Isabel Ostrander

“ It was Alaric, fast asleep, like Monsieur Pelissier, but snoring stertorously, and there was a strong odor of spirits on the air. He was a very unpleasant spectacle, as he lay back in his chair, with his outstretched legs completely blocking the narrow passage, his collar unfastened, and his mouth wide open. ”

“ Gilbert's eyes traveled slowly from it to my face.
"Maida!" he whispered. "You are Maida Waring! That I should have found you, and here!"
"You are sure Gilbert, that it's true?" I gasped. "It isn't some horrible, ghastly joke? These people aren't really the Smiths, after all?"
"Of course they're not! The real Smiths are joining heart and soul in the search for you! Here!" he reached in his hip pocket and drew out a folded wad of newspaper. "I thought I wrapped Laddie's biscuits in the front page of Saturday's Mercury. Look at this!" ”

“ They're too desperate to stop at half-measures. Wait here for me very quietly, dear, and don't show yourself until you hear the launch. I won't be five minutes."
He took me in his arms, kissed me again, impulsively, and was gone, and I sank back into my seat as if stunned. There must be some hideous mistake! We could not have reached an island off the coast of Maine in a bare twenty- four hours from New York! Then my eyes fell upon the scrap of newspaper lying at my feet, and as I stopped and picked it up abstractedly, the date caught my eye. ”

“ We haven't a moment to lose! I'll go now and get the launch and bring her around here. You must be ready to jump in as soon as I touch at this rock, and then lie flat down in the bottom, and don't move or cry out, no matter what happens. Thank Heaven and Barford she's a fast little craft with a racing engine in her! We'll make for Kittery, for our lives!"
"Kittery!" I cried. "Oh, Gilbert, that's away off in Maine, isn't it?" ”

“ I hadn't climbed a tree since I was a tiny girl, back in Texas, but my work in the gymnasium at school had kept me strong and supple, and quick as a cat. It was hazardous, but there was no other way.
I opened my window as wide as it would go, and climbing up, knelt upon the sill. The ground looked very, very far beneath me, and there was a queer sinking feeling about my heart, but I nerved myself, and reached out to the limb.
How I did it I don't know to this day. I was faint and dizzy, and dared not look down again, but I drew myself inch by inch out upon the sturdy branch. ”

“ Practically the entire country is aiding in the search, but thus far there has not developed a single clue, and the belief is growing, in some quarters, that the beautiful young woman will never be found. ”