'Even now he may be calling upon us to rescue him from the clutches of those dark-skinned fiends.' "The thought so maddened me that I rushed out of the house and down to the high road, but once there I had no indication in which direction to turn.

The whole wide moor lay before me, without a sign of movement upon its broad expanse.

I listened, but not a sound broke the perfect stillness of the night.
"It was then, my dear friends, as I stood, not knowing in which direction to turn, that the horror and responsibility broke full upon me.

I felt that I was combating against forces of which I knew nothing.
All was strange and dark and terrible.
"The thought of you, and of the help which I might look for from your advice and assistance, was a beacon of hope to me.

At Branksome, at least, I should receive sympathy, and, above all, directions as to what I should do, for my mind is in such a whirl that I cannot trust my own judgment.