"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 game," he muttered at length. "Madge Scarlet has shadowed me for this very purpose, it seems. Can it be possible that the friends of Nell Darrel have employed this hag to rob me of my prize? I will not believe it, for it isn't in the nature of Madge Scarlet to do a good action, not even for pay. No; it is to gratify her own petty scheme of vengeance that she has stolen a march on me; but she will not succeed. I will get on her track and wrest the girl from her hands."
A minute later Professor Ruggles stood before the conductor.
"When does the next train pass going west?"
"It passes Galien in an hour."