first stop outside of the city three passengers boarded the +train. One was a short, thick-set man, with beard and hair of a dark +color; the others were women. The man entered the smoking car and +thrust himself into an unoccupied seat, and glanced keenly about him. + +The man had no ticket, but paid the conductor to a station a hundred +miles from the city. + +While sitting with his back to the aisle, a touch on the shoulder +roused him. + +"Eh, it's you, Ruggles?" + +"Ahem--seat occupied?" + +"No." + +The man we have met on a previous occasion, Professor Darlington +Ruggles, settled himself beside the late comer. + +"Ahem--fine evening." + +A grunt answered the Professor's attempt to be sociable. At length, +after casting a keen glance about the car, to find that but few +passengers were present, and those of but little consequence, +Professor Ruggles said: + +"He's in the next car." + +"Yes. I'd like to get my clutches onto him agin." + +"You had him once?" + +"Yes, but he had help, and escaped. Do you imagine he's on the trail?" + +"Certainly," answered Professor Ruggles. + +"Then he'll get off to-night." + +"I hope so; but you must be cautious." + +"Trust me for that." + +"Have you formulated a plan?" + +"None." + +"Then let me help you." + +"I'll be glad to do so." + +"If we can get the fellow onto the platform the work will be easy. You +understand, Sam?" + +"I reckon." + +"Once he goes over nothing can save him." + +"True, but how will we git the cuss outside?" + +"Easy's preaching. I'll go and introduce myself and get him to wait +this car to try an excellent brand of cigars--see?" And the Professor +chuckled audibly. + +"I expect it's easier said than done," returned the thickset villain. +"Twixt you 'n me, Ruggles, Dyke Darrel's cut his eye teeth, an' he +don't walk into no traps with his eyes open, I can tell you that." + +"Well, we'll see about it. I flatter myself that I'm sharper than any +detective that ever lived." + +Then, adjusting his glasses, the sunset-haired Professor left his seat +and walked down the aisle to the door. He came hurrying back with an +interested, perhaps anxious look on his countenance. + +"Now's your time, Sam," whispered Professor Ruggles; "the fellow's on +the platform smoking!" + +This was fully two hours after the thickset man first stepped upon the +train. He at once came to his feet, and sauntered in a careless manner +to the door. The night was not dark, and the man could plainly see a +dark form leaning against the end of the opposite car, a bright red +gleam showing the end of his cigar. + +It was indeed Dyke Darrel, who had come out upon the platform to cool +his heated brow and reflect on the situation, while he smoked a cigar +for its soothing influence. + +He could not drive the thought of Harry Bernard and the train robbery +from his mind. He remembered that the young man had left Woodburg +suddenly the fall before, and nothing had been seen or heard from him +by his friends since, until Dyke's meeting him so strangely in St. +Louis. It was barely possible that the assault and the rescue by young +Bernard were part of a deep-laid plot. Dyke Darrel possessed a +suspicious mind, and he could not reconcile appearances with the +innocence of young Harry Bernard. + +Deeply meditating, the detective scarcely noticed the opening of the +car door opposite his position. His gaze, however, soon met the form +of a man as he stepped across the narrow opening between the coaches. + +The detective was instantly on the alert. He was not to be caught +napping, as he had been once before that night. + +The moment the stranger passed to his platform, Dyke Darrel faced him +with a drawn revolver in his hand. + +"Mr., I want a word with you." + +Thus uttered the thick-set passenger, and then Dyke Darrel recognized +the man who had boarded the train at the first station outside of St. +Louis. + +"What is it you want?" demanded the detective shortly. + +"THIS!" + +With the word, the man lunged forward. Divining his movement, Dyke +Darrel sank suddenly to the steps, and his assailant plunged headlong +from the train! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WORDS THAT STARTLE. + + +It seemed a terrible plunge into eternity. Not for one moment did the +detective lose his presence of mind, however. Straightening, he +reached up and grasped the bell-cord. + +Ere many seconds the train came to a stop. + +"Man on the track," said Dyke Darrel when the conductor came hurrying +to see what was the trouble. + +Lanterns were at once brought into requisition, and men went back to +look for the body of the detective's assailant. + +No one imagined that he could possibly plunge from the speeding train +and escape death. Dyke Darrel moved along confidently expecting to +look upon the bruised corpse of the outlaw who had attempted his +destruction. + +He met with disappointment. + +No man was found. + +"He must have been a tough one to have jumped the train without +receiving a scratch," said a voice in the ear of the detective, as he +flashed the rays of a lantern down on the track. + +Dyke Darrel glanced at the speaker, a gentleman with enormous red +beard, and rather worn silk hat. + +This was the detective's first introduction to Professor Ruggles. + +"I've no doubt of his being tough," answered Dyke Darrel. + +"How did it happen?" + +"I think the fellow intended to throw me off the train." + +"Goodness! is that so? What was the trouble about?" + +"No trouble that I am aware of. I did not know the man." + +"Then it's likely he mistook you for some one else." + +Dyke Darrel eyed the speaker keenly. There seemed to be nothing +suspicious about the Professor, however, and soon after the detective +dismissed him from his mind. + +"All aboard!" shouted the conductor, a little later, and soon the +train was speeding northward at a rapid rate. + +Dyke Darrel went into the rear car, and sat down to meditate on his +adventure. He realized that his death had been planned by enemies to +law and order, and he believed by the ones who were anxious to throw +him off the trail of the outlaws who perpetrated the crime on the +midnight express a few nights before. + +It did not seem possible that the man who had attempted to throw him +from the train, and had gone over himself, had escaped unharmed. + +Doubtless, though badly hurt, he had managed to drag himself away from +the immediate vicinity of the track, where he had remained secreted +until the brief search was over. + +Since his fall was unexpected, it was not likely that any of the +villain's friends were in the vicinity, and so it might be an easy +matter to trace the outlaw. Dyke Darrel formed a plan of operation at +once, and rose to leave the train at the next stop. + +"Do you get off here?" + +Dyke Darrel was somewhat surprised to see Harper Elliston on the +platform of the little station. + +"I stop here," said Dyke. "And you?" + +"I thought of going to Chicago." + +"Postpone your trip then. I wish to consult with you on a matter of +importance." + +The tall gentleman hesitated. + +The train began to move. + +"You must decide quickly," cried the detective. + +Elliston walked the length of the narrow platform, with his hand on +the car rail, his satchel in the other hand. His hand fell from the +rail, and the express swept swiftly away in the darkness. + +"Anything to accommodate, Dyke. I had some business of importance to +transact in Chicago, but it can wait." + +"I am sorry if I put you to extra expense, Harper, but I wish to +consult with one whom I can trust. I've got a devilish mean work on +hand," said Dyke Darrel in an explanatory tone. + +"You know I am always ready to assist you, Dyke. Is it a criminal +case?" + +"Yes; the last on record." + +"The express crime?" + +"Yes." + +"I mistrusted as much. You have been down the road?" + +"To St. Louis!" + +"Exactly." + +"I took a young offender down who escaped from prison last winter. I +think the officers will look after him more closely in the future." + +"Who was it?" + +"Martin Skidway." + +"I don't call to mind the name, now." + +Lights in the distance showed that the village contained one +public-house at least. So there the two men repaired. + +Mr. Elliston quaffed a glass of wine, while the detective would take +nothing but a cigar. Repairing to a room, the two men sat and +conversed for some time in the most confidential way. + +Dyke Darrel gave his friend an account of his adventure on the train, +which had induced him to stop off and investigate. + +The reader may imagine that it was extremely indiscreet for the +detective to give away his plans to Elliston, but Dyke Darrel had +known this man for more than a year, had visited him in New York, and +found him to be well thought of there, and he had more than once +confided in him, to find him as true as steel. + +At this time the detective believed Elliston to be the best friend he +had in the world. He knew the New Yorker to be a man of great ability +and thoroughly acquainted with the world, and more than once he had +done a good turn for Darrel. Why then should he not trust him? In +fact, Dyke Darrel had noticed the growing interest Mr. Elliston took +in his sister, and it pleased him. Looking upon him as almost a +brother, it is little wonder that Dyke Darrel took the man from Gotham +into his confidence to a considerable extent. + +"I think you did the right thing in leaving the train to look after +this villain," said Elliston, when he had heard the detective's story; +"but you must be aware that you run a great risk in going about the +country without disguise, avowedly in search of the perpetrators of +the express robbery. Of course, this man has friends, and they will +not hesitate to shoot or stab, as they did in the case of the express +messenger." + +"Certainly--" + +"But, my dear Dyke, had I not happened at the station you might have +run into a trap. I have reason to believe there are many lawless +characters in this neighborhood. It strikes me that the man knew what +he was about when he assaulted you at this point on the road." + +To this, however, Dyke Darrel did not agree. He believed that the +villain who attempted his murder sought the first favorable +opportunity for his fell work, regardless of time and place. + +Early the next morning the detective and his friend hired a horse and +buggy of the hotel proprietor, and set off down the road to the scene +of the "accident." + +Dyke Darrel was confident that he could find the spot, and, sure +enough, he was not far out in his reckoning. When in the vicinity of +where he believed the man had left the train, Darrel's quick eye +caught sight of a group of men standing under a shed, on the further +side of a distant field. + +"There is some cause of excitement over yonder," remarked Dyke Darrel, +as he drew rein, and pointed with his whip. + +"It seems to mean something," admitted Elliston. + +"I propose to investigate." + +Securing his horse, Dyke Darrel vaulted the fence, and, closely +followed by Elliston, made his way across the field. + +A dozen men and boys stood about, regarding some object with +commiserating glances. + +Dyke Darrel pushed his way into the crowd, and was not disappointed in +what he saw--a man lying prostrate on some blankets, with white face +and blood-stained garments. + +"We found him jest off the railroad, in a fence-corner," said one of +the countrymen. "He'll never git up an' walk agin." + +"Has he said anything?" + +This last question was put by Harper Elliston. + +"Nary word. He fell off 'n ther train last night, I reckon." + +Elliston knelt and felt the man's pulse. + +"He lives," said the New Yorker, "but there isn't much life; he cannot +last long." + +"A little brandy might revive him," said Dyke Darrel. "I would like to +have him speak; it is of the utmost importance." + +"Indeed it is," cried Elliston. "Where is the flask of brandy you +brought from the train, Dyke?" + +"In the buggy." + +"Send a man for it." + +"I will go myself;" and Dyke Darrel set off at a rapid walk across the +field. At the same moment the man on the blanket groaned and opened +his eyes. + +"How do you feel, my man?" questioned Elliston. + +"I--I'm used up." + +"It looks so." + +Elliston bent lower. + +"You're going to die, Sam, sure's shooting," he said in a whisper at +the ear of the prostrate wretch. + +A groan was the only reply. + +"Do you hear me, Sam?" + +"Yes, I--I hear," was the faint answer. + +Placing his lips to the ear of the man, Elliston continued to whisper +for some seconds. + +Soon the detective returned with a flask of brandy, which he at once +placed to the lips of the bruised and helpless wreck. A few sips +seemed to revive the man wonderfully. + +"Tell me your name, my man," questioned the detective, eagerly. + +"Sam Swart." + +"Do you realize your condition? You have but a few hours to live, and +if you wish to free your mind, we will listen." + +Elliston stood at the man's feet, facing him with folded arms, while +the kneeling detective addressed himself to the apparently dying man. + +"I haven't nothing to tell." + +"See here, Mr. Swart, it is better that you tell what you know. Do +justice for once, and it may be better with you in the hereafter. You +attempted to murder me last night, and I believe you had a hand in the +death of Arnold Nicholson and the robbery of the express." + +"I--I did, but he coaxed me into it," articulated the poor wretch in a +husky voice. Elliston caught the words, and his cheek suddenly +blanched. He was outwardly calm, however. + +Dyke Darrel bent low to catch the faint words of Swart. It was evident +that the man was rapidly sinking, and the detective was terribly +anxious to get at the truth. + +"Speak!" he cried, hoarsely, "WHO coaxed you to commit this crime?" + +"HE did. The boy and--and Nick was with--with me." + +"But who was the leader--the instigator of the foul deed?" + +Close to the swollen lips of the dying man bent the ear of Dyke +Darrel, every nerve on the alert to catch the faint reply. + +A name was uttered that caused Dyke Darrel to spring to his feet with +a great cry. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +BLACK HOLLOW. + + +"What was it?--WHO was it?" cried Harper Elliston, seizing the arm of +Dyke Darrel, and penetrating him with a keen glance. + +"It does not matter." + +"It does. I have had a suspicion." + +"Well?" + +"He uttered the name of Harry Bernard." + +"How could you guess that?" + +"Because I have felt it in my bones," answered the tall New Yorker. +"Harry Bernard acted queerly before he left Woodburg the last time, +and I have since arrived at the conclusion that he was engaged in some +unlawful work." + +"Well, I never entertained such a suspicion," was all the detective +vouchsafed in reply. Then he glanced at the man on the ground. + +"See, the fellow is dying." + +It was true. Sam Swart, the miserable outlaw, was swiftly passing +away. Half an hour later, when Elliston and the detective returned to +their buggy, the would-be murderer of Dyke Darrel lay cold in death +under the farmer's shed. + +A serious expression pervaded the face of Dyke Darrel, and he scarcely +spoke during the drive back to town. + +"Did you find your man?" queried the landlord, when our friends +returned. + +"Yes." + +Elliston entered into an explanation, while Dyke Darrel went up to his +room and threw himself into a chair in a thoughtful attitude. His brow +became corrugated, and it was evident that the detective was enjoying +a spell of the deepest perplexity. + +"It must be that the fellow's mind wandered," mused Dyke Darrel. "Of +course I cannot accept as evidence the ragged, half-conscious +utterances of a dying man. He spoke of Nick and the boy. There may be +something in that. The boy? Who could that be but Martin Skidway? I've +suspected him; he is capable of anything in the criminal line. It may +be well for me to go to Chicago and visit Martin's Aunt Scarlet. How +that woman hates me, simply because I was the means of breaking up a +gang of spurious money makers, of whom old Dan Scarlet was the chief. +Well, well, the ways of the world are curious enough. By the way, I +haven't sent that line to Nell yet. The girl will feel worried if I +don't write." + +Then, drawing several postals from his pocket, Dyke Darrel wrote a few +lines on one with a pencil, and addressed it to "Miss Nell Darrel, +Woodburg." + +Just then Elliston entered. + +"When does the next train pass, Harper?" + +"In twenty minutes. Will you go on it to Chicago?" + +"Not to Chicago. I shall stop half a hundred miles this side, or more. +I wish to do a little more investigating." + +"Don't you accept what the dying Swart said as true?" + +"Not wholly." + +"Would a dying man be likely to utter a falsehood?" + +"I can't say. What is your opinion?" + +There was a peculiar look in the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he put the +question. + +"I should think there could be no doubt on the subject." + +"Indeed; then you consider that the last name that fell from the lips +of Sam Swart was that of the man who instigated the wicked crime on +the midnight express?" + +"Certainly, that is my opinion." + +Dyke Darrel drew out a cigar and lit it, his friend refusing to take +one. + +"I can't feel so sanguine as you seem to, Harper. Will you go on?" + +"I shall go to Chicago." + +"You do not care to remain with me longer?" + +Dyke Darrel regarded his friend closely through a cloud of smoke. + +"You forget that I left urgent business to keep you company last +night," answered Mr. Elliston, a tinge of rebuke in his voice. + +"I do not. You have my hearty thanks for your disinterested kindness, +Harper," returned Dyke Darrel. "If the delay has cost you anything---" + +"See here, old chum, don't insult me," cried Elliston, as the +detective drew out a well-filled wallet. "I am able and willing to pay +my own bills, I hope." + +"Certainly. I meant no offense." + +"It is time we were on the move, Dyke, if we do not wish to miss the +up train." + +Dyke Darrel realized the force of his friend's words, and at once made +preparations for departure. A little later the two were on board the +morning express, speeding Northward. Dyke Darrel informed the +conductor of the fate of Sam Swart, the outlaw, but did not intimate +that the fellow was a member of the gang of train robbers, whose deed +of blood had sent a shudder of horror and indignation throughout the +nation. + +When the train halted at Black Hollow, the station at which the +terrible crime of a few days previous had been discovered, Dyke Darrel +arose to go. + +"When shall I see you again, Dyke?" questioned Mr. Elliston. + +"I am not sure. I shall be in Woodburg next week." + +"I will see you there, then." + +"Very well." + +The detective left the train, and stood alone on the platform of the +little station. There were not a dozen houses in sight, and it was not +often that the express halted at this place. Here the daring deed of +robbers had been discovered. It could not be far from here that the +outlaws left the express car, doubtless springing off and escaping in +the darkness as the train slowed up to the station. + +Not a soul in sight. + +Dyke Darrel entered the depot, to see a man standing at the window who +had been watching the moving train as it rushed away on its northern +course. + +"No public house here, sir," said the man, who proved to be the +railway agent, in answer to an inquiry from the detective. + +"Then I must find some one who will keep me for a short time," +returned Dyke Darrel. "I am looking for a location in which to open a +gun-shop." + +"Guns would sell here, I reckon," said Mr. Bragg. "I guess maybe I can +accommodate you with a stopping-place for a day or two." + +"Thanks. I will pay you well." + +"I'm not a shark," answered the agent. "You see that brown house up +yonder, in the edge of that grove?" + +"Yes." + +"That's my place. I can't go up just now; but you may tell my wife +that I sent you, and it will be all right." + +Dyke Darrel sauntered down past several dingy-looking dwellings until +he came to the house of Mr. Bragg. It was really the most respectable +dwelling in the place, which could not have been famous for its fine +residences. + +The aspect about was not calculated to prepossess one in favor of the +country. Somehow, it seemed to the detective that Black Hollow was +half a century behind the age. Mrs. Bragg was a shy, ungainly female, +and not at all communicative. + +Darrel occupied the remainder of the day in exploring the country in +the vicinity. A creek crossed the railroad and entered a deep gulch, +the sides of which were lined with a dense growth of bushes. + +An ill-defined path led down the steep side of the gulch, and was lost +to sight in the dense growth at the bottom. + +Dyke Darrel followed this path, and soon found himself in a dense wood +that seemed to cover a strip of bottom land. Moving on, the deep +shadows soon encompassed him on every side. + +A solemn stillness seemed to pervade the place, and a feeling of +loneliness came over the detective. + +"What a splendid place for secreting plunder, or hiding from officers +of the law." + +It was almost dark ere the detective turned to retrace his steps. The +narrow path grew indistinct, and it was only with the utmost +difficulty that Dyke Darrel kept his course. + +The snapping of a dry twig suddenly startled him. + +This sound was followed almost instantly by the whip-like crack of a +rifle. A stinging sensation on the cheek, together with the whistle of +a deadly bullet, warned Dyke Darrel of a narrow escape. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +POOR SIBYL! + + +Instantly the detective drew his revolver and sought shelter behind a +tree. Then he gazed sharply in the direction from whence the sound of +the rifle had come. + +A faint line of smoke in the distance alone met the gaze of Dyke +Darrel. + +It was evident that some one had fired upon him with murderous intent. +This was the belief of the detective. + +"Somebody has dogged my steps; there can be no doubt about that," +answered Dyke Darrel. "I was not wrong in my supposition that Black +Hollow is the rendezvous of a gang of outlaws. I wish I had one good +man with me to help hunt these scoundrels down." + +The darkness deepened, but no one appeared, and fearing that he would +not be able to follow the path if he tarried, Dyke Darrel, with his +revolver in hand, ready for use, moved from his shelter, and attempted +to make his way out of the labyrinth in which he found himself. + +The detective soon lost the path, however, and found himself in a +desperate tangle, with the blackness of a dismal night settling down +upon the place. + +"I'm in a pickle, now, for a fact," muttered Dyke Darrel. "I was a +little indiscreet in coming here so late in the day. It does seem as +though I must come out somewhere if I continue to strive." + +Nevertheless, an hour's walk in the dense undergrowth failed to bring +the detective to the bank of Black Hollow, or to any opening. "A +veritable trap for the unwary," growled Dyke, as he halted with his +back against a tree, with the perspiration oozing from every pore. +Even his wiry limbs and muscles were not proof against the tangled +nature of the wood into which he had so coolly entered. + +Dyke Darrel was not in a pleasant mood as he stood meditating on the +situation. + +"It looks now as though I was destined to remain in the wood all +night." + +It was not a pleasing prospect. + +The detective was on the point of making one more effort to break +through the tangle that encompassed him, when something caught his eye +that sent a thrill to his heart. + +It was the glimmer of a light. + +It did not seem to be far away, and Dyke Darrel resumed his fight with +the thickets with renewed courage. In a little time he entered a glade +in the woods, to find himself standing in near proximity to a low log +cabin, through a narrow window of which a light glimmered. + +"Some one lives here, it seems." + +Dyke Darrel moved forward cautiously, for he still believed that the +wood was the haunt of outlaws, and this very house might be the den +where the plunder of many raids was secreted. + +Soon the detective stood on a little rise of ground, in such a +position that he could peer into the window. The interior of a small, +poorly-furnished apartment met his gaze. Beside the glowing embers of +a wood fire in a box stove crouched a human figure, seemingly the only +occupant of the lone log cabin. + +There was a wealth of golden hair flashing in the firelight, and the +black robe covered the form of what seemed to be a beautiful woman. + +As may be supposed, the detective was surprised at the sight. After a +moment of reflection he resolved to enter the cabin. + +Striding to the door, he rapped gently. No answer came, and the +detective rapped again. This time the door was cautiously opened, and +a white face peered out. + +"Who's there?" + +"A traveler who has lost his way." + +"You cannot come in. Sibyl isn't afraid, but she wishes to be alone." + +Nevertheless, the woman stood aside and held the door wide. This +seemed invitation enough, and the detective at once crossed the floor, +and pushed to the door at his back. + +The female receded before him, and stood at the far side of the room, +with both hands extended, waving them gently up and down. + +"Come no nearer, sir; Sibyl would view you from afar. There, stand +where you are, and do not move. It may be that you are the one I have +been looking for all these years." + +The speaker was evidently young, and possessed a weirdly beautiful +face, that strangely attracted Dyke Darrel. He stood still and watched +her singular movements curiously. + +She drew a morocco case from her bosom, opened it, and gazed at +something, evidently a picture, long and earnestly. She seemed to be +comparing the face of the picture with that of her visitor. + +Dyke Darrel was puzzled, and somewhat pleased. + +"No, you are not my Hubert; he was a nobler looking gentleman by far." + +"Will you permit me to look at the picture, Miss--" + +"No, no; I dare not trust it out of my hands. I promised him, you +know, and I must not disappoint Hubert, for he is very exacting. +Hark!" + +The girl secreted her prize, and lifted a warning hand. + +"Don't you hear his step? It is Hubert--dear, dear Hubert--come back +to comfort his poor Sybil after these long, weary years." + +A low, startling laugh fell from her lips at the last. She darted +across the floor, and flung the door wide, peering out into the +darkness. + +A solemn, awful silence followed, then the door was sharply closed, +and the queerly acting girl faced Dyke Darrel once more. She looked +weirdly beautiful, with a mass of golden hair falling below her taper +waist, her face white as the winter's snow, almost too white for the +living. + +So she stood now; the dancing light from the fire fell full on her +countenance, revealing it for the first time plainly to the gaze of +the detective. + +A low, stunned cry escaped from his lips. + +"My God! It is Sibyl Osborne, the Burlington Captain's daughter." + +A low laugh fell from the girl's lips. + +She began humming a gay tune, and danced across the room with arms +outstretched, as though attempting to fly. + +The truth came with stunning force--the poor girl was crazy! Her +father, a wealthy Burlington real estate broker, had mysteriously +disappeared some months before, and it was supposed that he had met +with foul play. Despite the efforts of Dyke Darrel and other +detectives, no clew had yet been found of the missing man. The +detective had met Sibyl at her father's house, and had regarded her as +one both beautiful and accomplished. To meet her as now was a terrible +revelation indeed. + +No wonder Dyke Darrel was stunned. + +For some moments he stood in pained silence, watching the antics of +the poor unfortunate. + +"Hubert will come, Hubert will come," she sung, as she glided back and +forth across the floor. + +What had caused this awful calamity? Dyke Darrel asked this question +in saddened thoughtfulness, as he gazed upon the beautiful wreck +before him. + +"Tell me that Hubert will come, sir, and then I won't believe that he +wrote that cruel letter," cried Sibyl, in a mournful voice, pausing in +front of the detective. "I cannot tell you unless you show me the +letter," returned Dyke Darrel, resolving to humor her. + +Quickly she drew from her bosom a letter and placed it in the +detective's hand. + +He drew it from the wrapper, hoping to learn something that might give +him a clew to the situation. + +This is what he read: + +"MISS SIBYL OSBORNE: I am sorry to inform you that I cannot see you +again. I am off for Europe on my wedding tour. Forget me as soon as +possible. + +"H. VANDER." + +"Do you think my Hubert could write anything so cruel?" she +questioned, as he handed the missive back to her. + +"It doesn't seem possible," answered Dyke Darrel. + +It was evident to his mind that the girl had become crazed on account +of her father's disappearance and the treachery of her lover. The +detective's heart beat sympathetically for the poor wronged girl. It +was his duty to see the girl safely on her way to the Burlington ere +he continued his search for the assassins of Arnold Nicholson. One had +already given up his account, but there were others yet to punish. + +While Dyke Darrel stood debating what course to pursue, under the +remarkable change in circumstances, the mad girl uttered a sudden, +sharp cry. + +"See! it is Hubert, my Hubert! come at last!" + +A look of mad joy sped across the white face, as one slender arm was +extended, pointing toward the window. Dyke Barrel followed with his +eyes, and then he, too, uttered an involuntary cry. + +Glued to the narrow pane was a face that was startling in the +intensity of its ghastly pallor, but it was not this that sent an +involuntary exclamation to the lips of the railroad detective. + +The face at the window was that of his friend, HARPER ELLISTON! His +presence here was one of the mysteries of that eventful night. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A BURNING TRAP. + + +For some moments Dyke Darrel stared at the face in the window without +moving. How came Harper Elliston in the woods at Black Hollow, when he +ought to have been in Chicago, according to his expressed intentions +of the previous day? + +With a sudden, wild scream the crazed Sibyl darted across the floor, +and thrust her hands against the window with such violence as to burst +the glass, cutting her hands severely in the operation. + +"Hubert! Hubert! come at last!" The girl staggered back and sank in a +paroxysm to the floor. + +It was indeed a startling affair, yet Dyke Darrel did not lose his +presence of mind. He hurried to the door and opened it, springing +outside quickly. + +"Elliston, I want you." + +Dyke Darrel stood by the broken window now, but the man he had +expected to find was not there. The apparition had vanished as though +fleeing into the upper air. + +Again the detective called the name of his friend, but without +receiving a reply. + +Here was a mystery indeed. + +Had that face at the window been an optical delusion, after all? + +Dyke Darrel was not superstitious, yet in the present case a queer +feeling oppressed him, and an awful misgiving entered his mind. + +"I cannot believe that the face at the window was other than that of +Elliston's; and yet she called him Hubert. It must be that there is a +mistake somewhere, and it seems to me that the mad girl is more apt to +be deceived than I." + +Once more Dyke Darrel returned to the house. + +Sibyl Osborne lay in a dead faint on the floor. The detective began +chafing her hands at once, and loosened her corsage. + +A morocco case fell to the floor. + +It was the one containing the alleged picture of Hubert Vander. Under +the circumstances Dyke Darrel believed he was justified in examining +it. + +He opened the case, and was soon gazing at the face of a handsome man. + +Although smoothly shaved, the face of the photograph was that of +Harper Elliston! + +A horrid suspicion now took possession of the detective's brain. + +Securing case and photograph on his own person, Dyke Darrel proceeded +in his efforts to bring the girl back to life. + +He was soon rewarded. + +"It was Hubert." + +These were the first words uttered by the girl when she opened her +eyes. Her hands were stained with blood from cuts made by the glass. + +She gazed at the blood, and grew suddenly deathly pale. + +"My God! he has tried to murder me!" + +Then she came to her feet, flinging her tangled golden hair about +wildly, and shrank to the far corner of the room. + +"You have nothing to fear from me, Miss Osborne," said Dyke. "I am +your friend." + +"And Hubert's friend?" + +"Yes, Hubert's friend, too." + +"Who did this, then?" + +She held up her bleeding hands. + +He tried to explain, and she seemed to understand partially, so much +so as to lose her fear of the detective. + +She began to laugh soon, and the late adventure seemed to pass +entirely from her mind. Dyke was glad to have it so. + +"Will you not lie down and rest?" he said presently. "We have a long +journey to go in the morning." + +"Where? To Hubert?" + +"Yes, to Hubert." + +Her great blue eyes regarded him wistfully, and a throb of pain +entered his heart at thought of the beautiful girl's misfortune. There +was growing in his heart a dangerous feeling, one that boded no good +to Harper Elliston, should that man prove to be as he now believed, +the Hubert Vander of the mad girl's dreams. + +"Take me to Hubert now, kind sir. I know you can do so, and I shall +die if he does not keep his word with me. He will never betray a poor +girl--such a gentleman, and so good? Yes, I will do anything to please +you, for it will bring dear Hubert back." + +She went up and laid both hands on the shoulders of the detective, and +looked so mournfully into his face as to touch the tenderness in his +nature deeply. His heart bled for the girl who had been the victim of +a villain's wiles. + +"Sit down and rest, Miss Osborne; we will try and find Hubert in the +morning." + +"You are very kind." + +She seemed gentle and subdued now. It was the calm after the storm. +Dyke saw that he was not recognized, however, and the madness was not +gone from the poor girl's brain. + +It was a very sad case, indeed. + +Several stools were in the room, and some blankets hung against the +further wall, proving that some one had lately occupied the cabin. +Undoubtedly it had been used as a hiding-place for outlaws, and it was +a question in the mind of the detective as to how soon the cabin would +be revisited. The presence of the insane girl necessarily altered his +plans somewhat. He could not leave her to perish in the woods. + +Removing the blankets from the wall, Dyke Darrel improvised a bed for +the poor girl, and induced her to lie thereon. He then replenished the +fire with some dry sticks that lay beside the stove, since the night +air was chill, and sat himself upon the floor, with his head reclining +against the logs. Before doing this, however, he had taken the +precaution to secure the only door with a wooden latch that had been +made for the purpose. + +The window, of course, he was unable to secure. + +It did not seem hardly safe to sleep under the circumstances, but Dyke +Darrel was very tired, having been without much rest for several +nights, and he was on the present occasion extremely drowsy. + +Resolving not to fall into a deep slumber, the detective sat with his +revolver at his side, and went off into the land of dreams before he +was aware of it. + +Dyke Darrel slept heavily. + +A crackling sound outside did not reach his ear with sufficient force +to waken him. A face peered in at the window, dark and sinister, but +the sleeping detective heeded it not. + +Another face, girded about with bristling red hair, appeared for a +moment, and then receded. Dark forms moved about the cabin without, +and engaged in a whispered conversation. + +Presently the trees and bushes became visible, and there was a smell +of burning wood in the air. + +"It is well," uttered a voice. "They will both perish like rats in a +trap. Dyke Darrel, the famous detective, will never be heard of more, +and that girl--well, she will be better dead than living. Come, Nick, +let us go!" + +"You're sure the door's tightly fastened?" "I fixed it so Satan +himself could not open it." + +"Good." + +"Let us go!" + +"Wait. I'd like to see the curse roast." + +"No, no; that won't do. We'll come in the day time and look at the +bones. This old log hut has had its day, and we could not put it to a +better use than to make a mausoleum for the man-tracker of the West." + +There was no hesitating after this. + +The two men moved swiftly away in the gloom that surrounded the +burning cabin. + +A choking sensation caused the reclining man in the cabin to stir +uneasily. + +Presently he opened his eyes. + +The room was full of smoke, and red tongues of flame were licking at +the logs from every side. + +Quickly Dyke Darrel came to his feet. A smell of burning garments +filled his nostrils. The bed on which Sibyl Osborne rested was on +fire! + +"My soul! this is unfortunate," cried the detective. He was equal to +the emergency, however. Springing to the side of the still sleeping +girl, Dyke lifted her in his arms and strode to the door. + +Quickly he slipped the rude bolt and grasped the latch. It refused to +yield. + +The door was firmly secured on the outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A SAD FATE. + + +For one instant, Dyke Darrel was paralyzed. + +It was for a moment only, however. He shook the door furiously, +blinded by smoke, and almost strangled by hot air. + +The door would not yield. + +At this moment, the girl awoke and began to scream. Bits of burning +wood fell all about them. + +Soon the roof would tumble in with a crash. When that moment came, +every living thing must perish within the house. + +Dyke Darrel moved to the window, leading Sibyl. She staggered and +seemed ready to fall. + +"Courage!" he cried, "we will soon be out of this." + +Reaching the narrow window, the detective dashed out sash and glass +with a stool, and the air from outside seemed like a breath from fairy +land. + +"You must go first?" + +Dyke Darrel assisted his fair companion to the opening. An instant +later she had passed outside. + +Then something occurred that quite startled the detective and filled +him with intense alarm. + +A burning log fell from the side of the cabin with a thud that was +sickening. A horrible fear at once took possession of Darrel. With a +quick bound he gained the opening, and leaped clear of the burning +logs to the ground without. + +Turning about he uttered a cry of horror. + +Sibyl Osborne lay crushed beneath a black log that was yet smoking +with heat. With a herculean effort the detective lifted and flung the +log from the poor girl's breast, and then he lifted and carried her +beyond the reach of flame and heat, and laid her on a little mound +beneath a giant tree. + +One glance into the mad girl's face satisfied him of the mournful +truth. The falling log had done fatal work, and with his hand clasping +hers, Dyke Darrel watched the gasps that grew fainter each moment, +until the silence and quietude of eternity rested on all. + +"Dead!" + +With that one word Dyke Darrel started to his feet and gazed about +him. There was a flinty gleam in his keen eyes and a fierce grating of +white teeth. + +It had been a long time since the railroad detective was moved as at +that hour, with the work of human fiends before him. + +From the burning cabin his gaze returned to the upturned white +face of the dead girl. Pure and lovely as a lily looked the face of +the wronged and dead. + +"It is better so, perhaps," muttered the detective. + +Had the girl lived she might never have enjoyed an hour of reason. +With that dethroned, what could death be but a welcome messenger. And +yet the manner of the mad girl's taking off was shocking in the +extreme. + +Had Dyke Darrel known the way out, he would have taken the corpse in +his arms and hurried from the scene at once. As it was, the detective +deemed it wise to remain in the vicinity until morning, when it was +likely he would have little trouble in making his way out of the +woods! + +The remaining hours of the night passed slowly. Dyke Darrel dared not +sleep, and so he kept his lonely vigil beside the dead, seated in the +shadows, with revolver ready to use at a moment's notice. + +No interruption came, however, and when the gray streaks of morning +dawned the detective breathed easier. He at once went in search of a +road that would lead out of the wood. + +He met with better success than he had dared hope. He found a path +that must have been used by the owner of the cabin, and which it was +evident the mad girl had followed in her wanderings. + +How long she had been in the cabin the detective had no means of +knowing, but it seemed to him evident that she could have been there +but a few hours when discovered by him. + +The way out of the Black Hollow woods was long and tedious, but Dyke +Darrel proved equal to the task, and when he broke cover and entered +upon the open ground above, he was glad to see a team approaching, +driven by a farmer. + +"Hello! What hev' you got there?" cried the man, in open-eyed +amazement, when he halted beside the detective and his burden. + +"A lady. She was accidentally killed last night." + +"It's awful!" + +"I quite agree with you," returned Dyke Darrel; "but if you will take +the woman aboard and drive to the house of Mr. Bragg, I will pay you +for it." + +"Of course I will." + +The farmer was garrulous on the way, and it required all the +detective's ingenuity to answer his questions promptly, so as not to +excite the fellow's suspicions. + +The body of the beautiful dead girl was laid in one of Agent Bragg's +rooms, and the latter telegraphed to the nearest town of importance +for a casket, which arrived at Black Hollow shortly after noon. + +"I will attend to shipping it," said Mr. Bragg. "This is a sad case. +It is a wonder to me that somebody did not see the girl yesterday." + +"Possibly she got off at another station." + +"Do you think she came to this vicinity on the cars?" + +"Most certainly," answered the detective. + +"Will you go to Chicago now?" + +"I am not fully decided," returned Dyke Darrel. "At what hour does the +train pass?" + +"Six-fifty to-night." + +"But the down train goes earlier?" + +"At four." + +"And at Bloomington I can take the cars for Burlington?" "If you so +desire." + +"I will think about it." + +Sauntering along in the afternoon, just in the outskirts of the +village, Dyke Darrel came suddenly upon a man standing with his back +against a telegraph pole. + +"Hello!" ejaculated the detective, as the man turned and faced him. + +It was Harper Elliston. + +"I thought you were in Chicago," pursued the mystified Dyke. And then +he remembered the face he had seen at the window of the cabin in Black +Hollow the previous night. The memory brought a harsh expression to +his countenance. + +"Ah, you are still here, Dyke." + +Mr. Elliston smiled and held out his hand. + +"I don't understand this," said Dyke Darrel. "You have deceived me in +some way, Harper. You were in Black Hollow last night." + +"There you are mistaken," assured Mr. Elliston; "I stopped off here on +the noon train." + +"You did not go to Chicago, then?" + +"Yes, I did; but only remained an hour. You see the man I was looking +for was not there, but had gone to Burlington, Iowa, and so, +remembering that you stopped off here yesterday, I thought I would run +down and learn if you had made any discovery." + +"You came at noon?" + +"Yes." + +"Why did not you call for me at Bragg's?" + +"Are you stopping there?" + +"Certainly. If you had inquired for me of the agent here, you would +have certainly found me." + +"That's exactly what I did do, and I did not find you; so now," and +Mr. Elliston laughed at the perplexed look on the detective's face. + +The actions and words of this man were indeed a puzzle to Dyke Darrel. + +"Harper, I want to ask you a plain question----" + +"And you want a categorical answer, Mr. Darrel," interrupted the New +Yorker with a laugh. + +"I do." + +"Go ahead." + +"Weren't you in Black Hollow last night?" + +"Certainly not. I was with a friend at least sixty miles away, near +Chicago." + +"Can you prove this?" + +"If necessary, of course; but what in the world is the matter, Dyke? I +hope you wouldn't accuse me of deception." + +"No. Will you come with me to Bragg's?" + +"Certainly." + +And then the two men walked away together. There was a solemn +expression pervading the face of Dyke Darrel. He had experienced many +strange things during his detective life, but this latest phase +puzzled him the most. + +He could swear that he saw the face of Elliston at the window of the +house in the gulch on the previous night, yet the assertion from his +friend that he was fifty miles away at the time seemed honest enough. + +Having been long in the detective work, Dyke Darrel had grown to be +suspicious, and so he was fast losing faith in the good intentions of +his New York friend. He had suddenly resolved on a test that he +believed would prove effectual in setting all doubts at rest. + +Arrived at the Bragg dwelling, the detective conducted Harper Elliston +at once to the room where the remains of the beautiful, dead girl lay +encoffined. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DYKE DARREL ASTOUNDED. + + +Dyke Darrel lifted a cloth from the face of the dead, and Harper +Elliston stood gazing down upon the features of wronged and murdered +Sibyl Osborne. + +The detective watched the expression of his companion's countenance +closely. + +With bated breath the man-hunter glued his gaze upon the face of the +man bending over the casket. + +"What a sad face, and yet most wonderful in its beauty. Who is she? A +daughter of the house?" + +Harper turned and regarded Dyke Darrel questioningly, a sympathetic +look in his black eyes. + +"Do you not know her?" + +"_I_ know her? You forget that I am a stranger in this part of the +West, Dyke." + +"She, too, was a stranger here, Elliston. Her home was in Burlington, +and she has been brought to this by a villain who ought to pass the +remainder of his days behind prison bars, if not conclude them at a +rope's end. Do you know Hubert Vander?" + +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, and a look of deep, +indignant feeling pervading his face. All the time he kept his gaze +riveted on Elliston. + +That gentleman stood the ordeal without flinching, however. + +"Hubert Vander? The name is a new one to me, Dyke." + +"Indeed!" + +A sneer curled the lip of the detective. + +"What do you mean by that?" questioned Mr. Elliston. "Am I to +understand that you connect ME in any way with this girl's death, or +that I am a friend to this Hubert Vander of whom you speak?" + +"Your pretended indignation will not deceive, Harper Elliston. Look at +THIS, and tell me what you think of it," said Dyke Darrel, with the +sternness of steel. + +The detective laid the photograph he had obtained in the Black Hollow +cabin in the hand of Mr. Elliston. + +The New Yorker did start then. + +He gazed long and constantly at the pictured face. + +"What have you to say now, Harper Elliston?" demanded Dyke Darrel, in +an awful voice. + +"It is a mighty close resemblance," returned the gentleman. "Where did +you obtain this, Dyke?" + +"From Sibyl Osborne." + +"Sibyl Osborne?" + +"She who lies before you. If that is not YOUR portrait, and if you are +not the man who murdered Captain Osborne and ruined his daughter, then +I am out of my senses." + +With the words Dyke Darrel presented a cocked revolver at the heart of +the cool, smiling villain before him. + +The smile left the New Yorker's face, and a serious expression +followed it. + +"What? You draw a pistol on me, Dyke Darrel? I am surprised," cried +Mr. Elliston in an injured tone. "I did not imagine that you could +lose confidence in me, let what would happen. Can it be that our +friendship was but a brittle cord, after all?" + +"I cannot remain friendly when my confidence has been betrayed." + +"And you deem me a most hardened scoundrel? Of course you will give me +a hearing. You are an upholder of law, and do not approve of lynching. +Here, put on the handcuffs, Dyke, and take me to prison. You will be +sorry for this some time, but now that circumstances are against me +your friendship falls to the ground. I did not expect such treatment. +However, I can live through it; but I shall never feel toward you as I +have in times past. Put on the irons, Dyke. Why do you hesitate?" + +"There is a chance for a mistake, of course," said the detective, + +"I am glad you admit that much." + +"Is that your photograph?" + +"You said it belonged to a young lady!" + +"But is it a photograph of your face?" + +"It is not." + +"You swear it?" + +"I do." + +"And you were not in Black Hollow, last night?" + +"I was not." + +"Swear it? + +"I swear it." + +"You did not know this dead girl?" + +Dyke Darrel pointed toward the face in the coffin. + +"I did not." + +"Will you swear to this also?" + +"With my hand on my heart I swear." + +The white hand of Mr. Elliston was laid impressively against his +bosom. + +There was such a look of honest earnestness on the man's face it was +impossible to doubt, and Dyke Darrel was forced to forego arresting +the New Yorker then and there. + +If he was not fully satisfied, he did not permit Elliston to note the +fact. + +"I did but try you, Harper," Dyke Darrel said with a smile, extending +his hand. "You are true as steel and I am glad to find it so. I have +endured misery since last night, because I feared, and came to believe +otherwise." + +"You will trust me as of old?" + +"Yes." + +"Thanks. Now tell me all about the facts regarding this poor girl." + +Dyke Darrel did as requested, although he kept back some things that +he did not deem it necessary for Mr. Elliston to know. + +"And you saw this Hubert Vander peering into the cabin window--the man +who looks like me!" + +"I did." + +"Well, it's pretty tough, and no mistake, to have a fellow of such +villainous character circulating about in this region. I hope I won't +be hung for his crime by indignant citizens. I agree with you that +this Hubert Vander is a sleek villain, and that hanging is too good +for him. It does seem that you made an important discovery last night, +however." + +"Explain." + +"This man Vander no doubt murdered Captain Osborne." + +"I am led to think so myself," said Dyke Darrel. + +"He also jilted the Captain's daughter, if no worse, and the two +sorrows turned the poor girl's brain. It is a sad and terrible case. I +feel deeply interested, and hope to see the scoundrel who looks like +me brought to justice." + +"I am glad to hear you say so." + +"Furthermore I have another idea." + +"Proceed." + +"It is undoubtedly this Vander who planned the robbery of the midnight +express. A man who could deceive one so beautiful as this girl, would +not hesitate to do anything to feather his own nest." + +"Again I agree with you." + +"Evidently it was either this man, or friends of his, who fastened the +door of the cabin, and fired it with the hope of destroying the +detective who was dogging them so closely." + +"True, I had thought of that." + +"And here's another thing." + +"Well?" + +"May not this Vander and his friends conclude that the man-hunter +perished in the flames, if they fail to see him again? A disguise +would fix that easily, you know." + +"No, that will not go down." + +"Why not?" + +"My enemies will visit the ruins of the cabin, and failing to discover +skeletons, will learn the truth." + +"That does not necessarily follow." + +"I think it does. I may act on your suggestion, however," returned +Dyke Darrel. + +"And put on a disguise?" + +"Yes." + +"What will it be?" + +The detective laughed. + +"Don't ask me, Harper," he said. "Of what use a disguise that my +friends all understood?" + +"Is this because you fear to trust me, after what has happened, Dyke?" + +"No; but I prefer to keep my own counsel!" + +"And you are right." + +"I am glad you admit it." + +The friends then left the room. + +At the last moment, Dyke Darrel decided on accompanying the remains of +Captain Osborne's daughter to Burlington. He realized that it was the +proper thing to do. Elliston parted with the detective, telling him +that he meant to return to Woodburg for the present, and would meet +him there on his return from the Iowa city. + +It was a sad duty that led the railroad detective to revisit +Burlington, which he had last looked upon in the fall, shortly after +Captain Osborne's disappearance. + +Arrived in the bustling Western city, Dyke Darrel was met at the depot +by a surprise. An officer laid his hand on the detective's shoulder, +and said: + +"You are my prisoner, young man." + +"Eh? Well, now, what is this for?" demanded Dyke Darrel angrily. + +"FOR THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN OSBORNE AND HIS DAUGHTER!" + +Dyke Darrel felt the cold muzzle of a revolver touch his temple at the +last. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A BAFFLED VILLAIN. + + +In the meantime Harper Elliston, true to his word for once at least, +left the train at the Woodburg depot on the same morning that his +young detective friend arrived in Burlington. + +Repairing to his room at the hotel, the New Yorker remained until the +dinner hour. After this he turned his steps in the direction of the +Darrel Cottage. + +"I suppose Nell Darrel will be delighted to see me," chuckled +Elliston, as he walked up the steps and rang the bell. + +Aunt Jule opened the door. "Marse Dyke ain't home." + +"But Miss Nell is, I suppose." + +"Yes, and deed, sir; she's got company, and can't see no one fur de +present," cried the grinning negress, quickly. + +"Company? A lot of chattering girls, I suppose?" + +"No; a young gemmen----" + +"A gentleman?" + +The frown that blackened the brows of Harper Elliston was not pleasant +to see. He was not pleased that Nell should receive other male company +than himself. + +"I will enter. I think she will see me when she knows who has come," +said he, pushing past the negress, and entering the front room. + +He seated himself in an armchair, and proceeded to coolly await the +coming of the mistress of the house. + +Soon Nell Darrel came in. Her face was suffused with smiles, which +evidenced that she had heard good news. Elliston, however, flattered +himself that it was his coming that caused the pleased look on the +face of the detective's sister. + +"A pleasant day, Mr. Elliston." + +"Rather." + +He rose and held out his hand. She did not accept it, much to his +chagrin. + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Nell?" he queried. "I've been absent +almost a week, and I thought you would be longing for my company by +this time." + +A smile of self-assurance crossed his dark face. + +"I have no reason to regard you with any more consideration than on +your former visit," she said. "Have you seen my brother?" + +"Yes." + +"Where is he now?" + +"In Iowa, I presume." + +"He is well?" + +"He was when I parted with him, a short time since. You haven't heard +from him?" + +"Yes. He was then in a small town in the South or West, I believe." + +Thus they chatted for some time. + +During the past few days a desperate resolve had taken possession of +Elliston's brain. He admired the pretty Nell now more than ever, and +he was determined to make one more effort to win her regard before +going to extremes. + +That morning he had braced his nerves with several draughts of brandy, +and the fumes yet affected him, thus rendering him extremely +imprudent, to say the least. + +"Nell, Jule tells me you had company when I came. Who was it?" + +"A gentleman." + +"Aye, but his name?" + +The man's eyes glittered, and seemed to pierce with their keenness to +the soul of the girl who sat in front of him. She could smell his +breath, too, and the fact that he had been drinking made her a little +nervous. + +She was anxious for him to depart. + +"He is not one of your acquaintances," replied Nell, evasively. + +"But one of yours, it seems," sneered the man, in a tone that was the +least bit disrespectful. + +"Mr. Elliston, did you come here to insult me?" + +"Certainly not," he answered in a gentler tone. "Forgive me, Nellie; I +can't abide having another win the affections of one I so much covet. +If you only knew, Nell----" + +"Mr. Elliston, don't." + +Both came to their feet. + +He advanced and seized her hands once more; nay, he suddenly flung one +arm about her slender waist and drew her closely, at the same time +imprinting a kiss on her cheek. + +"I love you, Nell, and will not give you up. Fly with me, darling, +where no odious friends may come between us!" + +"Villain, release me!" + +Nell struggled with desperate energy, but she was as a child in the +hands of the tall scoundrel. + +"No, no, little girl, I will not permit you to escape. I mean to make +it impossible for you to wed another," grated the man, in a meaning +voice, that sent a shudder of horror to the heart of pure Nell Darrel. + +Lucky was it for the girl that her visitor had not yet left the house. + +Nell screamed aloud, and then the hand of Elliston was pressed over +her pretty mouth. Had the man been in his sober senses, he would never +have attempted such bold work; but when in liquor Harper Elliston was +far from prudent. + +"No nonsense now," he sneered. + +And then a door opened; a slender form crossed the floor, and as +Elliston turned to confront the new-comer he received a straight +left-hander in the chest that sent him back reeling. + +Gasping, and very red, Nell started aside, and held out her hand with +a low cry of alarm. + +The stalwart Elliston soon regained his equilibrium, and faced the one +who had dealt him such a furious blow--a slender youth not yet out of +his teens, yet in whose blue eyes flashed a determined spirit. + +"Scoundrel!" ejaculated Elliston. + +He stood glaring at the boy with the venom of a mad serpent in his +black eyes. + +"Get from this house, or I will call the police and have you put in +the cooler," said the boy, quickly, standing with clenched hands in +front of Nell, and returning the tall man's scowls with interest. + +"I'll smash every bone in your body, you insignificant little snipe," +roared Elliston. Instead, however, of making the attempt, the man drew +a small derringer from his pocket, and lifting the hammer, leveled it +at the head of his youthful assaulter. + +"Gentlemen, please, please desist," pleaded Nell in a shaky voice. +"This is no place for a quarrel." + +"It isn't, I admit," returned the boy, "but this sneak brought it +about, and now the odds are so much against him, he has recourse to a +deadly weapon. There is just that difference between us, Harper +Elliston." + +The New Yorker started as the youth pronounced his name. He imagined +that he was not known to the boy. + +"You see, I know you," proceeded the boy, noticing the man start. "I +have had the villain Elliston pretty well described to me, and know +that your act just now justifies me in calling you by that name. +Shoot, coward, if you dare." + +There was a cool defiance in the blue eyes of the boy, that won the +admiration of Elliston in spite of his anger. + +"No, the game is too small," retorted Elliston, lowering his weapon. +"I cannot afford to tarnish an honorable reputation by shedding the +blood of a child. I shall, nevertheless, remember you, young man, and +on the proper occasion give you the thrashing you so richly deserve." + +A look from Nell Darrel cut short the words that trembled on the lips +of the youth. + +"I bid you good afternoon, Miss Darrel," and Elliston bowed and walked +to the door. "I will see you again and explain matters." + +The door opened and closed, and the smooth villain was gone. + +"Thank Heaven!" murmured Nell. "It might have been worse," said the +boy. "I did not miss my guess when I called him Elliston?" + +"No." + +"I thought not. You can see now that Harry Bernard had good reason for +warning you to beware of Harper Elliston!" + +"I can see it plainly enough," returned the girl. "When will Harry +come to Woodburg?" + +"I understand how anxious you are," said the boy, with a smile. "Harry +is assisting Dyke to ferret out the railroad express crime, and it may +be some weeks before he comes to this part of the State. I think he +will be satisfied to know that you are true to him. It was his +knowledge of Elliston's villainy that induced him to send me to see +you with a note of warning." + +"I am thankful for his kindness, Mr. Ender." + +"Everybody calls me Paul, Miss Darrel." + +"And everybody (that is my friends), all call me Nell," returned the +girl, with a pleasant little laugh. + +"Let it be Nell and Paul then," and the boy joined in her laugh, thus +aiding in banishing the shadows of the day. Harry Bernard's youthful +messenger soon after departed, promising to call again on the +following day, when he might have another message from young Bernard, +who was still supposed to be in St. Louis. + +In the meantime the angry and discomfited Elliston repaired to the +hotel and made hasty preparations for departure. + +He left on the first train for Chicago. + +It was late in the evening that Mrs. Scarlet, in her den on Clark +street, was roused from a nap she was indulging in, with her head +against the wall, by a sharp rap at the door. + +Rousing up, she went to see who had come. + +She admitted a man with a plug hat and red whiskers. + +Professor Darlington Ruggles. + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Madam?" + +He held out a white set of digits. + +"No--why should I be glad?" + +She accepted the proffer of friendship, however, and shoved a rickety +old chair for her visitor's use. + +"I'll tell you why. Because I am the best friend you've got in +Chicago." + +"That wouldn't be saying much," and Mrs. Scarlet laughed harshly. + +"Wouldn't it?" + +"Didn't I say so? Nobody comes to see me now since poor Nephew Martin +was taken from me. I feel about ready to die but for one thing." + +"And that?" + +"REVENGE!" + +Her eyes snapped in their hollow sockets and the withered bosom heaved +with inward emotion. + +Mr. Ruggles emitted a laugh. + +He was evidently pleased at the condition of the woman's feelings. + +"I am glad to find you in this condition, Madam," he said, after a +brief pause. "I am here to tell you how you can be revenged, if I +mistake not the object on whom your hatred rests. + +"It's that infernal Dyke Darrel." + +"I knew it. You would smile and feel happy to see him suffer?" + +"It would be as beefsteak to a starving man," said the woman, +savagely. + +"Then listen. He has a most charming sister living in one of the +interior towns of the State. She is the only relative he has in the +wide world. You can strike the railroad detective through Nell +Darrel." + +"Yes, yes--go on." + +"He is away most of his time, as you doubtless know----" + +"And the girl is alone?" + +"Save for an old negress. Don't interrupt me, please, until I tell you +the exact situation. One of my acquaintances, a gentleman of means, +and a mean gentleman, for that matter, wishes to get this girl into +his possession. What object he may have does not matter, so long as he +is willing to pay big for the work. All that is required of you, Mrs. +Scarlet, is to furnish a room, and see that when once inside, Miss +Darrel does not escape nor communicate with the outside world. Do you +understand?" + +"I do." + +"And you will consent to act as this girl's keeper for a time?" + +"Yes, yes," cried the woman, with eager emphasis, and then a low, +half-suppressed sneeze startled them both. + +Professor Darlington Ruggles sprang up and looked toward the door. It +stood ajar, and through the opening peered a masked face, centered +with a pair of glittering eyes. + +Uttering a mad cry, Ruggles drew a concealed revolver and, leveling at +the head, fired. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +NELL MISSING. + + +The reader can imagine the indignation of the railroad detective when +he found himself arrested by the Burlington officer. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said Dyke Darrel, "but you are making a +foolish mistake. I am a detective----" + +"That won't go down. If you attempt to escape I will blow out your +brains," returned the officer, still holding his cocked weapon to the +head of Dyke Darrel. + +The detective was deeply annoyed at this. On board the train were the +remains of the daughter of one of Burlington's most prominent +citizens, and Dyke was extremely anxious to meet the friends and +explain the situation. + +"You may take me at once to the chief of police," said Dyke Darrel, at +length. "I can explain to him, since he knows me." + +Another officer approached, and the first one requested him to +handcuff his prisoner. + +A hot flush of anger shot to the cheek of the detective. + +"This is going too far," he said in a vexed tone. "If you attempt to +put the irons on me, I'll make you trouble. I tell you I am acquainted +with your chief, and demand that you take me to him." + +"That's fair enough," said the second officer. + +"But he's a dangerous character," persisted the first. + +"Whom do you take me for," Dyke demanded indignantly. + +"Slim Steve, the train robber." + +"Where did you get your information?" + +"It doesn't matter." + +"You'd better go slow, officer. Look at that, and tell me what you +think of it?" + +Turning back the lap of his coat Dyke Darrel revealed a glittering +silver star, and below this a flaming eye on a dark background. + +"A Pinkerton detective!" exclaimed the second officer. + +"I am a detective, and know my business without receiving instructions +from the police of a one-horse town," retorted Dyke Darrel in anger. +"I am willing, however, to visit your chief, who will confirm my +words." + +"We had orders from him to arrest you." + +"Very good. I demand that you take me before him." + +After a short consultation the two officers concluded to gratify their +prisoner, and, without attempting to handcuff him, they conducted him +from the depot to the police station. + +As luck would have it, the chief was in, and at once recognized and +greeted Dyke Darrel. Explanations soon followed. + +"You must not blame my men," said the chief, "for word was sent from +an interior town in Illinois stating that a notorious crook was on the +train, and would stop at Burlington. A description was given that +tallied with yours, and so the mistake was made." + +"Do you know who sent the dispatch?" + +"A sheriff, I think." + +"Just accommodate me with the name of the town, please." + +Dyke Darrel was deeply excited at this last attempt to deprive him of +his liberty. + +The officer referred to the dispatch and read the name of the place +from whence it originated. + +"Woodburg!" + +Dyke Darrel uttered the name in wonder. + +"I don't understand it," he said; "that is my own home, and I am too +well known there to merit suspicion. It must have been meant for a +practical joke," and the detective's thoughts were turned to Harper +Elliston. + +"It might be, of course," admitted the chief of Burlington police, +"but it is a joke that I shouldn't relish, and you might make it warm +for the perpetrator. I can telegraph and inquire into it if you wish, +Mr. Darrel." + +"Not now. I shall be in Woodburg within a few days, and then I will +find out all about it." + +Dyke Darrel repaired at once to the home of Captain Osborne, which was +occupied by relatives of the Captain, and informed them of the sad +fate that had overtaken Sibyl Osborne. + +An aunt and cousin, the latter a young man of prominence, were the +relatives mentioned. The cousin promised to attend the remains, after +listening to the strange story Dyke Darrel had to tell. Sibyl had left +home ten days before, pretending to go on a visit to friends. When she +left it was not suspected that she was out of her mind, consequently +the news was all the more sad. + +From Burlington the railroad detective returned to Black Hollow, and +from there he went to St. Louis to consult with Harry Bernard. Here he +was met with the announcement that his young friend had taken the +train for Chicago some days before. + +This was an annoying state of affairs indeed. + +Remaining a few days in St. Louis, Dyke Darrel at length left the city +en route for Woodburg. He was anxious to meet Nell, from whom he had +been absent now about a fortnight. + +On reaching Woodburg the detective found a telegram awaiting him from +Chicago: + +"Come at once. I have made an important discovery. + +"H." + +Of course this must be from Harry. It was dated some days before, +however, which annoyed Dyke. Harry Bernard might have changed his base +of operations by this time. + +"I will call at the house," mused Dyke Darrel. "I have an hour's time +before the next Chicago train." + +Aunt Jule was extremely glad to meet "Marse Dyke." + +"Why didn't you bring the young missus wid yo?" questioned the +negress. + +"What's that? Hope you didn't think I'd committed matrimony?" and the +detective laughed lightly, at the same time chucking Aunt Jule under +her fat chin. + +"Lor-a-massy, no, Marse Dyke. I meant Missy Nell," explained the black +woman. + +"Miss Nell? Isn't she at home?" + +"Wal, now, what a question. In coorse she ain't. Didn' yo' send fur +her yo' very self? How den yo' 'spec she's goin' to be home ef yo' +didn' done brung her, eh?" + +All this was Greek to Dyke Darrel. + +"What in the name of caution are you driving at, Aunt Jule? I haven't +seen my sister since I left home, and if she's gone to look for me +she's done a very foolish thing, for I'm not long in one place--she +ought to have known better." + +Aunt Jule flounced out of the room, to return soon with a yellow +envelope in her hand. + +"Dere, look a-dat now. Ef yo' didn' done writ dat, den I'd like to +know who did." + +The detective opened the letter his housekeeper placed in his hand, +and read: + +"CHICAGO, April 30, 188-. + +NELL:--Come on the next train, as I wish to see you in this city. Aunt +Jule will look after the house until your return. Don't disappoint me. +"DYKE." + +The detective glanced at the negress after reading this note, the +writing of which very much resembled his hand. + +"This came when?" + +"Yesterday." + +"Through the mail?" + +"Yes, Marse." + +A frown darkened the brow of the detective. He crumpled the letter in +his hand and began pacing the floor with nervous strides. + +"Somefin must be wrong ef yo' didn' write that letter." + +Suddenly Dyke Darrel turned on the speaker and touched her huge arm +with a clinging hand. + +"Jule, when did my sister answer this letter?" he demanded, fiercely. + +"Jest the next train." + +"Last night?" + +"Yes, Marse Dyke." + +Dropping his hand from Aunt Jule's huge arm, the detective rushed from +the room and the house. He was laboring under great excitement, as +well he might be, for Nell was as the apple of his eye, and she had +been enticed to the great city for a fell purpose, he believed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +NELL IN THE TOILS. + + +The instant after Professor Ruggles fired, the masked face in the +doorway disappeared, and the sound of swift-moving feet was heard. + +Still clutching his weapon, the Professor strode to the door and flung +it open, gazing into the alley, which framed no reply to the question +that trembled unspoken on his lips. + +"Did you hit him, Professor?" + +"I fear I didn't." + +Professor Ruggles then made an examination of the alley that assured +him that his bullet had not been stopped by flesh and bone--instead, +it lay on the ground where it had fallen, flattened, from the brick +wall above. + +"So much for being a poor shot," sneered the woman. + +"So much for your condemned carelessness in not locking the door," he +retorted with equal severity. + +"Well, maybe you'd better see that it is fastened now." + +Professor Darlington Ruggles turned the key in the lock, and then +assumed a seat once more. + +"Let me see. Where did we leave off?" + +"In a mighty important place," answered the woman. "If that sneak had +been at the door long, he must have heard something of our plans." + +"And it makes you feel uneasy?" + +"Don't it you?" + +"A trifle. I can't imagine who the sneak was." + +"Nor I." + +"It might have been one of the boys playing a joke," said Ruggles. + +"I hope it's nothing more serious." + +"I shall dismiss the sneak from my mind at any rate," returned Mr. +Ruggles. "To-morrow night you may look for your guest, Mrs. Scarlet. +Remember, whatever plans for vengeance you may have formed will be +more than gratified in placing this detective's sister completely in +the power of a man who knows how to use it." + +The Professor's eyes snapped at the last, and he lifted and smoothed +his hat rapidly with one long arm. + +"I understand. Nothing can be too harsh and awful for one of the +breed," hissed Madge Scarlet, in a way that made even Professor +Ruggles' flesh creep. + +Then he rose to go. + +"I will see you again ere long." + +Mrs. Scarlet locked the door after the retreating form of the tall +Professor, and then, going to the little table, she sat down, and +resting her thin cheeks between her hands, she cried: + +"It is coming, it is coming! At last I am to avenge the insults heaped +upon me and mine by that scoundrel, who sends men to prison for money, +for pay doled out to him by the minions of the law. Dan'l, if you can +look down on your old widow to-night, from your home among the stars, +you will see her with tears of joy in her old eyes at thought of how +she will avenge herself on your enemies. When once that girl comes +into my hands, I will execute vengeance to suit myself, without regard +to Professor Ruggles, or any other man." + +So it would seem that even the Professor did not fully comprehend the +depth of Mrs. Scarlet's vindictiveness toward Dyke Darrel. + +It was Professor Darlington Ruggles who penned the letter to Nell +Darrel that sent the unsuspecting girl to Chicago to meet her brother. + +She was not a little surprised at not finding Dyke at the depot to +meet her, and consequently felt a thrill of alarm at seeing so many +strange faces. + +Why had he not come? + +While standing meditating on what course to pursue, a gentleman in +rather seedy garments, yet withal not bad looking, stepped up and +touched the girl's arm. + +"Is this Miss Darrel?