A Rock in the Baltic

by Robert Barr, 1906 _________________________________________________________________

 CHAPTER I

 THE INCIDENT AT THE BANK

IN the public room of the Sixth National Bank at Bar Harbor in Maine, Lieutenant Alan Drummond, H. M. S. "Consternation, " stood aside to giveprecedence to a lady. The Lieutenant had visited the bank for thepurpose of changing several crisp white Bank of England notes into thecurrency of the country he was then visiting. The lady did not appearto notice either his courtesy or his presence, and this was the moreremarkable since Drummond was a young man sufficiently conspicuouseven in a crowd, and he and she were, at that moment, the onlycustomers in the bank. He was tall, well-knit and stalwart, blond as aScandinavian, with dark blue eyes which he sometimes said jocularlywere the colors of his university. He had been slowly approaching thecashier's window with the easy movement of a man never in a hurry, when the girl appeared at the door, and advanced rapidly to the bankcounter with its brass wire screen surrounding the arched aperturebehind which stood the cashier. Although very plainly attired, hergown nevertheless possessed a charm of simplicity that almostsuggested complex Paris, and she wore it with that air of distinctionthe secret of which is supposed to be the exclusive property of Frenchand American women. 

The young man saw nothing of this, and although he appreciated thebeauty of the girl, what struck him at that instant was the expressionof anxiety on her face, whose apparently temporary pallor wasaccentuated by an abundance of dark hair. It seemed to him that shehad resolutely set herself a task which she was most reluctant toperform. From the moment she entered the door her large, dark eyeswere fixed almost appealingly on the cashier, and they beheld nothingelse. Drummond, mentally slow as he usually was, came to the quickconclusion that this was a supreme moment in her life, on whichperhaps great issues depended. He saw her left hand grasp the cornerof the ledge in front of the cashier with a grip of nervous tension, as if the support thus attained was necessary to her. Her right handtrembled slightly as she passed an oblong slip of paper through theaperture to the calm and indifferent official. 

"Will you give me the money for this check?" she asked in a low voice. 

The cashier scrutinized the document for some time in silence. Thesignature appeared unfamiliar to him. 

"One moment, madam, " he said quietly, and retired to a desk in theback part of the bank, where he opened a huge book, turned over someleaves rapidly, and ran his finger down a page. His dilatory actionseemed to increase the young woman's panic. Her pallor increased, andshe swayed slightly, as if in danger of falling, but brought her righthand to the assistance of the left, and so steadied herself againstthe ledge of the cashier's counter. 

"By Jove!" said the Lieutenant to himself, "there's something wronghere. I wonder what it is. Such a pretty girl, too!"

The cashier behind his screen saw nothing of this play of theemotions. He returned nonchalantly to his station, and asked, incommonplace tones:

"How will you have the money, madam?"

"Gold, if you please, " she replied almost in a whisper, a rosy flushchasing the whiteness from her face, while a deep sigh marked thepassing of a crisis. 

At this juncture an extraordinary thing happened. The cashier countedout some golden coins, and passed them through the aperture towardtheir new owner. 

"Thank you, " said the girl. Then, without touching the money, sheturned like one hypnotized, her unseeing eyes still taking no heed ofthe big Lieutenant, and passed rapidly out of the bank, The cashierpaid no regard to this abandonment of treasure. He was writing somehieroglyphics on the cashed check. 

"By Jove!" gasped the Lieutenant aloud, springing forward as he spoke, sweeping the coins into his hand, and bolting for the door. This wasan action which would have awakened the most negligent cashier had hebeen in a trance. Automatically he whisked out a revolver which lay inan open drawer under his hand. 

"Stop, you scoundrel, or I fire!" he shouted, but the Lieutenant hadalready disappeared. Quick as thought the cashier darted into thepassage, and without waiting to unfasten the low door which separatedthe public and private rooms of the bank, leaped over it, and, bareheaded, gave chase. A British naval officer in uniform, rapidlyovertaking a young woman, quite unconscious of his approach, followedby an excited, bareheaded man with a revolver in his grasp, was asight which would quickly have collected a crowd almost anywhere, butit happened to be the lunch hour, and the inhabitants of that famoussummer resort were in-doors; thus, fortunately, the street wasdeserted. The naval officer was there because the hour of the middaymeal on board the cruiser did not coincide with lunch time on shore. The girl was there because it happened to be the only portion of theday when she could withdraw unobserved from the house in which shelived, during banking hours, to try her little agitating financialexperiment. The cashier was there because the bank had no lunch hour, and because he had just witnessed the most suspicious circumstancethat his constantly alert eye had ever beheld. Calm and imperturbableas a bank cashier may appear to the outside public, he is a man underconstant strain during business hours. Each person with whom he isunacquainted that confronts him at his post is a possible robber whoat any moment may attempt, either by violence or chicanery, to filchthe treasure he guards. The happening of any event outside the usualroutine at once arouses a cashier's distrust, and this sudden flightof a stranger with money which did not belong to him quite justifiedthe perturbation of the cashier. From that point onward, innocence ofconduct or explanation so explicit as to satisfy any ordinary man, becomes evidence of more subtle guilt to the mind of a bank official. The ordinary citizen, seeing the Lieutenant finally overtake andaccost the hurrying girl, raise his cap, then pour into heroutstretched hand the gold he had taken, would have known at once thathere was an every-day exercise of natural politeness. Not so thecashier. The farther he got from the bank, the more poignantly did herealize that these two in front, both strangers to him, had, by theircombined action, lured him, pistol and all, away from his post duringthe dullest hour of the day. It was not the decamping with those fewpieces of gold which now troubled him: it was fear of what might begoing on behind him. He was positive that these two had acted inconjunction. The uniform worn by the man did not impose upon him. Anythief could easily come by a uniform, and, as his mind glanced rapidlybackwards over the various points of the scheme, he saw how effectualthe plan was: first, the incredible remissness of the woman in leavingher gold on the counter; second, the impetuous disappearance of theman with the money; and, third, his own heedless plunge into thestreet after them. He saw the whole plot in a flash: he had literallyleaped into the trap, and during his five or ten minutes' absence, theaccomplices of the pair might have overawed the unarmed clerks, andwalked off with the treasure. His cash drawer was unlocked, and eventhe big safe stood wide open. Surprise had as effectually lured himaway as if he had been a country bumpkin. Bitterly and breathlesslydid he curse his own precipitancy. His duty was to guard the bank, yetit had not been the bank that was robbed, but, at best a carelesswoman who had failed to pick up her money. He held the check for it, and the loss, if any, was hers, not the bank's, yet here he was, running bareheaded down the street like a fool, and now those twostood quite calmly together, he handing her the money, and thusspreading a mantle of innocence over the vile trick. But whatever washappening in the bank, he would secure two of the culprits at least. The two, quite oblivious of the danger that threatened them, weresomewhat startled by a panting man, trembling with rage, bareheaded, and flourishing a deadly weapon, sweeping down upon them. 

"Come back to the bank instantly, you two!" he shouted. 

"Why?" asked the Lieutenant in a quiet voice. 

"Because I say so, for one thing. "

"That reason is unanswerable, " replied the Lieutenant with a slightlaugh, which further exasperated his opponent. "I think you areexciting yourself unnecessarily. May I beg you to put that pistol inyour pocket? On the cruiser we always cover up the guns when ladieshonor us with their presence. You wish me to return because I had noauthority for taking the money? Right: come along. "

The cashier regarded this as bluff, and an attempt to give the womanopportunity to escape. 

"You must come back also, " he said to the girl. 

"I'd rather not, " she pleaded in a low voice, and it was hardlypossible to have made a more injudicious remark if she had taken thewhole afternoon to prepare. 

Renewed determination shone from the face of the cashier. 

"You must come back to the bank, " he reiterated. 

"Oh, I say, " protested the Lieutenant, "you are now exceeding yourauthority. I alone am the culprit. The young lady is quite blameless, and you have no right to detain her for a moment. "

The girl, who had been edging away and showing signs of flight, whichthe bareheaded man, visibly on the alert, leaned forward ready tointercept, seemed to make up her mind to bow to the inevitable. Ignoring the cashier, she looked up at the blond Lieutenant with aslight smile on her pretty lips. 

"It was really all my fault at the beginning, " she said, "and verystupid of me. I am slightly acquainted with the bank manager, and I amsure he will vouch for me, if he is there. "

With that she turned and walked briskly toward the bank, at so rapid apace as to indicate that she did not wish an escort. The bareheadedofficial found his anger unaccountably deserting him, while a greatfear that he had put his foot in it took its place. 

"Really, " said the Lieutenant gently, as they strode along together, "an official in your position should be a good judge of human nature. How any sane person, especially a young man, can look at thatbeautiful girl and suspect her of evil, passes my comprehension. Doyou know her?"

"No, " said the cashier shortly. "Do you?"

The Lieutenant laughed genially. 

"Still suspicious, eh?" he asked. "No, I don't know her, but to use abanking term, you may bet your bottom dollar I'm going to. Indeed, Iam rather grateful to you for your stubbornness in forcing us toreturn. It's a quality I like, and you possess it in marvelousdevelopment, so I intend to stand by you when the managerial censureis due. I'm very certain I met your manager at the dinner they gave uslast night. Mr. Morton, isn't he?"

"Yes, " growled the cashier, in gruff despondency. 

"Ah, that's awfully jolly. One of the finest fellows I've met in tenyears. Now, the lady said she was acquainted with him, so if I don'twheedle an introduction out of him, it will show that a man at adinner and a man in a bank are two different individuals. You werelooking for plots; so there is mine laid bare to you. It's anintroduction, not gold, I'm conspiring for. "

The cashier had nothing further to say. When they entered the banktogether he saw the clerks all busily at work, and knew that nostartling event had happened during his absence. The girl had gonedirect to the manager's room, and thither the young men followed her. The bank manager was standing at his desk, trying to preserve a severefinancial cast of countenance, which the twinkle in his eyes belied. The girl, also standing, had evidently been giving him a rapid sketchof what had occurred, but now fell into silence when accuser andaccomplice appeared. 

The advent of the Englishman was a godsend to the manager. He was toocourteous a gentleman to laugh in the face of a lady who veryseriously was relating a set of incidents which appealed to his senseof humor, so the coming of the Lieutenant enabled him to switch offhis mirth on another subject, and in reply to the officer's cordial"Good-morning, Mr. Morton, " he replied:

"Why, Lieutenant, I'm delighted to see you. That was a very jolly songyou sang for us last night: I'll never forget it. What do you call it?Whittington Fair?" And he laughed outright, as at a genialrecollection. 

The Lieutenant blushed red as a girl, and stammered:

"Really, Mr. Morton, you know, that's not according to the rules ofevidence. When a fellow comes up for trial, previous convictions arenever allowed to be mentioned till after the sentence. Whiddicomb Fairshould not be held against me in the present crisis. "

The manager chuckled gleefully. The cashier, when he saw how the landlay, had quietly withdrawn, closing the door behind him. 

"Well, Lieutenant, I think I must have this incident cabled toEurope, " said Morton, "so the effete nations of your continent mayknow that a plain bank cashier isn't afraid to tackle the Britishnavy. Indeed, Mr. Drummond, if you read history, you will learn thatthis is a dangerous coast for your warships. It seems ratherinhospitable that a guest of our town cannot pick all the gold hewants out of a bank, but a cashier has necessarily somewhat narrowviews on the subject. I was just about to apologize to Miss Amhurst, who is a valued client of ours, when you came in, and I hope, MissAmhurst"-- he continued gravely, turning to the girl-- "that you willexcuse us for the inconvenience to which you have been put. "

"Oh, it does not matter in the least, " replied the young woman, withnevertheless a sigh of relief. "It was all my own fault in socarelessly leaving the money. Some time, when less in a hurry than Iam at the present moment, I will tell you how I came to make theblunder. "

Meanwhile the manager caught and interpreted correctly an imploringlook from the Lieutenant. 

"Before you go, Miss Amhurst, will you permit me to introduce to youmy friend, Lieutenant Drummond, of H. M. S. 'Consternation. '"

This ritual to convention being performed, the expression on thegirl's face showed the renewal of her anxiety to be gone, and as sheturned to the door, the officer sprang forward and opened it for her. If the manager expected the young man to return, he was disappointed, for Drummond threw over his shoulder the hasty remark:

"I will see you at the Club this evening, " whereupon the genialMorton, finding himself deserted, sat down in his swivel chair andlaughed quietly to himself. 

There was the slightest possible shade of annoyance on the girl's faceas the sailor walked beside her from the door of the manager's room, through the public portion of the bank to the exit, and the young mannoticing this, became momentarily tongue-tied, but neverthelesspersisted, with a certain awkward doggedness which was not going toallow so slight a hint that his further attendance was unnecessary, tobaffle him. He did not speak until they had passed down the stonesteps to the pavement, and then his utterance began with ahalf-embarrassed stammer, as if the shadow of displeasure demandedjustification on his part. 

"You-- you see, Miss Amhurst, we have been properly introduced. "

For the first time he heard the girl laugh, just a little, and thesound was very musical to him. 

"The introduction was of the slightest, " she said. "I cannot claimeven an acquaintance with Mr. Morton, although I did so in thepresence of his persistent subordinate. I have met the manager of thebank but once before, and that for a few moments only, when he showedme where to sign my name in a big book. "

"Nevertheless, " urged Drummond, "I shall defend the validity of thatintroduction against all comers. The head of a bank is a mostimportant man in every country, and his commendation is really verymuch sought after. "

"You appear to possess it. He complimented your singing, you know, "and there was a roguish twinkle in the girl's eye as she glanced upsideways at him, while a smile came to her lips as she saw the coloragain mount to his cheeks. She had never before met a man who blushed, and she could not help regarding him rather as a big boy than a personto be taken seriously. His stammer became more pronounced. 

"I-- I think you are laughing at me, Miss Amhurst, and indeed I don'twonder at it, and I-- I am afraid you consider me even more persistentthan the cashier. But I did want to tell you how sorry I am to havecaused you annoyance. "

"Oh, you have not done so, " replied the girl quickly. "As I saidbefore, it was all my own fault in the beginning. "

"No, I shouldn't have taken the gold. I should have come up with you, and told you that it still awaited you in the bank, and now I beg yourpermission to walk down the street with you, because if any one werelooking at us from these windows, and saw us pursued by a bareheadedman with a revolver, they will now, on looking out again, learn thatit is all right, and may even come to regard the revolver and thehatless one as an optical delusion. "

Again the girl laughed. 

"I am quite unknown in Bar Harbor, having fewer acquaintances thaneven a stranger like yourself, therefore so far as I am concerned itdoes not in the least matter whether any one saw us or not. We shallwalk together, then, as far as the spot where the cashier overtook us, and this will give me an opportunity of explaining, if not ofexcusing, my leaving the money on the counter. I am sure my conductmust have appeared inexplicable both to you and the cashier, although, of course, you would be too polite to say so. "

"I assure you, Miss Amhurst--"

"I know what you would say, " she interrupted, with a vivacity whichhad not heretofore characterized her, "but, you see, the distance tothe corner is short, and, as I am in a hurry, if you don't wish mystory to be continued in our next--"

"Ah, if there is to be a next--" murmured the young man so ferventlythat it was now the turn of color to redden her cheeks. 

"I am talking heedlessly, " she said quickly. "What I want to say isthis: I have never had much money. Quite recently I inherited what hadbeen accumulated by a relative whom I never knew. It seemed soincredible, so strange-- well, it seems incredible and strange yet--and I have been expecting to wake and find it all a dream. Indeed, when you overtook me at this spot where we now stand, I feared you hadcome to tell me it was a mistake; to hurl me from the clouds to thehard earth again. "

"But it was just the reverse of that, " he cried eagerly. "Just thereverse, remember. I came to confirm your dream, and you received frommy hand the first of your fortune. "

"Yes, " she admitted, her eyes fixed on the sidewalk. 

"I see how it was, " he continued enthusiastically. "I suppose you hadnever drawn a check before. "

"Never, " she conceded. 

"And this was merely a test. You set up your dream against the hardcommon sense of a bank, which has no dreams. You were to transformyour vision into the actual, or find it vanish. When the commonplacecashier passed forth the coin, their jingle said to you, 'The supposedphantasy is real, ' but the gold pieces themselves at that suprememoment meant no more to you than so many worthless counters, so youturned your back upon them. "

She looked up at him, her eyes, though moist, illumined with pleasureinspired by the sympathy in his tones rather than the import of hiswords. The girl's life heretofore had been as scant of kindness as ofcash, and there was a deep sincerity in his voice which was asrefreshing to her lonesome heart as it was new to her experience. Thisman was not so stupid as he had pretended to be. He had accuratelydivined the inner meaning of what had happened. She had forgotten thenecessity for haste which had been so importunate a few minutesbefore. 

"You must be a mind-reader, " she said. 

"No, I am not at all a clever person, " he laughed. "Indeed, as I toldyou, I am always blundering into trouble, and making thingsuncomfortable for my friends. I regret to say I am rather under acloud just now in the service, and I have been called upon to endurethe frown of my superiors. "

"Why, what has happened?" she asked. After their temporary halt at thecorner where they had been overtaken, they now strolled along togetherlike old friends, her prohibition out of mind. 

"Well, you see, I was temporarily in command of the cruiser comingdown the Baltic, and passing an island rock a few miles away, Ithought it would be a good opportunity to test a new gun that had beenput aboard when we left England. The sea was very calm, and the rockmost temptsome. Of course I knew it was Russian territory, but whocould have imagined that such a point in space was inhabited byanything else than sea-gulls. "

"What!" cried the girl, looking up at him with new interest. "Youdon't mean to say you are the officer that Russia demanded fromEngland, and England refused to give up?"

"Oh, England could not give me up, of course, but she apologized, andassured Russia she had no evil intent. Still, anything that sets thediplomatists at work is frowned upon, and the man who does an actwhich his government is forced to disclaim becomes unpopular with hissuperiors. "

"I read about it in the papers at the time. Didn't the rock fire backat you?"

"Yes, it did, and no one could have been more surprised than I when Isaw the answering puff of smoke. "

"How came a cannon to be there?"

"Nobody knows. I suppose that rock in the Baltic is a concealed fort, with galleries and gun-rooms cut in the stone after the fashion of ourdefences at Gibraltar. I told the court-martial that I had added avaluable bit of information to our naval knowledge, but I don'tsuppose this contention exercised any influence on the minds of myjudges. I also called their attention to the fact that my shell hadhit, while the Russian shot fell half a mile short. That remark nearlycost me my commission. A court-martial has no sense of humor. "

"I suppose everything is satisfactorily settled now?"

"Well, hardly that. You see, Continental nations are extremelysuspicious of Britain's good intentions, as indeed they are of thegood intentions of each other. No government likes to have-- well, what we might call a 'frontier incident' happen, and even if a countryis quite in the right, it nevertheless looks askance at any officialof its own who, through his stupidity, brings about an internationalcomplication. As concerns myself, I am rather under a cloud, as I toldyou. The court-martial acquitted me, but it did so with reluctance anda warning. I shall have to walk very straight for the next year ortwo, and be careful not to stub my toe, for the eyes of the Admiraltyare upon me. However, I think I can straighten this matter out. I havesix months' leave coming on shortly, which I intend to spend in St. Petersburg. I shall make it my business to see privately some of theofficials in the Admiralty there, and when they realize by personalinspection what a well-intentioned idiot I am, all distrust willvanish. "

"I should do nothing of the kind, " rejoined the girl earnestly, quiteforgetting the shortness of their acquaintance, as she had forgottenthe flight of time, while on his part he did not notice anyincongruity in the situation. "I'd leave well enough alone, " sheadded. 

"Why do you think that?" he asked. 

"Your own country has investigated the matter, and has deliberatelyrun the risk of unpleasantness by refusing to give you up. How, then, can you go there voluntarily? You would be acting in your privatecapacity directly in opposition to the decision arrived at by yourgovernment. "

"Technically, that is so; still, England would not hold the positionshe does in the world to-day if her men had not often taken a coursein their private capacity which the government would never havesanctioned. As things stand now, Russia has not insisted on herdemand, but has sullenly accepted England's decision, still quiteconvinced that my act was not only an invasion of Russia's domain, buta deliberate insult; therefore the worst results of an inconsiderateaction on my part remain. If I could see the Minister for ForeignAffairs, or the head of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg face to facefor ten minutes, I'd undertake to remove that impression. "

"You have great faith in your persuasive powers, " she said demurely. 

The Lieutenant began to stammer again. 

"No, no, it isn't so much that, but I have great faith in the Russianas a judge of character. I suppose I am imagined to be a venomous, brow-beating, truculent Russophobe, who has maliciously violated theirterritory, flinging a shell into their ground and an insult into theirface. They are quite sincere in this belief. I want to remove thatimpression, and there's nothing like an ocular demonstration. I likethe Russians. One of my best friends is a Russian. "

The girl shook her head. 

"I shouldn't attempt it, " she persisted. "Suppose Russia arrested you, and said to England, 'We've got this man in spite of you'?"

The Lieutenant laughed heartily. 

"That is unthinkable: Russia wouldn't do such a thing. In spite of allthat is said about the Russian Government, its members are gentlemen. Of course, if such a thing happened, there would be trouble. That is apoint where we're touchy. A very cheap Englishman, wrongfullydetained, may cause a most expensive campaign. Our diplomatists mayact correctly enough, and yet leave a feeling of resentment behind. Take this very case. Britain says coldly to Russia:

"'We disclaim the act, and apologize. '

"Now, it would be much more to the purpose if she said genially:

"'We have in our employment an impetuous young fool with a thirst forinformation. He wished to learn how a new piece of ordnance would act, so fired it off with no more intention of striking Russia than ofhitting the moon. He knows much more about dancing than about foreignaffairs. We've given him a month's leave, and he will slip acrossprivately to St. Petersburg to apologize and explain. The moment yousee him you will recognize he is no menace to the peace of nations. Meanwhile, if you can inculcate in him some cold, calm common-sensebefore he returns, we'll be ever so much obliged. '"

"So you are determined to do what you think the government should havedone. "

"Oh, quite. There will be nothing frigidly official about myunauthorized mission. I have a cousin in the embassy at St. Petersburg, but I shan't go near him; neither shall I go to an hotel, but will get quiet rooms somewhere that I may not run the risk ofmeeting any chance acquaintances. "

"It seems to me you are about to afford the Russian Government anexcellent opportunity of spiriting you off to Siberia, and nobodywould be the wiser. "

Drummond indulged in the free-hearted laugh of a youth to whom life isstill rather a good joke. 

"I shouldn't mind studying the Siberian system from the inside if theyallowed me to return before my leave was up. I believe that sort ofthing has been exaggerated by sensational writers. The RussianGovernment would not countenance anything of the kind, and if theminor officials tried to play tricks, there's always my cousin in thebackground, and it would be hard luck if I couldn't get a line to him. Oh, there's no danger in my project!"

Suddenly the girl came to a standstill, and gave expression to alittle cry of dismay. 

"What's wrong?" asked the Lieutenant. 

"Why, we've walked clear out into the country!"

"Oh, is that all? I hadn't noticed. "

"And there are people waiting for me. I must run. "

"Nonsense, let them wait. "

"I should have been back long since. "

They had turned, and she was hurrying. 

"Think of your new fortune, Miss Amhurst, safely lodged in our friendMorton's bank, and don't hurry for any one. "

"I didn't say it was a fortune: there's only ten thousand dollarsthere. "

"That sounds formidable, but unless the people who are waiting for youmuster more than ten thousand apiece, I don't think you should makehaste on their account. "

"It's the other way about, Mr. Drummond. Individually they are poorerthan I, therefore I should have returned long ago. Now, I fear, theywill be in a temper. "

"Well, if anybody left me two thousand pounds, I'd take an afternoonoff to celebrate. Here we are in the suburbs again. Won't you changeyour mind and your direction; let us get back into the country, sitdown on the hillside, look at the Bay, and gloat over your wealth?"

Dorothy Amhurst shook her head and held out her hand. 

"I must bid you good-by here, Lieutenant Drummond. This is my shortestway home. "

"May I not accompany you just a little farther?"

"Please, no, I wish to go the rest of the way alone. "

He held her hand, which she tried to withdraw, and spoke withanimation. 

"There's so much I wanted to say, but perhaps the most important isthis: I shall see you the night of the 14th, at the ball we are givingon the 'Consternation'?"

"It is very likely, " laughed the girl, "unless you overlook me in thethrong. There will be a great mob. I hear you have issued manyinvitations. "

"We hope all our friends will come. It's going to be a great function. Your Secretary of the Navy has promised to look in on us, and ourAmbassador from Washington will be there. I assure you we are doingour best, with festooned electric lights, hanging draperies, and allthat, for we want to make the occasion at least remotely worthy of thehospitality we have received. Of course you have your card, but I wishyou hadn't, so that I might have the privilege of sending you one ormore invitations. "

"That would be quite unnecessary, " said the girl, again with a slightlaugh and heightened color. 

"If any of your friends need cards of invitation, won't you let meknow, so that I may send them to you?"

"I'm sure I shan't need any, but if I do, I promise to remember yourkindness, and apply. "

"It will be a pleasure for me to serve you. With whom shall you come?I should like to know the name, in case I should miss you in thecrowd. "

"I expect to be with Captain Kempt, of the United States Navy. "

"Ah, " said the Lieutenant, with a note of disappointment in his voicewhich he had not the diplomacy to conceal. His hold of her handrelaxed, and she took the opportunity to withdraw it. 

"What sort of a man is Captain Kempt? I shall be on the lookout forhim, you know. "

"I think he is the handsomest man I have ever seen, and I know he isthe kindest and most courteous. "

"Really? A young man, I take it?"

"There speaks the conceit of youth, " said Dorothy, smiling. "CaptainKempt, U. S. N. , retired. His youngest daughter is just two years olderthan myself. "

"Oh, yes, Captain Kempt. I-- I remember him now. He was at the dinnerlast night, and sat beside our captain. What a splendid story-tellerhe is!" cried the Lieutenant with honest enthusiasm. 

"I shall tell him that, and ask him how he liked your song. Good-by, "and before the young man could collect his thoughts to make any reply, she was gone. 

Skimming lightly over the ground at first, she gradually slackened herpace, and slowed down to a very sober walk until she came to athree-storied so-called "cottage" overlooking the Bay, then with asigh she opened the gate, and went into the house by the servant'sentrance. 

 CHAPTER II

 IN THE SEWING-ROOM

THREE women occupied the sewing-room with the splendid outlook: amother and her two daughters. The mother sat in a low rocking-chair, apicture of mournful helplessness, her hands listlessly resting on herlap, while tears had left their traces on her time-worn face. Theelder daughter paced up and down the room as striking an example ofenergy and impatience as was the mother of despondency. Her comelybrow was marred by an angry frown. The younger daughter stood by thelong window, her forehead resting against the pane, while her fingersdrummed idly on the window sill. Her gaze was fixed on the blue Bay, where rested the huge British warship "Consternation, " surrounded by asection of the United States squadron seated like white swans in thewater. Sails of snow glistened here and there on the bosom of the Bay, while motor-boats and what-not darted this way and that impudentlyamong the stately ships of the fleet. 

In one corner of the room stood a sewing-machine, and on the longtable were piles of mimsy stuff out of which feminine creations areconstructed. There was no carpet on the floor, and no ceilingoverhead; merely the bare rafters and the boards that bore the pineshingles of the outer roof; yet this attic was notable for theglorious view to be seen from its window. It was an ideal workshop. 

The elder girl, as she walked to and fro, spoke with nervousirritation in her voice. 

"There is absolutely no excuse, mamma, and it's weakness in you topretend that there may be. The woman has been gone for hours. There'sher lunch on the table which has never been tasted, and the servantbrought it up at twelve. "

She pointed to a tray on which were dishes whose cold contents boreout the truth of her remark. 

"Perhaps she's gone on strike, " said the younger daughter, withoutremoving her eyes from H. M. S. "Consternation. " "I shouldn't wonder ifwe went downstairs again we'd find the house picketed to keep awayblacklegs. "

"Oh, you can always be depended on to talk frivolous nonsense, " saidher elder sister scornfully. "It's the silly sentimental fashion inwhich both you and father treat work-people that makes them sodifficult to deal with. If the working classes were taught theirplace--"

"Working classes! How you talk! Dorothy is as much a lady as we are, and sometimes I think rather more of a lady than either of us. She isthe daughter of a clergyman. "

"So she says, " sniffed the elder girl. 

"Well, she ought to know, " replied the younger indifferently. 

"It's people like you who spoil dependents in her position, with yourDorothy this and Dorothy that. Her name is Amhurst. "

"Christened Dorothy, as witness godfather and godmother, " murmured theyounger without turning her head. 

"I think, " protested their mother meekly, as if to suggest acompromise, and throw oil on the troubled waters, "that she isentitled to be called Miss Amhurst, and treated with kindness but withreserve. "

"Tush!" exclaimed the elder indignantly, indicating her rejection ofthe compromise. 

"I don't see, " murmured the younger, "why you should storm, Sabina. You nagged and nagged at her until she'd finished your ball-dress. Itis mamma and I that have a right to complain. Our dresses are almostuntouched, while you can sail grandly along the decks of the'Consternation' like a fully rigged yacht. There, I'm mixing mysimiles again, as papa always says. A yacht doesn't sail along thedeck of a battleship, does it?"

"It's a cruiser, " weakly corrected the mother, who knew something ofnaval affairs. 

"Well, cruiser, then. Sabina is afraid that papa won't go unless weall have grand new dresses, but mother can put on her old black silk, and I am going if I have to wear a cotton gown. "

"To think of that person accepting our money, and absenting herself inthis disgraceful way!"

"Accepting our money! That shows what it is to have an imagination. Why, I don't suppose Dorothy has had a penny for three months, and youknow the dress material was bought on credit. "

"You must remember, " chided the mother mildly, "that your father isnot rich. "

"Oh, I am only pleading for a little humanity. The girl for somereason has gone out. She hasn't had a bite to eat since breakfasttime, and I know there's not a silver piece in her pocket to buy a bunin a milk-shop. "

"She has no business to be absent without leave, " said Sabina. 

"How you talk! As if she were a sailor on a battleship-- I mean acruiser. "

"Where can the girl have gone?" wailed the mother, almost wringing herhands, partially overcome by the crisis. "Did she say anything aboutgoing out to you, Katherine? She sometimes makes a confidant of you, doesn't she?"

"Confidant!" exclaimed Sabina wrathfully. 

"I know where she has gone, " said Katherine with an innocent sigh. 

"Then why didn't you tell us before?" exclaimed mother and daughter inalmost identical terms. 

"She has eloped with the captain of the 'Consternation, '" explainedKatherine calmly, little guessing that her words contained a color oftruth. "Papa sat next him at the dinner last night, and says he is ajolly old salt and a bachelor. Papa was tremendously taken with him, and they discussed tactics together. Indeed, papa has quite a distinctEnglish accent this morning, and I suspect a little bit of a headachewhich he tries to conceal with a wavering smile. "

"You can't conceal a headache, because it's invisible, " said themother seriously. "I wish you wouldn't talk so carelessly, Katherine, and you mustn't speak like that of your father. "

"Oh, papa and I understand one another, " affirmed Katherine with greatconfidence, and now for the first time during this conversation theyoung girl turned her face away from the window, for the door hadopened to let in the culprit. 

"Now, Amhurst, what is the meaning of this?" cried Sabina before herfoot was fairly across the threshold. 

All three women looked at the newcomer. Her beautiful face was aglow, probably through the exertion of coming up the stairs, and her eyesshone like those of the Goddess of Freedom as she returned steadfastlythe supercilious stare with which the tall Sabina regarded her. 

"I was detained, " she said quietly. 

"Why did you go away without permission?"

"Because I had business to do which could not be transacted in thisroom. "

"That doesn't answer my question. Why did you not ask permission?"

The girl slowly raised her two hands, and showed her shapely wristsclose together, and a bit of the forearm not covered by the sleeve ofher black dress. 

"Because, " she said slowly, "the shackles have fallen from thesewrists. "

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, " said Sabina, apparentlyimpressed in spite of herself, but the younger daughter clapped herhands rapturously. 

"Splendid, splendid, Dorothy, " she cried. "I don't know what you meaneither, but you look like Maxine Elliott in that play where she--"

"Will you keep quiet!" interrupted the elder sister over her shoulder. 

"I mean that I intend to sew here no longer, " proclaimed Dorothy. 

"Oh, Miss Amhurst, Miss Amhurst, " bemoaned the matron. "You willheartlessly leave us in this crisis when we are helpless; when thereis not a sewing woman to be had in the place for love or money. Everyone is working night and day to be ready for the ball on thefourteenth, and you-- you whom we have nurtured--"

"I suppose she gets more money, " sneered the elder daughter bitterly. 

"Oh, Dorothy, " said Katherine, coming a step forward and clasping herhands, "do you mean to say I must attend the ball in a calico dressafter all? But I'm going, nevertheless, if I dance in a morningwrapper. "

"Katherine, " chided her mother, "don't talk like that. "

"Of course, where more money is in the question, kindness does notcount, " snapped the elder daughter. 

Dorothy Amhurst smiled when Sabina mentioned the word kindness. 

"With me, of course, it's entirely a question of money, " she admitted. 

"Dorothy, I never thought it of you, " said Katherine, with anexaggerated sigh. "I wish it were a fancy dress ball, then I'd borrowmy brother Jack's uniform, and go in that. "

"Katherine, I'm shocked at you, " complained the mother. 

"I don't care: I'd make a stunning little naval cadet. But, Dorothy, you must be starved to death; you've never touched your lunch. "

"You seem to have forgotten everything to-day, " said Sabina severely. "Duty and everything else. "

"You are quite right, " murmured Dorothy. 

"And did you elope with the captain of the 'Consternation, ' and wereyou married secretly, and was it before a justice of the peace? Dotell us all about it. "

"What are you saying?" asked Dorothy, with a momentary alarm cominginto her eyes. 

"Oh, I was just telling mother and Sab that you had skipped by thelight of the noon, with the captain of the 'Consternation, ' who was ajolly old bachelor last night, but may be a married man to-day if mysuspicions are correct. Oh, Dorothy, must I go to the ball in a dressof print?"

The sewing girl bent an affectionate look on the impulsive Katherine. 

"Kate, dear, " she said, "you shall wear the grandest ball dress thatever was seen in Bar Harbor. "

"How dare you call my sister Kate, and talk such nonsense?" demandedSabina. 

"I shall always call you Miss Kempt, and now, if I have yourpermission, I will sit down. I am tired. "

"Yes, and hungry, too, " cried Katherine. "What shall I get you, Dorothy? This is all cold. "

"Thank you, I am not in the least hungry. "

"Wouldn't you like a cup of tea?"

Dorothy laughed a little wearily. 

"Yes, I would, " she said, "and some bread and butter. "

"And cake, too, " suggested Katherine. 

"And cake, too, if you please. "

Katherine skipped off downstairs. 

"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Sabina with a gasp, drawing herselftogether, as if the bottom had fallen out of the social fabric. 

Mrs. Captain Kempt folded her hands one over the other and put on alook of patient resignation, as one who finds all the old landmarksswept away from before her. 

"Is there anything else we can get for you?" asked Sabina icily. 

"Yes, " replied Dorothy, with serene confidence, "I should be very muchobliged if Captain Kempt would obtain for me a card of invitation tothe ball on the 'Consternation. '"

"Really!" gasped Sabina, "and may not my mother supplement my father'sefforts by providing you with a ball dress for the occasion?"

