Of themselves they knew they could not let or hinder the abductor in its flight.
All felt their own helplessness.

But it is just in that supreme moment, when man feels his utter weakness, that his vague trust in a superior Being becomes a devout and perfect faith.
Captain Redwood was not what is usually called a religious man, meaning thereby a strict adherent to the Church, and a regular observer of its ordinances.

For all this he was a firm believer in the existence of a providential and protecting power.
His exclamations were many, and not very coherent; but their burden was ever a prayer to God for the preservation of his daughter.
"Helen, my child! Helen! What will become of her?
O Father! O God, protect her!".