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the girl, promptly, at the same time regarding +the tall, sunset-haired gentleman, who bowed and lifted his tall hat, +with no little curiosity. + +"I am Oscar Sims, a friend to the great detective, and ever ready to +serve his handsome sister." + +"But, sir, I do not think that it will be at all necessary. I expect +my brother at any minute, now," returned Nell, with a cool hauteur, +meant to be freezing. + +Nell had heard of the villainous sharks of the great city, who lie in +wait for unsuspecting maidens, and she did not mean to be taken in by +one of them. Mr. Sims, however, seemed to be a kind gentleman, and +when he looked hurt at her remark she hastened to apologize for +seeming rudeness. + +"It is not at all necessary," said Mr. Sims, with a bland smile. "Mr. +Darrel requested me to visit the depot, and look after a young lady +whom he expected on the evening train from Woodburg. I hope you will +not distrust one who has the best interests of the great detective at +heart." + +Again the red-haired gentleman bowed, and looked smilingly into the +face of the young girl. + +For the time, Nell was thrown off her guard. + +"I--I expected to meet my brother," she articulated. "He said nothing +about you--a stranger--meeting me at the depot." + +"No; and good reason why. He did not know when he wrote that it would +be impossible for him to get to the depot. A slight accident----" + +"Accident! Dyke injured? Then let me go to him at once," cried the +impulsive girl, before the man could complete his sentence. + +"It is not so very bad," said Mr. Sims, as he led the way to the walk +without, and placed his fair charge on the cushions of a hack. Giving +low instructions to the driver, he vaulted to the side of Nell Darrel, +and the hack rattled away. + +Nell sat flushed and silent for some minutes, her heart throbbing +painfully. + +"Tell me about it," she finally said to her companion. "How did it +happen?" + +"I can't give you the particulars, since they were not given to me," +answered he. "I only know that Dyke met with a fall on the stone +pavement, and Dr. Boneset says that his leg is broken. He is in +considerable pain, but cheerful withal, and will be mighty glad to see +Nell, as he calls you." + +Again the man smiled in the face of the girl at his side, and up to +this time no suspicion of the truth flashed upon her brain. + +Although the hack moved rapidly, it seemed to the anxious girl a long +time in reaching its destination. + +"Mr. Darrel is at my house," said the gentleman, "and I live at least +two miles from the depot." + +This was said to silence the growing uneasiness manifested by Miss +Darrel. + +When at length the hack came to a halt, Mr. Sims quickly alighted and +lifted Nell Darrel to the curb; then the hack sped swiftly into the +night. + +Nell gazed about her with a shudder. + +The low, dingy buildings and bad smell pervading the place startled +her. + +"It cannot be that this is the place," she cried, standing firm, as he +attempted to lead her toward a door, over which glimmered a faint +light. + +"Oh, yes it is." + +"But I will not go in there." + +"We'll see about that," he growled, suddenly lifting her in his arms +and striding forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +BEATEN BACK. + + +The moment Nell Darrel felt herself lifted from her feet she uttered a +wild cry, which was smothered in its inception by the hand of her +captor. + +"Quiet, child; nobody's going to hurt you if you behave yourself." + +Nell was young and vigorous, and she made a desperate struggle for +liberty. It was with the utmost difficulty that the man made his way +to the room occupied by Mrs. Scarlet. + +"Bring the chloroform," said the villain. "We can't do anything with +the girl without it." + +"I'll fix her!" answered the woman, in a voice that sent a shudder to +the heart of poor Nell. + +Then a subtle fume filled the girl's nostrils, and soon her senses +faded out upon a sea of nothingness--her troubles were over for the +time. + +Then the man, who was none other than Professor Ruggles, bore his +insensible burden after the steps of Mrs. Scarlet, to a room in a +gloomy basement beneath the building. + +As we have before remarked, it was in a disreputable part of the city, +and it was not likely that the friends of the fair Nell would look in +such a quarter for her. + +"Now, then," said Professor Ruggles, when the twain were once more in +the room above, "I shall hold you responsible for the girl's safe +keeping, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"I'm ready to do my part," answered the woman. "How long will you keep +her here?" + +"As long as suits my purpose. I am not sure. I may conclude to wait +until Dyke Darrel is put off the trail before I take the girl to +Gotham; that city will be my ultimate destination. I must leave you +now, my dear, but I shall call to-morrow and see how my girl is +getting on." + +He turned then as if about to depart. + +"See here Professor!" + +"Eh?" + +He faced about once more. + +"Haven't you forgotten something?" + +"I think not." + +"The girl must eat!" + +"Certainly." + +"And do you imagine _I_ am going to pay the bill?" demanded the woman, +tartly. + +"Well, I had forgotten that a little of the root of evil was necessary +in your case." + +A smile, deepening into a disagreeable laugh, followed, as Professor +Ruggles laid a greenback in the hand of his tool. + +A moment later he was gone. + +As the door closed on his retreating form, the countenance of Madge +Scarlet underwent a change. The wrinkled face flushed with wrath, and +the skinny hands were raised on high. + +"Professor Ruggles, you may have successfully duped the girl, but you +cannot make one of me. I can read you like a book, and it maybe that I +shall conclude not to permit you to have your way in this matter. +Through this girl I shall be able to wring the heart of the man I +hate, and I mean to do it. Ah! Dyke Darrel, venomous scoundrel! The +hour of my revenge draws nigh! I shall willingly cast my soul into +Hades for this one drop of satisfaction." + +There was an awful glitter in the woman's eyes at the last, and her +fierce emotions caused her frame to tremble visibly. + +In the meantime, how fared it with poor Nell Darrel, who had gone thus +blindly to her doom? She did not awake from the stupor caused by the +chloroform, until another day had dawned upon the world, although but +little light was permitted to find its way into this underground +apartment, whose stone walls were damp with ooze, and from whence no +voice could penetrate to the busy world above. + +A faint light entered the place from between iron bars that spanned a +narrow window, far above the head of little Nell Darrel. + +The only furniture in this cellar was a straw cot, on which Nell had +been laid, and a low stool. The girl felt terribly sick and weak when +she came to realize her condition. + +She could understand now the truth, when too late, that she had been +enticed from home by a villain, and naturally enough her thoughts +reverted to Harper Elliston. + +Yet, why should she think of that man? Surely he was not wicked enough +to stoop to anything of this kind. + +Nell was not to be left long in suspense, however. The door to her +prison creaked on its hinges, and a man entered and stood confronting +her in the gray light. + +It was Harper Elliston. + +There was a smile on his sinister countenance, and he stroked his +beard with the coolest insolence imaginable. + +"How do you find yourself this morning, my dear?" questioned Elliston +in a low voice. + +"This is your work, villain!" + +"Hush; don't speak in such a harsh tone, Nell," answered Mr. Elliston, +with a deprecatory wave of the hand. "I cannot permit you to impugn my +motive, Miss Darrel. I claim that all is fair in love and war. You +know from repeated assurances on my part that I love you; once I +wished to make you my wife. Blame me not if I have changed my mind on +that score; it is you who have driven me to it. Nevertheless, I am +constrained to deal justly and kindly with you, my girl, and again +offer to share my New York palace with you. Could anything be more +generous?" + +The infamy of his proposition roused all the fire in the nature of +Nell Darrel. + +"Harper Elliston, how dare you insult me in this way? Do you imagine +that I would for one moment countenance anything so base? You have +missed your mark if you imagine you can frighten me into consenting to +my own ruin." + +"It may be accomplished without your consent." + +Such a look as swept his face startled the girl. The hideous nature +of the man was now revealed in all its naked deformity. She shrank +from him as she would have shrunk from a venomous serpent. + +He continued to smile and stroke his glossy beard. + +"You see how it is, my dear," he proceeded. "The wisest thing you can +do is to submit to the inevitable." + +He advanced as lie spoke. + +She recoiled with a shudder of wild alarm. + +"Back, scoundrel! Do not touch me!" she cried, warningly, an +indignant, perhaps dangerous, fire blazing in her eye. + +Again the demon laughed. + +"You seem to take my love-making hard, Miss Darrel." + +"Not another step," warned Nell. + +"Ho! ho! ho! Would you try to frighten me? You can't do that, I've +tamed more than one such as you. Come, be sensible, and let me have +one kiss at least." + +Again he advanced. + +CLICK! + +Harper Elliston uttered a low yet startled cry and shrank back in +alarm. + +A cocked derringer gleamed in the hand of Nell Darrel, and the open +muzzle was pointed at his breast. + +This was as disagreeable as it was unexpected. + +A low-muttered oath fell from the lips of the baffled villain. + +"Girl, have a care, that weapon may go off," he cried, in a voice +husky with disappointment and rage. + +"It WILL go off if you do not depart at once," she answered, with all +the sternness she was able to muster. + +"Hand that pistol to me." + +"Never! Its contents you will get if you dare advance another step." + +Harper Elliston realized that he was baffled for the present. He had +never suspected the presence of a weapon on the person of Nell Darrel, +else he would have disarmed her at the outset. + +After a moment of hesitancy the villain turned and strode from the +place. When Nell attempted to follow she was confronted by a solid oak +door that Elliston had quickly closed and locked behind him. + +With a low moan Nell retreated and sank weak and trembling on the +miserable cot, and for the next few minutes gave free rein to her +alarm in tears. + +In the meantime Elliston hurried above, and confronted Madge Scarlet +with a terrible frown on his brow. + +"You and that red-headed Professor have played a smart trick on me, +old woman, a mighty smart trick; but let me tell you it won't go down +for a cent. I don't like it much, neither." + +"Eh? I don't understand," said Mrs. Scarlet. + +"I'll make you understand," and Elliston advanced angrily upon the +woman, and raised his hand. + +"Strike if you dare!" + +She looked ugly at that moment. + +"You're just capable of strikin' a woman," sneered Madge Scarlet. +"I've seen such critters before. God never meant them for men, +however." + +Mr. Elliston held his hand. He saw that he had come near making a +mistake. + +"Forgive me, Mrs. Scarlet," he said in a subdued voice. "I was beside +myself, but I had reason to be. Do you know that Nell Darrel is +armed?" + +"No." + +"She IS, nevertheless, with a pistol. She's a perfect tigress, and +would as soon shoot me as not. I shall leave it for you to get the +weapon from her." + +"I can do it easy enough." + +"I hope so. To-night I will have more definite plans. I may conclude +to take the girl away then." + +Mr. Elliston passed from the room. He had been gone but a few minutes +when another person entered--Nick Brower, the tool and friend of Mrs. +Scarlet and the Professor. + +"Well, what's the news, Nick. My nephew is still in durance vile?" + +"Yes," answered the low ruffian, "and what's more, Dyke Darrel, the +detective, is in Chicago!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE DETECTIVE FOOLED. + + +Two men met unexpectedly in one of the hotel corridors of the great +city; two hands went out, and + +"How are you, Harry?" + +"How are you, Dyke, old boy?" + +"When did you leave St. Louis?" + +This from the detective. + +"Not long since. I am confident that our game is in this vicinity. I +meant to come down to Woodburg soon, and consult with you. I sent a +telegram, but it brought no answer from you." + +"I wasn't at home. It was placed in my hands yesterday." + +"And that is why you are here?" + +"Not wholly." + +There was a gloomy look on the face of the detective, not natural to +it, and young Bernard knew that something had gone decidedly wrong +with his detective friend. + +"It is about Nell," said Dyke Darrel, when questioned. "She came to +the city last evening, in answer to a letter purporting to come from +me. The letter was a decoy from some villain, and I fear that Nell has +met with a terrible fate." + +A groan came at the last. + +Harry Bernard's face blanched, and he, too, seemed excited and deeply +moved. The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel noticed the young man's emotion, +and he felt a suspicion growing stronger each moment. + +"Nell in the city--decoyed!" exclaimed Harry at length. "Great heaven! +Dyke, this is awful!" "It is." + +Then the detective laid his hand on the young man's shoulder, and +piercing him with a stern look, said in an awful voice: + +"Harry Bernard, on your honor as a man, what do you know of this +enticing of Nell to the city?" + +"What do I know?" + +"Yes; what do you know?" + +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, not to be mistaken. + +"I know only what you have just told me, Dyke." + +"This is the truth?" + +"Good heaven! Dyke Darrel, do you imagine that _I_ had aught to do +with enticing your sister to this wicked city? My soul! You do not +understand the feeling that animates my heart for Nell Darrel. I hope +you will not insult me again with a suspicion so haggard and awful." + +The hurt look resting on the face of the young amateur detective was +sufficient to convince Dyke Darrel that Harry Bernard spoke the truth, +and this knowledge only increased his uneasiness. + +"I am fearful some terrible ill has befallen Nell," groaned Dyke. + +"My friend," said Harry, "we must let all other matters rest until we +find the girl. I have a suspicion that may lead to something definite. +Let me tell you now, that during the past year you have warmed a +serpent in your bosom in the person of Harper Elliston. I have never, +until now, dared make this assertion in your presence, knowing as I +did the great respect you had for the oily-tongued fellow. The time +for plain speaking has come, however." + +"I shall take no offense." + +"No! I am glad to hear you say that. Come to my room, Dyke, and I will +tell you something that may open your eyes a little." + +The detective complied, and when they were seated Harry poured out his +confidence. + +"I am glad you have been thus frank with me, Harry," said the +detective when his friend had finished. "I have heard enough of late +to convince me that Elliston is a wolf in sheep's clothing!" + +"And that is one point gained." + +"It is." + +"And I believe that it was Elliston who penned the decoy letter." + +"I am more than half convinced that such is the case," admitted Dyke +Darrel. + +"Have you investigated?" + +"Thoroughly, since I came into town. I learned that Nell got off at +the depot, and that she met a red-haired man, and entered a hack with +him. After that all is blank." + +"That confirms my suspicions, Dyke." "What is that?" + +"This man with the florid looks meeting Nell, and going away from the +depot in her company, Professor Ruggles, is a friend of Elliston's." + +"Indeed!" + +"It is true. I believe before another day passes, the place of the +girl's seclusion can be found. Down on Clark street is Mother +Scarlet's place, a played-out old hag, and she has been hand and glove +with this red-haired man for some time." + +"Mother Scarlet!" exclaimed the detective. "I have met her; she is the +aunt of the Martin Skidway who is now serving out the remainder of his +term for counterfeiting." + +"The same, I suppose. I move that we visit her den, and see what we +can find." + +"Agreed. Let us go at once." + +Dyke Darrel came to his feet. + +"One moment, Dyke." + +"Well." + +"You are too well known by the crooks of this city to move about +without disguise." + +"I will fix that. I will meet you again in an hour." + +And then Dyke Darrel hurried away. + +It was almost dark when two men, one old and gray, with a hump on his +shoulder, called at a dingy old brick on Clark street and rapped on a +narrow door that opened into an alley. + +No answer was vouchsafed. + +Then the old man turned the knob, but the door refused to yield. + +"What's wanted, you fellers?" + +The voice came from behind the two men. Turning, they saw a stout, +ill-looking fellow, with unkempt hair and beard, peering in at them +from the street. + +"Ain't this the house where Mrs. Scarlet stops," questioned the +elderly man. + +"Mebbe 'tis." + +"Where's the woman now?" + +"Bless your soul, old man, I don't know. Better call agin; she's allus +in evenings," suggested the man at the edge of the street. + +"Mebbe we had," grunted the old man at the door. Then he and his +companion moved out of the alley. They went but a little way when they +came to a full stop, and entered into a low confab. + +A pair of keen eyes was watching them during the time, however, and a +little later the man who had addressed the two strangers walked away. +He passed to the rear of the block, and made his way by a back stairs +to a room on the first floor. Here he found the one he was seeking-- +Mrs. Scarlet--who was engaged in discussing a supper of bread and +beer. + +She was alone. + +"Eh? so you're here again, Nick? Did he send ye?" + +"The Professor?" + +"Who else should I mean?" + +"Wall, he didn't, then. I seed a couple of blokes in the alley jist +now, and they 'quired for you." + +"Why didn't you send 'em up?" and the woman laughed in a way that +revealed her ragged teeth and unwholesome gums. + +"They'll be back soon 'nough," answered the man. "I've an idee they +mean mischief. Better you go below and see 'em when they do come." + +"All right." + +About an hour after darkness had settled, while Madge Scarlet sat in +the lower room, the one in which we have so many times met her, the +door was unceremoniously opened, and a man crossed the threshold. + +An old man he was, with bent form and white hair, a hump disfiguring +his shoulder, his trembling right hand resting on the top of a cane. + +"Good evening, mistress." + +The old man, who had closed the door sharply to behind him, sank to a +rickety chair as he uttered the greeting. + +"I don't know you," retorted Madge Scarlet sharply. "Haven't you got +into the wrong house?" + +"Well, I dunno," whined the man in a sharp falsetto voice. "I reckon +if you're Mistress Scarlet, you're the one I'm to see." + +"I'm not ashamed to own to the name, old man. Let's have your business +at once." + +"I'm pretty much broke up since I came out of the bastile," said the +old man. "'Taint jest the place for a gentleman, I can tell you that. +It's mighty down-settin' on one's pride, which I had a heap of afore I +was sent to abide there." + +"Who are you and what are you driving at?" + +Mrs. Scarlet asked the question with a puzzled stare. She was +possessed of a very suspicious nature, and she was not ready to accept +a person on outward appearance alone. + +"I'm William Sugg, from Missoury," the old man answered promptly. "I +came all the way to Shecargo to see the aunt of a friend. Mebbe you'll +understand when I tell you, that Martin Skidway was one of the best +friends an old man like me had in the bastile." + +The name of her nephew opened the way to Madge Scarlet's heart at +once. + +She questioned Mr. Sugg about the young man, and he answered her with +the assurance that they had been inmates of the same prison, and that +Martin was losing flesh rapidly from melancholy. + +"It's the doings of that devil, Dyke Darrel," cried Mrs. Scarlet, +losing her temper at thought of her troubles. + +"I've kind o' thought, bein' as I was in Shecargy, I'd look up a +boardin' place and stay a spell. I've heerd that you have rooms to +rent?" + +"I have, to the right ones." + +"Will you show me some?" + +"Certainly." + +Mrs. Scarlet rose and lifted a lamp from the table. + +"Come this way." + +As the woman led the way through a back door, into another apartment, +a pair of strong hands suddenly seized and held her fast, while a +voice hissed in her ear: + +"Not a sound or you die!" + +It was a startling situation. + +"I am here for a purpose," said the old man, a sudden change in his +voice. "I want you to lead me to the room in which Nell Darrel is +confined." + +The man's hands fell from the woman's shoulders, and when she turned +about, she found that he had her covered with a revolver. + +His voice sounded familiar. + +"You're the detective, Dyke Darrel?" + +"It matters not. Show me the way to the room where you have Nell +Darrel imprisoned," uttered the man in a stern voice. + +The menacing revolver decided the woman. The old building had been +arranged for emergencies of this kind, as the sequel will show. A +strange glitter came to the eyes of Mrs. Scarlet as she said: + +"Who told you that Nell Darrel was in this house?" + +"It matters not. Lead the way at once, or it will be the worse for +you." + +"You dare not harm me." + +"I'll show you, if you attempt to play me false. A dozen policemen +have their eyes on this building at this moment." + +"Come on." + +The woman turned and walked forward. She passed into a hall, and +halting at a side door, unlocked it and pushed it open. + +"In there." + +"Go on. You shall keep me company." + +Mrs. Scarlet advanced, closely followed by the detective. + +The moment he crossed the threshold the door closed behind him, and +the lamp was extinguished, leaving everything in total darkness. Then +the detective felt the floor give way, and he was precipitated to his +doom, the last sound reaching his ears being a mocking laugh from Aunt +Scarlet. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +OVERMATCHED BY A GIRL. + + +A low chuckle fell from the lips of Madge Scarlet. + +"I reckon you've met your match this time, Dyke Darrel. I will now +enjoy the sweetest revenge; it will be like honey to my blistered +tongue. You've done your last shadowing of your betters. Dan'l, +husband, you shall be avenged before to-morrow's sun rises over +Chicago." + +Lighting her lamp, the woman fiend bent down and peered through a +square opening in the floor to the depths below. It was too far down +for the rays of light to penetrate, but she could well imagine that a +mangled form lay directly below on the stone floor. + +A faint groan reached her ears. + +"Ha! he's coming to his senses. I must see that he don't outwit Aunt +Madge yet." + +Then replacing the trap, the woman left the place, and a little later +descended a narrow stairs and entered the room beneath the trap. + +There on the stone floor lay the pretended old man, gasping in pain, +yet not able to help himself. + +Quickly Madge Scarlet bent over the prostrate and helpless victim of +her cunning, and began binding his limbs with a stout cord that she +had brought with her for the purpose. + +In a little time the work was completed, and Mrs. Scarlet stood up +with her arms akimbo viewing her work, a satisfied smile playing about +the toothless lips. + +"I'll peel you, so't there'll be no deception hereafter," muttered the +she fiend; and suiting actions to words, she tore the disguise from +the detective's head and face and flung it aside. "Thought to fool the +old woman, eh?" + +A curdling laugh followed. + +After gloating over the detective for some time, Madge Scarlet picked +up her lamp and turned away, a feeling of intense satisfaction in her +heart at the knowledge that she had her enemies so completely at her +mercy. It was satisfaction for one day at least. + +The woman passed through two basement rooms, unlocking and locking +doors, until she at length stood in the presence of Nell Darrel. "I +ain't here with supper, madam," sneered the woman, as Nell started up +and approached her. "You're not to have a mouthful to eat jest at +present; that's the compliments your husband sends." + +But Nell did not seem to appreciate the gross wit of her keeper. + +"I am not hungry, woman, but I appeal to you to permit me to go from +this place. I shall die here in a short time." + +"Die then! Nothing would please me better than to witness your last +struggles," and Mrs. Scarlet emitted a laugh that was horrible to +hear. + +Nell had much of the determined spirit of her daring brother in her +composition. She was not yet ready to give up all hope and fall +crushed in despair. Her right hand grasped the butt of the little +derringer she had been thoughtful enough to provide herself with +before leaving home. + +"Will nothing move you, woman?" + +"Nothing," sneered Mrs. Scarlet. "Your brother sent my husband to a +dungeon, and to his death, and for that and other wicked work of his, +I mean to be avenged. I shall cause him to suffer through his sister. +You imagine the handsome Elliston a monster, I reckon, but _I_ will +show you that he is but a child compared to Madge Scarlet." + +"Stop; I do not care to listen to you. Please hand over the keys to +this den of demons." + +A cocked pistol was brought forward to emphasize the fair prisoner's +demand. + +A sneering laugh answered the girl's demand. Madge Scarlet did not +seem to look upon the weapon as a dangerous one. + +"Quick! I have no time to parley. Fling down the keys--toss them to +the door yonder, then take your place in yonder corner. Do you hear +me?" + +So stern was the girl's voice, so full of intense meaning, as to amaze +the infamous woman who confronted her. + +"This is all a joke----." + +"It will prove a dear joke to you if you don't obey. Stop. One step +toward me and I fire! I am in deadly earnest." + +And the sneering Madge Scarlet realized that she was. It was a most +humiliating position. Once the woman thought of making a quick spring, +but a pressure of the trigger was all that was necessary to send a +bullet on an errand of death. + +With reluctance the woman drew a bundle of keys from her pocket and +flung them to the floor behind her, and close to the door that stood +ajar. + +"Don't be so spiteful. Now, then, go to that corner. Move quickly!" + +The girl still threatened her keeper with the cocked derringer, and +she crossed the floor with a growl that was not pleasant to hear. + +"There, that is about right." + +Then Nell Darrel backed to the door, snatched up the bunch of keys and +lamp, passed into the next room, securing the door just as the hag +from within came against it with tremendous force, at the same time +uttering a series of the most ear-splitting yells. + +The door failed to yield, and Nell now hastened to improve her +opportunity for escape that the carelessness of Mrs. Scarlet had given +her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A BOUT IN THE CELLAR. + + +It was a stout tin lamp that the fleeing girl held in her hand, and +the blaze filled the subterranean apartment but dimly. + +She found herself in a square room, larger than the one she had just +left. Advancing to a door she tried it, to find it locked. This was +made to yield, however, by one of the bunch of keys, and she proceeded +to another door that stood ajar. + +"Help!" + +It was a smothered cry that reached the girl's ears, and quite +startled her. + +The sound came from the next apartment. For a minute Nell Darrel +hesitated. She reasoned that she had nothing to fear from the hag who +kept the place, and one who was in need of help certainly could not be +a friend to Mrs. Scarlet, or those who profited by the old woman's +villainy. + +"Help!" + +Again came that cry, and Nell moved forward, pushed open the door and +flashed her light over the scene--a room much smaller than the one she +had just quitted. + +A dark object writhing on the floor startled her vision. + +"Old woman, do you mean to murder me here?" + +The man seemed to imagine that the new comer was the hag who kept the +place. With trembling step Nell Darrel advanced and flashed her light +into the face of a bound and helpless prisoner. + +"Mercy! It is Dyke!" + +Stunned at the discovery, Nell was completely overcome for the time, +and stood with arms extended like one petrified. + +"Nell, is it you?" cried the yet stunned detective. "Where is the old +hag who rules this den of iniquity?" + +"Back yonder, safely locked in a room," said Nell, when she could find +voice. + +"And you did it?" + +"Yes." + +"Cut these cords, brave girl, and we will soon be out of this." + +Placing her lamp on a box near, Nell Darrel proceeded to comply with +the request of her brother. She had with her a small open knife, and +this came into play neatly enough. + +Soon the detective's limbs were free. He found when he attempted to +rise, that he was unable to do so. + +"I received a bad fall," he said, with a groan. "Lend me a hand, Nell, +and we will get out of this before friends of that woman come to her +rescue." + +Nell assisted her brother to his feet. He groaned with pain, for it +seemed to him as though every bone in his body was broken. + +"I was a fool to run into such a trap," he muttered. + +"Can you walk, brother?" + +"I can make a desperate try at any rate," uttered the detective, +grimly. Then, assisted by Nell's arm, he hobbled across the floor +toward a narrow stairs that promised them passage to rooms above. + +The beard and wig were left in the cellar. + +The sound of steps on the floor overhead brought brother and sister to +a sudden halt. + +"Hark!" + +"Some one is coming," uttered Nell. + +"It seems so." + +Then the sound of an opening door startled them. + +"It's strange that Madge has left everything in such a careless way," +said a masculine voice. "Ho! Madge, where are you?" + +"Hold up thar," uttered another voice. "I reckin the old gal know'd +what she was doin'. Thar's some skulduggery goin' on down here, or my +name ain't Nick Brower. I seed an old bloke come in, and 'twixt me an +you, Professor, it was the man you'n me would give more to see out of +the world than in it." + +"You mean Dyke Darrel, the detective?" + +"I couldn't mean anybody else." + +"Come on, then, let's investigate." + +"Extinguish your light, Nell," cried Dyke Darrel, in a thrilling +whisper. + +The girl did so at once, but the men above flashed a light into the +basement room, and soon steps were heard descending the stairs. Dyke +felt over his person to discover that Mother Scarlet had been prudent +enough to deprive him of arms. + +Nell, white as death, yet with a determined look in her eyes, clinched +her derringer firmly, and with close-shut teeth waited the denouement. + +"If we could only get under the stairs," said the detective, in a low +voice. + +They made a move to carry out his suggestion, but it was too late. + +"Ha!" + +This exclamation fell from the lips of the foremost man of three who +were descending the narrow stairs. The outcry was caused at seeing two +forms gliding across the stone floor toward the stairs. + +"Quick! Hold up there, or we fire!" cried a sharp voice. Then the +three men rapidly descended to the floor and confronted Nell and the +detective. Three revolvers were leveled, and death literally stared +brother and sister in the face. + +"Caught, by the powers," sneered lips above a massive red beard, and +Professor Darlington Ruggles' eyes glittered with intense satisfaction +as they peered into the face of the famous railroad detective. + +Had Dyke Darrel been in the full vigor of his manly strength, and Nell +not by to unnerve him, his chances for escape would have been tenfold +greater. + +As it was, a terrible weakness oppressed him. His fall into the +basement had jarred him terribly, and it was with difficulty that he +could stand alone. The walls seemed to whirl about in a mad waltz, and +the faces of the three villains seemed one mass of grinning demons. + +"Halt!" + +Nell Darrel, white as death, yet with the fires of a resolute purpose +blazing in her eyes, thrust forward her pistol. + +"It's pretty Nell on a lark!" exclaimed Professor Ruggles. "It will be +better for you not to make any resistance, for the moment you attempt +it, that moment death will come to both of you. Be wise in time." + +The Professor advanced a step. + +"Stop there," sternly ordered the girl. + +"Aye! stop there," repeated Dyke, in a voice husky from very weakness. +"We will not be taken alive. Do you know on what dangerous grounds you +are treading? This block is surrounded by members of the force, and +any harm offered to Nell or myself speedily avenged." + +A jeering laugh answered the detective. + +"It is wrong to tell such a whopper, Mr. Darrel, especially when one +is on the verge of eternity," said Ruggles, showing his teeth. + +The situation was interesting. + +"Will you permit us to depart from here?" questioned the detective, +suddenly. + +This speech brought a laugh to the lips of Darlington Ruggles. + +"You do not seem to know me!" he said. + +"I know that you pretend to be a professor of some sort, but I believe +that you are in disguise. I think, if you would cast aside that red +hirsute covering, we should see----" + +"Zounds! Go for him, boys," cried Professor Ruggles in a loud voice, +completely drowning the faint accents of Dyke Darrel. + +The two men who kept the Professor company, made a quick move to seize +the twain in front of them. On the instant came a flash and sharp +report. + +One of the villains staggered and sank with a groan against the +stairs. + +"I--I'm shot!" he gasped. + +"The she jade!" + +It was Nick Brower who uttered the hissing cry of rage, and the next +instant the villain's revolver flashed. + +"My God! You have killed Nell!" + +It was a cry expressive of the deepest agony, as the weak and reeling +detective caught the form of his sister in his arms, as she fell +backward, with the blood streaming down her face. + +Poor Nell! + +She hung a dead weight in the arms of Dyke Darrel--murdered by the +hand of a brutal assassin. + +No wonder the bruised and almost helpless man-hunter groaned with +inward anguish at the sight. + +He fell no easy prey into the hands of his enemies, however. + +Staggering backward, and easing his bleeding relative to the ground, +he turned with a mad cry and dashed at the throat of Professor +Darlington Ruggles. + +Both men staggered across the floor against the stairs. + +"I will strangle you for this," hissed the enraged detective. + +"Help!" gasped Ruggles. + +Brower came to his assistance with a vengeance, and rained terrific +blows upon the head of Dyke Darrel with the butt of his revolver. Soon +the mad grip relaxed from the throat of Ruggles, and Dyke Darrel sank +a bleeding and insensible mass to the floor. + +Panting and gasping, Professor Ruggles leaned against the stairs and +gazed about him in the gloom. + +The lamp had been overturned in the struggle, and at the last, +darkness reigned supreme. + +"I've fixed him, Professor," growled Nick Brower, in a savage +undertone. + +"I hope so, the devil. He went for me with the venom of a tiger. Have +you a match?" + +"Yes." + +"Let's have a light. I'm afraid you have done a miserable job, Nick." + +Inside of five minutes the overturned lamp was recovered and burning +once more. Its rays revealed a ghastly scene. Two forms lay on the +floor, Dyke Darrel and Nell, both apparently dead. + +Nick's companion, who had screamed so lustily at the fire from Nell +Darrel's derringer, still leaned against the stairs seeming little the +worse for wear. + +"Mike, where are you hit?" + +"Don't know. I FELT the bullet goin' through my brains." + +A brief examination showed that the man had only been grazed by the +shot from the girl's pistol. When this discovery was made Professor +Ruggles became very angry. + +"You made more fuss than a man shot through the neck ought to. The +girl has been killed in consequence. Hades! this has been a bad +evening's work. I would rather have lost a thousand dollars than had +Nell Darrel slain." + +"She wan't wuth no sich money," growled Brower. + +"How do you know what she was worth, you miserable brute?" snarled the +Professor, in an angry voice. "I take it, that I know more about it +than you do." + +"See here, boss, aren't you goin' on a bin run for nothin'? Whar'd you +be now if I hadn't gin Dyke Darrel his quietus? Mebbe you'd better +thank instead of curse your friend." + +There was a deal of homely sense in the words of burly Nick Brower, +and the prince of villains realized it. + +"I wanted the girl unharmed, Nick. If she's dead I don't suppose it +can be helped, however; she brought her fate upon herself." + +"That she did, Prof." + +Professor Ruggles then proceeded to make an examination of the wound +in Nell Darrel's head. He was gratified to discover that the bullet +had merely glanced across the girl's skull without making a +necessarily dangerous wound. + +"I will take the girl out of this while you dispose of the detective," +said Ruggles. "Be sure and fix him so that he will give no trouble in +the future." + +"Trust me fur thet," answered the villain Brower. + +Then Professor Ruggles passed up the stairs with Nell Darrel in his +arms, just as four men halted at the side door in the alley. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE EMPTY SEAT. + + +A hand shook the door as Professor Ruggles entered the room. He at +once suspected something wrong, but cared only for his own safety, and +so did not attempt to warn the inmates of Mrs. Scarlet's den of their +danger. + +He hurried to the rear of the block, down an upper hall, and as he was +passing into an alley down the back stairs, the four men had burst in +the side door and rushed into Madge Scarlet's dingy sitting-room. + +"The beaks are out in force, it seems," muttered Ruggles, as he halted +for a moment on the ground to rest from his exertion. "I hope Nick and +that fool pard of his will finish Dyke Darrel before the cops get onto +them. As for me, I shall turn my back on this accursed town the moment +I am assured that Nell is out of danger. I will be quite secure in New +York, I imagine." + +And the red-haired villain made his escape from that building and, +leaving his charge in an out-of-the-way alley, went forth to find a +conveyance to take the wounded girl to a more safe retreat. He +succeeded in finding a hack that suited his purpose, and with his +insensible companion he was driven to another part of the city, on the +West Side. Ruggles had more than one resort in the great Western +metropolis, and after he had placed Nell in a cozy room, with an old +negress to watch over her, he breathed easy once more. + +Nell Darrel was badly injured, and for several days she raved in +delirium. When she came to her senses she was weak and almost +helpless. During all this time the black tool of Darlington Ruggles +cared for her in a most kindly manner. + +The negress had been instructed to do all in her power for the girl, +who, the Professor assured her, was a near relative who was not wholly +sound in mind, and this fact, combined with an accident, had brought +on the trouble from which she was now suffering. + +"Poor little lily," murmured the negress, in a sympathetic tone, when +the girl was able to sit up and look about her. + +"Where am I?" demanded Nell. + +"Youse in good hands, chile," answered the black woman. "Your cousin +says he'll take you outen dis soon's you can trabbel." + +"My cousin?" + +Nell stared at the black, seemingly honest face in wonder. Of a sudden +the memory of the adventure in the basement on Clark street came to +the girl as a light from a clouded sky. She had indeed been under a +cloud for a long time, and had no means of judging of the passage of +time. + +What had happened during all this while? What fate had been her +brother's? A feeling of deepest anxiety filled the girl's breast. Ere +she could find voice for more words, however, the door opened and a +man entered the room. + +A low, alarmed cry fell from the lips of Nell Darrel. + +Before her stood Harper Elliston, smiling and plucking at his beard, +which was but a mere stubble now, he having shaved since she had met +him last. + +"Ah, Nell, you are looking bright; I trust that you feel better. You +have been very sick. How does your head feel?" + +For the first time the girl realized that there was a sore spot under +her hair at the side of her head. She touched it with her hand, and +seemed surprised. + +"You have forgotten, doubtless," he said. "You were rescued from a +band of villains nearly a fortnight since. It seems that one of them +must have fired at you, since there was a slight wound where you just +put your hand, that was doubtless made by a bullet." + +Nell Darrel was beginning to remember the scene in the cellar. + +"I was rescued, you say? Who were the rescuers?" + +"Myself among others. I think you may safely acknowledge that you owe +your life to me," said the New Yorker coolly. + +"And Dyke?" questioned Nell with intense eagerness. + +"Was saved also, but he is badly hurt, and will be laid up for a month +or more. He is in one of the city hospitals." + +"Oh, sir, I am thankful it is no worse. What have they done with the +villains, that sleek one with the red hair and beard?" + +"They are all in prison, and will be brought to court as soon as the +witnesses are in a condition to appear against them." + +"The witnesses?" + +"Dyke Darrel and yourself." + +"Can I go to Dyke?" + +"Hardly," he answered with a smile. "You could not walk, that is +certain, and I am sure to attempt to ride would prove a dangerous +experiment. I am too deeply interested in your welfare to permit the +attempt." + +"But I am quite strong, I assure you," returned Nell, rising to her +feet only to sink back again with a cry of piteous weakness. + +"You see, it would not do to attempt leaving your room at present," +said the villain, still smiling. Besides, there is no need of it. Your +brother is doing as well as could be expected, and he has the +assurance that you are out of danger, which has proved a great comfort +to him, I assure you. + +"Well, I suppose I ought to be thankful," sighed Nell, with tears in +her dark eyes. "I cannot understand it all just now. It seems strange +that I should be subject to such treatment. Do you know the man Sims?" + +"Sims?" + +"The one with the red beard and hair. He met me at the depot." + +"Exactly. I cannot say that I know the fellow, but I suspect he is a +scoundrel of the first water. Don't bother your head about these +things now, Nell. Try and get rested and strong, so that you can get +from here and back to your own home as soon as possible. I hope you do +not fear to trust me?" + +He eyed her keenly at the last. + +She was too weak to fully realize the enormity of this man's offense. +She knew nothing of his connection with, the ruffians who made of Mrs. +Scarlet's building a rendezvous; she only knew that he had been +indiscreet and insulting once, when in liquor, but of this he might +have repented long since. At any rate, he seemed to be doing her a +good turn now, and she could do no other way than trust him. + +"I am still puzzled about one thing," she said, seeming to forget the +question he had propounded. + +"What is that?" asked Elliston. + +"Why was I brought here?" + +"Simply because you were not able to be taken home." + +"But the hospital----" + +"Was no place for a lady. I realized that you needed the best of care, +and knowing Aunt Venus was a kind, motherly soul, an excellent nurse, +even though she had a black skin, I brought you here." + +"And here I've been--how long?" + +"About fourteen days." + +"So long?' + +"You are surprised?" + +"It doesn't seem a day." + +"I suppose not. You haven't been in your right mind any of the time. +Have you any word to send to Dyke?" + +"Are you going to him soon?" + +"Immediately. I call at the hospital every day to inquire after the +dear boy, and I haven't been there this morning." + +His voice was gentle, and there was a moist light in his dark eyes. It +was barely possible that she had wronged the New Yorker, and the +thought caused a pang. In the time to come she would confess her +obligations, but now she was not in a mood for it. + +"If I could write a line it would do him more good than aught else," +said Nell. + +"Can you control your hand?" + +"Oh, yes, easily." + +"Then you shall write the dear boy. As you say, it will be of immense +benefit to him." + +Mr. Elliston drew forth from an inner pocket a book. Opening it he +tore out a leaf and placed it, with pencil, in the lap of the invalid +girl. It was not without difficulty that she controlled her hand +sufficiently to write. + +Taking the folded note Elliston bade her good morning and passed from +the room. The moment he gained the street he tore the bit of paper to +fragments, a smile glinting over his face meantime. + +"So much for that," he muttered. "Nell is about in the right trim for +removal, and I must not delay another day. Simple little thing! She +believed every word that I told her regarding the outcome of that +racket on Clark street. What an opinion she would have of me if she +knew the exact truth. I must get me to Gotham immediately. My funds +are running low, and SHE must replenish them. I haven't seen Aunt +Scarlet since the racket. I hope she got her quietus. I believe I have +had quite enough of her disinterested assistance; quite enough of it." + +And yet the scheming gentleman was to receive more of the Clark street +hag's assistance in the future, and in a way that was not just exactly +pleasant, than he imagined. + + * * * * * + +Night hung its sable mantle over the earth. A silver moon rode in a +clear sky, and the lightning express rattled down through the night +with a hiss and screech that rent the silence with an uncanny sound. + +The train was speeding through the Empire State, and when morning +dawned, with no accident happening, it would come thundering into the +great city by the sea. + +Two persons occupying a seat in the car next the sleeper merit our +attention. One is a heavily-veiled lady, apparently sleeping, since +her head reclines against the back of the seat, and a low breathing is +heard, or might be but for the noise made by the train rattling over +the steel rails. + +Who is the woman? + +No need to ask when we note the fact that the man sitting there +possesses red hair and beard--the irrepressible Professor Darlington +Ruggles, of Chicago. He has been eminently successful thus far in his +plot for the safe abduction of Nell Darrel. Under the influence of a +powerful drug he conveyed her to the station, and set out on the +previous day for the East. + +His companion was an invalid sister, who was in a comatose state a +portion of the time as the result of her ill health. This was the +story told by the Professor to inquisitive people, and the truth did +not come to the surface. Travelers, who become accustomed to seeing +all sorts of people, are not often suspicious. + +The villain was more successful than he could have hoped. Within a few +hours he would be in New York, and then he felt that he could bid +defiance to pursuit. + +It was now past midnight. The man from Chicago felt a deep drowsiness +stealing over him. He wished to shake it off, and so, rising and +seeing only people in an unconscious state about him, he concluded to +go into the smoking-car and enjoy a cigar. He began to feel nervous, +and such a stimulant seemed absolutely necessary. + +The train drew into a station, paused less than a minute, and then +went swiftly on its way. + +Calmly the scheming villain sat and puffed at his cigar until it was +more than half consumed, then he tossed the stump through the open +window, and once more he passed into the other car. + +When he gained the seat he had lately occupied, he could not suppress +a cry of startled wonder. + +THE SEAT WAS EMPTY! + +He had left Nell Darrel there not more than twenty minutes since, +drugged into complete insensibility. She could not have gone from the +seat of her own volition. + +An indefinable thrill of fear stole over the stalwart frame of +Professor Darlington Ruggles. He glanced up and down the car; the girl +was not in sight. But one person was awake, an old man, who said: + +"Lookin' fur the young lady?" + +The Professor nodded. + +"She got off't last station." "Got off? How--" + +"She had help, of course," explained the old passenger, quickly. + +"Who helped her?" cried Ruggles, in a husky voice. + +"An old woman, who got on and off at the last station quick's wink." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +DYKE DARREL ON THE TRAIL. + + +The men who burst into Aunt Scarlet's room on the night that Professor +Ruggles departed from the block with Nell Darrel in his arms, were men +of determination and friends of the detective, who had gone into the +building in the disguise of an old man, for the purpose of +investigating. + +How the investigation came out the reader has been already informed. + +The report of pistols had warned Harry Bernard, the boy Paul Ender, +and two officers in their company, that something of an interesting +nature was going on in the basement of the Scarlet block. + +"Dyke is in difficulty, that is sure," cried Harry, in an excited +voice. "We must get inside at once." + +They tried the side door, to find it locked. It was through this door +that they had seen the bold detective disappear, and it was in the +same direction that the four men proposed to go in search of their +daring friend. + +The room was in darkness, but Paul soon had the rays of a dark lantern +flashing about the place. + +"Let us move with caution," said Harry, taking the lead, and entering +the hall through the doorway which Ruggles, in his hasty flight, had +left open. Soon voices greeted them from the basement, and a light +glimmered through a half-open door at the head of the stairs. + +"If we could only put him under down here," said a voice, which the +reader will recognize as that of Nick Brower, the villainous +accomplice of Professor Ruggles from the opening of our story. + +"Wal, I reckin we kin," said the villainous companion of Brower. As he +spoke, he went to the side of the fallen man-hunter, and placed the +point of a knife against his throat. + +"What now, pard? + +"Dead men tell no tales, Nick." + +"True. Send it home---" + +SPANG! + +The sharp report of a revolver wake the echoes once more. The knife +dropped from the nerveless grasp of the would-be assassin, and with a +howl of pain he began dancing an Irish jig on the stone floor of the +cellar. + +Nick Brower whirled instantly, snatched a revolver from his hip, to +find that four glittering bulldogs confronted him from the stairs. + +"Drop that weapon, or we will drop you!" thundered Harry Bernard in a +stern voice. + +"Trapped!" cried Brower, in a despairing voice. + +Then the four men moved down into the cellar and secured Brower and +his companion. + +"We have made a good haul," said one of the police officers who +accompanied Bernard and Paul, who recognized in Brower an old +offender. + +Harry Bernard bent quickly and anxiously over the prostrate detective. + +"My soul!" uttered the young man, "the villains have killed poor +Darrel, I do believe." + +But the young man's belief was unfounded, since some time later Dyke +Darrel came to his senses. He was in a bad condition, however, and +those who saw him predicted that the detective had followed his last +trail. A search of the building brought to light Madge Scarlet, who +was fuming angrily over her imprisonment. + +"How did this happen?" demanded Bernard, sternly, when he came to +question the hag. She was sullen, however, and refused to answer. + +"I imagine there is a way to bring your tongue into working order," +said Bernard, in a stern voice. + +"I keep a respectable house, sir; you can't harm me." + +"We'll see about that." + +"Did you find any one?" questioned the jezabel in an apparently +careless tone. + +"We have two of your friends in limbo," returned Harry. "You will find +it no holiday affair to keep a house for the purpose of murder and +robbery. Never mind, you need say nothing, for it will not better +matters in the least. Come;" and Harry Bernard led the old woman from +the cellar. + +A patrol wagon bore the prisoners to the lock-up, and Bernard had Dyke +Darrel taken to a private hospital, where he could have the best of +care. It was some days, however, before the badly battered detective +came to his senses sufficiently to converse on the subject of the +racket in the building on Clark street. + +"My soul! Harry, has nothing been discovered of poor Nell?--was she +killed?" questioned the wounded man in a voice wrung with anguish. + +"I don't think Nell was mortally hurt," returned Bernard in a +reassuring tone, although he hardly felt hopeful himself. "If she was, +why should the villains have taken her away, or the villain rather, +since, from your account, I judge that but one of them escaped, and he +the man with the red hair." + +"Yes, he seemed the chief scoundrel among them. I heard him called +Professor Ruggles." + +"He is about as much a professor as I am," answered Bernard. + +"HE is the man we want for that midnight crime on the express train. I +have evidence enough now, Dyke, to prove that this man is the guilty +principal, and I also believe that one of his accomplices is now in +prison." + +"Indeed!" + +And then the detective groaned in anguish of spirit and of body. It +was hard to lay here, helpless as a child, while the fate of Nell was +uncertain, and there was so much need for a keen detective to be +afloat. Harry realized how his friend suffered, and soothed him as +best he could. "Leave no stone unturned to find her, Harry," urged the +detective. "If you do find and save her, great shall be your reward. +If she is dead, then I will see about avenging the deed." + +"And in that you will not be alone," assured Harry Bernard, a moist +light glittering in his eye. Even Dyke Darrel did not suspect how +deeply his young friend was interested in the fate of Nell. + +The days dragged into weeks ere Dyke Darrel was able to be on his feet +again. He was not very strong when he once more took it upon himself +to hunt down the scoundrels who had wrecked his happy home. Even the +railroad crime was forgotten for the time, so intense was his interest +centered in the fate of his sister. If not dead, Dyke Darrel believed +she had met with a far worse fate, and it was this thought that nerved +him to think of doing desperate work should the cruel abductor ever +come before him. + +Madge Scarlet was dismissed after an examination, but Nick Brower and +his companion were held to await the action of a higher court. + +One morning the pallid man in brown suit who had haunted the various +depots of the city for several days made a discovery. On one of the +early morning trains a man and veiled female had taken passage East. + +Dyke Darrel trembled with intense excitement when the depot policeman +told him of this. + +"Only this morning, you say?" + +"It was on one of the earliest trains, I believe, this morning. + +"A New York train?" + +"I am not sure. I see so many people, you know. You might inquire at +the ticket office." + +Dyke Darrel did so. + +No ticket for New York had been sold that morning. Then the policeman +said that it was possible he might have been mistaken as to the time. +It might have been on the previous day he saw the man and his invalid +sister. + +"Do you know that they took the New York train?" questioned Dyke. + +"No; I'm not positive about that, either. You might telegraph ahead +and find if such a couple is on the train." + +This was a wise suggestion. + +Dyke acted upon it, but failed to derive any satisfaction. + +And there was good reason for this, since when leaving Chicago a dark +man, with smooth face and gray-tinged hair, accompanied Nell Darrel; +whereas, before reaching the borders of New York State, the place of +this man had been taken by a man with red beard and hair, blue +glasses, and a well-worn silk plug. + +This change disturbed identities completely. The change had been made +at a way station, without causing remark among the passengers, the +most of whom were not through for the great city. Once New York +whelmed them, the scheming villain and poor Nell would be lost forever +to the man-tracker of the West. + +There was a suspicion in the brain of Dyke Darrel that he scarcely +dared whisper to his own consciousness. It was that Harper Elliston +had a hand in the late villainy. The detective's eyes were open at +last, and he realized that his New York friend was not what he seemed. +It was this fact that induced Dyke Darrel to believe that the abductor +of Nell had turned his face toward the American metropolis. At once he +made search for Harry Bernard and Paul Ender. + +Neither of them was he able to find, and he had not seen them for two +days previous. + +It did not matter, however. + +Leaving word at the hotel that he had gone to New York, Dyke Darrel +once more hastened to the depot, arriving just in time to leap aboard +the express headed for the Atlantic seaboard. + +The train that had left four hours earlier was almost as fast as the +one taken by the detective, so that if no accident happened to the +earlier train, there could be little hope of running down his prey +before New York was reached. + +Nevertheless, Dyke Darrel preserved a hopeful heart, in spite of the +terrible anxiety that oppressed him. + +The woman who had but a few days before been released from prison was +destined to complicate matters and bring about startling and +unexpected meetings, as the future will reveal. + +When night fell Dyke Darrel found himself yet hundreds of miles from +the goal of his hopes and fears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A RACE FOR LIFE. + + +As may be supposed, Professor Ruggles was deeply stunned at the coup +de main that had deprived him of his fair charge. + +Who had robbed him? This was the question that at once suggested +itself to his mind, and he found it not difficult to frame an answer, +although, until this moment, he had supposed that Madge Scarlet was +still in prison. + +"It must be her," he muttered, as he gazed madly at the vacant seat. + +"I'm sure it was HER," said the old man who had first spoken. "A +queer, wrinkled old woman, too, she was." + +"Did she say anything?" + +"Not a word." + +Mr. Ruggles passed into the next car, hoping to find Nell and the +strange old woman there. + +He went the whole length of the swift-moving train, only to learn that +his fair captive had been spirited away completely. + +At first rage consumed the man's senses, and he scarcely realized the +dangers of his position. + +"I will not give up to such a sneak game," he muttered at length. +"Madge Scarlet has shadowed me for this very purpose, it seems. Can it +be possible that the friends of Nell Darrel have employed this hag to +rob me of my prize? I will not believe it, for it isn't in the nature +of Madge Scarlet to do a good action, not even for pay. No; it is to +gratify her own petty scheme of vengeance that she has stolen a march +on me; but she will not succeed. I will get on her track and wrest the +girl from her hands." + +A minute later Professor Ruggles stood before the conductor. + +"When does the next train pass going west?" + +"It passes Galien in an hour." + +"Galien? Do you stop there?" + +"Yes." + +"Soon?" + +"Within five minutes." + +When the train slowed in at the station, Professor Ruggles left the +car and entered the depot. Here he would have to wait nearly an hour +before the New York train west would pass. It was a tedious wait; but +he could do no better. With his hand satchel clutched tightly he paced +up and down like a ghost of the night. + +He was glad indeed when the train came at length thundering up to the +station, He had purchased a ticket for the station from which the +abductress had boarded the cars and stolen Nell. + +With feverish blood the scheming villain sat by the window and watched +the fleeting landscape by the light of the moon. The score of miles +that intervened between the station seemed like a hundred to the +anxious man who sat and glared at the trees and hills without. + +He was in extreme doubt as to his ability to cope with the cunning hag +who had ventured so many miles to thwart him, and indulge her own +morbid desire for revenge. + +At length the whistle sounded announcing the station. + +As the train bolted beside another train, bound in the opposite +direction, Ruggles glanced into the car not ten feet distant, to make +a startling discovery. + +He looked squarely into the face of Dyke Darrel, the railroad +detective! + +Turning his head, the Professor sat quiet. The other train was moving, +and Ruggles felt paralyzed at his discovery. Perhaps the detective had +not noticed him. He could not understand how the detective had escaped +death from the beating he had received in the basement of that +building of sin on Clark street. + +His own train was moving now, and if he would get off he must be quick +about it. + +Springing from his seat, he hastened down the aisle. + +At the open door he met Dyke Darrel face to face! The recognition was +mutual. + +The train was moving rapidly out of the station. Soon it would be +going at full speed. + +Professor Ruggles had two incentives for leaving the train now--one to +escape the detective, the other to find Nell and Madge Scarlet. + +At first he thought of dashing upon Dyke Darrel and risking all in a +swift rush. Second thought, induced by the gleam of a six-shooter in +the hand of his enemy, concluded the Professor to seek another course. +Turning, he dashed down the length of the car, with Darrel in hot +pursuit. + +"Halt, or I fire!" + +But the detective's cry had no effect. + +The half-sleeping passengers were roused by the wonderful movements of +the two men. + +"Madmen!" + +"What IS the trouble?" + +Such were the exclamations, as doors slammed, and the two men swept +into the next car. From coach to coach sped the pursued and the +pursuer. It was a flight for life, on the part of Professor Ruggles. + +His plug hat flew off in the chase, and a brakeman who confronted him +in the aisle was knocked flat with terrific force. + +"Murder!" + +And then both men disappeared from the rear platform. + +Dyke Darrel believed he had his man in a corner, when he saw him dash +through the door at the rear of the long train. + +Not so, however. + +The desperate Ruggles was ready to do anything rather than come in +contact with his relentless foe. He bounded clear of the train, +landing in a soft bit of sand, sinking almost to his knees, without +harming him in the least. + +The detective did not hesitate to follow, but he made a +miscalculation, owing to his bodily weakness, and instead of landing +on his feet, he came down with stunning force across one of the rails. + +Dyke Darrel lay insensible, like one dead. + +Had his enemy come upon him then he might have finished the career of +the daring man-hunter, without the least danger to himself. For once, +Professor Ruggles missed it woefully. + +As the detective was ten yards behind the Professor, and the car was +going at good speed, there was quite twenty rods difference between +the two men when they landed. Dyke Darrel was completely hidden from +the sight of Ruggles by a clump of trees. + +Ruggles gazed up the track, but saw nothing of his pursuer. He +surmised that Dyke Darrel did not leap from the train, but it was +likely he would ring the bell and stop the cars at once, so that it +would not do to for him to remain in the vicinity unless he wished to +collide with the detective. + +Another supposition also came to the brain of the villain, preventing +his search along the track. If Dyke Darrel had leaped after him, what +more natural than his hiding in the clump of timber for the purpose of +pouncing upon him when he came up the road. + +"I'll not risk it," muttered Ruggles. "I've other fish to fry just now +than looking after detectives. I must find that hag, Madge Scarlet, +and get my hands once more on Nell Darrel." + +Then Mr. Ruggles turned his steps in the direction of the station. +Already daylight was dawning, and Professor Ruggles was almost beside +himself with anxiety. He cursed the woman who had made it necessary +for him to leave the train so many miles outside of Gotham. Such a +change in the programme might result fatally to himself. Dyke Darrel +was hot on the trail now, and it would require the best efforts of a +desperate man to throw him off the scent. + +The man with the sunset hair was desperate enough. With hurried steps +he made his way to the depot. The agent was just shutting up. + +"No train, save a way-freight, will be along till night," he said, in +answer to a question from the gentleman with the red locks. Ruggles +had taken the precaution to provide himself with a cap from his +satchel before presenting himself to the man on duty at the depot. + +"One question," said Ruggles, as the man was about to walk away. + +"Well?" + +"Did any passengers get off here some hours since from the New York +train east?" + +"No." + +"Are you sure?" + +"None came into the depot, at any rate," said the man. + +"Any passengers get on?" + +"Several." + +"Among them an old woman?" + +"I saw no woman." + +"You are sure?" + +"Of course I am." + +Ruggles was disappointed. Could it be possible that he had been led on +a fool's errand after all, and that Madge Scarlet, with her prize, had +been concealed on the train, and continued on to New York? The thought +was intolerable. + +In the meantime, how fared it with Dyke Darrel, who lay stunned and +bleeding across the railroad track. + +It was almost sun-up before he opened his eyes and groaned. His bed +was a hard one, and it seemed as though every bone in his body was +broken. The fact was, he was yet sore from his serious fall through +the trap into the basement on Clark street, consequently it is little +wonder he was badly demoralized, both in mind and body, at his last +mishap. + +Presently a strange rumbling jar filled his ears. A bend in the road +to the west hid the track, but the dazed brain of Dyke Darrel took in +the situation nevertheless--a train was thundering down upon him. + +A minute more and he would be doomed! + +He tried to move--to roll from the track. He could not. His limbs +seemed paralyzed. Another second and the train would be upon him! