down, and began to take off her things. She had been clinging determinedly in her thought to the belief that Alan might not have been aboard the ferry. Alan's message, which had sent her father north to meet the ship, had implied plainly that some one whom Alan believed might be Uncle Benny was on Number 25; she had been fighting, these last few hours, against conviction that therefore Alan must be on the ferry too.
She stood by the desk, as the clerk went out, looking through the papers which he had left with her.
"What do they say?" her mother asked.
Constance caught herself together.
"Wireless signals from No. 25," she read aloud, "were plainly made out at shore stations at Ludington, Manitowoc, and Frankfort until about four o'clock, when—"
"That is, until about six hours ago, Constance."
"Yes, mother, when the signals were interrupted. The steamer Richardson, in response to whose signals No. 25 made the change in her course which led to disaster, was in communication until about four o'clock; Frankfort station picked up one message shortly after four, and same message was also recorded by Carferry Manitoulin in southern end of lake; subsequently all efforts to call No. 25 failed of response until 4:35 when a message was picked up at once by Manitowoc, Frankfort, and the Richardson. Information, therefore, regarding the fate of the ferry up to that hour received at this office (Corvet, Sherrill, and Spearman) consists of the following . . ."
Constance stopped reading aloud and looked rapidly down the sheet and then over the next. What she was reading was the carbon of the report prepared that
