e.

"Me either," chimed in Ned.

"Bless my burglar alarm!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "It's an awful disgrace!
If my wife ever heard of me being in jail--"

"She may never hear of it!" interposed Tom.

"Bless my heart!" cried the odd man. "Don't say such things."

They discussed their plight at length, but nothing could be done, and
they settled themselves to uneasy slumber. For two days they were thus
imprisoned, and all of Mr. Petrofsky's demands that they be given a
fair trial, and allowed to know the nature of the charge against them,
went for naught. No one came to see them but a villainous looking
guard, who brought them their poor meals. The governor ignored them,
and Mr. Petrofsky did not know what to think.

"Well, I'm getting sick of this!" exclaimed Tom--"I wish I knew where
my airship was."

"I fancy it's in the same place," replied the exile. "From the way the
governor acted I think he'd be afraid to have it moved. It might be
damaged. If I could only get word to some of my Revolutionary friends
it might do some good, but I guess I can't. We'll just have to wait."

Another day passed, and nothing happened. But that night, when the
guard came to bring their suppers, something did occur.

"Hello! we've got a new one!" exclaimed Tom, as he noted the man. "Not
so bad looking, either."

The man peered into his cell, and said something in Russian.

"Nothing doing," remarked the young inventor with a short laugh. "Nixy
on that jabbering."

But, no sooner had the man's words penetrated to the cell of Ivan
Petrofsky, that the exile called out something. The guard started,
hastened to that cell door, and for a few seconds there was an excited
dialogue in Russian.

"Boys! Mr. Damon! We're saved!" suddenly cried out Mr. Petrofsky.

"Bless my door knob! You don't say so!" gasped the odd man. "How? Has
the Czar sent orders to release us."

"No, but somehow my Revolutionary friends have heard about my arrest,
and they have arranged for our release--secretly of course. This guard
is affiliated with the Nihilist group that got on the trail of my
brother. He bribed the other guard to let him take his place for
to-night, and now--"

"Yes! What is it?" cried Tom.

"He's going to open the cell doors and let us out!"

"But how can we get past the other guards, upstairs?" asked Ned.

"We're not going that way," explained Mr. Petrofsky. "There is a secret
exit from this corridor, through a tunnel that connects wi