Bessie would be recovering consciousness by this time. "Where am I?" she would be saying. And then she would hear the throb of the engines and the wash of the water, and see Alick by her side.
For a moment he lost sight of the ship's stern light (a mist was sweeping over the surface of the sea) and his anxiety became agony, but it reappeared at the other side of the light-house and his spirits rose again. Yes, she was steering north.
"Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!"
He returned to the town. In the thinning fog everything looked immensely large and frightening. He walked slowly in order not to attract attention. Passing through the narrow streets he found nearly all the houses dark. Only two or three of the upper windows showed light, and from one of them, partly open, he heard the cry of a sick child.
But in a winding lane, close under the Castle, he came upon a cottage that was lit up in the lower storey, and loud with many voices. He recognised it as the house at which he had left Mrs. Collister, and understood what was happening. The old woman's Primitive friends were holding a prayer-meeting by her bedside in the kitchen to comfort her. A man was praying and many women were shouting responses.
"Save the sinner, O Lord!" (Hallelujah!) "She may be inside prison walls to-night, but show her the Golden Gates are always open." (Hallelujah!) "Remember Thy servant, her mother!" (Aw yes, remember her!) "Her soul is passing through deep waters." ('Deed it is, Lord!) "Stretch out Thy hand as Thou didst to Peter of old and suffer her not to sink."
Outside the town Stowell had an impulse to run. He found his motor-car where he had left it and pushed it into the road. While lighting his lamp he thought he heard sounds from the direction of the Castle. Had the escape become known? He listened for anything that might denote alarm. There was nothing.
The Castle clock struck twelve. The fog had nearly gone now, and looking back he saw the gloomy and forbidding fortress towering over the sleeping town. A few stars had appeared above it.
All was quiet. The condemned woman had escaped from Castle Rushen. There was nothing to show that he himself had been there.
With a last look back he started his engine and released his levers, and his car shot away.