as considerable, but
he did not think of it; and when, after a long and weary tramp, he
stepped upon the platform of the small station, he was so eager to learn
if he had correctly followed the scent, that he forgot to remark that
the road he had taken was any thing but an easy or feasible one for a
hasty escape.

The accommodation-trains, which alone stop at this point, had both
passed, and he found the station-master at leisure. A single glance into
his honest and intelligent face convinced the detective that he had a
reliable man to deal with. He at once commenced his questions.

"Do many persons besides the quarrymen take the train at this place?"
asked he.

"Not many," was the short but sufficiently good-natured rejoinder. "I
guess I could easily count them on the fingers of one hand," he laughed.

"You would be apt to notice, then, if a strange gentleman got on board
here at any time, would you not?"

"Guess so; not often troubled that way, but sometimes--sometimes."

"Can you tell me whether a young man of very dark complexion, heavy
mustache, and a determined, if not excited, expression, took the cars
here for Monteith, say, any day last week?"

"I don't know," mused the man. "Dark complexion, you say, large
mustache; let me see."

"No dandy," Mr. Byrd carefully explained, "but a strong man, who
believes in work. He was possibly in a state of somewhat nervous hurry,"
he went on, suggestively, "and if he wore an overcoat at all, it was a
gray one."

The face of the man lighted up.

"I seem to remember," said he. "Did he have a very bright blue eye and a
high color?"

Mr. Byrd nodded.

"And did he carry a peculiarly shaped bag, of which he was very
careful?"

"I don't know," said Mr. Byrd, but remembering the model, added with
quick assurance, "I have no doubt he did"; which seemed to satisfy the
other, for he at once cried:

"I recollect such a person very well. I noticed him before he got to the
station; as soon in fact as he came in sight. He was walking down the
highway, and seemed to be thinking about something. He's of the kind to
attract attention. What about him, sir?"

"Nothing. He was in trouble of some kind, and he went from home without
saying where he was going; and his friends are anxious about him, that
is all. Do you think you could swear to his face if you saw it?"

"I think I could. He was the only stranger that got on to the cars that
afternoon."

"Do you remember, then,