“Good heavens, Eleanor!” he gasped.  “What are you doing here?” and he faced her about quickly and led her into the corridor lest she should see the distorted features of the victim of Hallock’s vengeance.

“I came—­they took the car away, and I—­I was left behind,” she faltered.  And then:  “Oh, Howard! take me away; hide me somewhere!  It’s too horrible!”

There was a bull-bellow of rage from the room they had just left, and Lidgerwood hurried his companion into the first refuge that offered, which chanced to be the trainmaster’s room.  Out of the private office and into the corridor came the taller of the two garroters, holding his mask in place as he ran, with McCloskey, Judson, and all but one or two of the others in hot pursuit.

Notwithstanding, the fugitive gained the stair and fell, rather than ran, to the bottom.  There was the crash of a bursting door, a soldierly command of “Halt!” the crack of a cavalry rifle, and McCloskey came back, wiping his homely face with a bandanna.

“They got him,” he said; and then, seeing Eleanor for the first time, his jaw dropped and he tried to apologize.  “Excuse me, Miss Brewster; I didn’t have the least idea you were up here.”

“Nothing matters now,” said Eleanor, pale to the lips.  “Come in here and tell us about it.  And—­and—­is mamma safe?”

“She’s down-stairs in the Nadia, with the others—­where I supposed you were,” McCloskey began; but Lidgerwood heard the feet of those who were carrying Flemister’s body from the chamber of horrors, and quickly shutting the door on sight and sounds, started the trainmaster on the story which must be made to last until the way was clear of things a woman should not see.

“Who was the tall man?” he asked.  “I thought he was Hallock—­I called him Hallock.”

The trainmaster shook his head.  “They’re about the same build; but we were all off wrong, Mr. Lidgerwood—­’way off.  It’s been Gridley:  Gridley and his side-partner, Flemister, all along.  Gridley was the man who jumped the passenger at Crosswater Hills, and took up the rail to ditch Clay’s freight—­with Hallock chasing him and trying to prevent it.  Gridley was the man who helped Flemister last night at Silver Switch—­with Hallock trying again to stop him, and Judson trying to keep tab on Hallock, and getting him mixed up with Gridley at every turn, even to mistaking Gridley’s voice and his shadow on the window-curtain for Hallock’s.  Gridley was the man who stole the switch-engine and ran it over the old Wire-Silver spur to the mine to sell it to Flemister for his mine power-plant—­they’ve got it boxed up and running there, right now.  Gridley is the man who has made all this strike trouble, bossing the job to get you out and to get himself in, so he could cover up his thieveries.  Gridley was the man who put up the job with Bart Rufford to kill you, and Judson mistook his voice for Hallock’s that time, too.  Gridley was——­”