Bonner dozed off at midnight. An hour or so later he suddenly sat bolt
upright, wide awake and alert. He had the vague impression that he was
deathly cold and that his hair was standing on end.
CHAPTER XVIII
The Men in the Sleigh
Let us go back to the night on which Rosalie was seized and carried away
from Mrs. Luce's front gate, despite the valiant resistance of her
youthful defenders.
Rosalie had drooned Thackeray to the old lady until both of them were
dozing, and it was indeed a welcome relief that came with Roscoe's
resounding thumps on the front door. Mrs. Luce was too old to be
frightened out of a year's growth, but it is perfectly safe to agree
with her that the noise cost her at least three months.
Desperately blue over the defection of Elsie Banks, Rosalie had found
little to make her evening cheerful indoors, but the fresh, crisp air
set her spirits bounding the instant she closed Mrs. Luce's door from
the outside. We have only to refer to Roscoe's lively narrative for
proof of what followed almost instantly. She was seized, her head
tightly wrapped in a thick cloak or blanket; then she was thrown into a
sleigh, and knew nothing more except a smothering sensation and the
odour of chloroform.
When she regained consciousness she was lying on the ground in the open
air, dark night about her.
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