"One, two, three, allesame."

"All right, you no speak see mine, savvy."

"No speak," murmured Wo Cheng.

"Good-bye," said Johnny bolting out of the door.

"Mazie's dress," he mumbled to himself. "They have transformed her into a
Russian peasant girl for their safety, but where have they taken her?"

As he rounded the corner, an old familiar sound smote his ear. The
rat-tat-tat of a machine gun. It was accompanied almost at once by another
and yet another.

"An uprising and a battle!" he muttered savagely. "Worse and worse. What
chance has a fellow got? Do well enough if I escape the firing squad."

* * * * *

The two oriental spies in the balloon they had stolen from Dave Tower and
Jarvis were not as fortunate as in the first instance they seemed to be.
There was practically no wind. The engine was slow in getting the bulky
sausage under way.

Suddenly as the watchers, with despair written on their faces, gazed
skyward, they saw something slip from the cabin deck and drop like a
plummet. A silvery thread appeared to follow it.

"The anchor and the cable!" exclaimed Dave. "It's got away from them. If
it catches--C'mon."

He was away like a rocket. Uneven surface, slippery hills of snow meant
nothing to him. He was racing for freedom from threatening years of
exile.

Jarvis, followed by the Russians, came on more slowly. As they mounted a
low hill they saw the cabin of the balloon give a sudden lunge.

"She's caught!" panted Jarvis. "'Ere's 'opin' she 'olds."

In another second, a groan of despair escaped his lips. It was true that
the anchor had caught in a frozen bank of earth and was holding fast, but
the men were bending over the rail working with the upper end of the steel
cable. If they could loosen it or file it, causing it to snap, no human
power could bring them back. And if they got away with the balloon--.

But after despair, came hope. There sounded the pop of an automatic. Six
shots came in quick succession.

"Dave's a wonder with an automatic!" exclaimed Jarvis.

The men worked on. Would they accomplish their task? Every person in the
little group of watchers held his breath.

Crack-crack-crack. The automatic spoke again. Doubtless Dave had moved to
a position more directly under the cabin.

"'E's got 'em! 'E's got 'em!" exulted Jarvis, throwing his cap in air.

One of the Orientals was seen to waver, then to fall backward. The other
insta