126
XX. BRICK'S DEFENCE 134
XXI. PLUNGED UNDER GROUND. 141
XXII. AN UNEXPECTED ALLY. 148
XXIII. BACK TO FREEDOM. 155
XXIV. A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 161
XXV. TORTURED INTO SUBMISSION. 168
XXVI. AVAILABLE PRISONER. 174
XXVII. THROUGH THE WOODS. 182
XXVIII. SPARWICK LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 189
XXIX. A MIDNIGHT DISCOVERY. 195
XXX. DRIVEN TO DEATH. 202
XXXI. A FRIEND IN NEED. 209
XXXII. JERRY'S JOURNEY. 216
XXXIII. A TREACHEROUS PLOT. 222
XXXIV. A VIAL OF CHLOROFORM. 229
XXXV. A PERILOUS RIDE. 235
XXXVI. CONCLUSION. 240

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER I.

A MERCILESS ENEMY.

"All tickets, please!"

The blue-uniformed conductor, with a lantern under his arm, and his
punch in hand, entered the smoking-car of the Boston express.

It was between seven and eight o'clock on the night of the tenth of
December. The train was speeding eastward through the wintry landscape
of the State of Maine.

Among the passengers in the smoking-car was a well-dressed lad of
eighteen, with a ruddy face, and gray eyes in which was a lurking gleam
of humor.

Just across the aisle sat a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven,
cadaverous face and rusty black clothes. He was reading a small book,
and seemed to be absorbed in its pages.

As the conductor drew near, the lad fumbled hurriedly in his pockets. He
turned them inside out, one after another. He looked on the floor, on
the seat, in the folds of his clothing.

"Your ticket, sir."

The conductor had been standing by the seat for a full minute.

"I--I must have lost it," replied the lad. "Just my beastly luck! You
know that I had one, for you clipped it twice."

The conductor stared coldly.

"Find it, or pay your fare," he answered.