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.
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