at his abductors apparently consisted of four men only; and he
confidently believed that upon the arrival of the boat alongside it
would but be necessary for him to declare himself to her crew, and issue
to them his orders, to insure the capture of the strangers and their
extraordinary ship, out of hand. Meanwhile the convict-ship's gig, with
four oarsmen and a coxswain in her, was hanging on to the foot of her
parent vessel's gangway-ladder; and presently a file of Russian
soldiers, with bayonets fixed, were seen to approach the gangway,
escorting between them a prisoner. Arrived at the gangway, one of the
two soldiers descended the ladder and seated himself in the stern-sheets
of the gig; the prisoner, heavily ironed, was next assisted down the
ship's side into the boat, where he seated himself beside the soldier
already there; and the second soldier then followed, placing himself on
the other side of the prisoner. A few minutes then elapsed, at the
expiration of which the officer who had been presented as Captain
Popovski appeared at the gangway, and with much care and circumspection
lowered himself gingerly down the side-ladder into the gig, where he
seated himself square in the centre of the stern-sheets. He then gave
an order to the coxswain, who repeated it to the boat's crew. The bow
oarsman bore the boat off from the ship's side, the oar-blades flashed
into the water, and a minute later Captain Popovski was standing on the
deck of the _Flying Fish_, exchanging the most elaborate and ceremonious
of bows with von Schalckenberg and Lethbridge, as his small deep-set
eyes flashed fore and aft in inquisitive scrutiny of the few visible
details of the extraordinary ship on board which he found himself. He
appeared as though about to speak, but the professor forestalled him.

"Captain Popovski," said von Schalckenberg, in Russian, "I have to
tender to you my most profound apologies for having thus somewhat
unceremoniously interrupted the progress of your voyage; but
unfortunately the information upon which I have acted came to me too
late to render any other course possible. Knowing, however, how
unpleasant this delay must be to you, I propose to render it as brief as
may be. Perhaps, therefore, you will have the goodness to give
instructions to your men to bring Colonel Sziszkinski up the side to us,
here, forthwith; and we can then proceed with and complete the exchange
at once."

The captain bowed, though t