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.
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