With one consent the whole party made straight for the rail, and looked downward, past the bulging sides of the ship, until their gaze rested upon the grey sea below, the sight of which proved that the professor's calculations could not be very far wrong. The first glance at the far-spreading sheet of water at which they were gazing sufficed to show that, thus far, the calm of the preceding night still continued unbroken, for the surface was as smooth and l.u.s.trous as that of plate-gla.s.s, save where, here and there, a steamer or two--dwindled to the dimensions of toys--ploughed up a ripple on either bow that swept away astern, diverging as it went, until it gradually faded and was lost a mile away. In addition to the steamers, there were perhaps a dozen sailing craft--colliers and fishing-smacks, mostly--in sight, the wrinkling canvas of which, as they rolled gently upon the invisible swell, with their bows pointing all round the compa.s.s, afforded further confirmation, if such were needed, of the absolute stillness of the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Mildmay, after a single glance over the side, walked aft to the extremity of the promenade deck, whence he levelled a pair of powerful binoculars into the misty distance for a minute or two. Then, apparently satisfied, he closed the gla.s.ses, and walked forward to where von Schalckenberg was chatting to the others, and directing their attention to such objects as happened to be in sight. As Mildmay approached, the professor turned to him and said--

"Well, Captain, have you succeeded in identifying our position?"

"Thanks, yes," answered Mildmay. "The air is not very clear this morning, but I have just managed to make out Spurn Point and the mouth of the Humber in the far distance, astern. I have no doubt, therefore, that your reckoning is absolutely correct. It is just in the single matter of keeping a 'dead reckoning' that an ocean ship has the advantage of this craft. In the ocean the currents flow in fairly well-defined courses, and at moderate and pretty well-known rates; it is therefore an easy matter to make proper allowance for them. But up aloft, here, the speed and direction of the air-currents are so uncertain that it is impossible to take them into one's calculations; hence it becomes necessary to check one's reckoning by means of frequent observations."

"Do you think that any of the people in those ships down there will see us?" asked Feodorovna. "We can see them very plainly, and it is only reasonable, therefore, to suppose that they can see us equally plainly.

Yet, when I looked at them just now through Sir Reginald's telescope, I could not detect any indication that we were seen. One would suppose that the sight of such an enormous object as this, floating in the air, would occasion tremendous excitement among the beholders."

"And no doubt it would; indeed, we have had proof that such is the case whenever we happen to be seen," replied the professor. "But we have also had the best of reasons for believing that this polished hull of ours, perfectly reflecting, as it does, every hue and tint of the surrounding atmosphere, renders it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the ship when she is afloat among the clouds. Nevertheless, you have reminded us that some keen-eyed individual may by chance discover our presence, so, as we are really anxious not to attract attention, we may as well get above the clouds again, when you have all looked your fill."

This hint proved sufficient, and five minutes later the _Flying Fish_ was once more above the clouds, with the pilot-house door and every scuttle closed, sweeping to the northward and eastward at full speed.

At length, well on in the afternoon, the professor announced that, according to his reckoning, they had reached their destination, and the engines were stopped. It had remained cloudy all day, and after that one brief descent early in the morning, nothing had been seen. Mildmay, after studying the clouds attentively, was of opinion that a breeze had sprung up, and had been blowing for some two or three hours--a circ.u.mstance that, if his opinion proved correct, would have an important influence upon their position--and he was anxious to ascertain how far his surmise was verified by facts. A descent was therefore effected until the ship was once more below the cloud curtain, when it was found that, instead of being immediately over the city of Saint Petersburg--as she should have been, according to the professor's reckoning--the _Flying Fish_ was floating almost exactly over a town of considerable size situate on the northern sh.o.r.e of a lake of somewhat triangular shape, measuring some forty-five miles long by about twenty miles wide. This town the professor, who knew this part of Russia well, at once identified as Novgorod, nearly a hundred miles south of Saint Petersburg. Captain Mildmay's suspicions were thus confirmed, and a set of observations that were at once taken revealed the fact that the _Flying Fish_ was drifting southward with the wind at the brisk pace of close upon thirty miles an hour. This, however, was a matter of no great consequence, since the travellers had plenty of time in hand. The direction and speed of the wind having been ascertained, due allowance was made for it, the engines were once more sent ahead, the course was altered, and in a trifle over an hour the _Flying Fish_ was within sight of the towers and spires of the Russian capital. The engines were then slowed down again until the ship was just stemming the fresh breeze that was now blowing, and an ascent was made until the cloud canopy had been once more placed between the ship and the earth, thus preventing any possibility of premature discovery.

This alt.i.tude was maintained until the sun had set magnificently beneath the cloud horizon, when the four men entered the pilot-house and, the professor taking charge as pilot, the descent to Pargolovo was very leisurely commenced.

