Part 36 (1/2)

”And in that you will not be alone,” a.s.sured Harry Bernard, a moist light glittering in his eye. Even d.y.k.e Darrel did not suspect how deeply his young friend was interested in the fate of Nell.

The days dragged into weeks ere d.y.k.e Darrel was able to be on his feet again. He was not very strong when he once more took it upon himself to hunt down the scoundrels who had wrecked his happy home. Even the railroad crime was forgotten for the time, so intense was his interest centered in the fate of his sister. If not dead, d.y.k.e Darrel believed she had met with a far worse fate, and it was this thought that nerved him to think of doing desperate work should the cruel abductor ever come before him.

Madge Scarlet was dismissed after an examination, but Nick Brower and his companion were held to await the action of a higher court.

One morning the pallid man in brown suit who had haunted the various depots of the city for several days made a discovery. On one of the early morning trains a man and veiled female had taken pa.s.sage East.

d.y.k.e Darrel trembled with intense excitement when the depot policeman told him of this.

”Only this morning, you say?”

”It was on one of the earliest trains, I believe, this morning.

”A New York train?”

”I am not sure. I see so many people, you know. You might inquire at the ticket office.”

d.y.k.e Darrel did so.

No ticket for New York had been sold that morning. Then the policeman said that it was possible he might have been mistaken as to the time.

It might have been on the previous day he saw the man and his invalid sister.

”Do you know that they took the New York train?” questioned d.y.k.e.

”No; I'm not positive about that, either. You might telegraph ahead and find if such a couple is on the train.”

This was a wise suggestion.

d.y.k.e acted upon it, but failed to derive any satisfaction.

And there was good reason for this, since when leaving Chicago a dark man, with smooth face and gray-tinged hair, accompanied Nell Darrel; whereas, before reaching the borders of New York State, the place of this man had been taken by a man with red beard and hair, blue gla.s.ses, and a well-worn silk plug.

This change disturbed ident.i.ties completely. The change had been made at a way station, without causing remark among the pa.s.sengers, the most of whom were not through for the great city. Once New York whelmed 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 d.y.k.e 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 d.y.k.e 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, d.y.k.e 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, d.y.k.e Darrel preserved a hopeful heart, in spite of the terrible anxiety that oppressed him.