Quite suddenly he was aware of a sickish, sweet odor, which almost instantly became suffocating. He was conscious of the pressure of Alice's fingers and then blackness overwhelmed him.
THE FLIGHT INTO SPACE
How long he was unconscious Ralph did not know, but when he came to his senses the moon had sunk low on the horizon. He felt unbearably weary and his limbs seemed too heavy to move. For a time he half lay in his seat looking stupidly down at the ocean, his mind a blank.
All at once it dawned upon him that the seat next to him was empty. "Alice, Alice," he muttered, trying to shake off his stupor, "Alice, where are you?"
There was no reply. The driver, his hands on the steering disc, was slumped forward in his seat, his head sunk on his breast.
With a stupendous effort Ralph managed to open the glass window in front of him. Instantly the strong odor of chloroformal almost overpowered him, and a terrible sensation of nausea forced him to cling blindly to his seat. In a moment it passed and he was able to collect his senses somewhat. His first thought was for Alice. His dimmed sight had cleared sufficiently for him to see that she was not in the cab. He thought she must have fallen into the sea, and in his agony he cried aloud her name again and again.
And then a recollection came to him, of her father's words on the first morning of their visit. He had feared for Alice. Someone had threatened her. Ralph forced his still wandering mind to concentrate. Some one had threatened to kidnap her, and that someone was Fernand 60O 10.