Lischen Maude Miller

“ Of an afternoon when the fog comes drifting in from the sea and completely envelopes the lighthouse, and then stops in its course as if its object had been attained, it is the loneliest place in the world. At such times those who chance to be in the vicinity hear a moaning sound like the cry of one in pain, and sometimes a frenzied call for help pierces the death-like stillness of the waning day. Far out at sea, ships passing in the night are often guided in their course by a light that gleams from the lantern tower where no lamp is ever trimmed. ”

“ The fortnight lengthened to a month and yet no sign of the sloop, or any sail rose above the horizon to southward.
"You've no cause to worry," said the landlady. "Your father's safe enough. No rough weather since he sailed, and as for time—a ship's time is as uncertain ass a woman's temper, I've heard my own father say."
"Oh I am not anxious," replied Muriel, "not in the least."
It was in August that a party of pleasure-seekers came over the Coast Range and pitched their tents in the grassy hollow. They were a merry company, and they were not long in discovering Muriel. ”

“ They began to call encouragingly, "Muriel, we are coming. Don't be afraid." But they got no reply.
"Oh let us hurry," urged Cora, "perhaps she has fainted with fright."
In a very few minutes they were pouring into the house and looking and calling through the lower rooms. Then up stairs, and there, upon the floor in the upper chamber, where the grey light came in through the uncurtained windows, they found a pool of warm, red blood. There were blood drops in the hall and on the stairs that led up to the landing, and in the linen closet they picked up a blood-stained handkerchief. ”