"I could not think of troubling her, Miss Kempt. Some of my customershave flattered me by saying that my taste in dress is artistic, andthat my designs, if better known, might almost set a fashion in asmall way, so I shall look after my costume myself; but if Mrs. Captain Kempt were kind enough to allow me to attend the ball underher care, I should be very grateful for it. "

"How admirable! And is there nothing that I can do to forward yourambitions, Miss Amhurst?"

"I am going to the ball merely as a looker-on, and perhaps you mightsmile at me as you pass by with your different partners, so thatpeople would say I was an acquaintance of yours. "

After this there was silence in the sewing room until Katherine, followed by a maid, entered with tea and cakes. Some dress materialsthat rested on a gypsy table were swept aside by the impulsiveKatherine, and the table, with the tray upon it, was placed at theright hand of Dorothy Amhurst. When the servant left the room, Katherine sidled to the long sewing table, sprang up lightly upon it, and sat there swinging a dainty little foot. Sabina had seated herselfin the third chair of the room, the frown still adding severity to anotherwise beautiful countenance. It was the younger daughter whospoke. 

"Now, Dorothy, tell us all about the elopement. "

"What elopement?"

"I soothed my mother's fears by telling her that you had eloped withthe captain of the 'Consternation. ' I must have been wrong in thatguess, because if the secret marriage I hoped had taken place, youwould have said to Sabina that the shackles were on your wristsinstead of off. But something important has happened, and I want toknow all about it. "

Dorothy made no response to this appeal, and after a minute's silenceSabina said practically:

"All that has happened is that Miss Amhurst wishes father to presenther with a ticket to the ball on the 'Consternation, ' and taking thatfor granted, she requests mother to chaperon her, and furtherexpresses a desire that I shall be exceedingly polite to her while weare on board the cruiser. "

"Oh, " cried Katherine jauntily, "the last proviso is past praying for, but the other two are quite feasible. I'd be delighted to chaperonDorothy myself, and as for politeness, good gracious, I'll be politeenough to make up for all the courteous deficiency of the rest of thefamily. 

 'For I hold that on the seas, The expression if you please A particularly gentlemanly tone implants, And so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. '

Now, Dorothy, don't be bashful. Here's your sister and your cousin andyour aunt waiting for the horrifying revelation. What has happened?"

"I'll tell you what is going to happen, Kate, " said the girl, smilingat the way the other ran on. "Mrs. Captain Kempt will perhaps consentto take you and me to New York or Boston, where we will put up at thebest hotel, and trick ourselves out in ball costumes that will be theenvy of Bar Harbor. I shall pay the expense of this trip as partialreturn for your father's kindness in getting me an invitation and yourmother's kindness in allowing me to be one of your party. "

"Oh, then it isn't an elopement, but a legacy. Has the wicked butwealthy relative died?"

"Yes, " said Dorothy solemnly, her eyes on the floor. 

"Oh, I am so sorry for what I have just said!"

"You always speak without thinking, " chided her mother. 

"Yes, don't I? But, you see, I thought somehow that Dorothy had norelatives; but if she had one who was wealthy, and who allowed her toslave at sewing, then I say he was wicked, dead or alive, so there!"

"When work is paid for it is not slavery, " commented Sabina withseverity and justice. 

The sewing girl looked up at her. 

"My grandfather, in Virginia, owned slaves before the war, and I haveoften thought that any curse which may have been attached to slaveryhas at least partly been expiated by me, as foreshadowed in the Bible, where it says that the sins of the fathers shall affect the third orfourth generations. I was thinking of that when I spoke of theshackles falling from my wrists, for sometimes, Miss Kempt, you havemade me doubt whether wages and slavery are as incompatible as youappear to imagine. My father, who was a clergyman, often spoke to meof his father's slaves, and while he never defended the institution, Ithink the past in his mind was softened by a glamor that possiblyobscured the defects of life on the plantation. But often indepression and loneliness I have thought I would rather have been oneof my grandfather's slaves than endure the life I have been calledupon to lead. "

"Oh, Dorothy, don't talk like that, or you'll make me cry, " pleadedKate. "Let us be cheerful whatever happens. Tell us about the money. Begin 'Once upon a time, ' and then everything will be all right. Nomatter how harrowing such a story begins, it always ends with lashin'sand lashin's of money, or else with a prince in a gorgeous uniform andgold lace, and you get the half of his kingdom. Do go on. "

Dorothy looked up at her impatient friend, and a radiant cheerfulnesschased away the gathering shadows from her face. 

"Well, once upon a time I lived very happily with my father in alittle rectory in a little town near the Hudson River. His family hadbeen ruined by the war, and when the plantation was sold, or allowedto go derelict, whatever money came from it went to his elder and onlybrother. My father was a dreamy scholar and not a business man as hisbrother seems to have been. My mother had died when I was a child; Ido not remember her. My father was the kindest and most patient ofmen, and all I know he taught me. We were very poor, and I undertookthe duties of housekeeper, which I performed as well as I was able, constantly learning by my failures. But my father was so indifferentto material comforts that there were never any reproaches. He taughtme all that I know in the way of what you might call accomplishments, and they were of a strangely varied order-- a smattering of Latin andGreek, a good deal of French, history, literature, and even dancing, as well as music, for he was an excellent musician. Our meager incomeceased with my father's life, and I had to choose what I should do toearn my board and keep, like Orphant Annie, in Whitcomb Riley's poem. There appeared to be three avenues open to me. I could be a governess, domestic servant, or dressmaker. I had already earned something at thelatter occupation, and I thought if I could set up in business formyself, there was a greater chance of gaining an independence alongthat line than either as a governess or servant. But to do this Ineeded at least a little capital. 

"Although there had been no communication between the two brothers formany years, I had my uncle's address, and I wrote acquainting him withthe fact of my father's death, and asking for some assistance to setup in business for myself, promising to repay the amount advanced withinterest as soon as I was able, for although my father had never saidanything against his elder brother, I somehow had divined, rather thanknew, that he was a hard man, and his answering letter gave proof ofthat, for it contained no expression of regret for his brother'sdeath. My uncle declined to make the advance I asked for, saying thatmany years before he had given my father two hundred dollars which hadnever been repaid. I was thus compelled, for the time at least, togive up my plan for opening a dressmaking establishment, even on thesmallest scale, and was obliged to take a situation similar to thatwhich I hold here. In three years I was able to save the two hundreddollars, which I sent to my uncle, and promised to remit the interestif he would tell me the age of the debt. He replied giving theinformation, and enclosing a receipt for the principal, with a verycorrect mathematical statement of the amount of interest if compoundedannually, as was his legal right, but expressing his readiness toaccept simple interest, and give me a receipt in full. "

"The brute!" ejaculated Katherine, which remark brought upon her amild rebuke from her mother on intemperance of language. 

"Well, go on, " said Katherine, unabashed. 

"I merely mention this detail, " continued Dorothy, "as an objectlesson in honesty. Never before since the world began was there such acase of casting bread upon the waters as was my sending the twohundred dollars. My uncle appears to have been a most methodical man. He filed away my letter which contained the money, also a typewrittencopy of his reply, and when he died, it was these documents whichturned the attention of the legal arm who acted for him to myself, formy uncle had left no will. The Californian firm communicated withlawyers in New York, and they began a series of very cautiousinquiries, which at last resulted, after I had furnished certainproofs asked for, in my being declared heiress to my uncle's estate. "

"And how much did you get? How much did you get?" demanded Katherine. 

"I asked the lawyers from New York to deposit ten thousand dollars forme in the Sixth National Bank of this town, and they did so. It was todraw a little check against that deposit, and thus learn if it wasreal, that I went out to-day. "

"Ten thousand dollars, " murmured Katherine, in accents of deepdisappointment. "Is that all?"

"Isn't that enough?" asked Dorothy, with a twinkle in her eyes. 

"No, you deserve ten times as much, and I'm not going to New York orBoston at your expense to buy new dresses. Not likely! I will attendthe ball in my calico. "

Dorothy laughed quietly, and drew from the little satchel she wore ather side a letter, which she handed to Katherine. 

"It's private and confidential, " she warned her friend. 

"Oh, I won't tell any one, " said Katherine, unfolding it. She readeagerly half-way down the page, then sprang to her feet on the top ofthe table, screaming:

"Fifteen million dollars! Fifteen million dollars!" and, swinging herarms back and forth like an athlete about to leap, sprang to thefloor, nearly upsetting the little table, tray and all, as sheembraced Dorothy Amhurst. 

"Fifteen millions! That's something like! Why, mother, do you realizethat we have under our roof one of the richest young women in theworld? Don't you see that the rest of this conference must take placein our drawing-room under the most solemn auspices? The idea of ourkeeping such an heiress in the attic!"

"I believe, " said Sabina, slowly and coldly, "that Mr. Rockefeller'sincome is--"

"Oh, blow Mr. Rockefeller and his income!" cried the indignant youngersister. 

"Katherine!" pleaded the mother tearfully. 

 CHAPTER III

 ON DECK

THROUGHOUT the long summer day a gentle excitement had fluttered thehearts of those ladies, young, or not so young, who had receivedinvitations to the ball on board the "Consternation" that night. Thelast touches were given to creations on which had been spent skill, taste, and money. Our three young women, being most tastefully andfashionably attired, were in high spirits, which state of feeling wasexhibited according to the nature of each; Sabina rather stately inher exaltation; Dorothy quiet and demure; while Katherine, despite hermother's supplications, would not be kept quiet, but swung hergraceful gown this way and that, practising the slide of a waltz, andquoting W. R. Gilbert, as was her custom. She glided over the floor inrhythm with her chant. 

 "When I first put this uniform on I said, as I looked in the glass, 'It's one to a million That any civilian My figure and form will surpass. '"

Meanwhile, in a room downstairs that good-natured veteran CaptainKempt was telling the latest stories to his future son-in-law, a youngofficer of the American Navy, who awaited, with dutiful impatience, the advent of the serene Sabina. When at last the ladies came down theparty set out through the gathering darkness of this heavenly summernight for the private pier from which they were privileged, because ofCaptain Kempt's official standing, to voyage to the cruiser on thelittle revenue cutter "Whip-poor-will, " which was later on to conveythe Secretary of the Navy and his entourage across the sameintervening waters. Just before they reached the pier their steps werearrested by the boom of a cannon, followed instantly by the suddenapparition of the "Consternation" picked out in electric light; masts, funnel and hull all outlined by incandescent stars. 

"How beautiful!" cried Sabina, whose young man stood beside her. "Itis as if a gigantic racket, all of one color, had burst, and hungsuspended there like the planets of heaven. "

"It reminds me, " whispered Katherine to Dorothy, "of an overgrownpop-corn ball, " at which remark the two girls were frivolous enough tolaugh. 

"Crash!" sounded a cannon from an American ship, and then the whitesquadron became visible in a blaze of lightning. And now all theyachts and other craft on the waters flaunted their lines of fire, andthe whole Bay was illuminated like a lake in Fairyland. 

"Now, " said Captain Kempt with a chuckle, "watch the Britisher. Ithink she's going to show us some color, " and as he spoke thereappeared, spreading from nest to mast, a huge sheet of blue, with fourgreat stars which pointed the corners of a parallelogram, and betweenthe stars shone a huge white anchor. Cheers rang out from the crew ofthe "Consternation, " and the band on board played "The Star-SpangledBanner. "

"That, " said Captain Kempt in explanation, "is the flag of the UnitedStates Secretary of the Navy, who will be with us to-night. Thevisitors have kept very quiet about this bit of illumination, but ourlads got on to the secret about a week ago, and I'll be very muchdisappointed if they don't give 'em tit for tat. "

When the band on the "Consternation" ceased playing, all lights wentout on the American squadron, and then on the flagship appeared frommast to mast a device with the Union Jack in the corner, a great redcross dividing the flag into three white squares. As this illuminationflashed out the American band struck up the British national anthem, and the outline lights appeared again. 

"That, " said the captain, "is the British man-o'-war's flag. "

The "Whip-poor-will" speedily whisked the party and others across thesparkling waters to the foot of the grand stairway which had beenspecially constructed to conduct the elect from the tide to the deck. It was more than double as broad as the ordinary gangway, was carpetedfrom top to bottom, and on every step stood a blue-jacket, each assteady as if cast in bronze, the line forming, as one might say, aliving handrail rising toward the dark sky. 

Captain Kempt and his wife went first, followed by Sabina and heryoung man with the two girls in their wake. 

"Aren't those men splendid?" whispered Katherine to her friend. "Iwish each held an old-fashioned torch. I do love a sailor. "

"So do I, " said Dorothy, then checked herself, and laughed a little. 

"I guess we all do, " sighed Katherine. 

On deck the bluff captain of the "Consternation, " in resplendentuniform, stood beside Lady Angela Burford of the British Embassy atWashington, to receive the guests of the cruiser. Behind these twowere grouped an assemblage of officers and very fashionably dressedwomen, chatting vivaciously with each other. As Dorothy looked at theprincess-like Lady Angela it seemed as if she knew her; as if herewere one who had stepped out of an English romance. Her tall, proudlyheld figure made the stoutish captain seem shorter than he actuallywas. The natural haughtiness of those classic features was somewhatmodified by a pro tem smile. Captain Kempt looked back over hisshoulder and said in a low voice:

"Now, young ladies, best foot forward. The Du Maurier woman is toreceive the Gibson girls. "

"I know I shall laugh, and I fear I shall giggle, " said Katherine, butshe encountered a glance from her elder sister quite as haughty as anyLady Angela might have bestowed, and all thought of merriment fled forthe moment; thus the ordeal passed conventionally without Katherineeither laughing or giggling. 

Sabina and her young man faded away into the crowd. Captain Kempt wasnodding to this one and that of his numerous acquaintances, andKatherine felt Dorothy shrink a little closer to her as a tall, unknown young man deftly threaded his way among the people, makingdirectly for the Captain, whom he seized by the hand in a grasp of themost cordial friendship. 

"Captain Kempt, I am delighted to meet you again. My name isDrummond-- Lieutenant Drummond, and I had the pleasure of beingintroduced to you at that dinner a week or two ago. "

"The pleasure was mine, sir, the pleasure was mine, " exclaimed theCaptain with a cordiality equal to that with which he had beengreeted. He had not at first the least recollection of the young man, but the Captain was something of an amateur politician, and possessedall a politician's expertness in facing the unknown, and making themost of any situation in which he found himself. 

"Oh, yes, Lieutenant, I remember very well that excellent song you--"

"Isn't it a perfect night?" gasped the Lieutenant. "I think we are tobe congratulated on our weather. "

He still clung to the Captain's hand, and shook it again so warmlythat the Captain said to himself:

"I must have made an impression on this young fellow, " then aloud hereplied jauntily:

"Oh, we always have good weather this time of year. You see, theUnited States Government runs the weather. Didn't you know that? Yes, our Weather Bureau is considered the best in the world. "

The Lieutenant laughed heartily, although a hollow note intervened, for the young man had got to the end of his conversation, realized hecould not shake hands for a third time, yet did not know what more tosay. The suavity of the politician came to his rescue in just the formthe Lieutenant had hoped. 

"Lieutenant Drummond, allow me to introduce my wife to you. "

The lady bowed. 

"And my daughter, Katherine, and Miss Amhurst, a friend of ours--Lieutenant Drummond, of the 'Consternation. '"

"I wonder, " said the Lieutenant, as if the thought had just occurredto him, "if the young ladies would like to go to a point where theycan have a comprehensive view of the decorations. I-- I may not be thebest guide, but I am rather well acquainted with the ship, you know. "

"Don't ask me, " said Captain Kempt. "Ask the girls. Everything I'vehad in life has come to me because I asked, and if I didn't get it thefirst time, I asked again. "

"Of course we want to see the decorations, " cried Katherine withenthusiasm, and so bowing to the Captain and Mrs. Kempt, theLieutenant led the young women down the deck, until he came to anelevated spot out of the way of all possible promenaders, on which hadbeen placed in a somewhat secluded position, yet commanding a splendidview of the throng, a settee with just room for two, that had beentaken from some one's cabin. A blue-jacket stood guard over it, but ata nod from the Lieutenant he disappeared. 

"Hello!" cried Katherine, "reserved seats, eh? How different from atheatre chair, where you are entitled to your place by holding acolored bit of cardboard. Here a man with a cutlass stands guard. Itgives one a notion of the horrors of war, doesn't it, Dorothy?"

The Lieutenant laughed quite as heartily as if he had not himselfhoped to occupy the position now held by the sprightly Katherine. Hewas cudgelling his brain to solve the problem represented by the adage"Two is company, three is none. " The girls sat together on the setteeand gazed out over the brilliantly lighted, animated throng. Peoplewere still pouring up the gangways, and the decks were rapidlybecoming crowded with a many-colored, ever-shifting galaxy ofhumanity. The hum of conversation almost drowned the popularselections being played by the cruiser's excellent band. Suddenly onepopular selection was cut in two. The sound of the instruments ceasedfor a moment, then they struck up "The Stars and Stripes for Ever. "

"Hello, " cried Katherine, "can your band play Sousa?"

"I should say we could, " boasted the Lieutenant, "and we can play hismusic, in a way to give some hints to Mr. Sousa's own musicians. "

"To beat the band, eh?-- Sousa's band?" rejoined Katherine, droppinginto slang. 

"Exactly, " smiled the Lieutenant, "and now, young ladies, will youexcuse me for a few moments? This musical selection means that yourSecretary of the Navy is on the waters, and I must be in my place withthe rest of the officers to receive him and his staff with allceremony. Please promise you will not leave this spot till I return: Iimplore you. "

"Better put the blue-jacket on guard over us, " laughed Katherine. 

"By Jove! a very good idea. "

Dorothy saw all levity depart from his face, giving way to a look ofsternness and command. Although he was engaged in a joke, thesubordinate must see no sign of fooling in his countenance. He said asharp word to a blue-jacket, who nimbly sprang to the end of thesettee, raised his hand in salute, and stiffened himself to anautomaton. Then the girls saw the tall figure of the Lieutenantwending its way to the spot where the commander stood. 

"I say, Dorothy, we're prisoners. I wonder what this Johnny would doif we attempted to fly. Isn't the Lieutenant sumptuous?"

"He seems a very agreeable person, " murmured Dorothy. 

"Agreeable! Why, he's splendid. I tell you, Dorothy, I'm going to havethe first dance with him. I'm the eldest. He's big enough to dividebetween two small girls like us, you know. "

"I don't intend to dance, " said Dorothy. 

"Nonsense, you're not going to sit here all night with nobody to speakto. I'll ask the Lieutenant to bring you a man. He'll take two orthree blue-jackets and capture anybody you want. "

"Katherine, " said Dorothy, almost as severely as if it were the eldersister who spoke, "if you say anything like that, I'll go back to thehouse. "

"You can't get back. I'll appeal to the guard. I'll have you locked upif you don't behave yourself. "

"You should behave yourself. Really, Katherine, you must be carefulwhat you say, or you'll make me feel very unhappy. "

Katherine caught her by the elbow, and gave it an affectionate littlesqueeze. 

"Don't be frightened, Miss Propriety, I wouldn't make you unhappy forthe world. But surely you're going to dance?"

Dorothy shook her head. 

"Some other time. Not to-night. There are too many people here. Ishouldn't enjoy it, and-- there are other reasons. This is all so newand strange to me: these brilliant men and beautiful women-- thelights, the music, everything-- it is as if I had stepped into anotherworld; something I had read about, or perhaps dreamed about, and neverexpected to see. "

"Why, you dear girl, I'm not going to dance either, then. "

"Oh, yes, you will, Katherine; you must. "

"I couldn't be so selfish as to leave you here all alone. "

"It isn't selfish at all, Katherine. I shall enjoy myself completelyhere. I don't really wish to talk to any one, but simply to enjoy mydream, with just a little fear at the bottom of my heart that I shallsuddenly wake up, rubbing my eyes, in the sewing room. "

Katherine pinched her. 

"Now are you awake?"

Dorothy smiled, still dreaming. 

"Hello!" cried Katherine, with renewed animation, "they've got theSecretary safe aboard the lugger, and they seem to be clearing thedecks for action. Here is my dear Lieutenant returning; tall evenamong tall men. Look at him. He's in a great hurry, yet so polite, anddoesn't want to bump against anybody. And now, Dorothy, don't you beafraid. I shall prove a perfect model of diffidence. You will be proudof me when you learn with what timidity I pronounce prunes and prism. I think I must languish a little at him. I don't know quite how it'sdone, but in old English novels the girls always languished, andperhaps an Englishman expects a little languishment in his. I wonderif he comes of a noble family. If he doesn't, I don't think I'lllanguish very much. Still, what matters the pomp of pageantry andpride of race-- isn't that the way the poem runs? I love our dearlittle Lieutenant for himself alone, and I think I will have just onedance with him, at least. "

Drummond had captured a camp-stool somewhere, and this he placed atright angles to the settee, so that he might face the two girls, andyet not interrupt their view. The sailor on guard once more fadedaway, and the band now struck up the music of the dance. 

"Well, " cried Drummond cheerfully, "I've got everything settled. I'vereceived the Secretary of the Navy: our captain is to dance with hiswife, and the Secretary is Lady Angela's partner. There they go!"

For a few minutes the young people watched the dance, then theLieutenant said:

"Ladies, I am disappointed that you have not complimented ourelectrical display. "

"I am sure it's very nice, indeed, and most ingenious, " declaredDorothy, speaking for the first time that evening to the officer, butKatherine, whose little foot was tapping the deck to the dance music, tossed her head, and declared nonchalantly that it was all very wellas a British effort at illumination, but she begged the young man toremember that America was the home of electricity. 

"Where would you have been if it were not for Edison?"

"I suppose, " said the Lieutenant cheerfully, "that we should have beenwhere Moses was when the candle went out-- in the dark. "

"You might have had torches, " said Dorothy. "My friend forgets she waswishing the sailors held torches on that suspended stairway up theship's side. "

"I meant electric torches-- Edison torches, of course. "

Katherine was displeased at the outlook. She was extremely fond ofdancing, and here this complacent young man had planted himself downon a camp stool to talk of electricity. 

"Miss Kempt, I am sorry that you are disappointed at our display. Yourslight upon British electrical engineering leaves us unscathed, because this has been done by a foreign mechanic, whom I wish topresent to you. "

"Oh, indeed, " said Katherine, rather in the usual tone of her eldersister. "I don't dance with mechanics, thank you. "

She emphasized the light fantastic word, but the Lieutenant did nottake the hint; he merely laughed again in an exasperatinglygood-natured way, and said:

"Lady Angela is going to be Jack Lamont's partner for the next waltz. "

"Oh, " said Katherine loftily, "Lady Angela may dance with anyblacksmith that pleases her, but I don't. I'm taking it for grantedthat Jack Lamont is your electrical tinsmith. "

"Yes, he is, and I think him by all odds the finest fellow aboard thisship. It's quite likely you have read about his sister. She is a yearolder than Jack, very beautiful, cultured, everything that a grandedame should be, yet she has given away her huge estate to thepeasantry, and works with them in the fields, living as they do, andfaring as they do. There was an article about her in one of the Frenchreviews not long ago. She is called the Princess Natalia. "

"The Princess Natalia!" echoed Katherine, turning her face toward theyoung man. "How can Princess Natalia be a sister of Jack Lamont? Didshe marry some old prince, and take to the fields in disgust?"

"Oh, no; Jack Lamont is a Russian. He is called Prince Ivan Lermontoffwhen he's at home, but we call him Jack Lamont for short. He's goingto help me on the Russian business I told you of. "

"What Russian business?" asked Katherine. "I don't remember yourspeaking of it. "

Dorothy went white, edged a little way from her friend, while herwidening eyes flashed a warning at the Lieutenant, who, too late, remembered that this conversation on Russia had taken place during thewalk from the bank. The young man coughed slightly behind his openhand, reddened, and stammered:

"Oh, I thought I had told you. Didn't I mention the prince to you aswe were coming here?"

"Not that I recollect, " said Katherine. "Is he a real, genuine prince?A right down regular, regular, regular royal prince?"

"I don't know about the royalty, but he's a prince in good standing inhis own land, and he is also an excellent blacksmith. " The Lieutenantchuckled a little. "He and his sister have both been touched a gooddeal by Tolstoian doctrine. Jack is the most wonderful inventor, Ithink, that is at present on the earth, Edison notwithstanding. Why, he is just now engaged on a scheme by which he can float houses fromthe mountains here down to New York. Float them-- pipe-line them wouldperhaps be a better term. You know they have pipe-lines to carrypetroleum. Very well; Jack has a solution that dissolves stone aswhite sugar dissolves in tea, and he believes he can run the fluidfrom the quarries to where building is going on. It seems that he thenputs this liquid into molds, and there you have the stone again. Idon't understand the process myself, but Jack tells me it'smarvelously cheap, and marvelously effective. He picked up the ideafrom nature one time when he and I were on our vacation at Detroit. "

"Detroit, Michigan?"

"The Detroit River. "

"Well, that runs between Michigan and Canada. "

"No, no, this is in France. I believe the real name of the river isthe Tarn. There's a gorge called Detroit-- the strait, you know. Wonderful place-- tremendous chasm. You go down in a boat, and all thetributary rivers pour into the main stream like jets from the nozzleof a hose. They tell me this is caused by the rain percolating throughthe dead leaves on the surface of the ground far above, and thus thewater becomes saturated with carbonic acid gas, and so dissolves thelimestone until the granite is reached, and the granite forms the bedof these underground rivers. It all seemed to me very wonderful, butit struck Jack on his scientific side, and he has been experimentingever since. He says he'll be able to build a city with a hose nextyear. "

"Where does he live?"

"On the cruiser just at present. I was instrumental in getting himsigned on as John Lamont, and he passed without question. No wonder, for he has scientific degrees from all sorts of German universities, from Oxford, and one or two institutions in the States. When at homehe lives in St. Petersburg. "

"Has he a palace there?"

Drummond laughed. 

"He's got a blacksmith shop, with two rooms above, and I'm going tostop with him for a few months as soon as I get my leave. When thecruiser reaches England we pay off, and I expect to have nothing to dofor six months, so Jack and I will make for St. Petersburg. "

"Why do you call him Lamont? Is it taken from his real name ofwhat-d'ye-call-it-off?"

"Lermontoff? Yes. The Czar Demetrius, some time about the beginning ofthe seventeenth century, established a Scottish Guard, just as LouisXI did in France two hundred years before, and there came over fromScotland Lamonts, Carmichaels, Buchanans and others, on whom werebestowed titles and estates. Prince Ivan Lermontoff is a descendant ofthe original Lamont, who was an officer in the Scottish Guard ofRussia. 

"So he is really a Scotchman?"

"That's what I tell him when he annoys me, as I am by way of being aScotchman myself. Ah, the waltz is ended. Will you excuse me a momentwhile I fetch his Highness?"

Dorothy inclined her head, and Katherine fairly beamed permission. 

"Oh, Dorothy, " she exclaimed, when the Lieutenant was out of hearing, "think of it! A real prince, and my ambition has never risen higherthan a paltry count, or some plebeian of that sort. He's mine, Dorothy; I found him first. "

"I thought you had appropriated the Lieutenant?"

"What are lieutenants to me? The proud daughter of a captain (retired)cannot stoop to a mere lieutenant. "

"You wouldn't have to stoop far, Kate, with so tall a man as Mr. Drummond. "

"You are beginning to take notice, aren't you, Dot? But I bestow theLieutenant freely upon you, because I'm going to dance with thePrince, even if I have to ask him myself. 

 She'll toddle away, as all aver, With the Lord High Executioner. 

Ah, here they come. Isn't he perfectly splendid? Look at his beard!Just the color of a brand-new twenty-dollar gold piece. See that broadribbon diagonally across him. I wonder what it means. And gaze atthose scintillating orders on his breast. Good gracious me, isn't hesplendid?"

"Yes, for a blacksmith. I wonder if he beat those stars out on hisanvil. He isn't nearly so tall as Lieutenant Drummond. "

"Dorothy, I'll not allow you to disparage my Prince. How can you be sodisagreeable? I thought from the very first that the Lieutenant wastoo tall. If the Prince expects me to call him 'your Highness, ' he'llbe disappointed. "

"You are quite right, Kate. The term would suit the Lieutenantbetter. "

"Dorothy, I believe you're jealous. "

"Oh, no, I'm not, " said Dorothy, shaking her head and laughing, andthen "Hush!" she added, as Katherine was about to speak again. 

The next moment the young men stood before them, and, introductionsbeing soberly performed, the Prince lost no time in begging Katherineto favor him with a dance, to which request the young woman wasgraciously pleased to accede, without, however, exhibiting too muchhaste about her acceptance, and so they walked off together. 

 CHAPTER IV

 "AT LAST ALONE"

"SOME one has taken the camp stool, " said Lieutenant Drummond. "May Isit here?" and the young woman was good enough to give the desiredpermission. 

When he had seated himself he glanced around, then impulsively heldout his hand. 

"Miss Amhurst, " he said, "how are you?"

"Very well, thank you, " replied the girl with a smile, and after halfa moment's hesitation she placed her hand in his. 

"Of course you dance, Miss Amhurst?"

"Yes, but not to-night. I am here merely as a looker-on in Vienna. Youmust not allow politeness to keep you away from the floor, or, perhaps, I should say the deck. I don't mind being alone in theleast. "

"Now, Miss Amhurst, that is not a hint, is it? Tell me that I have notalready tired you of my company. "

"Oh, no, but I do not wish you to feel that simply because we metcasually the other day you are compelled to waste your evening sittingout. "

"Indeed, Miss Amhurst, although I should very much like to have thepleasure of dancing with you, there is no one else here that I shouldcare to ask. I have quailed under the eagle eye of my Captain once ortwice this evening, and I have been rather endeavoring to keep out ofhis sight. I fear he has found something new about me of which todisapprove, so I have quite determined not to dance, unless you wouldconsent to dance with me, in which case I am quite ready to brave hisreproachful glances. "

"Have you done anything wrong lately?"

"Heaven only knows! I try not to be purposely wicked, and indeed haveput forth extra efforts to be extra good, but it seems all of noavail. I endeavor to go about the ship with a subdued, humble, unobtrusive air, but this is rather difficult for a person of my size. I don't think a man can droop successfully unless he's under six feetin height. "

Dorothy laughed with quiet content. She was surprised to find herselfso much at her ease with him, and so mildly happy. They shared asecret together, and that of itself was an intangible bond linking himwith her who had no ties with any one else. She liked him; had likedhim from the first; and his unconcealed delight in her company wasgratifying to a girl who heretofore had found none to offer her thegentle courtesies of life. 

"Is it the Russian business again? You do not look very much troubledabout it. "

"Ah, that is-- that is--" he stammered in apparent confusion, thenblurted out, "because you-- because I am sitting here. Although I havemet you but once before, it seems somehow as if I had known youalways, and my slight anxiety that I told you of fades away in yourpresence. I hope you don't think I am forward in saying this, butreally to-night, when I saw you at the head of the gangway, I couldscarcely refrain from going directly to you and greeting you. I amafraid I made rather a hash of it with Captain Kempt. He is too muchof a gentleman to have shown any surprise at my somewhat boisterousaccosting of him, and you know I didn't remember him at all, but I sawthat you were under his care, and chanced it. Luckily it seems to havebeen Captain Kempt after all, but I fear I surprised him, taking himby storm, as it were. "

"I thought you did it very nicely, " said Dorothy, "and, indeed, untilthis moment I hadn't the least suspicion that you didn't recognizehim. He is a dear old gentleman, and I'm very fond of him. "

"I say, " said the Lieutenant, lowering his voice, "I nearly came acropper when I spoke of that Russian affair before your friend. I wasthinking of-- of-- well, I wasn't thinking of Miss Kempt--"

"Oh, she never noticed anything, " said Dorothy hurriedly. "You got outof that, too, very well. I thought of telling her I had met you beforewhile she and I were in New York together, but the opportunity neverseemed-- well, I couldn't quite explain, and, indeed, didn't wish toexplain my own inexplicable conduct at the bank, and so trusted tochance. If you had greeted me first tonight, I suppose"-- she smiledand looked up at him-- "I suppose I should have brazened it outsomehow. "

"Have you been in New York?"

"Yes, we were there nearly a week. "

"Ah, that accounts for it. "

"Accounts for what?"

"I have walked up and down every street, lane and alley in Bar Harbor, hoping to catch a glimpse of you. I have haunted the town, and all thetime you were away. "

"No wonder the Captain frowns at you! Have you been neglecting yourduty?"

"Well, I have been stretching my shore leave just a little bit. Iwanted to apologize for talking so much about myself as we walked fromthe bank. "

"It was very interesting, and, if you remember, we walked farther thanI had intended. "

"Were your friends waiting for you, or had they gone?"

"They were waiting for me. "

"I hope they weren't cross?"

"Oh, no. I told them I had been detained. It happened not to benecessary to enter into details, so I was saved the task ofexplanation, and, besides, we had other interesting things to discuss. This function on the cruiser has loomed so large as a topic ofconversation that there has been little need of any other subject totalk about for several days past. "

"I suppose you must have attended many grander occasions than this. Although we have endeavored to make a display, and although we possessa reasonably efficient band, still, a cruiser is not exactly designedfor the use to which it is being put to-night. We have manydisadvantages to overcome which are not met with in the sumptuousdwellings of New York and Bar Harbor. "

The girl's eyes were on the deck for some moments before she replied, then she looked across at the dancers, and finally said:

"I think the ball on the 'Consternation' quite equals anything I haveever attended. "

"It is nice of you to say that. Praise from-- I won't name Sir HubertStanley-- but rather Lady Hubert Stanley-- is praise, indeed. And now, Miss Amhurst, since I have confessed my fruitless wanderings throughBar Harbor, may I not have the pleasure of calling upon you to-morrowor next day?"

Her eyes were dreamily watching the dancers. 

"I suppose, " she said slowly, with the flicker of a smile curvingthose enticing lips, "that since you were so very friendly withCaptain Kempt to-night he may expect you to smoke a cigar with him, and it will possibly happen that Katherine and I, who are very fond ofthe Captain, may chance to come in while you are there. "

"Katherine? Ah, Katherine is the name of the young lady who was withyou here-- Miss Kempt?"

"Yes. "

"You are stopping with the Kempts, then?"

"Yes. "

"I wonder if they'd think I was taking a liberty if I brought JackLamont with me?"

"The Prince?" laughed Dorothy. "Is he a real prince?"

"Oh, yes, there's no doubt about that. I shouldn't have taken theliberty of introducing him to you as Prince Lermontoff if he were not, as we say in Scotland, a real Mackay-- the genuine article. Well, then, the Prince and I will pay our respects to Captain Kemptto-morrow afternoon. "

"Did you say the Prince is going with you to Russia?"

"Oh, yes. As I told you, I intend to live very quietly in St. Petersburg, and the Prince has his shop and a pair of rooms above itin a working quarter of the city. I shall occupy one of the rooms andhe the other. The Prince is an excellent cook, so we shan't starve, even if we engage no servant. "

"Has the Prince given his estates away also?"

"He hasn't given them away exactly, but he is a very indulgentlandlord, and he spends so much money on his experiments and travelthat, although he has a formidable income, he is very frequently quiteshort of money. Did you like him?"

"Yes. Of course I saw him for a moment only. I wonder why they haven'treturned. There's been several dances since they left. "

"Perhaps, " said the Lieutenant, with a slight return of hisstammering, "your friend may be as fond of dancing as Jack is. "

"You are still determined to go to Russia?"

"Quite. There is absolutely no danger. I may not accomplish anything, but I'll have a try at it. The Prince has a good deal of influence inSt. Petersburg, which he will use quietly on my behalf, so that I maysee the important people. I shall be glad when the Captain ceasesfrowning--"

Drummond was interrupted by a fellow-officer, who raised his cap, andbegged a word with him. 

