d of
a sunken town, from which on dark and foggy nights was heard the
tolling of a minster bell. A Russian, he reflected, even although a
commodore, is by nature superstitious. Possibly, he imagined, he would
be satisfied with such an explanation.

"But do you yourself believe in this legend?" asked Zeno with a
searching look, when he had finished.

Feodor met his questioner's gaze without a tremor, and shrugged his
shoulders.

"Pooh!" he ejaculated; "why should I believe such stuff?"

"And yet," pursued Zeno, "there must be some truth in the story. The
tolling of the bell had actually drawn us into such a dangerous
position that, had the fog not lifted just before daybreak, I and my
vessel should by this time have been at the bottom together. We
dropped anchor not a moment too soon. But whence do the sounds come?
One might conclude that they proceeded from some church spire on the
island of Dago itself. But then, of course, no church bells are ever
rung at night except at the service on Christmas Eve. Now, Baron
Helmford, can you explain this mystery to me in any way?"

"Tolerably well, I fancy," said Feodor. "Without having recourse to
any ghost stories, I think these sounds are capable of being explained
quite satisfactorily--and that on purely scientific grounds. The
sounds, I take it, do, in fact, come from Gustavsvarn lighthouse. The
heavy atmosphere, of course, depresses the sound, which is then
carried along the smooth surface of the water twice as far as it would
be in fine weather. Sound has admittedly much greater travelling
power in such an atmosphere than in clear weather."

"Yes, I know that," said Zeno. "But the altered direction?"

"That also has quite a simple explanation. The fog itself proceeds
from the south-west. This, of course, prevents the tolling of the bell
from coming in a perfectly straight line from Gustavsvarn. Moreover,
the vibrations, being echoed back by the cliffs of Dago, seem even
louder, and in this way, too, it may appear as if they actually
proceeded from the island itself."

"That is true. But if, as you say, the cliffs of Dago merely echo back
the sound of the bell at Gustavsvarn, then one must also hear the
tolling perfectly well from here."

"That is so," said Feodor; "I have often heard it here."

"Very well, then," said Zeno; "I should like to convince myself of the
matter, and will therefore accept your hospitality for the night."

"That," said the Master, with