From that moment there was no lack of speed in carrying on the search. In half an hour, the bells were ringing in the village steeples; the telegraph wire was talking hotly into the Police Headquarters of the city; men and boys were swarming on the beach. The good yacht Ilia, which had loafed in yesterday, with no intention but to spend a few hours in harbor, was ready at a moment's warning. In a hasty conclave of half a dozen gentlemen, it had been decided that Miss Rothermel's suspicions were quite worth acting upon, _faute de mieux_. There were others who had seen the mysterious little craft; and one man who had come upon a foreign-looking group encamped upon a lonely point of the Neck, the day before. There were two men and a woman in the party, and they had evidently shunned observation. There were foot-marks upon the sand, a little below the Andrews' boat-house, and a track that the keel of a boat had made when pushed off, in the falling tide. It was more than probable that the child had been stolen with a view to the largest reward, and that the matter had been well arranged; and Miss Rothermel's idea, that out on the Sound some homeward-bound French ship was expected to come along, which would take them on board, and put them beyond reach of pursuit for many weeks at least, found favor. There was, of course, a possibility of their having failed to meet their ship, or of their not having such a plan; and all the neighborhood of the Necks, and the shores along the Sound must be instantly searched; it was even possible that their plan had been to secrete him in the city. Jay had been a well-known and rather favorite little person in the neighborhood--Mr. Andrews was understood to be rich--the people were naturally kind-hearted--the occurrence was quite beyond the ordinary; in short, it was a day unparalleled in Yellowcoats for excited feeling. Men were scouring the woods on horseback and on foot, and patrolling the shores in boats; mothers were leaving, equally, wash-tubs and piano-fortes, to hug closer their own children and mourn over the dangers of poor Jay, and listen for the latest news. People drove aimlessly about from house to house; all day long there were groups on the steamboat wharf, and along the shore that led to Mr. Andrews' house; the telegraph office was besieged. Little work was done. I almost think there was no dinner cooked in more houses than the Andrews' and the Varians'. When the Ilia sailed gallantly out of the mouth of the harbor, the foremost and fastest of all the pursuing craft, people cheered and wept, and prayed for the continuance of the stiff breeze that had been blowing since day-break. But the stiff breeze was a two-edged sword that cut both ways; while it helped the pursuers, it helped the pursued.