"I think, Drummond, the Captain wanted to see you. "

"Oh, did he say that?"

"No, but I know he has left a note for you in your cabin. Shall I goand fetch it?"

"I wish you would, Chesham, if you don't mind, and it isn't too muchtrouble. "

"No trouble at all. Delighted, I'm sure, " said Chesham, again raisinghis cap and going off. 

"Now, I wonder what I have forgotten to do. "

Drummond heaved a sigh proportionate to himself. 

"Under the present condition of things a bit of neglect that would gounnoticed with another man is a sign of unrepentant villainy in me. Any other Lieutenant may steal a horse while I may not look over ahedge. You see how necessary it is for me to go to Russia, and getthis thing smoothed over. "

"I think, perhaps, you are too sensitive, and notice slights wherenothing of the kind is meant, " said the girl. 

Chesham returned and handed Drummond a letter. 

"Will you excuse me a moment?" he said, and as she looked at him heflattered himself that he noticed a trace of anxiety in her eyes. Hetore open the missive. 

"By Jove!" he cried. 

"What is it?" she could not prevent herself from saying, leaningforward. 

"I am ordered home. The Admiralty commands me to take the firststeamer for England. "

"Is that serious?"

He laughed with well-feigned hilarity. 

"Oh, no, not serious; it's just their way of doing things. They mighteasily have allowed me to come home in my own ship. My only fear is Ishall have to take the train for New York early to-morrow morning. But, " he said, holding out his hands, "it is not serious if you allowme to write to you, and if you will permit me to hope that I mayreceive an answer. "

She placed her hand in his, this time without hesitation. 

"You may write, " she said, "and I will reply. I trust it is notserious. "

 CHAPTER V

 AFTER THE OPERA IS OVER

IN mid-afternoon of the day following the entertainment on board the"Consternation" our two girls were seated opposite one another underthe rafters of the sewing room, in the listless, desultory manner ofthose who have not gone home till morning, till daylight did appear. The dominant note of a summer cottage is the rocking-chair, and therewere two in the sewing room, where Katherine and Dorothy swayed gentlyback and forth as they talked. They sat close to the low, broad windowwhich presented so beautiful a picture of the blue Bay and the whiteshipping. The huge "Consternation" lay moored with her broadsidetoward the town, all sign of festivity already removed from hull andrigging, and, to the scarcely slumber-satisfied eyes of the girls, something of the sadness of departure seemed to hang as a haze aroundthe great ship. The girls were not discussing the past, but ratheranticipating the future; forecasting it, with long, silent pausesintervening. 

"So you will not stay with us? You are determined to turn your wealthyback on the poor Kempt family?" Katherine was saying. 

"But I shall return to the Kempt family now and then, if they will letme. I must get away for a time and think. My life has suddenly becomeall topsy-turvy, and I need to get my bearings, as does a ship thathas been through a storm and lost her reckoning. "

"'She dunno where she are, ' as the song says. "

"Exactly: that is the state of things. "

"I think it's too bad, Dorothy, that you did not allow us to makepublic announcement of your good fortune. Just imagine what an ovationyou would have had on board the cruiser last night if it had beenknown that the richest woman in that assemblage was a pretty, shylittle creature sitting all by herself, and never indulging in evenone dance. "

"I shouldn't in the least care for that sort of ovation, Kate, and ifevery one present were as well pleased with the festivities as I, theymust all have enjoyed themselves immensely. I believe my friend Katedid my share of the dancing as well as her own. "

"'She danced, and she danced, and she danced them a' din. ' I thinkthose are the words of the Scottish song that the Prince quoted. Heseems up in Scottish poetry, and does not even resent being called aScotchman. This energetic person of the song seems to have danced themall to a standstill, as I understood him, for he informs me 'a' means'all' and 'din' means 'done, ' but I told him I'd rather learn Russianthan Scotch; it was so much easier, and his Highness was good enoughto laugh at that. Didn't the Lieutenant ask you to dance at all?"

"Oh, yes, he did. "

"And you refused?"

"I refused. "

"I didn't think he had sense enough to ask a girl to dance. "

"You are ungrateful, Katherine. Remember he introduced you to thePrince. "

"Yes, that's so. I had forgotten. I shall never say anything againsthim again. "

"You like the Prince, then?"

"Of all the crowned heads, emperors, kings, sultans, monarchs of everydescription, dukes, counts, earls, marquises, whom I have met, and whohave pestered my life asking me to share their royal perquisites, Ithink I may say quite truthfully that I like this Jack Lamont betterthan any one of them. "

"Surely Prince Jack has not offered you his principality already?"

"No, not yet, but with an eye to the future I have persuaded him togive up Tolstoi and read Mark Twain, who is not only equally humorous, but much more sensible than the Russian writer. Jack must not beallowed to give away his estates to the peasants as his silly sisterhas done. I may need them later on. "

"Oh, you've got that far, have you?"

"I have got that far: he hasn't. He doesn't know anything about it, but I'll wake him up when the right time comes. There are manyelements of sanity about him. He told me that he intended to give uphis estates, but in the first place he had been too busy, and in thesecond he needed the money. His good sense, however, requiresrefining, so that he may get rid of the dross. I don't blame him; Iblame Tolstoi. For instance, when I asked him if he had patented hisliquid city invention, he said he did not wish to make a profit fromhis discovery, but intended it for the good of humanity at large. Imagine such an idiotic idea as that!"

"I think such views are entirely to his credit, " alarmed Dorothy. 

"Oh, of course, but the plan is not practicable. If he allows such aninvention to slip through his fingers, the Standard Oil people willlikely get hold of it, form a monopoly, and then where would humanityat large be? I tell him the right way is to patent it, make all themoney he can, and use the cash for benefiting humanity under thedirection of some charitable person like myself. "

"Did you suggest that to him?"

"I did not intimate who the sensible person was, but I elucidated theprinciple of the thing. "

"Yes, and what did he say?"

"Many things, Dorothy, many things. At one time he became confidentialabout his possessions in foreign lands. It seems he owns severalcastles, and when he visits any of them he cannot prevent the moujiks, if that is the proper term for the peasantry over there, fromprostrating themselves on the ground as he passes by, beating theirforeheads against the earth, and chanting, in choice Russian, thephrase: 'Defer, defer, here comes the Lord High Executioner, ' or wordsto that effect. I told him I didn't see why he should interfere withso picturesque a custom, and he said if I visited one of his castlesthat these estimable people, at a word from him, would form a corduroyroad in the mud with their bodies, so that I might step dry-shod fromthe carriage to the castle doors, and I stipulated that he should atleast spread a bit of stair carpet over the poor wretches before Imade my progress across his front yard. "

"Well, you did become confidential if you discussed a visit toRussia. "

"Yes, didn't we? I suppose you don't approve of my forward conduct?"

"I am sure you acted with the utmost prudence, Kate. "

"I didn't lose any time, though, did I?"

"I don't know how much time is required to attain the point offriendship you reached. I am inexperienced. It is true I have read oflove at first sight, and I am merely waiting to be told whether or notthis is an instance of it. "

"Oh, you are very diffident, aren't you, sitting there so bashfully!"

"I may seem timid or bashful, but it's merely sleepiness. "

"You're a bit of a humbug, Dorothy. "

"Why?"

"I don't know why, but you are. No, it was not a case of love at firstsight. It was a case of feminine vengeance. Yes, you may looksurprised, but I'm telling the truth. After I walked so proudly offwith his high mightiness, we had a most agreeable dance together; thenI proposed to return to you, but the young man would not have it so, and for the moment I felt flattered. By and by I became aware, however, that it was not because of my company he avoided yourvicinity, but that he was sacrificing himself for his friend. "

"What friend?"

"Lieutenant Drummond, of course. "

"How was he sacrificing himself for Lieutenant Drummond?"

"I surmise that the tall Lieutenant did not fall a victim to my wilesas I had at first supposed, but, in some unaccountable manner, one cannever tell how these things happen; he was most anxious to be leftalone with the coy Miss Dorothy Amhurst, who does not understand howlong a time it takes to fall in love at first sight, although she hasread of these things, dear, innocent girl. The first villain of thepiece has said to the second villain of the piece: 'There's asuperfluous young woman over on our bench; I'll introduce you to her. You lure her off to the giddy dance, and keep her away as long as youcan, and I'll do as much for you some day. '

"Whereupon Jack Lamont probably swore-- I understand that profanity issometimes distressingly prevalent aboard ship-- but nevertheless heallowed the Lieutenant to lead him like a lamb to the slaughter. Well, not being powerful enough to throw him overboard when I realized thestate of the case, I did the next best thing. I became cloyingly sweetto him. I smiled upon him: I listened to his farrago of nonsense aboutthe chemical components of his various notable inventions, as if agirl attends a ball to study chemistry! Before half an hour had passedthe infant had come to the conclusion that here was the first reallysensible woman he had ever met. He soon got to making love to me, asthe horrid phrase goes, as if love were a mixture to be compounded ofthis ingredient and that, and then shaken before taken. I am delightedto add, as a testimony to my own powers of pleasing, that Jack soonforgot he was a sacrifice, and really, with a little instruction, hewould become a most admirable flirt. He is coming to call upon me thisafternoon, and then he will get his eyes opened. I shall tread on himas if he were one of his own moujiks. "

"What a wonderful imagination you have, Kate. All you have said ispure fancy. I saw he was taken with you from the very first. He nevereven glanced at me. "

"Of course not: he wasn't allowed to. "

"Nonsense, Kate. If I thought for a moment you were really in earnest, I should say you underestimate your own attractions. "

"Oh, that's all very well, Miss Dorothy Dimple; you are trying to drawa red herring across the trail, because you know that what I want tohear is why Lieutenant Drummond was so anxious to get me somewhereelse. What use did he make of the opportunity the good-natured Princeand my sweet complacency afforded him?"

"He said nothing which might not have been overheard by any one. "

"Come down to particulars, Dorothy, and let me judge. You are soinexperienced, you know, that it is well to take counsel with a moresophisticated friend. "

"I don't just remember--"

"No, I thought you wouldn't. Did he talk of himself or of you?"

"Of himself, of course. He told me why he was going to Russia, andspoke of some checks he had met in his profession. "

"Ah! Did he cash them?"

"Obstacles-- difficulties that were in his way, which he hoped toovercome. "

"Oh, I see. And did you extend that sympathy which--"

There was a knock at the door, and the maid came in, bearing a card. 

"Good gracious me!" cried Katherine, jumping to her feet. "The Princehas come. What a stupid thing that we have no mirror in this room, andit's a sewing and sitting room, too. Do I look all right, Dorothy?"

"To me you seem perfection. "

"Ah, well, I can glance at a glass on the next floor. Won't you comedown and see him trampled on?"

"No, thank you. I shall most likely drop off to sleep, and enjoy fortywinks in this very comfortable chair. Don't be too harsh with theyoung man, Kate. You are quite wrong in your surmises about him. TheLieutenant never made any such arrangement as you suggest, because hetalked of nothing but the most commonplace subjects all the time I waswith him, as I was just about to tell you, only you seem in such ahurry to get away. "

"Oh, that doesn't deceive me in the least. I'll be back shortly, withthe young man's scalp dangling at my belt. Now we shan't be long, " andwith that Katherine went skipping downstairs. 

Dorothy picked up a magazine that lay on the table, and for a fewmoments turned its leaves from one story to another, trying tointerest herself, but failing. Then she lifted the newspaper that layat her feet, but it also was soon cast aside, and she leaned back inher chair with half-closed eyes, looking out at the cruiser in theBay. A slight haze arose between her and the ship, thickening andthickening until at last it obscured the vessel. 

Dorothy was oppressed by a sense of something forgotten, and shestrove in vain to remember what it was. It was of the utmostimportance, she was certain, and this knowledge made her mentalanxiety the greater. 

At last out of the gloom she saw Sabina approach, clothed in rags, andthen a flash of intuition enabled her to grasp the difficulty. Throughher remissness the ball dress was unfinished, and the girl, springingto her feet, turned intuitively to the sewing-machine, when theringing laugh of Katherine dissolved the fog. 

"Why, you poor girl, what's the matter with you? Are you sitting downto drudgery again? You've forgotten the fortune!"

"Are-- are you back already?" cried Dorothy, somewhat wildly. 

"Already! Why, bless me, I've been away an hour and a quarter. Youdear girl, you've been asleep and in slavery again!"

"I think I was, " admitted Dorothy with a sigh. 

 CHAPTER VI

 FROM SEA TO MOUNTAIN

THREE days later the North Atlantic squadron of the British Navysailed down the coast from Halifax, did not even pause at Bar Harbor, but sent a wireless telegram to the "Consternation, " which pulled upanchor and joined the fleet outside, and so the war-ships departed foranother port. 

Katherine stood by the broad window in the sewing room in her favoriteattitude, her head sideways against the pane, her eyes languidlygazing upon the Bay, fingers drumming this time a very slow march onthe window sill. Dorothy sat in a rocking-chair, reading a letter forthe second time. There had been silence in the room for some minutes, accentuated rather than broken by the quiet drumming of the girl'sfingers on the window sill. Finally Katherine breathed a deep sigh andmurmured to herself:

 "'Far called our Navy fades away, On dune and headland sinks the fire. Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre. '

I wonder if I've got the lines right, " she whispered to herself. Shehad forgotten there was anyone else in the room, and was quitestartled when Dorothy spoke. 

"Kate, that's a solemn change, from Gilbert to Kipling. I always judgeyour mood by your quotations. Has life suddenly become too serious for'Pinafore' or the 'Mikado'?"

"Oh, I don't know, " said Katherine, without turning round. "They arehumorous all, and so each furnishes something suitable for thesaddened mind. Wisdom comes through understanding your alphabetproperly. For instance, first there was Gilbert, and that gave us G;then came Kipling, and he gave us K; thus we get an algebraic formula, G. K. , which are the initials of Chesterton, a still later arrival, andas the mind increases in despondency it sinks lower and lower down thealphabet until it comes to S, and thus we have Barn-yard Shaw, animprovement on the Kail-yard school, who takes the O pshaw view oflife. And relaxing hold of him I sink deeper until I come to W-- W. W. Jacobs-- how I wish he wrote poetry! He should be the humorist of allsailors, and perhaps some time he will desert barges for battleships. Then I shall read him with increased enjoyment. "

"I wouldn't give Mark Twain for the lot, " commented Dorothy withdecision. 

"Mark Twain isn't yours to give, my dear. He belongs to me also. You've forgotten that comparisons are odious. Our metier is not tocompare, but to take what pleases us from each. 

 'How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower. 

Watts. You see, I'm still down among the W's. Oh, Dorothy, how can yousit there so placidly when the 'Consternation' has just faded fromsight? Selfish creature!

 'Oh, give me tears for others' woes And patience for mine own. '

I don't know who wrote that, but you have no tears for others' woes, merely greeting them with ribald laughter, " for Dorothy, with thewell-read letter in her hand, was making the rafters ring with hermerriment, something that had never before happened during her longtenancy of that room. Kate turned her head slowly round, and theexpression on her face was half-indignant, half-humorous, while hereyes were uncertain weather prophets, and gave equal indication ofsunshine or rain. 

"Why, Katherine, you look like a tragedy queen, rather than the spiritof comedy! Is it really a case of 'Tit-willow, tit-willow, tit-willow'? You see, I'm a-rescuing you from the bottom of thealphabet, and bringing you up to the Gilbert plane, where I am moreaccustomed to you, and understand you better. Is this despondency dueto the departure of the 'Consternation, ' and the fact that she carriesaway with her Jack Lamont, blacksmith?"

The long sigh terminated in a woeful "yes. "

"The ship that has gone out with him we call she. If he had elopedwith a real she, then wearing the willow, or singing it, howeverfutile, might be understandable. As it is I see nothing in thesituation to call for a sigh. "

"That is because you are a hardened sinner, Dorothy. You have noheart, or at least if you have, it is untouched, and therefore youcannot understand. If that note in your hand were a love missive, instead of a letter from your lawyers, you would be more human, Dorothy. "

The hand which held the paper crumpled it up slightly as Katherinespoke. 

"Business letters are quite necessary, and belong to the world we livein, " said Dorothy, a glow of brighter color suffusing her cheeks. "Surely your acquaintance with Mr. Lamont is of the shortest. "

"He has called upon me every day since the night of the ball, "maintained Katherine stoutly. 

"Well, that's only three times. "

"Only three! How you talk! One would think you had never been schooledin mathematics. Why, three is a magic figure. You can do plenty ofamazing things with it. Don't you know that three is a numeral oflove?"

"I thought two was the number, " chimed Dorothy, with heartless mirth. 

"Three, " said Katherine taking one last look at the empty horizon, then seating herself in front of her friend, "three is a recurringdecimal. It goes on and on and on forever, and if you write it for athousand years you are still as far from the end as when you began. Itwill carry you round the world and back again, and never diminish. Itis the mathematical emblem of the nature of true love. "

"Is it so serious as all that, Kate, or are you just fooling again?"asked Dorothy, more soberly than heretofore. "Has he spoken to you?"

"Spoken? He has done nothing but speak, and I have listened-- oh, sointently, and with such deep understanding. He has never before metsuch a woman as I, and has frankly told me so. "

"I am very glad he appreciates you, dear. "

"Yes, you see, Dorothy, I am really much deeper than the ordinarywoman. Who, for instance, could find such a beautiful love simile froma book of arithmetic costing twenty-five cents, as I have unearthedfrom decimal fractions? With that example in mind how can you doubtthat other volumes of college learning reveal to me their innermeaning? John presented to me, as he said good-by, a beautifully boundcopy of that celebrated text-book, 'Saunders' Analytical Chemistry, 'with particularly tender passages marked in pencil, by his own dearhand. "

Rather bewildered, for Kate's expression was one of pathos, unrelievedby any gleam of humor, Dorothy nevertheless laughed, although thelaugh brought no echo from Katherine. 

"And did you give him a volume of Browning in return?"

"No, I didn't. How can you be so unsympathetic? Is it impossible foryou to comprehend the unseen link that binds John and me? I rummagedthe book store until I found a charming little edition of 'Marshall'sGeologist's Pocket Companion, ' covered with beautiful brown limpRussia leather-- I thought the Russia binding was so inspirational--with a sweet little clasp that keeps it closed-- typical of our handsat parting. On the fly-leaf I wrote: 'To J. L. , in remembrance of manyinteresting conversations with his friend, K. K. ' It only neededanother K to be emblematic and political, a reminiscence of the oldentimes, when you people of the South, Dorothy, were making it hot forus deserving folks in the North. I hadn't time to go through the bookvery thoroughly, but I found many references to limestone, which Imarked, and one particularly choice bit of English relating to thedissolution and re-consolidation of various minerals I drew aparallelogram around in red ink. A friend of mine in a motor launchwas good enough to take the little parcel direct to the'Consternation, ' and I have no doubt that at this moment Jack isperusing it, and perhaps thinking of the giver. I hope it'sup-to-date, and that he had not previously bought a copy. "

"You don't mean to say, Kate, that your conversation was entirelyabout geology?"

"Certainly not. How could you have become imbued with an idea soabsurd? We had many delightful dalliances down the romantic groves ofchemistry, heart-to-heart talks on metallurgy, and once-- ah, shall Iever forget it-- while the dusk gently enfolded us, and I gazed intothose bright, speaking, intelligent eyes of his as he bent nearer andnearer; while his low, sonorous voice in well-chosen words pictured tome the promise which fortified cement holds out to the world; that is, ignorant person, Portland cement strengthened by ribs of steel; and Isat listening breathless as his glowing phrases prophesied the futureof this combination. "

Katherine closed her eyes, rocked gently back and forth, and crooned, almost inaudibly:

 "'When you gang awa, Jimmie, Faur across the sea, laddie, When ye gang to Russian lands What will ye send to me, laddie?'

I know what I shall get. It will probably be a newly discovered recipefor the compounding of cement which will do away with the necessity ofsteel strengthening. "

"Kate, dear, you are overdoing it. It is quite right that woman shouldbe a mystery to man, but she should not aspire to become a mystery toher sister woman. Are you just making fun, or is there something inall this more serious than your words imply?"

"Like the steel strengthening in the cement, it may be there, but youcan't see it, and you can't touch it, but it makes-- oh, such adifference to the slab. Heigho, Dorothy, let us forsake thesehard-headed subjects, and turn to something human. What have yourlawyers been bothering you about? No trouble over the money, isthere?"

Dorothy shook her head. 

"No. Of course, there are various matters they have to consult meabout, and get my consent to this project or the other. "

"Read the letter. Perhaps my mathematical mind can be of assistance toyou. "

Dorothy had concealed the letter, and did not now produce it. 

"It is with reference to your assistance, and your continuedassistance, that I wish to speak to you. Let us follow the example ofthe cement and the steel, and form a compact. In one respect I amgoing to imitate the 'Consternation. ' I leave Bar Harbor next week. "

Katherine sat up in her chair, and her eyes opened wide. 

"What's the matter with Bar Harbor?" she asked. 

"You can answer that question better than I, Kate. The Kempt familyare not visitors, but live here all the year round. What do you thinkis the matter with Bar Harbor?"

"I confess it's a little dull in the winter time, and in all seasonsit is situated a considerable distance from New York. Where do youintend to go, Dorothy?"

"That will depend largely on where my friend Kate advises me to go, because I shall take her with me if she will come. "

"Companion, lady's-maid, parlor maid, maid-of-all-work, cook, governess, typewriter-girl--which have I to be? Shall I get oneafternoon a week off, and may my young man come and see me, if Ihappen to secure one, and, extremely important, what are the wages?"

"You shall fix your own salary, Kate, and my lawyer men will arrangethat the chosen sum is settled upon you so that if we fall out we canquarrel on equal terms. "

"Oh, I see, it's an adopted daughter I am to be, then?"

"An adopted sister, rather. "

"Do you think I am going to take advantage of my friendship with anheiress, and so pension myself off?"

"It is I who am taking the advantage, " said Dorothy, "and I beg you totake compassion, rather than advantage, upon a lone creature who hasno kith or kin in the world. "

"Do you really mean it, Dot?"

"Of course I do. Should I propose it if I didn't?"

"Well, this is the first proposal I've ever had, and I believe it iscustomary to say on those occasions that it is so sudden, or sounexpected, and time is required for consideration. "

"How soon can you make up your mind, Kate?"

"Oh, my mind's already made up. I'm going to jump at your offer, but Ithink it more ladylike to pretend a mild reluctance. What are yougoing to do, Dorothy?"

"I don't know. I've settled on only one thing. I intend to build alittle stone and tile church, very quaint and old-fashioned, if I getthe right kind of architect to draw a plan for it, and this church isto be situated in Haverstock. "

"Where's Haverstock?"

"It is a village near the Hudson River, on the plain that stretchestoward the Catskills. "

"It was there you lived with your father, was it not?"

"Yes, and my church is to be called the Dr. Amhurst Memorial Church. "

"And do you propose to live at Haverstock?"

"I was thinking of that. "

"Wouldn't it be just a little dull?"

"Yes, I suppose it is, but it seems to me a suitable place where twoyoung women may meditate on what they are going to do with theirlives. "

"Yes, that's an important question for the two. I say, Dorothy, let'stake the other side of the river, and enter Vassar College. Then weshould at least have some fun, and there would be some reasonablywell-educated people to speak to. "

"Oh, you wish to use your lately acquired scientific knowledge inorder to pass the examinations; but, you see, I have had no tutor toschool me in the mysteries of lime-burning and the mixing of cement. Now, you have scorned my side of the river, and I have objected toyour side of the river. That is the bad beginning which, let us hope, makes the good ending. Who is to arbitrate on our dispute?"

"Why, we'll split the difference, of course. "

"How can we do that? Live in a house-boat on the river like FrankStockton's 'Budder Grange'?"

"No, settle in the city of New York, which is practically an island inthe Hudson. "

"Would you like to live in New York?"

"Wouldn't I! Imagine any one, having the chance, living anywhereelse!"

"In a hotel, I suppose-- the Holldorf for choice. "

"Yes, we could live in a hotel until we found the ideal flat, high upin a nice apartment house, with a view like that from the top of MountWashington, or from the top of the Washington Monument. "

"But you forget I made one proviso in the beginning, and that is thatI am going to build a church, and the church is to be situated, not inthe city of New York, but in the village of Haverstock. "

"New York is just the place from which to construct such an edifice. Haverstock will be somewhere near the West Shore Railway. Very well. We can take a trip up there once a week or oftener, if you like, andsee how the work is progressing, then the people of Haverstock willrespect us. As we drive from the station they'll say:

"'There's the two young ladies from New York who are building thechurch. ' But if we settle down amongst them they'll think we're onlyordinary villagers instead of the distinguished persons we are. Or, while our flat is being made ready we could live at one of the bighotels in the Catskills, and come down as often as we like on theinclined railway. Indeed, until the weather gets colder, the Catskillsis the place. 

 'And lo, the Catskills print the distant sky, And o'er their airy tops the faint clouds driven, So softly blending that the cheated eye Forgets or which is earth, or which is heaven. '"

"That ought to carry the day for the Catskills, Kate. What sort ofhabitation shall we choose? A big hotel, or a select private boardinghouse?"

"Oh, a big hotel, of course-- the biggest there is, whatever its namemay be. One of those whose rates are so high that the proprietordaren't advertise them, but says in his announcement, 'for terms applyto the manager. ' It must have ample grounds, support an excellentband, and advertise a renowned cuisine. Your room, at least, shouldhave a private balcony on which you can place a telescope and watchthe building of your church down below. I, being a humble person in asubordinate position, should have a balcony also to make up for thosedeficiencies. "

"Very well, Kate, that's settled. But although two lone women may setup housekeeping in a New York flat, they cannot very well go alone toa fashionable hotel. "

"Oh, yes, we can. Best of references given and required. "

"I was going to suggest, " pursued Dorothy, not noticing theinterruption, "that we invite your father and mother to accompany us. They might enjoy a change from sea air to mountain air. "

Katherine frowned a little, and demurred. 

"Are you going to be fearfully conventional, Dorothy?"

"We must pay some attention to the conventions, don't you think?"

"I had hoped not. I yearn to be a bachelor girl, and own a latch-key. "

"We shall each possess a latch-key when we settle down in New York. Our flat will be our castle, and, although our latch-key will let usin, our Yale lock will keep other people out. A noted summer resortcalls for different treatment, because there we lead a semi-publiclife. Besides, I am selfish enough to wish my coming-out to be underthe auspices of so well-known a man as Captain Kempt. "

"All right, I'll see what they say about it. You don't want Sabina, Itake it?"

"Yes, if she will consent to come. "

"I doubt if she will, but I'll see. Besides, now that I come to thinkabout it, it's only fair I should allow my doting parents to know thatI am about to desert them. "

With that Katherine quitted the room, and went down the stairshippety-hop. 

Dorothy drew the letter from its place of concealment, and read it forthe third time, although one not interested might have termed it amost commonplace document. It began:

"Dear Miss Amhurst, " and ended "Yours most sincerely, Alan Drummond. "It gave some account of his doings since he bade good-bye to her. Asailor, he informed her, needs little time for packing his belongings, and on the occasion in question the Prince had been of greatassistance. They set out together for the early morning train, andsaid "au revoir" at the station. Drummond had intended to sail fromNew York, but a friendly person whom he met on the train informed himthat the Liverpool liner "Enthusiana" set out from Boston next day, sohe had abandoned the New York idea, and had taken passage on the linernamed, on whose note-paper he wrote the letter, which epistle was oncemore concealed as Dorothy heard Katherine's light step on the stair. 

That impulsive young woman burst into the sewing room. 

"We're all going, " she cried. "Father, mother and Sabina. It seemsfather has had an excellent offer to let the house furnished till theend of September, and he says that, as he likes high life, he will putin the time on the top of the Catskills. He abandons me, and says thatif he can borrow a shilling he is going to cut me off with it in hiswill. He regrets the departure of the British Fleet, because he thinkshe might have been able to raise a real English shilling aboard. Dadonly insists on one condition, namely, that he is to pay for himself, mother and Sabina, so he does not want a room with a balcony. I saidthat in spite of his disinheritance I'd help the family out of mysalary, and so he is going to reconsider the changing of his will. "

"We will settle the conditions when we reach the Catskills, " saidDorothy, smiling. 

 CHAPTER VII

 "A WAY THEY HAVE IN THE NAVY"

CAPTAIN and Mrs. Kempt with Sabina had resided a week in theMatterhorn Hotel before the two girls arrived there. They had gonedirect to New York, and it required the seven days to find a flat thatsuited them, of which they were to take possession on the first ofOctober. Then there were the lawyers to see; a great many businessdetails to settle, and an architect to consult. After leaving New Yorkthe girls spent a day at Haverstock, where Dorothy Amhurst bought apiece of land as shrewdly as if she had been in the real estatebusiness all her life. After this transaction the girls drove to thestation on the line connecting with the inclined railway, and so, asKatherine remarked, were "wafted to the skies on flowery beds ofease, " which she explained to her shocked companion was all right, because it was a quotation from a hymn. When at last they reachedtheir hotel, Katherine was in ecstasies. 

"Isn't this heavenly?" she cried, "and, indeed, it ought to be, for Iunderstand we are three thousand feet higher than we were in New York, and even the sky-scrapers can't compete with such an altitude. "

The broad valley of the Hudson lay spread beneath them, stretching asfar as the eye could see, shimmering in the thin, bluish veil of asummer evening, and miles away the river itself could be traced like asilver ribbon. 

The gallant Captain, who had been energetically browbeaten by hisyounger daughter, and threatened with divers pains and penaltiesshould he fail to pay attention and take heed to instructions, hadacquitted himself with eclat in the selection of rooms for Dorothy andhis daughter. The suite was situated in one corner of the hugecaravansary, a large parlor occupying the angle, with windows on oneside looking into the forest, and on the other giving an extended viewacross the valley. The front room adjoining the parlor was to beDorothy's very own, and the end room belonged to Katherine, he said, as long as she behaved herself. If Dorothy ever wished to evict herstrenuous neighbor, all she had to do was to call upon the Captain, and he would lend his aid, at which proffer of assistance Katherinetossed her head, and said she would try the room for a week, and, ifshe didn't like it, out Dorothy would have to go. 

There followed days and nights of revelry. Hops, concerts, entertainments of all sorts, with a more pretentious ball on Saturdaynight, when the week-tired man from New York arrived in the afternoonto find temperature twenty degrees lower, and the altitude very muchhigher than was the case in his busy office in the city. Katherinerevelled in this round of excitement, and indeed, so, in a milder way, did Dorothy. After the functions were over the girls enjoyed acomforting chat with one another in their drawing room; all windowsopen, and the moon a-shining down over the luminous valley, which itseemed to fill with mother-o'-pearl dust. 

Young Mr. J. K. Henderson of New York, having danced repeatedly withKatherine on Saturday night, unexpectedly turned up for the hop on thefollowing Wednesday, when he again danced repeatedly with the samejoyous girl. It being somewhat unusual for a keen business man to takea four hours' journey during an afternoon in the middle of the week, and, as a consequence, arrive late at his office next morning, Dorothybegan to wonder if a concrete formation, associated with the name ofPrince Ivan Lermontoff of Russia, was strong enough to stand anenergetic assault of this nature, supposing it were to be constantlyrepeated. It was after midnight on Wednesday when the two reached thecorner parlor. Dorothy sat in a cane armchair, while Katherine threwherself into a rocking-chair, laced her fingers behind her head, andgazed through the open window at the misty infinity beyond. 

"Well, " sighed Katherine, "this has been the most enjoyable evening Iever spent!"

"Are you quite sure?" inquired her friend. 

"Certainly. Shouldn't I know?"

"He dances well, then?"

"Exquisitely!"

"Better than Jack Lamont?"

"Well, now you mention him I must confess Jack danced verycreditably. "

"I didn't know but you might have forgotten the Prince. "

"No, I haven't exactly forgotten him, but-- I do think he might havewritten to me. "

"Oh, that's it, is it? Did he ask your permission to write?"

"Good gracious, no. We never talked of writing. Old red sandstone, rather, was our topic of conversation. Still, he might haveacknowledged receipt of the book. "

"But the book was given to him in return for the one he presented toyou. "

"Yes, I suppose it was. I hadn't thought of that. "

"Then again, Kate, Russian notions regarding writing to young ladiesmay differ from ours, or he may have fallen overboard, or touched alive wire. "

"Yes, there are many possibilities, " murmured Katherine dreamily. 

"It seems rather strange that Mr. Henderson should have time to comeup here in the middle of the week. "

"Why is it strange?" asked Katherine. "Mr. Henderson is not a clerkbound down to office hours. He's an official high up in one of the biginsurance companies, and gets a simply tremendous salary. "

"Really? Does he talk as well as Jack Lamont did?"

"He talks less like the Troy Technical Institute, and more like the'Home Journal' than poor Prince Jack did, and then he has a muchgreater sense of humor. When I told him that the oath of an insuranceman should be 'bet your life!' he laughed. Now, Jack would never haveseen the point of that. Anyhow, the hour is too late, and I am toosleepy, to worry about young men, or jokes either. Good-night!"

Next morning's mail brought Dorothy a bulky letter decorated withEnglish stamps. She locked the door, tore open the envelope, and foundmany sheets of thin paper bearing the heading of the Bluewater Club, Pall Mall. 

"I am reminded of an old adage, " she read, "to the effect that oneshould never cross a bridge before arriving at it. Since I badegood-by to you, up to this very evening, I have been plodding over abridge that didn't exist, much to my own discomfort. You were with mewhen I received the message ordering me home to England, and I don'tknow whether or not I succeeded in suppressing all signs of my ownperturbation, but we have in the Navy now a man who does not hesitateto overturn a court martial, and so I feared a re-opening of the Rockin the Baltic question, which might have meant the wrecking of mycareer. I had quite made up my mind, if the worst came to the worst, to go out West and become a cow-boy, but a passenger with whom Ibecame acquainted on the 'Enthusiana' informed me, to my regret, thatthe cow-boy is largely a being of the past, to be met with only in thewritings of Stewart Edward White, Owen Wister, and several otherfamous men whom he named. So you see, I went across the oceantolerably depressed, finding my present occupation threatened, and myfuture uncertain. 

"When I arrived in London I took a room at this Club, of which I havebeen a member for some years, and reported immediately at theAdmiralty. But there, in spite of all diligence on my part, I wasquite unable to learn what was wanted of me. Of course, I could havegone to my Uncle, who is in the government, and perhaps he might haveenlightened me, although he has nothing to do with the Navy, but Irather like to avoid Uncle Metgurne. He brought me up since I was asmall boy, and seems unnecessarily ashamed of the result. It is hisson who is the attache' in St. Petersburg that I spoke to you about. "

Dorothy ceased reading for a moment. 

"Metgurne, Metgurne, " she said to herself. "Surely I know that name?"

She laid down the letter, pressed the electric button, and unlockedthe door. When the servant came, she said:

"Will you ask at the office if they have any biographical book ofreference relating to Great Britain, and if so, please bring it tome. "

The servant appeared shortly after with a red book which proved to bean English "Who's Who" dated two years back. Turning the pages shecame to Metgurne. 

"Metgurne, twelfth Duke of, created 1681, Herbert George Alan. " Herefollowed a number of other titles, the information that the son andheir was Marquis of Thaxted, and belonged to the Diplomatic Service, that Lord Metgurne was H. M. Secretary of State for RoyalDependencies; finally a list of residences and clubs. She put down thebook and resumed the letter. 

"I think I ought to have told you that when I reach St. Petersburg Ishall be as anxious to avoid my cousin Thaxted as I am to steer clearof his father in London. So I sat in my club, and read the papers. Dear me, this is evidently going to be a very long letter. I hope youwon't mind. I think perhaps you may be interested in learning how theydo things over here. 

