Says his name is Archie Royston. Will not talk
further. Well-treated. Held for identification. Awaiting advices.
XIV.
Lillian, at her home in Glaston, replied by wire in that tumult of
emotion which each new lure was potent to excite, despite the quicksands
of baseless hope that had whelmed its many precursors. Still, she
expected only another instance of deliberate and brazen fraud, or crafty
and sleek imposture, or, worse still, honest mistake. The little
suit-case, packed with all that the child might need, which had journeyed
through so many vicissitudes, so many thousand miles, was once more in
her hand as she took the train. She never forgot that long night of
travel, more poignant than all her anguished journeyings that had
preceded it. Hurtling through the air, it seemed, with a sense of fierce
speed, the varied clangors of the train, the ringing of the rails, the
frequent hoarse blasts of the whistle, the jangling of the metallic
fixtures, the jarring of the window-panes, all were keenly differentiated
by her exacerbated and sensitive perceptions, and each had its own
peculiar irritation.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209