Isabel Ostrander

“ THE entrance of Lorna with a bowl of steaming broth, put an end to my cogitations for the time. She looked pale and wan, and there were traces of tears on her cheeks.
"My poor child," she said in a low, hurried voice, "you will try to drink this, for your own sake, for the sake of your father? You must keep up your strength!"
She glanced back half fearfully at the door, and added in a whisper:
"The little dog, he is quite safe. I have found him. He was hurt, but I have tended him and he will not die. I have hidden him away where they shall not discover and kill him. ”

“ Little fool, you never saw the man before in your life!"
I ignored her, and she flounced out of the room with an ugly laugh. Had I not already been certain of his identity, her clumsy attempt to convince me that the man in the white wig was not Herman Goebel, would have been assurance enough of the truth. My heart sank at the thought that even if the girl called Lorna had not been killed outright by that brutal Pelissier when he struck her down, they would no longer trust her to come to me. ”

“ For him! If he has done what you say, if he has tried to betray us——"
"Nicolette!" We had not heard his light footsteps outside the heavy barred door, but the voice of Monsieur Pelissier came to us, harsh with fury. "Are you in there? What are you doing? Come here immediately!"
With a gesture of warning silence she picked up the empty bowl and left the room. The doors were instantly locked behind her, and I heard their voices, low and indistinguishable, but intense with suppressed rage. ”

“ A tremor of suppressed fury shook her slender form from head to foot, and she whispered vehemently.
"And they shall! But not together; to prison, for life! I will tell you. There is no time to lose. Tomorrow, he—the man you know—intends to force you to write that letter to your father, demanding the ransom. They are afraid to delay longer. You must go tonight, now! It is the only way. The young man, your lover, came to your window last night. He climbed a ladder and they were waiting within to spring upon him. He is locked up in the old lighthouse, on the point of rocks. ”

“ The sound seemed to come from quite high up in the wall, by the porthole—that porthole from which the rim was missing, which was merely a small, round aperture edged with hard, weather-beaten wood.
The sound grew louder and continued without a pause; a steady grating crunch. On a sudden impulse I rose and tip-toed over to the place from which it came, and at that moment the wind-driven clouds parted and for a brief instant the moon cast a clear, penetrating ray straight in upon me. ”

“ I remarked tentatively, with a swift, side-long glance at her supercilious face.
"I suppose you think your young man will save you!" she flung at me tauntingly, while I held my breath. "Well, he won't! He tried it once, but he's where he won't be able to get into any more mischief for awhile. You needn't count on the police taking a hand, either. They've shown what they can do the past week. You'll stay here, whether you like it or not, my fine young lady, until your father ponies up that little old million dollars ransom!" ”

“ Then she withdrew her hand and added, in the merest whisper:
"How did you know?"
"I heard him lecture once, on socialism," I whispered back. "Did he think to disguise himself with that mop of white hair? The Man of the People he calls himself! The man who has instigated all the riots and labor wars, the man who sits back with folded hands while the poor foolish men he has incited to destruction fight against the forces of law and order! ”

“ Pelissier laughed softly, significantly. "A charge of dynamite would not waken her before morning. Nicolette knows how much to use in her needle. We can make our minds easy for to-night, while Craigen snores outside her door."
They withdrew and I heard the key turn, and the bolt shoot back into place. For a long time I lay motionless, scarcely daring to breathe. How nearly I had been discovered! If they had found out that Lorna had broken faith with them, and failed to carry out their instructions, her punishment would have been swift and terrible, and all chance of escape gone. ”

“ All at once, above the beat of the surf and moaning surge of the trees, I heard low voices outside my door, and a hand rattled the bolt. I sprang upon the bunk, pulling the covers up to my neck, and closing my eyes, just as the door opened, and footsteps sounded within the room. I held my breath while a light flashed before my eyelids, and I heard the Frenchman's low voice.
"It is well. She sleeps." ”

“ They feared that the approaching storm might awaken you, and you would cry out in startled apprehension. A strange, high-powered boat has been hovering about close to the inland all day, causing them great uneasiness, and if your cries were heard, all concealment might be at an end. ”