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +SAVED! + + +Professor Ruggles had not been remiss in his judgment. It was Madge +Scarlet who stole his victim from his arms almost in the hour of his +devilish triumph. She did not get on the train from the little way +station, however. She was on the train when it drew out of the great +city by the lake, but the scheming Ruggles knew it not. + +She, too, wore a veil, and was otherwise disguised, and managed not to +show herself to the man she had once called friend. Immediately on her +release from jail she began to watch Ruggles, who kept himself out of +the way, or walked the streets only in disguise. + +She haunted the depots of the city, and was lucky enough to see him +when he took passage. Quietly boarding the same train, she bided her +time, intent on gaining possession of the detective's sister for +purposes of her own. + +The fires of insanity were already burning in the brain of the +convict's wife. + +Revenge for past wrongs seemed the sole object of her life now, and +this was the incentive that placed her on the track of a fleeing +villain and his intended victim. + +Madge saw Ruggles when he left the car. She watched her opportunity, +and lifting the partially insensible girl, bore her swiftly to the +outside, as the train halted for a minute. + +She gave vent to a chuckle as the train went thundering on its course. + +She had passed from the cars on the opposite side from the depot, and +consequently was able to elude the gaze of the depot agent. + +Along the track she went, pausing at times to rest, until she was +fully a mile from the station. In the shadow of a clump of trees the +hag came to a halt and deposited her burden on the ground. + +A moan from the drugged and helpless Nell reached her ears. + +And then Mrs. Scarlet chuckled the louder. + +"Good; she's coming out of her bad spell. I want her to realize her +fate, else there wouldn't be the least bit of pleasure in my revenge." + +Removing veil and light cloak, Mrs. Scarlet gazed down into the pallid +face of poor Nell, with only hatred gleaming from her sunken, beady +eyes. + +"Ho! I've outwitted the master devil himself, and now I will have you +all to myself, to deal with in a way that will cut to the quick when +Dyke Darrel hears of it." + +Nell had on only a light summer robe under the shawl. She looked very +innocent and beautiful as she lay there under the gaze of that human +hyena. + +"Pretty's a picture," hissed the wicked Madge. "I'll all the more +delight in seeing you suffer. Ah! she is coming out of her stupor. How +do you feel, dear?" + +Nell had opened her eyes and gazed at the wicked face above her, in a +dazed semi-consciousness. + +No answer was vouchsafed. + +Then, in looking about, the gleam of steel lines under the moon's rays +seemed to attract the notice of Mrs. Scarlet for the first time--the +straight lines that marked the course of the Erie road. + +Their glitter seemed to offer a diabolical suggestion to Madge +Scarlet. + +"Ha! I have it." + +Springing to her feet, she laid her arms about the slender form of the +helpless girl, and, lifting her, walked swiftly to the railway track. +In the centre, between the rails, she deposited her burden. + +"Revenge! sweet revenge!" cackled the hag in a blood-curdling voice. + +Again the girl moved and moaned; yet she seemed unable to change her +position. + +"Rest yourself comfortably, my girl; you won't be in trouble long," +muttered the demon woman, with a grin that was absolutely sickening. + +Poor Nell! She lay quite still after that, between the fatal rails, +only giving sign of life by a faint moan occasionally. + +Mrs. Scarlet retired to her leafy covert to wait the outcome. She +could see far beyond the track a farm-house, and near her a heap of +ties, and a rude fence--the moonlight revealed everything plainly. +Chuckling with hideous satisfaction, the she demon waited the coming +of the express that could not be far distant. Morning was already +brightening the East. + +Far away was the sound of a moving train. The sullen, distant roar +sent a thrill to the heart of the demon woman, who crouched in the +bushes to await the completion of her unhallowed revenge. + +The sullen jar seemed to act like a shock of electricity on the nerves +of Nell Darrel. She felt a strange and awful numbness. With a mighty +effort the girl roused herself to a consciousness of her awful +position. + +Louder and louder roared the train. It was but a mile distant now, and +the road was straight. + +Nell raised her head, and resting on her hands gazed down the track +where, in the distance, gleamed the light of the locomotive. + +"God help me!" moaned the poor girl. Then she tried to throw herself +from the track, but she could not. Her limbs were numb, and refused to +obey her will. + +A wild laugh rang out on the moonlit air. + +Madge Scarlet sprang up and glared through the bushes at her victim +with maniacal delight. + +"Ha' ha! You cannot escape! Them pretty limbs'll be crushed and torn +asunder! the white flesh cut and gashed, and that delicate body made a +horrid mass of blood and mangled fragments! THEN I will present them +to you, Dyke Darrel. Ho! ho!" + +Her voice was raised to a high pitch now, and even reached the ears of +the startled Nell. + +No help, no hope! + +On thundered the iron monster. + +On and on till the eye of the engineer catches sight of something on +the track--SOMETHING! + +Quickly the engine is reversed and the air brakes come into play. + +Too late! + +A moan of agonized terror falls from the lips of the half dead girl, +and then she sank helplessly to the ground. At the same instant help +came from an unexpected source. + +A man dashed swiftly through the moonlight and flung a heavy oak tie +in front of the slackened engine. + +A rumble and a jar, and then the train came to a dead stop, within +three feet of the prostrate girl! + +It was a narrow escape. + +The man who had come so unexpectedly out of the shadows dragged Nell +from her dangerous position. The engineer and fireman came down and +congratulated the young man on his presence. + +"The brakes couldn't quite do it," said the engineer. "That tie saved +the girl, with no damage to the train." + +"It seems to be a lucky accident all round," said the young man, who +had laid Nell on a safe spot, and now turned his attention to +assisting in removing the obstruction from the rails. + +"Yes. Who is she?" + +"I can't say." + +"Well, I must be on the way," uttered the engineer, "we are behind +time now." + +By this time the conductor was on the ground, but the train was +running again, and he received a full explanation from the engineer +afterward. + +When the young man made a closer inspection of the girl he had +rescued, a cry of surprise fell from his lips. + +"As I live, it is Nell Darrel!" + +But she could not speak to thank him for his act, since she had +fainted. + +Lifting her tenderly the young man turned his steps in the direction +of the farm-house, where he had been stopping during the past two +days. + +"Curse you! curse you!" were the venomous words flung after the man by +Madge Scarlet. + +But she dared not interfere to prevent the rescue. + +When Nell Darrel again opened her eyes, it was to find herself calmly +resting on a couch in a little room, whose cozy appearance was like +home indeed. And the face that bent over her was not that of a +stranger. Could it be that she was dreaming? + +"Thank Heaven!" murmured a manly voice, and then a mustached lip bent +and pressed a clinging kiss to the cheek of poor Nell. + +"Harry, dear Harry!" + +Thus had the lovers met after many long months of separation. + +A smile rested on the face of the fair girl as she held Harry's hand +while he talked of the past. + +She explained as best she could the strangeness of her situation; but +everything was so much like a dream, it was a hard matter to reconcile +some of the events of the past few weeks. + +"The end draws nigh," assured young Bernard, after a time. "If the +notorious man calling himself Ruggles was on the train, he will, on +discovering his loss, turn back, and then I will capture him." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE MYSTERIOUS WART. + + +We left Dyke Darrel, the detective, in a critical position on the +railroad track, with the roar of a freight engine in his ears. The +rays of the rising sun touched the glittering rails as the long train +swept around the bend upon doomed Dyke Darrel. + +One more tremendous effort on the part of the detective, and he +succeeded in throwing his body squarely across one of the rails. In +this position he hung a helpless weight, with the hoarse roar of the +engine making anything but sweet music to his fainting soul. + +Ha! Look! A hand is outstretched to save at the last moment, and Dyke +Darrel is jerked from under the smoking wheels, even as their breath +fans his fevered cheek. + +The train swept on. + +A cheer greeted the man who had come opportunely to the rescue as the +engine swept on its course. + +And a little later a man, young, yet whose boyish face bore marks of +dissipation, stood beside the detective and gazed into his face now +for the first time. + +"Great Caesar!" + +The young man started as though cut by a knife, and bent low over the +fallen detective, who was now struggling to a sitting posture. + +When he looked into the face of his rescuer he uttered a great cry. + +"My soul! how came you here, Martin Skidway?" + +"I am a fugitive," answered the young convict. "It wasn't through your +good will that I got out of prison, I can tell you that. Had I known +who it was on the track, I might not have put out my hand to save." + +The detective regarded the speaker in no little amazement. This was +the second time he had escaped from the Missouri prison, which argued +well for the man's keenness and capability, or else ill for the +official management of the prison. + +"It was from the St. Louis prison that I escaped," explained Martin +Skidway a little later. "I never got inside the State institution a +second time. I've had a sweet time of it thus far." + +"Tell me how you made your escape," said Dyke Darrel, who sat with his +back against a tree, and regarded the young counterfeiter in wonder. + +"There isn't much to tell," returned Skidway. "I had no assistance, +but it seems that a pair of burglars had broken out by filing off the +grating to one of the corridor windows, and the opening had not been +repaired when I was taken to the jail. I was left in the corridor a +minute while the jailor was attending some other prisoners, and that +minute gave me the opportunity. I mounted a chair, climbed through the +window, and made my escape by the light of the moon. Of course there +was a big search, but I remained hidden in an old cellar under a +deserted house in a grove within the city limits, for several days, +and finally made good my escape from the State." + +"And now?" + +"I am going to put the ocean between me and the beaks of American +law." + +Dyke Darrel regarded the speaker with mingled emotions. He saw in this +daring young fellow much talent, that had it been rightly directed, +might have made an honorable place in the world for Martin Skidway. + +"I am helpless to arrest your steps just at present," groaned the +detective. "Would you do it after what has happened, if you were in a +condition to do so?" demanded the convict, bending over the man on the +ground, regarding him with a menacing look. + +"Duty often calls one to do that which is disagreeable," answered Dyke +Darrel. A deep frown mantled the brows of the convict. + +"I see that my mercy was misdirected," he said. "It seems that I have +saved your life only to give you a chance to dog me to doom. Think you +I am fool enough to permit this?" + +There was a menace in the man's voice that Dyke Darrel did not like. + +"I am at present helpless," he said. "I don't imagine you will harm a +man who is in no condition to injure you if he would." + +"But you can talk. The first man who comes along will hear from you +that an escaped convict is in the rural districts of New York, and a +telegram will set ten thousand officers on the lookout for me. Without +such information I would not be recognized in this community. I am a +desperate man, Dyke Darrel, and do not propose to sacrifice myself for +your benefit." + +"What will you do?" + +"One of two things." + +"Well?" + +"You must solemnly swear that you will never reveal to another that I +am in this region, and swear also to make no effort to capture me +under a month, or else I shall have a painful duty to perform." + +"Go on!" + +"Will you take the required oath?' + +"Certainly not." + +"Then the other alternative is alone left me, Dyke Darrel." + +"And that?" + +"DEATH TO YOU!" + +Straightening to his full height after uttering the three terrible +words, Martin Skidway snatched a heavy iron bolt from the ground, that +had lain long beside the track, and raised it above the head of +helpless Dyke Darrel. + +"Martin Skidway, hold!" + +The words of the detective came forth in a thrilling cry. + +An instant the would be assassin stayed his hand. + +"You agree to my terms?" + +"No; but--" + +"Then you must die. It will be considered an accident, and no one will +suspect my hand in the affair." + +Again the young convict poised his weapon for deadly work. On the +instant the rumble of wheels met the ears of Martin Skidway. + +A wagon containing two men was in sight, moving down a road that ran +parallel with the railway at this point. It was evident that the +occupants of the vehicle had seen Skidway, and to strike now would but +add to the vengeance of pursuit and punishment. With a curse, he +dropped the iron bolt and turned to flee. + +"Dyke Darrel, if you inform on me, I will kill you at another time!" +hissed the convict. + +Then he rushed from the spot and disappeared. + +As the wagon came opposite it halted, and the cries of Dyke Darrel +brought both men to his side. + +"Hello! is this you?" cried a cheery voice, and the next instant Dyke +Darrel was lifted to his feet by the strong hand of Harry Bernard. + +It was a happy and unexpected meeting. Harry had good news to tell, +and when Dyke Darrel, assisted by his friend, reached the farmhouse +where Nell had found safety and shelter, the detective was strong +enough to stand, and assist himself in no small degree. + +Mutual explanations were entered into, and, as may be supposed, the +meeting between brother and sister was a happy one indeed. Harry was +the hero of the hour. + +When Dyke Darrel spoke of Martin Skidway, and the part he had acted in +saving his life, a word of admiration fell from the lips of Nell. + +But when Dyke proceeded to the conclusion, the girl's face blanched, +and she had no word of commendation left for the miserable convict, +who, after all, possessed but little honor. + +"So Aunt Scarlet is in the neighborhood; and also your abductor," +mused the detective. "The trail is becoming hot, indeed." + +"It is, for a fact," admitted Harry. "I believe, if the truth was +known, this man Ruggles will prove to be the man we want. Have you +that handkerchief with you, Dyke, that we found in the coat of the +rascal who attempted your murder in St. Louis?" + +This was several hours after the events of the morning, and Nell was +now resting in a large wooden rocker, very weak, yet feeling +remarkably well, considering the siege she had passed through during +the past two weeks and more. Dyke Darrel and Harry were the only +occupants of the room, the farmer being at his work in the field, and +his good wife attending preparations for supper in the kitchen. + +"I have kept the tell-tale handkerchief through it all," answered the +detective, at the same time producing the article from a receptacle +beneath, his shirt. + +"It's a wonder this was not discovered when you were in the hands of +the thugs of Chicago." + +"I wasn't closely searched, I suppose. You and the boys were too close +after them." + +"You give me too much credit, Dyke," returned Harry Bernard, modestly. +"I've a question to ask." + +"Ask as many as you like." + +"Was it the fact of my hand fitting this bloody imprint that so +startled you in the St. Louis hotel?" + +"Did I not so claim at the time?" + +"Perhaps; but wasn't there another coincidence that gave you reason to +suspect me? + +"There might have been." + +"I thought so. It was the imprint of a large wart, such as this on the +handkerchief, that made you look with suspicion upon me. Is it not +so?" + +Harry held up his hand, so that a wart on the little finger was +plainly revealed, and which, when he placed his hand against the +tell-tale handkerchief, fitted the marks perfectly. + +"Forgive me, Harry," cried the detective, quickly. "I know now that it +was only a remarkable duplicate; the wart belonged to another hand +than yours. The print of the wart was also on the bosom of Arnold +Nicholson's white shirt bosom, where a bloody hand had fallen. I made +this discovery when I examined the body of my dead friend. +Circumstantial evidence pointed to you, and yet I doubted--" + +"I understand," interrupted Harry. "My hand is indeed a duplicate of +the assassin's. It is a wonder that I have not been arrested ere this +by some of the detectives who are engaged in working up this case." + +"Why so?" + +"Because you are not the only one who made the discovery of the wart +that adorned the hand of the assassin. A reporter got hold of the +story and published it. Don't you remember?" + +"I haven't read the papers closely since the murder." + +"But I have, and so has the man who killed Nicholson." + +"Indeed?" + +"He soon learned that officers of the law were all looking for a man +with a large wart on the second joint of the little finger of the +right hand. This fact made him nervous, and one night he severed the +wart, and flung it from him, since which time he has breathed easier." + +A low exclamation from the lips of Nell startled both men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE STORY OF A WART. + + +"Nell, what is it?" questioned the surprised detective. + +Harry regarded the girl with a queer smile. Perhaps he knew what had +brought the exclamation to the lips of Miss Darrel. + +"I know a man who has lost a wart," she said, slowly, a deepening +pallor coming to her cheeks. + +"His name?" questioned Dyke Darrel, eagerly. + +But the girl did not immediately answer. It seemed that something +moved her deeply. + +"Was it Professor Ruggles?" questioned Harry, in order to help the +young girl out. + +"No," she said. + +"Who then?" + +"Harper Elliston!" + +A grave look chased the smile from the face of Harry Bernard. + +The girl's announcement seemed to prove a revelation to him, even as +it did to Dyke Darrel. + +"I did not know the man who severed the wart from his hand," said +Harry Bernard, after a brief silence, "but suspected that it was +Darlington Ruggles. It seems now that I was correct." + +"How is that?" + +"Have you not guessed the truth," queried Harry Bernard. "I made the +discovery some time since that the red-haired man and Harper Elliston +were one and the same." + +This came as a revelation to both the detective and his sister. + +"I have had suspicions," said Dyke Darrel, "but never anything +definite regarding the villainy of this man Elliston. He has played +his cards well, but I became undeceived not long after this great +railroad crime. That he was not my friend I discovered, and then I +resolved to watch him. I have reason to believe that it was to him I +owe my arrest in Burlington, Iowa. I now see the truth, that under the +assumed name of Hubert Vander, Elliston ruined a young girl of +Burlington, and, it may be, murdered her father, wealthy Captain +Osborne. It would be strange indeed, should the trail that ends with +the capture of the express robber also bring to punishment the +assassin of the Burlington Captain." + +"It seems likely to end in that way," returned Harry. + +"Let us hear what Nell has to say with regard to the wart," said the +detective, turning to his sister. + +"It will require but a few words to do that," said Nell Darrel. "I +always noticed a peculiarly shaped wart on the finger of Mr. +Elliston's shapely right hand, and once he remarked upon it to me, +saying that it was a disfigurement, and that he meant to have it +removed sometime. I think it was the first time I met Mr. Elliston +after the terrible news of the mid night express tragedy that I +noticed the absence of the wart, and a bit of surgeon's plaster +covering the spot. I laughed over his having undergone such a severe +surgical operation, and he seemed to take it in good part, assuring me +that HE was the surgeon who amputated the excrescence with a razor. Of +course I thought nothing strange of it at the time." + +"You said the wart had a peculiar shape? How is that?" questioned +Harry Bernard. + +"It was large, and was composed of two crowns. I think, perhaps two +warts had grown together at the roots." + +"Exactly. Would you know the wart if you should see it again?" + +"I think I should." + +"So would I," cried the detective. + +Then Harry Bernard drew a small vial from his pocket and held it up to +view. A small object, submerged in alcohol, was visible. When placed +in the hand of Nell, the girl at once exclaimed: + +"That is certainly the wart that once disfigured the hand of Harper +Elliston!" + +"Where did you get it?" questioned Dyke Darrel, now deeply interested +at the links that were being rapidly forged in the chain of evidence. + +"Dyke, you know that when I left Woodburg some months ago, I went from +among you under a cloud?" + +"I will not dispute you--" + +"No explanation is necessary on your part, Dyke. I imagine I was as +much to blame as anybody. Nell and I quarreled, and I imagined that +the handsome, elderly New Yorker had stepped into my shoes, so far as +she was concerned. I did not like the man, and so I resolved to +investigate for myself, and if I found that he was not worthy of Nell, +whom I loved and should always love while life lasted, I determined to +expose him, and save your sister. During the past few months I have +been making this investigation, to find that the supposed immaculate +Harper Elliston is known in Gotham in certain circles as a gambler and +villain of the deepest dye. He has committed some crimes that are +worse than murder. Now, as to the wart: It was soon after I had heard +of the murder on the express train, that while riding in the smoking +car of an emigrant train in Iowa, I saw an old man deliberately slice +a huge wart from his little finger with a keen-edged knife. The wart +fell under the seat and rolled at my feet. The old man made no effort +to recover it, but wrapped his bleeding hand in a handkerchief and +muttered: 'THAT witness will never come up to trouble me.' There was +something in the man's voice that sounded familiar, and the strange +whiteness of his hands aroused my suspicions, for in dress and +appearance the man was a laborer of the lower class. Curiosity, if +nothing stronger, prompted me to take possession of the severed wart +that had rolled at my feet. Soon after that I read the notice in a +newspaper, to the effect that the assassin of the express train had +left the imprint of a wart on the bosom of the dead man's shirt. Since +that time I have regarded hands with no little interest, and have +looked for the old man of the emigrant car in vain." + +"An interesting recital," said the detective, when Harry Bernard came +to a pause. "Knowing all this, you kept it from me at St. Louis." + +"My reason for that was, that I did not care to arouse any foolish +theories. Of course, the reporter's story might have been false. The +wart on my own hand, somewhat similar to this, led me to keep my own +council as a matter of personal safety. Although I suspected Elliston, +I had no proof, since I had forgotten the fact of his ever having a +wart on the little finger of his right hand. My principal hope has +been in finding the old man of the emigrant train." + +"You have not found him?" + +"Not unless Elliston is the man." + +"Did you suspect this before now?" + +"I did; now I am convinced." + +Just then Harry Bernard chanced to raise his eyes and gaze out of the +open window. + +He came suddenly to his feet with a startled exclamation. + +Dyke Darrel glanced out of the window to notice a bent old man, with +white hair and beard, moving away from the vicinity of the house. +Evidently he had been looking into the room, if not listening to the +conversation of the trio. + +"Saints of Rome! there is the old man of the emigrant train now!" + +Dyke Darrel staggered to the window, while Harry Bernard rushed +swiftly from the farm-house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE REVELATIONS OF A SATCHEL. + + +"Hello, old man!" + +"Eh?" + +The man stopped, stared at Harry Bernard as if puzzled, and then began +to grin. + +"I want to speak with you, sir." + +"Sortin, sortin you can." + +"Who are you?" + +"Sam Wiggs o' Yonkers. Wat can I do for ye, mister?" + +The old fellow seemed honest enough, and as Harry glanced at the dirty +hands, he saw nothing to excite his suspicions. + +"Are you a relative of Mr.---?" naming the farmer who owned the place +on which they stood. + +"Wal, not as I knows on," drawled the old fellow, laughing until his +old head seemed ready to topple from his shoulders. "No blood +relation, any how, sir. You see, my wife's cousin's aunt's husband's +brother Jerry was a cousin to Nicodemus Dunce, who, if I don't +disremember, was related in some way to Isacker Pete's wife's sister, +and she was this ere man's niece, or somethin' o' that sort, but we +ain't blood related nohow." + +"I should think not," answered Harry, and then he returned to the +house, while the old man Wiggs proceeded unmolested on his way. + +"At a first glance, he DID resemble the man of the emigrant train +strongly," muttered Bernard, "but I see now that I was mistaken." + +"Well, how did you make out, Harry?" + +"This was from Dyke Darrel, who had been watching proceedings from the +window. + +"A case of mistaken identity," answered the young man, with a laugh. +"I was sure I had found the right man when I saw that old chap +crossing the yard, but it seems that I was mistaken." + +"Are you sure of it?" + +"I suppose I am." + +Dyke Darrel watched the retreating form of the old man with no little +curiosity, however, until his bent form was lost to view down the +winding road. Naturally suspicious, the detective more than half +believed that the seemingly aged man had not come to the farm-house +for any good purpose. + +"I can't help thinking that Wiggs, as he called himself, is destined +to give us trouble, Harry," the detective said, at length. + +"An inoffensive old man," asserted Bernard. At the same time, however, +he was not fully content to let the matter rest as it was. + +"It might be well enough to watch the old fellow, at any rate," said +Dyke Barrel, rising and walking twice across the room, peering +nervously out of the window in the direction in which old Wiggs had +gone. + +"Keep quiet, Dyke," said Bernard. "I will shadow the old fellow, and +see if he is other than he seems." + +Bernard was on the point of leaving the room, when a youth appeared, +walking swiftly toward the farm-house from the direction of the +station. One glance sufficed to show both men the genial face of the +boy Paul Ender. + +"So you have Paul with you, Harry?" said the detective with a pleased +smile. + +"He is my shadow, and I have found him true and brave," answered +Harry, at the same time glancing toward Nell, who had told him of the +lad's defense of her against the villain Elliston. + +"I can testify to his bravery," said the girl. "Paul and I are great +friends." + +A minute later, young Ender entered the presence of the trio, and +deposited a black satchel in the middle of the floor. + +"I have committed a theft," said the boy, with a queer look on his +face, "and am here to throw myself on the mercy of the court." + +"You speak in riddles," said Bernard. "I've been on a bully lay, as +the peelers say, and I believe have made a discovery, although it may +amount to nothing after all." + +"Go on." + +"I've seen the man with the red hair and beard." + +"When?" + +"Where?" + +"Over by the depot. I saw him go into an old out-house with this +satchel in his hand." + +"Indeed!" + +"Go on." + +"I was on the watch, and when he came out I saw, not Brother Ruggles, +but a lean old man, with white locks and beard, who seemed to walk +with great difficulty." + +"Ah!" + +"Indeed!" + +"He hobbled away, and failed to take the satchel with him. At first I +could not believe that the sorrel gent and the old chap were the same. +I learned this by investigation. When, after waiting a spell, and no +sunset-haired gent came forth, I proceeded to investigate, and found +this satchel, which, under the law of military necessity, I proceeded +to confiscate, that the ends of justice might be furthered. If I have +done wrong, I am ready to throw myself on the mercy of the court, and +be forgiven." + +"You have done right," cried Dyke Barrel. "Have you opened the +satchel?" + +"No. It is locked, and I haven't a key that will fit." + +Harry Bernard produced several keys, none of which fitted the lock to +the satchel. + +"What are we to do?" cried Bernard. "The satchel is securely locked, +and its owner has the key." + +"This is no time for ceremony or undue squeamishness!" uttered Dyke +Darrel. "We are on the eve of an important discovery, and I propose to +make no delays." + +Then, drawing a knife from his pocket, the detective bent over the +satchel and slit the sides at one stroke. + +"That will open it if a key won't," he remarked, with grim +satisfaction. + +The contents of the satchel were a revelation. + +Red wigs and a complete suit of clothes, besides paints and powders. + +Harry uttered an exclamation. + +"Just as I suspected," uttered Dyke Darrel. "You made no, mistake when +you suspected that old man who just now left this vicinity. Doubtless +he forgot his satchel, or else thought it safe until his return. Paul, +my boy, you have done a good thing, and shall be promoted. We must now +make it a point to intercept old Wiggs." + +"Doubtless he has gone to the depot." + +"How far is that from here?" + +"Two miles." + +"When does the train pass?" questioned Dyke Darrel. + +"I cannot say." + +"Nor I." + +"Ask the farmer's wife." + +Paul sped from the room. + +"The New York express goes in ten minutes," said the boy, on his +return. + +"In ten minutes? Then we have no time to lose," cried Dyke, turning to +the door. + +"Dyke, what would you do?" demanded Nell at this moment. + +"Capture your enemy and mine---" + +"But you are not strong enough to take the trail. Stay with me." + +He interrupted her with: + +"Nell, I never felt stronger in my life. I mean to put the bracelets +on the villain's wrists with my own hands." + +"Dyke, leave it to me," urged Harry Bernard. + +But the detective's blood was up, and he would listen to no one. He +was determined to be in at the death, and for the time his old +strength seemed coursing in his veins. He hastened from the house, and +ascertaining that a horse was in the barn, he at once sprang to the +animal's back. + +"You are unarmed?" said Bernard. "Yes, but--" + +"Take this; I will quickly follow," and the young man thrust a +revolver into the hand of Dyke Darrel. "Do nothing rash until help +arrives, Dyke. Our game is desperate, and will fight hard if +cornered." + +"I am aware of that, but I do not fear him. Ha! what is that?" + +"The roar of the train." + +"Then time is short." + +The horse and rider shot away down the country road like an arrow, or +a bird. On and on, with the speed of the wind, and yet the lightning +express made even greater speed than did the detective's horse. + +With a roar and a rush the train swept past. + +Too late! + +Dyke Darrel drew rein at the depot just as the train swept madly away +on its course to the great city, and on the rear platform stood the +old man who had peered into the farm-house window but a short time +before. + +It was an aggravating situation. + +"You can use the telegraph," suggested the depot agent, when Darrel +unbosomed himself to him. + +"Quick! Send word to the next station, and have the man detained." + +The ticket agent went to his instrument and ticked off the desired +information. + +A little later came the reply: + +"No such person on the train." + +A malediction fell from the detective's lips. Was his enemy to thus +outwit him always? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RETRIBUTION. + + +A tall, handsome man of middle-age stood picking his teeth with a +jaunty air beside the desk of a down-town boarding-house, when his +occupation, if such we may call it, was interrupted by a touch on his +arm. + +Looking down, the gentleman saw a small, ragged urchin standing near. + +"It is yourn--10 cents, please." + +The boy held out a yellow envelope, on which was scrawled the name +"Harper Elliston." + +The gentleman dropped the required bit of silver into the boy's hand +with the air of a king, and then tore open the envelope. + +"MR. ELLISTON: Meet me at Room 14, Number 388 Blank street, at seven +this evening, SHARP. Business of importance. + +"B." + +The contents of the envelope puzzled Mr. Elliston, who had been but +ten days in New York since his return from the West. He had several +acquaintances whose names might with appropriateness be signed B. "I +don't think there'll be any harm in meeting Mr. B. at the place +mentioned. It may be of importance, as he says. If it should be a trap +set by Dyke Darrel--but, pshaw! that man is dead. I had it from the +lips of Martin Skidway, and he knew whereof he spoke. I will call at +388, let the consequences be what they may." Thus decided a cunning +villain, and in so doing went to his own doom. + +Ten days had Dyke Darrel and his friend Bernard searched the city of +New York ere they found their prey. Once found, the detective resolved +upon a novel manner of procedure for his capture. The sending of the +letter was part of the scheme. Had this failed, then a bolder move +would have been made. + +But it did not fail. + +When Mr. Elliston rapped at room 14, number 388 Blank street, the door +was opened, admitting the visitor to a small room containing a bed, a +few necessary articles of furniture, and a curtained alcove. + +The door was suddenly closed and locked behind Elliston, light was +turned on fully, and then the visitor found himself confronted by +Harry Bernard, whom he had met once or twice in Woodburg, many months +before. + +"Eh!" ejaculated Elliston. "So you are the man who wrote that note +requesting an interview? Well, I am glad to see you, Mr. Bernard," and +Elliston held out his hand, with a smile wreathing his thin lips. + +"I imagined you would be," returned the youth. "I am glad to see you +so well. Fact is, you are badly wanted out in Illinois at the present +time." + +"I am sorry that I cannot accommodate my friends out there," returned +Elliston, with a frown; "but it is wholly out of the question. I think +I will bid you good evening, Mr. Bernard. I cannot waste precious time +here." + +He turned and grasped the door-knob. It did not yield to his touch. + +"Not just yet, Mr. Elliston," said Harry. "I wish to ask you a few +questions." + +"Well?" + +"What do you know of the murder of Arnold Nicholson on the midnight +express, south of Chicago, some weeks ago?" + +"I read of it, of course." + +Mr. Elliston pulled nervously at his glove as he answered. + +"What do you know of the disappearance of Captain Osborne and the +death of his daughter?" persisted Bernard. + +"Do you suppose I have nothing to do but answer such nonsensical +questions?" demanded Elliston, angrily. "Open this door and let me +pass out." + +"Not yet. I wish to tell you a little story, Mr. Elliston." + +"I haven't time to listen." + +"Nevertheless, you must take the time," said Harry Bernard, sternly. +"Don't attempt to make trouble, sir; you will get the worst of it if +you do." + +There was a glitter in the eyes of the speaker that was not pleasant +to see. + +Mr. Elliston sank to a chair, and with an air of resignation said: + +"Well, well, this is impudent, but I will listen if it will gratify +you." + +"It certainly will. I wish to start out with the assertion that you DO +know something about the crime on the midnight express, and I will try +and convince you that _I_ know what part you acted in the murder of +one of the best men in the service of the express company. Don't lose +your temper, sir, but listen?" + +"I am listening." + +There was a sullen echo in the man's voice that boded an outburst +soon. + +"A gentleman of your build and complexion boarded the train at a +station just south of Chicago one night in April. At another station +two companions joined this man, according to previous agreement. One +was almost a boy in years, an escaped convict; and these three men +during the night entered the express car, murdered the agent, and went +through the safe. Just before reaching Black Hollow the three men left +the car. One of the three was tall and had red hair and beard. This +man, after the slaughter, left a trace behind that has led to his +identity. He left the imprint of a bloody hand on a white handkerchief +that he took from the pocket of his victim. That handkerchief was +afterward found, and the bloody mark compared with the hand of the +assassin." + +"That could hardly be possible. Hands are many of them alike," +articulated Mr. Elliston, nervously. + +"True, but in this case a wart, of peculiar shape, gave the man away. +The mark of his bloody hand, leaving the wart's impress, was not only +on the handkerchief, but left against the white shirt-front of the +murdered man as well. The man who committed the murder read of the +clew in a Chicago paper, and, to obliterate the tell-tale evidence, he +cut the wart from his hand and dropped it under the seat while +journeying through Iowa in disguise, on an emigrant train." + +The face of Elliston had become white as death, and he trembled from +head to foot. If Bernard had doubted before, he doubted now no longer. + +"A nice story," finally sneered Bernard's visitor. "When did you learn +so much?" + +"Weeks ago--" + +"And you have permitted this villain to run at large so long!" + +"Well, I propose to see that he does not flaunt his crimes in the face +of the world longer." + +Then, with a quick movement, the youth drew a vial from his pocket and +held it up to view, exhibiting to the dilating eyes of the New Yorker +a large wart with a double top. + +"Just remove the glove from your right hand, Mr. Elliston. I think we +will find a scar there that this wart will fit--" + +"Furies! this is too much," cried Elliston, coming to his feet, white +with rage and fear. + +"Stop. Keep your temper," warned Bernard. "I wish to bring a witness; +one that has been your companion in crime." + +The curtain over the alcove was brushed aside, and a man stepped +forth, a man with red whiskers and hair, the latter surmounted with a +glossy plug hat. + +Elliston stared like one bereft of sense and life. + +"Allow me to introduce Professor Darlington Ruggles, Mr. Elliston," +uttered Harry Bernard in a mocking voice. + +"Hades! what does this mean?" and the trapped villain staggered, +clutching the back of a chair for support. + +"It means that your race of crime and diabolism is run, Harper +Elliston!" + +Red hair and beard were suddenly swept aside, a revolver was thrust +into the startled countenance of Elliston; he looked, and could only +utter: + +"DYKE DARREL, THE DETECTIVE!" + +"Do you deny your guilt, scoundrel?" + +But Harper Elliston sank to a seat, and bowed his head, while drops of +cold sweat covered his forehead. + +The touch of cold steel and click of closing bracelets roused him. + +He was helpless now, for his wrists were encircled by handcuffs. Black +despair confronted the villain. + +Dyke Darrel went through the pockets of his prisoner and found a +revolver, an ugly looking clasp knife, and other articles of a nature +that served to show that the owner was not pursuing an honest calling. + +"Do you remember that night on the dock beside the river, Elliston?" +questioned Bernard, bending suddenly over the prisoner. + +But no answer came from the bloodless lips of the cornered villain. + +"It was I who tore your mask of red hair from your head that night. I +had mistrusted you for a villain, and I meant to unmask you to save +Nell Darrel, whom I loved, from your wiles. You struck me with a knife +and pushed me into the river. I, however, was not harmed. The point of +your knife glanced on a small book that I carried in an inner pocket. +I escaped from the river, and resolved to follow you to your doom. I +overheard your plans of abducting Nell Darrel, when you fired at my +masked face that night as I peered into Mother Scarlet's room. I then +knew you to be a villain of the deepest dye. Since, I learned that you +were the man in disguise on the emigrant train in Iowa, and this wart +will, with other evidence, condemn you before an honest jury of your +peers." + +A groan alone answered the denouement made by Harry Bernard. + +Dyke Darrel removed the glove from his prisoner's right hand, and +exposed a scarcely-healed scar near the joint of the little finger. +The chain of evidence was complete. The red hair in the clutches of +the murdered Nicholson had evidently been torn from the false beard of +the disguised assassin. + +The New Yorker was removed from the house and taken at once to prison. +From thence, on the following morning, Dyke Darrel set out on his +return to the Garden City with Elliston in charge. + +Harry Bernard remained over at the farm-house in New York State to see +Nell, who had been left in the care of Paul Ender. Nell had almost +entirely recovered from the shock of her recent treatment, and was +overjoyed at the outcome of her friends' visit to New York. + +"Elliston will be convicted and hanged," was Bernard's verdict. + +On the very day of Harry's arrival at the farm-house, he, with the old +farmer, was summoned to visit one who had met with a fatal accident +and was about to die. + +It proved to be Martin Skidway, who lay on a barn floor with his head +in his mother's lap, gasping his life away, an ugly wound in his side. + +He had accidentally shot himself and was rapidly sinking. A fugitive +in hiding for weeks, his life had been an intolerable one. Now that he +was dying, he made a full confession, admitting his own hand in the +awful railroad crime, and implicating two others, Elliston and Nick +Brower. Sam Swart had been one of them, but he was known to be dead. + +"Without HIS urging I would never have stained my hands; in fact, it +was Elliston who struck the blow that killed the express messenger." + +Without this confession, there was evidence enough to convict the New +Yorker; with it, both Brower and the principal were found guilty of +murder in the first degree and sentenced to the gallows. Nick Brower +was the only one of the four who expiated his crime on the gallows. +Harper Elliston died in prison by his own hand. + +He left a note admitting the express crime, and also confessing to the +murder of Captain Osborne and the ruin of his daughter Sibyl. His was +a fitting end to a career of unparalleled crime. + + * * * * * + +We now draw a veil over the scene. + +Harry Bernard and Nell Darrel were, soon after the arrest and death of +Elliston, happily married. + +Dyke Darrel considers the events leading up to the capture and +punishment of those engaged in the crime of the midnight express as +among the most thrilling and wonderful of his detective experience. To +Harry Bernard and Paul Ender he gives a large share of the credit, and +with them shared the reward. Bernard has of late worked in conjunction +with Dyke Darrel on other cases, and is fast winning a reputation +second only to that of the great railroad detective himself. + +THE END. + + + + + +WON BY CRIME + +CHAPTER I + + +A young girl, about eighteen, with a slender, elegant form, beautiful +straight features, and eyes of softest darkness, sitting before a +large table covered with maps and drawings, which she was trying +vainly to study. + +"It is no use!" she cried, at last, pushing back the mass of thick +black hair falling over her white brow; "I shall never be able to get +India by heart, unless I can see the places. I wish papa would let us +go reconnoitering amongst the ruined temples and other mysterious +buildings; it is so annoying staying here day after day, never seeing +anything outside the palace." + +"My dear Lianor," said her companion, a young man scarcely older than +herself, and wonderfully like her, "what new idea, have you got now?" + +"An idea of seeing more of the curious places I have read so much +about. Fancy living a lifetime in a country and never going beyond one +town! If I do not get some excitement, I shall die of ennui, so I warn +you." + +"I quite agree with you, and if uncle would only let us, it would be +delightful, seeking out the temples so long deserted. But you know he +would not," shrugging his shoulders. + +"I'm not so sure of that. Papa never refuses me anything, and when he +sees it is necessary to my happiness I should go, he will consent. +Anyhow, I will try," jumping eagerly to her feet. "Come, Leone." + +Her cousin rose, and took the white, outstretched hand; then like two +children they crossed the beautiful marble hall, until, arriving +before a door draped with rich curtains, Lianor paused and softly +knocked. + +"Come in!" rather impatiently. + +With a smile Lianor opened the door, and entered, followed by +Pantaleone. + +In the room, handsomely fitted up as a study, sat a fine-looking, +middle-aged man, busily wilting; his dark face wore an expression of +severity as he glanced toward the intruders. + +It quickly faded, however, on seeing the pretty figure standing there; +instead, a gentle smile wreathed his lips. + +"Well, Lianor, dearest, what is it?" + +"Papa," and the girl stole noiselessly behind his chair, winding her +arms around his neck. "I am so miserable, I have nothing to amuse me, +and unless you do something to make me happier, I shall go melancholy +mad!" + +"My dearest child, what is the matter? Are you ill?" anxiously turning +to peer into the lovely face. + +"No, papa; but I am so tired of this life." + +"That is not like my little girl. And I have tried hard to make you +happy. Nothing in reason have I refused you--jewels, such as a queen +might envy; priceless stuffs to deck your pretty form, and other +things which no girl of your age ever possessed," reproachfully. + +Lianor bent down, and kissed his brow, lovingly--repentingly. + +"You have been a great deal too good to me. But there is something +more I wish to ask; it will make me happy if you will grant my +request." + +"We shall see. Tell me first what it is." + +Lianor briefly related her wish to visit the old temple which lay +beyond Goa, to search with Panteleone the curious old ruins she had so +often read of in her studies. + +Don Gracia looked grave; evidently this project did not find much +favor in his eyes. + +A Portuguese by birth, but sent to Goa as Viceroy, Don Garcia de Sa +had lived there long enough to know the treacherous natures of the +Brahmins who dwelt near, and feared to let his child run the risk of +being found and captured. + +But as Lianor had truly remarked, he loved his daughter so +passionately that he very rarely refused her anything, even though he +doubted the wisdom of complying with her wishes. + +"Papa"--the sweet voice was very coaxing, and the red lips close to +his cheek--"say yes, darling; it will make me so happy." + +"But suppose any danger should threaten you?" + +"I should be there to defend my cousin with my life!" Leone cried, +fervently. + +Don Gracia smiled. + +"You speak bravely, my boy; but as yet you are very young. However, as +Lianor has set her heart upon this expedition, I suppose I must say +yes. In case of danger, I will send some soldiers to escort you." + +"Oh, thank you, papa! I am so glad! Come, Leone, we will make haste, so +as to set off ere the day gets more advanced." + +And warmly embracing her father, the girl sped swiftly away, followed +by her cousin. + +In half an hour the cortege was ready, and, after some little +hesitation on Don Garcia's part, they started. + +Lianor, with her two favorite maids, Lalli and Tolla, were cosily +seated in a palanquin carried by four strong men. Before, clearing her +path from all difficulties, went a body of twenty-five soldiers. +Beside her, Panteleone kept up a cheerful conversation, pointing out +the beauties of the palaces through which they passed. Some twenty +natives, armed with poignards, brought up the rear. + +Toki, a native who had grown old in the Viceroy's palace, led the way +toward one of the ruined temples--that erected to Siva, the God of +Destruction. + +Lianor gazed with awed eyes at the magnificent palace, still bearing +traces of former beauty. + +"How wonderful! I must stay here, Leone, and sketch those old statues. +We need go no farther." + +The day was beginning to get intensely hot, so the men were nothing +loth to seek shelter in the cool temple, to sleep away the sunny +hours. + +Sketch-book in hand, the girl chose a shady retreat outside, and was +soon lost in her work. + +Presently the dreamy silence was broken; faint cries from afar reached +her; and looking hastily up, Lianor saw a sight which made her stand +rooted to the spot in speechless horror. + +In the distance, pouring from out the mountains, were a multitude of +Indians clad in divers costumes, carrying in their hands fantastic +idols, and followed by a train of Brahmins, singing a low, monotonous +chant, which had warned the girl of their approach. + +Recovering her self-possession, and calling to the startled servants, +Lianor entered the temple, where Panteleone and the men were quietly +dozing. + +"Leone, awake! The Indians are coming!" + +The youth sprang to his feet, and, flinging one arm round his cousin, +he drew a sharp poignard from his sash, and clutched it firmly. + +"Do not be afraid, Lianor. I will guard you with my life!" he said +bravely. + +"But is there no way to escape?" Lianor asked wildly, frightened at +the peril into which her folly had brought them all. + +"We might have gone; but it is too late. They are here," Toki said +gravely. "The only thing we can do is to hide amongst these broken +statues, and perhaps we may be safe from their view." + +Scarcely had this been done than the procession arrived, stopped +before the temple, and the men commenced building a huge square pile +of wood; on this they placed a bier, on which lay the corpse of an old +man, decked with silks and costly jewels. + +Lianor and Panteleone, watching from their hiding-place the strange +preparations, now saw a girl, very young and beautiful, but weeping +bitterly, being dragged toward the pile by a tall, hard-looking woman. + +"Come!" she cried, in loud, ringing tones, "now is the time to uphold +the honor of your family, and show your courage!" + +With a shudder the girl drew back, and clasping her hands piteously +together, said: + +"Why should I thus sacrifice my young life to the cruelty of your +customs? I cannot endure the thought of being burnt alive--it is too +horrible!" + +"It is your duty! A widow must follow her husband in death," coldly. + +The youthful widow burst into passionate weeping, and gave an agonized +glance around at the vindictive faces; not one among that multitude, +she thought, felt pity for the girl who was condemned to so horrible a +fate. + +She was mistaken, and a second gaze revealed a young boy, not more +than fifteen, who was quietly sobbing, an expression of deep anguish +on his face. + +"Satzavan, my poor brother, you also have come to witness my painful +end!" + +The boy went toward her, and wound his arms around her slim waist, +drawing the dark head onto his shoulder. + +"I would that I could help you," he whispered. "But what can I do +among all these fiends?" + +"It is hard to die thus--so hard." + +"Savitre, I am more compassionate than you think, and I have here a +draught which will send you into a deep sleep. The pain of death will +thus be saved you," Konmia broke in severely, holding a vessel toward +the girl. + +"No, no!" Savitre shrieked, pushing the potent drink away. "I cannot! +Think how awful to awaken with the cruel flames wreathing round my +body, and my cries for help useless, deadened by the yells of those +people. I cannot--I will not die!" + +Satzavan, deathly white, and with quivering features, drew her +shuddering frame closer to him, and led her into the temple. + +"Leave us for a moment, I implore you," he said, turning to his aunt. +"She loves me, and I may perhaps reconcile her to her fate." + +"You are the head of your family; I trust to you to bring her to +reason--to save the honor of a name until now without blemish," Konmia +replied, and placing the poisonous flask in Satzavan's hand, she left +them alone in the temple. + +"Quick, Savitre; we will drink this draught together, and when they +seek you, they will find us both cold in death." + +"You also, my brother, speak of death! I must escape--I cannot +sacrifice my life!" + +"Nor shall you," a gentle voice broke in passionately, and Lianor, her +face full of tender compassion, stood before the victim, Panteleone +beside her. + +"Follow me," the latter said briefly, drawing the girl's arm through +his. "Trust us, and you will yet be saved." + +With joyful hearts the two Indians accompanied their kind protectors, +climbing among the broken gods, higher and higher, until they at last +arrived without the temple, the other side from where the Indians were +assembled. + +There they were rejoined by the soldiers and attendants, and the +little party commenced their homeward journey, hoping the wild group +would not discover their presence. + +But their hopes were not to be realized; ere they had gone many yards, +the flight of the rajah's widow had been discovered, and with hideous +cries they sought eagerly to find her. + +It was not long ere they espied the small party, and full of triumph +dashed toward them. + +"Lianor, keep back--leave me to deal with these barbarians!" +Panteleone said hurriedly, and in a minute a deadly fight began +between the Indians and the soldiers. + +But what was their strength against more than five hundred strong +warriors? Ere long the brave party was captured, and while Konmia +dragged the terrified girl towards the funereal-pile, the Indians +shrieked aloud in triumphant gladness. + +"To-morrow Siva will receive a sacrifice that will remain forever in +the memory of those now living. To-day, our chief's widow; to-morrow, +the Portuguese prisoners!" + + * * * * * + +After his daughter had gone, Don Garcia was filled with deep regret at +having succumbed so readily to her wishes. + +A presentiment of evil he could not control made him walk restlessly +up and down the room. + +A timid knock at the door roused him from his painful musings. + +"Come in!" he cried quickly. + +The door opened, and a tall, remarkably handsome man, dressed in the +garb of a sea-captain, entered. + +"What, Falcam, is it you, my boy?" the don cried gladly, wringing the +young man's hand. + +"Yes, senor. I have some papers from Tonza. There has been a slight +rising at Diu, but, fortunately, we were able to suppress it in time," +handing the don a sealed packet. + +After casting his eyes rapidly over the contents, Don Garcia smiled +and turned with a pleased look towards the captain. + +"Manuel tells me of your bravery in saving Diu, and asks me to promote +you. I will do all I can. I am proud to call you friend." + +Luiz flushed, and a bashful light filled his eyes; but, ere he could +answer, the don continued: + +"However, you have come in time to be of service to me. My daughter, +much against my wishes, has gone on an expedition to the Temple of +Siva. From what I have since heard, I am afraid danger threatens my +Lianor. Will you help me to rescue her?" + +"Will I lay down my life to keep her from harm! Oh, senor, how can you +ask? Let me start immediately, and ere long I will bring your child +back in safety," fervently. + +Don Garcia was surprised at the young man's eagerness, but refrained +from speaking, only to thank him for his kind offer. + +Five minutes later Luiz Falcam, accompanied by a troop of brave +sailors, started off towards the Temple of Siva. + +As he neared, sounds of strife, mingled with heartrending shrieks, +broke upon his ears. Urging his trusty band, he dashed onward until he +arrived at the scene of terror. + +Startled by the sudden apparition, the Indians lost, for a time, their +self-control, and the sailors found it easy to subdue them. + +Luiz had flown at once to Lianor's side, clasping her frail form +tightly in his arms, while Panteleone wrenched Savitre from her aunt, +as she was about to fling her on the now burning pile. + +Even at the same moment, Satzavan, a smile of revengeful triumph on +his face, wound a thick scarf over Konmia's head, and threw her with +remorseless force into the flames, leaving her to meet the fate +destined for his sister. + +Those Indians who had not been taken had fled; so the band was free to +wend its way homeward, though nearly half had been killed in the +strife. + +Still holding Lianor, now weeping quietly, in his arms, Luiz led the +way towards the road, where the palanquin stood, and placing the girl +gently in, raised her white hands passionately to his lips. + +"Lianor, Lianor, my own darling!" he murmured, gazing into her pallid +face with lovelit eyes. "If I had been too late, and found you gone!" + +Lianor smiled tremulously through her tears, and a blush mantled to +her cheeks. + +"You have saved my life. I can never repay you," earnestly. + +Panteleone, still pale and anxious, now appeared leading the little +widow, who seemed overjoyed at her release. She sank down gladly +beside Lianor, and then the palanquin was borne away, guarded by Luiz +and Panteleone, Satzavan walking behind. + +Don Garcia's delight knew no bounds when he saw the procession +entering the palace gates, and he ran eagerly to receive his daughter. + +"My loved child! How unwise I was to let you go, to send you into +danger," he cried, carrying her in his arms from the palanquin to the +marble hall. "If it had not been for our young friend, Falcam, I +should never have seen you again." + +"But, papa, think! If we had not gone, this poor girl would have been +burnt to death," Lianor said, shudderingly, drawing Savitre towards +her. + +"Ah, yes. Poor child!" stroking the young widow's glossy black hair. +"Now tell me all about it." "Not yet, papa. Let us go and arrange our +dresses; mine is torn completely to pieces," laughingly holding up a +fragment of cashmere, which in the struggle had become torn. + +Holding Savitre's hand in hers, Lianor went swiftly to her rooms, +where they could bathe their weary limbs in cool water, and change +their tattered robes. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Don Garcia was sitting in his study, regarding with some anxiety Luiz +Falcam, who, tall and handsome, stood before him. + +"You wish to ask me something, is it not so? Well, speak out, and be +sure if it is in my power I will grant it." + +"I hardly like to ask. It is, I know, daring. I am but a captain, and +you are one of the wealthiest men in India; yet I love your daughter, +and that is what I wished to tell you," earnestly. + +Don Garcia smiled indulgently, and he gazed kindly at the young +fellow's flushed face. + +"I told you I would give you what you wished, and I will not break my +word. I could safely trust Lianor to you. No other man I know has won +so large a place in my esteem. But I dare not speak until I know what +my daughter thinks. She will answer for herself touching so delicate a +subject. Tell Donna Lianor to come here," he said to Toki. + +After what seemed an anxious age to poor Luiz, Lianor entered, leaning +lightly on Savitre, somewhat astonished. + +"Lianor, may I speak before Savitre?" the don asked gravely. + +"Of course, papa. I have no secrets from her." + +"My child," drawing her nearer to him, "Luiz Falcam has asked your +hand in marriage; what answer shall I give him?" + +Lianor blushed divinely, and her dark eyes shyly drooped before the +eager glance from those loving blue ones fixed upon her. + +"He saved my life, father. I will give it gladly to him," she +murmured. + +"You love him, child?" + +"Dearly. I shall be proud and happy to become the wife of Luiz," +gaining courage. + +"You have my answer, Falcam. May you be content always. I give her to +you with pleasure." + +In spite of the don's presence and Savitre's, Luiz could not refrain +from drawing the girl into his arms and pressing fervent kisses on her +smooth brow, and soft cheeks. + +"You shall never repent your choice, darling," he said tenderly. "I +cannot give you wealth, but a true heart and a brave hand are solely +yours, now and till death!" + +"I know, Luiz dear, and to me that gift is more precious than the +costliest jewels," the girl whispered fondly. + +Their happiness was not without its clouds; Luiz was compelled to +leave his betrothed to guard a fort some distance away. + +"I will return soon, dearest," he said lovingly, holding the trembling +girl in his strong arms, "and then your father has promised our +marriage shall take place." + +"And you will not run into danger, for my sake?" Lianor pleaded, +winding her white arms round his neck. "Think how desolate I should be +without you!" + +Don Garcia, having a great liking for the young man, saw him go with +some regret. + +"Don't stay away longer than you can help," he said kindly. "God keep +you, my boy." + +So Luiz parted from his love, and returned to Diu, carrying in his +heart a cherished memory of Lianor, and a tiny miniature of her in his +breast-pocket. + +When he arrived at the governor's palace, he went directly to Manuel +Tonza, to inform him of his departure. + +The governor, a tall, dark-looking man of more than thirty, bore on +his fine features a look of haughty sternness, mingled with some +cruelty. + +He glanced coldly at the young captain, and listened in silence to his +explanations; but, as Luiz drew from his breast a sealed packet, given +him by Don Garcia, Lianor's miniature fell with a crash to the ground, +the jeweled case flying open. + +Manuel picked it up from the floor with sudden swiftness, and gazed +admiringly at the pictured face. + +"Who is this?" he asked abruptly. + +"Lianor de Sa, Don Garcia's daughter. + +"Lianor de Sa, and so beautiful as this!" the governor muttered +inaudibly. "I forgot she had grown from a child to a woman; I must see +her. How comes 'it, though, her miniature is in his hands? Surely they +could not have betrothed her to a captain!" + +With a gesture of disdain he flung the miniature on the table, and +told Luiz his presence was no longer needed. + +Once alone, and a singular smile crossed the governor's face. + +"I must pay Don Garcia a visit. It is long since I saw him. I never +dreamt his little daughter had grown up so lovely. Thank Heaven, I am +rich! My jewels and wealth might tempt a queen! I need not fear +refusal from a viceroy's daughter." + +Full of complacent contentment, Tonza made hasty preparations for +leaving Diu, and that same evening saw him a welcome guest of Don +Garcia. + +He was charmed with Lianor. + +In spite of himself, a deep passionate love wakened in his heart for +her, and he determined to win her for his wife. + +First he wished to gain Don Garcia over to his side, so took an early +opportunity of speaking to him on the subject. + +The viceroy listened in grave silence, and a look of regret stole into +his eyes. + +"I am sorry," he said gently. "Why have you come too late? My child is +already betrothed." + +"To whom?" hoarsely. + +"Luiz Falcam." + +"But he is only a captain, and poor! Surely you would not sacrifice +your child to him? Think what riches I could lay at her feet! As my +wife, Lianor would be one of the most envied of women." + +"I know, and I wish now I had not been so hasty; but Luiz saved her +life, won my gratitude; then, as the price of his act, asked Lianor's +hand. I was forced to consent, as I had said I would give him whatever +he asked," with a sigh. + +"A promise gained like that is not binding. It was taking an unfair +advantage of your gratitude." + +"I do not like to break my promise, but I will do what I can for you; +I will ask Lianor, and if she cares for you more than for Luiz, she +shall wed you." + +"Thank you; and I will try hard to gain her love," Manuel answered +hopefully. + +When Lianor heard the subject of the conference between her father and +Tonza, her indignation was unbounded. + +"How can you act so dishonorably, papa?" she cried angrily, "after +betrothing me to Luiz; now, because Tonza is rich and wishes to marry +me, you would break your word." + +"But, my dear, think how different Manuel is to Falcam! He can give +you a beautiful home, and jewels such as a queen might envy, while the +captain can give you nothing." + +"He can give me a brave, loving heart, which is worth all the world to +me! No; while Luiz lives I will be true to him. No other shall steal +my love from him," firmly. + +"Is that the answer I am to give Tonza?" + +"Yes. Thank him for the great honor he has done me; but, as I cannot +marry two men, I choose the one I love--who first won my hand and +saved my life." + +When Manuel heard her answer he was filled with rage and hate. + +"So--so," he muttered, a sinister look creeping over his face, "she +will not wed me while Falcam lives. But should he die--what then?" + +To Lianor he was always gentle, trying by soft words and many little +attentions to win her regard; a very difficult task. Since her +father's conversation, she shrank as much as possible from him, hoping +he would understand her studied coldness. + +"Savitre," she said one evening, as they were dressing for a ball, +given in her honor, "that horrid man's attentions are becoming +intolerable! He will not see how I detest him, and am bound by love +and promise to another. I wish Luiz was here; he has been away so +long. I am tired of Tonza's persistence and papa's reproaches." + +"Never mind, dearest; all will be well when your brave lover returns. +Perhaps he may be even now on the way. I am sure if he knew how +terribly you were persecuted he would fly to you at once," Savitre +whispered softly. + +"I feel miserable--unhappy. Lalli, put away those robes and give me a +plain black dress. During Luiz's absence I will put on mourning, so +Tonza can read the sorrow I feel in my heart." + +"But, dear, what will your father say?" Savitre asked anxiously. + +"He will be angry, I know. But it is partly his fault I am obliged to +act thus." + +In a few minutes Lalli and Tolla had silently arrayed their young +mistress in trailing black robes, which clung softly to her beautiful +form. + +No jewelry relieved the somberness of her dress; her dark hair, thick +and long, fell like a veil over her shoulders, adding to the +mournfulness of her garb by its dusky waves. + +Below, in the handsome marble hall, stood Don Garcia and Tonza, both +watching with suppressed impatience the richly-hung staircase leading +to Lianor's apartments. + +"It is late. I hope nothing has occurred," Manuel said anxiously, +drawing the velvet curtain aside to gaze across the hall. + +Even as he did so, Lianor, leaning lightly on Satzavan's shoulder, +appeared, her graceful head held proudly erect, an expression of +supreme indifference on her face. + +Both men started with an exclamation of alarm--rage on Manuel's part. + +"What! In mourning, and for a ball?" Manuel gasped with rising +passion. + +"Lianor, what does this farce mean? Why have you disguised yourself? +How dare you disobey me when I said so particularly I wished you to +appear at your best? I have been too weakly indulgent with you, and +now you take advantage of my tenderness to disgrace me by showing my +guests your foolish infatuation for a man to whom I now wish I had +never promised your hand." + +Lianor lifted her reproachful eyes to his, her pale face, even whiter +in contrast with her somber dress, full of resolute rebellion. + +"I am not ungrateful, papa, for your kindness, but I will never forget +the promise I gave Luiz. My love is not to be bought for gold; I gave +it willingly to the man to whom you betrothed me, and, father, none of +our family have ever acted dishonorably; so I am sure you will not be +the first to break your word." + +"Do not be too sure of that, Lianor. I am more than half inclined to +make you accept Tonza, and forget your vows were ever plighted to that +pauper captain." + +"You could not be so hard, knowing how my happiness is bound up in +him. I will never, while Luiz lives, give my hand to another." + +"Thank you, Lianor; nor will Falcam let you," a deep voice broke in +suddenly, and Luiz, his face flushed with mingled pleasure and +disgust, came toward her, followed by his bosom friend, Diniz Sampayo, +a young and rich noble. + +Lianor threw herself into his arms with a glad cry, while Don Garcia +and Manuel, full of rage, stole away, leaving the lovers alone. + +"My darling, then I heard truly when they said my own dear love was +being forced to wed another. Thank Heaven, I left Diu at once, and +came to you, as your father seems inclined to listen to Manuel's +suit," Luiz said tenderly, bending to kiss the pale face. + +"I am so glad you have come, Luiz! I felt so lonely without you near +me, to give me hope and courage." + +"My poor little love! But why these robes, Lianor? I thought it was a +day of festival at the palace?" + +"I know; but I was determined, during your absence, to keep Tonza from +paying me his odious attentions by putting on mourning. He could not +fail to see where my thoughts were. Now you have returned, I will +throw them aside, and show them it is a time of rejoicing with me. +Wait, Luiz." + +With a tender smile the young lover unclasped her slender form and let +her glide swiftly away. + +But not long did he wait; soon the curtains were again lifted, and +Lianor, radiant as a bright star, in trailing robes of white and gold, +diamonds flashing on her bare arms and round her delicate throat, came +towards him. + +"My queen, my own dear love! what should I do if they took you from +me?" passionately pressing her hands to his lips. + +"They will never do that, Luiz. I am determined not to allow Tonza to +win my father over to his way of thinking." + +Manuel Tonza watched the happy lovers with bitterest hate gnawing at +his heart, deadly schemes against his fortunate rival flitting through +his subtle brain. + +Late that night, when the weary guests were parting, Tonza stole +noiselessly from the palace; and when he returned, in less than half +an hour, his face wore an expression of fiendish triumph and delight. + +He was even polite to Luiz, much to that young man's surprise, though +he doubted the sincerity of Manuel's words. + +Happy and content, after a tender adieu to Lianor, the captain left +the viceroy's palace, to seek his own apartments. + +Not far had he gone, however, when a shadow stole silently behind him, +and the next moment he felt himself suddenly grasped by powerful hands +and flung to the ground. + +Almost stunned by the fall, he was yet able to see the dark face +bending over him. + +From the shadows came another form, one he recognized. A gleaming +poignard was placed in the assassin's hand, which descended ere he +could break from that strong hold, and was buried deep in his heart. + +Guiltily two forms glided away in opposite directions, leaving Luiz, +pale and cold, lying in a stream of blood--dead! + + * * * * * + +It was still early when Lianor awoke; but in spite of the drowsiness +overpowering her, she hastily rose, and calling her maids, bade them +quickly arrange her toilet. + +"I am restless, and cannot stay longer indoors; I wish to be out in +the fresh air," she explained to Savitre, who entered soon after. + +Scarcely, however, had they arrived without the palace gates, than +Diniz Sampayo, his face pale and haggard, eyes full of fear and +anguish, came hastily to her side. + +"Donna Lianor, return to your father's house; I have something to tell +you which I dare not breathe here--it is too horrible! Prepare +yourself for a great shock, my poor child! I wish some one else had +brought the awful tidings," he cried hoarsely. + +Lianor stood perfectly still, and her eyes grew wide and her face +blanched with awakened fear. Clasping her hands piteously together, +she said: + +"Tell me now. I am brave--can bear anything! Is it Luiz? Is he ill--in +danger? Oh, Diniz, for pity's sake tell me!" + +Diniz took the trembling hands in his, and quietly bidding the others +follow, led her silently through the town, until they arrived at the +house where Luiz had taken rooms with his friend. + +"Perhaps it is best you should see him. Poor Luiz! How can I break the +awful truth to you? Your betrothed--the man you loved--is dead-- +murdered by a cowardly hand on his way home from your father's +palace!" + +Lianor grew deathly pale. + +"Dead!" she repeated, clasping her hands despairingly to her throbbing +brow. "It cannot be true! My darling dead--murdered!" + +"My poor child, it is only too true! This morning he was found, and +brought home, stabbed through the heart!" + +"But who could have done it?" Savitre asked in a low, hushed whisper. + +"I wish I knew. But, alas! that is a mystery!" + +Lianor gazed helplessly from one to the other, then, breaking from her +friend's gentle hold, staggered forward. + +"Where are you going, Lianor?" Diniz asked, anxiously. + +"To him. I must see for myself the terrible truth." + +"Can you bear it?" + +"Yes--oh, yes!" + +Very tenderly Diniz took one of the trembling hands in his, and led +her toward a darkened chamber, where, on the blue-draped bed, lay the +still form of his young friend. + +A convulsive shudder shook Lianor's slender frame as she gazed on +those handsome features set in death's awful calm; the closed eyes, +which would never look into her own again; the cold lips which would +never breathe loving words into her ear, or press her brow in fond +affection. + +She could not weep, as Savitre wept; tears refused to ease the burning +pain at her heart. Only a low moan broke from her as she threw herself +suddenly over that loved body. + +"My love--my darling! Why did I ever let you leave me? How can I live +without you?" + +"Hush, Lianor! Come, you can do nothing here. But one thing I promise +you, I will avenge his death at any cost! The murderer will be found +and punished--no matter who it is!" Diniz cried, earnestly. + +"Thank you; and if I can aid, rely on my help," Lianor murmured, +bravely. + +Then, bending reverently to press a last kiss on the pallid brow, she +allowed Diniz to lead her from the room to her own home. + +In the hall they were met by Don Garcia, in a terrible state of +anxiety for his daughter. + +"Where have you been, Lianor? What is the matter? You look ill! And +what is that?" pointing to a vivid red stain which marred the white +purity of her dress. + +A low, delirious laugh broke from the girl's pale lips, and, +stretching out her arms, she waved Don Garcia back. + +"Do not touch me!" she cried, hoarsely. "He--my love, my darling--is +dead! See, his life-blood stains my hands--my robe! Oh, heavens, that +I should have lived to know such agony!" + +She stopped; the outstretched arms fell inertly down, the graceful +head drooped, and without one cry or moan, Lianor fell heavily to the +ground--unconscious. + +"Explain, Savitre--Sampayo, what means this strange raving? Who is +dead?" Don Garcia said, fearfully. + +"It means that Luiz Falcam was found murdered this morning! Your +daughter went to see him for the last time, and returns, overcome with +grief and sorrow." + +Without a word, but very white, the viceroy carried his child to her +room, and left her in the care of Savitre and her two attendants, +while he went to find the particulars of Falcam's tragic end. + +For days and weeks Lianor kept to her rooms, seeing no one except her +father and Sampayo, whom she looked upon as the avenger of Luiz. + +Long and tenderly was her lover's memory sorrowed over, until the once +beautiful girl was but a mere wraith. + +A few weeks later Don Garcia himself was taken ill, and one day, +feeling slightly better, he sent for his daughter, to whom he wished +to speak on important business. + +He was not kept long waiting. Lianor soon appeared, looking like a +crushed flower in her somber robes. + +"You wished to see me, papa?" + +"Yes, Lianor; but you can almost guess for what. You know how much I +desire to see you wedded to my friend; a man who loves you and will +make you happy. I shall not live long, of that I feel sure. Manuel +Tonza has waited patiently, and I think it is only right you give him +hope. To-day you will accept his hand, and in another week, with my +consent, you will become his wife." + +Lianor reeled against the bed, and held firmly to the silken curtains +to prevent herself falling. + +"Do you mean this, father? His wife--when he murdered Luiz?" + +"What nonsense are you saying, child? Do not let me hear you speak +like this again. What motive could a wealthy man like Tonza have in +getting rid of one of his own employes? Grief has turned your brain. +Cast aside those weird garments, and in three hours be ready to +receive your future husband." + +A low, gasping cry fell on his ears as he finished speaking, and he +turned in time to see the slight figure sway to and fro, then fall +heavily to the ground. + +But what use was her feeble strength against the powerful wills of two +determined men? + +Ere the day was over, Lianor, with a heart full of bitter, despairing +grief for Luiz, was bound by a sacred promise to a man whom she knew +to be both bad and selfish--whom she hated! