Part 28 (2/2)

”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 must bring 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 had intimated, 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 of the gaoler's hand, whose fingers clutched it as eagerly as if he were in 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 had finished his soup, and bread and cheese, it was opened again. The gaoler 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 beside them.

”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 s.h.i.+ned his table, stood upon it, lit his candle, and resumed his tunnelling, working hard until after midnight.

His progress was deplorably slow, and the spraying of the rock proved about as tiring a task as ever he had undertaken. His second basin-full of solution was made a little stronger, but without perceptible improvement, in its effect. On ceasing operations for the night he found himself in a situation common to few prisoners, that of being embarra.s.sed with riches. He possessed two basins, and one of them must be concealed. Of course he might leave his working basin in the upper tunnel where it had rested when the gaoler had brought in his supper, but he realized that at any moment the lantern's rays might strike its s.h.i.+ning surface, and so bring on an investigation of the upper tunnel, certain to prove the destruction of his whole scheme. A few minutes thought, however, solved the problem admirably: he placed the basin face downwards in the rapid stream which swept it to the iron bars between the two cells, and there it lay quite concealed with the swift water rippling over it. This done, he flung off his clothes, and got into bed, not awakening until the gaoler and his a.s.sistant brought in bread, cheese and coffee for breakfast.

The next day he began to feel the inconveniences of the Governor's friends.h.i.+p, and wished he were safely back to the time when one loaf lasted four days, for if such were now the case, he would be free of the constant state of tension which the ever-recurring visits of the gaoler caused. He feared that some day he might become so absorbed in his occupation that he would not hear the withdrawing of the bolt, and thus, as it were, be caught in the act.

Shortly after lunch the Governor sent for him, and asked many questions pertaining to the running of the dynamo. Lermontoff concealed his impatience, and set about his instructions with exemplary earnestness.

Russian text books on electricity at hand were of the most rudimentary description, and although the Governor could speak German he could not read it, so the two volumes he possessed in that language were closed to him. Therefore John was compelled to begin at the very A B C of the science.

The Governor, however, became so deeply interested that he momentarily forgot his caution, unlocked a door, and took Lermontoff into a room which he saw was the armory and ammunition store-house of the prison.

On the floor of this chamber the Governor pointed out a large battery of acc.u.mulators, and asked what they were for. Lermontoff explained the purposes of the battery, meanwhile examining it thoroughly, and finding that many of the cells had been all but ruined in transit, through the falling away of the composition in the grids. Something like half of the acc.u.mulators, however, were intact and workable; these he uncoupled and brought into the dynamo room, where he showed the Governor the process of charging. He saw in the store room a box containing incandescent lamps, coils of silk-covered wire and other material 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, and an acc.u.mulator, or indeed half a dozen of them, I will trouble you no more for candles.”

The Governor did not reply at the moment, but a short time after asked Lermontoff in Russian how long it would be before the acc.u.mulators were charged. Lermontoff stated the time, and the Governor told the gaoler to bring the prisoner from the cell at that hour, and so dismissed his instructor.

One feature of this interview which pleased Lermontoff was that however much the Governor became absorbed in these lessons, he never allowed himself to remain alone with his prisoner. It was evident that in his cooler moments the Governor had instructed the gaoler and his a.s.sistant to keep ever at the heels of the Prince and always on the alert. Two huge revolvers were thrust underneath the belt of the gaoler, and the lantern-holder, was similarly armed. Lermontoff was pleased with this, for if the Governor had trusted him entirely, even though he demanded no verbal parole, it would have gone against his grain to strike down the chief as he ruthlessly intended to do when the time was ripe for it, and in any case, he told himself, no matter how friendly the Governor might be, he had the misfortune to stand between his prisoner and liberty.

Lermontoff was again taken from his cell about half an hour before the time he had named for the completion of the charging, and although the Governor said nothing of his intention, the gaoler and his man brought to the cell six charged batteries, a coil of wire, and a dozen lamps.

Lermontoff now changed his working methods. He began each night as soon 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 on the tail of time by cutting notches with his knife on the leg of the table, but most days he forgot to perform this operation, and so his wooden almanac fell hopelessly out of gear. He estimated that he had been a little more than a week in prison when he heard by the clang of the bolts that the next cell was to have an occupant.

”I must prepare a welcome for him,” he said, and so turned out the electric light at the end of the long flexible wire. He had arranged a neat little switch of the acc.u.mulator, and so snapped the light on and off at his pleasure, without the trouble of uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the nuts which held in place one of the copper ends of the wire. Going to the edge of the stream and lighting his candle, he placed the gla.s.s bulb in the current, paid out the flexible line attached to it, and allowed the bulb to run the risk of being smashed against the iron bars of the pa.s.sage, but the little globe negotiated the rapids without even a perceptible clink, and came to rest in the bed of the torrent somewhere about the center of the next cell, tugging like a fish on a hook. Then Jack mounted the table, leaned into the upper tunnel, and listened.

”I protest,” Drummond cried, speaking loudly, as if the volume of sound would convey meaning to alien ears, ”I protest against this as an outrage, and demand my right of communication with the British Amba.s.sador.”

Jack heard the gaoler growl: ”This loaf of bread will last you for four days,” but as this statement was made in Russian, it conveyed no more meaning to the Englishman than had his own protest of a moment before brought intelligence to the gaoler. The door clanged shut, and there followed a dead silence.

”Now we ought to hear some good old British oaths,” said Jack to himself, but the silence continued.

”Hullo, Alan,” cried Jack through the bars, ”I said you would be nabbed if you didn't leave St. Petersburg. You'll pay attention to me next time I warn you.”

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