"I am not hungry, woman, but I appeal to you to permit me to go from this place. I shall die here in a short time."

"Die then! Nothing would please me better than to witness your last struggles," and Mrs. Scarlet emitted a laugh that was horrible to hear.

Nell had much of the determined spirit of her daring brother in her composition. She was not yet ready to give up all hope and fall crushed in despair. Her right hand grasped the b.u.t.t of the little derringer she had been thoughtful enough to provide herself with before leaving home.

"Will nothing move you, woman?"

"Nothing," sneered Mrs. Scarlet. "Your brother sent my husband to a dungeon, and to his death, and for that and other wicked work of his, I mean to be avenged. I shall cause him to suffer through his sister.

You imagine the handsome Elliston a monster, I reckon, but _I_ will show you that he is but a child compared to Madge Scarlet."

"Stop; I do not care to listen to you. Please hand over the keys to this den of demons."

A c.o.c.ked pistol was brought forward to emphasize the fair prisoner's demand.

A sneering laugh answered the girl's demand. Madge Scarlet did not seem to look upon the weapon as a dangerous one.

"Quick! I have no time to parley. Fling down the keys--toss them to the door yonder, then take your place in yonder corner. Do you hear me?"

So stern was the girl's voice, so full of intense meaning, as to amaze the infamous woman who confronted her.

"This is all a joke----."

"It will prove a dear joke to you if you don't obey. Stop. One step toward me and I fire! I am in deadly earnest."

And the sneering Madge Scarlet realized that she was. It was a most humiliating position. Once the woman thought of making a quick spring, but a pressure of the trigger was all that was necessary to send a bullet on an errand of death.

With reluctance the woman drew a bundle of keys from her pocket and flung them to the floor behind her, and close to the door that stood ajar.

"Don't be so spiteful. Now, then, go to that corner. Move quickly!"

The girl still threatened her keeper with the c.o.c.ked derringer, and she crossed the floor with a growl that was not pleasant to hear.

"There, that is about right."

Then Nell Darrel backed to the door, s.n.a.t.c.hed up the bunch of keys and lamp, pa.s.sed into the next room, securing the door just as the hag from within came against it with tremendous force, at the same time uttering a series of the most ear-splitting yells.

The door failed to yield, and Nell now hastened to improve her opportunity for escape that the carelessness of Mrs. Scarlet had given her.

CHAPTER XXI.

A BOUT IN THE CELLAR.

It was a stout tin lamp that the fleeing girl held in her hand, and the blaze filled the subterranean apartment but dimly.

She found herself in a square room, larger than the one she had just left. Advancing to a door she tried it, to find it locked. This was made to yield, however, by one of the bunch of keys, and she proceeded to another door that stood ajar.

"Help!"

It was a smothered cry that reached the girl's ears, and quite startled her.

The sound came from the next apartment. For a minute Nell Darrel hesitated. She reasoned that she had nothing to fear from the hag who kept the place, and one who was in need of help certainly could not be a friend to Mrs. Scarlet, or those who profited by the old woman's villainy.

"Help!"

Again came that cry, and Nell moved forward, pushed open the door and flashed her light over the scene--a room much smaller than the one she had just quitted.

A dark object writhing on the floor startled her vision.

"Old woman, do you mean to murder me here?"

The man seemed to imagine that the new comer was the hag who kept the place. With trembling step Nell Darrel advanced and flashed her light into the face of a bound and helpless prisoner.

"Mercy! It is d.y.k.e!"

Stunned at the discovery, Nell was completely overcome for the time, and stood with arms extended like one petrified.

"Nell, is it you?" cried the yet stunned detective. "Where is the old hag who rules this den of iniquity?"

"Back yonder, safely locked in a room," said Nell, when she could find voice.

"And you did it?"

"Yes."

"Cut these cords, brave girl, and we will soon be out of this."

Placing her lamp on a box near, Nell Darrel proceeded to comply with the request of her brother. She had with her a small open knife, and this came into play neatly enough.

Soon the detective's limbs were free. He found when he attempted to rise, that he was unable to do so.

"I received a bad fall," he said, with a groan. "Lend me a hand, Nell, and we will get out of this before friends of that woman come to her rescue."

Nell a.s.sisted her brother to his feet. He groaned with pain, for it seemed to him as though every bone in his body was broken.

"I was a fool to run into such a trap," he muttered.

"Can you walk, brother?"

"I can make a desperate try at any rate," uttered the detective, grimly. Then, a.s.sisted by Nell's arm, he hobbled across the floor toward a narrow stairs that promised them pa.s.sage to rooms above.

The beard and wig were left in the cellar.

The sound of steps on the floor overhead brought brother and sister to a sudden halt.

"Hark!"