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +In one of the many straggling streets, almost hidden behind a few +large shops of curious build, stood a small boutique full of ancient +relics and jeweled bric-a-brac. + +Inside, seated by the counter, writing in a large ledger, was an old +man, whose hooked nose and piercing eyes proclaimed him at once to be +from the tribe of Israel. + +This Jew, Phenee, was not alone. Flitting about the shop, arranging +the antique curiosities, was a young and very beautiful girl, with +delicate features and lustrous, black eyes. + +"Can I help you, grandfather?" the girl asked, suddenly stopping +before the desk, and leaning both dimpled arms on the dusty book. + +"No, no, Miriam; I have almost finished. Leave me for a few moments' +quiet." + +Miriam sank gently on a high chair, and drooping her head pensively on +her hand, sat for some time in unbroken silence, gazing out through +the open door at the motley crowds passing by. + +Suddenly a dusky form, clad in the garb of a fisherman, entered, and +drawing near Phenee, glanced nervously around. + +"I wish to sell that. How much will you give me for it?" laying a +jeweled poignard, with a golden chain attached, on the desk. + +Phenee took it up and examined it attentively, then looked searchingly +at the man. + +Satisfied at his scrutiny, the Jew named a very low price, one which +his customer had some hesitation in accepting; but at last, seeing +Phenee was obdurate, he took the offered money, and glided off like a +spectre. + +"What a curious poignard, and how pretty!" Miriam said, lifting it +from the scales, where Phenee had placed it. "I am surprised he took +so little for it." + +"I'm not. One can't offer too little for stolen goods." + +"Do you think this is stolen?" + +"I am sure it is. That man never came honestly by it." + +Scarcely had the poignard been put on one side, when two young men, +handsomely dressed, entered the shop, and asked for some emeralds. + +"While you are choosing, I will have a look round at all these +curiosities, Miguel," the youngest of the men remarked. + +"As you like; I shan't be long, Diniz." + +Sampayo nodded, and commenced his search, turning over every object +that took his fancy, aided by Miriam. + +"I will show you something very curious--a poignard strangely +fashioned," the girl said, drawing the weapon her grandfather had just +bought from its hiding place. + +Diniz took it up and examined it attentively, then a low cry broke +from his lips, and his face grew pale. + +"Where did you get this?" + +"I have just bought it. It is a very pretty toy for a gentleman," +Phenee broke in persuasively. + +With almost eager haste Diniz bargained for the poignard, and at last +managed to bring the Jew down to ten times the sum he had given the +fisherman. + +After his friend, Miguel Reale, had chosen the jewels he wanted, Diniz +hurried him away. + +Not many hours later, as the young Jewess sat alone, her grandfather +having gone some distance off on business, she was startled by Sampayo +suddenly reappearing, a look of intense anxiety on his face. + +"Senora," he said politely, drawing from his breast the poignard, "can +you tell me from whom your father bought this?" + +"I do not know his name, but I believe he is a fisherman and lives in +yonder village," Miriam answered simply. + +"Should you know him again? Pardon my asking, but it is very important +I should discover the owner of this weapon. By doing so I may be able +to bring a murderer to meet his doom, and avenge the death of my best +friend!" + +Miriam gazed at him compassionately, a serious light in her dark eyes. + +"I will help you," she said suddenly, moved as it were by a strange +impulse; "I have long wished for occupation--some useful work, though +I should have liked something less terrible than helping to trace a +murderer; still, I will aid you if I can." + +"Thank you. But if he never came here again?" + +"I shall not wait for that. To-morrow I will visit those huts in which +the fishermen dwell; I may then find the man who sold the poignard, or +at least a clew to the mystery." + +Diniz took one of the small hands in his, and pressed it reverently to +his lips. + +"You will not go alone; I will be your companion. Together we shall +work better. But your father will he consent to your accompanying me?" + +"My grandfather loves me too dearly, and trusts me too fully, to +refuse me anything. He need not know the errand upon which I am bent," +a faint blush rising to her cheeks. + +After making all necessary arrangements for the next day, Sampayo left +the Jewess, to wait impatiently until the hour arrived for him to +start on his melancholy errand. + +It was still early when he left the crowed streets, to walk quickly in +the direction of a small fishing village, some distance off. + +Half way he saw the tall, graceful figure of a young girl, whose long +veil of soft silky gauze hid her face from passers-by. He recognized +her at once--it was the beautiful Jewess. So, hastening his steps, he +soon stood before her. + +"Senora," he said gently. + +The girl started, turned, then smiled through the screening folds of +gray. + +"It is you? I was afraid you would not come," in a relieved tone. + +"I am too anxious to find that man, to lose the chance you have so +kindly given me. I only hope I am not putting you to any +inconvenience," Diniz said, gallantly. + +"Not at all. I am only too happy to be of some use," earnestly. + +For many hours they wandered about from house to house, Miriam having +armed herself with a large sum of money, hoping by acts of charity to +gain access into the poor dwellings. + +They were almost despairing of finding a clew to the whereabouts of +the fisherman, when three little children, poor and hungry-looking, +playing outside a tiny hut, attracted Miriam's attention. + +Stooping, she spoke gently to the little things, and won from them the +tale of their excessive poverty, which she promised to relieve if they +would take her to their mother. + +This they willingly did, and Miriam found a pale, delicate-looking +woman, who, notwithstanding the raggedness of her dress, still bore +traces of having been at one time different to a poor fisherman's +wife. + +Encouraged by the soft tones of her mysterious visitor, the woman +gradually unburdened her troubled heart by telling her the history of +her wretched life; how she had been doomed to follow her husband, an +Indian chief, to death; but, loving life better, she escaped with her +little children, but would have died of hunger on the seashore if +Jarima, her second husband, had not rescued her and offered her his +name and home. + +"He is very good to me and my children; the past seems but a dream +now. If only we had money, all would be well." + +Miriam, with a few gentle, consoling words, slipped a few bright coins +into the tiny brown hands of the astonished babies; then, with a sigh, +she bade the grateful mother adieu and went out to where Diniz was +waiting. + +He read by her face that she had no better tidings, and, drawing her +hand through his arm, he turned away. + +"Will it never come--the proof I want?" he said, half bitterly. + +Scarcely had the words left his lips when a glad cry of "Father!" rent +the air, and three small forms bounded over the white shingle towards +a tall man, dressed in white linen. + +Almost convulsively Miriam pressed Sampayo's arm to arrest his hasty +steps. + +"We need go no farther," she whispered. "That is the man you want; and +if he is that woman's husband, his name is Jarima." + +"Thank Heaven! To-morrow he will be arrested and the truth +discovered," Diniz muttered. + +Silently they watched the man walk towards his humble home, the +children clinging lovingly to his hands. The woman came forward with a +bright smile, holding up her face to receive his caress. + +"There can be no doubt. It is Jarima, and the man who sold the +poignard." + +"Luiz's murderer," Diniz added between his set teeth. + +Almost feverishly Sampayo hurried Miriam away. He was anxious to tell +Lianor of his success, and bring the assassin to justice. + +Some distance from the Jew's shop he bade Miriam adieu, promising to +call and let her know the result. + +On reaching Don Garcia's palace Diniz was surprised at the sounds of +bright music, mingled with happy voices, that floated on the air. + +Satzavan was the first to meet him, and he went forward with a +welcoming smile. + +"Where is Lianor?" Diniz asked anxiously, glancing round the deserted +halls. + +"In the grounds. Don Garcia has his home full of guests in honor of +his daughter's betrothal with Manuel Tonza." + +"Lianor betrothed, and to him!" in consternation. + +"Yes," sadly; "her father has commanded her to accept him, and, since +she lost poor Falcam, she is indifferent whom she weds." + +"But Tonza above all other men!" bitterly. + +With a dark shadow on his brow, Diniz followed the young Indian into +the spacious grounds, where Lianor, surrounded by many richly-dressed +ladies, was sitting. + +"I cannot speak to her before all those people. Go, Satzavan, and +bring her to me." + +The youth darted off obediently, and presently returned to the tree +where Diniz stood almost hidden by its shady branches, leading Lianor, +whose face wore a look of some wonder. + +"Diniz, is it really you? Have you brought me any news?" she asked +eagerly. + +Sampayo took her outstretched hand and kissed it reverently. + +"Yes," he said softly; "good news." + +"What is it? Tell me!" + +"I have discovered the man who, I think, struck the blow by +instigation of the real murderer. Until he is taken I can do nothing +further." + +"But who is he? How did you find him?" + +"He is a poor fisherman, named Jarima, and it was through a young +Jewess, Phenee's grandchild, to whom the poignard was sold, I found +him." + +"That was very good of her to help you." + +"It was, indeed. The whole morning she has searched with me for the +man, and at last our labor was rewarded. To-morrow Jarima will be +under arrest." + +As the words left his lips, a sudden movement amongst the trees +startled them. + +"I am sure that was some one," Lianor cried, turning pale, and +clasping Diniz's arm. + +Satzavan glided noiselessly away, but soon returned to say no one had +passed by. + +Possibly the noise was occasioned by the wind rustling through the +leaves. + +"Very likely," Lianor said quietly, "though it made me nervous. +Suppose any one overheard us?" + +"Rest assured, dear, that nothing now can come between me and my +revenge. But, Lianor, is it true you are betrothed to Tonza?" + +"Yes, Diniz, it is true. Papa has commanded me to accept him. I hate +him; but now poor Luiz is dead, I care not who becomes my husband," +hopelessly. + +"I wish it were other than Tonza, Lianor. I cannot trust him; nor will +I believe but what he had a hand in Luiz's death." + +"That is what I think, but papa says it is only fancy; Manuel is too +upright to do such a treacherous thing." + +A silvery laugh broke suddenly on the silence which had fallen between +them, and Savitre, leaning lightly on Panteleone's arm, stood before +them. + +The rajah's young widow made a strange contrast to Lianor, gay with +rich colors. + +Judging from Panteleone's ardent gaze, he, at least, saw some beauty +in the dusky, changing face. + +"What, Sampayo! I did not know you were here," the young man cried +gladly, seizing Diniz's hand in a warm grip. "Have you brought good +news?" + +"Yes, better than I expected," Diniz answered; and briefly recounted +the success which had attended his morning's search. + +"I do not wish to meet your father to-night, Lianor; until this +business is settled, I could not enter into any amusement. First, I +will go to Henrique Ferriera, the magistrate, and arrange with him +about Jarima's capture." + +"But you will come to-morrow, will you not--to tell me the result?" +Lianor asked anxiously. + +"Assuredly; unless anything serious prevents me." + +"Thank you," she murmured gratefully. + +A kind hand-pressure from all, and Sampayo walked quickly away; while +Lianor, her heart somewhat lightened by this news, returned to her +father's guests with Satzavan. + +Savitre would have followed, but Panteleone held her back with a few +whispered words, and, nothing loth, the little widow sauntered with +him through the shady grounds, apart from the rest. + +"Savitre," Leone said suddenly, "would you be willing to leave your +country--to go with me to Portugal?" + +Savitre gazed at him in some wonderment. + +"Surely you are not thinking of leaving India?" she cried, a sudden +anxiety dawning in her dark eyes. + +"Yes; my father wishes me to return, and as soon as Lianor is married +we are going." + +The girl remained silent; only a few pearly tears rolled down her +cheeks. + +"Savitre, dearest one, do not weep! Would it be so dreadful for you to +quit the country?" + +"It is not that," with a stifled sob; "but I had not thought of your +leaving us, or the friendship between us being broken." + +"Nor will it, my darling! Don't you understand? I love you too dearly +to give you up; I want you to be my wife, so that none can part us. +Say my hopes are not all in vain!" + +A vivid flush mantled the clear, dark skin, and the lustrous eyes +drooped in confusion. + +"You really mean that? You love me, a girl who is not even of your own +kind?" + +"I love you with all my heart and soul. Ever since the day when It +drew you half-fainting from off the already lighted pile, I have felt +my affection growing deeper and deeper, until it has absorbed my whole +being. My happiness is never complete unless I am near you. Tell me, +darling, that you return my love!" "How could I help but love you--you +who saved my life? Oh, Leone, you cannot think how proud I am at being +chosen by you before all others!" + +With a joyous exclamation, Panteleone drew her to his breast, pressing +passionate kisses on her brow, cheeks, and lips, his heart thrilling +with rapture at the realization of his dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The next morning a small band of soldiers, headed by Henrique +Ferriera, wound their way toward the humble home of Jarima. + +On arriving, they found to their astonishment the door fastened close, +and no one to answer their knock. + +"Never mind, break it down," Henrique said, roughly. + +In obedience a few heavy blows fell on the woodwork, which soon gave +way beneath their force. + +Stepping over the scattered splinters, Henrique saw a sight which +filled him with horror. + +Crouching on the bare floor, her hands twined convulsively in her long +hair, was a woman, with three sleeping children leaning against her. + +On a hard straw mattress, almost in shadow, lay Jarima, his face +covered with blood, which oozed in streams from his mouth. + +Henrique gazed for an instant on the awful sight, then turned towards +his men. + +"We have arrived a little too late; blind men cannot see, or dumb ones +tell tales. Some horrible wretch has done this deed, fearful of his +betraying them. I wonder who?" + +The woman, when questioned, could tell them nothing. She only knew her +husband had been brought home in his present condition at daybreak, +and remained unconscious since. + +"I regret to say it is our painful duty to take him; every care will +be given him. He is suspected of having murdered Luiz Falcam." + +"No, no; you are mistaken! It is some one else, not he. Jarima was +much too gentle to kill any one!" the woman cried, passionately. + +Her prayers and supplications were unavailing. Henrique was obliged to +do his duty, and bade his men take the suffering man to prison. + +Some hours later, as Diniz stood in his room, just before setting out +in search of Henrique, that man entered the house, followed by several +soldiers. + +"Diniz Sampayo, I arrest you on the charge of having stolen a +poignard, set with jewels, from Manuel Tonza de Sepulveda." + +Diniz started, and flushed angrily. + +"I steal? When you know it is the weapon I bought from Phenee, the +Jew, as proof against the murderer." + +"So you said; but we have heard another tale to that. Anyhow, if you +are innocent, you will be set free as soon as you are tried." + +"But the man Jarima? Have you not been for him?" + +"Yes, but he is useless; when we arrived, some one had been before us, +and not only blinded him, but cut out his tongue, so that he could not +speak." + +"How horrible! How could any one have been so cold-blooded?" Diniz +gasped, turning pale. + +"Evidently it was done for some purpose. But come, Sampayo, I cannot +wait here." + +"Will nothing I say convince you I am innocent? If innocence gives +strength, I shall soon be at liberty." + +Henrique smiled scornfully, and hurried the young man away. + +"You will not be alone; your prison-cell is shared by another--Phenee, +the Jew. An old friend of yours, is he not?" Henrique asked. + +"Friend--no! I have only spoken to him once in my life. What is he +arrested for?" + +"Being a receiver of stolen goods," grimly. + +Diniz thought suddenly of Miriam, and wondered how she would bear this +blow. Her only relative and dearly-loved parent torn from her side, to +linger in a damp cell. How bitterly he blamed himself for having been +the cause of Phenee's capture! If he had not disclosed the secret of +Phenee having bought the poignard from Jarima, no one would have +suspected him. + +"Poor girl! She will regret now having helped a stranger, who, in +return, has brought her only grief and desolation," he murmured, +sorrowfully. + +Miriam passed nearly three days in sad thought, when her solitary +mourning was broken by the visit of a thickly-veiled woman, whose low, +sweet tones fell like softest music on Miriam's ear. + +"Are you alone?" she asked, glancing questioningly round the room. + +"Yes. Did you want me?" + +"I do, very badly. I remembered only to-day that you once proved a +true friend to Diniz Sampayo, and I came to know if you would again +aid him?" throwing back her veil, and disclosing a pale, sweet face, +stamped by deepest grief. + +"Diniz Sampayo! But is he, then, in need of help--in danger?" a sudden +fear lighting up her face. + +"Yes, he is in prison," sadly. + +"You are sure? How can it be possible? What has he done?" in amazed +wonder. + +"He has done nothing. Only his enemies have thrown the suspicion of +his having stolen a poignard from Manuel Tonza--a poignard which I +know he bought here. It is my fault this has happened. It was to +avenge the death of the man I loved--his dearest friend--that he +placed his life in peril!" + +"I remember well. It is quite true he bought it here, soon after +Jarima, the fisherman, had sold it to my grandfather. He, poor dear, +is also in sorrow, imprisoned for having received stolen goods, as if +he could tell when things are stolen!" indignantly. + +"I am very sorry, Miriam; but if you help me, you will help your +grandfather also," Lianor urged gently. + +"I will!" Miriam cried firmly; "I will never give up until I have them +both safely outside that odious prison!" + +Lianor gazed with grateful affection at the girl's expressive face, +which now wore such a look of determined courage. + +"If I can do anything, let me know directly," Lianor said, gently. +"Gold may perhaps be useful, and I have much." + +"Thank you, but I am rich; and I know grandfather would lose all, +rather than his liberty. You are Don Garcia's daughter, are you not?" + +"Yes," somewhat sadly. "You know me?" + +"By sight, yes." + +"I shall see you again, I hope," Lianor said, as Miriam followed her +to the door. "You will tell me of your success or failure?" + +"Yes; I will come or write." + +When her charming visitor had gone, Miriam returned to her seat, a +pained expression on her bright face. + +"He also there. Poor Diniz! But I will save him yet," determinedly. + +Hastily opening a heavy iron box, she drew out a handful of gold. + +Placing this in her pocket, she softly left the house, and scarcely +knowing what instinct prompted her, she hurried towards a small hotel +not far from the sea. + +"Can you tell me," she began breathlessly to a sunburnt man standing +near, "if there are any ships leaving here to-morrow?" + +"I don't know, senora. I will inquire," he answered politely, and +after an absence of about ten minutes, he returned to say "that +Captain Moriz, of the Eagle, was even then preparing for departure on +the morrow." + +"Where does he live?" Miriam said, eagerly. + +"He is staying at this hotel at present." + +"Do you think I could see him? It is very important." + +"I dare say. You can at least try," smilingly. + +The Jewess thanked her good-natured commissioner, and lightly ascended +the steps. + +"I wish to see Captain Moriz. Is he in?" + +"I think so," the man answered after one quick glance at Miriam; "I +will inquire." + +Miriam waited with growing impatience until the man returned, and was +relieved when she heard that the captain was not only there, but would +see her. + +With wildly beating heart the girl followed her conductor to a large, +darkly-furnished room, where, by a table scattered with papers, sat a +tall, bronzed seaman. + +"I believe you are leaving India to-morrow? Would you mind telling me +where you are going?" + +"To Africa," a look of surprise crossing his face. + +"Are you going to take passengers?" + +"That was not my intention." + +"But if any one asked you, would you refuse?" + +"I don't know. I did not want any one on board," Moriz answered +uneasily. + +"If you knew it would do some one a great service? I am rich, and +would pay you well; so do not hesitate on that account." + +"Is it you who wish to go?" + +Miriam blushed, and bit her lip angrily. She had not intended to +betray her secret so soon. + +"Yes, it is I, and two other people. Will you take us, and set us down +on one of those small islands on the coast, where no one would find +us?" + +Moriz hesitated; but he could not withstand the eager pleading in the +slumbrous eyes, the intense pathos in the sweet voice. + +"Yes," he said at last, very slowly, "I will take you on board; but +you must be ready by to-morrow night. I cannot wait for stragglers," +trying to force much severity into his tones. + +"Oh, thank you! I am content now. Do not fear; we shall be in time. +Until then adieu," she said softly. + +And, with a graceful bow, she departed. + +Her next step was in the direction where Phenee was confined. + +She found no difficulty in finding the jailer, a hard-looking man +enough, though Miriam thought she could see a gentle expression in his +eyes when they rested on two young children, whose pale, wasted +features gave evidence of close confinement in that dreary place. + +"I may win him yet by those little ones," she murmured; "gold will +have power to touch his heart for their sakes." + +"You wished to see me, senora?" + +"Yes. I want you to answer a few questions. First, have you not got +Phenee, the Jew, and Diniz Sampayo here?" + +"Yes, senora." + +"Are they together?" + +"No, senora." + +"Could it be possible for you to set them free, without fear of +detection?" eagerly. + +"Yes, senora; but I am not a traitor." + +"But think, Vincent: my poor grandfather has done no harm, and he will +perish in that horrible place, though innocent. And the Senor Sampayo, +as I have proof, bought the poignard himself from my grandfather. Why, +then, should you say he stole it?" indignantly. + +"It is not I who accused him; my duty here is to guard the prisoners-- +not to try them." + +"Vincent," Miriam continued, in a low, pleading voice, "you are poor; +your little children are pining for want of fresh, pure air. I am +rich, and can give you enough money to live in comfort away from this +close den. Release my friends, and the power of saving your children +shall be yours. Look!" drawing one of the wondering girls to her side, +"see how pale and thin she is! Can you refuse my offer when the lives +of those you love depend upon it?" + +Vincent felt the truth of her words, and knew the only things he +cherished on earth, those innocent children, were slowly fading and +pining away for want of fresh air. + +The man raised his head, and glanced earnestly at the moved expressive +face, then in a low, hoarse voice he muttered: + +"Be it so. I will help the prisoners to escape. I cannot see my little +ones dying before my eyes, when an opportunity is given me to save +them." + +"Then to-morrow at sunset you will bring them to the Golden Lion, I +will be there, ready with the money." + +"I will not fail, senora. May Heaven forgive me if I am doing wrong!" + +After a few instructions, the happy girl went swiftly away, but ere +she had moved far, she returned, and paused before Vincent. + +"I forgot to ask you about that poor man, Jarima," she said, gravely. + +"He did not live long, senora, after he was brought here." + +"And his wife--children?" + +"Of them I know nothing," he answered quietly. + +Ere she continued her homeward way, Miriam sped swiftly toward +Jarima's poor home, and knocked gently at the door. It was opened by +the eldest of the three children, and forcing a purse of money into +his brown hand, the girl whispered sweetly: + +"For your mother, little one; from a friend," then moved silently +away, hurrying homeward to await patiently for the long hours to pass, +ere her grandfather would be released. + +Vincent, true to his word, gathered his few belongings together, and +when the evening came, went softly to the cells in which his prisoners +lay, and, setting them free, told them to follow him. + +Wondering, yet glad, Phenee, leaning on Diniz's arm for support, +slowly obeyed the jailer, who, accompanied by his two children, led +them toward the hotel Miriam had named. + +There, sure enough, the young Jewess was waiting, and after tenderly +embracing Phenee, and smiling softly at Diniz, she turned to Vincent +and placed a bag of gold in his hand. + +"This is your reward. May you and your little ones live in happiness!" +she said earnestly. + +"We leave Goa to-night, senora. My life would be worth nothing if I +stayed here after this. Good-by, and thank you for your generosity." + +Miriam hastened her grandfather to the ship, shocked at his +feebleness; but for Sampayo he would scarcely have been able to get +there. + +Only once he spoke to the girl ere he retired to his cabin for the +night. + +"The money and jewels, Miriam--what have you done with them?" + +"They are here, grandfather. I brought everything of value away with +me." + +"That is right, child. You are a good girl!" + +Miriam stood rather sadly beside the bulwarks, gazing at the land in +which she had been born, and which she was now leaving forever. + +A low sigh broke from her lips. + +"Why do you sigh? Are you sorry to quit your native land?" a voice +whispered in her ear. + +"Yes; though for my grandfather's sake I cannot deeply regret it," +Miriam answered, gazing at Diniz with tear-dimmed eyes. + +"I have not thanked you yet for having released me from that dreadful +place, or even a worse doom. I am still scarcely able to realize my +good fortune. What made you, a stranger, think of one whom all others +had forgotten?" + +"Not all. It was Donna Lianor who told me where you were, and asked me +to help you," Miriam said, blushing beneath his tender, grateful gaze. +"Besides, I looked upon you as a friend," almost inaudibly. + +"That is what I want to be--your friend. And Lianor--how is she?-- +well?" + +"As well as it is possible to be under the heavy trial she went +through this morning. She was married to Manuel Tonza," sadly. + +"Poor girl! Poor Lianor! Hers is indeed an unhappy lot!" Diniz +murmured pityingly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +In a large, handsome room, overlooking a shining river, now ablaze +with sunshine, sat a beautiful woman, wearing on her face unmistakable +signs of sadness. + +She scarcely heeded the opening door, until two pretty children came +bounding to her side, clambering onto her chair and lap. + +Then her face changed, and a sweet, tender smile chased away all +gloom; the idle hands were busy now stroking the curly heads pressed +so close against her. + +"I would have brought them to you before, but their father wished to +keep them; he is always so happy when they are near," a little, +dark-eyed woman, clad in picturesque robes of brilliant crimson and gold, +said rapidly, as she threw herself down on a pile of soft cushions +opposite the sweet, pale mother. + +Lianor sighed, but she could not look sad long with those loved +children clasped in her arms. + +"I cannot understand Manuel," she said, with a puzzled expression in +her eyes; "he is so strange, sometimes gay--almost too gay; then he +relapses into a gloomy, brooding apathy, from which even the children +have no power to rouse him." + +"But you have. He is never too morose to have a smile for you. I +think, sometimes, he feels lonely. You are bound to him, yet your +heart is as unresponsive to his passionate love as if you were +strangers," Savitre said, thoughtfully. + +"Do you think so, Savitre? I am indeed sorry; but you know how +impossible it is to forget my first love. I like Manuel, but beyond +that, affection--except for my darlings--is dead; buried in Luiz's +grave." + +"Hush! here comes Manuel," Savitre whispered, warningly. + +It was indeed Manuel, older and graver-looking than of yore, with a +deep melancholy in his eyes, brought there only by intense suffering. + +Savitre, on his entrance, softly glided from the room, leaving husband +and wife alone. + +"Lianor," he began, a bright smile lighting up his face as he bent to +kiss her fair brow, "I have been thinking, and am resolved to quit +India and return to Portugal. I have been here long enough. Don't you +think that will be pleasant, dearest?" + +"Nothing would please me more," Lianor cried, delightedly. "The +greatest wish of my life is to see Portugal once more, to show our +country to our children," bending to kiss her tiny daughter's face. + +"Then it will be granted. Prepare to start as soon as possible. Now, I +am determined to leave here. Something seems to urge me to go at +once." + +Only too anxious, Lianor began her arrangements. + +Savitre, who had never cared to leave her friend before, even to +become Panteleone's bride, entered into the preparations with +unconcealed eagerness. + +She had faithfully promised her lover that, once in Portugal, she +would, with his father's approval, marry him. + +Lianor felt no regret at leaving India, except for a loved grave--her +father's--which she had so carefully tended. + +Not many days after, Manuel Tonza, his wife, children, Panteleone, and +Savitre, accompanied by several faithful servants, including Lalli and +Tolla, embarked in a fine stately ship, which was to bear them in +safety to their home. + +Tonza seemed full of joy as he saw the last lines of the Indian coast +disappear. He had rarely appeared so happy since his marriage with +Lianor five years before. + +For several days the good ship went steadily on her way, until one +night a terrific storm arose, and the vessel, heedless of the human +cargo it was bearing, drifted onward at the mercy of the tempest. + +Tonza, holding Lianor and his children closely to him, stood silently +dismayed, scarcely able to realize the awful danger which lay before +him and those he loved. + +Still onward, through the almost impenetrable darkness, went the +doomed ship, until, as the dense shadows began to clear and the storm +to cease, a sudden shock was felt by all--she had struck against some +rocks and was slowly sinking! + +"We must be somewhere near land," the captain cried, his voice +sounding above the roaring waters. + +By aid of the fast-breaking dawn, they could see the line of high, +dark rocks, upon which the ship had met her fate. + +With much difficulty and peril, under the captain's cool directions, +the crew managed at last to leave the sinking vessel, not without much +loss of life. Out of nearly five hundred only a few arrived in safety, +amongst whom were Tonza, his wife, children, Savitre, and Panteleone. + +When the day broke in calm splendor, the sun shown upon a mournful +sight--a group of shipwrecked men and women. + +No sign of habitation met their view; only a weary waste of bare land, +sheltered by a few trees, from whose branches hung a goodly supply of +fruit. + +"If we go farther inland, we are sure to find some natives, if only +savages," Tonza remarked gravely; and followed by the men, he +commenced the long, weary way. + +Lianor, pale but firm, holding in her arms her little daughter, walked +beside him, heedless of the fatigue which oppressed her and made her +long to sink upon the sandy ground to rest. + +Onward they went, never pausing to rest their tired feet until, as the +day was about to decline, they came to a deep waterfall, over which +they had to cross. No easy task, as the only means of doing so was by +an uneven path, made from a line of rocks, on either side of which the +boiling waters poured in terrific fury. + +Tonza--who, now the captain had perished, placed himself at the head +of the crew--was the first to put his foot upon the crossing; then, +turning to the people, he said: + +"Be careful, and not glance behind or down, or you will lose your +balance and fall." + +Lianor, who, by her husband's wish, had given her child to one of the +men, followed closely behind Manuel, who held his boy in his arms. + +Silently, without daring to murmur one word, the men walked bravely +onward. + +They were nearly half way across. + +Manuel had indeed touched firm ground, when a sudden cry from her +little girl made Lianor turn in affright to see what ailed her. + +That move was fatal; the next instant she had lost her footing and +fallen into the dashing torrent. + +With a despairing shriek Manuel stopped, and had not some one held him +back, would have dashed in after his wife. Panteleone, who saw a +chance of saving her, quickly slipped over the side, caught her in his +aims as she was about to sink, then bore her to land. + +Forgetful of all others, Manuel threw himself beside her still form, +from which all life seemed to have fled, calling wildly on her name, +pressing passionate kisses on her cold face, hoping by the warmth of +his caresses to bring back the color to her cheeks. + +But it was useless; Lianor was dead; her head having struck against a +rock, caused instant unconsciousness, from which they could not rouse +her. + +When Tonza realized the awful truth he rose to his feet, pale and +haggard, his eyes full of despairing anguish. + +"It is just; my sin is punished. My wife, the only thing I loved on +earth, for whose sake I committed crime, is taken from me! She alone +had power to make me happy; without her I cannot live. It is time I +confessed all, and you shall be my judges. It was I who caused the +death of Luiz Falcam, that I might win his betrothed; and when I heard +that Diniz Sampayo had discovered partly the truth, I had him thrown +into prison on suspicion of having stolen the very poignard with which +Luiz had met his death--one that I myself had placed in the assassin's +hand! You all know how he escaped, but he is an exile for my fault. If +ever you should see him, tell him his innocence is established; he can +return to India in peace. You have heard my story, now judge me;" and +with arms crossed over his breast, his head bowed in deepest grief and +humility, he waited his sentence. + +A dead hush fell over the group, broken only by the suppressed sobs of +Savitre, who was crouching beside Lianor, and the pitiful moans of the +little girl dying in one of the rough seamen's arms. + +At last Pantaleone, a look of compassion on his face, went towards his +friend, and, laying his head on Tonza's shoulder, said gently: + +"My cousin, you have sinned, but God has sent your punishment; that is +sufficient. Live to devote your life to bringing up the little +motherless children left to you. Restore Sampayo to his own again; +then try, by true repentance, to atone for the wrong you did him." + +Tonza raised his head, and glanced gratefully at Panteleone; but his +eyes were full of firm resolution none could understand. + +"You are good, but my life is worth nothing, now she has gone. See, +this poor babe will soon follow her mother. Garcia I leave to you; he +is too young to realize his loss; but never let him know his father's +sin!" he exclaimed hoarsely; and, after pressing his boy tightly to +his breast, kissed the dying child; then softly lifting Lianor in his +arms, he first pressed his lips reverently on her pale brow, and, +before any one could prevent him, or realize what he was about to do, +he had sprang from the rock into the deep torrent, and disappeared +with his precious burden from their view. + +A cry of horror burst from the lips of all present, and many efforts +were made to find their bodies; but in vain. + +With saddened hearts the people turned away, and continued their +journey, praying they might ere long find help and shelter. + +Before the day had closed another soul had winged its flight to +Heaven, and the tiny waxen form of Lianor's baby-girl left in its last +resting-place in the golden sand. + +A small wooden house, surrounded by sweet-scented flowers of brightest +hue, amongst which a beautiful, dark-eyed woman was softly gliding, +culling large clusters of the delicate blossoms. + +As she stopped to gather a few rich carnations, singing in a low, +musical voice, a man, young and handsome, slipped from beneath the +pretty porch, and walking noiselessly behind her, suddenly lifted her +in his strong arms, pressing the slight form tenderly to his breast. + +"Take care, Diniz," she cried, warningly, a ring of deepest joy +thrilling her clear voice. "You will spoil all my flowers!" + +"Except the fairest of all--yourself. Ah, Miriam, my darling! how +happy we have been since that day when you so generously saved me from +a felon's doom!" rapturously kissing the beautiful, dark face so near +his own. + +Their bliss was broken by a crowd of brown-skinned people, moving +toward the cottage, seemingly acting under some emotion. + +"What has happened? What is it?" husband and wife cried +simultaneously. + +"We have seen a party of white men, doubtlessly shipwrecked on the +coast, coming in this direction. They are even now in sight," one man +said quickly. + +Diniz flushed, and his eyes grew bright with suppressed joy. + +"Perhaps some of our countrymen, Miriam. Let us hasten forward to +welcome them," he cried eagerly; and leading his wife, while the crowd +followed curiously behind, Sampayo hurried in the direction from +whence the strangers were coming. + +It was not long before they met the tired crew, now dwindled to about +twenty, many having perished on the way. + +As Diniz stepped towards the first stranger, on whose arm leaned a +young and beautiful woman, a low cry burst from his lips. + +"Panteleone!" he gasped, "is it really you?" + +"What, Diniz!" and the two friends, separated for so long a time, +warmly clasped hands. + +"But how comes it that you are like this?" + +Panteleone briefly related their voyage from India, and the disastrous +end. Tears shone in his eyes when he recounted the sad death of Lianor +and her husband. + +"Poor, poor girl! How sorry I am!" Diniz said mournfully, while +Miriam, scarcely able to repress her sobs, drew Lianor's orphan boy in +her arms, and bore him to their pretty home. + +"You are welcome--all!" Sampayo said gently, turning to the +haggard-looking seamen. "Come." + +A few days later a grand old ship, bound for Portugal, started from +that coast, bearing the wrecked crew to their former destination. + +Amongst those on board were Diniz and his wife (Phenee had long since +joined his forefathers), who, now his innocence was made known, had no +longer the fear of being imprisoned, and could return in safety to his +native land. + +Panteleone's father received Savitre with almost paternal love, and +some months after their arrival, when their mourning for poor Lianor +was lessened, the two faithful hearts became one. + +Little Garcia, Tonza's son, was tenderly nurtured in their tranquil +home, and the aunt he loved so dearly became a second mother, +replacing the one he had lost. + +No shadow of his father's sin darkened his young life; he lived +unconscious of the sad fate of his mother, who, won by crime, by her +death avenged Luiz Falcam, for, through her, Manuel Tonza had atoned +for all. + +THE END. + + + + +The latest Works of the most popular Authors. + +HER FATAL SIN; A WOMAN'S LOVE; THE TRAGEDY OF REDMOUNT. + by Mrs. M.E. Holmes. + +BOUND BY A SPELL, by Hugh Conway + +FORCED APART, OR EXILED BY FATE, by Morris Redwing. + +DYKE DARREL, THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE; A LIFE FOR A LIFE, OR + THE DETECTIVE'S TRIUMPH; $5000 REWARD; OR CORNERED + AT LAST, by Frank Pinkerton. + +HONOR BRIGHT, AND TWENTY CRUSOES, by Dwight Weldon. + +A GOLDEN HEART, by Charlotte M. Braeme. + +A HOUSE PARTY, by Ouida. + +LADY VALWORTH'S DIAMONDS; MILDRED TREVANION, + by the Duchess. + +FOR SALE EVERYWHERE. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective, by +Frank Pinkerton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE *** + +***** This file should be named 5901.txt or 5901.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/9/0/5901/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective + +Author: Frank Pinkerton + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5901] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 23, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DYKE DARREL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +DYKE DARREL THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE + +Or + +THE CRIME OF THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS + +By FRANK PINKERTON + +1886 + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A STARTLING CRIME. + +"The most audacious crime of my remembrance." + +Dyke Darrel flung down the morning paper, damp from the press, and +began pacing the floor. + +"What is it, Dyke?" questioned the detective's sister Nell, who at +that moment thrust her head into the room. + +Nell was a pretty girl of twenty, with midnight hair and eyes, almost +in direct contrast with her brother, the famous detective, whose deeds +of cunning and daring were the theme of press and people the wide West +over. + +"An express robbery," returned Dyke, pausing in front of Nell and +holding up the paper. + +"I am sorry," uttered the girl, with a pout. "I shan't have you with +me for the week that I promised myself. I am always afraid something +will happen every time you go out on the trail of a criminal, Dyke." + +"And something usually DOES happen," returned the detective, grimly. +"My last detective work did not pan out as I expected, but I do not +consider that entirely off yet. It may be that the one who murdered +Captain Osborne had a hand in this latest crime." + +"An express robbery, you say?" + +"And murder." + +"And murder!" + +The young girl's cheek blanched. + +"Yes. The express messenger on the Central road was murdered last +night, and booty to the amount of thirty thousand dollars secured." + +"Terrible!" + +"Yes, it is a bold piece of work, and will set the detectives on the +trail." + +"Did you know the murdered messenger, Dyke?" + +"It was Arnold Nicholson." + +"No?" + +The girl reeled, and clutched the table at her side for support. The +name uttered by her brother was that of a friend of the Barrels, a man +of family, and one who had been in the employ of the express company +for many years. + +No wonder Nell Darrel was shocked at learning the name of the victim. + +"You see how it is, Nell?" + +"Yes," returned the girl, recovering her self-possession. "I meant to +ask you to forego this man-hunt, but I see that it would be of no +use." + +"Not the least, Nell," returned Dyke, with a compression of the lips. +"I would hunt these scoundrels down without one cent reward. Nicholson +was my friend, and a good one. He helped me once, when to do so was of +great inconvenience to himself. It is my duty to see that his cowardly +assassins are brought to justice." + +Even as Dyke Darrel uttered the last words a man ran up to the steps +and opened the front door. + +"I hope I don't intrude," he said, as he put his face into the room. + +"No; you are always welcome, Elliston," cried Dyke, extending his +hand. The new-comer accepted the proffered hand, then turned and +smiled on Nell. He was a tall man, with smoothly-cut beard and a tinge +of gray in his curling black hair. + +Harper Elliston was past thirty, and on the best of terms with Dyke +Darrel and his sister, who considered him a very good friend. + +"You have read the news?" Elliston said, as his keen, black eyes +rested on the paper that lay on the table. + +"Yes," returned the detective. "It's a most villainous affair." + +"One of the worst." + +"I was never so shocked," said Nell. "Do you imagine the robbers will +be captured, Mr. Elliston?" + +"Certainly, if your brother takes the trail, although I hope he will +not." + +"Why do you hope so?" questioned Dyke. + +"My dear boy, it's dangerous---" + +A low laugh cut short the further speech of Mr. Elliston. + +"I supposed you knew me too well, Harper, to imagine that danger ever +deterred Dyke Darrel from doing his duty." + +"Of course; but this is a different case. 'Tis said that four men were +engaged in the foul work, and that they belong to a league of +desperate ruffians, as hard to deal with as ever the James and Younger +brothers. Better leave it to the Chicago and St. Louis force, Dyke. I +should hate to see you made the victim of these scoundrels." + +Mr. Elliston laid his hand on the detective's arm in a friendly way, +and seemed deeply anxious. + +"Harper, are you aware that the murdered messenger was my friend?" + +"Was he?" + +"Certainly. I would be less than human did I refuse to take the trail +of his vile assassins. You make me blush when you insinuate that +danger should deter me from doing my duty." + +"I am not aware that I said such a thing," answered Elliston. "I did +not mean it if I did. It would please me to have you remain off this +trail, however, Dyke. I will see to it that the best Chicago +detectives are set to work; that ought to satisfy you." + +"And I sit with my hands folded meantime?" + +A look of questioning surprise filled the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he +regarded Mr. Elliston. + +"No. But you promised Nell to take her East this spring, to New York-" + +"He did, but I forego that pleasure," cried the girl, quickly. "I +realize that Dyke has a duty to perform in Illinois." + +"And so you, too, side with your brother," cried Mr. Elliston, forcing +a laugh. "In that case, I surrender at discretion." + +Dyke picked up and examined the paper once more. "DIED FOR DUTY. BOLD +AND BLOODY CRIME AT NIGHT ON THE CENTRAL RAILROAD." + +That was the heading to the article announcing the assassination of +the express messenger. The train on which the deed had been committed, +had left Chicago at ten in the evening, and at one o'clock, when the +train was halted at a station, the deed was discovered. Arnold +Nicholson was found with his skull crushed and his body terribly +beaten, while, in the bloody hands of the dead, was clutched a tuft of +red hair. This went to show that one of the messenger's assailants was +a man with florid locks. + +Leaving Nell and Mr. Elliston together, Dyke Darrel hastened to the +station. He was aware that a train would pass in ten minutes, and he +wished to enter Chicago and make an examination for himself. The +detective's home was on one of the many roads crossing Illinois, and +entering the Garden City--about an hour's ride from the Gotham of the +West. + +In less than two hours after reading the notice of the crime on the +midnight express. Dyke Darrel was in Chicago. He visited the body of +the murdered messenger, and made a brief examination. It was at once +evident to Darrel, that Nicholson had made a desperate fight for life, +but that he had been overpowered by a superior force. + +A reward of ten thousand dollars was already offered for the detection +and punishment of the outlaws. + +"Poor Arnold!" murmured Dyke Darrel, as he gazed at the bruised and +battered corpse. "I will not rest until the wicked demons who +compassed this foul work meet with punishment!" + +There were still several shreds of hair between the fingers of the +dead, when Dyke Darrel made his examination, since the body had just +arrived from the scene of the murder. + +The detective secured several of the hairs, believing they might help +him in his future movements. Darrel made one discovery that he did not +care to communicate to others; it was a secret that he hoped might +lead to results in the future. What the discovery was, will be +disclosed in the progress of our story. + +Soon after the body of the murdered a messenger was removed to his +home, from which the funeral was to take place. + +As Dyke Darrel was passing from the rooms of the undertaker, a hand +fell on his shoulder. + +"You are a detective?" + +Dyke Darrel looked into a smooth, boyish face, from which a pair of +brown eyes glowed. + +"What is it you wish?" Darrel demanded, bluntly. + +"I wish to make a confidant of somebody." + +"Well, go on." + +"First tell me if you are a detective." + +"You may call me one." + +"It's about that poor fellow you've just been interviewing," said the +young stranger. "I am Watson Wilkes, and I was on the train, in the +next car, when poor Nicholson was murdered. I was acting as brakeman +at the time. Do you wish to hear what I can tell?" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +DYKE DARREL'S TRICK. + + +"Certainly I do," cried the detective. "Come with me, and we will find +a place where we can talk without danger of interruption." + +The two men moved swiftly down the street. At length Dyke Darrel +entered a well-known restaurant on Randolph street, secured a private +stall, and then bade Mr. Wilks proceed. Both men were seated at a +small table. + +"Shan't I order the wine?" + +"No," answered Dyke, with a frown. "We need clear brains for the work +in hand. If you know aught of this monstrous crime, tell it at once." + +"I do know a considerable," said Mr. Wilks. "I was the first man who +discovered Arnold Nicholson after he'd been shot. The safe was in the +very car that I occupied. I saw the men get the swag. There were three +of them." + +"Go on." + +"They all wore mask, so of course I could not tell who they were; but +I've an idea that they were from Chicago." + +"Why have you such an idea?" + +"Because I saw three suspicious chaps get on at Twenty-second street. +I think they are the chaps who killed poor Arnold, and got away with +the money in the safe." + +"Did you recognize them?" + +"No--that is, I'm not positive; but I think one of 'm was a chap that +is called Skinny Joe, a hard pet, who used to work in a saloon on +Clark street." + +"Indeed." + +"Yes. It might be well to keep your eye out in that quarter." + +"It might," admitted Dyke Darrel. "This is all you know regarding the +midnight tragedy?" + +"Oh, no; I can give you more particulars." + +"Let's have them, then." + +"But see here, how am I to know that you are a detective? I might get +sold, you know," replied Mr. Wilks in a suspicious tone. + +Dyke Darrel lifted the lapel of his coat, exposing a silver star. + +"All right," returned Mr. Wilks, with a nod. "I'm of the opinion that +Skinny Joe's about the customer you need to look after, captain. I'll +go down with you to the fellow's old haunts, and we'll see what we can +find." + +Mr. Wilks seemed tremendously interested. Dyke Darrel was naturally +suspicious, and he was not ready to swallow everything his companion +said as law and gospel. Of course the large reward was a stimulant for +men to be on the lookout for the midnight train robbers; and Mr. +Wilks' interest must be attributable to this. + +"You see, I was Arnold Nicholson's friend, and I'd go a long ways to +see the scoundrels get their deserts who killed him, even if there was +no reward in the case," explained the brakeman suddenly. + +"Certainly," answered Dyke Darrel. "I can understand how one employed +on the same train could take the deepest interest in such a sad +affair." + +"Will you go down on Clark street with me?" + +"Not just now." + +"When?" + +"I will meet you here this evening, and consult on that point." + +"Very well. Better take something." + +"No; not now." + +Dyke Barrel rose to his feet and turned to leave the stall. + +"Don't fail me now, sir." + +"I will not." + +The detective walked out. The moment he was gone a change came over +the countenance of the young brakeman. The pleasant look vanished, and +one dark and wicked took its place. + +"Go, Dyke Darrel; I am sharp enough to understand you. You distrust +me; but you're fooled all the same. It's strange you've forgotten the +boy you sent to prison from St. Louis five years ago for passing +counterfeit coin. I haven't forgotten it; and, what is more, I mean to +get even." + +Then, with a grating of even white teeth, Watson Wilks passed out. At +the bar he paused long enough to toss off a glass of brandy, and then +he went out upon the street. + +It was a raw April day, and the air cut like a knife. After glancing +up and down the street Mr. Wilks moved away. On reaching Clark street +he hurried along that thoroughfare toward the south. Arriving in a +disreputable neighborhood, he entered the side door of a dingy brick +building, and stood in the presence of a woman, who sat mending a pair +of old slippers by the light afforded by a narrow window. + +"Madge Scarlet, I've found you alone, it seems." + +"I'm generally alone," said the female, not offering to move. + +She was past the prime of life, and there were many crow's feet on a +face that had once been beautiful. Her dress was plain, and not the +neatest. The room was small, and there were few articles of furniture +on the uncarpeted floor. + +"Madge, where are Nick and Sam?" + +"I can't tell you." + +"Haven't they been here to-day?" + +"No, not in three days." "That seems strange." + +"It doesn't to me. They are out working the tramp dodge, in the +country, or into some worse iniquity, Watson. I do wish you would quit +such company, and try and behave yourself." + +At this the young man gave vent to a sarcastic laugh. + +"Now, Aunt Madge, what an idea! Do you suppose your dear nephew could +do anything wrong? Aren't I a pattern of perfection?" + +Watson Wilks drew himself up and looked as solemn as an owl. This did +not serve to bring a pleased expression to the woman's face, however. +As she said nothing, the young man proceeded: + +"I'm working on the railroad now, Madge, and haven't turned a +dishonest penny in a long time. Of course you heard of the robbery of +the midnight express down in the central part of the State last night? +Some of the morning papers have an account of it." + +"I hadn't heard." + +"Well, then, I will tell you about it;" and Mr. Wilks gave a brief +account of the terrible tragedy that had shocked the land. "It's a +regular Jesse James affair, and there's a big reward offered for the +outlaws." + +The woman seemed interested then, and looked hard at her nephew. + +"Watson, I hope you know nothing of this work?" + +"Of course I know something of it," he answered quickly. "I returned +in charge of the dead body of the messenger. I was in the next car +when he was killed, and one of the robbers put his pistol to my head +and threatened to blow my brains out if I said or did anything. You +can just bet I kept mighty still." + +"I should think so. This'll make a tremendous stir," returned the +woman. "The country'll be full of man-trackers and it'll go hard with +the outlaws if they're captured." + +"You bet; but they won't be captured." "You are confident?" + +"I've a right to be. I---" + +Then the young man ceased to speak suddenly, and his face became +deeply suffused. + +The woman sprang up then and went to the young man's side, laying her +hand on his shoulder. + +"Watson, tell me truly that you don't know who committed this crime." + +"Bother!" and he flung her hand from his shoulder with an impatient +movement. "I hope you ain't going to turn good all to once, Madge +Scarlet. I tell you, thirty thousand dollars ain't to be sneezed at, +and I do need money--but of course _I_ don't know a thing about who +did it, of course not; but I can tell you one thing, old lady, Dyke +Barrel is on the trail, and he is even now in Chicago." + +"Dyke Darrel!" + +"That's who, Madam." + +For some moments a silence fell over the two that was absolutely +painful. At length the woman found her voice. + +"Dyke Barrel! Ah! fiend of Missouri, I have good cause to remember you +and your work. Do you know, Watson, the fate of your poor uncle?" + +"Well, I should smile if I didn't," answered the young man. "He died +in a Missouri dungeon, sent there by this same Dyke Darrel, the +railroad man-tracker. Hate him? Of course you do, but not as I do. I +have sworn to have revenge for the five years I laid in a dungeon for +shoving the queer." + +"And Dyke Darrel is now in Chicago?" + +"Yes. I parted from him not an hour since." + +"What is he here for?" + +"The crime on the midnight express brings him here." + +"And you saw and talked with him?" + +"I did." + +"He recognized you of course?" + +"No, he did not; that is the best of it. I am to meet him again to- +night. It won't be long before the man who sent Uncle Dan to a +Missouri dungeon is in your presence, and you shall do with him as you +like, Madge Scarlet." + +"As I like?" + +"I have said it." + +"Then Dyke Darrel shall die!" + +"That's the talk," Madge. "THAT sounds like your old self; I am glad +you have come to your senses. If Nick and Sam come in, tell them to be +in readiness to receive a visitor." + +Then the young man turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. Just +as the shades of night were falling Watson Wilks peered into the +saloon and restaurant where he had parted from Dyke Darrel earlier in +the day. + +He saw nothing of the detective. + +"It is time he was here," muttered the young man. "Dyke Darrel is +generally prompt in filling engagements." + +"Always prompt, MARTIN SKIDWAY!" + +The young villain staggered back against the iron railing near, as +though stricken a blow in the face. + +Unconsciously he had uttered his thoughts aloud, and the voice that +uttered the reply was hissed almost in his ear. + +Dyke Darrel stood before him. + +The detective's face wore a stern look, which was suddenly discarded +for a smile. + +"I am prompt in filling engagements," said Darrel, after a moment. +"You see I have at last recognized you, and the walls of the prison +from which you escaped shall again envelop you." + +And then a sharp click was heard. The fraudulent brakeman held up his +arms helplessly--they were safely secured with handcuffs! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES. + + +It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the +one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment. + +The noted detective had outwitted him completely. + +It was humiliating, to say the least. + +"This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to +utter. "I will call on the police for assistance if you do not at once +remove these bracelets." + +"Do so if you like," answered Dyke Darrel, coolly; so icily in fact as +to deter the young man from carrying out his threat. It might be that +the detective would delight in turning him over to the Chicago police, +a consummation that the fellow dreaded more than aught else. + +"Come with me, and make no trouble. You will do so, if you know when +you are well off," said Dyke Darrel significantly. + +And Wilks walked along peacefully, allowing the sleeves of his coat to +hide the handcuffs. After going a few blocks, the detective hailed a +hack, and pushing his prisoner before him, entered and ordered the +driver to make all speed for the Union depot. + +"What does this mean?" demanded the prisoner, with assumed +indignation. + +"It means that you will take a trip South for your health, my friend." + +"To St. Louis?" + +"You have guessed it, Skidway." + +A troubled look touched the face of the escaped prisoner. + +"Why do you call me by that name, Dyke Darrel?" + +"Because that IS your name. You have five years unexpired term yet to +serve in the Missouri penitentiary, and I conceive it my duty to see +that you keep the contract." + +"A contract necessarily requires two parties. I never agreed to serve +the State." + +"Well, we won't argue the point." + +"But I am in the employ of the railroad company, and will lose my +place---" + +"You gain another one, so it doesn't matter," retorted the detective. +"No use making a fuss, Mr. Skidway; you cannot evade the punishment +which awaits you. Any confession you choose to make I am willing to +hear. The late tragedy, for instance?" + +"You'll get nothing out of me." + +"I am sorry," + +"Of course you are. Did you recognize me when we first met?" + +"No. It was an afterthought." + +"I thought so. You shall suffer for this. You've got the wrong man, +Mr. Darrel." + +"You seem to know me." + +"Everybody does." + +"You flatter me." + +"My name isn't Skidway, but Wilks, and I can prove it." + +"Do so." + +"Release me and I will." + +"I'm not that green." + +The prisoner muttered angrily. He realized that he was fairly caught, +and that it was too late now to think of deceiving the famous +detective. + +Dyke Darrel had recognized in the young man calling himself Watson +Wilks an old offender, who had made his escape from the Missouri State +prison three months before, and he at once surmised that the young +counterfeiter, who was a hard case, might have had a hand in the +murder and robbery of the express messenger. Reasoning thus, the +detective decided upon promptly arresting the fellow before proceeding +to search further. It would be safer to have Skidway in prison than at +large in any event. + +More than one pair of eyes had watched the departure of Dyke Darrel +and his prisoner from Chicago, and a little later a bearded man, with +deep-set, twinkling eyes, and the general look of a hard pet, thrust +his head into Madge Scarlet's little room, and said: + +"It are all up with the kid, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"What's that you say?" + +The woman came to her feet and confronted the new-comer with an +interested look. + +"It's all up with the kid." + +"Come in, Nick Brower, and let me have a look at your face. I want no +lies now," cried the woman sharply; and the man drew himself into a +little room, and stood regarding the female with a grin. + +"Now let me hear what you've got to tell," demanded Mrs. Scarlet. + +"It's ther kid--" + +"Watson?" + +"Yesum." + +"Well, what has happened to him, man? Can't you speak?" + +"He's took." + +"Took?" + +"Nabbed. Got the darbies on and gone South a wisitin'." + +"Do you mean to say that Watson has been arrested?" + +"I do, mam," grunted Brower. "He's well out of town, goin' South, and +I reckin he'll be in Jeffe'son City before we hear from him agin. I +seed him a-goin' with my own eyes." + +"How did it happen?" + +The man explained how young Skidway had been seized and taken on board +the train by Dyke Darrel. + +"You are sure his captor was Dyke Darrel?" + +"I ain't blind, I reckon," growled the man. "I heard sufficient to +tell me that the detective was takin' the kid back to Missoury, and +that was enough for me." + +"Why did you permit it?" + +A laugh answered the woman. + +"You might have saved the boy," pursued Mrs. Scarlet, angrily. "Now he +will spend another five years in the dungeon where my poor man died of +a broken heart. Watson told me that the infamous Dyke Darrel was in +Chicago; but I had no thought of his recognizing the boy. Can you lend +me some money, Nick?" + +"A purty question, Madge. Don't you know I'm always dead-broke?" +growled Brower. "What in the nation do you want with money any how?" + +"I'm going to St. Louis." + +"No?" + +"I am. If Dyke Darrel puts my boy behind prison bars again, I will +have no mercy. It's life for life. I am tired of living, and am +willing to die to revenge myself on that miserable detective." + +Mrs. Scarlet began pacing the room. She was deeply moved, and tears of +anger and sorrow glittered in her eyes. She was about to utter a +fierce tirade against the detective, when a step sounded without, +followed immediately by three raps on the door. + +"Whist!" exclaimed Brower. "It is the Professor." + +Madge Scarlet crossed the floor and admitted a visitor, a tall man +with fire-red hair and beard, who was well clad and wore blue glasses. +A plug hat, rather the worse for wear, was lifted and caressed +tenderly with one arm as the gentleman bowed before Mrs. Scarlet. + +"I am pleased to find you at home, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"I seldom go out, Mr. Ruggles, or Professor Darlington Ruggles, I +suppose." + +"Never mind the handle, madam. I see you have company." The Professor +turned a keen glance on Nick Brower as he spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SCALPED. + + +The gentleman is a friend," said Mrs. Scarlet. "You need not fear to +speak before him." + +"I hain't no wish to hear any private talk," said Nick Brower, and +with that he cast a keen, knowing look into the visitor's face, and +passed from the room. + +"We're alone, Professor." + +"So it seems." + +"What news do you bring?" + +"Have you heard of the midnight express robbery?" + +"I have." + +"And that Dyke Darrel is on the trail?" + +"I have heard all that, and more," said the woman. "My nephew has been +arrested and taken to Missouri by this same infamous Dyke Darrel. It +was an awful blow to me; it leaves me entirely alone in the world. I +am ready to do anything to compass the ruin of the detective who +brought me to this." + +"I am glad to hear you say it, madam. I came here for advice and help. +I assure you that it is highly necessary for all of us that Dyke +Darrel be removed." + +"Well?" + +"He might be enticed here, and quietly disposed of." + +"Will you entice him?" + +"I might; but---" + +"Well?" as the man hesitated. + +"You see, I've got a place to fill in the world, and don't want to mix +with anything that's unlawful," and the Professor stroked his red +beard in a solemn manner. + +"Yet you would be glad to see Dyke Darrel dead?" + +"Hush, woman! Walls have ears. You are imprudent. I have nothing +against Mr. Darrel in particular, only he has injured my friends, and +may be up to more of his tricks. Now, as regards Watson Wilks, you say +Dyke Darrel has gone to Missouri with the boy in charge?" + +"Yes. The last friend I had in the world has been torn from me, to +languish in prison. I will have the detective's heart's blood for +this," cried the woman, with passionate vehemence. + +"Of course," agreed the Professor. "But of what crime was the young +man accused? Not the one on the midnight express, I hope?" The tall +visitor bent eagerly forward then, and penetrated the woman with a +keen gaze. + +"No, no," was the quick reply. "I know that Martin had no hand in +that." + +"Martin?" + +"Watson, I mean," corrected Mrs. Scarlet. "I sometimes call the boy +Martin, which is his middle name, so he has a right to it." + +"Exactly. You KNOW that the boy had nothing to do with the robbery +last night. I don't wish to argue or dispute with a lady, but I shall +be compelled to question HOW you know so much. Will you answer?" + +"Because--because Martin is incapable of such work. I have read all +about it in the papers, and am confident that it was the work of an +organized band." The Professor laughed until his white teeth gleamed +in the lamplight. + +"So sure!" he said. "You consider that nephew of yours a pattern of +propriety. Is this the only reason you have for believing that Watson +Wilks had no hand in the murder of Arnold Nicholson, and the rifling +of the express company's safe?" + +"I have another!" + +"Well?" + +"He was in Chicago at the time the deed was done." + +"Can you prove this?" + +Professor Ruggles seemed extremely eager, as he bent forward and +touched the arm of Madge Scarlet with a white forefinger. + +"I can prove it." + +"Very good. It may never be necessary, but if the worst comes, you may +be called on. I suppose you're not in the best of circumstances, Mrs. +Scarlet?" + +The Professor drew forth his wallet. "I shall suffer, now that my boy +is gone." + +"Don't fear that, madam," returned Darlington Ruggles, as he laid a +bank note for a large amount in her hand. Providence and your friends +will take care of you. You have rendered me more than one good +service, and I may call on you for more, soon, much sooner than you +imagine." + +"Anything I can do, Professor, will be gladly performed;" was the +woman's answer, as she clutched the bank note eagerly, and thrust it +from sight. + +Then Professor Ruggles turned to the door. Here he paused and faced +the woman once more. + +"Madge, what charge was your nephew arrested under?" + +"An old one." + +"That is not an answer," and the man frowned. + +"The charge is for uttering counterfeit coin. I believe the boy was +innocent, but there was money on the other side, and Martin was sent +up for ten years; my husband for fifteen. My man died of a broken +heart, being innocent, and Martin served five years and then escaped." + +"I understand. I don't think the boy will ever serve out his time." + +"I hope he may not, but---" + +"Keep a stout heart, Mrs. Scarlet. Influences are at work to free the +boy. It will not do to permit him to languish in prison. I tell you +Providence is on your side." + +Then Mr. Darlington Ruggles passed from the room. + +"Strange man," muttered the woman, after he had gone. "He is a +mystery. Sometimes I imagine he is not what he seems, but a detective. +I hope I have given nothing away, for I find it won't do to trust +anybody these days." + +In the meantime Professor Darlington Ruggles made his way to another +part of the city, not far from the river, and met a man in a dingy +basement room at the rear of a low doggery. + +Strange place for a learned professor, was it not? + +"You've kept me waiting awhile, boss." + +The speaker was the man we have seen at Madge Scarlet's--Nick Brower +by name. + +"I couldn't get away sooner," returned the professor. "How does the +land lay, Nat?" + +"In an ugly quarter." + +"I feared so myself. The young chap that Dyke Darrel took to Missouri +knows enough to hang you---" + +"And you, too, pard; don't forget that," retorted the grizzled villain +grimly. + +"I forget nothing," said Mr. Ruggles, giving his plug hat a rub across +his left arm. "It isn't pleasant, to say the least, having matters +turn out in this way. I wish to see you in regard to this Dyke +Darrel." "I'm all ears, pard." + +"He must never see Chicago again." + +"Wal?" "I want you to see to it, Nick." + +"I don't know about that," muttered the grosser villain. "I've shed +'bout enough blood, I reckin." + +"It is for your own safety that I speak, Nick. No trace of that last +work can ever reach me." + +"Don't be too sure, Darl Ruggles. With Dyke Darrel on the trail, +there's no knowing where it'll end. He's unearthed some o' the darkest +work ever did in Chicago an' St. Louis. I WOULD breathe a durn sight +more comfortable like if Dyke Darrel was under the sod." + +"So would others." + +"Yourself, fur instance." + +"I won't deny it, Nick. I don't feel very comfortable with the young +detective free. Between you and me, Nick, I believe we can make this +the last trail Dyke Darrel ever follows. A thousand dollars to the man +who takes the detective's scalp. That is worth winning, Nick." + +"Put 'er thar, pard." + +Nick Brower held out his huge hand and clasped the small white one of +the Professor. + +"I'll win that thousan' or go beggin' the rest o' my days, Darl +Ruggles." + +"I hope you may. You'd best take the next train for the Southwest. I +won't be far behind." + +And then the two separated. + +A little later Professor Darlington Ruggles stood on the dock +overlooking the river and the shipping. Although yet early in the +season the big lake was open, and several vessels laden with lumber +had entered the river from various ports on the Eastern shore during +the day. + +A tug lay on the further side, and a schooner with bare spars loomed +up in the moonlight. + +"This open sewer has witnessed more thar one crime," mused the +Professor. "I would like it if that infernal Dyke Darrel was at the +bottom of the river. He has taken into his head to hunt down the men +who killed Arnold Nicholson, and if there's a man east of the +Mississippi who can ferret out this crime, Dyke Darrel is the one. But +I don't mean to permit him to do anything of the kind if I know +myself. It's a fight between the detective and as sharp a man as any +detective that ever lived. I imagine--hello! who is this?" + +The last exclamation was caused by the sudden appearance of a dark +form coming up over the dock as if from the water. A moment later a +man paused within six feet of Professor Ruggles, and penetrated him +with a pair of glittering eyes. + +"What do you want?" + +It was the Professor who uttered the word, at the same time receding a +step or two, for the stranger's glance startled him considerably. + +"Who are you?" demanded the stranger, shortly. + +"It does not concern you." + +"Don't it? We'll see about that." + +An arm shot forward. The Professor's plug fell to the ground, and the +next instant a red wig was swung aloft in the moonlight. + +"Ha! I thought so. You are the man I seek--" + +The speaker's words were cut off suddenly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ELLISTON'S REBUFF. + + +A mad cry fell from the lips of the Professor when he felt himself +unceremoniously scalped. The next instant his right hand drew forth a +gleaming knife. + +"Oh! Ah! MURDER!" + +A dark form went backward over the dock; a splash followed, and the +Professor stood alone. He peered into the muddy water to note the fact +that it flowed on calmly as before. + +Then Ruggles picked up his hat and wig, and readjusted them on his +head. + +"My soul! that was a narrow escape." + +At this moment another form was seen approaching, and the Professor, +deeming it prudent to move away, was soon striding from the spot, his +tall form disappearing in the shadows before the third person reached +the edge of the dock. + +************************************** + +On the day following the events last narrated, a man ran up the steps +at the Darrel cottage in Woodburg, and rang the bell. + +Nell answered, and met the gentlemanly Mr. Elliston. She led the way +at once to a room opening from the hall, where preparations had been +made for a lunch. + +"Where is Dyke?" questioned the gentleman the moment he was seated. + +"I haven't seen him since he left for Chicago to look into the express +robbery," returned Nell. "Haven't you met him?" + +"No. Strange he did not write if he meant to be gone long," remarked +Elliston. "You were about to dine, I see." + +"Yes; will you keep me company?" + +"With pleasure." + +"I thought Dyke would be with me ere this," proceeded Nell, as they +discussed the edibles. "When he goes for a long stay she usually drops +me a line." + +After the lunch, Mr. Elliston left his chair and crossed the room to +glance from the window, at the same time plucking at his short beard +in an apparently nervous manner. + +Nell was on the point of removing the ware from the table, when Mr. +Elliston turned suddenly, and resumed his seat at the table. + +"Sit down, Nell, I wish a word with you." + +The girl sank once more into a chair, wondering what was coming. + +Laying both hands on her shoulders, Harper Elliston looked her in the +eyes and said: + +"You must have guessed the object of my visit to-day, Nellie Darrel." + +She blushed under his gaze, and looked away nervously. + +"N--oo, I can't say that I do. I suppose you came to see my brother." + +"Not so. It is you I wished to see, Nell. Why have I come here so +often? I know you must have guessed before this. I love you, dear +girl, and want you to be mine--" + +He could say no more then, for Nell Darrel started sharply to her +feet, pressing her hands to her burning face. + +"No, no, not that." she murmured. "I never suspected that, Mr. +Elliston." + +"But listen to me, Nell," he pleaded, reaching up and attempting to +draw her hands aside. "I can give you a handsome home in New York. If +you will be my wife, I will return there at once." + +She tore herself from his hands, and her confusion vanished, a feeling +of indignation taking its place. + +"Mr. Elliston, I tell you I do not love you, and never can. I was +never more surprised in my life than now. You are old enough to be my +father, sir." + +He came to his feet also, and leaned with his hands clinching the top +of a chair. There was a frown on his brow and a glitter in his black +eyes unpleasant to see. + +"Must I call you coquette?" he said, in an undertone of concentrated +feeling. "You certainly have encouraged me." + +"Never, sir," was the indignant response. + +"Then our paths must lie apart hereafter, I suppose, Miss Darrel?" + +"That is as you shall determine," she answered. "As my brother's +friend, I have tolerated you, and can do so in the future." + +"Ah! It was only TOLERATION then. I did not think this of you, Nell +Darrel. Do you know that many of the wealthiest, most beautiful +maidens of Gotham would jump at the offer you have just spurned so +lightly?" + +"I will not deny it." + +"I could have long ago taken a partner to share my life in my elegant +home on Fifth avenue, but do you know the reason of my not doing so? I +can tell you. I had not seen a girl to my taste. Until I came West I +believed I should never marry. From the moment of meeting you, +however, I changed my mind. To see was to love, and--" + +"Please cease, Mr. Elliston," pleaded Nell Darrel, putting out her +hand deprecatingly. "This is a most painful subject to me." + +"Very well." + +With a sigh he crossed the floor and stood by the window once more. He +seemed struggling to keep down his emotions. At that moment the +detective's sister pitied the man, and felt really sorry that she had +unintentionally been the means of making him miserable. + +"Mr. Elliston, please do not feel so badly. I respect you, and hope we +may ever be friends." + +She approached him and held out her hand. He turned and regarded her +with a queer glow in his eyes. + +"I accept your proffer of continued friendship," he said with a forced +smile. "It is better so than open war between us." + +"It would avail nothing to make war on a friend," she said simply. "I +respect you very highly, Mr. Elliston, and as Dyke's friend, shall +always hope to retain your good opinion." + +"Whatever may happen, you will have that," he returned. + +Soon after the gentleman departed. The moment he was gone Nell Darrel +sank to a chair, and, bowing her head on the table, began to cry. + +Strange proceeding, was it not, after what had taken place? Women are +enigmas that man, after ages of study, has been unable to solve. + +Another face came before the girl's mind at that moment, the face of +one to whom her heart had been given in the past, and who, for some +unaccountable reason, had failed to put in an appearance or write +during the past six months. + +"If Harry were only here," murmured the girl, as she raised her head +and wiped the tears from her pretty eyes. "I know something has +happened to him--something terrible." + +At this moment Aunt Jule, the colored housekeeper, the only other +resident of the cottage, aside from Nell Barrel and her brother, +entered the room, and her appearance at once put an end to Nell's +weeping. + +"Marse Elliston done gone. What did he want, honey?" + +"To see Dyke," answered Nell, with a slight twinge at uttering such a +monstrous falsehood. + +"Marse Dyke don't come yet. 