The chateau of Count Vasilovich was situate on the western side of the lake and on the northern slope of the hills that stretch away in the direction of Konnaia, at a point as nearly as possible eight miles from the northern bank of the Neva; and as soon as the _Flying Fish_ emerged from the stratum of cloud that shrouded the landscape, the professor went out on deck with his binoculars to look for the spot at which he had decided that the great ship was to be brought to earth. He soon found it, and shouted his instructions to Mildmay, who was tending the helm and the engines; and twenty minutes later the descent was quietly and safely accomplished, the _Flying Fish_ finding a very easy berth among some trees, within a hundred yards of the road leading from the park entrance to the chateau, and within a mile of the latter.

It was by this time a quarter to seven, Russian time. The professor, therefore, and Mildmay, who had volunteered to accompany him, quickly made their way down the spiral staircase to the trap-door in the bottom of the ship, and let themselves out, carefully closing the trap behind them.

The night was overcast, dark, and inclined to be stormy, a cold, bleak, bl.u.s.terous, northerly breeze was blowing off the lake and roaring through the branches of the leafless trees, and the look of the sky threatened rain; yet the wide, white carriage-drive loomed up ghostly through the darkness, and presently, when the eyes of the watchers grew accustomed to the gloom, they found that it would be easy for them to discern a mounted figure on the road at a distance of a hundred yards or so. They sheltered themselves under the lee of a giant elm, and set themselves patiently to await in silence the approach of their unsuspecting prey.

The minutes sped slowly away, until at length it seemed to the two watchers that they must have been in ambush for a full hour, yet neither Vasilovich nor any other person had put in an appearance. They began to compare notes in a low voice, and at length Mildmay determined to run the risk of striking a match for a moment to ascertain the time. This he did, von Schalckenberg a.s.sisting him to observe such precautions as should insure the tiny, momentary flame against being seen. Mildmay's watch declared the hour to be a quarter to six, British time.

"Why, that makes it about ten minutes to eight, Russian time!" murmured the captain, as he blew out the vesta. "Do you think he has been detained, Professor? or is it possible that he is no longer residing here? He may be away on a visit somewhere, you know."

"True, he _may_ be; but I do not believe he is; he is not a sufficiently sociable man to render it at all likely that he is visiting, either in Saint Petersburg or elsewhere," answered the professor. "Of course," he continued, "the man may have been detained, as you suggest; indeed, that is probably the explanation of his non-appearance. Or he may be unwell--too unwell to leave his chateau. Those are the only two alternative explanations I can suggest to account for his non-appearance."

"Well, what is to be done under the circ.u.mstances?" demanded Mildmay.

"Is it any use to wait here any longer, think you?"

"No," answered the professor, "I do not think it is; he is not likely to pa.s.s here now, as he has not done so already. I will go up to the castle and ascertain his whereabouts."

"All right," returned Mildmay, "I will go with you. It is scarcely safe for you to go alone. The fellow may--"

"Have no fear on my account, I beg," interrupted von Schalckenberg. "I a.s.sure you it will be quite safe for me to go alone; more safe, indeed, than were two of us to go together, because in the latter case he might--a.s.suming that he is in the castle--suspect something, while if I go alone he will suspect nothing."

"Very well," a.s.sented Mildmay, "let it be as you will. But I will, at all events, accompany you to the castle, and stand by, outside, to lend you a hand if needful."

"You sailors are very masterful men," observed the professor; "you must have your own way, I suppose. But be careful that you are not seen by anybody, as the suspicions of these Russians are easily aroused, and it would then, perhaps, be very awkward for us both. Shall we go at once?"

"Yes, certainly," answered Mildmay. "But I think we had better return to the ship for a moment, and acquaint Sir Reginald with our non-success thus far, and what it is that we propose to do. It is always well to provide against contingencies as far as possible."

"Right!" a.s.sented the professor. "Let us go at once. I am chilled to the bone with so long a waiting."

A quarter of an hour sufficed the pair to return to the ship, explain the state of affairs to the rest of the party, and make their way back to the spot at which they had been so patiently maintaining their watch; and another half-hour of steady walking took them within sight of the chateau, where Mildmay snugly ensconced himself behind a big clump of laurels, through the boughs of which he was able to maintain a close watch upon the main entrance of the building.

The chateau did not, in this instance, belie its designation, being, in fact, a ma.s.sive, gloomy-looking, castellated, stone building, with battlements, turrets, small windows, a moat, a drawbridge, and a portcullis, the lower portion of which showed in the head of the archway that gave access to the interior of the building. The drawbridge was lowered, and, from his coign of vantage, Mildmay saw the professor boldly cross it and walk up to the gate, through which, after a brief parley with the gate-keeper, he disappeared.

Von Schalckenberg's inquiries were of a very prosaic and commonplace nature. He simply asked whether Count Vasilovich happened to be at home; and upon being informed--somewhat to his surprise--that he was, he scribbled a word or two in Russian upon one of his cards, and directed the gate-keeper to send it up to the count at once. The gate-keeper very civilly invited the professor into his lodge, a small room formed in the thickness of the castle wall, and, ringing a bell, sent in the card by a servant who appeared some three or four minutes later.

