The Third Officer

le had covered about 600 miles, the engines ceased their steady throb, and the

, provided they found themselves in the open air, the locality of the anchorage didn't very much matter just at present. After nearly

at the prisoners were no longer in a position to cause trouble; while in support

etest nectar to the jaded and dishevelled men. There was a rush to see where the ship was

side by a lofty ridge of rock, which, harmonizing with the cliffs of the island, presented at first sight an appearance of continuity. The cliffs were so high and close to the water's edge that fr

Burgoyne rightly concluded were the ill-fated Alvarado and Kittiwake. A few sailing craft, bêche de

zontal rays of the setting sun bathed the summit of the eastern cliffs in a glint of reddish gold. Beyond that s

with a sailor's unerring instinct for a safe harbour

e to-night, do you thin

the engineer officers of both watches entered. That was

almost Withers's height and build, rigged out in the company's uniform, and with the peaked cap raked jauntily over the left eye.

red Angus apologetically, as if he were ashamed o

Withers?" a

cot shook

hat the Second Engineer had insisted in donning a firem

hey'll no ken the diff

fferent story. The rascals have seen Withers and the other fellow going in and

rl, even in her sorrow at her mother's death, was happy at being reunited to her father

ble-bodied men, with one exception, to fix up Miss Vivian in her new quarters. Willing hands quickly cleared out—it could not truthfully be said "cleaned out"—o

05_stro

STROGOFF ADDRESSES TH

were ordered on deck. Evidently the pirates were in a desperate hurry, for the Malfilio was lying with steam r

risoners were sent ashore, the wounded being carr

y the prisoners from the Donibristle to the beach, and in

eaven that so far the villainous pirates had so far failed to penetrate the deception. Incidentally he was thankful that the prisoners had had no opportunity

ace of the formation. Here they were kept in suspense for more than a quarter of an hour, until the arrival of

ace being round and flabby; but instead of the broad short nose usually associated with this type of countenance his nasal organ was very pronounced, and beaked like a parrot's. His hair, bluish black and liberally oiled, hung a good six inches below the

the double-headed eagle of the Romanoffs; the salt-stained blue coat was considerably the worse for wear. Burgoyne found himself wondering

tion, it will be necessary only to portray th

ssed plenty. His features were swarthy, while by a curious contrast his hair was of a light straw colour. In point of age he was the eldest of the three. Although the date of his birth was u

Russian Empire he had experienced the horrors of Siberia. During the war he had played no unimportant part in the intrigue between Soviet Russia and Germany. Not receiving wha

resent he was content to let Porfirio take precedence, he was merely awaiting a favourable opportunity of cutting his connection with the

h of Indian blood, he failed utterly to recognize Strogoff's influence. Of an imaginative, reckless, and hot-tempered disposi

in Chile. At Talcahuano he came in touch with German agents, who were at that time busily engaged in picking up news in order to keep von Spee informed of the movements of Craddock's squadron.

ping. The idea grew and took tangible form. After acquiring a smattering of the arts of seamanship and navigation, he felt con

ropavlovsk would furnish the necessary vessel. It was about that time that Siberia succumbed to Bolshevism, and several Russian light cruisers and gunboats were lying at Petropavl

prepared some years before the Great War for the use of the German squadron stationed in these waters, so that when "der Tag" daw

ation. The garrison of German marines "stuck it" for nearly a twelvemonth in total ignorance of what was going on in the outside world. At length they abandoned the island, sailing, it was as

vsk a few weeks before the port was due to be come icebound. Under hatches they carried six casks of wine, a quantity of woollen blankets, and two thousand dollars in gold. Before they rea

wine, blankets, and half the gold. He, too, had an eye for the main chance, and had no great faith in the stability of the Soviet Government. Moscow and Petrograd were thousands of miles away. Before Lenin and Trotsky

marooned in Petropavlovsk, Porfirio and his two lieutenants took the Zarizyno to sea. Slightly disguised by means of different

provisions, clothing, quick-firing guns, machine-guns, and rifle

small trading vessels plying between Hawaii and the archipelagoes south of

nly with flour consigned for Japan, where quite recently a large demand for wheat had arise

to a mistaken idea on his part, communicated by his German friends at Talcahuano, that pir

d for milk-and-water piracy ended. Nor did he know that the prize was a Yanke

al fight, or for disregard of his orders on the part of his prisoners. To impress upon the survivors of the Donibri

Strogoff to address the assembly. This the Russian proceeded to do, his speech including a nu

ely if they did not. They would have to work under their own officers. Failure to perform their allotted

s, with prospects of becoming rich in a very short space of time. He did not propose to ask for volunteers at that moment (he knew that none would be forthcoming, alt

af ears. They were "not having any". Ramon Porfirio would have t