'Deed but he's full of business dese +times. Marse Dyke a great man, honey." + +If the old negress noticed traces of tears on the face of her young +mistress, she was sharp enough to keep the discovery to herself. + +In the meantime, Mr. Elliston made his way to the principal hotel in +the little city and sought his room. He was a regular boarder, but, +like other men of leisure, he was not regular at meals or room. +Nevertheless, he paid his board promptly, and that was the desideratum +with the landlord. + +The man's teeth gleamed above his short, gray-streaked beard, as he +sat down and meditated on the situation. + +"So, I can be her friend still. Well, that is something. I don't mean +to give up so. Dark clouds are gathering over your life, Nell Darrel, +and when the blackest shadow of the storm bends above and howls about +you, in that hour you may conclude that even an elderly gentleman like +myself will DO." + +Again the man's teeth gleamed and the black eyes glittered. + +"I have set my heart on winning that girl. A mock marriage will do as +well as anything, and such beauty and freshness will bring money in +New York." + +Harper Elliston remained in his room until a late lour. After the +shades of evening fell he left the room and hotel with a small grip in +his hand. He turned his steps in the direction of the railway station. +Arrived at the depot, he purchased a ticket for St. Louis. Then he +sauntered outside and stood leaning against the depot in a shaded +spot. + +It would be five minutes only until the departure of the train. There +were troubled thoughts in the brain of Harper Elliston that night. + +A touch on his hand caused him to start. At thin fold of paper was +passed into his palm. Turning quickly, Elliston saw a shadowy form +disappear in the gloom. + +"Confound it, who are you?" growled the tall man, angrily. Then, +remembering the paper, he went to a light, and opening it, held it up +to his gaze. + +"HARPER ELLISTON: Go slow in your plot against Nell Darrel. She has a +friend who will see that her enemies are punished. Beware! The volcano +on which you tread is about to burst." + +No name was signed to the paper. + +At this moment the express came thundering in; the conductor's "all +aboard" sounded, and, crunching the paper in his hands, Elliston had +hardly time to spring on board ere the train went rushing away into +the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DYKE DARREL'S DANGER. + + +Martin Skidway was an old offender, and through the efforts of Dyke +Darrel he and his uncle had been detected in crime and sent to the +Missouri State prison for a term of years. It was a mere accident that +the detective came upon the escaped young counterfeiter, or rather it +was through the young villain's own foolhardiness that he was again in +durance vile. + +"I will not serve my time out, you can bet high on that," asserted the +young prisoner in a confident tone. + +Dyke Darrel more than half suspected that the young counterfeiter knew +something of the late crime on the midnight express, and during the +ride to St. Louis he did all that he could to worm a confession from +the prisoner. + +"It is possible that you may get your freedom at an early day," said +the detective. "I have heard of men turning State's evidence, and +profiting by it." + +"I suppose so." + +"I would advise you to think on this, Martin Skidway." + +"Why should I think on it? Do you think I'm a fool, Dyke Darrel?" + +"Not quite," and the detective smiled. "I know you have been pretty +sharp, young man, but not keen enough to escape punishment. You have +five years yet to serve, at the end of which time you may be arrested +and hung for another crime." + +"You are giving me wind now." + +"I am not. A terrible crime was committed four and twenty hours since, +and on this road; a midnight crime that the whole country will work to +punish. It will we impossible for the express robbers to escape." + +"You are a braggart!" + +"I do not say that _I_ will be the one to bring these villains to +justice, but I do say that justice will be done, and I expect to see +the murderers of Arnold Nicholson hung." The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel +fixed themselves on the face of his prisoner, with a penetrating +sharpness that fairly made the fellow squirm in his seat. On more than +one occasion had the railroad detective brought confession from the +lips of guilt, through the magnetism of his terrible glance. + +He tried his powers on the man at his side, and found him yielding to +the pressure, when Skidway suddenly turned his face to the window, and +refused to encounter the gaze of his captor. + +By this means he was able to defy the magnetic powers of the +detective. + +"Martin Skidway, you may as well admit that you know something of this +latest villainy. Even if you were not connected with it, you know WHO +was?" + +The prisoner remained silent. + +Dyke Darrel proceeded: + +"You said that you were a brakeman on the train on which poor +Nicholson found his death. Was that the truth?" + +"It was." + +"It is now for your own good that you make confession, Martin +Skidway!" + +"I've nothing to confess." + +"Be careful!" + +"You can't scare me into telling a lie," said the prisoner, with an +assumption of bravado that he did not feel. "I don't know anything +about the express robbers, only what I've told you; you can make the +most of that." + +"I mean to do so," assured Dyke Darrel. "I shall not leave the trail +until the perpetrators of that crime are secured and punished. In that +day you may wish that you had not been so obstinate." + +"I have told all I know." + +"I hope you have!" + +"You believe I am lying, Dyke Darrel?" + +"It doesn't matter what I believe," retorted the detective. "Of +course, you are not of the sort who believe in telling facts when a +falsehood will serve you better. I did not expect anything different." + +Arrived at the Southwestern metropolis, Dyke Darrel turned his +prisoner over to the proper officers, warning them of the dangerous +nature of young Skidway, and then he turned his thoughts and feet in +another channel. + +Dyke Darrel went to the office of the railroad company on whose road +the midnight crime had been committed, and consulted with one of the +officers in regard to the same. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DYKE DARREL'S DANGER. + + +"It is a terrible affair," said Mr. Holden, the officer in question. +"I telegraphed our folks in Chicago to employ detectives in that city, +and expect to have the best talent in the country look into this." + +"Of course. Any clew discovered?" + +"None." + +"I believe the villains covered their tracks well," said Dyke Darrel. +"The express messenger who was murdered was a personal friend." + +"Your friend?" + +"Yes; one I had known for years, which explains my interest in the +case. I suppose I have your good wishes in hunting down the outlaws?" + +"Well, of course; but it is a task that may tax the coolness and +ingenuity of skilled detectives. Amateurs have no place on this case, +I assure you." + +"Admitted," returned the young detective, with a smile. "You have +heard of Dyke Darrel?" + +"I should think I had. He is the best detective in the West, now that +Pinkerton is gone; he was a trusted friend of Allan Pinkerton, too." + +"He was." + +"I've telegraphed for our people to see about employing Dyke Darrel. I +shan't be content without." + +Again a smile swept the face of the young detective. + +"It seems that you never met Dyke Darrel, Mr. Holden." + +"Never; but---" + +"You see him now at any rate." + +"What?" + +"_I_ am Dyke Darrel." + +"YOU?" + +"The same." + +"Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective; the fellow who captured the +brute Crogan, and broke up the counterfeiters' nest near Iron +Mountain; the man who has sent more criminals over the road than any +other detective in the wide West--YOU?" + +"The same, at your service," and Darrel bowed and smiled again. + +"Well, I AM astonished." + +Nevertheless the incredulous railway official seemed pleased at the +last, and shook the young detective warmly by the hand. + +"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Darrel, and hope we can induce you to take +up this case. A great many suspects have been reported, but I take +stock in none of them. I trust the whole affair (the management of it, +I mean) to you. Will you go into it, Mr. Darrel?" + +"Certainly." + +Some time longer the detective and official talked, and the lamps in +the streets were lit when Dyke Darrel left the presence of Mr. Holden, +and turned his steps toward a hotel. + +"I must send a line to Nell," mused the detective, as he moved along. +"I shall remain a short time in St. Louis, as I may pick up some +points here that will be of use to me. I am of the opinion that either +this city or Chicago holds the perpetrators of this latest railroad +crime." + +The detective did not see the shadowy form flitting along not far +behind. A man had shadowed the detective since his departure from the +railway office. Dyke Darrel, in order to make a short cut, had entered +a narrow street, where the lights were few and the buildings dingy and +of a mean order. + +Moving on, deeply wrapped in thought, the detective permitted his +"shadow" to steal upon him, and just as Dyke Darrel came opposite a +narrow alley, the shadow sprang forward and dealt him a stunning blow +on the head. + +The detective reeled, but did not fall. Partially stunned, he turned +upon his assailant, only to meet the gleam of cold steel as a knife +descended into his bosom! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WHAT A HANDKERCHIEF REVEALED. + + +Dyke Darrel was so dazed from the blow he had received as to be unable +to ward off the dirk that was thrust at his bosom by the vile +assassin, and had not a third party appeared on the scene at this +critical moment the story we are now writing would never have been +told. + +A kind Providence had on more than one occasion favored the daring +railroad detective. + +Before the point of the knife touched the breast of Dyke Darrel, a +swift-flying object sent the deadly weapon out into the middle of the +street. + +The next instant a man bounded from the shadow of a building upon the +would-be assassin. There was a short struggle, when the last comer +found, that instead of the detective's assailant, he held a coat in +his hands. + +The villain had made good his escape. + +"Confound you!" greeted the new comer. + +"Who was it?" + +"I saw him following you, sir, and made up my mind that some villainy +was in the wind. I do not know who the villain was. Are you hurt?" + +"Not in the least." + +Then the two men walked on until a lamp-post was gained. Here the +features of each were plainly revealed. + +A low exclamation fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel. + +"Good thunder, Harry Bernard! how are you? Where in the world did you +spring from?" + +The detective grasped and wrung the man's hand warmly--a rather +slender young fellow, with brown hair and eyes, a mustache being the +only sign of beard on his face. + +"One question at a time, Dyke," returned the young man with a laugh. +"I mistrusted it was you all the time. It strikes me that you are +becoming careless in your old age. Hope you're not in love--THAT makes +a fool of a man sometimes?" + +"Does it? No, I'm not in any such predicament; fact is, I am wedded to +my profession and shall never marry. But, Harry, you haven't answered +my questions yet." + +"You asked me how I get on; I can answer that by saying that I was +never better in my life. I have been across the plains, among cowboys +and Indians, and it's given me strong muscles and good health. I +arrived in St. Louis this morning. It was the merest chance that +placed me in a position to do you a service, Dyke. As I said before, +it seems to me that you are getting careless. Just imagine what the +result would have been had I not put in an appearance. I have the +fellow's coat to show for the adventure." + +"True enough. I admit that I was careless," returned the detective, +"and my adventure will serve to put me on my guard hereafter. Come +with me to my room, Harry, and we will talk over matters in general. I +must take the midnight express North, and may not see you again soon, +unless you conclude to go on with me." + +"I shall remain in St. Louis for the present," returned young Bernard. + +He went with his friend to the hotel, however, and soon the two were +in the privacy of Dyke Darrel's room. + +"Now, then, let us look at that coat." Harry Bernard laid the garment +down on the bed, and Darrel began a close examination of the same. It +was an ordinary sack coat, with two inside pockets. The detective was +not long in going through the pockets. + +"Ah!" + +The ejaculation was significant. + +It fell from the lips of Dyke Darrel, the detective. + +"Now what?" questioned Bernard. + +"Look at that." + +Dyke Darrel held aloft a handkerchief that had once been white, but +which was now dingy with dirt. But this was not the only +discoloration. There was a stain on the square bit of linen that was +significant. + +"What is it?" + +"Blood!" answered Dyke Darrel. + +Then the detective made a close examination, and made still another +discovery--a name in one corner of the rumpled handkerchief. + +The keen eyes of the detective gleamed with a satisfied light. + +"What have you discovered, Dyke?" + +"A clew." + +"To what?" + +"To the most infamous crime of the century. This handkerchief has the +name of its owner stamped plainly in the corner." + +"Well?" + +"Arnold Nicholson." + +"What?" + +"That is the name on this bit of linen, which shows that it was once +the property of the murdered express messenger. Of course you have +heard of the crime on the Central?" + +"Yes. It gave me a shock, too. Arnold was a good fellow." + +Harry Bernard's face wore a serious look as he took the blood-stained +handkerchief from the hand of the detective, and examined it with +mournful interest. + +"It must be that you were assaulted by one of the train robbers, +Dyke," said the youth, as he returned the relic of that midnight +crime. + +"I imagine so. The scoundrels have discovered that I am on the trail, +and they mean to put me out on the first base, if possible. Did you +see the man's face who assaulted me, Harry?" + +"Imperfectly. I know, however, that he had red hair." + +"Ah!" + +"You suspected as much?" + +"Yes. In the dead man's fingers was a bit of red hair. It seems +conclusive that the villain who assaulted me to-night was the one who +engaged in the death struggle with poor Nicholson. The trail is +becoming plain, and before the National holiday rolls round I hope to +have the perpetrator of this crime behind prison bars." + +"I hope you are not over-sanguine, Dyke." + +"I have ever been successful." + +"How about the Osborne case?" + +"Ah, yes; but that isn't off yet. I expect that the murderers of the +old captain will come to light about the time the railway criminals +are brought to justice." + +"Indeed." + +"There are several hands engaged in these bloody crimes, and when I do +make a haul, it will be a wholesale one." + +"I should think you would need help in a work of this kind." + +"I do." + +"Can I be of any service? You may command me, Dyke." + +"Thanks. You were of inestimable service to-night, and I believe you +can do more. It would please me to have you remain in this city and +keep an eye out, while I go up the road to the spot where the crime +was committed." + +"You know the place?" + +"Certainly. It was near Black Hollow, a wild spot, where the woods +along the creek afforded chance for hiding. Some of the rascals are +yet in that vicinity, I believe. The one who assaulted me to-night may +not remain in the city long. You will do as I wish?" + +"Certainly; glad to do it, Dyke." + +"That settles one point, then. If I need any more help I know where I +can find it." + +"Where?" + +"Elliston. He is something of a detective, you know." + +Harry Bernard frowned at mention of that name. The pleasant look +vanished from his face, and he relapsed into silence. + +Holding up the handkerchief, Dyke Darrel said: + +"This was used by the assassin to wipe his bloody hands after the +murder. He was a fool to keep the tell-tale linen by him; but these +fellows are always leaving some loophole open. I have made one +discovery that may have escaped your notice, Harry." + +"What is that?" + +"Look." Laying the bloody handkerchief over the young man's knee, Dyke +Darrel pointed to a spot near the center, where the imprint of fingers +was plainly visible. + +"You see that?" + +"Certainly; the marks of human fingers, but I can't see that you will +be able to make anything out of that, so many hands are alike, you +know." + +Then Harry laid his own hand against the spot stained with blood. "My +hand fits exactly." + +The eyes of Dyke Darrel began to dilate. His usually immobile features +began to twitch, and a deadly pallor overspread all. + +What was it that had caught the eye of Dyke Darrel, to cause such +terrible emotion? He had indeed made a discovery. + +A close examination of the finger-marks showed a white circle, +centered with a ragged dot of blood near the knuckle; this had +undoubtedly been caused by a wart on the hand of the assassin. It was +this fact that had attracted and interested Dyke Darrel, and what he +intended showing his friend Harry Bernard. The moment Harry laid his +hand against the print on the handkerchief the detective made a +startling discovery. Not only did the hand of Harry Bernard fit the +bloody stain exactly, but a large wart near the knuckle of the little +finger fell exactly against the spot that dotted the center of the +white circle. + +A feeling of unutterable horror filled the mind of Dyke Darrel at that +moment. Harry Bernard had been his friend for years, and he had always +found him upright and true. + +But what meant this horrible revelation of the handkerchief? + +Could it be possible that another had the same-sized hand and a wart +near the knuckle of the little finger? It was not likely. + +Dyke Darrel came to his feet, with cold perspiration oozing out upon +his brow. Before him sat Harry Bernard, smiling gently, and yet he had +a devil in his heart--THE DEVIL OF ASSASSINATION! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A PLUNGE TO DEATH. + + +For some moments neither man spoke. Harry Bernard noticed that his +friend was deeply moved, and he seemed to wonder at the cause. At +length he said: + +"Dyke, what is it?" + +"Nothing, only---" + +"Well, speak out," as the detective hesitated. + +"It is strange that your hand should so exactly fit the marks on the +handkerchief, Harry." + +"Well, yes," admitted the youth; "I hope you didn't imagine, however, +that _I_ had a hand in this railway robbery and murder?" + +At the last Harry Bernard laughed lightly. Dyke Darrel did not seem to +relish the young fellow's lightness, and only frowned. + +"This is not a laughing matter, Harry Bernard," said the detective, +sternly. + +"Well I should say not. If you have a serious thought that I could do +such a deed, Dyke, place me under arrest at once." + +There was an expression of rebuke on the face of Bernard as he uttered +the last words. He did not look like a criminal, that was certain, and +after a moment Dyke Darrel felt ashamed of his suspicions. + +"Never mind, Harry, I could not help feeling shocked. Let it pass; I +will not wrong you by suspicion. But you will admit that it was a +strange thing, your hand fitting so perfectly." + +"Not at all. Put your own hand here," returned Bernard. + +Dyke Darrel did so, but it was not so near a fit as Harry's. It was +not the size of the hand, but the imprint of the wart that had so +startled the detective. Harry had not discovered the true cause of his +friend's excitement, and the detective concluded to say nothing about +it then. + +Time was flying. The midnight express would soon leave the city. + +"I cannot remain with you longer," said Dyke Darrel, at length. "I +shall leave the case at this end of the route in your hands, Harry, +and if at any time you wish to communicate with me, address me at +Woodburg." + +"All right. What shall we do with this?" + +Harry indicated the coat that still lay on the bed. + +"You may retain that, but I will keep the handkerchief. Both may be of +use in the future." + +Soon after the two men separated. + +Dyke Darrel went at once to the depot, and soon after nine that +evening he was speeding northward at the rate of forty miles an hour. +At the first stop outside of the city three passengers boarded the +train. One was a short, thick-set man, with beard and hair of a dark +color; the others were women. The man entered the smoking car and +thrust himself into an unoccupied seat, and glanced keenly about him. + +The man had no ticket, but paid the conductor to a station a hundred +miles from the city. + +While sitting with his back to the aisle, a touch on the shoulder +roused him. + +"Eh, it's you, Ruggles?" + +"Ahem--seat occupied?" + +"No." + +The man we have met on a previous occasion, Professor Darlington +Ruggles, settled himself beside the late comer. + +"Ahem--fine evening." + +A grunt answered the Professor's attempt to be sociable. At length, +after casting a keen glance about the car, to find that but few +passengers were present, and those of but little consequence, +Professor Ruggles said: + +"He's in the next car." + +"Yes. I'd like to get my clutches onto him agin." + +"You had him once?" + +"Yes, but he had help, and escaped. Do you imagine he's on the trail?" + +"Certainly," answered Professor Ruggles. + +"Then he'll get off to-night." + +"I hope so; but you must be cautious." + +"Trust me for that." + +"Have you formulated a plan?" + +"None." + +"Then let me help you." + +"I'll be glad to do so." + +"If we can get the fellow onto the platform the work will be easy. You +understand, Sam?" + +"I reckon." + +"Once he goes over nothing can save him." + +"True, but how will we git the cuss outside?" + +"Easy's preaching. I'll go and introduce myself and get him to wait +this car to try an excellent brand of cigars--see?" And the Professor +chuckled audibly, + +"I expect it's easier said than done," returned the thickset villain. +"Twixt you 'n me, Ruggles, Dyke Darrel's cut his eye teeth, an' he +don't walk into no traps with his eyes open, I can tell you that." + +"Well, we'll see about it. I flatter myself that I'm sharper than any +detective that ever lived." + +Then, adjusting his glasses, the sunset-haired Professor left his seat +and walked down the aisle to the door. He came hurrying back with an +interested, perhaps anxious look on his countenance. + +"Now's your time, Sam," whispered Professor Ruggles; "the fellow's on +the platform smoking!" + +This was fully two hours after the thickset man first stepped upon the +train. He at once came to his feet, and sauntered in a careless manner +to the door. The night was not dark, and the man could plainly see a +dark form leaning against the end of the opposite car, a bright red +gleam showing the end of his cigar. + +It was indeed Dyke Darrel, who had come out upon the platform to cool +his heated brow and reflect on the situation, while he smoked a cigar +for its soothing influence. + +He could not drive the thought of Harry Bernard and the train robbery +from his mind. He remembered that the young man had left Woodburg +suddenly the fall before, and nothing had been seen or heard from him +by his friends since, until Dyke's meeting him so strangely in St. +Louis. It was barely possible that the assault and the rescue by young +Bernard were part of a deep-laid plot. Dyke Darrel possessed a +suspicious mind, and he could not reconcile appearances with the +innocence of young Harry Bernard. + +Deeply meditating, the detective scarcely noticed the opening of the +car door opposite his position. His gaze, however, soon met the form +of a man as he stepped across the narrow opening between the coaches. + +The detective was instantly on the alert. He was not to be caught +napping, as he had been once before that night. + +The moment the stranger passed to his platform, Dyke Darrel faced him +with a drawn revolver in his hand. + +"Mr., I want a word with you." + +Thus uttered the thick-set passenger, and then Dyke Darrel recognized +the man who had boarded the train at the first station outside of St. +Louis. + +"What is it you want?" demanded the detective shortly. + +"THIS!" + +With the word, the man lunged forward. Divining his movement, Dyke +Darrel sank suddenly to the steps, and his assailant plunged headlong +from the train! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WORDS THAT STARTLE. + + +It seemed a terrible plunge into eternity. Not for one moment did the +detective lose his presence of mind, however. Straightening, he +reached up and grasped the bell-cord. + +Ere many seconds the train came to a stop. + +"Man on the track," said Dyke Darrel when the conductor came hurrying +to see what was the trouble. + +Lanterns were at once brought into requisition, and men went back to +look for the body of the detective's assailant. + +No one imagined that he could possibly plunge from the speeding train +and escape death. Dyke Darrel moved along confidently expecting to +look upon the bruised corpse of the outlaw who had attempted his +destruction. + +He met with disappointment. + +No man was found. + +"He must have been a tough one to have jumped the train without +receiving a scratch," said a voice in the ear of the detective, as he +flashed the rays of a lantern down on the track. + +Dyke Darrel glanced at the speaker, a gentleman with enormous red +beard, and rather worn silk hat. + +This was the detective's first introduction to Professor Ruggles. + +"I've no doubt of his being tough," answered Dyke Darrel. + +"How did it happen?" + +"I think the fellow intended to throw me off the train." + +"Goodness! is that so? What was the trouble about?" + +"No trouble that I am aware of. I did not know the man." + +"Then it's likely he mistook you for some one else." + +Dyke Darrel eyed the speaker keenly. There seemed to be nothing +suspicious about the Professor, however, and soon after the detective +dismissed him from his mind. + +"All aboard!" shouted the conductor, a little later, and soon the +train was speeding northward at a rapid rate. + +Dyke Darrel went into the rear car, and sat down to meditate on his +adventure. He realized that his death had been planned by enemies to +law and order, and he believed by the ones who were anxious to throw +him off the trail of the outlaws who perpetrated the crime on the +midnight express a few nights before. + +It did not seem possible that the man who had attempted to throw him +from the train, and had gone over himself, had escaped unharmed. + +Doubtless, though badly hurt, he had managed to drag himself away from +the immediate vicinity of the track, where he had remained secreted +until the brief search was over. + +Since his fall was unexpected, it was not likely that any of the +villain's friends were in the vicinity, and so it might be an easy +matter to trace the outlaw. Dyke Darrel formed a plan of operation at +once, and rose to leave the train at the next stop. + +"Do you get off here?" + +Dyke Darrel was somewhat surprised to see Harper Elliston on the +platform of the little station. + +"I stop here," said Dyke. "And you?" + +"I thought of going to Chicago." + +"Postpone your trip then. I wish to consult with you on a matter of +importance." + +The tall gentleman hesitated. + +The train began to move. + +"You must decide quickly," cried the detective. + +Elliston walked the length of the narrow platform, with his hand on +the car rail, his satchel in the other hand. His hand fell from the +rail, and the express swept swiftly away in the darkness. + +"Anything to accommodate, Dyke. I had some business of importance to +transact in Chicago, but it can wait." + +"I am sorry if I put you to extra expense, Harper, but I wish to +consult with one whom I can trust. I've got a devilish mean work on +hand," said Dyke Darrel in an explanatory tone. + +"You know I am always ready to assist you, Dyke. Is it a criminal +case?" + +"Yes; the last on record." + +"The express crime?" + +"Yes." + +"I mistrusted as much. You have been down the road?" + +"To St. Louis!" + +"Exactly." + +"I took a young offender down who escaped from prison last winter. I +think the officers will look after him more closely in the future." + +"Who was it?" + +"Martin Skidway." + +"I don't call to mind the name, now." + +Lights in the distance showed that the village contained one public- +house at least. So there the two men repaired. + +Mr. Elliston quaffed a glass of wine, while the detective would take +nothing but a cigar. Repairing to a room, the two men sat and +conversed for some time in the most confidential way. + +Dyke Darrel gave his friend an account of his adventure on the train, +which had induced him to stop off and investigate. + +The reader may imagine that it was extremely indiscreet for the +detective to give away his plans to Elliston, but Dyke Darrel had +known this man for more than a year, had visited him in New York, and +found him to be well thought of there, and he had more than once +confided in him, to find him as true as steel. + +At this time the detective believed Elliston to be the best friend he +had in the world. He knew the New Yorker to be a man of great ability +and thoroughly acquainted with the world, and more than once he had +done a good turn for Darrel. Why then should he not trust him? In +fact, Dyke Darrel had noticed the growing interest Mr. Elliston took +in his sister, and it pleased him. Looking upon him as almost a +brother, it is little wonder that Dyke Darrel took the man from Gotham +into his confidence to a considerable extent. + +"I think you did the right thing in leaving the train to look after +this villain," said Elliston, when he had heard the detective's story; +"but you must be aware that you run a great risk in going about the +country without disguise, avowedly in search of the perpetrators of +the express robbery. Of course, this man has friends, and they will +not hesitate to shoot or stab, as they did in the case of the express +messenger." + +"Certainly--" + +"But, my dear Dyke, had I not happened at the station you might have +run into a trap. I have reason to believe there are many lawless +characters in this neighborhood. It strikes me that the man knew what +he was about when he assaulted you at this point on the road." + +To this, however, Dyke Darrel did not agree. He believed that the +villain who attempted his murder sought the first favorable +opportunity for his fell work, regardless of time and place. + +Early the next morning the detective and his friend hired a horse and +buggy of the hotel proprietor, and set off down the road to the scene +of the "accident." + +Dyke Darrel was confident that he could find the spot, and, sure +enough, he was not far out in his reckoning. When in the vicinity of +where he believed the man had left the train, Darrel's quick eye +caught sight of a group of men standing under a shed, on the further +side of a distant field. + +"There is some cause of excitement over yonder," remarked Dyke Darrel, +as he drew rein, and pointed with his whip. + +"It seems to mean something," admitted Elliston. + +"I propose to investigate." + +Securing his horse, Dyke Darrel vaulted the fence, and, closely +followed by Elliston, made his way across the field. + +A dozen men and boys stood about, regarding some object with +commiserating glances. + +Dyke Darrel pushed his way into the crowd, and was not disappointed in +what he saw--a man lying prostrate on some blankets, with white face +and blood-stained garments. + +"We found him jest off the railroad, in a fence-corner," said one of +the countrymen. "He'll never git up an' walk agin." + +"Has he said anything?" + +This last question was put by Harper Elliston. + +"Nary word. He fell off 'n ther train last night, I reckon." + +Elliston knelt and felt the man's pulse. + +"He lives," said the New Yorker, "but there isn't much life; he cannot +last long." + +"A little brandy might revive him," said Dyke Darrel. "I would like to +have him speak; it is of the utmost importance." + +"Indeed it is," cried Elliston. "Where is the flask of brandy you +brought from the train, Dyke?" + +"In the buggy." + +"Send a man for it." + +"I will go myself;" and Dyke Darrel set off at a rapid walk across the +field. At the same moment the man on the blanket groaned and opened +his eyes. + +"How do you feel, my man?" questioned Elliston. + +"I--I'm used up." + +"It looks so." + +Elliston bent lower. + +"You're going to die, Sam, sure's shooting," he said in a whisper at +the ear of the prostrate wretch. + +A groan was the only reply. + +"Do you hear me, Sam?" + +"Yes, I--I hear," was the faint answer. + +Placing his lips to the ear of the man, Elliston continued to whisper +for some seconds. + +Soon the detective returned with a flask of brandy, which he at once +placed to the lips of the bruised and helpless wreck. A few sips +seemed to revive the man wonderfully. + +"Tell me your name, my man," questioned the detective, eagerly. + +"Sam Swart." + +"Do you realize your condition? You have but a few hours to live, and +if you wish to free your mind, we will listen." + +Elliston stood at the man's feet, facing him with folded arms, while +the kneeling detective addressed himself to the apparently dying man. + +"I haven't nothing to tell." + +"See here, Mr. Swart, it is better that you tell what you know. Do +justice for once, and it may be better with you in the hereafter. You +attempted to murder me last night, and I believe you had a hand in the +death of Arnold Nicholson and the robbery of the express." + +"I--I did, but he coaxed me into it," articulated the poor wretch in a +husky voice. Elliston caught the words, and his cheek suddenly +blanched. He was outwardly calm, however. + +Dyke Darrel bent low to catch the faint words of Swart. It was evident +that the man was rapidly sinking, and the detective was terribly +anxious to get at the truth. + +"Speak!" he cried, hoarsely, "WHO coaxed you to commit this crime?" + +"HE did. The boy and--and Nick was with--with me." + +"But who was the leader--the instigator of the foul deed?" + +Close to the swollen lips of the dying man bent the ear of Dyke +Darrel, every nerve on the alert to catch the faint reply. + +A name was uttered that caused Dyke Darrel to spring to his feet with +a great cry. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +BLACK HOLLOW. + + +"What was it?--WHO was it?" cried Harper Elliston, seizing the arm of +Dyke Darrel, and penetrating him with a keen glance. + +"It does not matter." + +"It does. I have had a suspicion." + +"Well?" + +"He uttered the name of Harry Bernard." + +"How could you guess that?" + +"Because I have felt it in my bones," answered the tall New Yorker. +"Harry Bernard acted queerly before he left Woodburg the last time, +and I have since arrived at the conclusion that he was engaged in some +unlawful work." + +"Well, I never entertained such a suspicion," was all the detective +vouchsafed in reply. Then he glanced at the man on the ground. + +"See, the fellow is dying." + +It was true. Sam Swart, the miserable outlaw, was swiftly passing +away. Half an hour later, when Elliston and the detective returned to +their buggy, the would-be murderer of Dyke Darrel lay cold in death +under the farmer's shed. + +A serious expression pervaded the face of Dyke Darrel, and he scarcely +spoke during the drive back to town. + +"Did you find your man?" queried the landlord, when our friends +returned. + +"Yes." + +Elliston entered into an explanation, while Dyke Darrel went up to his +room and threw himself into a chair in a thoughtful attitude. His brow +became corrugated, and it was evident that the detective was enjoying +a spell of the deepest perplexity. + +"It must be that the fellow's mind wandered," mused Dyke Darrel. "Of +course I cannot accept as evidence the ragged, half-conscious +utterances of a dying man. He spoke of Nick and the boy. There may be +something in that. The boy? Who could that be but Martin Skidway? I've +suspected him; he is capable of anything in the criminal line. It may +be well for me to go to Chicago and visit Martin's Aunt Scarlet. How +that woman hates me, simply because I was the means of breaking up a +gang of spurious money makers, of whom old Dan Scarlet was the chief. +Well, well, the ways of the world are curious enough. By the way, I +haven't sent that line to Nell yet. The girl will feel worried if I +don't write." + +Then, drawing several postals from his pocket, Dyke Darrel wrote a few +lines on one with a pencil, and addressed it to "Miss Nell Darrel, +Woodburg." + +Just then Elliston entered. + +"When does the next train pass, Harper?" + +"In twenty minutes. Will you go on it to Chicago?" + +"Not to Chicago. I shall stop half a hundred miles this side, or more. +I wish to do a little more investigating." + +"Don't you accept what the dying Swart said as true?" + +"Not wholly." + +"Would a dying man be likely to utter a falsehood?" + +"I can't say. What is your opinion?" + +There was a peculiar look in the eyes of Dyke Darrel, as he put the +question. + +"I should think there could be no doubt on the subject." + +"Indeed; then you consider that the last name that fell from the lips +of Sam Swart was that of the man who instigated the wicked crime on +the midnight express?" + +"Certainly, that is my opinion." + +Dyke Darrel drew out a cigar and lit it, his friend refusing to take +one. + +"I can't feel so sanguine as you seem to, Harper. Will you go on?" + +"I shall go to Chicago." + +"You do not care to remain with me longer?" + +Dyke Darrel regarded his friend closely through a cloud of smoke. + +"You forget that I left urgent business to keep you company last +night," answered Mr. Elliston, a tinge of rebuke in his voice. + +"I do not. You have my hearty thanks for your disinterested kindness, +Harper," returned Dyke Darrel. "If the delay has cost you anything---" + +"See here, old chum, don't insult me," cried Elliston, as the +detective drew out a well-filled wallet. "I am able and willing to pay +my own bills, I hope." + +"Certainly. I meant no offense." + +"It is time we were on the move, Dyke, if we do not wish to miss the +up train." + +Dyke Darrel realized the force of his friend's words, and at once made +preparations for departure. A little later the two were on board the +morning express, speeding Northward. Dyke Darrel informed the +conductor of the fate of Sam Swart, the outlaw, but did not intimate +that the fellow was a member of the gang of train robbers, whose deed +of blood had sent a shudder of horror and indignation throughout the +nation. + +When the train halted at Black Hollow, the station at which the +terrible crime of a few days previous had been discovered, Dyke Darrel +arose to go. + +"When shall I see you again, Dyke?" questioned Mr. Elliston. + +"I am not sure. I shall be in Woodburg next week." + +"I will see you there, then." + +"Very well." + +The detective left the train, and stood alone on the platform of the +little station. There were not a dozen houses in sight, and it was not +often that the express halted at this place. Here the daring deed of +robbers had been discovered. It could not be far from here that the +outlaws left the express car, doubtless springing off and escaping in +the darkness as the train slowed up to the station. + +Not a soul in sight. + +Dyke Darrel entered the depot, to see a man standing at the window who +had been watching the moving train as it rushed away on its northern +course. + +"No public house here, sir," said the man, who proved to be the +railway agent, in answer to an inquiry from the detective. + +"Then I must find some one who will keep me for a short time," +returned Dyke Darrel. "I am looking for a location in which to open a +gun-shop." + +"Guns would sell here, I reckon," said Mr. Bragg. "I guess maybe I can +accommodate you with a stopping-place for a day or two." + +"Thanks. I will pay you well." + +"I'm not a shark," answered the agent. "You see that brown house up +yonder, in the edge of that grove?" + +"Yes." + +"That's my place. I can't go up just now; but you may tell my wife +that I sent you, and it will be all right." + +Dyke Darrel sauntered down past several dingy-looking dwellings until +he came to the house of Mr. Bragg. It was really the most respectable +dwelling in the place, which could not have been famous for its fine +residences. + +The aspect about was not calculated to prepossess one in favor of the +country. Somehow, it seemed to the detective that Black Hollow was +half a century behind the age. Mrs. Bragg was a shy, ungainly female, +and not at all communicative. + +Darrel occupied the remainder of the day in exploring the country in +the vicinity. A creek crossed the railroad and entered a deep gulch, +the sides of which were lined with a dense growth of bushes. + +An ill-defined path led down the steep side of the gulch, and was lost +to sight in the dense growth at the bottom. + +Dyke Darrel followed this path, and soon found himself in a dense wood +that seemed to cover a strip of bottom land. Moving on, the deep +shadows soon encompassed him on every side. + +A solemn stillness seemed to pervade the place, and a feeling of +loneliness came over the detective. + +"What a splendid place for secreting plunder, or hiding from officers +of the law." + +It was almost dark ere the detective turned to retrace his steps. The +narrow path grew indistinct, and it was only with the utmost +difficulty that Dyke Darrel kept his course. + +The snapping of a dry twig suddenly startled him. + +This sound was followed almost instantly by the whip-like crack of a +rifle. A stinging sensation on the cheek, together with the whistle of +a deadly bullet, warned Dyke Darrel of a narrow escape. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +POOR SIBYL! + + +Instantly the detective drew his revolver and sought shelter behind a +tree. Then he gazed sharply in the direction from whence the sound of +the rifle had come. + +A faint line of smoke in the distance alone met the gaze of Dyke +Darrel. + +It was evident that some one had fired upon him with murderous intent. +This was the belief of the detective. + +"Somebody has dogged my steps; there can be no doubt about that," +answered Dyke Darrel. "I was not wrong in my supposition that Black +Hollow is the rendezvous of a gang of outlaws. I wish I had one good +man with me to help hunt these scoundrels down." + +The darkness deepened, but no one appeared, and fearing that he would +not be able to follow the path if he tarried, Dyke Darrel, with his +revolver in hand, ready for use, moved from his shelter, and attempted +to make his way out of the labyrinth in which he found himself. + +The detective soon lost the path, however, and found himself in a +desperate tangle, with the blackness of a dismal night settling down +upon the place. + +"I'm in a pickle, now, for a fact," muttered Dyke Darrel. "I was a +little indiscreet in coming here so late in the day. It does seem as +though I must come out somewhere if I continue to strive." + +Nevertheless, an hour's walk in the dense undergrowth failed to bring +the detective to the bank of Black Hollow, or to any opening. "A +veritable trap for the unwary," growled Dyke, as he halted with his +back against a tree, with the perspiration oozing from every pore. +Even his wiry limbs and muscles were not proof against the tangled +nature of the wood into which he had so coolly entered. + +Dyke Darrel was not in a pleasant mood as he stood meditating on the +situation. + +"It looks now as though I was destined to remain in the wood all +night." + +It was not a pleasing prospect. + +The detective was on the point of making one more effort to break +through the tangle that encompassed him, when something caught his eye +that sent a thrill to his heart. + +It was the glimmer of a light. + +It did not seem to be far away, and Dyke Darrel resumed his fight with +the thickets with renewed courage. In a little time he entered a glade +in the woods, to find himself standing in near proximity to a low log +cabin, through a narrow window of which a light glimmered. + +"Some one lives here, it seems." + +Dyke Darrel moved forward cautiously, for he still believed that the +wood was the haunt of outlaws, and this very house might be the den +where the plunder of many raids was secreted. + +Soon the detective stood on a little rise of ground, in such a +position that he could peer into the window. The interior of a small, +poorly-furnished apartment met his gaze. Beside the glowing embers of +a wood fire in a box stove crouched a human figure, seemingly the only +occupant of the lone log cabin. + +There was a wealth of golden hair flashing in the firelight, and the +black robe covered the form of what seemed to be a beautiful woman. + +As may be supposed, the detective was surprised at the sight. After a +moment of reflection he resolved to enter the cabin. + +Striding to the door, he rapped gently. No answer came, and the +detective rapped again. This time the door was cautiously opened, and +a white face peered out. + +"Who's there?" + +"A traveler who has lost his way." + +"You cannot come in. Sibyl isn't afraid, but she wishes to be alone." + +Nevertheless, the woman stood aside and held the door wide. This +seemed invitation enough, and the detective at once crossed the floor, +and pushed to the door at his back. + +The female receded before him, and stood at the far side of the room, +with both hands extended, waving them gently up and down. + +"Come no nearer, sir; Sibyl would view you from afar. There, stand +where you are, and do not move. It may be that you are the one I have +been looking for all these years." + +The speaker was evidently young, and possessed a weirdly beautiful +face, that strangely attracted Dyke Darrel. He stood still and watched +her singular movements curiously. + +She drew a morocco case from her bosom, opened it, and gazed at +something, evidently a picture, long and earnestly. She seemed to be +comparing the face of the picture with that of her visitor. + +Dyke Darrel was puzzled, and somewhat pleased. + +"No, you are not my Hubert; he was a nobler looking gentleman by far." + +"Will you permit me to look at the picture, Miss--" + +"No, no; I dare not trust it out of my hands. I promised him, you +know, and I must not disappoint Hubert, for he is very exacting. +Hark!" + +The girl secreted her prize, and lifted a warning hand. + +"Don't you hear his step? It is Hubert--dear, dear Hubert--come back +to comfort his poor Sybil after these long, weary years." + +A low, startling laugh fell from her lips at the last. She darted +across the floor, and flung the door wide, peering out into the +darkness. + +A solemn, awful silence followed, then the door was sharply closed, +and the queerly acting girl faced Dyke Darrel once more. She looked +weirdly beautiful, with a mass of golden hair falling below her taper +waist, her face white as the winter's snow, almost too white for the +living. + +So she stood now; the dancing light from the fire fell full on her +countenance, revealing it for the first time plainly to the gaze of +the detective. + +A low, stunned cry escaped from his lips. + +"My God! It is Sibyl Osborne, the Burlington Captain's daughter." + +A low laugh fell from the girl's lips. + +She began humming a gay tune, and danced across the room with arms +outstretched, as though attempting to fly. + +The truth came with stunning force--the poor girl was crazy! Her +father, a wealthy Burlington real estate broker, had mysteriously +disappeared some months before, and it was supposed that he had met +with foul play. Despite the efforts of Dyke Darrel and other +detectives, no clew had yet been found of the missing man. The +detective had met Sibyl at her father's house, and had regarded her as +one both beautiful and accomplished. To meet her as now was a terrible +revelation indeed. + +No wonder Dyke Darrel was stunned. + +For some moments he stood in pained silence, watching the antics of +the poor unfortunate. + +"Hubert will come, Hubert will come," she sung, as she glided back and +forth across the floor. + +What had caused this awful calamity? Dyke Darrel asked this question +in saddened thoughtfulness, as he gazed upon the beautiful wreck +before him. + +"Tell me that Hubert will come, sir, and then I won't believe that he +wrote that cruel letter," cried Sibyl, in a mournful voice, pausing in +front of the detective. "I cannot tell you unless you show me the +letter," returned Dyke Darrel, resolving to humor her. + +Quickly she drew from her bosom a letter and placed it in the +detective's hand. + +He drew it from the wrapper, hoping to learn something that might give +him a clew to the situation. + +This is what he read: + +"MISS SIBYL OSBORNE: I am sorry to inform you that I cannot see you +again. I am off for Europe on my wedding tour. Forget me as soon as +possible. + +"H. VANDER." + +"Do you think my Hubert could write anything so cruel?" she +questioned, as he handed the missive back to her. + +"It doesn't seem possible," answered Dyke Darrel. + +It was evident to his mind that the girl had become crazed on account +of her father's disappearance and the treachery of her lover. The +detective's heart beat sympathetically for the poor wronged girl. It +was his duty to see the girl safely on her way to the Burlington ere +he continued his search for the assassins of Arnold Nicholson. One had +already given up his account, but there were others yet to punish. + +While Dyke Darrel stood debating what course to pursue, under the +remarkable change in circumstances, the mad girl uttered a sudden, +sharp cry. + +"See! it is Hubert, my Hubert! come at last!" + +A look of mad joy sped across the white face, as one slender arm was +extended, pointing toward the window. Dyke Barrel followed with his +eyes, and then he, too, uttered an involuntary cry. + +Glued to the narrow pane was a face that was startling in the +intensity of its ghastly pallor, but it was not this that sent an +involuntary exclamation to the lips of the railroad detective. + +The face at the window was that of his friend, HARPER ELLISTON! His +presence here was one of the mysteries of that eventful night. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A BURNING TRAP. + + +For some moments Dyke Darrel stared at the face in the window without +moving. How came Harper Elliston in the woods at Black Hollow, when he +ought to have been in Chicago, according to his expressed intentions +of the previous day? + +With a sudden, wild scream the crazed Sibyl darted across the floor, +and thrust her hands against the window with such violence as to burst +the glass, cutting her hands severely in the operation. + +"Hubert! Hubert! come at last!" The girl staggered back and sank in a +paroxysm to the floor. + +It was indeed a startling affair, yet Dyke Darrel did not lose his +presence of mind. He hurried to the door and opened it, springing +outside quickly. + +"Elliston, I want you." + +Dyke Darrel stood by the broken window now, but the man he had +expected to find was not there. The apparition had vanished as though +fleeing into the upper air. + +Again the detective called the name of his friend, but without +receiving a reply. + +Here was a mystery indeed. + +Had that face at the window been an optical delusion, after all? + +Dyke Darrel was not superstitious, yet in the present case a queer +feeling oppressed him, and an awful misgiving entered his mind. + +"I cannot believe that the face at the window was other than that of +Elliston's; and yet she called him Hubert. It must be that there is a +mistake somewhere, and it seems to me that the mad girl is more apt to +be deceived than I." + +Once more Dyke Darrel returned to the house. + +Sibyl Osborne lay in a dead faint on the floor. The detective began +chafing her hands at once, and loosened her corsage. + +A morocco case fell to the floor. + +It was the one containing the alleged picture of Hubert Vander. Under +the circumstances Dyke Darrel believed he was justified in examining +it. + +He opened the case, and was soon gazing at the face of a handsome man. + +Although smoothly shaved, the face of the photograph was that of +Harper Elliston! + +A horrid suspicion now took possession of the detective's brain. + +Securing case and photograph on his own person, Dyke Darrel proceeded +in his efforts to bring the girl back to life. + +He was soon rewarded. + +"It was Hubert." + +These were the first words uttered by the girl when she opened her +eyes. Her hands were stained with blood from cuts made by the glass. + +She gazed at the blood, and grew suddenly deathly pale. + +"My God! he has tried to murder me!" + +Then she came to her feet, flinging her tangled golden hair about +wildly, and shrank to the far corner of the room. + +"You have nothing to fear from me, Miss Osborne," said Dyke. "I am +your friend." + +"And Hubert's friend?" + +"Yes, Hubert's friend, too." + +"Who did this, then?" + +She held up her bleeding hands. + +He tried to explain, and she seemed to understand partially, so much +so as to lose her fear of the detective. + +She began to laugh soon, and the late adventure seemed to pass +entirely from her mind. Dyke was glad to have it so. + +"Will you not lie down and rest?" he said presently. "We have a long +journey to go in the morning." + +"Where? To Hubert?" + +"Yes, to Hubert." + +Her great blue eyes regarded him wistfully, and a throb of pain +entered his heart at thought of the beautiful girl's misfortune. There +was growing in his heart a dangerous feeling, one that boded no good +to Harper Elliston, should that man prove to be as he now believed, +the Hubert Vander of the mad girl's dreams. + +"Take me to Hubert now, kind sir. I know you can do so, and I shall +die if he does not keep his word with me. He will never betray a poor +girl--such a gentleman, and so good? Yes, I will do anything to please +you, for it will bring dear Hubert back." + +She went up and laid both hands on the shoulders of the detective, and +looked so mournfully into his face as to touch the tenderness in his +nature deeply. His heart bled for the girl who had been the victim of +a villain's wiles. + +"Sit down and rest, Miss Osborne; we will try and find Hubert in the +morning." + +"You are very kind." + +She seemed gentle and subdued now. It was the calm after the storm. +Dyke saw that he was not recognized, however, and the madness was not +gone from the poor girl's brain. + +It was a very sad case, indeed. + +Several stools were in the room, and some blankets hung against the +further wall, proving that some one had lately occupied the cabin. +Undoubtedly it had been used as a hiding-place for outlaws, and it was +a question in the mind of the detective as to how soon the cabin would +be revisited. The presence of the insane girl necessarily altered his +plans somewhat. He could not leave her to perish in the woods. + +Removing the blankets from the wall, Dyke Darrel improvised a bed for +the poor girl, and induced her to lie thereon. He then replenished the +fire with some dry sticks that lay beside the stove, since the night +air was chill, and sat himself upon the floor, with his head reclining +against the logs. Before doing this, however, he had taken the +precaution to secure the only door with a wooden latch that had been +made for the purpose. + +The window, of course, he was unable to secure. + +It did not seem hardly safe to sleep under the circumstances, but Dyke +Darrel was very tired, having been without much rest for several +nights, and he was on the present occasion extremely drowsy. + +Resolving not to fall into a deep slumber, the detective sat with his +revolver at his side, and went off into the land of dreams before he +was aware of it. + +Dyke Darrel slept heavily. + +A crackling sound outside did not reach his ear with sufficient force +to waken him. A face peered in at the window, dark and sinister, but +the sleeping detective heeded it not. + +Another face, girded about with bristling red hair, appeared for a +moment, and then receded. Dark forms moved about the cabin without, +and engaged in a whispered conversation. + +Presently the trees and bushes became visible, and there was a smell +of burning wood in the air. + +"It is well," uttered a voice. "They will both perish like rats in a +trap. Dyke Darrel, the famous detective, will never be heard of more, +and that girl--well, she will be better dead than living. Come, Nick, +let us go!" + +"You're sure the door's tightly fastened?" "I fixed it so Satan +himself could not open it." + +"Good." + +"Let us go!" + +"Wait. I'd like to see the curse roast." + +"No, no; that won't do. We'll come in the day time and look at the +bones. This old log hut has had its day, and we could not put it to a +better use than to make a mausoleum for the man-tracker of the West." + +There was no hesitating after this. + +The two men moved swiftly away in the gloom that surrounded the +burning cabin. + +A choking sensation caused the reclining man in the cabin to stir +uneasily. + +Presently he opened his eyes. + +The room was full of smoke, and red tongues of flame were licking at +the logs from every side. + +Quickly Dyke Darrel came to his feet. A smell of burning garments +filled his nostrils. The bed on which Sibyl Osborne rested was on +fire! + +"My soul! this is unfortunate," cried the detective. He was equal to +the emergency, however. Springing to the side of the still sleeping +girl, Dyke lifted her in his arms and strode to the door. + +Quickly he slipped the rude bolt and grasped the latch. It refused to +yield. + +The door was firmly secured on the outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A SAD FATE. + + +For one instant, Dyke Darrel was paralyzed. + +It was for a moment only, however. He shook the door furiously, +blinded by smoke, and almost strangled by hot air. + +The door would not yield. + +At this moment, the girl awoke and began to scream. Bits of burning +wood fell all about them. + +Soon the roof would tumble in with a crash. When that moment came, +every living thing must perish within the house. + +Dyke Darrel moved to the window, leading Sibyl. She staggered and +seemed ready to fall. + +"Courage!" he cried, "we will soon be out of this." + +Reaching the narrow window, the detective dashed out sash and glass +with a stool, and the air from outside seemed like a breath from fairy +land. + +"You must go first?" + +Dyke Darrel assisted his fair companion to the opening. An instant +later she had passed outside. + +Then something occurred that quite startled the detective and filled +him with intense alarm. + +A burning log fell from the side of the cabin with a thud that was +sickening. A horrible fear at once took possession of Darrel. With a +quick bound he gained the opening, and leaped clear of the burning +logs to the ground without. + +Turning about he uttered a cry of horror. + +Sibyl Osborne lay crushed beneath a black log that was yet smoking +with heat. With a herculean effort the detective lifted and flung the +log from the poor girl's breast, and then he lifted and carried her +beyond the reach of flame and heat, and laid her on a little mound +beneath a giant tree. + +One glance into the mad girl's face satisfied him of the mournful +truth. The falling log had done fatal work, and with his hand clasping +hers, Dyke Darrel watched the gasps that grew fainter each moment, +until the silence and quietude of eternity rested on all. + +"Dead!" + +With that one word Dyke Darrel started to his feet and gazed about +him. There was a flinty gleam in his keen eyes and a fierce grating of +white teeth. + +It had been a long time since the railroad detective was moved as at +that hour, with the work of human fiends before him. + +From the burning cabin his gaze returned to the upturned white +face of the dead girl. Pure and lovely as a lily looked the face of +the wronged and dead. + +"It is better so, perhaps," muttered the detective. + +Had the girl lived she might never have enjoyed an hour of reason. +With that dethroned, what could death be but a welcome messenger. And +yet the manner of the mad girl's taking off was shocking in the +extreme. + +Had Dyke Darrel known the way out, he would have taken the corpse in +his arms and hurried from the scene at once. As it was, the detective +deemed it wise to remain in the vicinity until morning, when it was +likely he would have little trouble in making his way out of the +woods! + +The remaining hours of the night passed slowly. Dyke Darrel dared not +sleep, and so he kept his lonely vigil beside the dead, seated in the +shadows, with revolver ready to use at a moment's notice. + +No interruption came, however, and when the gray streaks of morning +dawned the detective breathed easier. He at once went in search of a +road that would lead out of the wood. + +He met with better success than he had dared hope. He found a path +that must have been used by the owner of the cabin, and which it was +evident the mad girl had followed in her wanderings. + +How long she had been in the cabin the detective had no means of +knowing, but it seemed to him evident that she could have been there +but a few hours when discovered by him. + +The way out of the Black Hollow woods was long and tedious, but Dyke +Darrel proved equal to the task, and when he broke cover and entered +upon the open ground above, he was glad to see a team approaching, +driven by a farmer. + +"Hello! What hev' you got there?" cried the man, in open-eyed +amazement, when he halted beside the detective and his burden. + +"A lady. She was accidentally killed last night." + +"It's awful!" + +"I quite agree with you," returned Dyke Darrel; "but if you will take +the woman aboard and drive to the house of Mr. Bragg, I will pay you +for it." + +"Of course I will." + +The farmer was garrulous on the way, and it required all the +detective's ingenuity to answer his questions promptly, so as not to +excite the fellow's suspicions. + +The body of the beautiful dead girl was laid in one of Agent Bragg's +rooms, and the latter telegraphed to the nearest town of importance +for a casket, which arrived at Black Hollow shortly after noon. + +"I will attend to shipping it," said Mr. Bragg. "This is a sad case. +It is a wonder to me that somebody did not see the girl yesterday." + +"Possibly she got off at another station." + +"Do you think she came to this vicinity on the cars?" + +"Most certainly," answered the detective. + +"Will you go to Chicago now?" + +"I am not fully decided," returned Dyke Darrel. "At what hour does the +train pass?" + +"Six-fifty to-night." + +"But the down train goes earlier?" + +"At four." + +"And at Bloomington I can take the cars for Burlington?" "If you so +desire." + +"I will think about it." + +Sauntering along in the afternoon, just in the outskirts of the +village, Dyke Darrel came suddenly upon a man standing with his back +against a telegraph pole. + +"Hello!" ejaculated the detective, as the man turned and faced him. + +It was Harper Elliston. + +"I thought you were in Chicago," pursued the mystified Dyke. And then +he remembered the face he had seen at the window of the cabin in Black +Hollow the previous night. The memory brought a harsh expression to +his countenance. + +"Ah, you are still here, Dyke." + +Mr. Elliston smiled and held out his hand. + +"I don't understand this," said Dyke Darrel. "You have deceived me in +some way, Harper. You were in Black Hollow last night." + +"There you are mistaken," assured Mr. Elliston; "I stopped off here on +the noon train." + +"You did not go to Chicago, then?" + +"Yes, I did; but only remained an hour. You see the man I was looking +for was not there, but had gone to Burlington, Iowa, and so, +remembering that you stopped off here yesterday, I thought I would run +down and learn if you had made any discovery." + +"You came at noon?" + +"Yes." + +"Why did not you call for me at Bragg's?" + +"Are you stopping there?" + +"Certainly. If you had inquired for me of the agent here, you would +have certainly found me." + +"That's exactly what I did do, and I did not find you; so now," and +Mr. Elliston laughed at the perplexed look on the detective's face. + +The actions and words of this man were indeed a puzzle to Dyke Darrel. + +"Harper, I want to ask you a plain question----" + +"And you want a categorical answer, Mr. Darrel," interrupted the New +Yorker with a laugh. + +"I do." + +"Go ahead." + +"Weren't you in Black Hollow last night?" + +"Certainly not. I was with a friend at least sixty miles away, near +Chicago." + +"Can you prove this?" + +"If necessary, of course; but what in the world is the matter, Dyke? I +hope you wouldn't accuse me of deception." + +"No. Will you come with me to Bragg's?" + +"Certainly." + +And then the two men walked away together. There was a solemn +expression pervading the face of Dyke Darrel. He had experienced many +strange things during his detective life, but this latest phase +puzzled him the most. + +He could swear that he saw the face of Elliston at the window of the +house in the gulch on the previous night, yet the assertion from his +friend that he was fifty miles away at the time seemed honest enough. + +Having been long in the detective work, Dyke Darrel had grown to be +suspicious, and so he was fast losing faith in the good intentions of +his New York friend. He had suddenly resolved on a test that he +believed would prove effectual in setting all doubts at rest. + +Arrived at the Bragg dwelling, the detective conducted Harper Elliston +at once to the room where the remains of the beautiful, dead girl lay +encoffined. