u see any thing of a lady with a child?"

The hackman thought for a little while, and then replied--

"Yes, I did. There was a lady and a child, nearly the last on the
boat. John Murphy drove them away."

"Where can I find John Murphy?" eagerly enquired Mr. Lane.

"He's probably on the stand."

"Drive me there if you please." And he sprang into the carriage.

In a few minutes they were at a carriage stand; and Mr. Lane heard
the driver call out, as he reined up his horses--"Hallo! there, John
Murphy! here's a gentleman who wants to see you."

The person addressed came up as Mr. Lane descended from the
carriage.

"I understand," said Lane, "that you received a lady and child in
your carriage, last night, from the New York line. Where did you
take them?"

"Who said that I did?" boldly inquired the man addressed.

"I said so!" as firmly replied the driver who had given the
information to Mr. Lane. "What interest have you in denying it?"

Murphy evinced some surprise at this, and looked a little dashed,
but repeated his denial.

A new fear instantly seized Mr. Lane. His wife might have been
entrapped into some den of infamy, through means of the driver she
had employed to convey her to an hotel. The thought affected him
like an electric shock.

"You are certain of what you say?" asked Mr. Lane, turning to the
hackman he had employed.

"Certain," was answered positively.

"Is there a police officer near at hand?" was the next inquiry. This
was intended as no threat; and Murphy understood its meaning.

The eyes of Mr. Lane were fixed on his face, and he saw in it a
guilty change. No reply being made to the question about a police
officer, Mr. Lane said, addressing the accused hackman--

"If you wish to escape trouble, take me instantly to the house where
I can find the lady you took from the boat last night. She is my
wife, and I will go through fire and water to find her; and let him
who stands in my way take the consequences."

Murphy now drew Mr. Lane aside, and said a few words to him
hurriedly.

"Can I depend upon what you say?" eagerly asked the latter.

"Yes, upon honour!" replied the hackman.

"You must go with me," said Lane.

"I cannot leave the stand."

"I will call a policeman and compel you to go with me, if you don't
accompany me peaceably. As I live, I will not part from you until I
find her! Take your choice--go quietly, or under compulsion."

There was a fierce energy in the ex