The hoboes were rushing toward the scene in crowds now; and they saw the
figure of the woman at the window in the gable instantly.

A cry, then a shout, then a wail went up, for they thought it was their
chief--Black Madge, otherwise Hobo Harry, the Beggar King, as she
preferred to be known outside her own fraternity; and in that instant
the crowd went mad.

There was not a soul among them who did not rush to the rescue of their
chief, believing that Nick's dummy at the window was she; and then
danced and shouted, and yelled and screamed around that burning cottage,
like so many madmen.

"Come, now," said the detective. "This is our opportunity!"

Like shadows they sped away through the trees. They skirted the glade,
now without a sign of life within it; they hurried down the path among
the alders toward the place where the boat was kept, and where there
were now no less than four boats.

But they took them all in order that none might be left for the
pursuers, when it should occur to them to take up the chase; and then,
with the strength of desperation, and guided by Nick, who had been twice
over the route without being blindfolded, they made their way silently
and swiftly through the maze of the swamp, to dry land at the other side
of it.

"We have not made good our escape yet," said Nick, as they climbed the
grade of the railway. "If only a train would come along now, so we could
flag it--hark!"

Even as he spoke, a freight came around the curve toward them, and Nick,
giving the unconscious form of Madge into the care of Chick, leaped out
upon the track between the rails, and, at the risk of his life, stood
within the glare of the advancing headlight and waved his coat for the
engineer to stop.

Fortunately it was a freight, and it was going rather slowly. The
engineer saw the frantic appeal, and closed his throttle and applied the
brakes.

The party was taken aboard, and Black Madge was locked up in the jail at
Calamont. She jeered at her captors, assuring them that she would be
free again, and that when she was they had better remember who and what
she was.

Nick and his assistants then returned to New York, pretty thoroughly
tired out by their experiences with Black Madge and her followers.

The following day Nick Carter called upon the president of the E. &
S. W. R. R. Co., and told him the story of the capture of "Hobo Harry."

"Also, I want to tell you," said the detective, "that I was one of