"After two or three days of anxious waiting there came a crushingcommunication from the Admiralty which confirmed my worst fears andset me at crossing the bridge again. I was ordered to report nextmorning at eleven, at Committee Room 5, in the Admiralty, and bringwith me full particulars pertaining to the firing of gun numberso-and-so of the 'Consternation's' equipment on such a date. I wondersince that I did not take to drink. We have every facility for thatsort of thing in this club. However, at eleven next day, I presentedmyself at the Committee Room and found in session the grimmest lookingfive men I have ever yet been called upon to face. Collectively theywere about ten times worse in appearance than the court-martial I hadpreviously encountered. Four of the men I did not know, but the fifthI recognized at once, having often seen his portrait. He is AdmiralSir John Pendergest, popularly known in the service as 'Old Grouch, ' ablue terror who knows absolutely nothing of mercy. The lads in theservice say he looks so disagreeable because he is sorry he wasn'tborn a hanging judge. Picture a face as cleanly cut as that of somesevere old Roman Senator; a face as hard as marble, quite as cold, andnearly as white, rescued from the appearance of a death mask by a pairof piercing eyes that glitter like steel. When looking at him it isquite impossible to believe that such a personage has ever been a boywho played pranks on his masters. Indeed, Admiral Sir John Pendergestseems to have sprung, fully uniformed and forbidding, from the earth, like those soldiers of mythology. I was so taken aback at confrontingsuch a man that I never noticed my old friend, Billy Richardson, seated at the table as one of the minor officials of the Committee. Billy tells me I looked rather white about the lips when I realizedwhat was ahead of me, and I daresay he was right. My consolation isthat I didn't get red, as is my disconcerting habit. I wasaccommodated with a chair, and then a ferrety-faced little man beganasking me questions, consulting every now and then a foolscap sheet ofpaper which was before him. Others were ready to note down theanswers. 

"'When did you fire the new gun from the "Consternation" in theBaltic?'

"Dear Miss Amhurst, I have confessed to you that I am not brilliant, and, indeed, such confession was quite unnecessary, for you mustspeedily have recognized the fact, but here let me boast for a line ortwo of my one accomplishment, which is mathematical accuracy. When Imake experiments I don't note the result by rule of thumb. My answerto the ferret-faced man was prompt and complete. 

"'At twenty-three minutes, seventeen seconds past ten, A. M. , on Maythe third of this year, ' was my reply. 

"The five high officials remained perfectly impassive, but the twostenographers seemed somewhat taken by surprise, and one of themwhispered, 'Did you say fifteen seconds, sir?'

"'He said seventeen, ' growled Sir John Pendergest, in a voice thatseemed to come out of a sepulchre. 

"'Who sighted the gun?'

"'I did, sir. '

"'Why did not the regular gunner do that?'

"'He did, sir, but I also took observations, and raised the muzzle. 000327 of an inch. '

"'Was your gunner inaccurate, then, to that extent?'

"'No, sir, but I had weighed the ammunition, and found it short by twoounces and thirty-seven grains. '

"I must not bore you with all the questions and answers. I merely givethese as samples. They questioned me about the recoil, the action ofthe gun, the state of this, that and the other after firing, andluckily I was able to answer to a dot every query put to me. At thefinish one of the judges asked me to give in my own words my opinionof the gun. Admiral Sir John glared at him as he put this question, for of course to any expert the answers I had furnished, all takentogether, gave an accurate verdict on the gun, assuming my statementsto have been correct, which I maintain they were. However, as Sir Johnmade no verbal comment, I offered my opinion as tersely as I could. 

"'Thank you, Lieutenant Drummond, ' rumbled Sir John in his deep voice, as if he were pronouncing sentence, and, my testimony completed, theCommittee rose. 

"I was out in the street before Billy Richardson overtook me, and thenhe called himself to my attention by a resounding slap on theshoulder. 

"'Alan, my boy, ' he cried, 'you have done yourself proud. Yourfortune's made. '

"'As how?' I asked, shaking him by the hand. 

"'Why, we've been for weeks holding an inquiry on this blessed gun, and the question is whether or not a lot more of them are to be made. You know what an opinionated beast Old Grouch is. Well, my boy, youhave corroborated his opinion of the gun in every detail. He is such abrow-beating, tyrannical brute that the rest of the Committee wouldrather like to go against him if they dared, but you have put a spokein their wheel. Why, Sir John never said "thank you" to a human beingsince he was born until twenty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds aftereleven this morning, as you would have put it, ' and at the time ofwriting this letter this surmise of Billy's appears to be justified, for the tape in the club just now announced that the Committee hasunanimously decided in favor of the gun, and adds that this isregarded as a triumph for the chairman, Admiral Sir John Pendergest, with various letters after his name. 

"Dear Miss Amhurst, this letter, as I feared, has turned outintolerably long, and like our first conversation, it is all aboutmyself. But then, you see, you are the only one on the other side ofthe water to whom I have confided my selfish worries, and I believeyou to be so kind-hearted that I am sure you will not censure me forthis once exceeding the limits of friendly correspondence. Having beendeeply depressed during all the previous long days, the suddenreaction urges me to go out into Pall Mall, fling my cap in the air, and whoop, which action is quite evidently a remnant of my formercow-boy aspirations. Truth to tell, the Russian business seems alreadyforgotten, except by my stout old Captain on the 'Consternation, ' ormy Uncle. The strenuous Sir John has had me haled across the oceanmerely to give testimony, lasting about thirty-five minutes, when witha little patience he might have waited till the 'Consternation'herself arrived, or else have cabled for us to try the gun at BarHarbor. I suppose, however, that after my unfortunate contretemps withRussia our government was afraid I'd chip a corner off the UnitedStates, and that they'd have to pay for it. So perhaps after all itwas greater economy to bring me across on the liner 'Enthusiana. '

"By the way, I learned yesterday that the 'Consternation' has beenordered home, and so I expect to see Jack Lamont before many days arepast. The ship will be paid off at Portsmouth, and then I suppose heand I will have our freedom for six months. I am rather lookingforward to Jack's cooking me some weird but tasteful Russian disheswhen we reach his blacksmith's shop in St. Petersburg. If I get on inRussia as I hope and expect, I shall spend the rest of my leave overin the States. I saw very little indeed of that great country, and amextremely anxious to see more. When one is on duty aboard ship one canonly take very short excursions ashore. I should like to visitNiagara. It seems ridiculous that one should have been all along theAmerican coast from Canada to New York, and never have got far enoughinland to view the great Falls. 

"Russia is rather dilatory in her methods, but I surely shouldknow within two or three weeks whether I am going to succeed ornot. If not, then there is no use in waiting there. I shall tryto persuade the Prince to accompany me to America. During theweeks I am waiting in St. Petersburg I shall continuallyimpress upon him the utter futility of a life which has notinvestigated the great electrical power plant at Niagara Falls. Andthen he is interested in the educational system of the United States. While we were going to the station early that morning he told me thatthe United States educational system must be the most wonderful in theworld, because he found that your friend, Miss Katherine Kempt, knewmore about electricity, metallurgy, natural philosophy and a greatnumber of other things he is interested in, than all the ladies he hasmet in Europe put together. He thinks that's the right sort ofeducation for girls, and all this rather astonished me, because, although your friend was most charming, she said nothing during myvery short acquaintance with her to lead me to suspect that she hadreceived a scientific training. 

"Dear Miss Amhurst, I am looking every day for a letter from you, but none has yet been received by the Admiralty, who, when they getone, will forward it to whatever part of the world I happen to be in. "

 CHAPTER VIII

 "WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME"

A SUMMER hotel that boasts a thousand acres of forest, more or less, which serve the purposes of a back-yard, affords its guests, even ifall its multitude of rooms are occupied, at least one spot for eachvisitor to regard as his or her favorite nook. So large an extent ofwoodland successfully defies landscape gardening. It insists on beingleft alone, and its very immensity raises a financial barrier againsttrimly-kept gravel walks. There were plenty of landscape garden walksin the immediate vicinity of the hotel, and some of them ambitiouslypenetrated into the woods, relapsing from the civilization of beatengravel into a primitive thicket trail, which, however, always led tosome celebrated bit of picturesqueness: a waterfall, or a pulpit rockupstanding like a tower, or the fancied resemblance of a human facecarved by Nature from the cliff, or a view-point jutting out over thedeep chasm of the valley, which usually supported a rustic summerhouse or pavilion where unknown names were carved on the woodwork--the last resort of the undistinguished to achieve immortality by meansof a jack-knife. 

Dorothy discovered a little Eden of her own, to which no discerniblecovert-way led, for it was not conspicuous enough to obtain mention inthe little gratis guide which the hotel furnished-- a pamphlet oncoated paper filled with half-tone engravings, and half-extravaganteulogies of what it proclaimed to be, an earthly paradise, with therates by the day or week given on the cover page to show on what termsthis paradise might be enjoyed. 

Dorothy's bower was green, and cool, and crystal, the ruggedness ofthe rocks softened by the wealth of foliage. A very limpid spring, high up and out of sight among the leaves, sent its waters tinklingdown the face of the cliff, ever filling a crystal-clear lakelet atthe foot, which yet was never full. Velvety and beautiful as was themoss surrounding this pond, it was nevertheless too damp to form anacceptable couch for a human being, unless that human being were braveenough to risk the rheumatic inconveniences which followed Rip VanWinkle's long sleep in these very regions, so Dorothy always carriedwith her from the hotel a feather-weight, spider's-web hammock, whichshe deftly slung between two saplings, their light suppleness givingan almost pneumatic effect to this fairy net spread in a fairy glen;and here the young woman swayed luxuriously in the relaxing delightsof an indolence still too new to have become commonplace or wearisome. 

She always expected to read a great deal in the hammock, but often thebook slipped unnoticed to the moss, and she lay looking upward at thelittle discs of blue sky visible through the checkering maze of greenleaves. One afternoon, deserted by the latest piece of fictionalliterature, marked in plain figures on the paper cover that protectedthe cloth binding, one dollar and a half, but sold at the departmentstores for one dollar and eight cents, Dorothy lay half-hypnotized bythe twinkling of the green leaves above her, when she heard a sweetvoice singing a rollicking song of the Civil War, and so knew thatKatherine was thus heralding her approach. 

 "'When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll give him a hearty welcome then, Hurrah! Hurrah! The men will cheer, the boys will shout, The ladies they will all turn out, And we'll all feel gay When Johnny comes marching home. '"

Dorothy went still further back into the history of her country, andgave a faint imitation of an Indian war-whoop, to let the oncomer knowshe was welcome, and presently Katherine burst impetuously through thedense undergrowth. 

"So here you are, Miss Laziness, " she cried. 

"Here I am, Miss Energy, or shall I call you Miss-applied Energy?Katherine, you have walked so fast that you are quite red in theface. "

"It isn't exertion, it's vexation. Dorothy, I have had a perfectlyterrible time. It is the anxiety regarding the proper discipline ofparents that is spoiling the nervous system of American children. Train them up in the way they should go, and when they are old they dodepart from it. There's nothing more awful than to own parents whothink they possess a sense of humor. Thank goodness mother has none!"

"Then it is your father who has been misbehaving?"

"Of course it is. He treats the most serious problem of a woman's lifeas if it were the latest thing in 'Life. '"

Dorothy sat up in the hammock. 

"The most important problem? That means a proposal. Goodness gracious, Kate, is that insurance man back here again?"

"What insurance man?"

"Oh, heartless and heart-breaking Katherine, is there another? Sithere in the hammock beside me, and tell me all about it. "

"No, thank you, " refused Katherine. "I weigh more than you, and Icannot risk my neck through the collapse of that bit of gossamer. Imust take care of myself for his sake. "

"Then it is the life insurance man whose interests you are consulting?Have you taken out a policy with him?"

"Dear me, you are nearly as bad as father, but not quite so funny. Youare referring to Mr. Henderson, I presume. A most delightful companionfor a dance, but, my dear Dorothy, life is not all glided out to themeasures of a Strauss waltz. "

"True; quite undisputable, Kate, and them sentiments do you credit. Who is the man?"

"The human soul, " continued Katherine seriously, "aspires to higherthings than the society columns of the New York Sunday papers, and thefrivolous chatter of an overheated ball-room. "

"Again you score, Kate, and are rising higher and higher in myestimation. I see it all now. Those solemn utterances of yours pointdirectly toward Hugh Miller's 'Old Red Sandstone' and works of thatsort, and now I remember your singing 'When Johnny comes marchinghome. ' I therefore take it that Jack Lamont has arrived. "

"He has not. "

"Then he has written to you?"

"He has not. "

"Oh, well, I give it up. Tell me the tragedy your own way. "

For answer Katherine withdrew her hands from behind her, and offeredto her friend a sheet of paper she had been holding. Dorothy sawblazoned on the top of it a coat-of-arms, and underneath it, writtenin words of the most formal nature, was the information that PrinceIvan Lermontoff presented his warmest regards to Captain Kempt, U. S. N. , retired, and begged permission to pay his addresses to theCaptain's daughter Katherine. Dorothy looked up from the document, andher friend said calmly:

"You see, they need another Katherine in Russia. "

"I hope she won't be like a former one, if all I've read of her istrue. This letter was sent to your father, then?"

"It was, and he seems to regard it as a huge joke. Said he was goingto cable his consent, and as the 'Consternation' has sailed away, hewould try to pick her up by wireless telegraphy, and secure the youngman that way: suggests that I shall have a lot of new photographstaken, so that he can hand them out to the reporters when they callfor particulars. Sees in his mind's eye, he says, a hugeblack-lettered heading in the evening papers: 'A Russian Princecaptures one of our fairest daughters, ' and then insultingly hintedthat perhaps, after all, it was better not to use my picture, as itmight not bear out the 'fair daughter' fiction of the heading. "

"Yes, Kate, I can see that such treatment of a vital subject must havebeen very provoking. "

"Provoking? I should say it was! He pretended he was going to tackthis letter up on the notice-board in the hall of the hotel, so thatevery one might know what guests of distinction the Matterhorn Househeld. But the most exasperating feature of the situation is that thisletter has been lying for days and days at our cottage in Bar Harbor. I am quite certain that I left instructions for letters to beforwarded, but, as nothing came, I telegraphed yesterday to the peoplewho have taken our house, and now a whole heap of belatedcorrespondence has arrived, with a note from our tenant saying he didnot know our address. You will see at the bottom of the note that thePrince asks my father to communicate with him by sending a reply tothe 'Consternation' at New York, but now the 'Consternation' hassailed for England, and poor John must have waited and waited invain. "

"Write care of the 'Consternation' in England. "

"But Jack told me that the 'Consternation' paid off as soon as shearrived, and probably he will have gone to Russia. "

"If you address him at the Admiralty in London, the letter will beforwarded whereever he happens to be. "

"How do you know?"

"I have heard that such is the case. "

"But you're not sure, and I want to be certain. "

"Are you really in love with him, Kate?"

"Of course I am. You know that very well, and I don't want any stupidmisapprehension to arise at the beginning, such as allows a sillyauthor to carry on his story to the four-hundredth page of such trashas this, " and she gently touched with her toe the unoffending volumewhich lay on the ground beneath the hammock. 

"Then why not adopt your father's suggestion, and cable? It isn't youwho are cabling, you know. "

"I couldn't consent to that. It would look as if we were in a hurry, wouldn't it?"

"Then let me cable. "

"You? To whom?"

"Hand me up that despised book, Kate, and I'll write my cablegram onthe fly-leaf. If you approve of the message, I'll go to the hotel, andsend it at once. "

Katherine gave her the book, and lent the little silver pencil whichhung jingling, with other trinkets, on the chain at her belt. Dorothyscribbled a note, tore out the fly-leaf, and presented it toKatherine, who read:

"Alan Drummond, Bluewater Club, Pall Mall, London. Tell Lamont thathis letter to Captain Kempt was delayed, and did not reach the Captainuntil to-day. Captain Kempt's reply will be sent under cover to you atyour club. Arrange for forwarding if you leave England. 

Dorothy Amhurst. "

When Katherine finished reading she looked up at her friend, andexclaimed: "Well!" giving that one word a meaning deep as the clearpool on whose borders she stood. 

Dorothy's face reddened as if the sinking western sun was shining fullupon it. 

"You write to one another, then?"

"Yes. "

"And is it a case of--"

"No; friendship. "

"Sure it is nothing more than that?"

Dorothy shook her head. 

"Dorothy, you are a brick; that's what you are. You will do anythingto help a friend in trouble. "

Dorothy smiled. 

"I have so few friends that whatever I can do for them will notgreatly tax any capabilities I may possess. "

"Nevertheless, Dorothy, I thoroughly appreciate what you have done. You did not wish any one to know you were corresponding with him, andyet you never hesitated a moment when you saw I was anxious. "

"Indeed, Kate, there was nothing to conceal. Ours is a very ordinaryexchange of letters. I have only had two: one at Bar Harbor a few daysafter he left, and another longer one since we came to the hotel, written from England. "

"Did the last one go to Bar Harbor, too? How came you to receive itwhen we did not get ours?"

"It did not go to Bar Harbor. I gave him the address of my lawyers inNew York, and they forwarded it to me here. Lieutenant Drummond wasordered home by some one who had authority to do so, and received themessage while he was sitting with me on the night of the ball. He hadgot into trouble with Russia. There had been an investigation, and hewas acquitted. I saw that he was rather worried over the order homeand I expressed my sympathy as well as I could, hoping everythingwould turn out for the best. He asked if he might write and let meknow the outcome, and, being interested, I quite willingly gave himpermission, and my address. The letter I received was all about acommittee meeting at the Admiralty in which he took part. He wrote tome from the club in Pall Mall to which I have addressed thiscablegram. "

There was a sly dimple in Katherine's cheeks as she listened to thisstraightforward explanation, and the faintest possible suspicion of asmile flickered at the corner of her mouth. She murmured, rather thansang:

"'A pair of lovesick maidens we. '"

"One, if you please, " interrupted Dorothy. 

"'Lovesick all against our will-- '"

"Only one. "

"'Twenty years hence we shan't beA pair of lovesick maidens still. '"

"I am pleased to note, " said Dorothy demurely, "that the letterwritten by the Prince to your father has brought you back to theGilbert and Sullivan plane again, although in this fairy glen youshould quote from Iolanthe rather than from Patience. "

"Yes, Dot, this spot might do for a cove in the 'Pirates of Penzance, 'only we're too far from the sea. But, to return to the matter in hand, I don't think there will be any need to send that cablegram. I don'tlike the idea of a cablegram, anyhow. I will return to the hotel, anddictate to my frivolous father a serious composition quite as statelyand formal as that received from the Prince. He will address it andseal it, and then if you are kind enough to enclose it in the nextletter you send to Lieutenant Drummond, it will be sure to reach JackLamont ultimately. "

Dorothy sprang from the hammock to the ground. 

"Oh, " she cried eagerly, "I'll go into the hotel with you and write myletter at once. "

Katherine smiled, took her by the arm, and said:

"You're a dear girl, Dorothy. I'll race you to the hotel, as soon aswe are through this thicket. "

 CHAPTER IX

 IN RUSSIA

THE next letter Dorothy received bore Russian stamps, and was dated atthe black-smith's shop, Bolshoi Prospect, St. Petersburg. After a fewpreliminaries, which need not be set down here, Drummond continued:

"The day after Jack arrived in London, there being nothing whatever todetain him in England, we set off together for St. Petersburg, and arenow domiciled above his blacksmith shop. We are not on the fashionableside of the river, but our street is wide, and a very short walkbrings us to a bridge which, being crossed, allows us to wander amongpalaces if we are so disposed. We have been here only four days, yet agood deal has already been accomplished. The influence of the Princehas smoothed my path for me. Yesterday I had an audience with a veryimportant personage in the Foreign Office, and to-day I have seen anofficer of high rank in the navy. The Prince warns me to mention nonames, because letters, even to a young lady, are sometimes openedbefore they reach the person to whom they are addressed. Theseofficials who have been kind enough to receive me are gentlemen sopolished that I feel quite uncouth in their presence. I am a littleshaky in my French, and feared that my knowledge of that languagemight not carry me through, but both of these officials speak Englishmuch better than I do, and they seemed rather pleased I hadvoluntarily visited St. Petersburg to explain that no discourtesy wasmeant in the action I had so unfortunately taken on the Baltic, andthey gave me their warmest assurances they would do what they could toease the tension between our respective countries. It seems that mybusiness here will be finished much sooner than I expected, and then Iam off on the quickest steamer for New York, in the hope of seeingNiagara Falls. I have met with one disappointment, however. Jack sayshe cannot possibly accompany me to the United States. I have failed toarouse in him the faintest interest about the electric works atNiagara. He insists that he is on the verge of a most importantdiscovery, the nature of which he does not confide in me. I think heis working too hard, for he is looking quite haggard and overdone, butthat is always the way with him. He throws himself heart and soul intoany difficulty that confronts him, and works practically night and dayuntil he has solved it. 

"Yesterday he gave the whole street a fright. I had just returned fromthe Foreign Office, and had gone upstairs to my room, when thereoccurred an explosion that shook the building from cellar to roof, andsent the windows of our blacksmith's shop rattling into the street. Jack had a most narrow escape, but is unhurt, although that fine beardof his was badly singed. He has had it shaved off, and now sportsmerely a mustache, looking quite like a man from New York. Youwouldn't recognize him if you met him on Broadway. The carpenters andglaziers are at work to-day repairing the damage. I told Jack that ifthis sort of thing kept on I'd be compelled to patronize anotherhotel, but he says it won't happen again. It seems he was trying tocombine two substances by adding a third, and, as I understood him, the mixing took place with unexpected suddenness. He has endeavored toexplain to me the reaction, as he calls it, which occurred, but I seemto have no head for chemistry, and besides, if I am to be blownthrough the roof some of these days it will be no consolation to mewhen I come down upon the pavement outside to know accurately thedifferent elements which contributed to my elevation. Jack is verypatient in trying to instruct me, but he could not resist thetemptation of making me ashamed by saying that your friend, MissKatherine Kempt, would have known at once the full particulars of thereaction. Indeed, he says, she warned him of the disaster, by markinga passage in a book she gave him which foreshadowed this very thing. She must be a most remarkable young woman, and it shows how stupid Iam that I did not in the least appreciate this fact when in hercompany. "

The next letter was received a week later. He was getting onswimmingly, both at the Foreign Office and at the Russian Admiralty. All the officials he had met were most courteous and anxious toadvance his interests. He wrote about the misapprehensions held inEngland regarding Russia, and expressed his resolve to do what hecould when he returned to remove these false impressions. 

"Of course, " he went on, "no American or Englishman can support orjustify the repressive measures so often carried out ruthlessly by theRussian police. Still, even these may be exaggerated, for the policehave to deal with a people very much different from our own. It israther curious that at this moment I am in vague trouble concerningthe police. I am sure this place is watched, and I am also almostcertain that my friend Jack is being shadowed. He dresses like aworkman; his grimy blouse would delight the heart of his friendTolstoi, but he is known to be a Prince, and I think the authoritiesimagine he is playing up to the laboring class, whom they despise. Ilay it all to that unfortunate explosion, which gathered the policeabout us as if they had sprung from the ground. There was an officialexamination, of course, and Jack explained, apparently to everybody'ssatisfaction, exactly how he came to make the mistake that resulted inthe loss of his beard and his windows. I don't know exactly how todescribe the feeling of uneasiness which has come over me. At firstsight this city did not strike me as so very much different from NewYork or London, and meeting, as I did, so many refined gentlemen inhigh places, I had come to think St. Petersburg was after all verymuch like Paris, or Berlin, or Rome. But it is different, and thedifference makes itself subtly felt, just as the air in some coasttowns of Britain is relaxing, and in others bracing. In these towns aman doesn't notice the effect at first, but later on he begins to feelit, and so it is here in St. Petersburg. Great numbers of workmen passdown our street. They all seem to know who the Prince is, and thefirst days we were here, they saluted him with a deference which Isupposed was due to his rank, in spite of the greasy clothes he wore. Since the explosion an indefinable change has come over these workmen. They salute the Prince still when we meet them on the street, butthere is in their attitude a certain sly sympathy, if I may so termit; a bond of camaraderie which is implied in their manner rather thanexpressed. Jack says this is all fancy on my part, but I don't thinkit is. These men imagine that Prince Ivan Lermontoff, who lives amongthem and dresses like them, is concocting some explosive which may yetrid them of the tyrants who make their lives so unsafe. All this wouldnot matter, but what does matter is the chemical reaction, as Ibelieve Jack would term it, which has taken place among theauthorities. The authorities undoubtedly have their spies among theworking-men, and know well what they are thinking about and talkingabout. I do not believe they were satisfied with the explanations Jackgave regarding the disaster. I have tried to impress upon Jack that hemust be more careful in walking about the town, and I have tried topersuade him, after work, to dress like the gentleman he is, but helaughs at my fears, and assures me that I have gone from one extremeto the other in my opinion of St. Petersburg. First I thought it waslike all other capitals; now I have swung too far in the otherdirection. He says the police of St. Petersburg would not dare arresthim, but I'm not so sure of that. A number of things occur to me, asusual, too late. Russia, with her perfect secret service system, mustknow that Prince Lermontoff has been serving in the British Navy. Theyknow he returned to St. Petersburg, avoids all his old friends, and isbrought to their notice by an inexplicable explosion, and they must bewell aware, also, that he is in the company of the man who fired theshell at the rock in the Baltic, and that he himself served on theoffending cruiser. 

"As to my own affairs, I must say they are progressing slowly butsatisfactorily; nevertheless, if Jack would leave St. Petersburg, andcome with me to London or New York, where he could carry on hisexperiments quite as well, or even better than here, I should departat once, even if I jeopardized my own prospects. "

The next letter, some time later, began:

"Your two charming notes to me arrived here together. It is very kindof you to write to a poor exile and cheer him in his banishment. Ishould like to see that dell where you have swung your hammock. Bewareof Hendrick Hudson's men, so delightfully written of by WashingtonIrving. If they offer you anything to drink, don't you take it. Thinkhow disastrous it would be to all your friends if you went to sleep inthat hammock for twenty years. It's the Catskills I want to see nowrather than Niagara Falls. Your second letter containing the note fromCaptain Kempt to Jack was at once delivered to him. What on earth hasthe genial Captain written to effect such a transformation in myfriend? He came to me that evening clothed in his right mind; inevening rig-out, with his decorations upon it, commanded me to getinto my dinner togs, took me in a carriage across the river to thebest restaurant St. Petersburg affords, and there we had a champagnedinner in which he drank to America and all things American. Whetherit was the enthusiasm produced by Captain Kempt's communication, orthe effect of the champagne, I do not know, but he has reconsideredhis determination not to return to the United States, and very soon weset out together for the west. 

"I shall be glad to get out of this place. We were followed to therestaurant, I am certain, and I am equally certain that at the nexttable two police spies were seated, and these two shadowed us in a cabuntil we reached our blacksmith's shop. It is a humiliating confessionto make, but somehow the atmosphere of this place has got on mynerves, and I shall be glad to turn my back on it. Jack pooh-poohs theidea that he is in any danger. Even the Governor of St. Petersburg, hesays, dare not lay a finger on him, and as for the Chief of Police, hepours scorn on that powerful official. He scouts the idea that he isbeing watched, and all-in-all is quite humorous at my expense, sayingthat my state of mind is more fitting for a schoolgirl than for astalwart man over six feet in height. One consolation is that Jack nowhas become as keen for America as I am. I expect that the interviewarranged for me to-morrow with a great government official will settlemy own business finally one way or another. A while ago I wasconfident of success, but the repeated delays have made me lessoptimistic now, although the gentle courtesy of those in high placesremains undiminished. 

"Dear Miss Amhurst, I cannot afford to fall lower in your estimationthan perhaps I deserve, so I must say that this fear which hasovercome me is all on account of my friend, and not on my own behalfat all. I am perfectly safe in Russia, being a British subject. Mycold and formal Cousin Thaxted is a member of the British Embassyhere, and my cold and formal uncle is a Cabinet Minister in England, facts which must be well known to these spy-informed people of St. Petersburg; so I am immune. The worst they could do would be to orderme out of the country, but even that is unthinkable. If any oneattempted to interfere with me, I have only to act the hero of thepenny novelette, draw myself up to my full height, which, as you know, is not that of a pigmy, fold my arms across my manly chest, cry, 'Ha, ha!' and sing 'Rule Britannia, ' whereupon the villains would wilt andwithdraw. But Jack has no such security. He is a Russian subject, and, prince or commoner, the authorities here could do what they liked withhim. I always think of things when it is too late to act. I wish I hadurged Jack ashore at Bar Harbor, and induced him to take the oath ofallegiance to the United States. I spoke to him about that coming homein the carriage, and to my amazement he said he wished he had thoughtof it himself at the time we were over there. 

"But enough of this. I daresay he is in no real danger after all. Nevertheless, I shall induce him to pack to-morrow, and we will makefor London together, so my next letter will bear a British stamp, andI assure you the air of England will taste good to one benightedBritisher whose name is Alan Drummond. "

 CHAPTER X

 CALAMITY UNSEEN

THE habit of industry practised from childhood to maturity is notobliterated by an unexpected shower of gold. Dorothy was an earlyriser, and one morning, entering the parlor from her room she saw, lying upon the table, a letter with a Russian stamp, but addressed inan unknown hand to her friend Katherine Kempt. She surmised that herewas the first communication from the Prince, and expected to learn allabout it during the luncheon hour at the latest. But the morning andafternoon passed, and Katherine made no sign, which Dorothy thoughtwas most unusual. All that day and the next Katherine went aboutsilent, sedate and serious, never once quoting the humorous Mr. Gilbert. On the third morning Dorothy was surprised, emerging from herroom, to see Katherine standing by the table, a black book in herhand. On the table lay a large package from New York, recently opened, displaying a number of volumes in what might be termed seriousbinding, leather or cloth, but none showing that high coloring whichdistinguishes the output of American fiction. 

"Good-morning, Dorothy. The early bird is after the worm of science. "She held forth the volume in her hand. "Steele's 'Fourteen-Weeks'Course in Chemistry, ' an old book, but fascinatingly written. Dorothy, " she continued with a sigh, "I want to talk seriously withyou. "

"About chemistry?" asked Dorothy. 

"About men, " said Katherine firmly, "and, incidentally, about women. "

"An interesting subject, Kate, but you've got the wrong text-books. You should have had a parcel of novels instead. "

Dorothy seated herself, and Katherine followed her example, Steele's"Fourteen-Weeks' Course" resting in her lap. 

"Every man, " began Katherine, "should have a guardian to protect him. "

"From women?"

"From all things that are deceptive, and not what they seem. "

"That sounds very sententious, Kate. What does it mean?"

"It means that man is a simpleton, easily taken in. He is too honestfor crafty women, who delude him shamelessly. "

"Whom have you been deluding, Kate?"

"Dorothy, I am a sneak. "

Dorothy laughed. 

"Indeed, Katherine, you are anything but that. You couldn't do a meanor ungenerous action if you tried your best. "

"You think, Dorothy, I could reform?" she asked, breathlessly, leaningforward. 

"Reform? You don't need to reform. You are perfectly delightful as youare, and I know no man who is worthy of you. That's a woman's opinion;one who knows you well, and there is nothing dishonest about theopinion, either, in spite of your tirade against our sex. "

"Dorothy, three days ago, be the same more or less, I received aletter from John Lamont. "

"Yes, I saw it on the table, and surmised it was from him. "

"Did you? You were quite right. The reading of that letter hasrevolutionized my character. I am a changed woman, Dorothy, andthoroughly ashamed of myself. When I remember how I have deluded thatpoor, credulous young man, in making him believe I understood even thefringe of what he spoke about, it fills me with grief at my perfidy, but I am determined to amend my ways if hard study will do it, andwhen next I see him I shall talk to him worthily like a female ThomasA. Edison. "

Again Dorothy laughed. 

"Now, that's heartless of you, Dorothy. Don't you see I'm in deadlyearnest? Must my former frivolity dog my steps through life? When Icall to mind that I made fun to you of his serious purpose in life, the thought makes me cringe and despise myself. "

"Nonsense, Kate, don't go to the other extreme. I remember nothing youhave said that needs withdrawal. You have never made a maliciousremark in your life, Kate. Don't make me defend you against yourself. You have determined, I take it, to plunge into the subjects whichinterest the man you are going to marry. That is a perfectly laudableambition, and I am quite sure you will succeed. "

"I know I don't deserve all that, Dorothy, but I like it just thesame. I like people to believe in me, even if I sometimes lose faithin myself. May I read you an extract from his letter?"

"Don't if you'd rather not. "

"I'd rather, Dorothy, if it doesn't weary you, but you will understandwhen you have heard it, in what a new light I regard myself. "

The letter proved to be within the leaves of the late Mr. Steele'sbook on Chemistry, and from this volume she extracted it, pressed itfor a moment against her breast with her open hand, gazing across ather friend. 

"Dorothy, my first love-letter!"

She turned the crisp, thin pages, and began:

"'You may recollect that foot-note which you marked with red ink inthe book you so kindly gave me on the subject of Catalysis, which didnot pertain to the subject of the volume in question, and yet was soilluminative to any student of chemistry. They have done a great dealwith Catalysis in Germany with amazing commercial results, but thesubject is one so recent that I had not previously gone thoroughlyinto it. '"

Katherine paused in the reading, and looked across at her auditor, anexpression almost of despair in her eloquent eyes. 

"Dorothy, what under heaven is Catalysis?"

"Don't ask me, " replied Dorothy, suppressing a laugh, struck by theludicrousness of any young and beautiful woman pressing any suchsentiments as these to her bosom. 

"Have you ever heard of a Catalytic process, Dorothy?" beseechedKatherine. "It is one of the phrases he uses. "

"Never; go on with the letter, Kate. "

"'I saw at once that if I could use Catalytic process which would beinstantaneous in its solidifying effect on my liquid limestone, instead of waiting upon slow evaporation, I could turn out buildingstone faster than one can make brick. You, I am sure, with your morealert mind, saw this when you marked that passage in red. '"

"Oh, Dorothy, " almost whimpered Katherine, leaning back, "how can I goon? Don't you see what a sneak I am? It was bad enough to cozen withmy heedless, random markings of the book, but to think that line ofred ink might have been marked in his blood, for I nearly sent thepoor boy to his death. "

"Go on, Katherine, go on, go on!"

"'In my search for a Catalytic whose substance would remain unchangedafter the reaction, I quite overlooked the chemical ingredients of oneof the materials I was dealing with, and the result was an explosionwhich nearly blew the roof off the shop, and quite startled poorDrummond out of a year's growth. However, no real harm has been done, while I have been taught a valuable lesson; to take into account allthe elements I am using. I must not become so intent on the subject Iam pursuing as to ignore everything else. ' And now, Dorothy, I want toask you a most intimate question, which I beg of you to answer asfrankly as I have confided in you. "

"I know what your question is, Kate. A girl who is engaged wishes tosee her friend in the same position. You would ask me if I am in lovewith Alan Drummond, and I answer perfectly frankly that I am not. "

"You are quite sure of that, Dorothy?"

"Quite. He is the only man friend I have had, except my own father, and I willingly confess to a sisterly interest in him. "

"Well, if that is all--"

"It is all, Kate. Why?"

