"Connie," she said again, "tell me that all is well."
"Yes, dear. Indeed, indeed, he is safe."
"And do you know who came with him? I saw their faces—Ben Pollard and Jim Spence—in the Daisy. Yes, it is true. And Jack planned it with them. They have escaped; and we, too, will be rescued. It is God's own doing. I could thank him on my knees for the rest of my life."
CHAPTER XV
ENID'S NEW NAME
The twisted strands of tough hemp might have been an electric cable of utmost conductivity if its powers were judged by results. When willing hands had carefully hauled in the rope until the knot could be unfastened, and the end secured to the cord connecting the gallery with the entrance, a man was despatched to warn Brand that all was in readiness for the next step.
The rough sailor was the messenger of the gods to those who waited on each story. As he ran upwards, climbing the steep stairs with the nimbleness of a monkey, he bellowed the great news to each crowded doorway. Seeing the girls in the kitchen, though already his breath was scant, he blurted out:
"It's all right, ladies! He's done the trick!"
On the next landing pallid women's faces gleamed at him.