“We sat…discussing the pros and cons of Shackleton’s chances…and we talked about him the whole evening, till I noticed it was twelve o’clock and we rose at once to go. Lady Shackleton came out into the hall with us while Allan her Scottish maid with her for so many years, stood at the open door to intercept any passing cab for us. She hailed one successfully, and as she did so the telephone bell rang. We bade a hasty goodnight as Lady Shackleton went to the telephone and it being raining we ran down the steps and jumped into the cab. They tried to stop us, Allan even running after the cab, but we were gone. It was the news of Shackleton.”

— Campbell Mackellar, with Tryggve Gran