"Because there is something about him in this letter, which I wouldread to you if I thought you didn't care. "

"Oh, he is in love with Jack's sister, very likely. I should thinkthat would be a most appropriate arrangement. Jack is his best friend, and perhaps a lover would weaken the influence which Tolstoi exertsover an emotional person's mind. Lieutenant Drummond, with his sanity, would probably rescue a remnant of her estates. "

"Oh, well, if you can talk as indifferently as that, you are allright, Dorothy. No, there is no other woman in the case. Here's whatJack says:

"'It is amazing how little an Englishman understands people of othernations. Here is my tall friend Drummond marching nonchalantly amongdangers of which he has not the least conception. The authorities whomhe thinks so courteous are fooling him to the top of his bent. Thereis, of course, no danger of his arrest, but nevertheless the eyes ofthe police are upon him, and he will not believe it, any more than bewill believe he is being hoodwinked by the Foreign Minister. What Ifear is that he will be bludgeoned on the street some dark night, orinvolved in a one-sided duel. Twice I have rescued him from animminent danger which he has not even seen. Once in a restaurant agroup of officers, apparently drunk, picked a quarrel and drew swordsupon him. I had the less difficulty in getting him away because hefears a broil, or anything that will call down upon him the attentionof his wooden-headed cousin in the Embassy. On another occasion as wewere coming home toward midnight, a perfectly bogus brawl broke outsuddenly all around us. Drummond was unarmed, but his huge fists sentsprawling two or three of his assailants. I had a revolver, and heldthe rest off, and so we escaped. I wish he was safely back in Londonagain. ' What do you think of that, Dorothy?"

"I think exactly what Mr. Lamont thinks. Lieutenant Drummond's missionto Russia seems to me a journey of folly. "

"After all, I am glad you don't care, Dorothy. He should pay attentionto what Jack says, for Jack knows Russia, and he doesn't. Still, letus hope he will come safely out of St. Petersburg. And now, Dot, forbreakfast, because I must get to work. "

Next morning Dorothy saw a letter for herself on the table in the nowfamiliar hand-writing, and was more relieved than perhaps she wouldhave confessed even to her closest friend, when she saw thetwopence-halfpenny English stamp on the envelope. Yet its contentswere startling enough, and this letter she did not read to KatherineKempt, but bore its anxiety alone. 

DEAR MISS AMHURST:

I write you in great trouble of mind, not trusting this letter to theRussian post-office, but sending it by an English captain to be postedin London. Two days ago Jack Lamont disappeared; a disappearance ascomplete as if he had never existed. The night before last, about teno'clock, I thought I heard him come into his shop below my room. Sometimes he works there till daylight, and as, when absorbed in hisexperiments, he does not relish interruptions, even from me, I go onwith my reading until he comes upstairs. Toward eleven o'clock Ithought I heard slight sounds of a scuffle, and a smothered cry. Icalled out to him, but received no answer. Taking a candle, I wentdownstairs, but everything was exactly as usual, the doors locked, andnot even a bench overturned. I called aloud, but only the echo of thisbarn of a room replied. I lit the gas and made a more intelligentsearch, but with no result. I unlocked the door, and stood out in thestreet, which was quite silent and deserted. I began to doubt that Ihad heard anything at all, for, as I have told you, my nerves latelyhave been rather prone to the jumps. I sat up all night waiting forhim, but he did not come. Next day I went, as had been previouslyarranged, to the Foreign Office, but was kept waiting in an anteroomfor two hours, and then told that the Minister could not see me. I meta similar repulse at the Admiralty. I dined alone at the restaurantJack and I frequent, but saw nothing of him. This morning he has notreturned, and I am at my wit's end, not in the least knowing what todo. It is useless for me to appeal to the embassy of my country, for, Jack being a Russian, it has no jurisdiction. The last letter Ireceived from you was tampered with. The newspaper extract you spokeof was not there, and one of the sheets of the letter was missing. Piffling business, I call it, this interfering with privatecorrespondence. 

Such was the last letter that Alan Drummond was ever to send toDorothy Amhurst. 

 CHAPTER XI

 THE SNOW

SUMMER waned; the evenings became chill, although the sun pretended atnoon that its power was undiminished. Back to town from mountain andsea shore filtered the warm-weather idlers, but no more letters camefrom St. Petersburg to the hill by the Hudson. So far as our girlswere concerned, a curtain of silence had fallen between Europe andAmerica. 

The flat was now furnished, and the beginning of autumn saw itoccupied by the two friends. Realization in this instance lacked thedelight of anticipation. At last Katherine was the bachelor girl shehad longed to be, but the pleasures of freedom were as Dead Sea fruitto the lips. At last Dorothy was effectually cut off from all thoughtsof slavery, with unlimited money to do what she pleased with, yetafter all, of what advantage was it in solving the problem thathaunted her by day and filled her dreams by night. She faced the worldwith seeming unconcern, for she had not the right to mourn, even ifshe knew he were dead. He had made no claim; had asked for noaffection; had written no word to her but what all the world mightread. Once a week she made a little journey up the Hudson to see howher church was coming on, and at first Katherine accompanied her, butnow she went alone. Katherine was too honest a girl to pretend aninterest where she felt none. She could not talk of architecture whenshe was thinking of a man and his fate. At first she had beenquerulously impatient when no second communication came. Her ownletters, she said, must have reached him, otherwise they would havebeen returned. Later, dumb fear took possession of her, and she grewsilent, plunged with renewed energy into her books, joined a technicalschool, took lessons, and grew paler and paler until her teacherswarned her she was overdoing it. Inwardly she resented the sereneimpassiveness of her friend, who consulted calmly with the architectupon occasion about the decoration of the church, when men's libertywas gone, and perhaps their lives. She built up within her mind aromance of devotion, by which her lover, warning in vain the stolidEnglishman, had at last been involved in the ruin that Drummond'sstubbornness had brought upon them both, and unjustly implicated thequiet woman by her side in the responsibility of this sacrifice. Onceor twice she spoke with angry impatience of Drummond and hisstupidity, but Dorothy neither defended nor excused, and so no openrupture occurred between the two friends, for a quarrel cannot beone-sided. 

But with a woman of Katherine's temperament the final outburst had tocome, and it came on the day that the first flurry of snow fellthrough the still air, capering in large flakes past the windows ofthe flat down to the muddy street far below. Katherine was standing bythe window, with her forehead leaning against the plate glass, inexactly the attitude that had been her habit in the sewing-room at BarHarbor, but now the staccato of her fingers on the sill seemed to druma Dead March of despair. The falling snow had darkened the room, andone electric light was aglow over the dainty Chippendale desk at whichDorothy sat writing a letter. The smooth, regular flow of the pen overthe paper roused Katherine to a frenzy of exasperation. Suddenly shebrought her clenched fist down on the sill where her fingers had beendrumming. 

"My God, " she cried, "how can you sit there like an automaton with thesnow falling?"

Dorothy put down her pen. 

"The snow falling?" she echoed. "I don't understand!"

"Of course you don't. You don't think of the drifts in Siberia, andthe two men you have known, whose hands you have clasped, manacled, driven through it with the lash of a Cossack's whip. "

Dorothy rose quietly, and put her hands on the shoulders of the girl, feeling her frame tremble underneath her touch. 

"Katherine, " she said, quietly, but Katherine, with a nervous twitchof her shoulders flung off the friendly grasp. 

"Don't touch me, " she cried. "Go back to your letter-writing. You andthe Englishman are exactly alike; unfeeling, heartless. He with hisselfish stubbornness has involved an innocent man in the calamity hisown stupidity has brought about. "

"Katherine, sit down. I want to talk calmly with you. "

"Calmly! Calmly! Yes, that is the word. It is easy for you to be calmwhen you don't care. But I care, and I cannot be calm. "

"What do you wish to do, Katherine?"

"What can I do? I am a pauper and a dependent, but one thing I amdetermined to do, and that is to go and live in my father's house. "

"If you were in my place, what would you do Katherine?"

"I would go to Russia. "

"What would you do when you arrived there?"

"If I had wealth I would use it in such a campaign of bribery andcorruption in that country of tyrants that I should release twoinnocent men. I'd first find out where they were, then I'd use all theinfluence I possessed with the American Ambassador to get them setfree. "

"The American Ambassador, Kate, cannot move to release either anEnglishman or a Russian. "

"I'd do it somehow. I wouldn't sit here like a stick or a stone, writing letters to my architect. "

"Would you go to Russia alone?"

"No, I should take my father with me. "

"That is an excellent idea, Kate. I advise you to go north byto-night's train, if you like, and see him, or telegraph to him tocome and see us. "

Kate sat down, and Dorothy drew the curtains across the window paneand snapped on the central cluster of electric lamps. 

"Will you come with me if I go north?" asked Kate, in a milder tonethan she had hitherto used. 

"I cannot. I am making an appointment with a man in this roomto-morrow. "

"The architect, I suppose, " cried Kate with scorn. 

"No, with a man who may or may not give me information of Lamont orDrummond. "

Katherine stared at her open-eyed. 

"Then you have been doing something?"

"I have been trying, but it is difficult to know what to do. I havereceived information that the house in which Mr. Lamont and Mr. Drummond lived is now deserted, and no one knows anything of itsformer occupants. That information comes to me semi-officially, but itdoes not lead far. I have started inquiry through more questionablechannels; in other words, I have invoked the aid of a Nihilistsociety, and although I am quite determined to go to Russia with you, do not be surprised if I am arrested the moment I set foot in St. Petersburg. "

"Dorothy, why did you not let me know?"

"I was anxious to get some good news to give you, but it has not comeyet. "

"Oh, Dorothy, " moaned Katherine, struggling to keep back the tearsthat would flow in spite of her. Dorothy patted her on the shoulder. 

"You have been a little unjust, " she said, "and I am going to provethat to you, so that in trying to make amends you may perhaps stopbrooding over this crisis that faces two poor lone women. You wrongthe Englishman, as you call him. Jack was arrested at least two daysbefore he was. Nihilist spies say that both of them were arrested, thePrince first, and the Englishman several days later. I had a letterfrom Mr. Drummond a short time after you received yours from Mr. Lamont. I never showed it to you, but now things are so bad that theycannot be worse, and you are at liberty to read the letter if you wishto do so. It tells of Jack's disappearance, and of Drummond's agony ofmind and helplessness in St. Petersburg. Since he has never writtenagain, I am sure he was arrested later. I don't know which of the twowas most at fault for what you call stubbornness, but I believe theexplosion had more to do with the arrests than any action of theirs. "

"And I was the cause of that, " wailed Katherine. 

"No, no, my dear girl. No one is to blame but the tyrant of Russia. Now the Nihilists insist that neither of these men has been sent toSiberia. They think they are in the prison of 'St. Peter and St. Paul. ' That information came to me to-day in the letter I was just nowanswering. So, Katherine, I think you have been unjust to theEnglishman. If he had been arrested first, there might be some groundsfor what you charge, but they evidently gave him a chance to escape. He had his warning in the disappearance of his friend, and he hadseveral days in which to get out of St. Petersburg, but he stood hisground. "

"I'm sorry, Dorothy. I'm a silly fool, and to-day, when I saw thesnow-- well, I got all wrought up. "

"I think neither of the men are in the snow, and now I am going to saysomething else, and then never speak of the subject again. You say Ididn't care, and of course you are quite right, for I confessed to youthat I didn't. But just imagine-- imagine-- that I cared. The RussianGovernment can let the Prince go at any moment, and there's nothingmore to be said. He has no redress, and must take the consequences ofhis nationality. But if the Russian Government have arrested theEnglishman; if they have put him in the prison of 'St. Peter and St. Paul, ' they dare not release him, unless they are willing to face war. The Russian Government can do nothing in his case but deny, demandproof, and obliterate all chance of the truth ever being known. AlanDrummond is doomed: they dare not release him. Now think for a momenthow much worse my case would be than yours, if-- if--" her voicequivered and broke for the moment, then with tightly clenched fistsshe recovered control of herself, and finished: "if I cared. "

"Oh, Dorothy, Dorothy, Dorothy!" gasped Katherine, springing to herfeet. 

"No, no, don't jump at any false conclusion. We are both nervouswrecks this afternoon. Don't misunderstand me. I don't care-- I don'tcare, except that I hate tyranny, and am sorry for the victims of it. "

"Dorothy, Dorothy!"

"We need a sane man in the house, Kate. Telegraph for your father tocome down and talk to us both. I must finish my letter to theNihilist. "

"Dorothy!" said Katherine, kissing her. 

 CHAPTER XII

 THE DREADED TROGZMONDOFF

THE Nihilist was shown into the dainty drawing room of the flat, andfound Dorothy Amhurst alone, as he had stipulated, waiting for him. Hewas dressed in a sort of naval uniform and held a peaked cap in hishand, standing awkwardly there as one unused to luxurioussurroundings. His face was bronzed with exposure to sun and storm, andalthough he appeared to be little more than thirty years of age hisclosely cropped hair was white. His eyes were light blue, and if everthe expression of a man's countenance betokened stalwart honesty, itwas the face of this sailor. He was not in the least Dorothy's idea ofa dangerous plotter. 

"Sit down, " she said, and he did so like a man ill at ease. 

"I suppose Johnson is not your real name, " she began. 

"It is the name I bear in America, Madam. "

"Do you mind my asking you some questions?"

"No, Madam, but if you ask me anything I am not allowed to answer Ishall not reply. "

"How long have you been in the United States?"

"Only a few months, Madam. "

"How come you to speak English so well?"

"In my young days I shipped aboard a bark plying between Helsingforsand New York. "

"You are a Russian?"

"I am a Finlander, Madam. "

"Have you been a sailor all your life?"

"Yes, Madam. For a time I was an unimportant officer on board abattleship in the Russian Navy, until I was discovered to be aNihilist, when I was cast into prison. I escaped last May, and came toNew York. "

"What have you been doing since you arrived here?"

"I was so fortunate as to become mate on the turbine yacht 'TheWalrus, ' owned by Mr. Stockwell. "

"Oh, that's the multi-millionaire whose bank failed a month ago?"

"Yes, Madam. "

"But does he still keep a yacht?"

"No, Madam. I think he has never been aboard this one, although it isprobably the most expensive boat in these waters. I am told it costanywhere from half a million to a million. She was built byThornycroft, like a cruiser, with Parson's turbine engines in her. After the failure, Captain and crew were discharged, and I am on boardas a sort of watchman until she is sold, but there is not a largemarket for a boat like 'The Walrus, ' and I am told they will take thefittings out of her, and sell her as a cruiser to one of the SouthAmerican republics. "

"Well, Mr. Johnson, you ought to be a reliable man, if the Court hasput you in charge of so valuable a property. "

"I believe I am considered honest, Madam. "

"Then why do you come to me asking ten thousand dollars for a letterwhich you say was written to me, and which naturally belongs to me?"

The man's face deepened into a mahogany brown, and he shifted his capuneasily in his hands. 

"Madam, I am not acting for myself. I am Secretary of the RussianLiberation Society. They, through their branch at St. Petersburg, haveconducted some investigations on your behalf. "

"Yes, for which I paid them very well. "

Johnson bowed. 

"Our object, Madam, is the repression of tyranny. For that we are incontinual need of money. It is the poor, and not the millionaires, whosubscribe to our fund. It has been discovered that you are a richwoman, who will never miss the money asked, and so the demand wasmade. Believe me, Madam, I am acting by the command of my comrades. Itried to persuade them to leave compensation to your own generosity, but they refused. If you consider their demand unreasonable, you havebut to say so, and I will return and tell them your decision. "

"Have you brought the letter with you?"

"Yes, Madam. "

"Must I agree to your terms before seeing it?"

"Yes, Madam. "

"Have you read it?"

"Yes, Madam. "

"Do you think it worth ten thousand dollars?"

The sailor looked up at the decorated ceiling for several momentsbefore he replied. 

"That is a question I cannot answer, " he said at last. "It all dependson what you think of the writer. "

"Answer one more question. By whom is the letter signed?"

"There is no signature, Madam. It was found in the house where the twoyoung men lived. Our people searched the house from top to bottomsurreptitiously, and they think the writer was arrested before he hadfinished the letter. There is no address, and nothing to show for whomit is intended, except the phrase beginning, 'My dearest Dorothy. '"

The girl leaned back in her chair, and drew a long breath. "It is notfor me, " she said, hastily; then bending forward, she cried suddenly:

"I agree to your terms: give it to me. "

The man hesitated, fumbling in his inside pocket. 

"I was to get your promise in writing, " he demurred. 

"Give it to me, give it to me, " she demanded. "I do not break myword. "

He handed her the letter. 

"My dearest Dorothy, " she read, in writing well known to her. "You mayjudge my exalted state of mind when you see that I dare venture onsuch a beginning. I have been worrying myself and other people all tono purpose. I have received a letter from Jack this morning, and sosuspicious had I grown that for a few moments I suspected the writingwas but an imitation of his. He is a very impulsive fellow, and canthink of only one thing at a time, which accounts for his success inthe line of invention. He was telegraphed to that his sister was ill, and left at once to see her. I had allowed my mind to become sotwisted by my fears for his safety that, as I tell you, I suspectedthe letter to be counterfeit at first. I telegraphed to his estate, and received a prompt reply saying that his sister was much better, and that he was already on his way back, and would reach me at elevento-night. So that's what happens when a grown man gets a fit ofnerves. I drew the most gloomy conclusions from the fact that I hadbeen refused admission to the Foreign Office and the Admiralty. Yesterday that was all explained away. The business is at lastconcluded, and I was shown copies of the letters which have beenforwarded to my own chiefs at home. Nothing could be moresatisfactory. To-morrow Jack and I will be off to England together. 

"My dearest Dorothy (second time of asking), I am not a rich man, butthen, in spite of your little fortune of Bar Harbor, you are not arich woman, so we stand on an equality in that, even though you are somuch my superior in everything else. I have five hundred pounds ayear, which is something less than two thousand five hundred dollars, left me by my father. This is independent of my profession. I am verycertain I will succeed in the Navy now that the Russian Government hassent those letters, so, the moment I was assured of that, I determinedto write and ask you to be my wife. Will you forgive my impatience, and pander to it by cabling to me at the Bluewater Club, Pall Mall, the word 'Yes' or the word 'Undecided'? I shall not allow you theprivilege of cabling 'No. ' And please give me a chance of pleading mycase in person, if you use the longer word. Ah, I hear Jack's step onthe stair. Very stealthily he is coming, to surprise me, but I'llsurprise--"

Here the writing ended. She folded the letter, and placed it in herdesk, sitting down before it. 

"Shall I make the check payable to you, or to the Society?"

"To the Society, if you please, Madam. "

"I shall write it for double the amount asked. I also am a believer inliberty. "

"Oh, Madam, that is a generosity I feel we do not deserve. I shouldlike to have given you the letter after all you have done for us withno conditions attached. "

"I am quite sure of that, " said Dorothy, bending over her writing. Shehanded him the check, and he rose to go. 

"Sit down again, if you please. I wish to talk further with you. Yourpeople in St. Petersburg think my friends have not been sent toSiberia? Are they sure of that?"

"Well, Madam, they have means of knowing those who are transported, and they are certain the two young men were not among the recent gangssent. They suppose them to be in the fortress of 'St. Peter and St. Paul', at least that's what they say. "

"You speak as if you doubted it. "

"I do doubt it. "

"They have been sent to Siberia after all?"

"Ah, Madam, there are worse places than Siberia. In Siberia there is achance: in the dreadful Trogzmondoff there is none. "

"What is the Trogzmondoff?"

"A bleak 'Rock in the Baltic, ' Madam, the prison in which death is theonly goal that releases the victim. "

Dorothy rose trembling, staring at him, her lips white. 

"'A Rock in the Baltic!' Is that a prison, and not a fortress, then?"

"It is both prison and fortress, Madam. If Russia ever takes the riskof arresting a foreigner, it is to the Trogzmondoff he is sent. Theydrown the victims there; drown them in their cells. There is a springin the rock, and through the line of cells it runs like a beautifulrivulet, but the pulling of a lever outside stops the exit of thewater, and drowns every prisoner within. The bodies are placed one byone on a smooth, inclined shute of polished sandstone, down which thisrivulet runs so they glide out into space, and drop two hundred feetinto the Baltic Sea. No matter in what condition such a body is found, or how recent may have been the execution, it is but a drowned man inthe Baltic. There are no marks of bullet or strangulation, and thecurrents bear them swiftly away from the rock. "

"How come you to know all this which seems to have been concealed fromthe rest of the world?"

"I know it, Madam, for the best of reasons. I was sentenced this veryyear to Trogzmondoff. In my youth trading between Helsingfors and NewYork, I took out naturalization papers in New York, because I was oneof the crew on an American ship. When they illegally impressed me atHelsingfors and forced me to join the Russian Navy, I made the best ofa bad bargain, and being an expert seaman, was reasonably welltreated, and promoted, but at last they discovered I was incorrespondence with a Nihilist circle in London, and when I wasarrested, I demanded the rights of an American citizen. That doomedme. I was sent, without trial, to the Trogzmondoff in April of thisyear. Arriving there I was foolish enough to threaten, and say mycomrades had means of letting the United States Government know, andthat a battleship would teach the gaolers of the rock better manners. 

"The cells hewn in the rock are completely dark, so I lost all countof time. You might think we would know night from day by the bringingin of our meals, but such was not the case. The gaoler brought in alarge loaf of black bread, and said it was to serve me for four days. He placed the loaf on a ledge of rock about three feet from the floor, which served as both table and bed. In excavating the cell this ledgehad been left intact, with a bench of stone rising from the flooropposite. Indeed, so ingenious had been the workmen who hewed out thisroom that they carved a rounded stone pillow at one end of the shelf. 

"I do not know how many days I had been in prison when the explosionoccurred. It made the whole rock quiver, and I wondered what hadhappened. Almost immediately afterward there seemed to be anotherexplosion, not nearly so harsh, which I thought was perhaps an echo ofthe first. About an hour later my cell door was unlocked, and thegaoler, with another man holding a lantern, came in. My third loaf ofblack bread was partly consumed, so I must have been in prison nine orten days. The gaoler took the loaf outside, and when he returned. Iasked him what had happened. He answered in a surly fashion that myAmerican warship had fired at the rock, and that the rock had struckback, whereupon she sailed away, crippled. "

Dorothy, who had been listening intently to this discourse, hereinterrupted with:

"It was an English war-ship that fired the shell, and the Russian shotdid not come within half a mile of her. "

The sailor stared at her in wide-eyed surprise. 

"You see, I have been making inquiries, " she explained. "Please goon. "

"I never heard that it was an English ship. The gaoler sneered at me, and said he was going to send me after the American vessel, as Isuppose he thought it was. I feared by his taking away of the breadthat it was intended to starve me to death, and was sorry I had noteaten more at my last meal. I lay down on the shelf of rock, and soonfell asleep. I was awakened by the water lapping around me. The cellwas intensely still. Up to this I had always enjoyed the company of alittle brook that ran along the side of the cell farthest from thedoor. Its music had now ceased, and when I sprang up I found myself tothe waist in very cold water. I guessed at once the use of the leversoutside the cell in the passage which I had noticed in the light ofthe lantern on the day I entered the place, and I knew now why it wasthat the prison door was not pierced by one of those gratings whichenable the gaoler in the passage to look into the cell any time ofnight or day. Prisoners have told me that the uncertainty of an inmatewho never knew when he might be spied upon added to the horror of thesituation, but the water-tight doors of the Trogzmondoff are free fromthis feature, and for a very sinister reason. 

"The channel in the floor through which the water runs when the cellis empty, and the tunnel at the ceiling through which the water flowswhen the cell is full, give plenty of ventilation, no matter howtightly the door may he closed. The water rose very gradually until itreached the top outlet, then its level remained stationary. I floatedon the top quite easily, with as little exertion as was necessary tokeep me in that position. If I raised my head, my brow struck theceiling. The next cell to mine, lower down, was possibly empty. Iheard the water pour into it like a little cataract. The next cellabove, and indeed all the cells in that direction were flooded like myown. Of course it was no trouble for me to keep afloat; my only dangerwas that the intense coldness of the water would numb my body beyondrecovery. Still, I had been accustomed to hardships of that kindbefore now, in the frozen North. At last the gentle roar of thewaterfall ceased, and I realized my cell was emptying itself. When Ireached my shelf again, I stretched my limbs back and forth asstrenuously as I could, and as silently, for I wished no sound to giveany hint that I was still alive, if, indeed, sound could penetrate tothe passage, which is unlikely. Even before the last of the water hadrun away from the cell, I lay stretched out at full length on thefloor, hoping I might have steadiness enough to remain death-quietwhen the men came in with the lantern. I need have had no fear. Thedoor was opened, one of the men picked me up by the heels, and, usingmy legs as if they were the shafts of a wheelbarrow, dragged me downthe passage to the place where the stream emerged from the last cell, and into this torrent he flung me. There was one swift, brief momentof darkness, then I shot, feet first, into space, and dropped down, down, down through the air like a plummet, into the arms of mymother. "

"Into what?" cried Dorothy, white and breathless, thinking the recitalof these agonies had turned the man's brain. 

"The Baltic, Madam, is the Finlander's mother. It feeds him in life, carries him whither he wishes to go, and every true Finlander hopes todie in her arms. The Baltic seemed almost warm after what I had beenthrough, and the taste of the salt on my lips was good. It was abeautiful starlight night in May, and I floated around the rock, for Iknew that in a cove on the eastern side, concealed from all view ofthe sea, lay a Finland fishing-boat, a craft that will weather anystorm, and here in the water was a man who knew how to handle it. Prisoners are landed on the eastern side, and such advantage is takenof the natural conformation of this precipitous rock, that a manclimbing the steep zigzag stairway which leads to the inhabitedportion is hidden from sight of any craft upon the water even four orfive hundred yards away. Nothing seen from the outside gives any tokenof habitation. The fishing-boat, I suppose, is kept for cases ofemergency, that the Governor may communicate with the shore ifnecessary. I feared it might be moored so securely that I could notunfasten it. Security had made them careless, and the boat was tiedmerely by lines to rings in the rock, the object being to keep herfrom bruising her sides against the stone, rather than to prevent anyone taking her away. I pushed her out into the open, got quietlyinside, and floated with the swift tide, not caring to raise a sailuntil I was well out of gunshot distance. Once clear of the rock Ispread canvas, and by daybreak was long out of sight of land. I madefor Stockholm, and there being no mark or name on the boat to denotethat it belonged to the Russian Government, I had little difficulty inselling it. I told the authorities what was perfectly true: that I wasa Finland sailor escaping from the tyrant of my country, and anxiousto get to America. As such events are happening practically every weekalong the Swedish coast I was not interfered with, and got enoughmoney from the sale of the boat to enable me to dress myself well, andtake passage to England, and from there first-class to New York on aregular liner. 

"Of course I could have shipped as a sailor from Stockholm easyenough, but I was tired of being a common sailor, and expected, if Iwas respectably clothed, to get a better position than would otherwisebe the case. This proved true, for crossing the ocean I becameacquainted with Mr. Stockwell, and he engaged me as mate of his yacht. That's how I escaped from the Trogzmondoff, Madam, and I think no onebut a Finlander could have done it. "

"I quite agree with you, " said Dorothy. "You think these two men Ihave been making inquiry about have been sent to the Trogzmondoff?"

"The Russian may not be there, Madam, but the Englishman is sure to bethere. "

"Is the cannon on the western side of the rock?"

"I don't know, Madam. I never saw the western side by daylight. Inoticed nothing on the eastern side as I was climbing the steps, toshow that any cannon was on the Trogzmondoff at all. "

"I suppose you had no opportunity of finding out how many men garrisonthe rock?"

"No, Madam. I don't think the garrison is large. The place is sosecure that it doesn't need many men to guard it. Prisoners are nevertaken out for exercise, and, as I told you, they are fed but once infour days. "

"How large a crew can 'The Walrus' carry?"

"Oh, as many as you like, Madam. The yacht is practically an oceanliner. "

"Is there any landing stage on the eastern side of the rock?"

"Practically none, Madam. The steamer stood out, and I was landed inthe cove I spoke of at the foot of the stairway. "

"It wouldn't be possible to bring a steamer like 'The Walrus'alongside the rock, then?"

"It would be possible in calm weather, but very dangerous even then. "

"Could you find that rock if you were in command of a ship sailing theBaltic?"

"Oh, yes, Madam. "

"If twenty or thirty determined men were landed on the stairway, doyou think they could capture the garrison?"

"Yes, if they were landed secretly, but one or two soldiers at the topwith repeating rifles might hold the stairway against an army, whiletheir ammunition lasted. "

"But if a shell were fired from the steamer, might not the attackingcompany get inside during the confusion among the defenders?"

"That is possible, Madam, but a private steamer firing shells, or, indeed, landing a hostile company, runs danger of meeting the fate ofa pirate. "

"You would not care to try it, then?"

"I? Oh, I should be delighted to try it, if you allow me to select thecrew. I can easily get aboard the small arms and ammunition necessary, but I am not so sure about the cannon. "

"Very good. I need not warn you to be extremely cautious regardingthose you take into your confidence. Meanwhile, I wish you tocommunicate with the official who is authorized to sell the yacht. Iam expecting a gentleman to-morrow in whose name the vessel willprobably be bought, and I am hoping he will accept the captaincy ofit. "

"Is he capable of filling that position, Madam? Is he a sailor?"

"He was for many years captain in the United States Navy. I offer youthe position of mate, but I will give you captain's pay, and a largebonus in addition if you faithfully carry out my plans, whether theyprove successful or not. I wish you to come here at this hourto-morrow, with whoever is authorized to sell or charter the steamer. You may say I am undecided whether to buy or charter. I must consultCaptain Kempt on that point. "

"Thank you, Madam, I shall be here this time to-morrow. "

 CHAPTER XIII

 ENTRAPPED

PRINCE IVAN LERMONTOFF came to consider the explosion one of theluckiest things that had ever occurred in his workshop. Its happeningso soon after he reached St. Petersburg he looked upon as particularlyfortunate, because this gave him time to follow the new trend ofthought along which his mind had been deflected by such knowledge asthe unexpected outcome of his experiment had disclosed to him. Thematerial he had used as a catalytic agent was a new substance which hehad read of in a scientific review, and he had purchased a smallquantity of it in London. If such a minute portion produced results sotremendous, he began to see that a man with an apparently innocentmaterial in his waistcoat pocket might probably be able to destroy anaval harbor, so long as water and stone were in conjunction. Therewas also a possibility that a small quantity of ozak, as the stuff wascalled, mixed with pure water, would form a reducing agent forlimestone, and perhaps for other minerals, which would work muchquicker than if the liquid was merely impregnated with carbonic acidgas. He endeavored to purchase some ozak from Mr. Kruger, the chemiston the English quay, but that good man had never heard of it, and aday's search persuaded him that it could not be got in St. Petersburg, so the Prince induced Kruger to order half a pound of it from Londonor Paris, in which latter city it had been discovered. For the arrivalof this order the Prince waited with such patience as he could call tohis command, and visited poor Mr. Kruger every day in the hope ofreceiving it. 

One afternoon he was delighted to hear that the box had come, althoughit had not yet been unpacked. 

"I will send it to your house this evening, " said the chemist. "Thereare a number of drugs in the box for your old friend Professor Potkinof the University, and he is even more impatient for his consignmentthan you are for yours. Ah, here he is, " and as he spoke the venerablePotkin himself entered the shop. 

He shook hands warmly with Lermontoff, who had always been a favoritepupil of his, and learned with interest that he had lately been toEngland and America. 

"Cannot you dine with me this evening at half-past five?" asked theold man. "There are three or four friends coming, to whom I shall beglad to introduce you. "

"Truth to tell, Professor, " demurred the Prince, "I have a friendstaying with me, and I don't just like to leave him alone. "

"Bring him with you, bring him with you, " said the Professor, "but inany case be sure you come yourself. I shall be expecting you. Makeyour excuses to your friend if he does not wish to endure what hemight think dry discussion, because we shall talk nothing butchemistry and politics. "

The Prince promised to be there whether his friend came or no. Thechemist here interrupted them, and told the Professor he might expecthis materials within two hours. 

"And your package, " he said to the Prince, "I shall send about thesame time. I have been very busy, and can trust no one to unpack thisbox but myself. "

"You need not trouble to send it, and in any case I don't wish to runthe risk of having it delivered at a wrong address by your messenger. I cannot afford to wait so long as would be necessary to duplicate theorder. I am dining with the Professor to-night, so will drive thisway, and take the parcel myself. "

"Perhaps, " said the chemist, "it would be more convenient if I sentyour parcel to Professor Potkin's house?"

"No, " said the Prince decisively, "I shall call for it about fiveo'clock. "

The Professor laughed. 

"We experimenters, " he said, "never trust each other, " so they shookhands and parted. 

On returning to his workshop, Lermontoff bounded up the stairs, andhailed his friend the Lieutenant. 

"I say, Drummond, I'm going to dine to-night with Professor Potkin ofthe University, my old teacher in chemistry. His hour is half-pastfive, and I've got an invitation for you. There will be severalscientists present, and no women. Will you come?"

"I'd a good deal rather not, " said the Englishman, "I'm wiring intothese books, and studying strategy; making plans for an attack uponKronstadt. "

"Well, you take my advice, Alan, and don't leave any of those plansround where the St. Petersburg police will find them. Such a line ofstudy is carried on much safer in London than here. You'd be verywelcome, Drummond, and the old boy would be glad to see you. You don'tneed to bother about evening togs-- plain living and high thinking, you know. I'm merely going to put on a clean collar and a new tie, assufficient for the occasion. "

"I'd rather not go, Jack, if you don't mind. If I'm there you'll allbe trying to talk English or French, and so I'd feel myself rather adamper on the company. Besides, I don't know anything about science, and I'm trying to learn something about strategy. What time do youexpect to be back?"

"Rather early; ten or half-past. "

"Good, I'll wait up for you. "

At five o'clock Jack was at the chemist's and received his package. Onopening it he found the ozak in two four-ounce, glass-stopperedbottles, and these be put in his pocket. 

"Will you give me three spray syringes, as large a size as you have, rubber, glass, and metal. I'm not sure but this stuff will attack oneor other of them, and I don't want to spend the rest of my liferunning down to your shop. "

Getting the syringes, he jumped into his cab, and was driven to theProfessor's. 

"You may call for me at ten, " he said to the cabman. 

There were three others besides the Professor and himself, and theywere all interested in learning the latest scientific news from NewYork and London. 

It was a quarter past ten when the company separated. Lermontoffstepped into his cab, and the driver went rattling up the street. Inall the talk the Prince had said nothing of his own discovery, and nowwhen he found himself alone his mind reverted to the material in hispocket, and he was glad the cabman was galloping his horse, that hemight be the sooner in his workshop. Suddenly he noticed that theywere dashing down a street which ended at the river. 

"I say, " he cried to the driver, "you've taken the wrong turning. Thisis a blind street. There's neither quay nor bridge down here. Turnback. "

"I see that now, " said the driver over his shoulder. "I'll turn roundat the end where it is wider. "

He did turn, but instead of coming up the street again, dashed throughan open archway which led into the courtyard of a large buildingfronting the Neva. The moment the carriage was inside, the gatesclanged shut. 

"Now, what in the name of Saint Peter do you mean by this?" demandedthe Prince angrily. 

The cabman made no reply, but from a door to the right stepped a tall, uniformed officer, who said:

"Orders, your Highness, orders. The isvoshtchik is not to blame. May Ibeg of your Highness to accompany me inside?"

"Who the devil are you?" demanded the annoyed nobleman. 

"I am one who is called upon to perform a disagreeable duty, whichyour Highness will make much easier by paying attention to myrequests. "

"Am I under arrest?"