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DYKE DARREL ASTOUNDED. + + +Dyke Darrel lifted a cloth from the face of the dead, and Harper +Elliston stood gazing down upon the features of wronged and murdered +Sibyl Osborne. + +The detective watched the expression of his companion's countenance +closely. + +With bated breath the man-hunter glued his gaze upon the face of the +man bending over the casket. + +"What a sad face, and yet most wonderful in its beauty. Who is she? A +daughter of the house?" + +Harper turned and regarded Dyke Darrel questioningly, a sympathetic +look in his black eyes. + +"Do you not know her?" + +"_I_ know her? You forget that I am a stranger in this part of the +West, Dyke." + +"She, too, was a stranger here, Elliston. Her home was in Burlington, +and she has been brought to this by a villain who ought to pass the +remainder of his days behind prison bars, if not conclude them at a +rope's end. Do you know Hubert Vander?" + +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, and a look of deep, +indignant feeling pervading his face. All the time he kept his gaze +riveted on Elliston. + +That gentleman stood the ordeal without flinching, however. + +"Hubert Vander? The name is a new one to me, Dyke." + +"Indeed!" + +A sneer curled the lip of the detective. + +"What do you mean by that?" questioned Mr. Elliston. "Am I to +understand that you connect ME in any way with this girl's death, or +that I am a friend to this Hubert Vander of whom you speak?" + +"Your pretended indignation will not deceive, Harper Elliston. Look at +THIS, and tell me what you think of it," said Dyke Darrel, with the +sternness of steel. + +The detective laid the photograph he had obtained in the Black Hollow +cabin in the hand of Mr. Elliston. + +The New Yorker did start then. + +He gazed long and constantly at the pictured face. + +"What have you to say now, Harper Elliston?" demanded Dyke Darrel, in +an awful voice. + +"It is a mighty close resemblance," returned the gentleman. "Where did +you obtain this, Dyke?" + +"From Sibyl Osborne." + +"Sibyl Osborne?" + +"She who lies before you. If that is not YOUR portrait, and if you are +not the man who murdered Captain Osborne and ruined his daughter, then +I am out of my senses." + +With the words Dyke Darrel presented a cocked revolver at the heart of +the cool, smiling villain before him. + +The smile left the New Yorker's face, and a serious expression +followed it. + +"What? You draw a pistol on me, Dyke Darrel? I am surprised," cried +Mr. Elliston in an injured tone. "I did not imagine that you could +lose confidence in me, let what would happen. Can it be that our +friendship was but a brittle cord, after all?" + +"I cannot remain friendly when my confidence has been betrayed." + +"And you deem me a most hardened scoundrel? Of course you will give me +a hearing. You are an upholder of law, and do not approve of lynching. +Here, put on the handcuffs, Dyke, and take me to prison. You will be +sorry for this some time, but now that circumstances are against me +your friendship falls to the ground. I did not expect such treatment. +However, I can live through it; but I shall never feel toward you as I +have in times past. Put on the irons, Dyke. Why do you hesitate?" + +"There is a chance for a mistake, of course," said the detective, + +"I am glad you admit that much." + +"Is that your photograph?" + +"You said it belonged to a young lady!" + +"But is it a photograph of your face?" + +"It is not." + +"You swear it?" + +"I do." + +"And you were not in Black Hollow, last night?" + +"I was not." + +"Swear it? + +"I swear it." + +"You did not know this dead girl?" + +Dyke Darrel pointed toward the face in the coffin. + +"I did not." + +"Will you swear to this also?" + +"With my hand on my heart I swear." + +The white hand of Mr. Elliston was laid impressively against his +bosom. + +There was such a look of honest earnestness on the man's face it was +impossible to doubt, and Dyke Darrel was forced to forego arresting +the New Yorker then and there. + +If he was not fully satisfied, he did not permit Elliston to note the +fact. + +"I did but try you, Harper," Dyke Darrel said with a smile, extending +his hand. "You are true as steel and I am glad to find it so. I have +endured misery since last night, because I feared, and came to believe +otherwise." + +"You will trust me as of old?" + +"Yes." + +"Thanks. Now tell me all about the facts regarding this poor girl." + +Dyke Darrel did as requested, although he kept back some things that +he did not deem it necessary for Mr. Elliston to know. + +"And you saw this Hubert Vander peering into the cabin window--the man +who looks like me!" + +"I did." + +"Well, it's pretty tough, and no mistake, to have a fellow of such +villainous character circulating about in this region. I hope I won't +be hung for his crime by indignant citizens. I agree with you that +this Hubert Vander is a sleek villain, and that hanging is too good +for him. It does seem that you made an important discovery last night, +however." + +"Explain." + +"This man Vander no doubt murdered Captain Osborne." + +"I am led to think so myself," said Dyke Darrel. + +"He also jilted the Captain's daughter, if no worse, and the two +sorrows turned the poor girl's brain. It is a sad and terrible case. I +feel deeply interested, and hope to see the scoundrel who looks like +me brought to justice." + +"I am glad to hear you say so." + +"Furthermore I have another idea." + +"Proceed." + +"It is undoubtedly this Vander who planned the robbery of the midnight +express. A man who could deceive one so beautiful as this girl, would +not hesitate to do anything to feather his own nest." + +"Again I agree with you." + +"Evidently it was either this man, or friends of his, who fastened the +door of the cabin, and fired it with the hope of destroying the +detective who was dogging them so closely." + +"True, I had thought of that." + +"And here's another thing." + +"Well?" + +"May not this Vander and his friends conclude that the man-hunter +perished in the flames, if they fail to see him again? A disguise +would fix that easily, you know." + +"No, that will not go down." + +"Why not?" + +"My enemies will visit the ruins of the cabin, and failing to discover +skeletons, will learn the truth." + +"That does not necessarily follow." + +"I think it does. I may act on your suggestion, however," returned +Dyke Darrel. + +"And put on a disguise?" + +"Yes." + +"What will it be?" + +The detective laughed. + +"Don't ask me, Harper," he said. "Of what use a disguise that my +friends all understood?" + +"Is this because you fear to trust me, after what has happened, Dyke?" + +"No; but I prefer to keep my own counsel!" + +"And you are right." + +"I am glad you admit it." + +The friends then left the room. + +At the last moment, Dyke Darrel decided on accompanying the remains of +Captain Osborne's daughter to Burlington. He realized that it was the +proper thing to do. Elliston parted with the detective, telling him +that he meant to return to Woodburg for the present, and would meet +him there on his return from the Iowa city. + +It was a sad duty that led the railroad detective to revisit +Burlington, which he had last looked upon in the fall, shortly after +Captain Osborne's disappearance. + +Arrived in the bustling Western city, Dyke Darrel was met at the depot +by a surprise. An officer laid his hand on the detective's shoulder, +and said: + +"You are my prisoner, young man." + +"Eh? Well, now, what is this for?" demanded Dyke Darrel angrily. + +"FOR THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN OSBORNE AND HIS DAUGHTER!" + +Dyke Darrel felt the cold muzzle of a revolver touch his temple at the +last. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A BAFFLED VILLAIN. + + +In the meantime Harper Elliston, true to his word for once at least, +left the train at the Woodburg depot on the same morning that his +young detective friend arrived in Burlington. + +Repairing to his room at the hotel, the New Yorker remained until the +dinner hour. After this he turned his steps in the direction of the +Darrel Cottage. + +"I suppose Nell Darrel will be delighted to see me," chuckled +Elliston, as he walked up the steps and rang the bell. + +Aunt Jule opened the door. "Marse Dyke ain't home." + +"But Miss Nell is, I suppose." + +"Yes, and deed, sir; she's got company, and can't see no one fur de +present," cried the grinning negress, quickly. + +"Company? A lot of chattering girls, I suppose?" + +"No; a young gemmen----" + +"A gentleman?" + +The frown that blackened the brows of Harper Elliston was not pleasant +to see. He was not pleased that Nell should receive other male company +than himself. + +"I will enter. I think she will see me when she knows who has come," +said he, pushing past the negress, and entering the front room. + +He seated himself in an armchair, and proceeded to coolly await the +coming of the mistress of the house. + +Soon Nell Darrel came in. Her face was suffused with smiles, which +evidenced that she had heard good news. Elliston, however, flattered +himself that it was his coming that caused the pleased look on the +face of the detective's sister. + +"A pleasant day, Mr. Elliston." + +"Rather." + +He rose and held out his hand. She did not accept it, much to his +chagrin. + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Nell?" he queried. "I've been absent +almost a week, and I thought you would be longing for my company by +this time." + +A smile of self-assurance crossed his dark face. + +"I have no reason to regard you with any more consideration than on +your former visit," she said. "Have you seen my brother?" + +"Yes." + +"Where is he now?" + +"In Iowa, I presume." + +"He is well?" + +"He was when I parted with him, a short time since. You haven't heard +from him?" + +"Yes. He was then in a small town in the South or West, I believe." + +Thus they chatted for some time. + +During the past few days a desperate resolve had taken possession of +Elliston's brain. He admired the pretty Nell now more than ever, and +he was determined to make one more effort to win her regard before +going to extremes. + +That morning he had braced his nerves with several draughts of brandy, +and the fumes yet affected him, thus rendering him extremely +imprudent, to say the least. + +"Nell, Jule tells me you had company when I came. Who was it?" + +"A gentleman." + +"Aye, but his name?" + +The man's eyes glittered, and seemed to pierce with their keenness to +the soul of the girl who sat in front of him. She could smell his +breath, too, and the fact that he had been drinking made her a little +nervous. + +She was anxious for him to depart. + +"He is not one of your acquaintances," replied Nell, evasively. + +"But one of yours, it seems," sneered the man, in a tone that was the +least bit disrespectful. + +"Mr. Elliston, did you come here to insult me?" + +"Certainly not," he answered in a gentler tone. "Forgive me, Nellie; I +can't abide having another win the affections of one I so much covet. +If you only knew, Nell----" + +"Mr. Elliston, don't." + +Both came to their feet. + +He advanced and seized her hands once more; nay, he suddenly flung one +arm about her slender waist and drew her closely, at the same time +imprinting a kiss on her cheek. + +"I love you, Nell, and will not give you up. Fly with me, darling, +where no odious friends may come between us!" + +"Villain, release me!" + +Nell struggled with desperate energy, but she was as a child in the +hands of the tall scoundrel. + +"No, no, little girl, I will not permit you to escape. I mean to make +it impossible for you to wed another," grated the man, in a meaning +voice, that sent a shudder of horror to the heart of pure Nell Darrel. + +Lucky was it for the girl that her visitor had not yet left the house. + +Nell screamed aloud, and then the hand of Elliston was pressed over +her pretty mouth. Had the man been in his sober senses, he would never +have attempted such bold work; but when in liquor Harper Elliston was +far from prudent. + +"No nonsense now," he sneered. + +And then a door opened; a slender form crossed the floor, and as +Elliston turned to confront the new-comer he received a straight left- +hander in the chest that sent him back reeling. + +Gasping, and very red, Nell started aside, and held out her hand with +a low cry of alarm. + +The stalwart Elliston soon regained his equilibrium, and faced the one +who had dealt him such a furious blow--a slender youth not yet out of +his teens, yet in whose blue eyes flashed a determined spirit. + +"Scoundrel!" ejaculated Elliston. + +He stood glaring at the boy with the venom of a mad serpent in his +black eyes. + +"Get from this house, or I will call the police and have you put in +the cooler," said the boy, quickly, standing with clenched hands in +front of Nell, and returning the tall man's scowls with interest. + +"I'll smash every bone in your body, you insignificant little snipe," +roared Elliston. Instead, however, of making the attempt, the man drew +a small derringer from his pocket, and lifting the hammer, leveled it +at the head of his youthful assaulter. + +"Gentlemen, please, please desist," pleaded Nell in a shaky voice. +"This is no place for a quarrel." + +"It isn't, I admit," returned the boy, "but this sneak brought it +about, and now the odds are so much against him, he has recourse to a +deadly weapon. There is just that difference between us, Harper +Elliston." + +The New Yorker started as the youth pronounced his name. He imagined +that he was not known to the boy. + +"You see, I know you," proceeded the boy, noticing the man start. "I +have had the villain Elliston pretty well described to me, and know +that your act just now justifies me in calling you by that name. +Shoot, coward, if you dare." + +There was a cool defiance in the blue eyes of the boy, that won the +admiration of Elliston in spite of his anger. + +"No, the game is too small," retorted Elliston, lowering his weapon. +"I cannot afford to tarnish an honorable reputation by shedding the +blood of a child. I shall, nevertheless, remember you, young man, and +on the proper occasion give you the thrashing you so richly deserve." + +A look from Nell Darrel cut short the words that trembled on the lips +of the youth. + +"I bid you good afternoon, Miss Darrel," and Elliston bowed and walked +to the door. "I will see you again and explain matters." + +The door opened and closed, and the smooth villain was gone. + +"Thank Heaven!" murmured Nell. "It might have been worse," said the +boy. "I did not miss my guess when I called him Elliston?" + +"No." + +"I thought not. You can see now that Harry Bernard had good reason for +warning you to beware of Harper Elliston!" + +"I can see it plainly enough," returned the girl. "When will Harry +come to Woodburg?" + +"I understand how anxious you are," said the boy, with a smile. "Harry +is assisting Dyke to ferret out the railroad express crime, and it may +be some weeks before he comes to this part of the State. I think he +will be satisfied to know that you are true to him. It was his +knowledge of Elliston's villainy that induced him to send me to see +you with a note of warning." + +"I am thankful for his kindness, Mr. Ender." + +"Everybody calls me Paul, Miss Darrel." + +"And everybody (that is my friends), all call me Nell," returned the +girl, with a pleasant little laugh. + +"Let it be Nell and Paul then," and the boy joined in her laugh, thus +aiding in banishing the shadows of the day. Harry Bernard's youthful +messenger soon after departed, promising to call again on the +following day, when he might have another message from young Bernard, +who was still supposed to be in St. Louis. + +In the meantime the angry and discomfited Elliston repaired to the +hotel and made hasty preparations for departure. + +He left on the first train for Chicago. + +It was late in the evening that Mrs. Scarlet, in her den on Clark +street, was roused from a nap she was indulging in, with her head +against the wall, by a sharp rap at the door. + +Rousing up, she went to see who had come. + +She admitted a man with a plug hat and red whiskers. + +Professor Darlington Ruggles. + +"Aren't you glad to see me, Madam?" + +He held out a white set of digits. + +"No--why should I be glad?" + +She accepted the proffer of friendship, however, and shoved a rickety +old chair for her visitor's use. + +"I'll tell you why. Because I am the best friend you've got in +Chicago." + +"That wouldn't be saying much," and Mrs. Scarlet laughed harshly. + +"Wouldn't it?" + +"Didn't I say so? Nobody comes to see me now since poor Nephew Martin +was taken from me. I feel about ready to die but for one thing." + +"And that?" + +"REVENGE!" + +Her eyes snapped in their hollow sockets and the withered bosom heaved +with inward emotion. + +Mr. Ruggles emitted a laugh. + +He was evidently pleased at the condition of the woman's feelings. + +"I am glad to find you in this condition, Madam," he said, after a +brief pause. "I am here to tell you how you can be revenged, if I +mistake not the object on whom your hatred rests. + +"It's that infernal Dyke Darrel." + +"I knew it. You would smile and feel happy to see him suffer?" + +"It would be as beefsteak to a starving man," said the woman, +savagely. + +"Then listen. He has a most charming sister living in one of the +interior towns of the State. She is the only relative he has in the +wide world. You can strike the railroad detective through Nell +Darrel." + +"Yes, yes--go on." + +"He is away most of his time, as you doubtless know----" + +"And the girl is alone?" + +"Save for an old negress. Don't interrupt me, please, until I tell you +the exact situation. One of my acquaintances, a gentleman of means, +and a mean gentleman, for that matter, wishes to get this girl into +his possession. What object he may have does not matter, so long as he +is willing to pay big for the work. All that is required of you, Mrs. +Scarlet, is to furnish a room, and see that when once inside, Miss +Darrel does not escape nor communicate with the outside world. Do you +understand?" + +"I do." + +"And you will consent to act as this girl's keeper for a time?" + +"Yes, yes," cried the woman, with eager emphasis, and then a low, +half-suppressed sneeze startled them both. + +Professor Darlington Ruggles sprang up and looked toward the door. It +stood ajar, and through the opening peered a masked face, centered +with a pair of glittering eyes. + +Uttering a mad cry, Ruggles drew a concealed revolver and, leveling at +the head, fired. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +NELL MISSING. + + +The reader can imagine the indignation of the railroad detective when +he found himself arrested by the Burlington officer. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said Dyke Darrel, "but you are making a +foolish mistake. I am a detective----" + +"That won't go down. If you attempt to escape I will blow out your +brains," returned the officer, still holding his cocked weapon to the +head of Dyke Darrel. + +The detective was deeply annoyed at this. On board the train were the +remains of the daughter of one of Burlington's most prominent +citizens, and Dyke was extremely anxious to meet the friends and +explain the situation. + +"You may take me at once to the chief of police," said Dyke Darrel, at +length. "I can explain to him, since he knows me." + +Another officer approached, and the first one requested him to +handcuff his prisoner. + +A hot flush of anger shot to the cheek of the detective. + +"This is going too far," he said in a vexed tone. "If you attempt to +put the irons on me, I'll make you trouble. I tell you I am acquainted +with your chief, and demand that you take me to him." + +"That's fair enough," said the second officer. + +"But he's a dangerous character," persisted the first. + +"Whom do you take me for," Dyke demanded indignantly. + +"Slim Steve, the train robber." + +"Where did you get your information?" + +"It doesn't matter." + +"You'd better go slow, officer. Look at that, and tell me what you +think of it?" + +Turning back the lap of his coat Dyke Darrel revealed a glittering +silver star, and below this a flaming eye on a dark background. + +"A Pinkerton detective!" exclaimed the second officer. + +"I am a detective, and know my business without receiving instructions +from the police of a one-horse town," retorted Dyke Darrel in anger. +"I am willing, however, to visit your chief, who will confirm my +words." + +"We had orders from him to arrest you." + +"Very good. I demand that you take me before him." + +After a short consultation the two officers concluded to gratify their +prisoner, and, without attempting to handcuff him, they conducted him +from the depot to the police station. + +As luck would have it, the chief was in, and at once recognized and +greeted Dyke Darrel. Explanations soon followed. + +"You must not blame my men," said the chief, "for word was sent from +an interior town in Illinois stating that a notorious crook was on the +train, and would stop at Burlington. A description was given that +tallied with yours, and so the mistake was made." + +"Do you know who sent the dispatch?" + +"A sheriff, I think." + +"Just accommodate me with the name of the town, please." + +Dyke Darrel was deeply excited at this last attempt to deprive him of +his liberty. + +The officer referred to the dispatch and read the name of the place +from whence it originated. + +"Woodburg!" + +Dyke Darrel uttered the name in wonder. + +"I don't understand it," he said; "that is my own home, and I am too +well known there to merit suspicion. It must have been meant for a +practical joke," and the detective's thoughts were turned to Harper +Elliston. + +"It might be, of course," admitted the chief of Burlington police, +"but it is a joke that I shouldn't relish, and you might make it warm +for the perpetrator. I can telegraph and inquire into it if you wish, +Mr. Darrel." + +"Not now. I shall be in Woodburg within a few days, and then I will +find out all about it." + +Dyke Darrel repaired at once to the home of Captain Osborne, which was +occupied by relatives of the Captain, and informed them of the sad +fate that had overtaken Sibyl Osborne. + +An aunt and cousin, the latter a young man of prominence, were the +relatives mentioned. The cousin promised to attend the remains, after +listening to the strange story Dyke Darrel had to tell. Sibyl had left +home ten days before, pretending to go on a visit to friends. When she +left it was not suspected that she was out of her mind, consequently +the news was all the more sad. + +From Burlington the railroad detective returned to Black Hollow, and +from there he went to St. Louis to consult with Harry Bernard. Here he +was met with the announcement that his young friend had taken the +train for Chicago some days before. + +This was an annoying state of affairs indeed. + +Remaining a few days in St. Louis, Dyke Darrel at length left the city +en route for Woodburg. He was anxious to meet Nell, from whom he had +been absent now about a fortnight. + +On reaching Woodburg the detective found a telegram awaiting him from +Chicago: + +"Come at once. I have made an important discovery. + +"H." + +Of course this must be from Harry. It was dated some days before, +however, which annoyed Dyke. Harry Bernard might have changed his base +of operations by this time. + +"I will call at the house," mused Dyke Darrel. "I have an hour's time +before the next Chicago train." + +Aunt Jule was extremely glad to meet "Marse Dyke." + +"Why didn't you bring the young missus wid yo?" questioned the +negress. + +"What's that? Hope you didn't think I'd committed matrimony?" and the +detective laughed lightly, at the same time chucking Aunt Jule under +her fat chin. + +"Lor-a-massy, no, Marse Dyke. I meant Missy Nell," explained the black +woman. + +"Miss Nell? Isn't she at home?" + +"Wal, now, what a question. In coorse she ain't. Didn' yo' send fur +her yo' very self? How den yo' 'spec she's goin' to be home ef yo' +didn' done brung her, eh?" + +All this was Greek to Dyke Darrel. + +"What in the name of caution are you driving at, Aunt Jule? I haven't +seen my sister since I left home, and if she's gone to look for me +she's done a very foolish thing, for I'm not long in one place--she +ought to have known better." + +Aunt Jule flounced out of the room, to return soon with a yellow +envelope in her hand. + +"Dere, look a-dat now. Ef yo' didn' done writ dat, den I'd like to +know who did." + +The detective opened the letter his housekeeper placed in his hand, +and read: + +"CHICAGO, April 30, 188-. + +NELL:--Come on the next train, as I wish to see you in this city. Aunt +Jule will look after the house until your return. Don't disappoint me. +"DYKE." + +The detective glanced at the negress after reading this note, the +writing of which very much resembled his hand. + +"This came when?" + +"Yesterday." + +"Through the mail?" + +"Yes, Marse." + +A frown darkened the brow of the detective. He crumpled the letter in +his hand and began pacing the floor with nervous strides. + +"Somefin must be wrong ef yo' didn' write that letter." + +Suddenly Dyke Darrel turned on the speaker and touched her huge arm +with a clinging hand. + +"Jule, when did my sister answer this letter?" he demanded, fiercely. + +"Jest the next train." + +"Last night?" + +"Yes, Marse Dyke." + +Dropping his hand from Aunt Jule's huge arm, the detective rushed from +the room and the house. He was laboring under great excitement, as +well he might be, for Nell was as the apple of his eye, and she had +been enticed to the great city for a fell purpose, he believed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +NELL IN THE TOILS. + + +The instant after Professor Ruggles fired, the masked face in the +doorway disappeared, and the sound of swift-moving feet was heard. + +Still clutching his weapon, the Professor strode to the door and flung +it open, gazing into the alley, which framed no reply to the question +that trembled unspoken on his lips. + +"Did you hit him, Professor?" + +"I fear I didn't." + +Professor Ruggles then made an examination of the alley that assured +him that his bullet had not been stopped by flesh and bone--instead, +it lay on the ground where it had fallen, flattened, from the brick +wall above. + +"So much for being a poor shot," sneered the woman. + +"So much for your condemned carelessness in not locking the door," he +retorted with equal severity. + +"Well, maybe you'd better see that it is fastened now." + +Professor Darlington Ruggles turned the key in the lock, and then +assumed a seat once more. + +"Let me see. Where did we leave off?" + +"In a mighty important place," answered the woman. "If that sneak had +been at the door long, he must have heard something of our plans." + +"And it makes you feel uneasy?" + +"Don't it you?" + +"A trifle. I can't imagine who the sneak was." + +"Nor I." + +"It might have been one of the boys playing a joke," said Ruggles. + +"I hope it's nothing more serious." + +"I shall dismiss the sneak from my mind at any rate," returned Mr. +Ruggles. "To-morrow night you may look for your guest, Mrs. Scarlet. +Remember, whatever plans for vengeance you may have formed will be +more than gratified in placing this detective's sister completely in +the power of a man who knows how to use it." + +The Professor's eyes snapped at the last, and he lifted and smoothed +his hat rapidly with one long arm. + +"I understand. Nothing can be too harsh and awful for one of the +breed," hissed Madge Scarlet, in a way that made even Professor +Ruggles' flesh creep. + +Then he rose to go. + +"I will see you again ere long." + +Mrs. Scarlet locked the door after the retreating form of the tall +Professor, and then, going to the little table, she sat down, and +resting her thin cheeks between her hands, she cried: + +"It is coming, it is coming! At last I am to avenge the insults heaped +upon me and mine by that scoundrel, who sends men to prison for money, +for pay doled out to him by the minions of the law. Dan'l, if you can +look down on your old widow to-night, from your home among the stars, +you will see her with tears of joy in her old eyes at thought of how +she will avenge herself on your enemies. When once that girl comes +into my hands, I will execute vengeance to suit myself, without regard +to Professor Ruggles, or any other man." + +So it would seem that even the Professor did not fully comprehend the +depth of Mrs. Scarlet's vindictiveness toward Dyke Darrel. + +It was Professor Darlington Ruggles who penned the letter to Nell +Darrel that sent the unsuspecting girl to Chicago to meet her brother. + +She was not a little surprised at not finding Dyke at the depot to +meet her, and consequently felt a thrill of alarm at seeing so many +strange faces. + +Why had he not come? + +While standing meditating on what course to pursue, a gentleman in +rather seedy garments, yet withal not bad looking, stepped up and +touched the girl's arm. + +"Is this Miss Darrel?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the girl, promptly, at the same time regarding +the tall, sunset-haired gentleman, who bowed and lifted his tall hat, +with no little curiosity. + +"I am Oscar Sims, a friend to the great detective, and ever ready to +serve his handsome sister." + +"But, sir, I do not think that it will be at all necessary. I expect +my brother at any minute, now," returned Nell, with a cool hauteur, +meant to be freezing. + +Nell had heard of the villainous sharks of the great city, who lie in +wait for unsuspecting maidens, and she did not mean to be taken in by +one of them. Mr. Sims, however, seemed to be a kind gentleman, and +when he looked hurt at her remark she hastened to apologize for +seeming rudeness. + +"It is not at all necessary," said Mr. Sims, with a bland smile. "Mr. +Darrel requested me to visit the depot, and look after a young lady +whom he expected on the evening train from Woodburg. I hope you will +not distrust one who has the best interests of the great detective at +heart." + +Again the red-haired gentleman bowed, and looked smilingly into the +face of the young girl. + +For the time, Nell was thrown off her guard. + +"I--I expected to meet my brother," she articulated. "He said nothing +about you--a stranger--meeting me at the depot." + +"No; and good reason why. He did not know when he wrote that it would +be impossible for him to get to the depot. A slight accident----" + +"Accident! Dyke injured? Then let me go to him at once," cried the +impulsive girl, before the man could complete his sentence. + +"It is not so very bad," said Mr. Sims, as he led the way to the walk +without, and placed his fair charge on the cushions of a hack. Giving +low instructions to the driver, he vaulted to the side of Nell Darrel, +and the hack rattled away. + +Nell sat flushed and silent for some minutes, her heart throbbing +painfully. + +"Tell me about it," she finally said to her companion. "How did it +happen?" + +"I can't give you the particulars, since they were not given to me," +answered he. "I only know that Dyke met with a fall on the stone +pavement, and Dr. Boneset says that his leg is broken. He is in +considerable pain, but cheerful withal, and will be mighty glad to see +Nell, as he calls you." + +Again the man smiled in the face of the girl at his side, and up to +this time no suspicion of the truth flashed upon her brain. + +Although the hack moved rapidly, it seemed to the anxious girl a long +time in reaching its destination. + +"Mr. Darrel is at my house," said the gentleman, "and I live at least +two miles from the depot." + +This was said to silence the growing uneasiness manifested by Miss +Darrel. + +When at length the hack came to a halt, Mr. Sims quickly alighted and +lifted Nell Darrel to the curb; then the hack sped swiftly into the +night. + +Nell gazed about her with a shudder. + +The low, dingy buildings and bad smell pervading the place startled +her. + +"It cannot be that this is the place," she cried, standing firm, as he +attempted to lead her toward a door, over which glimmered a faint +light. + +"Oh, yes it is." + +"But I will not go in there." + +"We'll see about that," he growled, suddenly lifting her in his arms +and striding forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +BEATEN BACK. + + +The moment Nell Darrel felt herself lifted from her feet she uttered a +wild cry, which was smothered in its inception by the hand of her +captor. + +"Quiet, child; nobody's going to hurt you if you behave yourself." + +Nell was young and vigorous, and she made a desperate struggle for +liberty. It was with the utmost difficulty that the man made his way +to the room occupied by Mrs. Scarlet. + +"Bring the chloroform," said the villain. "We can't do anything with +the girl without it." + +"I'll fix her!" answered the woman, in a voice that sent a shudder to +the heart of poor Nell. + +Then a subtle fume filled the girl's nostrils, and soon her senses +faded out upon a sea of nothingness--her troubles were over for the +time. + +Then the man, who was none other than Professor Ruggles, bore his +insensible burden after the steps of Mrs. Scarlet, to a room in a +gloomy basement beneath the building. + +As we have before remarked, it was in a disreputable part of the city, +and it was not likely that the friends of the fair Nell would look in +such a quarter for her. + +"Now, then," said Professor Ruggles, when the twain were once more in +the room above, "I shall hold you responsible for the girl's safe +keeping, Mrs. Scarlet." + +"I'm ready to do my part," answered the woman. "How long will you keep +her here?" + +"As long as suits my purpose. I am not sure. I may conclude to wait +until Dyke Darrel is put off the trail before I take the girl to +Gotham; that city will be my ultimate destination. I must leave you +now, my dear, but I shall call to-morrow and see how my girl is +getting on." + +He turned then as if about to depart. + +"See here Professor!" + +"Eh?" + +He faced about once more. + +"Haven't you forgotten something?" + +"I think not." + +"The girl must eat!" + +"Certainly." + +"And do you imagine _I_ am going to pay the bill?" demanded the woman, +tartly. + +"Well, I had forgotten that a little of the root of evil was necessary +in your case." + +A smile, deepening into a disagreeable laugh, followed, as Professor +Ruggles laid a greenback in the hand of his tool. + +A moment later he was gone. + +As the door closed on his retreating form, the countenance of Madge +Scarlet underwent a change. The wrinkled face flushed with wrath, and +the skinny hands were raised on high. + +"Professor Ruggles, you may have successfully duped the girl, but you +cannot make one of me. I can read you like a book, and it maybe that I +shall conclude not to permit you to have your way in this matter. +Through this girl I shall be able to wring the heart of the man I +hate, and I mean to do it. Ah! Dyke Darrel, venomous scoundrel! The +hour of my revenge draws nigh! I shall willingly cast my soul into +Hades for this one drop of satisfaction." + +There was an awful glitter in the woman's eyes at the last, and her +fierce emotions caused her frame to tremble visibly. + +In the meantime, how fared it with poor Nell Darrel, who had gone thus +blindly to her doom? She did not awake from the stupor caused by the +chloroform, until another day had dawned upon the world, although but +little light was permitted to find its way into this underground +apartment, whose stone walls were damp with ooze, and from whence no +voice could penetrate to the busy world above. + +A faint light entered the place from between iron bars that spanned a +narrow window, far above the head of little Nell Darrel. + +The only furniture in this cellar was a straw cot, on which Nell had +been laid, and a low stool. The girl felt terribly sick and weak when +she came to realize her condition. + +She could understand now the truth, when too late, that she had been +enticed from home by a villain, and naturally enough her thoughts +reverted to Harper Elliston. + +Yet, why should she think of that man? Surely he was not wicked enough +to stoop to anything of this kind. + +Nell was not to be left long in suspense, however. The door to her +prison creaked on its hinges, and a man entered and stood confronting +her in the gray light. + +It was Harper Elliston. + +There was a smile on his sinister countenance, and he stroked his +beard with the coolest insolence imaginable. + +"How do you find yourself this morning, my dear?" questioned Elliston +in a low voice. + +"This is your work, villain!" + +"Hush; don't speak in such a harsh tone, Nell," answered Mr. Elliston, +with a deprecatory wave of the hand. "I cannot permit you to impugn my +motive, Miss Darrel. I claim that all is fair in love and war. You +know from repeated assurances on my part that I love you; once I +wished to make you my wife. Blame me not if I have changed my mind on +that score; it is you who have driven me to it. Nevertheless, I am +constrained to deal justly and kindly with you, my girl, and again +offer to share my New York palace with you. Could anything be more +generous?" + +The infamy of his proposition roused all the fire in the nature of +Nell Darrel. + +"Harper Elliston, how dare you insult me in this way? Do you imagine +that I would for one moment countenance anything so base? You have +missed your mark if you imagine you can frighten me into consenting to +my own ruin." + +"It may be accomplished without your consent." + +Such a look as swept his face startled the girl. The hideous nature +of the man was now revealed in all its naked deformity. She shrank +from him as she would have shrunk from a venomous serpent. + +He continued to smile and stroke his glossy beard. + +"You see how it is, my dear," he proceeded. "The wisest thing you can +do is to submit to the inevitable." + +He advanced as lie spoke. + +She recoiled with a shudder of wild alarm. + +"Back, scoundrel! Do not touch me!" she cried, warningly, an +indignant, perhaps dangerous, fire blazing in her eye. + +Again the demon laughed. + +"You seem to take my love-making hard, Miss Darrel." + +"Not another step," warned Nell. + +"Ho! ho! ho! Would you try to frighten me? You can't do that, I've +tamed more than one such as you. Come, be sensible, and let me have +one kiss at least." + +Again he advanced. + +CLICK! + +Harper Elliston uttered a low yet startled cry and shrank back in +alarm. + +A cocked derringer gleamed in the hand of Nell Darrel, and the open +muzzle was pointed at his breast. + +This was as disagreeable as it was unexpected. + +A low-muttered oath fell from the lips of the baffled villain. + +"Girl, have a care, that weapon may go off," he cried, in a voice +husky with disappointment and rage. + +"It WILL go off if you do not depart at once," she answered, with all +the sternness she was able to muster. + +"Hand that pistol to me." + +"Never! Its contents you will get if you dare advance another step." + +Harper Elliston realized that he was baffled for the present. He had +never suspected the presence of a weapon on the person of Nell Darrel, +else he would have disarmed her at the outset. + +After a moment of hesitancy the villain turned and strode from the +place. When Nell attempted to follow she was confronted by a solid oak +door that Elliston had quickly closed and locked behind him. + +With a low moan Nell retreated and sank weak and trembling on the +miserable cot, and for the next few minutes gave free rein to her +alarm in tears. + +In the meantime Elliston hurried above, and confronted Madge Scarlet +with a terrible frown on his brow. + +"You and that red-headed Professor have played a smart trick on me, +old woman, a mighty smart trick; but let me tell you it won't go down +for a cent. I don't like it much, neither." + +"Eh? I don't understand," said Mrs. Scarlet. + +"I'll make you understand," and Elliston advanced angrily upon the +woman, and raised his hand. + +"Strike if you dare!" + +She looked ugly at that moment. + +"You're just capable of strikin' a woman," sneered Madge Scarlet. +"I've seen such critters before. God never meant them for men, +however." + +Mr. Elliston held his hand. He saw that he had come near making a +mistake. + +"Forgive me, Mrs. Scarlet," he said in a subdued voice. "I was beside +myself, but I had reason to be. Do you know that Nell Darrel is +armed?" + +"No." + +"She IS, nevertheless, with a pistol. She's a perfect tigress, and +would as soon shoot me as not. I shall leave it for you to get the +weapon from her." + +"I can do it easy enough." + +"I hope so. To-night I will have more definite plans. I may conclude +to take the girl away then." + +Mr. Elliston passed from the room. He had been gone but a few minutes +when another person entered--Nick Brower, the tool and friend of Mrs. +Scarlet and the Professor. + +"Well, what's the news, Nick. My nephew is still in durance vile?" + +"Yes," answered the low ruffian, "and what's more, Dyke Darrel, the +detective, is in Chicago!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE DETECTIVE FOOLED. + + +Two men met unexpectedly in one of the hotel corridors of the great +city; two hands went out, and + +"How are you, Harry?" + +"How are you, Dyke, old boy?" + +"When did you leave St. Louis?" + +This from the detective. + +"Not long since. I am confident that our game is in this vicinity. I +meant to come down to Woodburg soon, and consult with you. I sent a +telegram, but it brought no answer from you." + +"I wasn't at home. It was placed in my hands yesterday." + +"And that is why you are here?" + +"Not wholly." + +There was a gloomy look on the face of the detective, not natural to +it, and young Bernard knew that something had gone decidedly wrong +with his detective friend. + +"It is about Nell," said Dyke Darrel, when questioned. "She came to +the city last evening, in answer to a letter purporting to come from +me. The letter was a decoy from some villain, and I fear that Nell has +met with a terrible fate." + +A groan came at the last. + +Harry Bernard's face blanched, and he, too, seemed excited and deeply +moved. The keen eyes of Dyke Darrel noticed the young man's emotion, +and he felt a suspicion growing stronger each moment. + +"Nell in the city--decoyed!" exclaimed Harry at length. "Great heaven! +Dyke, this is awful!" "It is." + +Then the detective laid his hand on the young man's shoulder, and +piercing him with a stern look, said in an awful voice: + +"Harry Bernard, on your honor as a man, what do you know of this +enticing of Nell to the city?" + +"What do I know?" + +"Yes; what do you know?" + +There was a stern ring in the detective's voice, not to be mistaken. + +"I know only what you have just told me, Dyke." + +"This is the truth?" + +"Good heaven! Dyke Darrel, do you imagine that _I_ had aught to do +with enticing your sister to this wicked city? My soul! You do not +understand the feeling that animates my heart for Nell Darrel. I hope +you will not insult me again with a suspicion so haggard and awful." + +The hurt look resting on the face of the young amateur detective was +sufficient to convince Dyke Darrel that Harry Bernard spoke the truth, +and this knowledge only increased his uneasiness. + +"I am fearful some terrible ill has befallen Nell," groaned Dyke. + +"My friend," said Harry, "we must let all other matters rest until we +find the girl. I have a suspicion that may lead to something definite. +Let me tell you now, that during the past year you have warmed a +serpent in your bosom in the person of Harper Elliston. I have never, +until now, dared make this assertion in your presence, knowing as I +did the great respect you had for the oily-tongued fellow. The time +for plain speaking has come, however." + +"I shall take no offense." + +"No! I am glad to hear you say that. Come to my room, Dyke, and I will +tell you something that may open your eyes a little." + +The detective complied, and when they were seated Harry poured out his +confidence. + +"I am glad you have been thus frank with me, Harry," said the +detective when his friend had finished. "I have heard enough of late +to convince me that Elliston is a wolf in sheep's clothing!" + +"And that is one point gained." + +"It is." + +"And I believe that it was Elliston who penned the decoy letter." + +"I am more than half convinced that such is the case," admitted Dyke +Darrel. + +"Have you investigated?" + +"Thoroughly, since I came into town. I learned that Nell got off at +the depot, and that she met a red-haired man, and entered a hack with +him. After that all is blank." + +"That confirms my suspicions, Dyke." "What is that?" + +This man with the florid looks meeting Nell, and going away from the +depot in her company, Professor Ruggles, is a friend of Elliston's." + +"Indeed!" + +"It is true. I believe before another day passes, the place of the +girl's seclusion can be found. Down on Clark street is Mother +Scarlet's place, a played-out old hag, and she has been hand and glove +with this red-haired man for some time." + +"Mother Scarlet!" exclaimed the detective. "I have met her; she is the +aunt of the Martin Skidway who is now serving out the remainder of his +term for counterfeiting." + +"The same, I suppose. I move that we visit her den, and see what we +can find." + +"Agreed. Let us go at once." + +Dyke Darrel came to his feet. + +"One moment, Dyke." + +"Well." + +"You are too well known by the crooks of this city to move about +without disguise." + +"I will fix that. I will meet you again in an hour." + +And then Dyke Darrel hurried away. + +It was almost dark when two men, one old and gray, with a hump on his +shoulder, called at a dingy old brick on Clark street and rapped on a +narrow door that opened into an alley. + +No answer was vouchsafed. + +Then the old man turned the knob, but the door refused to yield. + +"What's wanted, you fellers?" + +The voice came from behind the two men. Turning, they saw a stout, +ill-looking fellow, with unkempt hair and beard, peering in at them +from the street. + +"Ain't this the house where Mrs. Scarlet stops," questioned the +elderly man. + +"Mebbe 'tis." + +"Where's the woman now?" + +"Bless your soul, old man, I don't know. Better call agin; she's allus +in evenings," suggested the man at the edge of the street. + +"Mebbe we had," grunted the old man at the door. Then he and his +companion moved out of the alley. They went but a little way when they +came to a full stop, and entered into a low confab. + +A pair of keen eyes was watching them during the time, however, and a +little later the man who had addressed the two strangers walked away. +He passed to the rear of the block, and made his way by a back stairs +to a room on the first floor. Here he found the one he was seeking-- +Mrs. Scarlet--who was engaged in discussing a supper of bread and +beer. + +She was alone. + +"Eh? so you're here again, Nick? Did he send ye?" + +"The Professor?" + +"Who else should I mean?" + +"Wall, he didn't, then. I seed a couple of blokes in the alley jist +now, and they 'quired for you." + +"Why didn't you send 'em up?" and the woman laughed in a way that +revealed her ragged teeth and unwholesome gums. + +"They'll be back soon 'nough," answered the man. "I've an idee they +mean mischief. Better you go below and see 'em when they do come." + +"All right." + +About an hour after darkness had settled, while Madge Scarlet sat in +the lower room, the one in which we have so many times met her, the +door was unceremoniously opened, and a man crossed the threshold. + +An old man he was, with bent form and white hair, a hump disfiguring +his shoulder, his trembling right hand resting on the top of a cane. + +"Good evening, mistress." + +The old man, who had closed the door sharply to behind him, sank to a +rickety chair as he uttered the greeting. + +"I don't know you," retorted Madge Scarlet sharply. "Haven't you got +into the wrong house?" + +"Well, I dunno," whined the man in a sharp falsetto voice. "I reckon +if you're Mistress Scarlet, you're the one I'm to see." + +"I'm not ashamed to own to the name, old man. Let's have your business +at once." + +"I'm pretty much broke up since I came out of the bastile," said the +old man. "'Taint jest the place for a gentleman, I can tell you that. +It's mighty down-settin' on one's pride, which I had a heap of afore I +was sent to abide there." + +"Who are you and what are you driving at?" + +Mrs. Scarlet asked the question with a puzzled stare. She was +possessed of a very suspicious nature, and she was not ready to accept +a person on outward appearance alone. + +"I'm William Sugg, from Missoury," the old man answered promptly. "I +came all the way to Shecargo to see the aunt of a friend. Mebbe you'll +understand when I tell you, that Martin Skidway was one of the best +friends an old man like me had in the bastile." + +The name of her nephew opened the way to Madge Scarlet's heart at +once. + +She questioned Mr. Sugg about the young man, and he answered her with +the assurance that they had been inmates of the same prison, and that +Martin was losing flesh rapidly from melancholy. + +"It's the doings of that devil, Dyke Darrel," cried Mrs. Scarlet, +losing her temper at thought of her troubles. + +"I've kind o' thought, bein' as I was in Shecargy, I'd look up a +boardin' place and stay a spell. I've heerd that you have rooms to +rent?" + +"I have, to the right ones." + +"Will you show me some?" + +"Certainly." + +Mrs. Scarlet rose and lifted a lamp from the table. + +"Come this way." + +As the woman led the way through a back door, into another apartment, +a pair of strong hands suddenly seized and held her fast, while a +voice hissed in her ear: + +"Not a sound or you die!" + +It was a startling situation. + +"I am here for a purpose," said the old man, a sudden change in his +voice. "I want you to lead me to the room in which Nell Darrel is +confined." + +The man's hands fell from the woman's shoulders, and when she turned +about, she found that he had her covered with a revolver. + +His voice sounded familiar. + +"You're the detective, Dyke Darrel?" + +"It matters not. Show me the way to the room where you have Nell +Darrel imprisoned," uttered the man in a stern voice. + +The menacing revolver decided the woman. The old building had been +arranged for emergencies of this kind, as the sequel will show. A +strange glitter came to the eyes of Mrs. Scarlet as she said: + +"Who told you that Nell Darrel was in this house?" + +"It matters not. Lead the way at once, or it will be the worse for +you." + +"You dare not harm me." + +"I'll show you, if you attempt to play me false. A dozen policemen +have their eyes on this building at this moment." + +"Come on." + +The woman turned and walked forward. She passed into a hall, and +halting at a side door, unlocked it and pushed it open. + +"In there." + +"Go on. You shall keep me company." + +Mrs. Scarlet advanced, closely followed by the detective. + +The moment he crossed the threshold the door closed behind him, and +the lamp was extinguished, leaving everything in total darkness. Then +the detective felt the floor give way, and he was precipitated to his +doom, the last sound reaching his ears being a mocking laugh from Aunt +Scarlet. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +OVERMATCHED BY A GIRL. + + +A low chuckle fell from the lips of Madge Scarlet. + +"I reckon you've met your match this time, Dyke Darrel. I will now +enjoy the sweetest revenge; it will be like honey to my blistered +tongue. You've done your last shadowing of your betters. Dan'l, +husband, you shall be avenged before to-morrow's sun rises over +Chicago." + +Lighting her lamp, the woman fiend bent down and peered through a +square opening in the floor to the depths below. It was too far down +for the rays of light to penetrate, but she could well imagine that a +mangled form lay directly below on the stone floor. + +A faint groan reached her ears. + +"Ha! he's coming to his senses. I must see that he don't outwit Aunt +Madge yet." + +Then replacing the trap, the woman left the place, and a little later +descended a narrow stairs and entered the room beneath the trap. + +There on the stone floor lay the pretended old man, gasping in pain, +yet not able to help himself. + +Quickly Madge Scarlet bent over the prostrate and helpless victim of +her cunning, and began binding his limbs with a stout cord that she +had brought with her for the purpose. + +In a little time the work was completed, and Mrs. Scarlet stood up +with her arms akimbo viewing her work, a satisfied smile playing about +the toothless lips. + +"I'll peel you, so't there'll be no deception hereafter," muttered the +she fiend; and suiting actions to words, she tore the disguise from +the detective's head and face and flung it aside. "Thought to fool the +old woman, eh?" + +A curdling laugh followed. + +After gloating over the detective for some time, Madge Scarlet picked +up her lamp and turned away, a feeling of intense satisfaction in her +heart at the knowledge that she had her enemies so completely at her +mercy. It was satisfaction for one day at least. + +The woman passed through two basement rooms, unlocking and locking +doors, until she at length stood in the presence of Nell Darrel. "I +ain't here with supper, madam," sneered the woman, as Nell started up +and approached her. "You're not to have a mouthful to eat jest at +present; that's the compliments your husband sends." + +But Nell did not seem to appreciate the gross wit of her keeper. + +"I am not hungry, woman, but I appeal to you to permit me to go from +this place. I shall die here in a short time." + +"Die then! Nothing would please me better than to witness your last +struggles," and Mrs. Scarlet emitted a laugh that was horrible to +hear. + +Nell had much of the determined spirit of her daring brother in her +composition. She was not yet ready to give up all hope and fall +crushed in despair. Her right hand grasped the butt of the little +derringer she had been thoughtful enough to provide herself with +before leaving home. + +"Will nothing move you, woman?" + +"Nothing," sneered Mrs. Scarlet. "Your brother sent my husband to a +dungeon, and to his death, and for that and other wicked work of his, +I mean to be avenged. I shall cause him to suffer through his sister. +You imagine the handsome Elliston a monster, I reckon, but _I_ will +show you that he is but a child compared to Madge Scarlet." + +"Stop; I do not care to listen to you. Please hand over the keys to +this den of demons." + +A cocked pistol was brought forward to emphasize the fair prisoner's +demand. + +A sneering laugh answered the girl's demand. Madge Scarlet did not +seem to look upon the weapon as a dangerous one. + +"Quick! I have no time to parley. Fling down the keys--toss them to +the door yonder, then take your place in yonder corner. Do you hear +me?" + +So stern was the girl's voice, so full of intense meaning, as to amaze +the infamous woman who confronted her. + +"This is all a joke----." + +"It will prove a dear joke to you if you don't obey. Stop. One step +toward me and I fire! I am in deadly earnest." + +And the sneering Madge Scarlet realized that she was. It was a most +humiliating position. Once the woman thought of making a quick spring, +but a pressure of the trigger was all that was necessary to send a +bullet on an errand of death. + +With reluctance the woman drew a bundle of keys from her pocket and +flung them to the floor behind her, and close to the door that stood +ajar. + +"Don't be so spiteful. Now, then, go to that corner. Move quickly!" + +The girl still threatened her keeper with the cocked derringer, and +she crossed the floor with a growl that was not pleasant to hear. + +"There, that is about right." + +Then Nell Darrel backed to the door, snatched up the bunch of keys and +lamp, passed into the next room, securing the door just as the hag +from within came against it with tremendous force, at the same time +uttering a series of the most ear-splitting yells. + +The door failed to yield, and Nell now hastened to improve her +opportunity for escape that the carelessness of Mrs. Scarlet had given +her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A BOUT IN THE CELLAR. + + +It was a stout tin lamp that the fleeing girl held in her hand, and +the blaze filled the subterranean apartment but dimly. + +She found herself in a square room, larger than the one she had just +left. Advancing to a door she tried it, to find it locked. This was +made to yield, however, by one of the bunch of keys, and she proceeded +to another door that stood ajar. + +"Help!" + +It was a smothered cry that reached the girl's ears, and quite +startled her. + +The sound came from the next apartment. For a minute Nell Darrel +hesitated. She reasoned that she had nothing to fear from the hag who +kept the place, and one who was in need of help certainly could not be +a friend to Mrs. Scarlet, or those who profited by the old woman's +villainy. + +"Help!" + +Again came that cry, and Nell moved forward, pushed open the door and +flashed her light over the scene--a room much smaller than the one she +had just quitted. + +A dark object writhing on the floor startled her vision. + +"Old woman, do you mean to murder me here?" + +The man seemed to imagine that the new comer was the hag who kept the +place. With trembling step Nell Darrel advanced and flashed her light +into the face of a bound and helpless prisoner. + +"Mercy! It is Dyke!" + +Stunned at the discovery, Nell was completely overcome for the time, +and stood with arms extended like one petrified. + +"Nell, is it you?" cried the yet stunned detective. "Where is the old +hag who rules this den of iniquity?" + +"Back yonder, safely locked in a room," said Nell, when she could find +voice. + +"And you did it?" + +"Yes." + +"Cut these cords, brave girl, and we will soon be out of this." + +Placing her lamp on a box near, Nell Darrel proceeded to comply with +the request of her brother. She had with her a small open knife, and +this came into play neatly enough. + +Soon the detective's limbs were free. He found when he attempted to +rise, that he was unable to do so. + +"I received a bad fall," he said, with a groan. "Lend me a hand, Nell, +and we will get out of this before friends of that woman come to her +rescue." + +Nell assisted her brother to his feet. He groaned with pain, for it +seemed to him as though every bone in his body was broken. + +"I was a fool to run into such a trap," he muttered. + +"Can you walk, brother?" + +"I can make a desperate try at any rate," uttered the detective, +grimly. Then, assisted by Nell's arm, he hobbled across the floor +toward a narrow stairs that promised them passage to rooms above. + +The beard and wig were left in the cellar. + +The sound of steps on the floor overhead brought brother and sister to +a sudden halt. + +"Hark!" + +"Some one is coming," uttered Nell. + +"It seems so." + +Then the sound of an opening door startled them. + +"It's strange that Madge has left everything in such a careless way," +said a masculine voice. "Ho! Madge, where are you?" + +"Hold up thar," uttered another voice. "I reckin the old gal know'd +what she was doin'. Thar's some skulduggery goin' on down here, or my +name ain't Nick Brower. I seed an old bloke come in, and 'twixt me an +you, Professor, it was the man you'n me would give more to see out of +the world than in it." + +"You mean Dyke Darrel, the detective?" + +"I couldn't mean anybody else." + +"Come on, then, let's investigate." + +"Extinguish your light, Nell," cried Dyke Darrel, in a thrilling +whisper. + +The girl did so at once, but the men above flashed a light into the +basement room, and soon steps were heard descending the stairs. Dyke +felt over his person to discover that Mother Scarlet had been prudent +enough to deprive him of arms. + +Nell, white as death, yet with a determined look in her eyes, clinched +her derringer firmly, and with close-shut teeth waited the denouement. + +"If we could only get under the stairs," said the detective, in a low +voice. + +They made a move to carry out his suggestion, but it was too late. + +"Ha!" + +This exclamation fell from the lips of the foremost man of three who +were descending the narrow stairs. The outcry was caused at seeing two +forms gliding across the stone floor toward the stairs. + +"Quick! Hold up there, or we fire!" cried a sharp voice. Then the +three men rapidly descended to the floor and confronted Nell and the +detective. Three revolvers were leveled, and death literally stared +brother and sister in the face. + +"Caught, by the powers," sneered lips above a massive red beard, and +Professor Darlington Ruggles' eyes glittered with intense satisfaction +as they peered into the face of the famous railroad detective. + +Had Dyke Darrel been in the full vigor of his manly strength, and Nell +not by to unnerve him, his chances for escape would have been tenfold +greater. + +As it was, a terrible weakness oppressed him. His fall into the +basement had jarred him terribly, and it was with difficulty that he +could stand alone. The walls seemed to whirl about in a mad waltz, and +the faces of the three villains seemed one mass of grinning demons. + +"Halt!" + +Nell Darrel, white as death, yet with the fires of a resolute purpose +blazing in her eyes, thrust forward her pistol. + +"It's pretty Nell on a lark!" exclaimed Professor Ruggles. "It will be +better for you not to make any resistance, for the moment you attempt +it, that moment death will come to both of you. Be wise in time." + +The Professor advanced a step. + +"Stop there," sternly ordered the girl. + +"Aye! stop there," repeated Dyke, in a voice husky from very weakness. +"We will not be taken alive. Do you know on what dangerous grounds you +are treading? This block is surrounded by members of the force, and +any harm offered to Nell or myself speedily avenged." + +A jeering laugh answered the detective. + +"It is wrong to tell such a whopper, Mr. Darrel, especially when one +is on the verge of eternity," said Ruggles, showing his teeth. + +The situation was interesting. + +"Will you permit us to depart from here?" questioned the detective, +suddenly. + +This speech brought a laugh to the lips of Darlington Ruggles. + +"You do not seem to know me!" he said. + +"I know that you pretend to be a professor of some sort, but I believe +that you are in disguise. I think, if you would cast aside that red +hirsute covering, we should see----" + +"Zounds! Go for him, boys," cried Professor Ruggles in a loud voice, +completely drowning the faint accents of Dyke Darrel. + +The two men who kept the Professor company, made a quick move to seize +the twain in front of them. On the instant came a flash and sharp +report. + +One of the villains staggered and sank with a groan against the +stairs. + +"I--I'm shot!" he gasped. + +"The she jade!" + +It was Nick Brower who uttered the hissing cry of rage, and the next +instant the villain's revolver flashed. + +"My God! You have killed Nell!" + +It was a cry expressive of the deepest agony, as the weak and reeling +detective caught the form of his sister in his arms, as she fell +backward, with the blood streaming down her face. + +Poor Nell! + +She hung a dead weight in the arms of Dyke Darrel--murdered by the +hand of a brutal assassin. + +No wonder the bruised and almost helpless man-hunter groaned with +inward anguish at the sight. + +He fell no easy prey into the hands of his enemies, however. + +Staggering backward, and easing his bleeding relative to the ground, +he turned with a mad cry and dashed at the throat of Professor +Darlington Ruggles. + +Both men staggered across the floor against the stairs. + +"I will strangle you for this," hissed the enraged detective. + +"Help!" gasped Ruggles. + +Brower came to his assistance with a vengeance, and rained terrific +blows upon the head of Dyke Darrel with the butt of his revolver. Soon +the mad grip relaxed from the throat of Ruggles, and Dyke Darrel sank +a bleeding and insensible mass to the floor. + +Panting and gasping, Professor Ruggles leaned against the stairs and +gazed about him in the gloom. + +The lamp had been overturned in the struggle, and at the last, +darkness reigned supreme. + +"I've fixed him, Professor," growled Nick Brower, in a savage +undertone. + +"I hope so, the devil. He went for me with the venom of a tiger. Have +you a match?" + +"Yes." + +"Let's have a light. I'm afraid you have done a miserable job, Nick." + +Inside of five minutes the overturned lamp was recovered and burning +once more. Its rays revealed a ghastly scene. Two forms lay on the +floor, Dyke Darrel and Nell, both apparently dead. + +Nick's companion, who had screamed so lustily at the fire from Nell +Darrel's derringer, still leaned against the stairs seeming little the +worse for wear. + +"Mike, where are you hit?" + +"Don't know. I FELT the bullet goin' through my brains." + +A brief examination showed that the man had only been grazed by the +shot from the girl's pistol. When this discovery was made Professor +Ruggles became very angry. + +"You made more fuss than a man shot through the neck ought to. The +girl has been killed in consequence. Hades! this has been a bad +evening's work. I would rather have lost a thousand dollars than had +Nell Darrel slain." + +"She wan't wuth no sich money," growled Brower. + +"How do you know what she was worth, you miserable brute?" snarled the +Professor, in an angry voice. "I take it, that I know more about it +than you do." + +"See here, boss, aren't you goin' on a bin run for nothin'? Whar'd you +be now if I hadn't gin Dyke Darrel his quietus? Mebbe you'd better +thank instead of curse your friend." + +There was a deal of homely sense in the words of burly Nick Brower, +and the prince of villains realized it. + +"I wanted the girl unharmed, Nick. If she's dead I don't suppose it +can be helped, however; she brought her fate upon herself." + +"That she did, Prof." + +Professor Ruggles then proceeded to make an examination of the wound +in Nell Darrel's head. He was gratified to discover that the bullet +had merely glanced across the girl's skull without making a +necessarily dangerous wound. + +"I will take the girl out of this while you dispose of the detective," +said Ruggles. "Be sure and fix him so that he will give no trouble in +the future." + +"Trust me fur thet," answered the villain Brower. + +Then Professor Ruggles passed up the stairs with Nell Darrel in his +arms, just as four men halted at the side door in the alley. