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. He glanced up and down the car; the girl was not in sight. But one person was awake, an old man, who said:
"Lookin' fur the young lady?"
The Professor nodded.
"She got off't last station." "Got off? How—"
"She had help, of course," explained the old passenger, quickly.
"Who helped her?" cried Ruggles, in a husky voice.
"An old woman, who got on and off at the last station quick's wink."