"I have not said so, Prince Ivan. "

"Then I demand that the gates be opened that I may return home, wheremore important business awaits me than talking to a stranger whorefuses to reveal his identity. "

"I hope you will pardon me, Prince Lermontoff. I act, as theisvoshtchik has acted, under compulsion. My identity is not inquestion. I ask you for the second time to accompany me. "

"Then, for the second time I inquire, am I under arrest? If so, showme your warrant, and then I will go with you, merely protesting thatwhoever issued such a warrant has exceeded his authority. "

"I have seen nothing of a warrant, your Highness, and I think you areconfusing your rights with those pertaining to individuals residing incertain countries you have recently visited. "

"You have no warrant, then?"

"I have none. I act on my superior's word, and do not presume toquestion it. May I hope that you will follow me without a furtherparley, which is embarrassing to me, and quite unhelpful to yourself. I have been instructed to treat you with every courtesy, butnevertheless force has been placed at my disposal. I am even to takeyour word of honor that you are unarmed, and your Highness is wellaware that such leniency is seldom shown in St. Petersburg. "

"Well, sir, even if my word of honor failed to disarm me, yourpoliteness would. I carry a revolver. Do you wish it?"

"If your Highness will condescend to give it to me. "

The Prince held the weapon, butt forward, to the officer, who receivedit with a gracious salutation. 

"You know nothing of the reason for this action?"

"Nothing whatever, your Highness. "

"Where are you going to take me?"

"A walk of less than three minutes will acquaint your Highness withthe spot. "

The Prince laughed. 

"Oh, very well, " he said. "May I write a note to a friend who iswaiting up for me?"

"I regret, Highness, that no communications whatever can be allowed. "

The Prince stepped down from the vehicle, walked diagonally across avery dimly lighted courtyard with his guide, entered that section ofthe rectangular building which faced the Neva, passed along a hallwith one gas jet burning, then outside again, and immediately over agang-plank that brought him aboard a steamer. On the lower deck apassage ran down the center of the ship, and along this the conductorguided his prisoner, opened the door of a stateroom in which candleswere burning, and a comfortable bed turned down for occupancy. 

"I think your Highness will find everything here that you need. Ifanything further is required, the electric bell will summon anattendant, who will get it for you. "

"Am I not to be confronted with whoever is responsible for my arrest?"

"I know nothing of that, your Highness. My duty ends by escorting youhere. I must ask if you have any other weapon upon you?"

"No, I have not. "

"Will you give me your parole that you will not attempt to escape?"

"I shall escape if I can, of course. "

"Thank you, Excellency, " replied the officer, as suavely as ifLermontoff had given his parole. Out of the darkness he called a tall, rough-looking soldier, who carried a musket with a bayonet at the endof it. The soldier took his stand beside the door of the cabin. 

"Anything else?" asked the Prince. 

"Nothing else, your Highness, except good-night. "

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to pay my cabman. Of course it isn't hisfault that he brought me here. "

"I shall have pleasure in sending him to you, and again, good-night. "

"Good-night, " said the Prince. 

He closed the door of his cabin, pulled out his note-book, and rapidlywrote two letters, one of which he addressed to Drummond and the otherto the Czar. When the cabman came he took him within the cabin andclosed the door. 

"Here, " he said in a loud voice that the sentry could overhear if heliked, "how much do I owe you?"

The driver told him. 

"That's too much, you scoundrel, " he cried aloud, but as he did so heplaced three gold pieces in the palm of the driver's hand togetherwith the two letters, and whispered:

"Get these delivered safely, and I'll give you ten times this money ifyou call on Prince Lermontoff at the address on that note. "

The man saluted, thanked him, and retired; a moment later he heard thejingle of a bell, and then the steady throb of an engine. There was nowindow to the stateroom, and he could not tell whether the steamer wasgoing up or down the river. Up, he surmised, and he suspected hisdestination was Schlusselburg, the fortress-prison on an island at thesource of the Neva. He determined to go on deck and solve the questionof direction, but the soldier at the door brought down his gun andbarred the passage. 

"I am surely allowed to go on deck?"

"You cannot pass without an order from the captain. "

"Well, send the captain to me, then. "

"I dare not leave the door, " said the soldier. 

Lermontoff pressed the button, and presently an attendant came tolearn what was wanted. 

"Will you ask the captain to come here?"

The steward departed, and shortly after returned with a big, bronzed, bearded man, whose bulk made the stateroom seem small. 

"You sent for the captain, and I am here. "

"So am I, " said the Prince jauntily. "My name is Lermontoff. Perhapsyou have heard of me?"

The captain shook his shaggy head. 

"I am a Prince of Russia, and by some mistake find myself yourpassenger instead of spending the night in my own house. Where are youtaking me, Captain?"

"It is forbidden that I should answer questions. "

"Is it also forbidden that I should go on deck?"

"The General said you were not to be allowed to leave this stateroom, as you did not give your parole. "

"How can I escape from a steamer in motion, Captain?"

"It is easy to jump into the river, and perhaps swim ashore. "

"So he is a general, is he? Well, Captain, I'll give you my parolethat I shall not attempt to swim the Neva on so cold a night as this. "

"I cannot allow you on deck now, " said the Captain, "but when we arein the Gulf of Finland you may walk the deck with the sentry besideyou. "

"The Gulf of Finland!" cried Lermontoff. "Then you are going down theriver?"

The big Captain looked at him with deep displeasure clouding his brow, feeling that he had been led to give away information which he shouldhave kept to himself. 

"You are not going up to Schlusselburg, then?"

"I told your Highness that I am not allowed to answer questions. TheGeneral, however, has given me a letter for you, and perhaps it maycontain all you may want to know. "

"The General has given you a letter, eh? Then why don't you let mehave it?"

"He told me not to disturb you to-night, but place it before you atbreakfast to-morrow. "

"Oh, we're going to travel all night, are we?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

"Did the General say you should not allow me to see the letterto-night?"

"No, your Excellency; he just said, 'Do not trouble his Highnessto-night, but give him this in the morning. '"

"In that case let me have it now. "

The Captain pulled a letter from his pocket and presented it to thePrince. It contained merely the two notes which Lermontoff had writtento Drummond and to the Czar. 

 CHAPTER XIV

 A VOYAGE INTO THE UNKNOWN

AFTER the Captain left him, Lermontoff closed and bolted the door, then sat down upon the edge of his bed to meditate upon the situation. He heard distant bells ringing on shore somewhere, and looking at hiswatch saw it was just eleven o'clock. It seemed incredible thatthree-quarters of an hour previously he had left the hospitable doorsof a friend, and now was churning his way in an unknown steamer to anunknown destination. It appeared impossible that so much could havehappened in forty-five minutes. He wondered what Drummond was doing, and what action he would take when he found his friend missing. 

However, pondering over the matter brought no solution of the mystery, so, being a practical young man, he cast the subject from his mind, picked up his heavy overcoat, which he had flung on the bed, and hungit up on the hook attached to the door. As he did this his hand camein contact with a tube in one of the pockets, and for a moment heimagined it was his revolver, but he found it was the metal syringe hehad purchased that evening from the chemist. This set his thoughtswhirling in another direction. He took from an inside pocket one ofthe bottles of ozak, examining it under the candle light, wishing hehad a piece of rock with which to experiment. Then with a yawn hereplaced the materials in his overcoat pocket, took off his boots, andthrew himself on the bed, thankful it was not an ordinary shelf bunk, but a generous and comfortable resting-place. Now Katherine appearedbefore his closed eyes, and hand in hand they wandered into dreamlandtogether. 

When he awoke it was pitch dark in his cabin. The candles, which hehad neglected to extinguish, had burned themselves out. The short, jerky motion of the steamer indicated that he was aboard a smallvessel, and that this small vessel was out in the open sea. Hebelieved that a noise of some kind had awakened him, and this wasconfirmed by a knock at his door which caused him to spring up andthrow back the bolt. The steward was there, but in the dim light ofthe passage he saw nothing of the sentinel. He knew it was daylightoutside. 

"The Captain, Excellency, wishes to know if you will breakfast withhim or take your meal in your room?"

"Present my compliments to the Captain, and say I shall have greatpleasure in breakfasting with him. "

"It will be ready in a quarter of an hour, Excellency. "

"Very good. Come for me at that time, as I don't know my way about theboat. "

The Prince washed himself, smoothed out his rumpled clothes as well ashe could, and put on his boots. While engaged in the latter operationthe door opened, and the big Captain himself entered, inclosed inglistening oilskins. 

"Hyvaa pyvaa, Highness, " said the Captain. "Will you walk the deckbefore breakfast?"

"Good-day to you, " returned the Prince, "and by your salutation I takeyou to be a Finn. "

"I am a native of Abo, " replied the Captain, "and as you say, a Finn, but I differ from many of my countrymen, as I am a good Russian also. "

"Well, there are not too many good Russians, and here is one who wouldrather have heard that you were a good Finn solely. "

"It is to prevent any mistake, " replied the Captain, almost roughly, "that I mention I am a good Russian. "

"Right you are, Captain, and as I am a good Russian also, perhaps goodRussian Number One can tell me to what part of the world he isconveying good Russian Number Two, a man guiltless of any crime, andunwilling, at this moment, to take an enforced journey. "

"We may both be good, but the day is not, Highness. It has beenraining during the night, and is still drizzling. I advise you to puton your overcoat. "

"Thanks, Captain, I will. "

The Captain in most friendly manner took the overcoat from its hook, shook it out, and held it ready to embrace its owner. Lermontoffshoved right arm, then left, into the sleeves, hunched the coat upinto place, and buttoned it at the throat. 

"Again, Captain, my thanks. Lead the way and I will follow. "

They emerged on deck into a dismal gray morning. No land or craft ofany kind was in sight. The horizon formed a small, close circle roundthe ship. Clouds hung low, running before the wind, and bringingintermittently little dashes of rain that seemed still further tocompress the walls of horizon. The sea was not what could be calledrough, but merely choppy and fretful, with short waves that would nothave troubled a larger craft. The steamer proved to be a small, undistinguished dingy-looking boat, more like a commercial tramp thana government vessel. An officer, apparently the mate, stood on thebridge, sinewy hands grasping the rail, peering ahead into the whitemist that was almost a fog. The promenade deck afforded no great scopefor pedestrianism, but Captain and prisoner walked back and forth overthe restricted space, talking genially together as if they were oldfriends. Nevertheless there was a certain cautious guardedness in theCaptain's speech; the wary craft of an unready man who is in thepresence of a person more subtle than himself. The bluff Captainremembered he had been caught napping the night before, when, afterrefusing to tell the Prince the direction of the steamer, he had givenhimself away by mentioning the Gulf of Finland. Lermontoff noticedthis reluctance to plunge into the abyss of free conversation, and so, instead of reassuring him he would ask no more questions, he merelytook upon his own shoulders the burden of the talk, and related to theCaptain certain wonders of London and New York. 

The steward advanced respectfully to the Captain, and announcedbreakfast ready, whereupon the two men followed him into a saloon notmuch larger than the stateroom Lermontoff had occupied the nightbefore, and not nearly so comfortably furnished. A plenteous breakfastwas supplied, consisting principally of fish, steaming potatoes, blackbread, and very strong tea. The Captain swallowed cup after cup ofthis scalding beverage, and it seemed to make him more and more genialas if it had been wine. Indeed, as time went on he forgot that it wasa prisoner who sat before him, for quite innocently he said to thesteward who waited on them:

"Have the poor devils below had anything to eat?"

"No orders, sir, " replied the steward. 

"Oh, well, give them something-- something hot. It may be their lastmeal, " then turning, he met the gaze of the Prince, demanded roughlyanother cup of tea, and explained:

"Three of the crew took too much vodka in St. Petersburg yesterday. "

The Prince nodded carelessly, as if he believed, and offered his opencigarette case to the Captain, who shook his head. 

"I smoke a pipe, " he growled. 

The Captain rose with his lighted pipe, and together they went up ondeck again. The Prince saw nothing more of the tall sentinel who hadbeen his guard the night before, so without asking permission he tookit for granted that his movements, now they were in the open sea, wereunrestricted, therefore he walked up and down the deck smokingcigarettes. At the stroke of a bell the Captain mounted the bridge andthe mate came down. 

Suddenly out of the thickness ahead loomed up a great black Britishfreighter making for St. Petersburg, as the Prince supposed. The twosteamers, big and little, were so close that each was compelled tosheer off a bit; then the Captain turned on the bridge and seemed fora moment uncertain what to do with his prisoner. A number of men wereleaning over the bulwarks of the British ship, and it would have beenquite possible for the person on one boat to give a message to thoseon the other. The Prince, understanding the Captain's quandary, lookedup at him and smiled, but made no attempt to take advantage of hispredicament. Some one on board the English ship shouted and fluttereda handkerchief, whereupon the Prince waved his cigarette in the air, and the big boat disappeared in the thickness of the east. 

Lermontoff walked the deck, thinking very seriously about hissituation, and wondering where they intended to take him. If he wereto be put in prison, it must be in some place of detention on thecoast of Finland, which seemed strange, because he understood that thefortresses there were already filled with dissatisfied inhabitants ofthat disaffected land. His first impression had been that banishmentwas intended, and he had expected to be landed at some Swedish orGerman port, but a chance remark made by the Captain at breakfastinclined him to believe that there were other prisoners on board notquite so favorably treated as himself. But why should he be sent outof Russia proper, or even removed from St. Petersburg, which, he waswell aware, suffered from no lack of gaols. The continued voyage ofthe steamer through an open sea again aroused the hope that Stockholmwas the objective point. If they landed him there it merely meant alittle temporary inconvenience, and, once ashore, he hoped to concocta telegram so apparently innocent that it would win through to hisfriend, and give Drummond at least the knowledge of his abiding-place. The thought of Drummond aroused all his old fear that the Englishmanwas to be the real victim, and this enforced voyage was merely aconvenient method of getting himself out of the way. 

After lunch a dismal drizzle set in that presently increased to asteady downpour, which drove Lermontoff to his cabin, and that roombeing unprovided with either window or electric light, the Princestruck a match to one of the candles newly placed on the washstand. Hepushed the electric button summoning the steward, and, giving him somemoney, asked if there was such a thing as a piece of stone on board, carried as ballast, or for any other reason. The steward said he wouldinquire, and finally returned with a sharpening stone used for theknives in the galley. Bolting his door, Lermontoff began anexperiment, and at once forgot he was a prisoner. He filled thewash-basin with water, and opening one of the glass-stoppered bottles, took out with the point of his knife a most minute portion of thesubstance within, which he dissolved in the water with no apparenteffect. Standing the whetstone up on end, he filled the glass syringe, and directed a fine, vaporous spray against the stone. It dissolvedbefore his eyes as a sand castle on the shore dissolves at the touchof an incoming tide. 

"By St. Peter of Russia!" he cried, "I've got it at last! I must writeto Katherine about this. "

Summoning the steward again to take away this fluid, and bring himanother pailful of fresh water, Lermontoff endeavored to extract someinformation from the deferential young man. 

"Have you ever been in Stockholm?"

"No, Excellency. "

"Or in any of the German ports?"

"No, Excellency. "

"Do you know where we are making for now?"

"No, Excellency. "

"Nor when we shall reach our destination?"

"No, Excellency. "

"You have some prisoners aboard?"

"Three drunken sailors, Excellency. "

"Yes, that's what the Captain said. But if it meant death for a sailorto be drunk, the commerce of the world would speedily stop. "

"This is a government steamer, Excellency, and if a sailor heredisobeys orders he is guilty of mutiny. On a merchant vessel theywould merely put him in irons. "

"I see. Now do you want to earn a few gold pieces?"

"Excellency has been very generous to me already, " was thenon-committal reply of the steward, whose eyes nevertheless twinkledat the mention of gold. 

"Well, here's enough to make a jingle in your pocket, and here are twoletters which you are to try to get delivered when you return to St. Petersburg. "

"Yes, Excellency. "

"You will do your best?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

"Well, if you succeed, I'll make your fortune when I'm released. "

"Thank you, Excellency. "

That night at dinner the Captain opened a bottle of vodka, andconversed genially on many topics, without touching upon theparticular subject of liberty. He partook sparingly of the stimulant, and, to Lermontoff's disappointment, it did not in the least loosenhis tongue, and thus, still ignorant of his fate, the Prince turned infor the second night aboard the steamer. 

When he awoke next morning he found the engines had stopped, and, asthe vessel was motionless, surmised it had reached harbor. He heardthe intermittent chuck-chuck of a pony engine, and the screech of animperfectly-oiled crane, and guessed that cargo was being put ashore. 

"Now, " he said to himself, "if my former sentinel is at the door theyare going to take me to prison. If he is absent, I am to be set free. "

He jumped up, threw back the bolt, opened the door. There was no onethere. In a very few minutes he was on deck, and found that thesteamer was lying in the lee of a huge rock, which reminded him ofMont St. Michel in Normandy, except that it was about half again ashigh, and three times as long, and that there were no buildings of anykind upon it, nor, indeed, the least sign of human habitation. 

The morning was fine; in the east the sun had just risen, and wasflooding the grim rock with a rosy light. Except this rock, no traceof land was visible as far as the eye could see. Alongside the steamerwas moored a sailing-boat with two masts, but provided also withthole-pins, and sweeps for rowing. The sails were furled, and she hadevidently been brought to the steamer's side by means of the oars. Into this craft the crane was lowering boxes, bags, and what-not, which three or four men were stowing away. The mate was superintendingthis transshipment, and the Captain, standing with his back againstthe deck-house, was handing one by one certain papers, whichLermontoff took to be bills of lading, to a young man who signed in abook for each he received. When this transaction was completed, theyoung man saluted the Captain, and descended over the ship's side tothe sail-boat. 

"Good morning, Captain. At anchor, I see, " said Lermontoff. 

"No, not at anchor. Merely lying here. The sea is too deep, andaffords no anchorage at this point. "

"Where are all these goods going?"

The Captain nodded his head at the rock, and Lermontoff gazed at itagain, running his eyes from top to bottom without seeing any vestigeof civilization. 

"Then you lie to the lee of this rock, and the small boat takes thesupplies ashore?"

"Exactly, " said the Captain. 

"The settlement, I take it, is on the other side. What is it-- alighthouse?"

"There's no lighthouse, " said the Captain. 

"Sort of coastguard, then?"

"Yes, in a way. They keep a lookout. And now, Highness, I see yourovercoat is on your back. Have you left anything in your room?"

The Prince laughed. 

"No, Captain, I forgot to bring a portmanteau with me. "

"Then I must say farewell to you here. "

"What, you are not going to maroon me on this pebble in the ocean?"

"You will be well taken care of, Highness. "

"What place is this?"

"It is called the Trogzmondoff, Highness, and the water surroundingyou is the Baltic. "

"Is it Russian territory?"

"Very, very Russian, " returned the Captain drawing a deep breath. "This way, if your Highness pleases. There is a rope ladder, which issometimes a little unsteady for a landsman, so be careful. "

"Oh, I'm accustomed to rope ladders. Hyvasti, Captain. "

"Hyvasti, your Highness. "

And with this mutual good-by in Finnish, the Prince went down theswaying ladder. 

 CHAPTER XV

 "A HOME ON THE ROLLING DEEP"

FOR once the humorous expression had vanished from Captain Kempt'sface, and that good-natured man sat in the dainty drawing-room of theflat a picture of perplexity. Dorothy had told him the story of theNihilist, saying she intended to purchase the yacht, and outliningwhat she proposed to do with it when it was her own. Now she satsilent opposite the genial Captain, while Katherine stood by thewindow, and talked enough for two, sometimes waxing indignant, andoccasionally giving, in terse language, an opinion of her father, asis the blessed privilege of every girl born in the land of the free, while the father took the censure with the unprotesting mildness ofhis nature. 

"My dear girls, you really must listen to reason. What you propose todo is so absurd that it doesn't even admit of argument. Why, it's afilibustering expedition, that's what it is. You girls are as crazy asWalker of Nicaragua. Do you imagine that a retired Captain of theUnited States Navy is going to take command of a pirate craft of farless legal standing than the 'Alabama, ' for then we were at war, butnow we are at peace. Do you actually propose to attack the domain of afriendly country! Oh!" cried the Captain, with a mighty explosion ofbreath, for at this point his supply of language entirely gave out. 

"No one would know anything about it, " persisted Katherine. 

"Not know about it? With a crew of men picked up here in New York, andcoming back to New York? Not know about it? Bless my soul, the paperswould be full of it before your men were an hour on shore. In thefirst place, you'd never find the rock. "

"Then what's the harm of going in search of it?" demanded hisdaughter. "Besides that, Johnson knows exactly where it is. "

"Johnson, Johnson! You're surely not silly enough to believe Johnson'scock-and-bull story?"

"I believe every syllable he uttered. The man's face showed that hewas speaking the truth. "

"But, my dear Kate, you didn't see him at all, as I understand theyarn. He was here alone with you, was he not, Dorothy?"

Dorothy smiled sadly. 

"I told Kate all about it, and gave my own impression of the man'sappearance. "

"You are too sensible a girl to place any credit in what he said, surely?"

"I did believe him, nevertheless, " replied Dorothy. 

"Why, look you here. False in one thing, false in all. I'll just takea single point. He speaks of a spring sending water through the cellsup there in the rock. Now, that is an impossibility. Wherever a springexists, it comes from a source higher than itself. "

"There are lots of springs up in the mountains, " interruptedKatherine. "I know one on Mount Washington that is ten times as highas the rock in the Baltic. "

"Quite so, Katherine, quite so, but nevertheless there is a lake, subterraneous or above ground, which feeds your White Mountain spring, and such a lake must be situated higher than the spring is. Why, girl, you ought to study hydrometeorology as well as chemistry. Here is arock jutting up in midocean--"

"It's in the Baltic, near the Russian coast, " snapped Kate, "and I'veno doubt there are mountains in Finland that contain the lake whichfeeds the spring. "

"How far is that rock from the Finnish coast, then?"

"Two miles and a half, " said Kate, quick as an arrow speeding from abow. 

"Captain, we don't know how far it is from the coast, " amendedDorothy. 

"I'll never believe the thing exists at all. "

"Why, yes it does, father. How can you speak like that? Don't you knowLieutenant Drummond fired at it?"

"How do you know it was the same rock?"

"Because the rock fired back at him. There can't be two like that inthe Baltic. "

"No, nor one either, " said the Captain, nearing the end of hispatience. 

"Captain Kempt, " said Dorothy very soothingly, as if she desired toquell the rising storm, "you take the allegation about the spring ofwater to prove that Johnson was telling untruths. I expect him herewithin an hour, and I will arrange that you have an opportunity, privately, of cross-examining him. I think when you see the man, andlisten to him, you will believe. What makes me so sure that he istelling the truth is the fact that he mentioned the foreign vesselfiring at this rock, which I knew to be true, and which he could notpossibly have learned anything about. "

"He might very well have learned all particulars from the papers, Dorothy. They were full enough of the subject at the time, and, remembering this, he thought to strengthen his story by--"

Katherine interrupted with great scorn. 

"By adding verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincingnarrative. "

"Quite so, Kate; exactly what I was going to say myself. But to comeback to the project itself. Granting the existence of the rock, granting the truth of Johnson's story, granting everything, grantingeven that the young men are imprisoned there, of which we have not theslightest proof, we could no more succeed in capturing that place froma frail pleasure yacht--"

"It's built like a cruiser, " said Katherine. 

"Even if it were built like a battleship we would have no chancewhatever. Why, that rock might defy a regular fleet. Our venture wouldsimply be a marine Jameson Raid which would set the whole worldlaughing when people came to hear of it. "

"Johnson said he could take it with half a dozen men. "

"No, Kate, " corrected Dorothy, "he said the very reverse; that two orthree determined men on the rock with repeating rifles could defeat ahost. It was I who suggested that we should throw a shell, and thenrush the entrance in the confusion. "

Captain Kempt threw up his hands in a gesture of despair. 

"Great heavens, Dorothy Amhurst, whom I have always regarded as themildest, sweetest and most charming of girls; to hear you calmlypropose to throw a shell among a lot of innocent men defending theirown territory against a perfectly unauthorized invasion! Throw ashell, say you, as if you were talking of tossing a copper to abeggar! Oh, Lord, I'm growing old. What will become of this youngergeneration? Well, I give it up. Dorothy, my dear, whatever will happento those unfortunate Russians, I shall never recover from the shock ofyour shell. The thing is absolutely impossible. Can't you see that themoment you get down to details? How are you going to procure yourshells, or your shell-firing gun? They are not to be bought at thefirst hardware store you come to on Sixth Avenue. "

"Johnson says he can get them, " proclaimed Kate with finality. 

"Oh, damn Johnson! Dorothy, I beg your pardon, but really, thisdaughter of mine, combined with that Johnson of yours, is just alittle more than I can bear. "

"Then what are we to do?" demanded his daughter. "Sit here with foldedhands?"

"That would be a great deal better than what you propose. You shoulddo something sane. You mustn't involve a pair of friendly countries inwar. Of course the United States would utterly disclaim your act, anddiscredit me if I were lunatic enough to undertake such a wild goosechase, which I'm not; but, on the other hand, if two of our girlsundertook such an expedition, no man can predict the public clamorthat might arise. Why, when the newspapers get hold of a question, younever know where they will end it. Undoubtedly you two girls should besent to prison, and, with equal undoubtedness, the American peoplewouldn't permit it. "

"You bet they wouldn't, " said Katherine, dropping into slang. 

"Well, then, if they wouldn't, there's war. "

"One moment, Captain Kempt, " said Dorothy, again in her mildest tones, for voices had again begun to run high, "you spoke of doing somethingsane. You understand the situation. What should you counsel us to do?"

The Captain drew a long breath, and leaned back in his chair. 

"There, Dad, it's up to you, " said Katherine. "Let us hear yourproposal, and then you'll learn how easy it is to criticise. "

"Well, " said the Captain hesitatingly, "there's our diplomaticservice--"

"Utterly useless: one man is a Russian, and the other an Englishman. Diplomacy not only can do nothing, but won't even try, " cried Katetriumphantly. 

"Yet, " said the Captain, with little confidence, "although the two menare foreigners, the two girls are Americans. "

"We don't count: we've no votes, " said Kate. "Besides, Dorothy triedthe diplomatic service, and could not even get accurate informationfrom it. Now, father, third time and out. "

"Four balls are out, Kate, and I've only fanned the air twice. Now, girls, I'll tell you what I'd do. You two come with me to Washington. We will seek a private interview with the President. He will get intocommunication with the Czar, also privately, and outside of allregular channels. The Czar will put machinery in motion that is sureto produce those two young men much more effectually and speedily thanany cutthroat expedition on a yacht. "

"I think, " said Dorothy, "that is an excellent plan. "

"Of course it is, " cried the Captain enthusiastically. "Don't you seethe pull the President will have? Why, they've put an Englishman into'the jug, ' and when the President communicates this fact to the Czarhe will be afraid to refuse, knowing that the next appeal may be fromAmerica to England, and when you add a couple of American girls tothat political mix-up, why, what chance has the Czar?"

"The point you raise, Captain, " said Dorothy, "is one I wish to say afew words about. The President cannot get Mr. Drummond released, because the Czar and all his government will be compelled to deny thatthey know anything of him. Even the President couldn't guarantee thatthe Englishman would keep silence if he were set at liberty. The Czarwould know that, but your plan would undoubtedly produce Prince IvanLermontoff. All the president has to do is to tell the Czar that thePrince is engaged to an American girl, and Lermontoff will be allowedto go. "

"But, " objected the Captain, "as the Prince knows the Englishman is inprison, how could they be sure of John keeping quiet when Drummond ishis best friend?"

"He cannot know that, because the Prince was arrested several daysbefore Drummond was. 

"They have probably chucked them both into the same cell, " said theCaptain, but Dorothy shook her head. 

"If they had intended to do that, they would doubtless have arrestedthem together. I am sure that one does not know the fate of the other, therefore the Czar can quite readily let Lermontoff go, and he iscertain to do that at a word from the President. Besides this, I am asconfident that Jack is not in the Trogzmondoff, as I am sure thatDrummond is. Johnson said it was a prison for foreigners. "

"Oh, Dorothy, " cried the Captain, with a deep sigh, "if we've got backagain to Johnson--" He waved his hand and shook his head. 

The maid opened the door and said, looking at Dorothy:

"Mr. Paterson and Mr. Johnson. "

"Just show them into the morning room, " said Dorothy, rising. "CaptainKempt, it is awfully good of you to have listened so patiently to ascheme of which you couldn't possibly approve. "

"Patiently!" sniffed the daughter. 

"Now I want you to do me another kindness. "

She went to the desk and picked up a piece of paper. 

"Here is a check I have signed-- a blank check. I wish you to buy theyacht 'Walrus' just as she stands, and make the best bargain you canfor me. A man is so much better at this kind of negotiation than awoman. "

"But surely, my dear Dorothy, you won't persist in buying this yacht?"

"It's her own money, father, " put in Katherine. 

"Keep quiet, " said the Captain, rising, for the first time speakingwith real severity, whereupon Katherine, in spite of the fact that shewas older than twenty-one, was wise enough to obey. 

"Yes, I am quite determined, Captain, " said Dorothy sweetly. 

"But, my dear woman, don't you see how you've been hoodwinked by thisman Johnson? He is shy of a job. He has already swindled you out oftwenty thousand dollars. "

"No, he asked for ten only, Captain Kempt, and I voluntarily doubledthe amount. "

"Nevertheless, he has worked you up to believe that these young menare in that rock. He has done this for a very crafty purpose, and hispurpose seems likely to succeed. He knows he will be well paid, andyou have promised him a bonus besides. If he, with his Captain Kiddcrew, gets you on that yacht, you will only step ashore by giving himevery penny you possess. That's his object. He knows you are startingout to commit a crime-- that's the word, Dorothy, there's no use inour mincing matters-- you will be perfectly helpless in his hands. Ofcourse, I could not allow my daughter Kate to go on such anexpedition. "

"I am over twenty-one years old, " cried Kate, the light of rebellionin her eyes. 

"I do not intend that either of you shall go, Katherine. "

"Dorothy, I'll not submit to that, " cried Katherine, with a risingtremor of anger in her voice, "I shall not be set aside like a child. Who has more at stake than I? And as for capturing the rock, I'lldynamite it myself, and bring home as large a specimen of it as theyacht will carry, and set it up on Bedloe's Island beside the Goddessand say, 'There's your statue of Liberty, and there's your statue ofTyranny!'"

"Katherine, " chided her father, "I never before believed that a childof mine could talk such driveling nonsense. "

"Paternal heredity, father, " retorted Kate. 

"Your Presidential plan, Captain Kempt, " interposed Dorothy, "isexcellent so far as Prince Lermontoff is concerned, but it cannotrescue Lieutenant Drummond. Now, there are two things you can do forme that will make me always your debtor, as, indeed, I am already, andthe first is to purchase for me the yacht. The second is to form yourown judgment of the man Johnson, and if you distrust him, then engagefor me one-half the crew, and see that they are picked Americans. "

"First sane idea I have heard since I came into this flat, " growledthe Captain. 

"The Americans won't let the Finlander hold me for ransom, you maydepend upon that. "

It was a woe-begone look the gallant Captain cast on the demure anddetermined maiden, then, feeling his daughter's eye upon him, heturned toward her. 

"I'm going, father, " she said, with a firmness quite equal to his own, and he on his part recognized when his daughter had toed the dangerline. He indulged in a laugh that had little of mirth in it. 

"All I can say is that I am thankful you haven't made up your minds tokidnap the Czar. Of course you are going, Kate, So am I. "

 CHAPTER XVI

 CELL NUMBER NINE

AS the sailing-boat cast off, and was shoved away from the side of thesteamer, there were eight men aboard. Six grasped the oars, and theyoung clerk who had signed for the documents given to him by theCaptain took the rudder, motioning Lermontoff to a seat beside him. All the forward part of the boat, and, indeed, the space well backtoward the stern, was piled with boxes and bags. 

"What is this place called?" asked the Prince, but the young steersmandid not reply. 

Tying the boat to iron rings at the small landing where the stepsbegan, three of the men shipped their oars. Each threw a bag over hisshoulder, walked up half a dozen steps and waited. The clerk motionedLermontoff to follow, so he stepped on the shelf of rock and lookedupward at the rugged stairway cut between the main island and anoutstanding perpendicular ledge of rock. The steps were so narrow thatthe procession had to move up in Indian file; three men with bags, then the Prince and the clerk, followed by three more men with boxes. Lermontoff counted two hundred and thirty-seven steps, which broughthim to an elevated platform, projecting from a doorway cut in theliving rock, but shielded from all sight of the sea. The eastern sunshone through this doorway, but did not illumine sufficiently thelarge room whose walls, ceiling and floor were of solid stone. At thefarther end a man in uniform sat behind a long table on which burnedan oil lamp with a green shade. At his right hand stood a broad, roundbrazier containing glowing coals, after the Oriental fashion, and theofficer was holding his two hands over it, and rubbing them together. The room, nevertheless, struck chill as a cellar, and Lermontoff hearda constant smothered roar of water. 

The clerk, stepping forward and saluting, presented to the Governorseated there the papers and envelopes given him by the Captain. Theofficer selected a blue sheet of paper, and scrutinized it for amoment under the lamp. 

"Where are the others?"

"We have landed first the supplies, Governor; then the boat willreturn for the others. "

The Governor nodded, and struck a bell with his open palm. Thereentered a big man with a bunch of keys at his belt, followed byanother who carried a lighted lantern. 

"Number Nine, " said the Governor to the gaolers. 

"I beg your pardon, sir, am I a prisoner?" asked Lermontoff. 

The Governor gave utterance to a sound that was more like the grunt ofa pig than the ejaculation of a man. He did not answer, but looked upat the questioner, and the latter saw that his face, gaunt almost asthat of a living skeleton, was pallid as putty. 

"Number Nine, " he repeated, whereupon the gaoler and the man with thelantern put a hand each on Lermontoff's shoulders, and marched himaway. They walked together down a long passage, the swaying lanterncasting its yellow rays on the iron bolts of door after door, until atlast the gaoler stopped, threw back six bolts, inserted a key, unlocked the door, and pushed it ponderously open. The lantern showedit to be built like the door of a safe, but unlike that of a safe itopened inwards. As soon as the door came ajar Lermontoff heard thesound of flowing water, and when the three entered, he noticed a rapidlittle stream sparkling in the rays of the lantern at the further endof the cell. He saw a shelf of rock and a stone bench before it. Thegaoler placed his hands on a black loaf, while the other held up thelantern. 

"That will last you four days, " said the gaoler. 

"Well, my son, judging from the unappetizing look of it, I think itwill last me much longer. "

The gaoler made no reply, but he and the man with the lantern retired, drawing the door heavily after them. Lermontoff heard the bolts thrustinto place, and the turn of the key; then silence fell, all but thebabbling of the water. He stood still in the center of the cell, hishands thrust deep in the pockets of his overcoat, and, in spite ofthis heavy garment, he shivered a little. 

"Jack, my boy, " he muttered, "this is a new deal, as they say in theWest. I can imagine a man going crazy here, if it wasn't for thatstream. I never knew what darkness meant before. Well, let's find outthe size of our kingdom. "

He groped for the wall, and stumbling against the stone bench, whoseexistence he had forgotten, pitched head forward to the table, andsent the four-day loaf rolling on the floor. He made an ineffectualgrasp after the loaf, fearing it might fall into the stream and belost to him, but he could not find it, and now his designs formeasuring the cell gave place to the desire of finding that loaf. Hegot down on his hands and knees, and felt the stone floor inch by inchfor half an hour, as he estimated the time, but never once did hetouch the bread. 