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE EMPTY SEAT. + + +A hand shook the door as Professor Ruggles entered the room. He at +once suspected something wrong, but cared only for his own safety, and +so did not attempt to warn the inmates of Mrs. Scarlet's den of their +danger. + +He hurried to the rear of the block, down an upper hall, and as he was +passing into an alley down the back stairs, the four men had burst in +the side door and rushed into Madge Scarlet's dingy sitting-room. + +"The beaks are out in force, it seems," muttered Ruggles, as he halted +for a moment on the ground to rest from his exertion. "I hope Nick and +that fool pard of his will finish Dyke Darrel before the cops get onto +them. As for me, I shall turn my back on this accursed town the moment +I am assured that Nell is out of danger. I will be quite secure in New +York, I imagine." + +And the red-haired villain made his escape from that building and, +leaving his charge in an out-of-the-way alley, went forth to find a +conveyance to take the wounded girl to a more safe retreat. He +succeeded in finding a hack that suited his purpose, and with his +insensible companion he was driven to another part of the city, on the +West Side. Ruggles had more than one resort in the great Western +metropolis, and after he had placed Nell in a cozy room, with an old +negress to watch over her, he breathed easy once more. + +Nell Darrel was badly injured, and for several days she raved in +delirium. When she came to her senses she was weak and almost +helpless. During all this time the black tool of Darlington Ruggles +cared for her in a most kindly manner. + +The negress had been instructed to do all in her power for the girl, +who, the Professor assured her, was a near relative who was not wholly +sound in mind, and this fact, combined with an accident, had brought +on the trouble from which she was now suffering. + +"Poor little lily," murmured the negress, in a sympathetic tone, when +the girl was able to sit up and look about her. + +"Where am I?" demanded Nell. + +"Youse in good hands, chile," answered the black woman. "Your cousin +says he'll take you outen dis soon's you can trabbel." + +"My cousin?" + +Nell stared at the black, seemingly honest face in wonder. Of a sudden +the memory of the adventure in the basement on Clark street came to +the girl as a light from a clouded sky. She had indeed been under a +cloud for a long time, and had no means of judging of the passage of +time. + +What had happened during all this while? What fate had been her +brother's? A feeling of deepest anxiety filled the girl's breast. Ere +she could find voice for more words, however, the door opened and a +man entered the room. + +A low, alarmed cry fell from the lips of Nell Darrel. + +Before her stood Harper Elliston, smiling and plucking at his beard, +which was but a mere stubble now, he having shaved since she had met +him last. + +"Ah, Nell, you are looking bright; I trust that you feel better. You +have been very sick. How does your head feel?" + +For the first time the girl realized that there was a sore spot under +her hair at the side of her head. She touched it with her hand, and +seemed surprised. + +"You have forgotten, doubtless," he said. "You were rescued from a +band of villains nearly a fortnight since. It seems that one of them +must have fired at you, since there was a slight wound where you just +put your hand, that was doubtless made by a bullet." + +Nell Darrel was beginning to remember the scene in the cellar. + +"I was rescued, you say? Who were the rescuers?" + +"Myself among others. I think you may safely acknowledge that you owe +your life to me," said the New Yorker coolly. + +"And Dyke?" questioned Nell with intense eagerness. + +"Was saved also, but he is badly hurt, and will be laid up for a month +or more. He is in one of the city hospitals." + +"Oh, sir, I am thankful it is no worse. What have they done with the +villains, that sleek one with the red hair and beard?" + +"They are all in prison, and will be brought to court as soon as the +witnesses are in a condition to appear against them." + +"The witnesses?" + +"Dyke Darrel and yourself." + +"Can I go to Dyke?" + +"Hardly," he answered with a smile. "You could not walk, that is +certain, and I am sure to attempt to ride would prove a dangerous +experiment. I am too deeply interested in your welfare to permit the +attempt." + +"But I am quite strong, I assure you," returned Nell, rising to her +feet only to sink back again with a cry of piteous weakness. + +"You see, it would not do to attempt leaving your room at present," +said the villain, still smiling. Besides, there is no need of it. Your +brother is doing as well as could be expected, and he has the +assurance that you are out of danger, which has proved a great comfort +to him, I assure you. + +"Well, I suppose I ought to be thankful," sighed Nell, with tears in +her dark eyes. "I cannot understand it all just now. It seems strange +that I should be subject to such treatment. Do you know the man Sims?" + +"Sims?" + +"The one with the red beard and hair. He met me at the depot." + +"Exactly. I cannot say that I know the fellow, but I suspect he is a +scoundrel of the first water. Don't bother your head about these +things now, Nell. Try and get rested and strong, so that you can get +from here and back to your own home as soon as possible. I hope you do +not fear to trust me?" + +He eyed her keenly at the last. + +She was too weak to fully realize the enormity of this man's offense. +She knew nothing of his connection with, the ruffians who made of Mrs. +Scarlet's building a rendezvous; she only knew that he had been +indiscreet and insulting once, when in liquor, but of this he might +have repented long since. At any rate, he seemed to be doing her a +good turn now, and she could do no other way than trust him. + +"I am still puzzled about one thing," she said, seeming to forget the +question he had propounded. + +"What is that?" asked Elliston. + +"Why was I brought here?" + +"Simply because you were not able to be taken home." + +"But the hospital----" + +"Was no place for a lady. I realized that you needed the best of care, +and knowing Aunt Venus was a kind, motherly soul, an excellent nurse, +even though she had a black skin, I brought you here." + +"And here I've been--how long?" + +"About fourteen days." + +"So long?' + +"You are surprised?" + +"It doesn't seem a day." + +"I suppose not. You haven't been in your right mind any of the time. +Have you any word to send to Dyke?" + +"Are you going to him soon?" + +"Immediately. I call at the hospital every day to inquire after the +dear boy, and I haven't been there this morning." + +His voice was gentle, and there was a moist light in his dark eyes. It +was barely possible that she had wronged the New Yorker, and the +thought caused a pang. In the time to come she would confess her +obligations, but now she was not in a mood for it. + +"If I could write a line it would do him more good than aught else," +said Nell. + +"Can you control your hand?" + +"Oh, yes, easily." + +"Then you shall write the dear boy. As you say, it will be of immense +benefit to him." + +Mr. Elliston drew forth from an inner pocket a book. Opening it he +tore out a leaf and placed it, with pencil, in the lap of the invalid +girl. It was not without difficulty that she controlled her hand +sufficiently to write. + +Taking the folded note Elliston bade her good morning and passed from +the room. The moment he gained the street he tore the bit of paper to +fragments, a smile glinting over his face meantime. + +"So much for that," he muttered. "Nell is about in the right trim for +removal, and I must not delay another day. Simple little thing! She +believed every word that I told her regarding the outcome of that +racket on Clark street. What an opinion she would have of me if she +knew the exact truth. I must get me to Gotham immediately. My funds +are running low, and SHE must replenish them. I haven't seen Aunt +Scarlet since the racket. I hope she got her quietus. I believe I have +had quite enough of her disinterested assistance; quite enough of it." + +And yet the scheming gentleman was to receive more of the Clark street +hag's assistance in the future, and in a way that was not just exactly +pleasant, than he imagined. + +******* + +Night hung its sable mantle over the earth. A silver moon rode in a +clear sky, and the lightning express rattled down through the night +with a hiss and screech that rent the silence with an uncanny sound. + +The train was speeding through the Empire State, and when morning +dawned, with no accident happening, it would come thundering into the +great city by the sea. + +Two persons occupying a seat in the car next the sleeper merit our +attention. One is a heavily-veiled lady, apparently sleeping, since +her head reclines against the back of the seat, and a low breathing is +heard, or might be but for the noise made by the train rattling over +the steel rails. + +Who is the woman? + +No need to ask when we note the fact that the man sitting there +possesses red hair and beard--the irrepressible Professor Darlington +Ruggles, of Chicago. He has been eminently successful thus far in his +plot for the safe abduction of Nell Darrel. Under the influence of a +powerful drug he conveyed her to the station, and set out on the +previous day for the East. + +His companion was an invalid sister, who was in a comatose state a +portion of the time as the result of her ill health. This was the +story told by the Professor to inquisitive people, and the truth did +not come to the surface. Travelers, who become accustomed to seeing +all sorts of people, are not often suspicious. + +The villain was more successful than he could have hoped. Within a few +hours he would be in New York, and then he felt that he could bid +defiance to pursuit. + +It was now past midnight. The man from Chicago felt a deep drowsiness +stealing over him. He wished to shake it off, and so, rising and +seeing only people in an unconscious state about him, he concluded to +go into the smoking-car and enjoy a cigar. He began to feel nervous, +and such a stimulant seemed absolutely necessary. + +The train drew into a station, paused less than a minute, and then +went swiftly on its way. + +Calmly the scheming villain sat and puffed at his cigar until it was +more than half consumed, then he tossed the stump through the open +window, and once more he passed into the other car. + +When he gained the seat he had lately occupied, he could not suppress +a cry of startled wonder. + +THE SEAT WAS EMPTY! + +He had left Nell Darrel there not more than twenty minutes since, +drugged into complete insensibility. She could not have gone from the +seat of her own volition. + +An indefinable thrill of fear stole over the stalwart frame of +Professor Darlington Ruggles. He glanced up and down the car; the girl +was not in sight. But one person was awake, an old man, who said: + +"Lookin' fur the young lady?" + +The Professor nodded. + +"She got off't last station." "Got off? How--" + +"She had help, of course," explained the old passenger, quickly. + +"Who helped her?" cried Ruggles, in a husky voice. + +"An old woman, who got on and off at the last station quick's wink." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +DYKE DARREL ON THE TRAIL. + + +The men who burst into Aunt Scarlet's room on the night that Professor +Ruggles departed from the block with Nell Darrel in his arms, were men +of determination and friends of the detective, who had gone into the +building in the disguise of an old man, for the purpose of +investigating. + +How the investigation came out the reader has been already informed. + +The report of pistols had warned Harry Bernard, the boy Paul Ender, +and two officers in their company, that something of an interesting +nature was going on in the basement of the Scarlet block. + +"Dyke is in difficulty, that is sure," cried Harry, in an excited +voice. "We must get inside at once." + +They tried the side door, to find it locked. It was through this door +that they had seen the bold detective disappear, and it was in the +same direction that the four men proposed to go in search of their +daring friend. + +The room was in darkness, but Paul soon had the rays of a dark lantern +flashing about the place. + +"Let us move with caution," said Harry, taking the lead, and entering +the hall through the doorway which Ruggles, in his hasty flight, had +left open. Soon voices greeted them from the basement, and a light +glimmered through a half-open door at the head of the stairs. + +"If we could only put him under down here," said a voice, which the +reader will recognize as that of Nick Brower, the villainous +accomplice of Professor Ruggles from the opening of our story. + +"Wal, I reckin we kin," said the villainous companion of Brower. As he +spoke, he went to the side of the fallen man-hunter, and placed the +point of a knife against his throat. + +"What now, pard? + +"Dead men tell no tales, Nick." + +"True. Send it home---" + +SPANG! + +The sharp report of a revolver wake the echoes once more. The knife +dropped from the nerveless grasp of the would-be assassin, and with a +howl of pain he began dancing an Irish jig on the stone floor of the +cellar. + +Nick Brower whirled instantly, snatched a revolver from his hip, to +find that four glittering bulldogs confronted him from the stairs. + +"Drop that weapon, or we will drop you!" thundered Harry Bernard in a +stern voice. + +"Trapped!" cried Brower, in a despairing voice. + +Then the four men moved down into the cellar and secured Brower and +his companion. + +"We have made a good haul," said one of the police officers who +accompanied Bernard and Paul, who recognized in Brower an old +offender. + +Harry Bernard bent quickly and anxiously over the prostrate detective. + +"My soul!" uttered the young man, "the villains have killed poor +Darrel, I do believe." + +But the young man's belief was unfounded, since some time later Dyke +Darrel came to his senses. He was in a bad condition, however, and +those who saw him predicted that the detective had followed his last +trail. A search of the building brought to light Madge Scarlet, who +was fuming angrily over her imprisonment. + +"How did this happen?" demanded Bernard, sternly, when he came to +question the hag. She was sullen, however, and refused to answer. + +"I imagine there is a way to bring your tongue into working order," +said Bernard, in a stern voice. + +"I keep a respectable house, sir; you can't harm me." + +"We'll see about that." + +"Did you find any one?" questioned the jezabel in an apparently +careless tone. + +"We have two of your friends in limbo," returned Harry. "You will find +it no holiday affair to keep a house for the purpose of murder and +robbery. Never mind, you need say nothing, for it will not better +matters in the least. Come;" and Harry Bernard led the old woman from +the cellar. + +A patrol wagon bore the prisoners to the lock-up, and Bernard had Dyke +Darrel taken to a private hospital, where he could have the best of +care. It was some days, however, before the badly battered detective +came to his senses sufficiently to converse on the subject of the +racket in the building on Clark street. + +"My soul! Harry, has nothing been discovered of poor Nell?--was she +killed?" questioned the wounded man in a voice wrung with anguish. + +"I don't think Nell was mortally hurt," returned Bernard in a +reassuring tone, although he hardly felt hopeful himself. If she was, +why should the villains have taken her away, or the villain rather, +since, from your account, I judge that but one of them escaped, and he +the man with the red hair." + +"Yes, he seemed the chief scoundrel among them. I heard him called +Professor Ruggles." + +"He is about as much a professor as I am," answered Bernard. + +"HE is the man we want for that midnight crime on the express train. I +have evidence enough now, Dyke, to prove that this man is the guilty +principal, and I also believe that one of his accomplices is now in +prison." + +"Indeed!" + +And then the detective groaned in anguish of spirit and of body. It +was hard to lay here, helpless as a child, while the fate of Nell was +uncertain, and there was so much need for a keen detective to be +afloat. Harry realized how his friend suffered, and soothed him as +best he could. "Leave no stone unturned to find her, Harry," urged the +detective. "If you do find and save her, great shall be your reward. +If she is dead, then I will see about avenging the deed." + +"And in that you will not be alone," assured Harry Bernard, a moist +light glittering in his eye. Even Dyke Darrel did not suspect how +deeply his young friend was interested in the fate of Nell. + +The days dragged into weeks ere Dyke Darrel was able to be on his feet +again. He was not very strong when he once more took it upon himself +to hunt down the scoundrels who had wrecked his happy home. Even the +railroad crime was forgotten for the time, so intense was his interest +centered in the fate of his sister. If not dead, Dyke Darrel believed +she had met with a far worse fate, and it was this thought that nerved +him to think of doing desperate work should the cruel abductor ever +come before him. + +Madge Scarlet was dismissed after an examination, but Nick Brower and +his companion were held to await the action of a higher court. + +One morning the pallid man in brown suit who had haunted the various +depots of the city for several days made a discovery. On one of the +early morning trains a man and veiled female had taken passage East. + +Dyke Darrel trembled with intense excitement when the depot policeman +told him of this. + +"Only this morning, you say?" + +"It was on one of the earliest trains, I believe, this morning. + +"A New York train?" + +"I am not sure. I see so many people, you know. You might inquire at +the ticket office." + +Dyke Darrel did so. + +No ticket for New York had been sold that morning. Then the policeman +said that it was possible he might have been mistaken as to the time. +It might have been on the previous day he saw the man and his invalid +sister. + +"Do you know that they took the New York train?" questioned Dyke. + +"No; I'm not positive about that, either. You might telegraph ahead +and find if such a couple is on the train." + +This was a wise suggestion. + +Dyke acted upon it, but failed to derive any satisfaction. + +And there was good reason for this, since when leaving Chicago a dark +man, with smooth face and gray-tinged hair, accompanied Nell Darrel; +whereas, before reaching the borders of New York State, the place of +this man had been taken by a man with red beard and hair, blue +glasses, and a well-worn silk plug. + +This change disturbed identities completely. The change had been made +at a way station, without causing remark among the passengers, the +most of whom were not through for the great city. Once New York +whelmed them, the scheming villain and poor Nell would be lost forever +to the man-tracker of the West. + +There was a suspicion in the brain of Dyke Darrel that he scarcely +dared whisper to his own consciousness. It was that Harper Elliston +had a hand in the late villainy. The detective's eyes were open at +last, and he realized that his New York friend was not what he seemed. +It was this fact that induced Dyke Darrel to believe that the abductor +of Nell had turned his face toward the American metropolis. At once he +made search for Harry Bernard and Paul Ender. + +Neither of them was he able to find, and he had not seen them for two +days previous. + +It did not matter, however. + +Leaving word at the hotel that he had gone to New York, Dyke Darrel +once more hastened to the depot, arriving just in time to leap aboard +the express headed for the Atlantic seaboard. + +The train that had left four hours earlier was almost as fast as the +one taken by the detective, so that if no accident happened to the +earlier train, there could be little hope of running down his prey +before New York was reached. + +Nevertheless, Dyke Darrel preserved a hopeful heart, in spite of the +terrible anxiety that oppressed him. + +The woman who had but a few days before been released from prison was +destined to complicate matters and bring about startling and +unexpected meetings, as the future will reveal. + +When night fell Dyke Darrel found himself yet hundreds of miles from +the goal of his hopes and fears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A RACE FOR LIFE. + + +As may be supposed, Professor Ruggles was deeply stunned at the coup +de main that had deprived him of his fair charge. + +Who had robbed him? This was the question that at once suggested +itself to his mind, and he found it not difficult to frame an answer, +although, until this moment, he had supposed that Madge Scarlet was +still in prison. + +"It must be her," he muttered, as he gazed madly at the vacant seat. + +"I'm sure it was HER," said the old man who had first spoken. "A +queer, wrinkled old woman, too, she was." + +"Did she say anything?" + +"Not a word." + +Mr. Ruggles passed into the next car, hoping to find Nell and the +strange old woman there. + +He went the whole length of the swift-moving train, only to learn that +his fair captive had been spirited away completely. + +At first rage consumed the man's senses, and he scarcely realized the +dangers of his position. + +"I will not give up to such a sneak game," he muttered at length. +"Madge Scarlet has shadowed me for this very purpose, it seems. Can it +be possible that the friends of Nell Darrel have employed this hag to +rob me of my prize? I will not believe it, for it isn't in the nature +of Madge Scarlet to do a good action, not even for pay. No; it is to +gratify her own petty scheme of vengeance that she has stolen a march +on me; but she will not succeed. I will get on her track and wrest the +girl from her hands." + +A minute later Professor Ruggles stood before the conductor. + +"When does the next train pass going west?" + +"It passes Galien in an hour." + +"Galien? Do you stop there?" + +"Yes." + +"Soon?" + +"Within five minutes." + +When the train slowed in at the station, Professor Ruggles left the +car and entered the depot. Here he would have to wait nearly an hour +before the New York train west would pass. It was a tedious wait; but +he could do no better. With his hand satchel clutched tightly he paced +up and down like a ghost of the night. + +He was glad indeed when the train came at length thundering up to the +station, He had purchased a ticket for the station from which the +abductress had boarded the cars and stolen Nell. + +With feverish blood the scheming villain sat by the window and watched +the fleeting landscape by the light of the moon. The score of miles +that intervened between the station seemed like a hundred to the +anxious man who sat and glared at the trees and hills without. + +He was in extreme doubt as to his ability to cope with the cunning hag +who had ventured so many miles to thwart him, and indulge her own +morbid desire for revenge. + +At length the whistle sounded announcing the station. + +As the train bolted beside another train, bound in the opposite +direction, Ruggles glanced into the car not ten feet distant, to make +a startling discovery. + +He looked squarely into the face of Dyke Darrel, the railroad +detective! + +Turning his head, the Professor sat quiet. The other train was moving, +and Ruggles felt paralyzed at his discovery. Perhaps the detective had +not noticed him. He could not understand how the detective had escaped +death from the beating he had received in the basement of that +building of sin on Clark street. + +His own train was moving now, and if he would get off he must be quick +about it. + +Springing from his seat, he hastened down the aisle. + +At the open door he met Dyke Darrel face to face! The recognition was +mutual. + +The train was moving rapidly out of the station. Soon it would be +going at full speed. + +Professor Ruggles had two incentives for leaving the train now--one to +escape the detective, the other to find Nell and Madge Scarlet. + +At first he thought of dashing upon Dyke Darrel and risking all in a +swift rush. Second thought, induced by the gleam of a six-shooter in +the hand of his enemy, concluded the Professor to seek another course. +Turning, he dashed down the length of the car, with Darrel in hot +pursuit. + +"Halt, or I fire!" + +But the detective's cry had no effect. + +The half-sleeping passengers were roused by the wonderful movements of +the two men. + +"Madmen!" + +"What IS the trouble?" + +Such were the exclamations, as doors slammed, and the two men swept +into the next car. From coach to coach sped the pursued and the +pursuer. It was a flight for life, on the part of Professor Ruggles. + +His plug hat flew off in the chase, and a brakeman who confronted him +in the aisle was knocked flat with terrific force. + +"Murder!" + +And then both men disappeared from the rear platform. + +Dyke Darrel believed he had his man in a corner, when he saw him dash +through the door at the rear of the long train. + +Not so, however. + +The desperate Ruggles was ready to do anything rather than come in +contact with his relentless foe. He bounded clear of the train, +landing in a soft bit of sand, sinking almost to his knees, without +harming him in the least. + +The detective did not hesitate to follow, but he made a +miscalculation, owing to his bodily weakness, and instead of landing +on his feet, he came down with stunning force across one of the rails. + +Dyke Darrel lay insensible, like one dead. + +Had his enemy come upon him then he might have finished the career of +the daring man-hunter, without the least danger to himself. For once, +Professor Ruggles missed it woefully. + +As the detective was ten yards behind the Professor, and the car was +going at good speed, there was quite twenty rods difference between +the two men when they landed. Dyke Darrel was completely hidden from +the sight of Ruggles by a clump of trees. + +Ruggles gazed up the track, but saw nothing of his pursuer. He +surmised that Dyke Darrel did not leap from the train, but it was +likely he would ring the bell and stop the cars at once, so that it +would not do to for him to remain in the vicinity unless he wished to +collide with the detective. + +Another supposition also came to the brain of the villain, preventing +his search along the track. If Dyke Darrel had leaped after him, what +more natural than his hiding in the clump of timber for the purpose of +pouncing upon him when he came up the road. + +"I'll not risk it," muttered Ruggles. "I've other fish to fry just now +than looking after detectives. I must find that hag, Madge Scarlet, +and get my hands once more on Nell Darrel." + +Then Mr. Ruggles turned his steps in the direction of the station. +Already daylight was dawning, and Professor Ruggles was almost beside +himself with anxiety. He cursed the woman who had made it necessary +for him to leave the train so many miles outside of Gotham. Such a +change in the programme might result fatally to himself. Dyke Darrel +was hot on the trail now, and it would require the best efforts of a +desperate man to throw him off the scent. + +The man with the sunset hair was desperate enough. With hurried steps +he made his way to the depot. The agent was just shutting up. + +"No train, save a way-freight, will be along till night," he said, in +answer to a question from the gentleman with the red locks. Ruggles +had taken the precaution to provide himself with a cap from his +satchel before presenting himself to the man on duty at the depot. + +"One question," said Ruggles, as the man was about to walk away. + +"Well?" + +"Did any passengers get off here some hours since from the New York +train east?" + +"No." + +"Are you sure?" + +"None came into the depot, at any rate," said the man. + +"Any passengers get on?" + +"Several." + +"Among them an old woman?" + +"I saw no woman." + +"You are sure?" + +"Of course I am." + +Ruggles was disappointed. Could it be possible that he had been led on +a fool's errand after all, and that Madge Scarlet, with her prize, had +been concealed on the train, and continued on to New York? The thought +was intolerable. + +In the meantime, how fared it with Dyke Darrel, who lay stunned and +bleeding across the railroad track. + +It was almost sun-up before he opened his eyes and groaned. His bed +was a hard one, and it seemed as though every bone in his body was +broken. The fact was, he was yet sore from his serious fall through +the trap into the basement on Clark street, consequently it is little +wonder he was badly demoralized, both in mind and body, at his last +mishap. + +Presently a strange rumbling jar filled his ears. A bend in the road +to the west hid the track, but the dazed brain of Dyke Darrel took in +the situation nevertheless--a train was thundering down upon him. + +A minute more and he would be doomed! + +He tried to move--to roll from the track. He could not. His limbs +seemed paralyzed. Another second and the train would be upon him! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +SAVED! + + +Professor Ruggles had not been remiss in his judgment. It was Madge +Scarlet who stole his victim from his arms almost in the hour of his +devilish triumph. She did not get on the train from the little way +station, however. She was on the train when it drew out of the great +city by the lake, but the scheming Ruggles knew it not. + +She, too, wore a veil, and was otherwise disguised, and managed not to +show herself to the man she had once called friend. Immediately on her +release from jail she began to watch Ruggles, who kept himself out of +the way, or walked the streets only in disguise. + +She haunted the depots of the city, and was lucky enough to see him +when he took passage. Quietly boarding the same train, she bided her +time, intent on gaining possession of the detective's sister for +purposes of her own. + +The fires of insanity were already burning in the brain of the +convict's wife. + +Revenge for past wrongs seemed the sole object of her life now, and +this was the incentive that placed her on the track of a fleeing +villain and his intended victim. + +Madge saw Ruggles when he left the car. She watched her opportunity, +and lifting the partially insensible girl, bore her swiftly to the +outside, as the train halted for a minute. + +She gave vent to a chuckle as the train went thundering on its course. + +She had passed from the cars on the opposite side from the depot, and +consequently was able to elude the gaze of the depot agent. + +Along the track she went, pausing at times to rest, until she was +fully a mile from the station. In the shadow of a clump of trees the +hag came to a halt and deposited her burden on the ground. + +A moan from the drugged and helpless Nell reached her ears. + +And then Mrs. Scarlet chuckled the louder. + +"Good; she's coming out of her bad spell. I want her to realize her +fate, else there wouldn't be the least bit of pleasure in my revenge." + +Removing veil and light cloak, Mrs. Scarlet gazed down into the pallid +face of poor Nell, with only hatred gleaming from her sunken, beady +eyes. + +"Ho! I've outwitted the master devil himself, and now I will have you +all to myself, to deal with in a way that will cut to the quick when +Dyke Darrel hears of it." + +Nell had on only a light summer robe under the shawl. She looked very +innocent and beautiful as she lay there under the gaze of that human +hyena. + +"Pretty's a picture," hissed the wicked Madge. "I'll all the more +delight in seeing you suffer. Ah! she is coming out of her stupor. How +do you feel, dear?" + +Nell had opened her eyes and gazed at the wicked face above her, in a +dazed semi-consciousness. + +No answer was vouchsafed. + +Then, in looking about, the gleam of steel lines under the moon's rays +seemed to attract the notice of Mrs. Scarlet for the first time--the +straight lines that marked the course of the Erie road. + +Their glitter seemed to offer a diabolical suggestion to Madge +Scarlet. + +"Ha! I have it." + +Springing to her feet, she laid her arms about the slender form of the +helpless girl, and, lifting her, walked swiftly to the railway track. +In the centre, between the rails, she deposited her burden. + +"Revenge! sweet revenge!" cackled the hag in a blood-curdling voice. + +Again the girl moved and moaned; yet she seemed unable to change her +position. + +"Rest yourself comfortably, my girl; you won't be in trouble long," +muttered the demon woman, with a grin that was absolutely sickening. + +Poor Nell! She lay quite still after that, between the fatal rails, +only giving sign of life by a faint moan occasionally. + +Mrs. Scarlet retired to her leafy covert to wait the outcome. She +could see far beyond the track a farm-house, and near her a heap of +ties, and a rude fence--the moonlight revealed everything plainly. +Chuckling with hideous satisfaction, the she demon waited the coming +of the express that could not be far distant. Morning was already +brightening the East. + +Far away was the sound of a moving train. The sullen, distant roar +sent a thrill to the heart of the demon woman, who crouched in the +bushes to await the completion of her unhallowed revenge. + +The sullen jar seemed to act like a shock of electricity on the nerves +of Nell Darrel. She felt a strange and awful numbness. With a mighty +effort the girl roused herself to a consciousness of her awful +position. + +Louder and louder roared the train. It was but a mile distant now, and +the road was straight. + +Nell raised her head, and resting on her hands gazed down the track +where, in the distance, gleamed the light of the locomotive. + +"God help me!" moaned the poor girl. Then she tried to throw herself +from the track, but she could not. Her limbs were numb, and refused to +obey her will. + +A wild laugh rang out on the moonlit air. + +Madge Scarlet sprang up and glared through the bushes at her victim +with maniacal delight. + +"Ha' ha! You cannot escape! Them pretty limbs'll be crushed and torn +asunder! the white flesh cut and gashed, and that delicate body made a +horrid mass of blood and mangled fragments! THEN I will present them +to you, Dyke Darrel. Ho! ho!" + +Her voice was raised to a high pitch now, and even reached the ears of +the startled Nell. + +No help, no hope! + +On thundered the iron monster. + +On and on till the eye of the engineer catches sight of something on +the track--SOMETHING! + +Quickly the engine is reversed and the air brakes come into play. + +Too late! + +A moan of agonized terror falls from the lips of the half dead girl, +and then she sank helplessly to the ground. At the same instant help +came from an unexpected source. + +A man dashed swiftly through the moonlight and flung a heavy oak tie +in front of the slackened engine. + +A rumble and a jar, and then the train came to a dead stop, within +three feet of the prostrate girl! + +It was a narrow escape. + +The man who had come so unexpectedly out of the shadows dragged Nell +from her dangerous position. The engineer and fireman came down and +congratulated the young man on his presence. + +"The brakes couldn't quite do it," said the engineer. "That tie saved +the girl, with no damage to the train." + +"It seems to be a lucky accident all round," said the young man, who +had laid Nell on a safe spot, and now turned his attention to +assisting in removing the obstruction from the rails. + +"Yes. Who is she?" + +"I can't say." + +"Well, I must be on the way," uttered the engineer, "we are behind +time now." + +By this time the conductor was on the ground, but the train was +running again, and he received a full explanation from the engineer +afterward. + +When the young man made a closer inspection of the girl he had +rescued, a cry of surprise fell from his lips. + +"As I live, it is Nell Darrel!" + +But she could not speak to thank him for his act, since she had +fainted. + +Lifting ner tenderly the young man turned his steps in the direction +of the farm-house, where he had been stopping during the past two +days. + +"Curse you! curse you!" were the venomous words flung after the man by +Madge Scarlet. + +But she dared not interfere to prevent the rescue. + +When Nell Darrel again opened her eyes, it was to find herself calmly +resting on a couch in a little room, whose cozy appearance was like +home indeed. And the face that bent over her was not that of a +stranger. Could it be that she was dreaming? + +"Thank Heaven!" murmured a manly voice, and then a mustached lip bent +and pressed a clinging kiss to the cheek of poor Nell. + +"Harry, dear Harry!" + +Thus had the lovers met after many long months of separation. + +A smile rested on the face of the fair girl as she held Harry's hand +while he talked of the past. + +She explained as best she could the strangeness of her situation; but +everything was so much like a dream, it was a hard matter to reconcile +some of the events of the past few weeks. + +"The end draws nigh," assured young Bernard, after a time. "If the +notorious man calling himself Ruggles was on the train, he will, on +discovering his loss, turn back, and then I will capture him." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE MYSTERIOUS WART. + + +We left Dyke Darrel, the detective, in a critical position on the +railroad track, with the roar of a freight engine in his ears. The +rays of the rising sun touched the glittering rails as the long train +swept around the bend upon doomed Dyke Darrel. + +One more tremendous effort on the part of the detective, and he +succeeded in throwing his body squarely across one of the rails. In +this position he hung a helpless weight, with the hoarse roar of the +engine making anything but sweet music to his fainting soul. + +Ha! Look! A hand is outstretched to save at the last moment, and Dyke +Darrel is jerked from under the smoking wheels, even as their breath +fans his fevered cheek. + +The train swept on. + +A cheer greeted the man who had come opportunely to the rescue as the +engine swept on its course. + +And a little later a man, young, yet whose boyish face bore marks of +dissipation, stood beside the detective and gazed into his face now +for the first time. + +"Great Caesar!" + +The young man started as though cut by a knife, and bent low over the +fallen detective, who was now struggling to a sitting posture. + +When he looked into the face of his rescuer he uttered a great cry. + +"My soul! how came you here, Martin Skidway?" + +"I am a fugitive," answered the young convict. "It wasn't through your +good will that I got out of prison, I can tell you that. Had I known +who it was on the track, I might not have put out my hand to save." + +The detective regarded the speaker in no little amazement. This was +the second time he had escaped from the Missouri prison, which argued +well for the man's keenness and capability, or else ill for the +official management of the prison. + +"It was from the St. Louis prison that I escaped," explained Martin +Skidway a little later. "I never got inside the State institution a +second time. I've had a sweet time of it thus far." + +"Tell me how you made your escape," said Dyke Darrel, who sat with his +back against a tree, and regarded the young counterfeiter in wonder. + +"There isn't much to tell," returned Skidway. "I had no assistance, +but it seems that a pair of burglars had broken out by filing off the +grating to one of the corridor windows, and the opening had not been +repaired when I was taken to the jail. I was left in the corridor a +minute while the jailor was attending some other prisoners, and that +minute gave me the opportunity. I mounted a chair, climbed through the +window, and made my escape by the light of the moon. Of course there +was a big search, but I remained hidden in an old cellar under a +deserted house in a grove within the city limits, for several days, +and finally made good my escape from the State." + +"And now?" + +"I am going to put the ocean between me and the beaks of American +law." + +Dyke Darrel regarded the speaker with mingled emotions. He saw in this +daring young fellow much talent, that had it been rightly directed, +might have made an honorable place in the world for Martin Skidway. + +"I am helpless to arrest your steps just at present," groaned the +detective. "Would you do it after what has happened, if you were in a +condition to do so?" demanded the convict, bending over the man on the +ground, regarding him with a menacing look. + +"Duty often calls one to do that which is disagreeable," answered Dyke +Darrel. A deep frown mantled the brows of the convict. + +"I see that my mercy was misdirected," he said. "It seems that I have +saved your life only to give you a chance to dog me to doom. Think you +I am fool enough to permit this?" + +There was a menace in the man's voice that Dyke Darrel did not like. + +"I am at present helpless," he said. "I don't imagine you will harm a +man who is in no condition to injure you if he would." + +"But you can talk. The first man who comes along will hear from you +that an escaped convict is in the rural districts of New York, and a +telegram will set ten thousand officers on the lookout for me. Without +such information I would not be recognized in this community. I am a +desperate man, Dyke Darrel, and do not propose to sacrifice myself for +your benefit." + +"What will you do?" + +"One of two things." + +"Well?" + +"You must solemnly swear that you will never reveal to another that I +am in this region, and swear also to make no effort to capture me +under a month, or else I shall have a painful duty to perform." + +"Go on!" + +"Will you take the required oath?' + +"Certainly not." + +"Then the other alternative is alone left me, Dyke Darrel." + +"And that?" + +"DEATH TO YOU!" + +Straightening to his full height after uttering the three terrible +words, Martin Skidway snatched a heavy iron bolt from the ground, that +had lain long beside the track, and raised it above the head of +helpless Dyke Darrel. + +"Martin Skidway, hold!" + +The words of the detective came forth in a thrilling cry. + +An instant the would be assassin stayed his hand. + +"You agree to my terms?" + +"No; but--" + +"Then you must die. It will be considered an accident, and no one will +suspect my hand in the affair." + +Again the young convict poised his weapon for deadly work. On the +instant the rumble of wheels met the ears of Martin Skidway. + +A wagon containing two men was in sight, moving down a road that ran +parallel with the railway at this point. It was evident that the +occupants of the vehicle had seen Skidway, and to strike now would but +add to the vengeance of pursuit and punishment. With a curse, he +dropped the iron bolt and turned to flee. + +"Dyke Darrel, if you inform on me, I will kill you at another time!" +hissed the convict. + +Then he rushed from the spot and disappeared. + +As the wagon came opposite it halted, and the cries of Dyke Darrel +brought both men to his side. + +"Hello! is this you?" cried a cheery voice, and the next instant Dyke +Darrel was lifted to his feet by the strong hand of Harry Bernard. + +It was a happy and unexpected meeting. Harry had good news to tell, +and when Dyke Darrel, assisted by his friend, reached the farmhouse +where Nell had found safety and shelter, the detective was strong +enough to stand, and assist himself in no small degree. + +Mutual explanations were entered into, and, as may be supposed, the +meeting between brother and sister was a happy one indeed. Harry was +the hero of the hour. + +When Dyke Darrel spoke of Martin Skidway, and the part he had acted in +saving his life, a word of admiration fell from the lips of Nell. + +But when Dyke proceeded to the conclusion, the girl's face blanched, +and she had no word of commendation left for the miserable convict, +who, after all, possessed but little honor. + +"So Aunt Scarlet is in the neighborhood; and also your abductor," +mused the detective. "The trail is becoming hot, indeed." + +"It is, for a fact," admitted Harry. "I believe, if the truth was +known, this man Ruggles will prove to be the man we want. Have you +that handkerchief with you, Dyke, that we found in the coat of the +rascal who attempted your murder in St. Louis?" + +This was several hours after the events of the morning, and Nell was +now resting in a large wooden rocker, very weak, yet feeling +remarkably well, considering the siege she had passed through during +the past two weeks and more. Dyke Darrel and Harry were the only +occupants of the room, the farmer being at his work in the field, and +his good wife attending preparations for supper in the kitchen. + +"I have kept the tell-tale handkerchief through it all," answered the +detective, at the same time producing the article from a receptacle +beneath, his shirt. + +"It's a wonder this was not discovered when you were in the hands of +the thugs of Chicago." + +"I wasn't closely searched, I suppose. You and the boys were too close +after them." + +"You give me too much credit, Dyke," returned Harry Bernard, modestly. +"I've a question to ask." + +"Ask as many as you like." + +"Was it the fact of my hand fitting this bloody imprint that so +startled you in the St. Louis hotel?" + +"Did I not so claim at the time?" + +"Perhaps; but wasn't there another coincidence that gave you reason to +suspect me? + +"There might have been." + +"I thought so. It was the imprint of a large wart, such as this on the +handkerchief, that made you look with suspicion upon me. Is it not +so?" + +Harry held up his hand, so that a wart on the little finger was +plainly revealed, and which, when he placed his hand against the tell- +tale handkerchief, fitted the marks perfectly. + +"Forgive me, Harry," cried the detective, quickly. "I know now that it +was only a remarkable duplicate; the wart belonged to another hand +than yours. The print of the wart was also on the bosom of Arnold +Nicholson's white shirt bosom, where a bloody hand had fallen. I made +this discovery when I examined the body of my dead friend. +Circumstantial evidence pointed to you, and yet I doubted--" + +"I understand," interrupted Harry. "My hand is indeed a duplicate of +the assassin's. It is a wonder that I have not been arrested ere this +by some of the detectives who are engaged in working up this case." + +"Why so?" + +"Because you are not the only one who made the discovery of the wart +that adorned the hand of the assassin. A reporter got hold of the +story and published it. Don't you remember?" + +"I haven't read the papers closely since the murder." + +"But I have, and so has the man who killed Nicholson." + +"Indeed?" + +"He soon learned that officers of the law were all looking for a man +with a large wart on the second joint of the little finger of the +right hand. This fact made him nervous, and one night he severed the +wart, and flung it from him, since which time he has breathed easier." + +A low exclamation from the lips of Nell startled both men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE STORY OF A WART. + + +"Nell, what is it?" questioned the surprised detective. + +Harry regarded the girl with a queer smile. Perhaps he knew what had +brought the exclamation to the lips of Miss Darrel. + +"I know a man who has lost a wart," she said, slowly, a deepening +pallor coming to her cheeks. + +"His name?" questioned Dyke Darrel, eagerly. + +But the girl did not immediately answer. It seemed that something +moved her deeply. + +"Was it Professor Ruggles?" questioned Harry, in order to help the +young girl out. + +"No," she said. + +"Who then?" + +"Harper Elliston!" + +A grave look chased the smile from the face of Harry Bernard. + +The girl's announcement seemed to prove a revelation to him, even as +it did to Dyke Darrel. + +"I did not know the man who severed the wart from his hand," said +Harry Bernard, after a brief silence, "but suspected that it was +Darlington Ruggles. It seems now that I was correct." + +"How is that?" + +"Have you not guessed the truth," queried Harry Bernard. "I made the +discovery some time since that the red-haired man and Harper Elliston +were one and the same." + +This came as a revelation to both the detective and his sister. + +"I have had suspicions," said Dyke Darrel, "but never anything +definite regarding the villainy of this man Elliston. He has played +his cards well, but I became undeceived not long after this great +railroad crime. That he was not my friend I discovered, and then I +resolved to watch him. I have reason to believe that it was to him I +owe my arrest in Burlington, Iowa. I now see the truth, that under the +assumed name of Hubert Vander, Elliston ruined a young girl of +Burlington, and, it may be, murdered her father, wealthy Captain +Osborne. It would be strange indeed, should the trail that ends with +the capture of the express robber also bring to punishment the +assassin of the Burlington Captain." + +"It seems likely to end in that way," returned Harry. + +"Let us hear what Nell has to say with regard to the wart," said the +detective, turning to his sister. + +"It will require but a few words to do that," said Nell Darrel. "I +always noticed a peculiarly shaped wart on the finger of Mr. +Elliston's shapely right hand, and once he remarked upon it to me, +saying that it was a disfigurement, and that he meant to have it +removed sometime. I think it was the first time I met Mr. Elliston +after the terrible news of the mid night express tragedy that I +noticed the absence of the wart, and a bit of surgeon's plaster +covering the spot. I laughed over his having undergone such a severe +surgical operation, and he seemed to take it in good part, assuring me +that HE was the surgeon who amputated the excrescence with a razor. Of +course I thought nothing strange of it at the time." + +"You said the wart had a peculiar shape? How is that?" questioned +Harry Bernard. + +"It was large, and was composed of two crowns. I think, perhaps two +warts had grown together at the roots." + +"Exactly. Would you know the wart if you should see it again?" + +"I think I should." + +"So would I," cried the detective. + +Then Harry Bernard drew a small vial from his pocket and held it up to +view. A small object, submerged in alcohol, was visible. When placed +in the hand of Nell, the girl at once exclaimed: + +"That is certainly the wart that once disfigured the hand of Harper +Elliston!" + +"Where did you get it?" questioned Dyke Darrel, now deeply interested +at the links that were being rapidly forged in the chain of evidence. + +"Dyke, you know that when I left Woodburg some months ago, I went from +among you under a cloud?" + +"I will not dispute you--" + +"No explanation is necessary on your part, Dyke. I imagine I was as +much to blame as anybody. Nell and I quarreled, and I imagined that +the handsome, elderly New Yorker had stepped into my shoes, so far as +she was concerned. I did not like the man, and so I resolved to +investigate for myself, and if I found that he was not worthy of Nell, +whom I loved and should always love while life lasted, I determined to +expose him, and save your sister. During the past few months I have +been making this investigation, to find that the supposed immaculate +Harper Elliston is known in Gotham in certain circles as a gambler and +villain of the deepest dye. He has committed some crimes that are +worse than murder. Now, as to the wart: It was soon after I had heard +of the murder on the express train, that while riding in the smoking +car of an emigrant train in Iowa, I saw an old man deliberately slice +a huge wart from his little finger with a keen-edged knife. The wart +fell under the seat and rolled at my feet. The old man made no effort +to recover it, but wrapped his bleeding hand in a handkerchief and +muttered: 'THAT witness will never come up to trouble me.' There was +something in the man's voice that sounded familiar, and the strange +whiteness of his hands aroused my suspicions, for in dress and +appearance the man was a laborer of the lower class. Curiosity, if +nothing stronger, prompted me to take possession of the severed wart +that had rolled at my feet. Soon after that I read the notice in a +newspaper, to the effect that the assassin of the express train had +left the imprint of a wart on the bosom of the dead man's shirt. Since +that time I have regarded hands with no little interest, and have +looked for the old man of the emigrant car in vain." + +"An interesting recital," said the detective, when Harry Bernard came +to a pause. "Knowing all this, you kept it from me at St. Louis." + +"My reason for that was, that I did not care to arouse any foolish +theories. Of course, the reporter's story might have been false. The +wart on my own hand, somewhat similar to this, led me to keep my own +council as a matter of personal safety. Although I suspected Elliston, +I had no proof, since I had forgotten the fact of his ever having a +wart on the little finger of his right hand. My principal hope has +been in finding the old man of the emigrant train." + +"You have not found him?" + +"Not unless Elliston is the man." + +"Did you suspect this before now?" + +"I did; now I am convinced." + +Just then Harry Bernard chanced to raise his eyes and gaze out of the +open window. + +He came suddenly to his feet with a startled exclamation. + +Dyke Darrel glanced out of the window to notice a bent old man, with +white hair and beard, moving away from the vicinity of the house. +Evidently he had been looking into the room, if not listening to the +conversation of the trio. + +"Saints of Rome! there is the old man of the emigrant train now!" + +Dyke Darrel staggered to the window, while Harry Bernard rushed +swiftly from the farm-house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE REVELATIONS OF A SATCHEL. + + +"Hello, old man!" + +"Eh?" + +The man stopped, stared at Harry Bernard as if puzzled, and then began +to grin. + +"I want to speak with you, sir." + +"Sortin, sortin you can." + +"Who are you?" + +"Sam Wiggs o' Yonkers. Wat can I do for ye, mister?" + +The old fellow seemed honest enough, and as Harry glanced at the dirty +hands, he saw nothing to excite his suspicions. + +"Are you a relative of Mr.---?" naming the farmer who owned the place +on which they stood. + +"Wal, not as I knows on," drawled the old fellow, laughing until his +old head seemed ready to topple from his shoulders. "No blood +relation, any how, sir. You see, my wife's cousin's aunt's husband's +brother Jerry was a cousin to Nicodemus Dunce, who, if I don't +disremember, was related in some way to Isacker Pete's wife's sister, +and she was this ere man's niece, or somethin' o' that sort, but we +ain't blood related nohow." + +"I should think not," answered Harry, and then he returned to the +house, while the old man Wiggs proceeded unmolested on his way. + +"At a first glance, he DID resemble the man of the emigrant train +strongly," muttered Bernard, "but I see now that I was mistaken." + +"Well, how did you make out, Harry?" + +"This was from Dyke Darrel, who had been watching proceedings from the +window. + +"A case of mistaken identity," answered the young man, with a laugh. +"I was sure I had found the right man when I saw that old chap +crossing the yard, but it seems that I was mistaken." + +"Are you sure of it?" + +"I suppose I am." + +Dyke Darrel watched the retreating form of the old man with no little +curiosity, however, until his bent form was lost to view down the +winding road. Naturally suspicious, the detective more than half +believed that the seemingly aged man had not come to the farm-house +for any good purpose. + +"I can't help thinking that Wiggs, as he called himself, is destined +to give us trouble, Harry," the detective said, at length. + +"An inoffensive old man," asserted Bernard. At the same time, however, +he was not fully content to let the matter rest as it was. + +"It might be well enough to watch the old fellow, at any rate," said +Dyke Barrel, rising and walking twice across the room, peering +nervously out of the window in the direction in which old Wiggs had +gone. + +"Keep quiet, Dyke," said Bernard. "I will shadow the old fellow, and +see if he is other than he seems." + +Bernard was on the point of leaving the room, when a youth appeared, +walking swiftly toward the farm-house from the direction of the +station. One glance sufficed to show both men the genial face of the +boy Paul Ender. + +"So you have Paul with you, Harry?" said the detective with a pleased +smile. + +"He is my shadow, and I have found him true and brave," answered +Harry, at the same time glancing toward Nell, who had told him of the +lad's defense of her against the villain Elliston. + +"I can testify to his bravery," said the girl. "Paul and I are great +friends." + +A minute later, young Ender entered the presence of the trio, and +deposited a black satchel in the middle of the floor. + +"I have committed a theft," said the boy, with a queer look on his +face, "and am here to throw myself on the mercy of the court." + +"You speak in riddles," said Bernard. "I've been on a bully lay, as +the peelers say, and I believe have made a discovery, although it may +amount to nothing after all." + +"Go on." + +"I've seen the man with the red hair and beard." + +"When?" + +"Where?" + +"Over by the depot. I saw him go into an old out-house with this +satchel in his hand." + +"Indeed!" + +"Go on." + +"I was on the watch, and when he came out I saw, not Brother Ruggles, +but a lean old man, with white locks and beard, who seemed to walk +with great difficulty." + +"Ah!" + +"Indeed!" + +"He hobbled away, and failed to take the satchel with him. At first I +could not believe that the sorrel gent and the old chap were the same. +I learned this by investigation. When, after waiting a spell, and no +sunset-haired gent came forth, I proceeded to investigate, and found +this satchel, which, under the law of military necessity, I proceeded +to confiscate, that the ends of justice might be furthered. If I have +done wrong, I am ready to throw myself on the mercy of the court, and +be forgiven." + +"You have done right," cried Dyke Barrel. "Have you opened the +satchel?" + +"No. It is locked, and I haven't a key that will fit." + +Harry Bernard produced several keys, none of which fitted the lock to +the satchel. + +"What are we to do?" cried Bernard. The satchel is securely locked, +and its owner has the key." + +"This is no time for ceremony or undue squeamishness!" uttered Dyke +Darrel. "We are on the eve of an important discovery, and I propose to +make no delays." + +Then, drawing a knife from his pocket, the detective bent over the +satchel and slit the sides at one stroke." + +"That will open it if a key won't," he remarked, with grim +satisfaction. + +The contents of the satchel were a revelation. + +Red wigs and a complete suit of clothes, besides paints and powders. + +Harry uttered an exclamation. + +"Just as I suspected," uttered Dyke Darrel. "You made no, mistake when +you suspected that old man who just now left this vicinity. Doubtless +he forgot his satchel, or else thought it safe until his return. Paul, +my boy, you have done a good thing, and shall be promoted. We must now +make it a point to intercept old Wiggs." + +"Doubtless he has gone to the depot." + +"How far is that from here?" + +"Two miles." + +"When does the train pass?" questioned Dyke Darrel. + +"I cannot say." + +"Nor I." + +"Ask the farmer's wife." + +Paul sped from the room. + +"The New York express goes in ten minutes," said the boy, on his +return. + +"In ten minutes? Then we have no time to lose," cried Dyke, turning to +the door. + +"Dyke, what would you do?" demanded Nell at this moment. + +"Capture your enemy and mine---" + +"But you are not strong enough to take the trail. Stay with me." + +He interrupted her with: + +"Nell, I never felt stronger in my life. I mean to put the bracelets +on the villain's wrists with my own hands." + +"Dyke, leave it to me," urged Harry Bernard. + +But the detective's blood was up, and he would listen to no one. He +was determined to be in at the death, and for the time his old +strength seemed coursing in his veins. He hastened from the house, and +ascertaining that a horse was in the barn, he at once sprang to the +animal's back. + +"You are unarmed?" said Bernard. "Yes, but--" + +"Take this; I will quickly follow," and the young man thrust a +revolver into the hand of Dyke Darrel. "Do nothing rash until help +arrives, Dyke. Our game is desperate, and will fight hard if +cornered." + +"I am aware of that, but I do not fear him. Ha! what is that?" + +"The roar of the train." + +"Then time is short." + +The horse and rider shot away down the country road like an arrow, or +a bird. On and on, with the speed of the wind, and yet the lightning +express made even greater speed than did the detective's horse. + +With a roar and a rush the train swept past. + +Too late! + +Dyke Darrel drew rein at the depot just as the train swept madly away +on its course to the great city, and on the rear platform stood the +old man who had peered into the farm-house window but a short time +before. + +It was an aggravating situation. + +"You can use the telegraph," suggested the depot agent, when Darrel +unbosomed himself to him. + +"Quick! Send word to the next station, and have the man detained." + +The ticket agent went to his instrument and ticked off the desired +information. + +A little later came the reply: + +"No such person on the train." + +A malediction fell from the detective's lips. Was his enemy to thus +outwit him always? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +RETRIBUTION. + + +A tall, handsome man of middle-age stood picking his teeth with a +jaunty air beside the desk of a down-town boarding-house, when his +occupation, if such we may call it, was interrupted by a touch on his +arm. + +Looking down, the gentleman saw a small, ragged urchin standing near. + +"It is yourn--10 cents, please." + +The boy held out a yellow envelope, on which was scrawled the name +"Harper Elliston." + +The gentleman dropped the required bit of silver into the boy's hand +with the air of a king, and then tore open the envelope. + +"MR. ELLISTON: Meet me at Room 14, Number 388 Blank street, at seven +this evening, SHARP. Business of importance. + +"B." + +The contents of the envelope puzzled Mr. Elliston, who had been but +ten days in New York since his return from the West. He had several +acquaintances whose names might with appropriateness be signed B. "I +don't think there'll be any harm in meeting Mr. B. at the place +mentioned. It may be of importance, as he says. If it should be a trap +set by Dyke Darrel--but, pshaw! that man is dead. I had it from the +lips of Martin Skidway, and he knew whereof he spoke. I will call at +388, let the consequences be what they may." Thus decided a cunning +villain, and in so doing went to his own doom. + +Ten days had Dyke Darrel and his friend Bernard searched the city of +New York ere they found their prey. Once found, the detective resolved +upon a novel manner of procedure for his capture. The sending of the +letter was part of the scheme. Had this failed, then a bolder move +would have been made. + +But it did not fail. + +When Mr. Elliston rapped at room 14, number 388 Blank street, the door +was opened, admitting the visitor to a small room containing a bed, a +few necessary articles of furniture, and a curtained alcove. + +The door was suddenly closed and locked behind Elliston, light was +turned on fully, and then the visitor found himself confronted by +Harry Bernard, whom he had met once or twice in Woodburg, many months +before. + +"Eh!" ejaculated Elliston. "So you are the man who wrote that note +requesting an interview? Well, I am glad to see you, Mr. Bernard," and +Elliston held out his hand, with a smile wreathing his thin lips. + +"I imagined you would be," returned the youth. "I am glad to see you +so well. Fact is, you are badly wanted out in Illinois at the present +time." + +"I am sorry that I cannot accommodate my friends out there," returned +Elliston, with a frown; "but it is wholly out of the question. I think +I will bid you good evening, Mr. Bernard. I cannot waste precious time +here." + +He turned and grasped the door-knob. It did not yield to his touch. + +"Not just yet, Mr. Elliston," said Harry. "I wish to ask you a few +questions." + +"Well?" + +"What do you know of the murder of Arnold Nicholson on the midnight +express, south of Chicago, some weeks ago?" + +"I read of it, of course." + +Mr. Elliston pulled nervously at his glove as he answered. + +"What do you know of the disappearance of Captain Osborne and the +death of his daughter?" persisted Bernard. + +"Do you suppose I have nothing to do but answer such nonsensical +questions?" demanded Elliston, angrily. "Open this door and let me +pass out." + +"Not yet. I wish to tell you a little story, Mr. Elliston." + +"I haven't time to listen." + +"Nevertheless, you must take the time," said Harry Bernard, sternly. +"Don't attempt to make trouble, sir; you will get the worst of it if +you do." + +There was a glitter in the eyes of the speaker that was not pleasant +to see. + +Mr. Elliston sank to a chair, and with an air of resignation said: + +"Well, well, this is impudent, but I will listen if it will gratify +you." + +"It certainly will. I wish to start out with the assertion that you DO +know something about the crime on the midnight express, and I will try +and convince you that _I_ know what part you acted in the murder of +one of the best men in the service of the express company. Don't lose +your temper, sir, but listen?" + +"I am listening." + +There was a sullen echo in the man's voice that boded an outburst +soon. + +"A gentleman of your build and complexion boarded the train at a +station just south of Chicago one night in April. At another station +two companions joined this man, according to previous agreement. One +was almost a boy in years, an escaped convict; and these three men +during the night entered the express car, murdered the agent, and went +through the safe. Just before reaching Black Hollow the three men left +the car. One of the three was tall and had red hair and beard. This +man, after the slaughter, left a trace behind that has led to his +identity. He left the imprint of a bloody hand on a white handkerchief +that he took from the pocket of his victim. That handkerchief was +afterward found, and the bloody mark compared with the hand of the +assassin." + +"That could hardly be possible. Hands are many of them alike," +articulated Mr. Elliston, nervously. + +"True, but in this case a wart, of peculiar shape, gave the man away. +The mark of his bloody hand, leaving the wart's impress, was not only +on the handkerchief, but left against the white shirt-front of the +murdered man as well. The man who committed the murder read of the +clew in a Chicago paper, and, to obliterate the tell-tale evidence, he +cut the wart from his hand and dropped it under the seat while +journeying through Iowa in disguise, on an emigrant train." + +The face of Elliston had become white as death, and he trembled from +head to foot. If Bernard had doubted before, he doubted now no longer. + +"A nice story," finally sneered Bernard's visitor. "When did you learn +so much?" + +"Weeks ago--" + +"And you have permitted this villain to run at large so long!" + +"Well, I propose to see that he does not flaunt his crimes in the face +of the world longer." + +Then, with a quick movement, the youth drew a vial from his pocket and +held it up to view, exhibiting to the dilating eyes of the New Yorker +a large wart with a double top. + +"Just remove the glove from your right hand, Mr. Elliston. I think we +will find a scar there that this wart will fit--" + +"Furies! this is too much," cried Elliston, coming to his feet, white +with rage and fear. + +"Stop. Keep your temper," warned Bernard. "I wish to bring a witness; +one that has been your companion in crime." + +The curtain over the alcove was brushed aside, and a man stepped +forth, a man with red whiskers and hair, the latter surmounted with a +glossy plug hat. + +Elliston stared like one bereft of sense and life. + +"Allow me to introduce Professor Darlington Ruggles, Mr. Elliston," +uttered Harry Bernard in a mocking voice. + +"Hades! what does this mean?" and the trapped villain staggered, +clutching the back of a chair for support. + +"It means that your race of crime and diabolism is run, Harper +Elliston!" + +Red hair and beard were suddenly swept aside, a revolver was thrust +into the startled countenance of Elliston; he looked, and could only +utter: + +"DYKE DARREL, THE DETECTIVE!" + +"Do you deny your guilt, scoundrel?" + +But Harper Elliston sank to a seat, and bowed his head, while drops of +cold sweat covered his forehead. + +The touch of cold steel and click of closing bracelets roused him. + +He was helpless now, for his wrists were encircled by handcuffs. Black +despair confronted the villain. + +Dyke Darrel went through the pockets of his prisoner and found a +revolver, an ugly looking clasp knife, and other articles of a nature +that served to show that the owner was not pursuing an honest calling. + +"Do you remember that night on the dock beside the river, Elliston?" +questioned Bernard, bending suddenly over the prisoner. + +But no answer came from the bloodless lips of the cornered villain. + +"It was I who tore your mask of red hair from your head that night. I +had mistrusted you for a villain, and I meant to unmask you to save +Nell Darrel, whom I loved, from your wiles. You struck me with a knife +and pushed me into the river. I, however, was not harmed. The point of +your knife glanced on a small book that I carried in an inner pocket. +I escaped from the river, and resolved to follow you to your doom. I +overheard your plans of abducting Nell Darrel, when you fired at my +masked face that night as I peered into Mother Scarlet's room. I then +knew you to be a villain of the deepest dye. Since, I learned that you +were the man in disguise on the emigrant train in Iowa, and this wart +will, with other evidence, condemn you before an honest jury of your +peers." + +A groan alone answered the denouement made by Harry Bernard. + +Dyke Darrel removed the glove from his prisoner's right hand, and +exposed a scarcely-healed scar near the joint of the little finger. +The chain of evidence was complete. The red hair in the clutches of +the murdered Nicholson had evidently been torn from the false beard of +the disguised assassin. + +The New Yorker was removed from the house and taken at once to prison. +From thence, on the following morning, Dyke Darrel set out on his +return to the Garden City with Elliston in charge. + +Harry Bernard remained over at the farm-house in New York State to see +Nell, who had been left in the care of Paul Ender. Nell had almost +entirely recovered from the shock of her recent treatment, and was +overjoyed at the outcome of her friends' visit to New York. + +"Elliston will be convicted and hanged," was Bernard's verdict. + +On the very day of Harry's arrival at the farm-house, he, with the old +farmer, was summoned to visit one who had met with a fatal accident +and was about to die. + +It proved to be Martin Skidway, who lay on a barn floor with his head +in his mother's lap, gasping his life away, an ugly wound in his side. + +He had accidentally shot himself and was rapidly sinking. A fugitive +in hiding for weeks, his life had been an intolerable one. Now that he +was dying, he made a full confession, admitting his own hand in the +awful railroad crime, and implicating two others, Elliston and Nick +Brower. Sam Swart had been one of them, but he was known to be dead. + +"Without HIS urging I would never have stained my hands; in fact, it +was Elliston who struck the blow that killed the express messenger." + +Without this confession, there was evidence enough to convict the New +Yorker; with it, both Brower and the principal were found guilty of +murder in the first degree and sentenced to the gallows. Nick Brower +was the only one of the four who expiated his crime on the gallows. +Harper Elliston died in prison by his own hand. + +He left a note admitting the express crime, and also confessing to the +murder of Captain Osborne and the ruin of his daughter Sibyl. His was +a fitting end to a career of unparalleled crime. + +*************************** + +We now draw a veil over the scene. + +Harry Bernard and Nell Darrel were, soon after the arrest and death of +Elliston, happily married. + +Dyke Darrel considers the events leading up to the capture and +punishment of those engaged in the crime of the midnight express as +among the most thrilling and wonderful of his detective experience. To +Harry Bernard and Paul Ender he gives a large share of the credit, and +with them shared the reward. Bernard has of late worked in conjunction +with Dyke Darrel on other cases, and is fast winning a reputation +second only to that of the great railroad detective himself. + +THE END. + + + + + +WON BY CRIME + +CHAPTER I + + +A young girl, about eighteen, with a slender, elegant form, beautiful +straight features, and eyes of softest darkness, sitting before a +large table covered with maps and drawings, which she was trying +vainly to study. + +"It is no use!" she cried, at last, pushing back the mass of thick +black hair falling over her white brow; "I shall never be able to get +India by heart, unless I can see the places. I wish papa would let us +go reconnoitering amongst the ruined temples and other mysterious +buildings; it is so annoying staying here day after day, never seeing +anything outside the palace' + +"My dear Lianor," said her companion, a young man scarcely older than +herself, and wonderfully like her, "what new idea, have you got now?" + +"An idea of seeing more of the curious places I have read so much +about. Fancy living a lifetime in a country and never going beyond one +town! If I do not get some excitement, I shall die of ennui, so I warn +you." + +"I quite agree with you, and if uncle would only let us, it would be +delightful, seeking out the temples so long deserted. But you know he +would not," shrugging his shoulders. + +"I'm not so sure of that. Papa never refuses me anything, and when he +sees it is necessary to my happiness I should go, he will consent. +Anyhow, I will try," jumping eagerly to her feet. "Come, Leone" + +Her cousin rose, and took the white, outstretched hand; then like two +children they crossed the beautiful marble hall, until, arriving +before a door draped with rich curtains, Lianor paused and softly +knocked. + +"Come in!" rather impatiently. + +With a smile Lianor opened the door, and entered, followed by +Pantaleone. + +In the room, handsomely fitted up as a study, sat a fine-looking, +middle-aged man, busily wilting; his dark face wore an expression of +severity as he glanced toward the intruders. + +It quickly faded, however, on seeing the pretty figure standing there; +instead, a gentle smile wreathed his lips. + +"Well, Lianor, dearest, what is it?" + +"Papa," and the girl stole noiselessly behind his chair, winding her +arms around his neck. "I am so miserable, I have nothing to amuse me, +and unless you do something to make me happier, I shall go melancholy +mad!" + +"My dearest child, what is the matter? Are you ill?" anxiously turning +to peer into the lovely face. + +"No, papa; but I am so tired of this life." + +"That is not like my little girl. And I have tried hard to make you +happy. Nothing in reason have I refused