med 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 ga