"How helpless a man is in the dark, after all, " he muttered tohimself. "I must do this systematically, beginning at the edge of thestream. "

On all fours he reached the margin of the rivulet, and felt his wayalong the brink till his head struck the opposite wall. He turnedround, took up a position that he guessed was three feet nearer thedoor, and again traversed the room, becoming so eager in the searchthat he forgot for the moment the horror of his situation, just as, when engaged in a chemical experiment, everything else vanished fromhis mind, and thus after several journeys back and forth he was againreminded of the existence of the stone bench by butting against itwhen he knew he was still several feet from the wall. Rubbing hishead, he muttered some unfavorable phrases regarding the immovablebench, then crawled round it twice, and resumed his transverseexcursions. At last he reached the wall that held the door, and nowwith breathless eagerness rubbed his shoulder against it till he cameto the opposite corner. He knew he had touched with knees and handspractically every square inch of space in the floor, and yet no bread. 

"Now, that's a disaster, " cried he, getting up on his feet, andstretching himself. "Still, a man doesn't starve in four days. I'vecast my bread on the waters. It has evidently gone down the stream. Now, what's to hinder a man escaping by means of that watercourse?Still, if he did, what would be the use? He'd float out into theBaltic Sea, and if able to swim round the rock, would merely becompelled to knock at the front door and beg admission again. No, byJove, there's the boat, but they probably guard it night and day, anda man in the water would have no chance against one in the boat. Perhaps there's gratings between the cells. Of course, there's boundto be. No one would leave the bed of a stream clear for any one tonavigate. Prisoners would visit each other in their cells, and that'snot allowed in any respectable prison. I wonder if there's any onenext door on either side of me. An iron grid won't keep out the sound. I'll try, " and going again to the margin of the watercourse, heshouted several times as loudly as he could, but only a sepulchralecho, as if from a vault, replied to him. 

"I imagine the adjoining cells are empty. No enjoyable companionshipto be expected here. I wonder if they've got the other poor devils upfrom the steamer yet. I'll sit down on the bench and listen. "

He could have found the bench and shelf almost immediately by gropinground the wall, but he determined to exercise his sense of direction, to pit himself against the darkness. 

"I need not hurry, " he said, "I may be a long time here. "

In his mind he had a picture of the cell, but now that he listened tothe water it seemed to have changed its direction, and he found he hadto rearrange this mental picture, and make a different set ofcalculations to fit the new position. Then he shuffled slowly forwardwith hands outstretched, but he came to the wall, and not to thebench. Again he mapped out his route, again endeavored, and againfailed. 

"This is bewildering, " he muttered. "How the darkness baffles a man. For the first time in my life I appreciate to the full the benedictionof God's command, 'Let there be light. '"

He stood perplexed for a few moments, and, deeply thinking, his handsautomatically performed an operation as the servants of habit. Theytook from his pocket his cigarette case, selected a tube of tobacco, placed it between his lips, searched another pocket, brought out amatch-box, and struck a light. The striking of the match startledLermontoff as if it had been an explosion; then he laughed, holdingthe match above his head, and there at his feet saw the loaf of blackbread. It seemed as if somebody had twisted the room end for end. Thedoor was where he thought the stream was, and thus he learned thatsound gives no indication of direction to a man blindfolded. The matchbegan to wane, and feverishly he lit his cigarette. 

"Why didn't I think of the matches, and oh! what a pity I failed tofill my pockets with them that night of the Professor's dinner party!To think that matches are selling at this moment in Sweden two hundredand fifty for a halfpenny!"

Guided by the spark at the end of his cigarette, he sought the benchand sat down upon it. He was surprised to find himself so littledepressed as was actually the case. He did not feel in the leastdisheartened. Something was going to happen on his behalf; of that hewas quite certain. It was perfectly ridiculous that even in Russia aloyal subject, who had never done any illegal act in his life, anobleman of the empire, and a friend of the Czar, should beincarcerated for long without trial, and even without accusation. Hehad no enemies that he knew of, and many friends, and yet heexperienced a vague uneasiness when be remembered that his own courseof life had been such that he would not be missed by his friends. Formore than a year he had been in England, at sea, and in America, somuch absorbed in his researches that he had written no private lettersworth speaking of, and if any friend were asked his whereabouts, hewas likely to reply:

"Oh, Lermontoff is in some German university town, or in England, ortraveling elsewhere. I haven't seen him or heard of him for months. Lost in a wilderness or in an experiment, perhaps. "

These unhappy meditations were interrupted by the clang of bolts. Hethought at first it was his own door that was being opened, but amoment later knew it was the door of the next cell up-stream. Thesound, of course, could not penetrate the extremely thick wall, butcame through the aperture whose roof arched the watercourse. From thevoices he estimated that several prisoners were being put into onecell, and he wondered whether or not he cared for a companion. Itwould all depend. If fellow-prisoners hated each other, their enforcedproximity might prove unpleasant. 

"We are hungry, " he heard one say. "Bring us food. "

The gaoler laughed. 

"I will give you something to drink first. "

"That's right, " three voices shouted. "Vodka, vodka!"

Then the door clanged shut again, and he heard the murmur of voices inRussian, but could not make out what was said. One of the newprisoners, groping round, appeared to have struck the stone bench, ashe himself had done. The man in the next cell swore coarsely, andLermontoff, judging from such snatches of their conversation as hecould hear that they were persons of a low order, felt no desire tomake their more intimate acquaintance, and so did not shout to them, as he had intended to do. And now he missed something that had becomefamiliar; thought it was a cigarette he desired, for the one he hadlit had been smoked to his very lips, then he recognized it was themurmur of the stream that had ceased. 

"Ah, they can shut it off, " he said. "That's interesting. I mustinvestigate, and learn whether or no there is communication betweenthe cells. Not very likely, though. "

He crawled on hands and knees until he came to the bed of the stream, which was now damp, but empty. Kneeling down in its course, he workedhis way toward the lower cell, and, as he expected, came to stout ironbars. Crouching thus he sacrificed a second match, and estimated thatthe distance between the two cells was as much as ten feet of solidrock, and saw also that behind the perpendicular iron bars wereanother horizontal set, then another perpendicular, then a fourthhorizontal. 

While in this position he was startled by a piercing scream to therear. He backed out from the tunnel and stood upright once more. Heheard the sound of people splashing round in water. The screamer beganto jabber like a maniac, punctuating his ravings with shrieks. Anotherwas cursing vehemently, and a third appealing to the saints. Lermontoff quickly knelt down in the watercourse, this time facing theupper cell, and struck his third match. He saw that a steel shield, reminding him of the thin shutter between the lenses of a camera, hadbeen shot across the tunnel behind the second group of cross bars, andas an engineer be could not but admire the skill of the practicalexpert who had constructed this diabolical device, for in spite of thepressure on the other side, hardly a drop of water oozed through. Hetried to reach this shield, but could not. It was just beyond thetouch of his fingers, with his arm thrust through the two sets ofbars, but if he could have stretched that far, with the first barretarding his shoulder, he knew his hand would be helpless even if hehad some weapon to puncture the steel shield. The men would be drownedbefore he could accomplish anything unless he was at the lever in thepassage outside. 

Crawling into his cell again he heard no more of the chatter and criesof the maniac, and he surmised that the other two were fighting forplaces on bench or shelf, which was amply large enough to havesupported both, had they not been too demented with fear to recognizethat fact. The cursing man was victorious, and now he stood alone onthe shelf, roaring maledictions. Then there was the sound of a plunge, and Lermontoff, standing there, helpless and shivering, heard theprisoner swim round and round his cell like a furious animal, muttering and swearing. 

"Don't exhaust yourself like that, " shouted Lermontoff. "If you wantto live, cling to the hole at either of the two upper corners. Thewater can't rise above you then, and you can breathe till itsubsides. "

The other either did not hear, or did not heed, but tore round andround in his confined tank, thrashing the water like a dying whale. 

"Poor devil, " moaned Jack. "What's the use of telling him what to do. He is doomed in any case. The other two are now better off. "

A moment later the water began to dribble through the upper apertureinto Jack's cell, increasing and increasing until there was the roarof a waterfall, and he felt the cold splashing drops spurt againsthim. Beyond this there was silence. It was perhaps ten minutes afterthat the lever was pulled, and the water belched forth from the lowertunnel like a mill race broken loose, temporarily flooding the floorso that Jack was compelled to stand on the bench. 

He sunk down shivering on the stone shelf, laid his arms on the stonepillow, and buried his face in them. 

"My God, my God!" he groaned. 

 CHAPTER XVII

 A FELLOW SCIENTIST

IN this position Jack slept off and on, or rather, dozed into a kindof semi-stupor, from which he awoke with a start now and then, as hethought be heard again the mingled cries of devotion and malediction. At last he slept soundly, and awoke refreshed, but hungry. The loaflay beside him, and with his knife he cut a slice from it, munchingthe coarse bread with more of relish than he had thought possible whenhe first saw it. Then he took out another cigarette, struck a match, looked at his watch, and lit the cigarette. It was ten minutes pasttwo. He wondered if a night had intervened, but thought it unlikely. He had landed very early in the morning, and now it was afternoon. Hewas fearfully thirsty, but could not bring himself to drink from thatstream of death. Once more he heard the bolts shot back. 

"They are going to throw the poor wretches into the sea, " he muttered, but the yellow gleam of a lantern showed him it was his own door thathad been unlocked. 

"You are to see the Governor, " said the gaoler gruffly. "Come withme. "

Jack sprang to the floor of his cell, repressing a cry of delight. Nothing the grim Governor could do to him would make his situation anyworse, and perhaps his persuasive powers upon that official mightresult in some amelioration of his position. In any case there was thebrief respite of the interview, and he would gladly have chummed withthe devil himself to be free a few moments from this black pit. 

Although the outside door of the Governor's room stood open, the roomwas not as well illumined as it had been before, for the sun had nowgone round to the other side of the island, but to the prisoner'saching eyes it seemed a chamber of refulgence. The same lamp wasburning on the table, giving forth an odor of bad oil, but in additionto this, two candles were lighted, which supplemented in some slightmeasure the efforts of the lamp. At the end of the table lay a numberof documents under a paper-weight, arranged with the neat precision ofa methodical man. The Governor had been warming his hands over thebrazier, but ceased when Lermontoff was brought up standing beforehim. He lifted the paper-weight, took from under it the two letterswhich Lermontoff had given to the steward on the steamer, and handedthem to the prisoner, who thus received them back for the second time. 

"I wish to say, " remarked the Governor, with an air of boredindifference which was evidently quite genuine, "that if you make anyfurther attempt to communicate with the authorities, or with friends, you will bring on yourself punishment which will be unpleasant. "

"As a subject of the Czar, I have the right to appeal to him, " saidthe Prince. 

"The appeal you have written here, " replied the Governor, "would haveproved useless, even if it had been delivered. The Czar knows nothingof the Trogzmondoff, which is a stronghold entirely under the controlof the Grand Dukes and of the Navy. The Trogzmondoff never gives up aprisoner. "

"Then I am here for a lifetime?"

"Yes, " rejoined the Governor, with frigid calmness, "and if you giveme no trouble you will save yourself some inconvenience. "

"Do you speak French?" asked the Prince. 

"Net. "

"English?"

"Net. "

"Italian?"

"Net. "

"German?"

"Da. "

"Then, " continued Lermontoff in German, "I desire to say a few wordsto you which I don't wish this gaoler to understand. I am Prince IvanLermontoff, a personal friend of the Czar's, who, after all, is masterof the Grand Dukes and the Navy also. If you will help to put me intocommunication with him, I will guarantee that no harm comes to you, and furthermore will make you a rich man. "

The Governor slowly shook his head. 

"What you ask is impossible. Riches are nothing to me. Bribery may domuch in other parts of the Empire, but it is powerless in theTrogzmondoff. I shall die in the room adjoining this, as mypredecessor died. I am quite as much a prisoner in the Trogzmondoff asis your Highness. No man who has once set foot in this room, either asGovernor, employee, or prisoner, is allowed to see the mainland again, and thus the secret has been well kept. We have had many prisoners ofequal rank with your Highness, friends of the Czar too, I dare say, but they all died on the Rock, and were buried in the Baltic. "

"May I not be permitted to receive certain supplies if I pay for them?That is allowed in other prisons. "

The Governor shook his head. 

"I can let you have a blanket, " he said, "and a pillow, or a sheepskinif you find it cold at first, but my power here is very limited, and, as I tell you, the officers have little more comfort than theprisoners. "

"Oh, I don't care anything about comfort, " protested Lermontoff. "WhatI want is some scientific apparatus. I am a student of science. I havenothing to do with politics, and have never been implicated in anyplot. Someone in authority has made a stupid mistake, and so I amhere. This mistake I am quite certain will be discovered and remedied. I hold no malice, and will say nothing of the place, once I am free. It is no business of mine. But I do not wish to have the interveningtime wasted. I should like to buy some electrical machinery, andmaterials, for which I am willing to pay any price that is asked. "

"Do you understand electricity?" questioned the Governor, and for thefirst time his impassive face showed a glimmer of interest. 

"Do I understand electricity? Why, for over a year I have been chiefelectrician on a war-ship. "

"Perhaps then, " said the Governor, relapsing into Russian again, "youcan tell me what is wrong with our dynamo here in the Rock. Afterrepeated requisition they sent machinery for lighting our offices andpassages with electricity. They apparently did not care to send anelectrician to the Trogzmondoff, but forwarded instead some books ofinstruction. I have been working at it for two years and a half, but Iam still using oil lamps and candles. We wired the place withoutdifficulty. " He held up the candle, and showed, depending from theceiling, a chandelier of electric lamps which Lermontoff had nothitherto noticed, various brackets, and one or two stand lamps in acorner, with green silk-covered wire attached. 

"May I see your dynamo?" asked Lermontoff. 

The Governor, with one final warming of his hands, took up a candle, told the gaoler to remove the shade from the lamp and bring it, ledthe way along a passage, and then into a room where the prisoner, onfirst entering, had heard the roar of water. 

"What's this you have. A turbine? Does it give you any power?"

"Oh, it gives power enough, " said the Governor. 

"Let's see how you turn on the stream. "

The Governor set the turbine at work, and the dynamo began to hum, asound which, to the educated ear of Lermontoff, told him severalthings. 

"That's all right, Governor, turn it off. This is a somewhatold-fashioned dynamo, but it ought to give you all the light you canuse. You must be a natural born electrician, or you never could havegot this machinery working as well as it does. "

The dull eyes of the Governor glowed for one brief moment, thenresumed their customary expression of saddened tiredness. 

"Now, " said Jack, throwing off his coat, "I want a wrench, screwdriver, hammer and a pair of pincers if you've got them. "

"Here is the tool chest, " said the Governor, and Jack found all heneeded. Bidding the Governor hold the candle here, there andelsewhere, and ordering the gaoler about as if he were an apprentice, Jack set energetically to work, and for half an hour no one spoke. 

"Turn on that water again, " he commanded. 

The Governor did so, and the machine whirred with quite a differentnote. Half a dozen electric lamps in the room flooded the place with adazzling white glow. 

"There you are, " cried Jack, rubbing the oil off his hands on a pieceof coarse sacking. "Now, Tommy, put these things back in the toolchest, " he said to the gaoler. Then to the Governor:

"Let's see how things look in the big room. "

The passage was lit, and the Governor's room showed every mark onwall, ceiling and floor. 

"I told you, Governor, " said Jack with a laugh, "that I didn't knowwhy I was sent here, but now I understand. Providence took pity onyou, and ordered me to strike a light. "

At that moment the gaoler entered with his jingling keys, and theenthusiastic expression faded from the Governor's face, leaving itonce more coldly impassive, but he spoke in German instead of Russian. 

"I am very much indebted to your Highness, and it grieves me that ourrelationship remains unchanged. "

"Oh, that's all right, " cried Lermontoff breezily, "If it is withinyour power to allow me to come and give you some lessons inelectricity and the care of dynamos, I shall be very glad to do so. "

To this offer the Governor made no reply, but he went on still inGerman. 

"I shall transfer you to cell Number One, which is not only morecomfortable, but the water there is pure. Did you say you spokeEnglish?"

"Yes, quite as well as I do Russian. "

The Governor continued, with nevertheless a little hesitation: "On thereturn of the steamer there will be an English prisoner. I will givehim cell Number Two, and if you don't talk so loud that the gaolerhears you, it may perhaps make the day less wearisome. "

"You are very kind, " said Jack, rigidly suppressing any trace ofeither emotion or interest as he heard the intelligence; leaping atonce to certain conclusions, nevertheless. "I shan't ask for anythingmore, much as I should like to mention candles, matches, and tobacco. "

"It is possible you may find all three in Number One before this timeto-morrow;" then in Russian the Governor said to the goaler:

"See if Number One is ready. "

The gaoler departed, and the Governor, throwing open a drawer in histable, took out two candles, a box of matches, and a packet ofcigarettes. 

"Put these in your pocket, " he said. "The cell door opens very slowly, so you will always know when the gaoler is coming. In that case blowout your light and conceal your candle. It will last the longer. "

The gaoler returned. 

"The cell is ready, Excellency, " he said. 

"Take away the prisoner, " commanded the Governor, gruffly. 

 CHAPTER XVIII

 CELL NUMBER ONE

CELL Number One was a great improvement on Number Nine. There was noshelf of rock, or stone bench, but a cot bed in the corner, a table, and a wooden chair. The living spring issued from the living rock in acorner of the room. When the gaoler and his assistant had retired andshoved in the outside bolts, Jack lit his candle and a cigarette, feeling almost happy. He surveyed the premises now with more care. Thebed was of iron and fastened to the floor. On the top of it was amattress, a pillow, and a pair of blankets. At its head a littletriangular shelf of rock had been left in the corner, and on thisreposed a basin of tin, while a coarse piece of sacking took the placeof a towel. Jack threw off his overcoat and flung it on the bed, intent on a satisfactory wash. He heard something jingle in thepockets, and forgetting for the moment what it could possibly be, thrust his hand in, and pulled out a glass-stoppered bottle of ozak. He held it out at arm's length, and stared at it for some moments likea man hypnotized. 

"Holy Saint Peter!" he cried, "to think that I should have forgottenthis!"

He filled the tin basin with water, and placed it on the table. Againhe dissolved a minute portion of the chemical, and again filled thesyringe. 

"I must leave no marks on the wall that may arouse attention, " hesaid, and taking the full syringe to the arch over the torrent, andplacing the candle on the floor beside him, he gently pushed in thepiston. The spray struck the rock, and the rock dissolved slightly butperceptibly. Coming back to the table he stood for a few minutes indeep thought. Although the cot bed was fixed to the floor, andalthough it was possible that the shelf in the next cell coincidedwith its position, the risk of discovery was too great to cut apassage between the two cells there. The obvious spot to attack wasthe interior of the tunnel through which the streamlet ran, but Jack, testing the temperature of the water with his hand, doubted hisphysical ability to remain in that ice-cold current more than a fewminutes at a time, and if he worked in the tunnel he would be all butsubmerged. He feared he would perish with cold and cramp before he hadmade any impression on the rock. 

To the edge of the stream he drew the table, and, mounting it, examined the upper orifice through which the water escaped when thecell was full. He found he could stand on the table and work incomfort until he had excavated sufficient rock to allow him to clamberinto the upper tunnel and so continue his operations. The water heused would flow through the tunnel, and down to the main stream in thenext cell. All he had to do was to dissolve a semi-circular hole inthe rock that would bend round the end of those steel bars, and enterthe tunnel again on the other side. Eager to be at work, he took thefull basin, shoved it far along the tunnel until it was stopped by thebars, then, placing his candle beside it, and standing on the table, he began operations. 

The limestone, under the influence of the spray, dissolved veryslowly, and by the time the basin of water was exhausted, all theeffect visible under the light of the candle was an exceedingly slightcircular impression which was barely visible to the naked eye. 

"I must make the solution stronger, I think, " he said, grievouslydisappointed at the outcome of his labors, and as he looked at it heheard the clank of the withdrawing bolts. Blowing out the candle hesprang to the floor of the cell, picked up the table, set it down inthe center of the room, groped for the chair, and sat down, his heartpalpitating wildly at the fear of discovery. 

Followed as usual by the man with the lantern, the gaoler came in, carrying a bowl of hot steaming soup, which he placed on the table, then he took from his pocket a spoon, a small hunk of black bread, anda piece of cheese. In the light of the lantern Lermontoff consultedhis watch, and found it was six o'clock. The gaoler took the lanternfrom his assistant, held it high, and looked round the room, whileLermontoff gazed at him in anxiety, wondering whether that brutallooking official suspected anything. Apparently he did not, but merelywished to satisfy himself that everything was in order, for he saidmore mildly than he had hitherto spoken:

"It is a long time since any one occupied this cell. "

Then his eye rested on the vacant corner shelf. 

"Ah, Excellency, " he continued, "pardon me, I have forgotten. I mustbring you a basin. "

"I'd rather you brought me a candle, " said Lermontoff nonchalantly, although his lips were dry, and he moistened them as he spoke; then, to learn whether money was valueless on the rock, as the Governor hadintimated, he drew from his pocket one of the remaining gold pieces, glad that he happened to have so many, and slipped it into the palm ofthe gaoler's hand, whose fingers clutched it as eagerly as if he werein St. Petersburg. 

"I think a candle can be managed, Excellency. Shall I bring a cup?"

"I wish you would. "

The door was again locked and bolted, but before Lermontoff hadfinished his soup, and bread and cheese, it was opened again. Thegaoler placed a tin basin, similar to the former one, on the ledge, put a candle and a candle-stick on the table, and a tin cup besidethem. 

"I thought there was no part of Russia where bribery was extinct, "said the Prince to himself, as the door closed again for the night. 

After supper Lermontoff again shined his table, stood upon it, lit hiscandle, and resumed his tunnelling, working hard until after midnight. His progress was deplorably slow, and the spraying of the rock provedabout as tiring a task as ever he had undertaken. His secondbasin-full of solution was made a little stronger, but withoutperceptible improvement, in its effect. On ceasing operations for thenight he found himself in a situation common to few prisoners, that ofbeing embarrassed with riches. He possessed two basins, and one ofthem must be concealed. Of course he might leave his working basin inthe upper tunnel where it had rested when the gaoler had brought inhis supper, but he realized that at any moment the lantern's raysmight strike its shining surface, and so bring on an investigation ofthe upper tunnel, certain to prove the destruction of his wholescheme. A few minutes thought, however, solved the problem admirably:he placed the basin face downwards in the rapid stream which swept itto the iron bars between the two cells, and there it lay quiteconcealed with the swift water rippling over it. This done, he flungoff his clothes, and got into bed, not awakening until the gaoler andhis assistant brought in bread, cheese and coffee for breakfast. 

The next day he began to feel the inconveniences of the Governor'sfriendship, and wished he were safely back to the time when one loaflasted four days, for if such were now the case, he would be free ofthe constant state of tension which the ever-recurring visits of thegaoler caused. He feared that some day he might become so absorbed inhis occupation that he would not hear the withdrawing of the bolt, andthus, as it were, be caught in the act. 

Shortly after lunch the Governor sent for him, and asked manyquestions pertaining to the running of the dynamo. Lermontoffconcealed his impatience, and set about his instructions withexemplary earnestness. Russian text books on electricity at hand wereof the most rudimentary description, and although the Governor couldspeak German he could not read it, so the two volumes he possessed inthat language were closed to him. Therefore John was compelled tobegin at the very A B C of the science. 

The Governor, however, became so deeply interested that he momentarilyforgot his caution, unlocked a door, and took Lermontoff into a roomwhich he saw was the armory and ammunition store-house of the prison. On the floor of this chamber the Governor pointed out a large batteryof accumulators, and asked what they were for. Lermontoff explainedthe purposes of the battery, meanwhile examining it thoroughly, andfinding that many of the cells had been all but ruined in transit, through the falling away of the composition in the grids. Somethinglike half of the accumulators, however, were intact and workable;these he uncoupled and brought into the dynamo room, where he showedthe Governor the process of charging. He saw in the store room a boxcontaining incandescent lamps, coils of silk-covered wire and othermaterial that made his eyes glisten with delight. He spoke in German. 

"If you will give me a coil of this wire, one or two of the lamps, andan accumulator, or indeed half a dozen of them, I will trouble you nomore for candles. "

The Governor did not reply at the moment, but a short time after askedLermontoff in Russian how long it would be before the accumulatorswere charged. Lermontoff stated the time, and the Governor told thegaoler to bring the prisoner from the cell at that hour, and sodismissed his instructor. 

One feature of this interview which pleased Lermontoff was thathowever much the Governor became absorbed in these lessons, he neverallowed himself to remain alone with his prisoner. It was evident thatin his cooler moments the Governor had instructed the gaoler and hisassistant to keep ever at the heels of the Prince and always on thealert. Two huge revolvers were thrust underneath the belt of thegaoler, and the lantern-holder, was similarly armed. Lermontoff waspleased with this, for if the Governor had trusted him entirely, eventhough he demanded no verbal parole, it would have gone against hisgrain to strike down the chief as he ruthlessly intended to do whenthe time was ripe for it, and in any case, he told himself, no matterhow friendly the Governor might be, he had the misfortune to standbetween his prisoner and liberty. 

Lermontoff was again taken from his cell about half an hour before thetime he had named for the completion of the charging, and although theGovernor said nothing of his intention, the gaoler and his man broughtto the cell six charged batteries, a coil of wire, and a dozen lamps. Lermontoff now changed his working methods. He began each night assoon as he had finished dinner, and worked till nearly morning, sleeping all day except when interrupted by the gaoler. Jack, following the example of Robinson Crusoe, attempted to tie knots onthe tail of time by cutting notches with his knife on the leg of thetable, but most days he forgot to perform this operation, and so hiswooden almanac fell hopelessly out of gear. He estimated that he hadbeen a little more than a week in prison when he heard by the clang ofthe bolts that the next cell was to have an occupant. 

"I must prepare a welcome for him, " he said, and so turned out theelectric light at the end of the long flexible wire. He had arranged aneat little switch of the accumulator, and so snapped the light on andoff at his pleasure, without the trouble of unscrewing the nuts whichheld in place one of the copper ends of the wire. Going to the edge ofthe stream and lighting his candle, he placed the glass bulb in thecurrent, paid out the flexible line attached to it, and allowed thebulb to run the risk of being smashed against the iron bars of thepassage, but the little globe negotiated the rapids without even aperceptible clink, and came to rest in the bed of the torrentsomewhere about the center of the next cell, tugging like a fish on ahook. Then Jack mounted the table, leaned into the upper tunnel, andlistened. 

"I protest, " Drummond cried, speaking loudly, as if the volume ofsound would convey meaning to alien ears, "I protest against this asan outrage, and demand my right of communication with the BritishAmbassador. "

Jack heard the gaoler growl: "This loaf of bread will last you forfour days, " but as this statement was made in Russian, it conveyed nomore meaning to the Englishman than had his own protest of a momentbefore brought intelligence to the gaoler. The door clanged shut, andthere followed a dead silence. 

"Now we ought to hear some good old British oaths, " said Jack tohimself, but the silence continued. 

"Hullo, Alan, " cried Jack through the bars, "I said you would benabbed if you didn't leave St. Petersburg. You'll pay attention to menext time I warn you. "

There was no reply, and Jack became alarmed at the continuedstillness, then he heard his friend mutter:

"I'll be seeing visions by and by. I thought my brain was strongerthan it is-- could have sworn that was Jack's voice. "

Jack got speedily and quietly down, turned on the switch, and hoppedup on the table again, peering through. He knew that the stream hadnow become a river of fire, and that it was sending to the ceiling anunholy, unearthly glow. 

"Oh, damn it all!" groaned Drummond, at which Jack roared withlaughter. 

"Alan, " he shouted, "fish out that electric bulb from the creek andhold it aloft; then you'll see where you are. I'm in the next cell;Jack Lamont, Electrician and Coppersmith: all orders promptly attendedto: best of references, and prices satisfactory. "

"Jack, is that really you, or have I gone demented?"

"Oh, you always were demented, Alan, but it is I, right enough. Pickup the light and tell me what kind of a cell you've got. "

"Horrible!" cried Drummond, surveying his situation. "Walls apparentlyof solid rock, and this uncanny stream running across the floor. "

"How are you furnished? Shelf of rock, stone bench?"

"No, there's a table, cot bed, and a wooden chair. "

"Why, my dear man, what are you growling about? They have given youone of the best rooms in the hotel. You're in the Star Chamber. "

"Where in the name of heaven are we?"

"Didn't you recognize the rock from the deck of a steamer?"

"I never saw the deck of a steamer. "

"Then how did you come here?"

"I was writing a letter in my room when someone threw a sack over myhead, and tied me up in a bundle, so that it was a close shave Iwasn't smothered. I was taken in what I suppose was a cab and flunginto what I afterwards learned was the hold of a steamer. When theship stopped, I was carried like a sack of meal on someone's shoulder, and unhampered before a gaunt specter in uniform, in a room sodazzling with electric light that I could hardly see. That was a fewminutes ago, Now I am here, and starving. Where is this prison?"

"Like the Mikado, as Kate would say, the authorities are bent onmaking the punishment fit the crime. You are in the rock of theBaltic, which you fired at with that gun of yours. I told you thosesuave officials at St. Petersburg were playing with you. "

"But why have they put you here, Jack?"

"Oh, I was like the good dog Tray, who associated with questionablecompany, I suppose, and thus got into trouble. "

"I'm sorry. "

"You ought to be glad. I'm going to get out of this place, and I don'tbelieve you could break gaol, unassisted, in twenty years. Here iswhere science confronts brutality. I say, Drummond, bring your tableover to the corner, and mount it, then we can talk without shouting. Not much chance of any one outside hearing us, even if we do clamor, but this is a damp situation, and loud talk is bad for the throat. Cuta slice of that brown bread and lunch with me. You'll find it not halfbad, as you say in England, especially when you are hungry. Now, "continued Jack, as his friend stood opposite him, and they found byexperiment that their combined reach was not long enough to enablethem to shake hands through the bars, "now, while you are luxuriatingin the menu of the Trogzmondoff, I'll give you a sketch of my plan forescape. "

"Do, " said Drummond. 

"I happen to have with me a pair of bottles containing a substancewhich, if dissolved in water, and sprinkled on this rock, willdisintegrate it. It proves rather slow work, I must admit, but Iintend to float in to you one of the bottles, and the apparatus, sothat you may help me on your side, which plan has the advantage ofgiving you useful occupation, and allowing us to complete our task inhalf the time, like the engineers on each side of the Simplon Tunnel. "

"If there are bars in the lower watercourse, " objected Drummond, "won't you run a risk of breaking your bottle against them?"

"Not the slightest. I have just sent that much thinner electric lampthrough, but in this case I'll just tie up the bottle and squirt gunin my stocking, attach that to the wire, and the current will do therest. You can unload, and I'll pull my stocking back again. If I daredwrench off a table leg, I could perhaps shove bottle and syringethrough to you from here, but the material would come to a dead centerin the middle of this tunnel, unless I had a stick to push it withinyour reach. 

"Very well; we'll work away until our excavation connects, and we havemade it of sufficient diameter for you to squeeze through. You arethen in my cell. We put out our lights, and you conceal yourselfbehind the door. Gaoler and man with the lantern come in. You must bevery careful not to close the door, because if you once shove it shutwe can't open it from this side, even though it is unlocked and thebolts drawn. It fits like wax, and almost hermetically seals the room. You spring forward, and deal the gaoler with your fist one of yourjustly celebrated English knock-down blows, immediately after fellingthe man with the lantern. Knowing something of the weight of yourblow, I take it that neither of the two men will recover consciousnessuntil we have taken off their outer garments, secured revolvers andkeys. Then we lock them in, you and I on the outside. "

"My dear Jack, we don't need any tunnel to accomplish that. The firsttime these two men come into my room, I can knock them down as easilyhere as there. "

"I thought of that, and perhaps you could, but you must remember wehave only one shot. If you made a mistake; if the lantern man boltedand fired his pistol, and once closed the door-- he would not need topause to lock it-- why, we are done for. I should be perfectlyhelpless in the next room, and after the attempt they'd either drownus, or put us into worse cells as far apart as possible. "

"I don't think I should miss fire, " said Drummond, confidently, "still, I see the point, and will obey orders. "

"My official position on the rock, ever since I arrived, has been thatof electrical tutor-in-chief to the Governor. I have started hisdynamo working, and have wired such portions of the place as were notalready wired before. During these lessons I have kept my eyes open. So far as the prison is concerned, there is the Governor, a sort ofhead clerk, the gaoler and his assistant; four men, and that is all. The gaoler's assistant appears to be the cook of the place, althoughthe cooking done is of the most limited description. The black breadis brought from St. Petersburg, I think, as also tinned meat and soup;so the cuisine is on a somewhat limited scale. "

"Do you mean to say that only these four men are in charge of theprison?"

"Practically so, but there is the garrison as well. The soldiers livein a suite of rooms directly above us, and as near as I can form anopinion, there are fourteen men and two officers. When a steamerarrives they draft as many soldiers as are necessary, unload the boat;then the Tommies go upstairs again. The military section apparentlyholds little intercourse with the officials, whom they look upon asgaolers. I should judge that the military officer is chief of therock, because when he found the Governor's room lit by electricity, hedemanded the same for his quarters. That's how I came to get upstairs. Now, these stairs are hewn in the rock, are circular, guarded by heavyoaken doors top and bottom, and these doors possess steel bolts onboth sides of them. It is thus possible for either the militaryauthorities upstairs, or the civil authorities, to isolate themselvesfrom the others. In case of a revolt among the soldiers, the Governorcould bolt them into their attic, and they would find great difficultyin getting out. Now, my plan of procedure is this. We will disarmgaoler and assistant, take their keys, outside garments and caps. Thegaoler's toggery will fit you, and the other fellow's may do for me. Then we will lock them in here, and if we meet clerk or Governor inthe passages we will have time to overcome either or both before theyare aware of the change. I'll go up the circular stair, bolt from theinside the upper door, and afterwards bolt the lower door. Then weopen all the cells, and release the other prisoners, descend from therock, get into the Finnish fishing boat, keep clear of the two cannonthat are up above us, and sail for the Swedish coast. We can't missit; we have only to travel west, and ultimately we are safe. There isonly one danger, which is that we may make our attempt when thesteamer is here, but we must chance that. "

"Isn't there any way of finding out? Couldn't you pump the Governor?"

"He is always very much on his guard, and is a taciturn man. Themoment the tunnel is finished I shall question him about some furtherelectrical material, and then perhaps I may get a hint about thesteamer. I imagine she comes irregularly, so the only safe plan wouldbe for us to make our attempt just after she had departed. "

"Would there be any chance of our finding a number of the militarydownstairs?"

"I don't think so. Now that they have their electric light they spendtheir time playing cards and drinking vodka. "

"Very well, Jack, that scheme seems reasonably feasible. Now, getthrough your material to me, and issue your instructions. "

 CHAPTER XIX

 "STONE WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE"

IN a very short time Drummond became as expert at the rock dissolvingas was his friend. He called it piffling slow work, but wasnevertheless extremely industrious at it, although days and weeks and, as they suspected, months, passed before the hands of the two friendsmet in the center of the rock. One lucky circumstance that favoredthem was the habit of the gaoler in visiting Drummond only once everyfour days. 

The Lieutenant made his difficult passage, squeezing through the newlycompleted tunnel half an hour after a loaf had been set upon histable. Jack knew that the steamer had recently departed, because, twodays before, the Governor had sent for him, and had exhibited aquantity of material recently landed, among other things a number ofelectric bells and telephones which the Governor was going to have setup between himself and the others, and also between his room and thatof the clerk and gaoler. There were dry batteries, and primarybatteries, and many odds and ends, which made Jack almost sorry he wasleaving the place. 

