Part 29 (2/2)
”Then I must ask you to send for him at once.”
It went sorely against the grain of the servant of the Tsar to acquiesce in the demand of an outlaw, but there was nothing else for it. The outlaw could blow him and all his subordinates into s.p.a.ce with a pressure of his finger; and so he sent an orderly with a request for the presence of the professor. Meanwhile Mazanoff continued--
”An air-s.h.i.+p similar to this arrived here three days ago, I believe?”
The officer bit his lips with rage at his helpless position, and bowed affirmatively.
”And certain articles were taken out of her for examination here--two gas cylinders and a projectile, I believe?”
Again the officer bowed, wondering how on earth the Terrorist could have come by such accurate information.
”And the air-s.h.i.+p has been sent on to the seat of war, while the Professor is trying to discover the composition of the gases and the explosive used in the sh.e.l.l?” went on Mazanoff, risking a last shot at the truth.
The officer did not bow this time. Giving way at last to his rising fury, he stamped on the ground and almost screamed--
”Great G.o.d! you insolent scoundrel! Why do you ask me questions when you know the answers as well as I do, and better? Yes, we have got one of your diabolical s.h.i.+ps of the air, and we will build a fleet like it and hunt you from the world!”
”All in good time, my dear sir,” replied Mazanoff ironically. ”When you have found a place in which to build them that we cannot blow off the face of the earth before you get one finished. Meanwhile, let me beg of you to keep your temper, and to remember that there is a lady present. That girl standing yonder by the gun was once stripped and flogged by Russians calling themselves men and soldiers. Her fingers are itching to make the movement that would annihilate you and every one standing near you, so pray try keep your temper; for if we fire a shot the air-s.h.i.+ps up yonder will at once open fire, and not stop while there is a stone of that building left upon another. Ah! here comes the Professor.”
As he spoke the man of science advanced, looking wonderingly at the air-s.h.i.+p. Mazanoff made a sign to the old officer to keep silence, and continued in the same polite tone that he had used all along--
”Good evening, Professor! I have come to ask you whether you have yet made any experiments on the contents of the sh.e.l.l and the two cylinders that were given to you for examination?”
”I must first ask for your authority to put such an inquiry to me on a confidential subject,” replied the Professor stiffly.
”On the authority given me by the power to enforce an answer, sir,”
returned the Terrorist quietly. ”I know that Professor Volnow will not lie to me, even at the order of the Tsar, and when I tell you that your refusal to reply will cost the lives of every one here, and possibly involve the destruction of Petersburg itself, I feel sure that, as a mere matter of humanity, you will comply with my request.”
”Sir, the orders of my master are absolute secrecy on this subject, and I will obey them to the death. I have a.n.a.lysed the contents of one of the cylinders, but what they are I will tell to no one save by the direct command of his Majesty. That is all I have done.”
”Then in that case, Professor, I must ask you to surrender yourself prisoner of war, and to come on board this vessel at once.”
As Mazanoff said this the _Ariel_ dropped to within ten feet of the ground, and a rope-ladder fell over the side.
”Come, Professor, there is no time to be lost. I shall give the order to fire in one minute from now.”
He took out his watch, and began to count the seconds. Ten, twenty, thirty pa.s.sed and the Professor stood irresolute. Two of the _Ariel's_ guns pointed at the gables of the a.r.s.enal, and two swept the crowded s.p.a.ce in front.
Konstantin Volnow knew enough to see clearly the frightful slaughter and destruction that twenty seconds more would bring if he refused to give himself up. As Mazanoff counted ”forty” he threw up his hands with a gesture of despair, and cried--
”Stop! I will come. The Tsar has as good servants as I am! Colonel, tell his Majesty that I gave myself up to save the lives of better men.”
Then the Professor mounted the ladder amidst a murmur of relief and applause from the crowd, and, gaining the deck of the _Ariel_, bowed coldly to Mazanoff and said--
”I am your prisoner, sir!”
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