nt 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 he