An interval of some ten minutes now elapsed, during which the professor warmed himself at the gate-keeper's fire, contriving meanwhile, by a few skilfully put questions, to extract the information that, the count's horse having fallen lame that day in the streets of Saint Petersburg, Vasilovich had returned home by rail, and had reached the castle by way of the other gate, which sufficiently accounted for the watchers having missed him.

At length the servant who had taken in von Schalckenberg's card returned with the information that the count would see the professor; and forthwith the pair set out across the courtyard, entering the building by way of a heavily studded oaken door, which the servant carefully locked and barred behind him, to the momentary dismay of the visitor, who was scarcely prepared to find the observance of so much precaution on the part of the man whom he had come to take prisoner. However, he slipped his hands into the side pockets of his heavily furred overcoat, and then withdrew them again with a quiet smile of renewed confidence; he was essentially a man of resource, and his faith in himself quickly rea.s.serted itself.

The professor's conductor led him through a long, stone-vaulted pa.s.sage, dimly lighted at intervals by oil lamps, that flared and smoked in the draughts that chased each other to and fro, until at the very end he paused before a door, at which he knocked deferentially. An inarticulate growl answered from the other side, whereupon the servant flung open the door, motioned von Schalckenberg to enter, and promptly closed the portal behind him.

Pushing aside a heavy curtain, or _portiere_, that stretched across the doorway, the professor found himself in a large and lofty room, ceiled and wainscoted in oak, the walls hung with oil pictures so completely darkened and obscured with smoke and grime that it was impossible to distinguish what they were meant to depict. The stone floor was carpeted with skins, and a long, ma.s.sive oak dining-table ran the length of the room, which was lighted during the day by three heavily curtained windows, and now by a solitary lamp. At the far end of the room stood one of the enormous porcelain stoves, which are such a feature of Russian interiors, balanced at the other end by an immense sideboard.

The table was undraped, save at the far end, where sat, with his back to the glowing stove, a burly, thick-set man, attired in an undress military uniform. He appeared to be about forty years of age; he wore his hair cropped short, and his face was partially hidden by a heavy, unkempt beard and moustache. He had evidently just dined, for the draped extremity of the table was littered with the remains of a repast, he was smoking an immense pipe, while a tumbler of steaming vodki stood close to his hand upon the table. This individual was Count Vasilovich; and he was alone. He made no movement to rise at von Schalckenberg's entrance, but stared intently at his visitor, twisting the card in his hand in a nervous, impatient way.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

THE PROFESSOR BRINGS IN A PRISONER.

"I have met you before, I think, Herr Professor," Vasilovich at length remarked. "And your card says that you have important business with me.

What can I do for you?"

"You can do a great deal for me, Count," answered von Schalckenberg, composedly. "But first of all," he continued, "I have a little thing here that I wish to show you; you are a connoisseur in such things, and it will interest you."

So saying, the professor slipped his hand into his pocket, and produced a pistol, made apparently of polished silver, but really of aethereum.

He held it by the barrel and offered it to the Count, remarking--

"There, Count, that is a simple enough weapon, to all appearance, is it not? Kindly examine it, and see if you can discover anything remarkable about it."

A sudden look of terrified anxiety leapt into Vasilovich's eyes as the professor produced the handsome little weapon; but the placid manner of the latter as he tendered the pistol for examination seemed to rea.s.sure him, and grasping the b.u.t.t, he looked at it intently.

"Is the pistol an invention of yours which you wish the Russian Government to adopt?" he demanded, as he turned the weapon about in his hand, eyeing it curiously.

"That is as it may be," answered von Schalckenberg. "At present, knowing you to be, perhaps, as good a judge as any man in Russia of such tools, I merely wish to obtain your unbia.s.sed opinion of its merits."

"Its merits?" demanded Vasilovich, impatiently. "What _are_ its merits?

I see nothing peculiar about it excepting this cylinder from which the barrel projects. Is that a magazine?"

"It is," answered the professor; "it accommodates twenty cartridges.

But that is not the most extraordinary thing about it. Can you discover the method of firing the weapon?"

"No," answered Vasilovich, "I cannot. I was about to ask you as to that."

"It is perfectly simple. Permit me," remarked the professor, in the easiest and most matter-of-fact tone imaginable. And, so saying, he took the pistol from Vasilovich's unresisting hand.

"There are still two other peculiarities connected with this weapon,"

remarked von Schalckenberg; "namely, the marvellous rapidity with which it can be fired, and the fact that it is absolutely noiseless when discharged. Please observe, Count. You see those two decanters upon the table? Kindly fix your eyes upon their stoppers."

The decanters referred to were standing upon the table, some twelve paces distant from von Schalckenberg, and some eight feet apart, where they had been carelessly placed by the servant before leaving the count to the solitary enjoyment of his tobacco and vodki. As the professor spoke, he suddenly raised his hand and levelled the pistol with lightning quickness first at one decanter and then at the other. There was a sharp _clink-clink_, and the tops of the smashed stoppers fell upon the table all but simultaneously.