Heavy steps, muffled by the thickness of the door, sounded along theouter passage. 

"Ready?" whispered Jack. "Here they come. Remember if you miss yourfirst blow, we're goners, you and I. "

Drummond made no reply, for the steps had come perilously near and hefeared to be heard. Noiselessly he crossed the cell and took up hisposition against the wall, just clear of the space that would becovered by the opening of the door. 

At the same moment Jack switched off the light, leaving the roomblack. Each of the two waiting prisoners could hear the other's shortbreathing through the darkness. 

On came the shuffling footsteps of the gaoler and lantern-bearer. Theyhad reached the door of Number One, had paused, had passed on andstopped in front of Number Two. 

"Your cell!" whispered Jack, panic-stricken. "And they weren't due tolook in on you for four days. It's all up! They'll discover the cellis empty and give the-- Where are you going, man?" he broke off, asDrummond, leaving his place near the door, groped his way hurriedlyalong the wall. 

"To squeeze my way back and make a fight for it. It's better than--"

"Wait!"

Lamont's hand was on his shoulder, and he whispered a sharp commandfor silence. The two attendants had halted in front of Number Two, andwhile the lantern-bearer fumbled with the awkward bolt, his companionwas saying:

"Hold on! After all, I'll bring the other his food first, I think. "

"But, " remonstrated the lantern-bearer, "the Governor said we were tobring the Englishman to him at once. "

"What if he did? How will he know we stole a half minute to give thePrince his dinner? If we bring the Englishman upstairs first, thePrince may have to wait an hour before we can get back with theEnglishman. "

"Let him wait, then. "

"With his pocket full of roubles? Not I. He may decide to give no moreof his gold pieces to a gaoler who lets him go hungry too long. "

"I've got the door unfastened now and--"

"Then fasten it again and come back with me to Number One. "

Faint as were the words, deadened by intervening walls, their purportreached Jack. 

"Back to your place, " he whispered, "they're coming!"

The rattle of bolts followed close on his words. The great door ofNumber One swung ponderously inward. The lantern-bearer, holding hislight high in front of him, entered; then stepped to one side to admitthe gaoler, who came close after, the tray of food in his outstretchedhands. 

Unluckily for the captives' plan, it was to the side of the cellopposite to that where Alan crouched that the lantern-bearer had takenhis stand. There was no way of reaching him at a bound. The open doorstood between. Were the gaoler to be attacked first, hisfellow-attendant could readily be out of the cell and half-way up thecorridor before Alan might hope to reach him. 

The friends had counted on both men entering the room together andcrossing as usual to the table. This change of plan disconcerted them. Already the gaoler had set down his tray and was turning toward thedoor. Alan, helpless, stood impotently in the shadow, biting his blondmustache with helpless rage. In another second their cherishedopportunity would vanish. And, as the gaoler's next visit was to be toNumber Two, discovery stared them in the eyes. 

It was Jack who broke the momentary spell of apathy. He was standingat the far end of the cell, near the stream. 

"Here!" he called sharply to the lantern-bearer, "bring your light. Myelectric apparatus is out of order, and I've mislaid my matches. Iwant to fix--"

The lantern-bearer, obediently, had advanced into the room. He washalf-way across it while Lamont was still speaking. Then, from thecorner of his eye, he spied Alan crouching in the angle behind thedoor, now fully exposed to the rays of the lantern. 

The man whirled about in alarm just as Alan sprang. In consequence theEnglishman's mighty fist whizzed past his head, missing it by a fullinch. 

The gaoler, recovering from his amaze, whipped out one of therevolvers he wore in his belt. But Jack, leaping forward, knocked itfrom his hand before he could fire; and, with one hand clapped acrossthe fellow's bearded lips, wound his other arm about the stalwart bodyso as to prevent for the instant the drawing of the second pistol. 

Alan's first blow had missed clean; but his second did not. Followingup his right-hand blow with all a trained boxer's swift dexterity, hesent a straight left hander flush on the angle of the light-bearer'sjaw. The man dropped his lantern and collapsed into a senseless heapon the floor, while Alan, with no further delay, rushed toward thegaoler. 

The fall of the lantern extinguished the light. The cell was againplunged in dense blackness, through which could be heard the pantingand scuffing of the Prince and the gaoler. 

Barely a second of time had elapsed since first Jack had seized theman, but that second had sufficed for the latter to summon his greatbrute strength and shake off his less gigantic opponent and to drawhis pistol. 

"Quick, Alan!" gasped Jack. "He's got away from me. He'll--"

Drummond, guided by his friend's voice, darted forward through thedarkness, caught his foot against the sprawling body of thelantern-bearer and fell heavily, his arms thrown out in an instinctivegesture of self-preservation. Even as he lost his balance he heard asharp click, directly in front of him. The gaoler had pulled thetrigger, and his pistol-- contract-made and out of order, like many ofthe weapons of common soldiers in Russia's frontier posts-- had missedfire. 

To that luckiest of mishaps, the failure of a defective cartridge toexplode, the friends owed their momentary safety. 

As Alan pitched forward, one of his outing arms struck against anobstacle. It was a human figure, and from the feel of the leatherstraps, which his fingers touched in the impact, he knew it was thegaoler and not Lamont. 

Old football tactics coming to memory, Alan clung to the man his armhad chanced upon, and bore him along to the ground; Jack, who hadpressed forward in the darkness, being carried down as well by theother's fall. 

Gaoler, Prince and Englishman thus struggled on the stone floor in oneindistinguishable heap. It was no ordinary combat of two to one, forneither of the prisoners could say which was the gaoler and which hisfriend. The gaoler, troubled by no such doubts, laid about himlustily, and was only prevented from crying out by the fact that hisheavy fur cap had, in the fall, become jammed down over his face asfar as the chin and could not for the moment be dislodged. 

He reached for and drew the sword-bayonet that hung at his side (forhis second pistol had become lost in the scrimmage), and thrustblindly about him. Once, twice his blade met resistance and struckinto flesh. 

"Jack, " panted Alan, "the beast's stabbing. Get yourself loose andfind the electric light. "

As he spoke, Alan's hand found the gaoler's throat. He knew it was notAlan's from the rough beard that covered it. The gaoler, maddened bythe pressure, stabbed with fresh fury; most of his blows, fortunately, going wild in the darkness. 

Alan's free hand reached for and located the arm that was wielding thebayonet, and for a moment the two wrestled desperately for itspossession. 

Then a key clicked, and the room was flooded with incandescent light, just as Alan, releasing his grip on the Russian's throat, dealt him ashort-arm blow on the chin with all the power of his practicedmuscles. The gaoler relaxed his tense limbs and lay still, while Alan, bleeding and exhausted, struggled to his feet. 

"Hot work, eh?" he panted. "Hard position to land a knockout from. ButI caught him just right. He'll trouble us no more for a few minutes, Ifancy. You're bleeding! Did he wound you?"

"Only a scratch along my check. And you?"

"A cut on the wrist and another on the shoulder, I think. Neither ofthem bad, thanks to the lack of aim in the dark. Close call, that! Nowto tie them up. Not a movement from either yet. "

"You must have come close to killing them with those sledge-hammerblows of yours!"

"It doesn't much matter, " said the imperturbable pugilist, "they'll beall right in half an hour. It's knowing where to hit. If there areonly four men downstairs, we don't need to wear the clothes of thesebeasts. Let us take only the bunch of keys and the revolvers. "

Securing these the two stepped out into the passage, locked and boltedthe door; then Jack, who knew his way, proceeded along the passage tothe stairway, leaped nimbly up the steps, bolted the door leading tothe military quarters, then descended and bolted the bottom door. 

"Now for the clerk, and then for the Governor. "

The clerk's room connected with the armory, which was reached bypassing through the apartment that held turbine and dynamo, which theyfound purring away merrily. 

Covering the frightened clerk with four revolvers, Jack told him inRussian that if he made a sound it would be his last. They took him, opened cell Number Three, which was empty, and thrust him in. 

Jangling the keys, the two entered the Governor's room. The ancientman looked up, but not a muscle of his face changed; even his fishyeyes showed no signs of emotion or surprise. 

"Governor, " said Jack with deference, "although you are under themuzzles of a quartet of revolvers, no harm is intended you. However, you must not leave your place until you accompany us down to the boat, when I shall hand the keys over to you, and in cell Number One youwill find gaoler and lantern man a little worse for wear, perhaps, butstill in the ring, I hope. In Number Three your clerk is awaiting you. I go now to release your prisoners. All communication between yourselfand the military is barred. I leave my friend on guard until I returnfrom the cells. You must not attempt to summon assistance, or cry out, or move from your chair. My friend does not understand either Russianor German, so there is no use in making any appeal to him, and much asI like you personally, and admire your assiduity in science, our caseis so desperate that if you make any motion whatever, he will becompelled to shoot you dead. "

The Governor bowed. 

"May I continue my writing?" he asked. 

Jack laughed heartily. 

"Certainly, " and with that he departed to the cells, which he unlockedone by one, only to find them all empty. 

Returning, he said to the Governor:

"Why did you not tell me that we were your only prisoners?"

"I feared, " replied the Governor mildly, "that you might not believeme. "

"After all, I don't know that I should, ", said Jack, holding out hishand, which the other shook rather unresponsively. 

"I want to thank you, " the Governor said slowly, "for all you havetold me about electricity. That knowledge I expect to put to manyuseful purposes in the future, and the exercise of it will also makethe hours drag less slowly than they did before you came. "

"Oh, that's all right, " cried Jack with enthusiasm. "I am sure you arevery welcome to what teaching I have been able to give you, and noteacher could have wished a more apt pupil. "

"It pleases me to hear you say that, Highness, although I fear I havebeen lax in my duties, and perhaps the knowledge of this place whichyou have got through my negligence, has assisted you in making anescape which I had not thought possible. "

Jack laughed good-naturedly. 

"All's fair in love and war, " he said. "Imprisonment is a section ofwar. I must admit that electricity has been a powerful aid to us. Butyou cannot blame yourself, Governor, for you always took everyprecaution, and the gaoler was eternally at my heels. You can neverpretend that you trusted me, you know. "

"I tried to do my duty, " said the old man mournfully, "and ifelectricity has been your helper, it has not been with my sanction. However, there is one point about electricity which you impressed uponme, which is that although it goes quickly, there is always a returncurrent. "

"What do you mean by that, Governor?"

"Is it not so? It goes by a wire, and returns through the earth. Ithought you told me that. "

"Yes, but I don't quite see why you mention that feature of the caseat this particular moment. "

"I wanted to be sure what I have stated is true. You see, when you aregone there will be nobody I can ask. "

All this time the aged Governor was holding Jack's hand rather limply. Drummond showed signs of impatience. 

"Jack, " he cried at last, "that conversation may be very interesting, but it's like smoking on a powder mine. One never knows what mayhappen. I shan't feel safe until we're well out at sea, and not eventhen. Get through with your farewells as soon as possible, and let usbe off. "

"Right you are, Alan, my boy. Well, Governor, I'm reluctantlycompelled to bid you a final good-by, but here's wishing you all sortsof luck. "

The old man seemed reluctant to part with him, and still clung to hishand. 

"I wanted to tell you, " he said, "of another incident, almost asstartling as your coming into this room a while since, that happenedsix or eight months ago. As perhaps you know, we keep a Finlandfishing-boat down in the cove below. "

"Yes, yes, " said Jack impatiently, drawing away his hand. 

"Well, six or eight months ago that boat disappeared, and has neverbeen heard of since. None of our prisoners was missing; none of thegarrison was missing; my three assistants were still here, yet in thenight the boat was taken away. "

"Really. How interesting! Never learned the secret, did you?"

"Never, but I took precautions, when we got the next boat, that itshould be better guarded, so I have had two men remain upon it nightand day. "

"Are your two men armed, Governor?"

"Yes, they are. "

"Then they must surrender, or we will be compelled to shoot them. Comedown with us, and advise them to surrender quietly, otherwise, fromsafe cover on the stairway, we can pot them in an open boat. "

"I will go down with you, " said the Governor, "and do what I can. "

"Of course they will obey you. "

"Yes, they will obey me-- if they hear me. I was going to add thatonly yesterday did I arrange the electric bell down at the landing, with instructions to those men to take a telegram which I had writtenin case of emergencies, to the mainland, at any moment, night or day, when that bell rang. Your Highness, the bell rang more than half anhour ago. I have not been allowed out to see the result. "

The placid old man put his hand on the Prince's shoulder, as ifbestowing a benediction upon him. Drummond, who did not understand thelingo, was amazed to see Jack fling off the Governor's grasp, and withwhat he took to be a crushing oath in Russian, spring to the door, which he threw open. He mounted the stone bench which gave him a viewof the sea. A boat, with two sails spread, speeding to the southwest, across the strong westerly wind, was two miles or more away. 

"Marooned, by God!" cried the Prince, swinging round and presentinghis pistol at the head of the Governor, who stood there like a statueof dejection, and made no sign. 

 CHAPTER XX

 ARRIVAL OF THE TURBINE YACHT

BEFORE Jack could fire, as perhaps he had intended to do, Drummondstruck down his arm. 

"None of that, Jack, " he said. "The Russian in you has evidently beenscratched, and the Tartar has come uppermost. The Governor gave asignal, I suppose?"

"Yes, he did, and those two have got away while I stood babbling here, feeling a sympathy for the old villain. That's his return current, eh?"

"He's not to blame, " said Drummond. "It's our own fault entirely. Thefirst thing to have done was to secure that boat. "

"And everything worked so beautifully, " moaned Jack, "up to thispoint, and one mistake ruins it. We are doomed, Alan. "

"It isn't so bad as that, Jack, " said the Englishman calmly. "Shouldthose men reach the coast safely, as no doubt they will, it may costRussia a bit of trouble to dislodge us. "

"Why, hang it all, " cried Jack, "they don't need to dislodge us. Allthey've got to do is to stand off and starve us out. They are notcompelled to fire a gun or land a man. "

"They'll have to starve their own men first. It's not likely we'regoing to go hungry and feed our prisoners. "

"Oh, we don't mind a little thing like that, we Russians. They maysend help, or they may not. Probably a cruiser will come withinhailing distance and try to find out what the trouble is. Then it willlie off and wait till everybody's dead, and after that put in a newGovernor and another garrison. "

"You take too pessimistic a view, Jack. This isn't the season of theyear for a cruiser to lie off in the Baltic. Winter is coming on. Mostof the harbors in Finland will be ice-closed in a month, and there'sno shelter hereabouts in a storm. They'll attack; probably open shellfire on us for a while, then attempt to land a storming party. Thatwill be fun for us if you've got good rifles and plenty ofammunition. "

Jack raised his head. 

"Oh, we're well-equipped, " he said, "if we only have enough to eat. "

Springing to his feet, all dejection gone, he said to the Governor:

"Now, my friend, we're compelled to put you into a cell. I'm sorry todo this, but there is no other course open. Where is your larder, andwhat quantity of provisions have you in stock?"

A gloomy smile added to the dejection of the old man's countenance. 

"You must find that out for yourself, " he said. 

"Are the soldiers upstairs well supplied with food?"

"I will not answer any of your questions. "

"Oh, very well. I see you are determined to go hungry yourself. UntilI am satisfied that there is more than sufficient for my friend andme, no prisoner in my charge gets anything to eat. That's the sort ofgaoler I am. The stubborn old beast!" he cried in English, turning toDrummond, "won't answer my questions. "

"What were you asking him?"

"I want to know about the stock of provisions. "

"It's quite unnecessary to ask about the grub: there's sure to beample. "

"Why?"

"Why? Because we have reached the beginning of winter, as I saidbefore. There must be months when no boat can land at this rock. It'sbound to be provisioned for several months ahead at the very lowestcalculation. Now, the first thing to do is to put this ancient Johnnyin his little cell, then I'll tell you where our chief danger lies. "

The Governor made neither protest nor complaint, but walked intoNumber Nine, and was locked up. 

"Now, Johnny, my boy, " said Drummond, "our anxiety is the soldiers. The moment they find they are locked in they will blow those two doorsopen in just about half a jiffy. We can, of course, by sitting infront of the lower door night and day, pick off the first four or fivewho come down, but if the rest make a rush we are bound to beoverpowered. They have, presumably, plenty of powder, probably somelive shells, petards, and what-not, that will make short work even ofthose oaken doors. What do you propose to do?"

"I propose, " said Jack, "to fill their crooked stairway with cement. There are bags and bags of it in the armory. "

The necessity for this was prevented by an odd circumstance. The twoyoung men were seated in the Governor's room, when at his table atelephone bell rang. Jack had not noticed this instrument, and nowtook up the receiver. 

"Hello, Governor, " said a voice, "your fool of a gaoler has bolted thestairway door, and we can't open it. "

"Oh, I beg pardon, " replied Jack, in whatever imitation of theGovernor's voice he could assume. "I'll see to it at once myself. "

He hung up the receiver and told his comrade what had happened. 

"One or both of these officers are coming down. If we get the officerssafely into a cell, there will be nobody to command the men, and it ismore than likely that the officers carry the keys of the powder room. I'll turn out the electric lamps in the hall, and light the lantern. You be ready at the foot of the stairway to fire if they make theslightest resistance. "

The two officers came down the circular stairway, grumbling at thedelay to which they had been put. Lermontoff took advantage of theclamping of their heavy boots in the echoing stairway to shove in thebolts once more, and then followed them, himself followed by Drummond, into the Governor's room. Switching on the electric light, he said:

"Gentlemen, I am Prince Lermontoff, in temporary charge of thisprison. The Governor is under arrest, and I regret that I must demandyour swords, although I have every reason to believe that they will behanded back to you within a very few days after I have completed myinvestigations. "

The officers were too much accustomed to sudden changes in command tosee anything odd in this turn of affairs. Lermontoff spoke with aquiet dignity that was very convincing, and the language he used wasthat of the nobility. The two officers handed him their swords withouta word of protest. 

"I must ask you whether you have yet received your winter supply offood. "

"Oh, yes, " said the senior officer, "we had that nearly a month ago. "

"Is it stored in the military portion of the rock, or below here?"

"Our rations are packed away in a room upstairs. "

"I am sorry, gentlemen, that I must put you into cells until mymission is accomplished. If you will write a requisition for suchrations as you are accustomed to receive, I shall see that you aresupplied. Meanwhile, write also an order to whomsoever you entrust incommand of the men during your absence, to grant no one leave to comedownstairs, and ask him to take care that each soldier is rigidlyrestricted to the minimum quantity of vodka. "

The senior officer sat down at the table, and wrote the two orders. The men were then placed in adjoining cells, without the thought ofresistance even occurring to them. They supposed there had been somechanges at headquarters, and were rather relieved to have theassurance of the Prince that their arrest would prove temporary. Further investigation showed that there would be no danger ofstarvation for six months at least. 

Next day Jack, at great risk of his neck, scaled to the apex of theisland, as he had thought of flying, if possible, a signal of distressthat might attract some passing vessel. But even though he reached thesharp ridge, he saw at once that no pole could be erected there, noteven if he possessed one. The wind aloft was terrific, and he gazedaround him at an empty sea. 

When four days had passed they began to look for the Russian reliefboat, which they knew would set out the moment the Governor's telegramreached St. Petersburg. 

On the fifth day Jack shouted down to Drummond, who was standing bythe door. 

"The Russian is coming: heading direct for us. She's in a hurry, too, crowding on all steam, and eating up the distance like a torpedo-boatdestroyer. I think it's a cruiser. It's not the old tub I came on, anyway. "

"Come down, then, " answered Alan, "and we--"

A cry from above interrupted him. Jack, having at first glance spiedthe vessel whose description he had shouted to Drummond, had nowturned his eyes eastward and stood staring aghast toward the sunrise. 

"What's the matter?" asked Alan. 

"Matter?" echoed Jack. "They must be sending the whole Russian Navyhere in detachments to capture our unworthy selves. There's a secondboat coming from the east-- nearer by two miles than the yacht. If Ihadn't been all taken up with the other from the moment I climbed hereI'd have seen her before. "

"Is she a yacht, too?"

"No. Looks like a passenger tramp. Dirty and--"

"Merchantman, maybe. "

"No. She's got guns on her--"

"Merchantman fitted out for privateersman, probably. That's the sortof craft Russia would be likeliest to send to a secret prison likethis. What flag does--"

"No flag at all. Neither of them. They're both making for the rock, full steam, and from opposite sides. Neither can see the other, Isuppose. I--"

"From opposite sides? That doesn't look like a joint expedition. Oneof those ships isn't Russian. But which?"

Jack had clambered down and stood by Alan's side. 

"We must make ready for defense in either case, " he said. "In a fewminutes we'll be able to see them both from the platform below. "

"One of those boats means to blow us out of existence if it can, "mused Jack. "The other cannot know of our existence. And yet, if shedoesn't, what is she doing here, headed for the rock?"

With that Jack scrambled, slid and jumped down. Drummond was veryquiet and serious. Repeating rifles stood in a row on the oppositewall, easy to get at, but as far off as might be from the effects of apossible shell. The two young men now mounted the stone bench by thedoor, which allowed them to look over the ledge at the eastern sea. Presently the craft appeared round the end of the island, pure white, floating like a swan on the water, and making great headway. 

"By Jove!" said Jack, "she's a fine one. Looks like the Czar's yacht, but no Russian vessel I know of can make that speed. "

"She's got the ear-marks of Thornycroft build about her, " commentedDrummond. "By Jove, Jack, what luck if she should prove to be English. No flag flying, though. "

"She's heading for us, " said Jack, "and apparently she knows whichside the cannon is on. If she's Russian, they've taken it for grantedwe've captured the whole place, and are in command of the guns. There, she's turning. "

The steamer was abreast of the rock, and perhaps three miles distant. Now she swept a long, graceful curve westward and drew up about half amile east of the rock. 

"Jove, I wish I'd a pair of good glasses, " said Drummond. "They'relowering a boat. "

Jack showed more Highland excitement than Russian stolidity, as hewatched the oncoming of a small boat, beautifully riding the waves, and masterfully rowed by sailors who understood the art. Drummondstood imperturbable as a statue. 

"The sweep of those oars is English, Jack, my boy. "

As the boat came nearer and nearer Jack became more and more agitated. 

"I say, Alan, focus your eyes on that man at the rudder. I think mysight's failing me. Look closely. Did you ever see him before?"

"I think I have, but am not quite sure. "

"Why, he looks to me like my jovial and venerable father-in-law, Captain Kempt, of Bar Harbor. Perfectly absurd, of course: it can'tbe. "

"He does resemble the Captain, but I only saw him once or twice. "

"Hooray, Captain Kempt, how are you?" shouted Jack across the waters. 

The Captain raised his right hand and waved it, but made no attempt tocover the distance with his voice. Jack ran pell-mell down the steps, and Drummond followed in more leisurely fashion. The boat swung roundto the landing, and Captain Kempt cried cordially:

"Hello, Prince, how are you? And that's Lieutenant Drummond, isn't it?Last time I had the pleasure of seeing you, Drummond, was that nightof the ball. "

"Yes, " said Drummond. "I was very glad to see you then, but a hundredtimes happier to see you to-day. "

"I was just cruising round these waters in my yacht, and I thought I'dtake a look at this rock you tried to obliterate. I don't see anyperceptible damage done, but what can you expect from Britishmarksmanship?"

"I struck the rock on the other side, Captain. I think your remark isunkind, especially as I've just been praising the watermanship of yourmen. "

"Now, are you boys tired of this summer resort?" asked Captain Kempt. "Is your baggage checked, and are you ready to go? Most seaside placesare deserted this time of year. "

"We'll be ready in a moment, captain, " cried his future son-in-law. "Imust run up and get the Governor. We've put a number of men in prisonhere, and they'll starve if not released. The Governor's a good oldchap, though he played it low down on me a few days ago, " and withthat Jack disappeared up the stairway once more. 

"Had a gaol-delivery here?" asked the Captain. 

"Well, something by way of that. The Prince drilled a hole in therock, and we got out. We've put the garrison in pawn, so to speak, butI've been mighty anxious these last few days because the sail-boatthey had here, and two of the garrison, escaped to the mainland withthe news. We were anxiously watching your yacht, fearing it wasRussian. Jack thought it was the Czar's yacht. How came you by such acraft, Captain? Splendid-looking boat that. "

"Oh, yes, I bought her a few days before I left New York. One likes totravel comfortably, you know. Very well fitted up she is. "

Jack shouted from the doorway:

"Drummond, come up here and fling overboard these loaded rifles. Wecan't take any more chances. I'm going to lock up the ammunition roomand take the key with me as a souvenir. "

"Excuse me, Captain, " said Drummond, who followed his friend, andpresently bundles of rifles came clattering down the side of theprecipice, plunging into the sea. The two then descended the steps, Jack in front, Drummond following with the Governor between them. 

"Now, Governor, " said Jack, "for the second time I am to bid youfarewell. Here are the keys. If you accept them you must give me yourword of honor that the boat will not be fired upon. If you do notpromise that, I'll drop the bunch into the sea, and on your gray headbe the consequences. "

"I give you my word of honor that you shall not be fired upon. "

"Very well, Governor. Here are the keys, and good-by. "

In the flurry of excitement over the yacht's appearance, both Jack andDrummond had temporarily forgotten the existence of the tramp steamerthe former had seen beating toward the rock. 

Now Lamont suddenly recalled it. 

"By the way, Governor, " he said, "the relief boat you so thoughtfullysent for is on her way here. She should reach the rock at almost anyminute now. In fact, I fancy we've little time to waste if we want toavoid a brush. It would be a pity to be nabbed now at the eleventhhour. Good-by, once more. "

But the Governor had stepped between him and the boat. 

"I-- I am an old man, " he said, speaking with manifest embarrassment. "I was sent to take charge of this prison as punishment for refusingto join a Jew massacre plot. Governorship here means no more nor lessthan a life imprisonment. My wife and children are on a little estateof mine in Sweden. It is twelve years since I have seen them. I--"

"If this story is a ruse to detain us--"

"No! No!" protested the Governor, and there was no mistaking hispathetic, eager sincerity. "But-- but I shall be shot-- or locked inone of the cells and the water turned on-- for letting you escape. Won't you take me with you? I will work my passage. Take me as far asStockholm. I shall be free there-- free to join my wife and to liveforever out of reach of the Grand Dukes. Take me--"

"Jump in!" ordered Jack, coming to a sudden resolution. "Heaven knowsI would not condemn my worst enemy to a perpetual life on this rock. And you've been pretty decent to us, according to your lights. Jumpaboard, we've no time to waste. "

Nor did the Governor waste time in obeying. The others followed, andthe boat shoved off. But scarcely had the oars caught the water whenaround the promontory came a large man-o'-war's launch, a rapid-firegun mounted on her bows. She was manned by about twenty men in Russianpolice uniform. 

"From the 'tramp, '" commented Alan excitedly. "And her gun is trainedon us. "

"Get down to work!" shouted Jack to the straining oarsmen. 

"No use!" groaned Kempt. "She'll cross within a hundred yards of us. There's no missing at such close range and on such a quiet sea. What afool I was to--"

The launch was, indeed, bearing down on them despite the rowers' bestefforts, and must unquestionably cut them off before they could reachthe yacht. 

Alan drew his revolver. 

"We've no earthly show against her, " he remarked quietly, "and itseems hard to 'go down in sight of port. ' But let's do what we can. "

"Put up that pop-gun, " ordered Kempt. "She will sink us long beforeyou're in range for revolver work. I'll run up my handkerchief for awhite flag. "

"To surrender?"

"What else can we do?"

"And be lugged back to the rock, all of us? Not I, for one!"

The launch was now within hailing distance, and every man aboard herwas glaring at the helpless little yacht-gig. 

"Wait!"

It was the Governor who spoke. Rising from his seat in the stern, hehailed the officer who was sighting the rapid-fire gun. 

"Lieutenant Tschersky!" he called. 

At sight of the old man's lean, uniformed figure, rising from amongthe rest, there was visible excitement and surprise aboard the launch. The officer saluted and ordered the engine stopped that he might hearmore plainly. 

"Lieutenant, " repeated the Governor, "I am summoned aboard HisHighness the Grand Duke Vladimir's yacht. You will proceed to theharbor and await my return to the rock. There has been a mutiny amongthe garrison, but I have quelled it. "

The officer saluted again, gave an order, and the launch's nosepointed for the rock. 

"Governor, " observed Lamont, as the old man sank again into his seat, "you've earned your passage to Stockholm. You need not work for it. "

 CHAPTER XXI

 THE ELOPEMENT

THE girls on the yacht had no expectation that Captain Kempt wouldcome back with the two young men. But when, through their powerfulbinoculars, the girls became aware that Drummond and the Prince werein the small boat, they both fled to the chief saloon, and sat thereholding one another's hands. Even the exuberant Kate for once hadnothing to say. She heard the voice of her father on deck, givingcommand to the mate. 

"Make for Stockholm, Johnson. Take my men-o'-war's men-- see that noone else touches the ammunition-- and fling the shells overboard. Heave the gun after them, and then clear out the rifles and ammunitionthe same way. When we reach Stockholm to-morrow morning, there mustnot be a gun on board this ship, and the ridiculous rumor that gotabroad among your men that we were going to attack something or other, you will see is entirely unfounded. You impress that on them, Johnson. "

"Oh, Dorothy, " whispered Katherine, drawing a deep breath. "If you areas frightened as I am, get behind me. "

"I think I will, " answered Dorothy, and each squeezed the other'shand. 

"I tell you what it is, Captain, " sounded the confident voice of thePrince. "This vessel is a beauty. You have done yourself fine. I hadno idea you were such a sybarite. Why, I've been aboard the Czar'syacht, and I tell you it's nothing-- Great heavens! Katherine!" heshouted, in a voice that made the ceiling ring. 

She was now standing up and advanced toward him with both hands heldout, a welcoming smile on her pretty lips, but he swooped down on her, flung his arms round her like a cabman beating warmth into his hands, kissed her on the brow, the two cheeks and the lips, swaying her backand forward as if about to fling her upstairs. 

"Stop, stop, " she cried. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Before myfather, too! You great Russian bear!" and, breathless, she put heropen palm against his face, and shoved his head away from her. 

"Don't bother about me, Kate, " said her father. "That's nothing to theway we acted when I was young. Come on, boys, to the smoking-room, andI'll mix you something good: real Kentucky, twenty-seven years inbarrel, and I've got all the other materials for a Manhattan. "

"Jack, I am glad to see you, " panted Katherine, all in disarray, whichshe endeavored to set right by an agitated touch here and there. "Now, Jack, I'm going to take you to the smoking-room, but you'll have tobehave yourself as you walk along the deck. I won't be made aspectacle of before the crew. "

"Come along, Drummond, " said the Captain, "and bring Miss Dorothy withyou. "

But Drummond stood in front of Dorothy Amhurst, and held out his hand. 

"You haven't forgotten me, Miss Amhurst, I hope?"

"Oh, no, " she replied, with a very faint smile, taking his hand. 

"It seems incredible that you are here, " he began. "What a lucky man Iam. Captain Kempt takes his yacht to rescue his son-in-law that is tobe, and incidentally rescues me as well, and then to find you here! Isuppose you came because your friend Miss Kempt was aboard?"

"Yes, we are all but inseparable. "

"I wrote you a letter, Miss Amhurst, the last night I was in St. Petersburg in the summer. "

"Yes, I received it. "

"No, not this one. It was the night I was captured, and I never got achance to post it. It was an important letter-- for me. "

"I thought it important-- for me, " replied Dorothy, now smiling quiteopenly. "The Nihilists got it, searching your room after you had beenarrested. It was sent on to New York, and given to me. "

"Is that possible? How did they know it was for you?"

"I had been making inquiries through the Nihilists. "

"I wrote you a proposal of marriage, Dorothy. "

"It certainly read like it, but you see it wasn't signed, and youcan't be held to it. "

He reached across the table, and grasped her two hands. 

"Dorothy, Dorothy, " he cried, "do you mean you would have cabled'Yes'?"

"No. "

"You would not?"

"Of course not. I should have cabled 'Undecided. ' One gets more forone's money in sending a long word. Then I should have written--" shepaused, and he cried eagerly:

"What?"

"What do you think?" she asked. 

"Well, do you know, Dorothy, I am beginning to think my incredibleluck will hold, and that you'd have written 'Yes. '"

"I don't know about the luck: that would have been the answer. "

He sprang up, bent over her, and she, quite unaffectedly raised herface to his. 

"Oh, Dorothy, " he cried. 

"Oh, Alan, " she replied, with quivering voice, "I never thought to seeyou again. You cannot imagine the long agony of this voyage, and notknowing what had happened. "

"It's a blessing, Dorothy, you had learned nothing about theTrogzmondoff. "

"Ah, but I did: that's what frightened me. We have a man on board whowas flung for dead from that dreadful rock. The Baltic saved him; hismother, he calls it. "

Drummond picked her up in his arms, and carried her to the luxuriousdivan which ran along the side of the large room. There they sat downtogether, out of sight of the stairway. 

"Did you get all of my letters?"

"I think so. "

"You know I am a poor man?"

"I know you said so. "

"Don't you consider my position poverty? I thought every one overthere had a contempt for an income that didn't run into tens ofthousands. "

"I told you, Alan, I had been unused to money, and so your incomeappears to me quite sufficient. "

"Then you are not afraid to trust in my future?"

"Not the least: I believe in you. "

"Oh, you dear girl. If you knew how sweet that sounds! Then I may tellyou. When I was in London last I ran down to Dartmouth in Devonshire. I shall be stationed there. You see, I have finished my foreigncruising, and Dartmouth is, for a time at least, to be my home. There's a fine harbor there, green hills and a beautiful river runningbetween them, and I found such a lovely old house; not grand at all, you know, but so cosey and comfortable, standing on the heightsoverlooking the harbor, in an old garden filled with roses, shrubs, and every kind of flower; vines clambering about the ancient house. Two servants would keep it going like a shot. Dorothy, what do yousay?"

Dorothy laughed quietly and whole heartedly. 

"It reads like a bit from an old English romance. I'd just love to seesuch a house. "

"You don't care for this sort of thing, do you?" he asked, glancinground about him. 

"What sort of thing?"

"This yacht, these silk pannellings, these gorgeous pictures, thecarving, the gilt, the horribly expensive carpet. "

"You mean should I feel it necessary to be surrounded by such luxury?I answer most emphatically, no. I like your ivy-covered house atDartmouth much better. "

For a moment neither said anything: lips cannot speak when pressedtogether. 

"Now, Dorothy, I want you to elope with me. We will be in Stockholmlong before daylight to-morrow at the rate this boat is going. I'llget ashore as soon as practicable, and make all inquiries at theconsulate about being married. I don't know what the regulations are, but if it is possible to be married quietly, say in the afternoon, will you consent to that, and then write a letter to Captain Kempt, thanking him for the trip on the yacht, and I'll write, thanking himfor all he has done for me, and after that we'll make for Englandtogether. I've got a letter of credit in my pocket, which luckily theRussians did not take from me. I shall find all the money we need atStockholm, then we'll cross the Swedish country, sail to Denmark, makeour way through Germany to Paris, if you like, or to London. We shan'ttravel all the time, but just take nice little day trips, stopping atsome quaint old town every afternoon and evening. "

"You mean to let Captain Kempt, Katherine, and the Prince go toAmerica alone?"

"Of course. Why not? They don't want us, and I'm quite sure we-- well, Dorothy, we'd be delighted to have them, to be sure-- but still, I'veknocked a good deal about Europe, and there are some delightful oldtowns I'd like to show you, and I hate traveling with a party. "

Dorothy laughed so heartily that her head sank on his shoulder. 

"Yes, I'll do that, " she said at last. 

And they did. 

 THE END