you--jewels, such as a queen +might envy; priceless stuffs to deck your pretty form, and other +things which no girl of your age ever possessed," reproachfully. + +Lianor bent down, and kissed his brow, lovingly--repentingly. + +"You have been a great deal too good to me. But there is something +more I wish to ask; it will make me happy if you will grant my +request." + +"We shall see. Tell me first what it is." + +Lianor briefly related her wish to visit the old temple which lay +beyond Goa, to search with Panteleone the curious old ruins she had so +often read of in her studies. + +Don Gracia looked grave; evidently this project did not find much +favor in his eyes. + +A Portuguese by birth, but sent to Goa as Viceroy, Don Garcia de Sa +had lived there long enough to know the treacherous natures of the +Brahmins who dwelt near, and feared to let his child run the risk of +being found and captured. + +But as Lianor had truly remarked, he loved his daughter so +passionately that he very rarely refused her anything, even though he +doubted the wisdom of complying with her wishes. + +"Papa"--the sweet voice was very coaxing, and the red lips close to +his cheek--"say yes, darling; it will make me so happy." + +"But suppose any danger should threaten you?" + +"I should be there to defend my cousin with my life!" Leone cried, +fervently. + +Don Gracia smiled. + +"You speak bravely, my boy; but as yet you are very young. However, as +Lianor has set her heart upon this expedition, I suppose I must say +yes. In case of danger, I will send some soldiers to escort you." + +"Oh, thank you, papa! I am so glad! Come, Leone, we will make haste, so +as to set off ere the day gets more advanced." + +And warmly embracing her father, the girl sped swiftly away, followed +by her cousin. + +In half an hour the cortege was ready, and, after some little +hesitation on Don Garcia's part, they started. + +Lianor, with her two favorite maids, Lalli and Tolla, were cosily +seated in a palanquin carried by four strong men. Before, clearing her +path from all difficulties, went a body of twenty-five soldiers. +Beside her, Panteleone kept up a cheerful conversation, pointing out +the beauties of the palaces through which they passed. Some twenty +natives, armed with poignards, brought up the rear. + +Toki, a native who had grown old in the Viceroy's palace, led the way +toward one of the ruined temples--that erected to Siva, the God of +Destruction. + +Lianor gazed with awed eyes at the magnificent palace, still bearing +traces of former beauty. + +"How wonderful! I must stay here, Leone, and sketch those old statues. +We need go no farther." + +The day was beginning to get intensely hot, so the men were nothing +loth to seek shelter in the cool temple, to sleep away the sunny +hours. + +Sketch-book in hand, the girl chose a shady retreat outside, and was +soon lost in her work. + +Presently the dreamy silence was broken; faint cries from afar reached +her; and looking hastily up, Lianor saw a sight which made her stand +rooted to the spot in speechless horror. + +In the distance, pouring from out the mountains, were a multitude of +Indians clad in divers costumes, carrying in their hands fantastic +idols, and followed by a train of Brahmins, singing a low, monotonous +chant, which had warned the girl of their approach. + +Recovering her self-possession, and calling to the startled servants, +Lianor entered the temple, where Panteleone and the men were quietly +dozing. + +"Leone, awake! The Indians are coming!" + +The youth sprang to his feet, and, flinging one arm round his cousin, +he drew a sharp poignard from his sash, and clutched it. firmly. + +"Do not be afraid, Lianor. I will guard you with my life!" he said +bravely. + +"But is there no way to escape?" Lianor asked wildly, frightened at +the peril into which her folly had brought them all. + +"We might have gone; but it is too late. They are here," Toki said +gravely. "The only thing we can do is to hide amongst these broken +statues, and perhaps we may be safe from their view," + +Scarcely had this been done than the procession arrived, stopped +before the temple, and the men commenced building a huge square pile +of wood; on this they placed a bier, on which lay the corpse of an old +man, decked with silks and costly jewels. + +Lianor and Panteleone, watching from their hiding-place the strange +preparations, now saw a girl, very young and beautiful, but weeping +bitterly, being dragged toward the pile by a tall, hard-looking woman. + +"Come!" she cried, in loud, ringing tones, "now is the time to uphold +the honor of your family, and show your courage!" + +With a shudder the girl drew back, and clasping her hands piteously +together, said: + +"Why should I thus sacrifice my young life to the cruelty of your +customs? I cannot endure the thought of being burnt alive--it is too +horrible!" + +"It is your duty! A widow must follow her husband in death," coldly. + +The youthful widow burst into passionate weeping, and gave an agonized +glance around at the vindictive faces; not one among that multitude, +she thought, felt pity for the girl who was condemned to so horrible a +fate. + +She was mistaken, and a second gaze revealed a young boy, not more +than fifteen, who was quietly sobbing, an expression of deep anguish +on his face. + +"Satzavan, my poor brother, you also have come to witness my painful +end!" + +The boy went toward her, and wound his arms around her slim waist, +drawing the dark head onto his shoulder. + +"I would that I could help you," he whispered. "But what can I do +among all these fiends?" + +"It is hard to die thus--so hard." + +"Savitre, I am more compassionate than you think, and I have here a +draught which will send you into a deep sleep. The pain of death will +thus be saved you," Konmia broke in severely, holding a vessel toward +the girl. + +"No, no!" Savitre shrieked, pushing the potent drink away. "I cannot! +Think how awful to awaken with the cruel flames wreathing round my +body, and my cries for help useless, deadened by the yells of those +people. I cannot--I will not die!" + +Satzavan, deathly white, and with quivering features, drew her +shuddering frame closer to him, and led her into the temple. + +"Leave us for a moment, I implore you," he said, turning to his aunt. +"She loves me, and I may perhaps reconcile her to her fate." + +"You are the head of your family; I trust to you to bring her to +reason--to save the honor of a name until now without blemish," Konmia +replied, and placing the poisonous flask in Satzavan's hand, she left +them alone in the temple. + +"Quick, Savitre; we will drink this draught together, and when they +seek you, they will find us both cold in death." + +"You also, my brother, speak of death! I must escape--I cannot +sacrifice my life!" + +"Nor shall you," a gentle voice broke in passionately, and Lianor, her +face full of tender compassion, stood before the victim, Panteleone +beside her. + +"Follow me," the latter said briefly, drawing the girl's arm through +his. "Trust us, and you will yet be saved." + +With joyful hearts the two Indians accompanied their kind protectors, +climbing among the broken gods, higher and higher, until they at last +arrived without the temple, the other side from where the Indians were +assembled. + +There they were rejoined by the soldiers and attendants, and the +little party commenced their homeward journey, hoping the wild group +would not discover their presence. + +But their hopes were not to be realized; ere they had gone many yards, +the flight of the rajah's widow had been discovered, and with hideous +cries they sought eagerly to find her. + +It was not long ere they espied the small party, and full of triumph +dashed toward them. + +"Lianor, keep back--leave me to deal with these barbarians!" +Panteleone said hurriedly, and in a minute a deadly fight began +between the Indians and the soldiers. + +But what was their strength against more than five hundred strong +warriors? Ere long the brave party was captured, and while Konmia +dragged the terrified girl towards the funereal-pile, the Indians +shrieked aloud in triumphant gladness. + +"To-morrow Siva will receive a sacrifice that will remain forever in +the memory of those now living. To-day, our chief's widow; to-morrow, +the Portuguese prisoners!" + +******** + +After his daughter had gone, Don Garcia was filled with deep regret at +having succumbed so readily to her wishes. + +A presentiment of evil he could not control made him walk restlessly +up and down the room. + +A timid knock at the door roused him from his painful musings. + +"Come in!" he cried quickly. + +The door opened, and a tall, remarkably handsome man, dressed in the +garb of a sea-captain, entered. + +"What, Falcam, is it you, my boy?" the don cried gladly, wringing the +young man's hand. + +"Yes, senor. I have some papers from Tonza. There has been a slight +rising at Diu, but, fortunately, we were able to suppress it in time," +handing the don a sealed packet. + +After casting his eyes rapidly over the contents, Don Garcia smiled +and turned with a pleased look towards the captain. + +"Manuel tells me of your bravery in saving Diu, and asks me to promote +you. I will do all I can. I am proud to call you friend." + +Luiz flushed, and a bashful light filled his eyes; but, ere he could +answer, the don continued: + +"However, you have come in time to be of service to me. My daughter, +much against my wishes, has gone on an expedition to the Temple of +Siva. From what I have since heard, I am afraid danger threatens my +Lianor. Will you help me to rescue her?" + +"Will I lay down my life to keep her from harm! Oh, senor, how can you +ask? Let me start immediately, and ere long I will bring your child +back in safety," fervently. + +Don Garcia was surprised at the young man's eagerness, but refrained +from speaking, only to thank him for his kind offer. + +Five minutes later Luiz Falcam, accompanied by a troop of brave +sailors, started off towards the Temple of Siva. + +As he neared, sounds of strife, mingled with heartrending shrieks, +broke upon his ears. Urging his trusty band, he dashed onward until he +arrived at the scene of terror. + +Startled by the sudden apparition, the Indians lost, for a time, their +self-control, and the sailors found it easy to subdue them. + +Luiz had flown at once to Lianor's side, clasping her frail form +tightly in his arms, while Panteleone wrenched Savitre from her aunt, +as she was about to fling her on the now burning pile. + +Even at the same moment, Satzavan, a smile of revengeful triumph on +his face, wound a thick scarf over Konmia's head, and threw her with +remorseless force into the flames, leaving her to meet the fate +destined for his sister. + +Those Indians who had not been taken had fled; so the band was free to +wend its way homeward, though nearly half had been killed in the +strife. + +Still holding Lianor, now weeping quietly, in his arms, Luiz led the +way towards the road, where the palanquin stood, and placing the girl +gently in, raised her white hands passionately to his lips. + +"Lianor, Lianor, my own darling!" he murmured, gazing into her pallid +face with lovelit eyes. "If I had been too late, and found you gone!" + +Lianor smiled tremulously through her tears, and a blush mantled to +her cheeks. + +"You have saved my life. I can never repay you," earnestly. + +Panteleone, still pale and anxious, now appeared leading the little +widow, who seemed overjoyed at her release. She sank down gladly +beside Lianor, and then the palanquin was borne away, guarded by Luiz +and Panteleone, Satzavan walking behind. + +Don Garcia's delight knew no bounds when he saw the procession +entering the palace gates, and he ran eagerly to receive his daughter. + +"My loved child! How unwise I was to let you go, to send you into +danger," he cried, carrying her in his arms from the palanquin to the +marble hall. "If it had not been for our young friend, Falcam, I +should never have seen you again." + +"But, papa, think! If we had not gone, this poor girl would have been +burnt to death," Lianor said, shudderingly, drawing Savitre towards +her. + +"Ah, yes. Poor child!" stroking the young widow's glossy black hair. +"Now tell me all about it." "Not yet, papa. Let us go and arrange our +dresses; mine is torn completely to pieces," laughingly holding up a +fragment of cashmere, which in the struggle had become torn. + +Holding Savitre's hand in hers, Lianor went swiftly to her rooms, +where they could bathe their weary limbs in cool water, and change +their tattered robes. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Don Garcia was sitting in his study, regarding with some anxiety Luiz +Falcam, who, tall and handsome, stood before him. + +"You wish to ask me something, is it not so? Well, speak out, and be +sure if it is in my power I will grant it." + +"I hardly like to ask. It is, I know, daring. I am but a captain, and +you are one of the wealthiest men in India; yet I love your daughter, +and that is what I wished to tell you," earnestly. + +Don Garcia smiled indulgently, and he gazed kindly at the young +fellow's flushed face. + +"I told you I would give you what you wished, and I will not break my +word. I could safely trust Lianor to you. No other man I know has won +so large a place in my esteem. But I dare not speak until I know what +my daughter thinks. She will answer for herself touching so delicate a +subject. Tell Donna Lianor to come here," he said to Toki. + +After what seemed an anxious age to poor Luiz, Lianor entered, leaning +lightly on Savitre, somewhat astonished. + +"Lianor, may I speak before Savitre?" the don asked gravely. + +"Of course, papa. I have no secrets from her." + +"My child," drawing her nearer to him, "Luiz Falcam has asked your +hand in marriage; what answer shall I give him?" + +Lianor blushed divinely, and her dark eyes shyly drooped before the +eager glance from those loving blue ones fixed upon her. + +"He saved my life, father. I will give it gladly to him," she +murmured. + +"You love him, child?" + +"Dearly. I shall be proud and happy to become the wife of Luiz," +gaining courage. + +"You have my answer, Falcam. May you be content always. I give her to +you with pleasure." + +In spite of the don's presence and Savitre's, Luiz could not refrain +from drawing the girl into his arms and pressing fervent kisses on her +smooth brow, and soft cheeks. + +"You shall never repent your choice, darling," he said tenderly. "I +cannot give you wealth, but a true heart and a brave hand are solely +yours, now and till death!" + +"I know, Luiz dear, and to me that gift is more precious than the +costliest jewels," the girl whispered fondly. + +Their happiness was not without its clouds; Luiz was compelled to +leave his betrothed to guard a fort some distance away. + +"I will return soon, dearest," he said lovingly, holding the trembling +girl in his strong arms, "and then your father has promised our +marriage shall take place." + +"And you will not run into danger, for my sake?" Lianor pleaded, +winding her white arms round his neck. "Think how desolate I should be +without you!" + +Don Garcia, having a great liking for the young man, saw him go with +some regret. + +"Don't stay away longer than you can help," he said kindly. "God keep +you, my boy." + +So Luiz parted from his love, and returned to Diu, carrying in his +heart a cherished memory of Lianor, and a tiny miniature of her in his +breast-pocket. + +When he arrived at the governor's palace, he went directly to Manuel +Tonza, to inform him of his departure. + +The governor, a tall, dark-looking man of more than thirty, bore on +his fine features a look of haughty sternness, mingled with some +cruelty. + +He glanced coldly at the young captain, and listened in silence to his +explanations; but, as Luiz drew from his breast a sealed packet, given +him by Don Garcia, Lianor's miniature fell with a crash to the ground, +the jeweled case flying open. + +Manuel picked it up from the floor with sudden swiftness, and gazed +admiringly at the pictured face. + +"Who is this?" he asked abruptly. + +"Lianor de Sa, Don Garcia's daughter. + +"Lianor de Sa, and so beautiful as this!" the governor muttered +inaudibly. "I forgot she had grown from a child to a woman; I must see +her. How comes 'it, though, her miniature is in his hands? Surely they +could not have betrothed her to a captain!" + +With a gesture of disdain he flung the miniature on the table, and +told Luiz his presence was no longer needed. + +Once alone, and a singular smile crossed the governor's face. + +"I must pay Don Garcia a visit. It is long since I saw him. I never +dreamt his little daughter had grown up so lovely. Thank Heaven, I am +rich! My jewels and wealth might tempt a queen! I need not fear +refusal from a viceroy's daughter." + +Full of complacent contentment, Tonza made hasty preparations for +leaving Diu, and that same evening saw him a welcome guest of Don +Garcia. + +He was charmed with Lianor. + +In spite of himself, a deep passionate love wakened in his heart for +her, and he determined to win her for his wife. + +First he wished to gain Don Garcia over to his side, so took an early +opportunity of speaking to him on the subject. + +The viceroy listened in grave silence, and a look of regret stole into +his eyes. + +"I am sorry," he said gently. "Why have you come too late? My child is +already betrothed." + +"To whom?" hoarsely. + +"Luiz Falcam." + +"But he is only a captain, and poor! Surely you would not sacrifice +your child to him? Think what riches I could lay at her feet! As my +wife, Lianor would be one of the most envied of women." + +"I know, and I wish now I had not been so hasty; but Luiz saved her +life, won my gratitude; then, as the price of his act, asked Lianor's +hand. I was forced to consent, as I had said I would give him whatever +he asked," with a sigh. + +"A promise gained like that is not binding. It was taking an unfair +advantage of your gratitude." + +"I do not like to break my promise, but I will do what I can for you; +I will ask Lianor, and if she cares for you more than for Luiz, she +shall wed you." + +"Thank you; and I will try hard to gain her love," Manuel answered +hopefully. + +When Lianor heard the subject of the conference between her father and +Tonza, her indignation was unbounded. + +"How can you act so dishonorably, papa?" she cried angrily, "after +betrothing me to Luiz; now, because Tonza is rich and wishes to marry +me, you would break your word." + +"But, my dear, think how different Manuel is to Falcam! He can give +you a beautiful home, and jewels such as a queen might envy, while the +captain can give you nothing." + +"He can give me a brave, loving heart, which is worth all the world to +me! No; while Luiz lives I will be true to him. No other shall steal +my love from him," firmly. + +"Is that the answer I am to give Tonza?" + +"Yes. Thank him for the great honor he has done me; but, as I cannot +marry two men, I choose the one I love--who first won my hand and +saved my life." + +When Manuel heard her answer he was filled with rage and hate. + +"So--so," he muttered, a sinister look creeping over his face, "she +will not wed me while Falcam lives. But should he die--what then?" + +To Lianor he was always gentle, trying by soft words and many little +attentions to win her regard; a very difficult task. Since her +father's conversation, she shrank as much as possible from him, hoping +he would understand her studied coldness. + +"Savitre," she said one evening, as they were dressing for a ball, +given in her honor, "that horrid man's attentions are becoming +intolerable! He will not see how I detest him, and am bound by love +and promise to another. I wish Luiz was here; he has been away so +long. I am tired of Tonza's persistence and papa's reproaches." + +"Never mind, dearest; all will be well when your brave lover returns. +Perhaps he may be even now on the way. I am sure if he knew how +terribly you were persecuted he would fly to you at once," Savitre +whispered softly. + +"I feel miserable--unhappy. Lalli, put away those robes and give me a +plain black dress. During Luiz's absence I will put on mourning, so +Tonza can read the sorrow I feel in my heart." + +"But, dear, what will your father say?" Savitre asked anxiously. + +"He will be angry, I know. But it is partly his fault I am obliged to +act thus." + +In a few minutes Lalli and Tolla had silently arrayed their young +mistress in trailing black robes, which clung softly to her beautiful +form. + +No jewelry relieved the somberness of her dress; her dark hair, thick +and long, fell like a veil over her shoulders, adding to the +mournfulness of her garb by its dusky waves. + +Below, in the handsome marble hall, stood Don Garcia and Tonza, both +watching with suppressed impatience the richly-hung staircase leading +to Lianor's apartments. + +"It is late. I hope nothing has occurred," Manuel said anxiously, +drawing the velvet curtain aside to gaze across the hall. + +Even as he did so, Lianor, leaning lightly on Satzavan's shoulder, +appeared, her graceful head held proudly erect, an expression of +supreme indifference on her face. + +Both men started with an exclamation of alarm--rage on Manuel's part. + +"What! In mourning, and for a ball?" Manuel gasped with rising +passion. + +"Lianor, what does this farce mean? Why have you disguised yourself? +How dare you disobey me when I said so particularly I wished you to +appear at your best? I have been too weakly indulgent with you, and +now you take advantage of my tenderness to disgrace me by showing my +guests your foolish infatuation for a man to whom I now wish I had +never promised your hand." + +Lianor lifted her reproachful eyes to his, her pale face, even whiter +in contrast with her somber dress, full of resolute rebellion. + +"I am not ungrateful, papa, for your kindness, but I will never forget +the promise I gave Luiz. My love is not to be bought for gold; I gave +it willingly to the man to whom you betrothed me, and, father, none of +our family have ever acted dishonorably; so I am sure you will not be +the first to break your word." + +"Do not be too sure of that, Lianor. I am more than half inclined to +make you accept Tonza, and forget your vows were ever plighted to that +pauper captain." + +"You could not be so hard, knowing how my happiness is bound up in +him. I will never, while Luiz lives, give my hand to another." + +"Thank you, Lianor; nor will Falcam let you," a deep voice broke in +suddenly, and Luiz, his face flushed with mingled pleasure and +disgust, came toward her, followed by his bosom friend, Diniz Sampayo, +a young and rich noble. + +Lianor threw herself into his arms with a glad cry, while Don Garcia +and Manuel, full of rage, stole away, leaving the lovers alone. + +"My darling, then I heard truly when they said my own dear love was +being forced to wed another. Thank Heaven, I left Diu at once, and +came to you, as your father seems inclined to listen to Manuel's +suit," Luiz said tenderly, bending to kiss the pale face. + +"I am so glad you have come, Luiz! I felt so lonely without you near +me, to give me hope and courage." + +"My poor little love! But why these robes, Lianor? I thought it was a +day of festival at the palace?" + +"I know; but I was determined, during your absence, to keep Tonza from +paying me his odious attentions by putting on mourning. He could not +fail to see where my thoughts were. Now you have returned, I will +throw them aside, and show them it is a time of rejoicing with me. +Wait, Luiz." + +With a tender smile the young lover unclasped her slender form and let +her glide swiftly away. + +But not long did he wait; soon the curtains were again lifted, and +Lianor, radiant as a bright star, in trailing robes of white and gold, +diamonds flashing on her bare arms and round her delicate throat, came +towards him. + +"My queen, my own dear love! what should I do if they took you from +me?" passionately pressing her hands to his lips. + +"They will never do that, Luiz. I am determined not to allow Tonza to +win my father over to his way of thinking." + +Manuel Tonza watched the happy lovers with bitterest hate gnawing at +his heart, deadly schemes against his fortunate rival flitting through +his subtle brain. + +Late that night, when the weary guests were parting, Tonza stole +noiselessly from the palace; and when he returned, in less than half +an hour, his face wore an expression of fiendish triumph and delight. + +He was even polite to Luiz, much to that young man's surprise, though +he doubted the sincerity of Manuel's words. + +Happy and content, after a tender adieu to Lianor, the captain left +the viceroy's palace, to seek his own apartments. + +Not far had he gone, however, when a shadow stole silently behind him, +and the next moment he felt himself suddenly grasped by powerful hands +and flung to the ground. + +Almost stunned by the fall, he was yet able to see the dark face +bending over him. + +From the shadows came another form, one he recognized. A gleaming +poignard was placed in the assassin's hand, which descended ere he +could break from that strong hold, and was buried deep in his heart. + +Guiltily two forms glided away in opposite directions, leaving Luiz, +pale and cold, lying in a stream of blood--dead! + +* * * * * * * * * * * + +It was still early when Lianor awoke; but in spite of the drowsiness +overpowering her, she hastily rose, and calling her maids, bade them +quickly arrange her toilet. + +"I am restless, and cannot stay longer indoors; I wish to be out in +the fresh air," she explained to Savitre, who entered soon after. + +Scarcely, however, had they arrived without the palace gates, than +Diniz Sampayo, his face pale and haggard, eyes full of fear and +anguish, came hastily to her side. + +"Donna Lianor, return to your father's house; I have something to tell +you which I dare not breathe here--it is too horrible! Prepare +yourself for a great shock, my poor child! I wish some one else had +brought the awful tidings," he cried hoarsely. + +Lianor stood perfectly still, and her eyes grew wide and her face +blanched with awakened fear. Clasping her hands piteously together, +she said: + +"Tell me now. I am brave--can bear anything! Is it Luiz? Is he ill--in +danger? Oh, Diniz, for pity's sake tell me!" + +Diniz took the trembling hands in his, and quietly bidding the others +follow, led her silently through the town, until they arrived at the +house where Luiz had taken rooms with his friend. + +"Perhaps it is best you should see him. Poor Luiz! How can I break the +awful truth to you? Your betrothed--the man you loved--is dead-- +murdered by a cowardly hand on his way home from your father's +palace!" + +Lianor grew deathly pale. + +"Dead!" she repeated, clasping her hands despairingly to her throbbing +brow. "It cannot be true! My darling dead--murdered!" + +"My poor child, it is only too true! This morning he was found, and +brought home, stabbed through the heart!" + +"But who could have done it?" Savitre asked in a low, hushed whisper. + +"I wish I knew. But, alas! that is a mystery!" + +Lianor gazed helplessly from one to the other, then, breaking from her +friend's gentle hold, staggered forward. + +"Where are you going, Lianor?" Diniz asked, anxiously. + +"To him. I must see for myself the terrible truth." + +"Can you bear it?" + +"Yes--oh, yes!" + +Very tenderly Diniz took one of the trembling hands in his, and led +her toward a darkened chamber, where, on the blue-draped bed, lay the +still form of his young friend. + +A convulsive shudder shook Lianor's slender frame as she gazed on +those handsome features set in death's awful calm; the closed eyes, +which would never look into her own again; the cold lips which would +never breathe loving words into her ear, or press her brow in fond +affection. + +She could not weep, as Savitre wept; tears refused to ease the burning +pain at her heart. Only a low moan broke from her as she threw herself +suddenly over that loved body. + +"My love--my darling! Why did I ever let you leave me? How can I live +without you?" + +"Hush, Lianor! Come, you can do nothing here. But one thing I promise +you, I will avenge his death at any cost! The murderer will be found +and punished--no matter who it is!" Diniz cried, earnestly. + +"Thank you; and if I can aid, rely on my help," Lianor murmured, +bravely. + +Then, bending reverently to press a last kiss on the pallid brow, she +allowed Diniz to lead her from the room to her own home. + +In the hall they were met by Don Garcia, in a terrible state of +anxiety for his daughter. + +"Where have you been, Lianor? What is the matter? You look ill! And +what is that?" pointing to a vivid red stain which marred the white +purity of her dress. + +A low, delirious laugh broke from the girl's pale lips, and, +stretching out her arms, she waved Don Garcia back. + +"Do not touch me!" she cried, hoarsely. "He--my love, my darling--is +dead! See, his life-blood stains my hands--my robe! Oh, heavens, that +I should have lived to know such agony!" + +She stopped; the outstretched arms fell inertly down, the graceful +head drooped, and without one cry or moan, Lianor fell heavily to the +ground--unconscious. + +"Explain, Savitre--Sampayo, what means this strange raving? Who is +dead?" Don Garcia said, fearfully. + +"It means that Luiz Falcam was found murdered this morning! Your +daughter went to see him for the last time, and returns, overcome with +grief and sorrow." + +Without a word, but very white, the viceroy carried his child to her +room, and left her in the care of Savitre and her two attendants, +while he went to find the particulars of Falcam's tragic end. + +For days and weeks Lianor kept to her rooms, seeing no one except her +father and Sampayo, whom she looked upon as the avenger of Luiz. + +Long and tenderly was her lover's memory sorrowed over, until the once +beautiful girl was but a mere wraith. + +A few weeks later Don Garcia himself was taken ill, and one day, +feeling slightly better, he sent for his daughter, to whom he wished +to speak on important business. + +He was not kept long waiting. Lianor soon appeared, looking like a +crushed flower in her somber robes. + +"You wished to see me, papa?" + +"Yes, Lianor; but you can almost guess for what. You know how much I +desire to see you wedded to my friend; a man who loves you and will +make you happy. I shall not live long, of that I feel sure. Manuel +Tonza has waited patiently, and I think it is only right you give him +hope. To-day you will accept his hand, and in another week, with my +consent, you will become his wife." + +Lianor reeled against the bed, and held firmly to the silken curtains +to prevent herself falling. + +"Do you mean this, father? His wife--when he murdered Luiz?" + +"What nonsense are you saying, child? Do not let me hear you speak +like this again. What motive could a wealthy man like Tonza have in +getting rid of one of his own employes? Grief has turned your brain. +Cast aside those weird garments, and in three hours be ready to +receive your future husband." + +A low, gasping cry fell on his ears as he finished speaking, and he +turned in time to see the slight figure sway to and fro, then fall +heavily to the ground. + +But what use was her feeble strength against the powerful wills of two +determined men? + +Ere the day was over, Lianor, with a heart full of bitter, despairing +grief for Luiz, was bound by a sacred promise to a man whom she knew +to be both bad and selfish--whom she hated! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +In one of the many straggling streets, almost hidden behind a few +large shops of curious build, stood a small boutique full of ancient +relics and jeweled bric-a-brac. + +Inside, seated by the counter, writing in a large ledger, was an old +man, whose hooked nose and piercing eyes proclaimed him at once to be +from the tribe of Israel. + +This Jew, Phenee, was not alone. Flitting about the shop, arranging +the antique curiosities, was a young and very beautiful girl, with +delicate features and lustrous, black eyes. + +"Can I help you, grandfather?" the girl asked, suddenly stopping +before the desk, and leaning both dimpled arms on the dusty book. + +"No, no, Miriam; I have almost finished. Leave me for a few moments' +quiet." + +Miriam sank gently on a high chair, and drooping her head pensively on +her hand, sat for some time in unbroken silence, gazing out through +the open door at the motley crowds passing by. + +Suddenly a dusky form, clad in the garb of a fisherman, entered, and +drawing near Phenee, glanced nervously around. + +"I wish to sell that. How much will you give me for it?" laying a +jeweled poignard, with a golden chain attached, on the desk. + +Phenee took it up and examined it attentively, then looked searchingly +at the man. + +Satisfied at his scrutiny, the Jew named a very low price, one which +his customer had some hesitation in accepting; but at last, seeing +Phenee was obdurate, he took the offered money, and glided off like a +spectre. + +"What a curious poignard, and how pretty!" Miriam said, lifting it +from the scales, where Phenee had placed it. "I am surprised he took +so little for it." + +"I'm not. One can't offer too little for stolen goods." + +"Do you think this is stolen?" + +"I am sure it is. That man never came honestly by it." + +Scarcely had the poignard been put on one side, when two young men, +handsomely dressed, entered the shop, and asked for some emeralds. + +"While you are choosing, I will have a look round at all these +curiosities, Miguel," the youngest of the men remarked. + +"As you like; I shan't be long, Diniz." + +Sampayo nodded, and commenced his search, turning over every object +that took his fancy, aided by Miriam. + +"I will show you something very curious--a poignard strangely +fashioned," the girl said, drawing the weapon her grandfather had just +bought from its hiding place. + +Diniz took it up and examined it attentively, then a low cry broke +from his lips, and his face grew pale. + +"Where did you get this?" + +"I have just bought it. It is a very pretty toy for a gentleman," +Phenee broke in persuasively. + +With almost eager haste Diniz bargained for the poignard, and at last +managed to bring the Jew down to ten times the sum he had given the +fisherman. + +After his friend, Miguel Reale, had chosen the jewels he wanted, Diniz +hurried him away. + +Not many hours later, as the young Jewess sat alone, her grandfather +having gone some distance off on business, she was startled by Sampayo +suddenly reappearing, a look of intense anxiety on his face. + +"Senora," he said politely, drawing from his breast the poignard, "can +you tell me from whom your father bought this?" + +"I do not know his name, but I believe he is a fisherman and lives in +yonder village," Miriam answered simply. + +"Should you know him again? Pardon my asking, but it is very important +I should discover the owner of this weapon. By doing so I may be able +to bring a murderer to meet his doom, and avenge the death of my best +friend!" + +Miriam gazed at him compassionately, a serious light in her dark eyes. + +"I will help you," she said suddenly, moved as it were by a strange +impulse; "I have long wished for occupation--some useful work, though +I should have liked something less terrible than helping to trace a +murderer; still, I will aid you if I can." + +"Thank you. But if he never came here again?" + +"I shall not wait for that. To-morrow I will visit those huts in which +the fishermen dwell; I may then find the man who sold the poignard, or +at least a clew to the mystery." + +Diniz took one of the small hands in his, and pressed it reverently to +his lips. + +"You will not go alone; I will be your companion. Together we shall +work better. But your father will he consent to your accompanying me?" + +"My grandfather loves me too dearly, and trusts me too fully, to +refuse me anything. He need not know the errand upon which I am bent," +a faint blush rising to her cheeks. + +After making all necessary arrangements for the next day, Sampayo left +the Jewess, to wait impatiently until the hour arrived for him to +start on his melancholy errand. + +It was still early when he left the crowed streets, to walk quickly in +the direction of a small fishing village, some distance off. + +Half way he saw the tall, graceful figure of a young girl, whose long +veil of soft silky gauze hid her face from passers-by. He recognized +her at once--it was the beautiful Jewess. So, hastening his steps, he +soon stood before her. + +"Senora," he said gently. + +The girl started, turned, then smiled through the screening folds of +gray. + +"It is you? I was afraid you would not come," in a relieved tone. + +"I am too anxious to find that man, to lose the chance you have so +kindly given me. I only hope I am not putting you to any +inconvenience," Diniz said, gallantly. + +"Not at all. I am only too happy to be of some use," earnestly. + +For many hours they wandered about from house to house, Miriam having +armed herself with a large sum of money, hoping by acts of charity to +gain access into the poor dwellings. + +They were almost despairing of finding a clew to the whereabouts of +the fisherman, when three little children, poor and hungry-looking, +playing outside a tiny hut, attracted Miriam's attention. + +Stooping, she spoke gently to the little things, and won from them the +tale of their excessive poverty, which she promised to relieve if they +would take her to their mother. + +This they willingly did, and Miriam found a pale, delicate-looking +woman, who, notwithstanding the raggedness of her dress, still bore +traces of having been at one time different to a poor fisherman's +wife. + +Encouraged by the soft tones of her mysterious visitor, the woman +gradually unburdened her troubled heart by telling her the history of +her wretched life; how she had been doomed to follow her husband, an +Indian chief, to death; but, loving life better, she escaped with her +little children, but would have died of hunger on the seashore if +Jarima, her second husband, had not rescued her and offered her his +name and home. + +"He is very good to me and my children; the past seems but a dream +now. If only we had money, all would be well." + +Miriam, with a few gentle, consoling words, slipped a few bright coins +into the tiny brown hands of the astonished babies; then, with a sigh, +she bade the grateful mother adieu and went out to where Diniz was +waiting. + +He read by her face that she had no better tidings, and, drawing her +hand through his arm, he turned away. + +"Will it never come--the proof I want?" he said, half bitterly. + +Scarcely had the words left his lips when a glad cry of "Father!" rent +the air, and three small forms bounded over the white shingle towards +a tall man, dressed in white linen. + +Almost convulsively Miriam pressed Sampayo's arm to arrest his hasty +steps. + +"We need go no farther," she whispered. "That is the man you want; and +if he is that woman's husband, his name is Jarima." + +"Thank Heaven! To-morrow he will be arrested and the truth +discovered," Diniz muttered. + +Silently they watched the man walk towards his humble home, the +children clinging lovingly to his hands. The woman came forward with a +bright smile, holding up her face to receive his caress. + +"There can be no doubt. It is Jarima, and the man who sold the +poignard." + +"Luiz's murderer," Dinis added between his set teeth. + +Almost feverishly Sampayo hurried Miriam away. He was anxious to tell +Lianor of his success, and bring the assassin to justice. + +Some distance from the Jew's shop he bade Miriam adieu, promising to +call and let her know the result. + +On reaching Don Garcia's palace Diniz was surprised at the sounds of +bright music, mingled with happy voices, that floated on the air. + +Satzavan was the first to meet him, and he went forward with a +welcoming smile. + +"Where is Lianor?" Diniz asked anxiously, glancing round the deserted +halls. + +"In the grounds. Don Garcia has his home full of guests in honor of +his daughter's betrothal with Manuel Tonza." + +"Lianor betrothed, and to him!" in consternation. + +"Yes," sadly; "her father has commanded her to accept him, and, since +she lost poor Falcam, she is indifferent whom she weds." + +"But Tonza above all other men!" bitterly. + +With a dark shadow on his brow, Diniz followed the young Indian into +the spacious grounds, where Lianor, surrounded by many richly-dressed +ladies, was sitting. + +"I cannot speak to her before all those people. Go, Satzavan, and +bring her to me." + +The youth darted off obediently, and presently returned to the tree +where Diniz stood almost hidden by its shady branches, leading Lianor, +whose face wore a look of some wonder. + +"Diniz, is it really you? Have you brought me any news?" she asked +eagerly. + +Sampayo took her outstretched hand and kissed it reverently. + +"Yes," he said softly; "good news." + +"What is it? Tell me!" + +"I have discovered the man who, I think, struck the blow by +instigation of the real murderer. Until he is taken I can do nothing +further." + +"But who is he? How did you find him?" + +"He is a poor fisherman, named Jarima, and it was through a young +Jewess, Phenee's grandchild, to whom the poignard was sold, I found +him." + +"That was very good of her to help you." + +"It was, indeed. The whole morning she has searched with me for the +man, and at last our labor was rewarded. To-morrow Jarima will be +under arrest." + +As the words left his lips, a sudden movement amongst the trees +startled them. + +"I am sure that was some one," Lianor cried, turning pale, and +clasping Diniz's arm. + +Satzavan glided noiselessly away, but soon returned to say no one had +passed by. + +Possibly the noise was occasioned by the wind rustling through the +leaves. + +"Very likely," Lianor said quietly, "though it made me nervous. +Suppose any one overheard us?" + +"Rest assured, dear, that nothing now can come between me and my +revenge. But, Lianor, is it true you are betrothed to Tonza?" + +"Yes, Diniz, it is true. Papa has commanded me to accept him. I hate +him; but now poor Luiz is dead, I care not who becomes my husband," +hopelessly. + +"I wish it were other than Tonza, Lianor. I cannot trust him; nor will +I believe but what he had a hand in Luiz's death." + +"That is what I think, but papa says it is only fancy; Manuel is too +upright to do such a treacherous thing." + +A silvery laugh broke suddenly on the silence which had fallen between +them, and Savitre, leaning lightly on Panteleone's arm, stood before +them. + +The rajah's young widow made a strange contrast to Lianor, gay with +rich colors. + +Judging from Panteleone's ardent gaze, he, at least, saw some beauty +in the dusky, changing face. + +"What, Sampayo! I did not know you were here," the young man cried +gladly, seizing Diniz's hand in a warm grip. "Have you brought good +news?" + +"Yes, better than I expected," Diniz answered; and briefly recounted +the success which had attended his morning's search. + +"I do not wish to meet your father to-night, Lianor; until this +business is settled, I could not enter into any amusement. First, I +will go to Henrique Ferriera, the magistrate, and arrange with him +about Jarima's capture." + +"But you will come to-morrow, will you not--to tell me the result?" +Lianor asked anxiously. + +"Assuredly; unless anything serious prevents me." + +"Thank you," she murmured gratefully. + +A kind hand-pressure from all, and Sampayo walked quickly away; while +Lianor, her heart somewhat lightened by this news, returned to her +father's guests with Satzavan. + +Savitre would have followed, but Panteleone held her back with a few +whispered words, and, nothing loth, the little widow sauntered with +him through the shady grounds, apart from the rest. + +"Savitre," Leone said suddenly, "would you be willing to leave your +country--to go with me to Portugal?" + +Savitre gazed at him in some wonderment. + +"Surely you are not thinking of leaving India?" she cried, a sudden +anxiety dawning in her dark eyes. + +"Yes; my father wishes me to return, and as soon as Lianor is married +we are going." + +The girl remained silent; only a few pearly tears rolled down her +cheeks. + +"Savitre, dearest one, do not weep! Would it be so dreadful for you to +quit the country?" + +"It is not that," with a stifled sob; "but I had not thought of your +leaving us, or the friendship between us being broken." + +"Nor will it, my darling! Don't you understand? I love you too dearly +to give you up; I want you to be my wife, so that none can part us. +Say my hopes are not all in vain!" + +A vivid flush mantled the clear, dark skin, and the lustrous eyes +drooped in confusion. + +"You really mean that? You love me, a girl who is not even of your own +kind?" + +"I love you with all my heart and soul. Ever since the day when It +drew you half-fainting from off the already lighted pile, I have felt +my affection growing deeper and deeper, until it has absorbed my whole +being. My happiness is never complete unless I am near you. Tell me, +darling, that you return my love!" "How could I help but love you--you +who saved my life? Oh, Leone, you cannot think how proud I am at being +chosen by you before all others!" + +With a joyous exclamation, Panteleone drew her to his breast, pressing +passionate kisses on her brow, cheeks, and lips, his heart thrilling +with rapture at the realization of his dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The next morning a small band of soldiers, headed by Henrique +Ferriera, wound their way toward the humble home of Jarima. + +On arriving, they found to their astonishment the door fastened close, +and no one to answer their knock. + +"Never mind, break it down," Henrique said, roughly. + +In obedience a few heavy blows fell on the woodwork, which soon gave +way beneath their force. + +Stepping over the scattered splinters, Henrique saw a sight which +filled him with horror. + +Crouching on the bare floor, her hands twined convulsively in her long +hair, was a woman, with three sleeping children leaning against her. + +On a hard straw mattress, almost in shadow, lay Jarima, his face +covered with blood, which oozed in streams from his mouth. + +Henrique gazed for an instant on the awful sight, then turned towards +his men. + +"We have arrived a little too late; blind men cannot see, or dumb ones +tell tales. Some horrible wretch has done this deed, fearful of his +betraying them. I wonder who?" + +The woman, when questioned, could tell them nothing. She only knew her +husband had been brought home in his present condition at daybreak, +and remained unconscious since. + +"I regret to say it is our painful duty to take him; every care will +be given him. He is suspected of having murdered Luiz Falcam." + +"No, no; you are mistaken! It is some one else, not he. Jarima was +much too gentle to kill any one!" the woman cried, passionately. + +Her prayers and supplications were unavailing. Henrique was obliged to +do his duty, and bade his men take the suffering man to prison. + +Some hours later, as Diniz stood in his room, just before setting out +in search of Henrique, that man entered the house, followed by several +soldiers. + +"Diniz Sampayo, I arrest you on the charge of having stolen a +poignard, set with jewels, from Manuel Tonza de Sepulveda." + +Diniz started, and flushed angrily. + +"I steal? When you know it is the weapon I bought from Phenee, the +Jew, as proof against the murderer." + +"So you said; but we have heard another tale to that. Anyhow, if you +are innocent, you will be set free as soon as you are tried." + +"But the man Jarima? Have you not been for him?" + +"Yes, but he is useless; when we arrived, some one had been before us, +and not only blinded him, but cut out his tongue, so that he could not +speak." + +"How horrible! How could any one have been so cold-blooded?" Diniz +gasped, turning pale. + +"Evidently it was done for some purpose. But come, Sampayo, I cannot +wait here." + +"Will nothing I say convince you I am innocent? If innocence gives +strength, I shall soon be at liberty." + +Henrique smiled scornfully, and hurried the young man away. + +"You will not be alone; your prison-cell is shared by another--Phenee, +the Jew. An old friend of yours, is he not?" Henrique asked. + +"Friend--no! I have only spoken to him once in my life. What is he +arrested for?" + +"Being a receiver of stolen goods," grimly. + +Diniz thought suddenly of Miriam, and wondered how she would bear this +blow. Her only relative and dearly-loved parent torn from her side, to +linger in a damp cell. How bitterly he blamed himself for having been +the cause of Phenee's capture! If he had not disclosed the secret of +Phenee having bought the poignard from Jarima, no one would have +suspected him. + +"Poor girl! She will regret now having helped a stranger, who, in +return, has brought her only grief and desolation," he murmured, +sorrowfully. + +Miriam passed nearly three days in sad thought, when her solitary +mourning was broken by the visit of a thickly-veiled woman, whose low, +sweet tones fell like softest music on Miriam's ear. + +"Are you alone?" she asked, glancing questioningly round the room. + +"Yes. Did you want me?" + +"I do, very badly. I remembered only to-day that you once proved a +true friend to Diniz Sampayo, and I came to know if you would again +aid him?" throwing back her veil, and disclosing a pale, sweet face, +stamped by deepest grief. + +"Diniz Sampayo! But is he, then, in need of help--in danger?" a sudden +fear lighting up her face. + +"Yes, he is in prison," sadly. + +"You are sure? How can it be possible? What has he done?" in amazed +wonder. + +"He has done nothing. Only his enemies have thrown the suspicion of +his having stolen a poignard from Manuel Tonza--a poignard which I +know he bought here. It is my fault this has happened. It was to +avenge the death of the man I loved--his dearest friend--that he +placed his life in peril!" + +"I remember well. It is quite true he bought it here, soon after +Jarima, the fisherman, had sold it to my grandfather. He, poor dear, +is also in sorrow, imprisoned for having received stolen goods, as if +he could tell when things are stolen!" indignantly. + +"I am very sorry, Miriam; but if you help me, you will help your +grandfather also," Lianor urged gently. + +"I will!" Miriam cried firmly; "I will never give up until I have them +both safely outside that odious prison!" + +Lianor gazed with grateful affection at the girl's expressive face, +which now wore such a look of determined courage. + +"If I can do anything, let me know directly," Lianor said, gently. +"Gold may perhaps be useful, and I have much." + +"Thank you, but I am rich; and I know grandfather would lose all, +rather than his liberty. You are Don Garcia's daughter, are you not?" + +"Yes," somewhat sadly. "You know me?" + +"By sight, yes." + +"I shall see you again, I hope," Lianor said, as Miriam followed her +to the door. "You will tell me of your success or failure?" + +"Yes; I will come or write." + +When her charming visitor had gone, Miriam returned to her seat, a +pained expression on her bright face. + +"He also there. Poor Diniz! But I will save him yet," determinedly. + +Hastily opening a heavy iron box, she drew out a handful of gold. + +Placing this in her pocket, she softly left the house, and scarcely +knowing what instinct prompted her, she hurried towards a small hotel +not far from the sea. + +"Can you tell me," she began breathlessly to a sunburnt man standing +near, "if there are any ships leaving here to-morrow?" + +"I don't know, senora. I will inquire," he answered politely, and +after an absence of about ten minutes, he returned to say "that +Captain Moriz, of the Eagle, was even then preparing for departure on +the morrow." + +"Where does he live?" Miriam said, eagerly. + +"He is staying at this hotel at present." + +"Do you think I could see him? It is very important." + +"I dare say. You can at least try," smilingly. + +The Jewess thanked her good-natured commissioner, and lightly ascended +the steps. + +"I wish to see Captain Moriz. Is he in?" + +"I think so," the man answered after one quick glance at Miriam; "I +will inquire." + +Miriam waited with growing impatience until the man returned, and was +relieved when she heard that the captain was not only there, but would +see her. + +With wildly beating heart the girl followed her conductor to a large, +darkly-furnished room, where, by a table scattered with papers, sat a +tall, bronzed seaman. + +"I believe you are leaving India to-morrow? Would you mind telling me +where you are going?" + +"To Africa," a look of surprise crossing his face. + +"Are you going to take passengers?" + +"That was not my intention." + +"But if any one asked you, would you refuse?" + +"I don't know. I did not want any one on board," Moriz answered +uneasily. + +"If you knew it would do some one a great service? l am rich, and +would pay you well; so do not hesitate on that account." + +"Is it you who wish to go?" + +Miriam blushed, and bit her lip angrily. She had not intended to +betray her secret so soon. + +"Yes, it is I, and two other people. Will you take us, and set us down +on one of those small islands on the coast, where no one would find +us?" + +Moriz hesitated; but he could not withstand the eager pleading in the +slumbrous eyes, the intense pathos in the sweet voice. + +"Yes," he said at last, very slowly, "I will take you on board; but +you must be ready by to-morrow night. I cannot wait for stragglers," +trying to force much severity into his tones. + +"Oh, thank you! I am content now. Do not fear; we shall be in time. +Until then adieu," she said softly. + +And, with a graceful bow, she departed. + +Her next step was in the direction where Phenee was confined. + +She found no difficulty in finding the jailer, a hard-looking man +enough, though Miriam thought she could see a gentle expression in his +eyes when they rested on two young children, whose pale, wasted +features gave evidence of close confinement in that dreary place. + +"I may win him yet by those little ones," she murmured; "gold will +have power to touch his heart for their sakes." + +"You wished to see me, senora?" + +"Yes. I want you to answer a few questions. First, have you not got +Phenee, the Jew, and Diniz Sampayo here?" + +"Yes, senora." + +"Are they together?" + +"No, senora." + +"Could it be possible for you to set them free, without fear of +detection?" eagerly. + +"Yes, senora; but I am not a traitor." + +"But think, Vincent: my poor grandfather has done no harm, and he will +perish in that horrible place, though innocent. And the Senor Sampayo, +as I have proof, bought the poignard himself from my grandfather. Why, +then, should you say he stole it?" indignantly. + +"It is not I who accused him; my duty here is to guard the prisoners-- +not to try them." + +"Vincent," Miriam continued, in a low, pleading voice, "you are poor; +your little children are pining for want of fresh, pure air. I am +rich, and can give you enough money to live in comfort away from this +close den. Release my friends, and the power of saving your children +shall be yours. Look!" drawing one of the wondering girls to her side, +"see how pale and thin she is! Can you refuse my offer when the lives +of those you love depend upon it?" + +Vincent felt the truth of her words, and knew the only things he +cherished on earth, those innocent children, were slowly fading and +pining away for want of fresh air. + +The man raised his head, and glanced earnestly at the moved expressive +face, then in a low, hoarse voice he muttered: + +"Be it so. I will help the prisoners to escape. I cannot see my little +ones dying before my eyes, when an opportunity is given me to save +them." + +"Then to-morrow at sunset you will bring them to the Golden Lion, I +will be there, ready with the money." + +"I will not fail, senora. May Heaven forgive me if I am doing wrong!" + +After a few instructions, the happy girl went swiftly away, but ere +she had moved far, she returned, and paused before Vincent. + +"I forgot to ask you about that poor man, Jarima," she said, gravely. + +"He did not live long, senora, after he was brought here." + +"And his wife--children?" + +"Of them I know nothing," he answered quietly. + +Ere she continued her homeward way, Miriam sped swiftly toward +Jarima's poor home, and knocked gently at the door. It was opened by +the eldest of the three children, and forcing a purse of money into +his brown hand, the girl whispered sweetly: + +"For your mother, little one; from a friend," then moved silently +away, hurrying homeward to await patiently for the long hours to pass, +ere her grandfather would be released. + +Vincent, true to his word, gathered his few belongings together, and +when the evening came, went softly to the cells in which his prisoners +lay, and, setting them free, told them to follow him. + +Wondering, yet glad, Phenee, leaning on Diniz's arm for support, +slowly obeyed the jailer, who, accompanied by his two children, led +them toward the hotel Miriam had named. + +There, sure enough, the young Jewess was waiting, and after tenderly +embracing Phenee, and smiling softly at Diniz, she turned to Vincent +and placed a bag of gold in his hand. + +"This is your reward. May you and your little ones live in happiness!" +she said earnestly. + +"We leave Goa to-night, senora. My life would be worth nothing if I +stayed here after this. Good-by, and thank you for your generosity." + +Miriam hastened her grandfather to the ship, shocked at his +feebleness; but for Sampayo he would scarcely have been able to get +there. + +Only once he spoke to the girl ere he retired to his cabin for the +night. + +"The money and jewels, Miriam--what have you done with them?" + +"They are here, grandfather. I brought everything of value away with +me." + +"That is right, child. You are a good girl!" + +Miriam stood rather sadly beside the bulwarks, gazing at the land in +which she had been born, and which she was now leaving forever. + +A low sigh broke from her lips. + +"Why do you sigh? Are you sorry to quit your native land?" a voice +whispered in her ear. + +"Yes; though for my grandfather's sake I cannot deeply regret it," +Miriam answered, gazing at Diniz with tear-dimmed eyes. + +"I have not thanked you yet for having released me from that dreadful +place, or even a worse doom. I am still scarcely able to realize my +good fortune. What made you, a stranger, think of one whom all others +had forgotten?" + +"Not all. It was Donna Lianor who told me where you were, and asked me +to help you," Miriam said, blushing beneath his tender, grateful gaze. +Besides, I looked upon you as a friend," almost inaudibly. + +"That is what I want to be--your friend. And Lianor--how is she?-- +well?" + +"As well as it is possible to be under the heavy trial she went +through this morning. She was married to Manuel Tonza," sadly. + +"Poor girl! Poor Lianor! Hers is indeed an unhappy lot!" Diniz +murmured pityingly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +In a large, handsome room, overlooking a shining river, now ablaze +with sunshine, sat a beautiful woman, wearing on her face unmistakable +signs of sadness. + +She scarcely heeded the opening door, until two pretty children came +bounding to her side, clambering onto her chair and lap. + +Then her face changed, and a sweet, tender smile chased away all +gloom; the idle hands were busy now stroking the curly heads pressed +so close against her. + +"I would have brought them to you before, but their father wished to +keep them; he is always so happy when they are near," a little, dark- +eyed woman, clad in picturesque robes of brilliant crimson and gold, +said rapidly, as she threw herself down on a pile of soft cushions +opposite the sweet, pale mother. + +Lianor sighed, but she could not look sad long with those loved +children clasped in her arms. + +"I cannot understand Manuel," she said, with a puzzled expression in +her eyes; "he is so strange, sometimes gay--almost too gay; then he +relapses into a gloomy, brooding apathy, from which even the children +have no power to rouse him." + +"But you have. He is never too morose to have a smile for you. I +think, sometimes, he feels lonely. You are bound to him, yet your +heart is as unresponsive to his passionate love as if you were +strangers," Savitre said, thoughtfully. + +"Do you think so, Savitre? I am indeed sorry; but you know how +impossible it is to forget my first love. I like Manuel, but beyond +that, affection--except for my darlings--is dead; buried in Luiz's +grave." + +"Hush! here comes Manuel," Savitre whispered, warningly. + +It was indeed Manuel, older and graver-looking than of yore, with a +deep melancholy in his eyes, brought there only by intense suffering. + +Savitre, on his entrance, softly glided from the room, leaving husband +and wife alone. + +"Lianor," he began, a bright smile lighting up his face as he bent to +kiss her fair brow, "I have been thinking, and am resolved to quit +India and return to Portugal. I have been here long enough. Don't you +think that will be pleasant, dearest?" + +"Nothing would please me more," Lianor cried, delightedly. "The +greatest wish of my life is to see Portugal once more, to show our +country to our children," bending to kiss her tiny daughter's face. + +"Then it will be granted. Prepare to start as soon as possible. Now, I +am determined to leave here. Something seems to urge me to go at +once." + +Only too anxious, Lianor began her arrangements. + +Savitre, who had never cared to leave her friend before, even to +become Panteleone's bride, entered into the preparations with +unconcealed eagerness. + +She had faithfully promised her lover that, once in Portugal, she +would, with his father's approval, marry him. + +Lianor felt no regret at leaving India, except for a loved grave--her +father's--which she had so carefully tended. + +Not many days after, Manuel Tonza, his wife, children, Panteleone, and +Savitre, accompanied by several faithful servants, including Lalli and +Tolla, embarked in a fine stately ship, which was to bear them in +safety to their home. + +Tonza seemed full of joy as he saw the last lines of the Indian coast +disappear. He had rarely appeared so happy since his marriage with +Lianor five years before. + +For several days the good ship went steadily on her way, until one +night a terrific storm arose, and the vessel, heedless of the human +cargo it was bearing, drifted onward at the mercy of the tempest. + +Tonza, holding Lianor and his children closely to him, stood silently +dismayed, scarcely able to realize the awful danger which lay before +him and those he loved. + +Still onward, through the almost impenetrable darkness, went the +doomed ship, until, as the dense shadows began to clear and the storm +to cease, a sudden shock was felt by all--she had struck against some +rocks and was slowly sinking! + +"We must be somewhere near land," the captain cried, his voice +sounding above the roaring waters. + +By aid of the fast-breaking dawn, they could see the line of high, +dark rocks, upon which the ship had met her fate. + +With much difficulty and peril, under the captain's cool directions, +the crew managed at last to leave the sinking vessel, not without much +loss of life. Out of nearly five hundred only a few arrived in safety, +amongst whom were Tonza, his wife, children, Savitre, and Panteleone. + +When the day broke in calm splendor, the sun shown upon a mournful +sight--a group of shipwrecked men and women. + +No sign of habitation met their view; only a weary waste of bare land, +sheltered by a few trees, from whose branches hung a goodly supply of +fruit. + +"If we go farther inland, we are sure to find some natives, if only +savages," Tonza remarked gravely; and followed by the men, he +commenced the long, weary way. + +Lianor, pale but firm, holding in her arms her little daughter, walked +beside him, heedless of the fatigue which oppressed her and made her +long to sink upon the sandy ground to rest. + +Onward they went, never pausing to rest their tired feet until, as the +day was about to decline, they came to a deep waterfall, over which +they had to cross. No easy task, as the only means of doing so was by +an uneven path, made from a line of rocks, on either side of which the +boiling waters poured in terrific fury. + +Tonza--who, now the captain had perished, placed himself at the head +of the crew--was the first to put his foot upon the crossing; then, +turning to the people, he said: + +"Be careful, and not glance behind or down, or you will lose your +balance and fall." + +Lianor, who, by her husband's wish, had given her child to one of the +men, followed closely behind Manuel, who held his boy in his arms. + +Silently, without daring to murmur one word, the men walked bravely +onward. + +They were nearly half way across. + +Manuel had indeed touched firm ground, when a sudden cry from her +little girl made Lianor turn in affright to see what ailed her. + +That move was fatal; the next instant she had lost her footing and +fallen into the dashing torrent. + +With a despairing shriek Manuel stopped, and had not some one held him +back, would have dashed in after his wife. Panteleone, who saw a +chance of saving her, quickly slipped over the side, caught her in his +aims as she was about to sink, then bore her to land. + +Forgetful of all others, Manuel threw himself beside her still form, +from which all life seemed to have fled, calling wildly on her name, +pressing passionate kisses on her cold face, hoping by the warmth of +his caresses to bring back the color to her cheeks. + +But it was useless; Lianor was dead; her head having struck against a +rock, caused instant unconsciousness, from which they could not rouse +her. + +When Tonza realized the awful truth he rose to his feet, pale and +haggard, his eyes full of despairing anguish. + +"It is just; my sin is punished. My wife, the only thing I loved on +earth, for whose sake I committed crime, is taken from me! She alone +had power to make me happy; without her I cannot live. It is time I +confessed all, and you shall be my judges. It was I who caused the +death of Luiz Falcam, that I might win his betrothed; and when I heard +that Diniz Sampayo had discovered partly the truth, I had him thrown +into prison on suspicion of having stolen the very poignard with which +Luiz had met his death--one that I myself had placed in the assassin's +hand! You all know how he escaped, but he is an exile for my fault. If +ever you should see him, tell him his innocence is established; he can +return to India in peace. You have heard my story, now judge me;" and +with arms crossed over his breast, his head bowed in deepest grief and +humility, he waited his sentence. + +A dead hush fell over the group, broken only by the suppressed sobs of +Savitre, who was crouching beside Lianor, and the pitiful moans of the +little girl dying in one of the rough seamen's arms. + +At last Pantaleone, a look of compassion on his face, went towards his +friend, and, laying his head on Tonza's shoulder, said gently: + +"My cousin, you have sinned, but God has sent your punishment; that is +sufficient. Live to devote your life to bringing up the little +motherless children left to you. Restore Sampayo to his own again; +then try, by true repentance, to atone for the wrong you did him." + +Tonza raised his head, and glanced gratefully at Panteleone; but his +eyes were full of firm resolution none could understand. + +"You are good, but my life is worth nothing, now she has gone. See, +this poor babe will soon follow her mother. Garcia I leave to you; he +is too young to realize his loss; but never let him know his father's +sin!" he exclaimed hoarsely; and, after pressing his boy tightly to +his breast, kissed the dying child; then softly lifting Lianor in his +arms, he first pressed his lips reverently on her pale brow, and, +before any one could prevent him, or realize what he was about to do, +he had sprang from the rock into the deep torrent, and disappeared +with his precious burden from their view. + +A cry of horror burst from the lips of all present, and many efforts +were made to find their bodies; but in vain. + +With saddened hearts the people turned away, and continued their +journey, praying they might ere long find help and shelter. + +Before the day had closed another soul had winged its flight to +Heaven, and the tiny waxen form of Lianor's baby-girl left in its last +resting-place in the golden sand. + +A small wooden house, surrounded by sweet-scented flowers of brightest +hue, amongst which a beautiful, dark-eyed woman was softly gliding, +culling large clusters of the delicate blossoms. + +As she stopped to gather a few rich carnations, singing in a low, +musical voice, a man, young and handsome, slipped from beneath the +pretty porch, and walking noiselessly behind her, suddenly lifted her +in his strong arms, pressing the slight form tenderly to his breast. + +"Take care, Diniz," she cried, warningly, a ring of deepest joy +thrilling her clear voice. "You will spoil all my flowers!" + +"Except the fairest of all--yourself. Ah, Miriam, my darling! how +happy we have been since that day when you so generously saved me from +a felon's doom!" rapturously kissing the beautiful, dark face so near +his own. + +Their bliss was broken by a crowd of brown-skinned people, moving +toward the cottage, seemingly acting under some emotion. + +"What has happened? What is it?" husband and wife cried +simultaneously. + +"We have seen a party of white men, doubtlessly shipwrecked on the +coast, coming in this direction. They are even now in sight," one man +said quickly, + +Diniz flushed, and his eyes grew bright with suppressed joy. + +"Perhaps some of our countrymen, Miriam. Let us hasten forward to +welcome them," he cried eagerly; and leading his wife, while the crowd +followed curiously behind, Sampayo hurried in the direction from +whence the strangers were coming. + +It was not long before they met the tired crew, now dwindled to about +twenty, many having perished on the way. + +As Diniz stepped towards the first stranger, on whose arm leaned a +young and beautiful woman, a low cry burst from his lips. + +"Panteleone!" he gasped, "is it really you?" + +"What, Diniz!" and the two friends, separated for so long a time, +warmly clasped hands. + +"But how comes it that you are like this?" + +Panteleone briefly related their voyage from India, and the disastrous +end. Tears shone in his eyes when he recounted the sad death of Lianor +and her husband. + +"Poor, poor girl! How sorry I am!" Diniz said mournfully, while +Miriam, scarcely able to repress her sobs, drew Lianor's orphan boy in +her arms, and bore him to their pretty home. + +"You are welcome--all!" Sampayo said gently, turning to the haggard- +looking seamen. "Come." + +A few days later a grand old ship, bound for Portugal, started from +that coast, bearing the wrecked crew to their former destination. + +Amongst those on board were Diniz and his wife (Phenee had long since +joined his forefathers), who, now his innocence was made known, had no +longer the fear of being imprisoned, and could return in safety to his +native land. + +Panteleone's father received Savitre with almost paternal love, and +some months after their arrival, when their mourning for poor Lianor +was lessened, the two faithful hearts became one. + +Little Garcia, Tonza's son, was tenderly nurtured in their tranquil +home, and the aunt he loved so dearly became a second mother, +replacing the one he had lost. + +No shadow of his father's sin darkened his young life; he lived +unconscious of the sad fate of his mother, who, won by crime, by her +death avenged Luiz Falcam, for, through her, Manuel Tonza had atoned +for all. + +THE END. + + + + +The latest Works of the most popular Authors. + +HER FATAL SIN; A WOMAN'S LOVE; THE TRAGEDY OF REDMOUNT. + by Mrs. M.E. Holmes. + +BOUND BY A SPELL, by Hugh Conway + +FORCED APART, OR EXILED BY FATE, by Morris Redwing. + +DYKE DARREL, THE RAILROAD DETECTIVE; A LIFE FOR A LIFE, OR + THE DETECTIVE'S TRIUMPH; $5000 REWARD; OR CORNERED + AT LAST, by Frank Pinkerton. + +HONOR BRIGHT, AND TWENTY CRUSOES, by Dwight Weldon. + +A GOLDEN HEART, by Charlotte M. 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