It was broad day, though the sun had not climbed high enough to look down into the ravine, when the boys woke. Sidney was the first to rouse, and he lay quietly gazing up into the sky, which, from that position, looked like the bluest sea, with floating masses of fleecy wool. He reviewed the exciting events of the previous day and night, and wondered what might still be in store for them. He could not believe, however, that they would encounter again such bloodthirsty bandits as the two men who had attacked them. They had been given to understand that the mountaineers of the Caucasus, while often fierce and wild, were usually honorable and hospitable. Their first experience of the people of Daghestan had justified such a report, for the men with whom they had had dealings at Petrovsk had been attentive and considerate. Sidney thought that might possibly have been due to the fact that those men were probably really Russian.

Presently Raymond woke, and with characteristic impetuosity jumped up the moment his eyes were open.

“Are you awake, Sid? I tell you I’m glad we are both here safe. It seems now as though that affair of yesterday couldn’t be true, but I suppose we’d find those fellows lying out there if we went to look.”

“I’m worrying a little, Ray, about the chance of our getting into trouble over that. If we should be arrested for killing those men, we don’t know a word of the language here, and it might be impossible for us to show that we did it in self-defense.”

“Why can’t these people speak a civilized language instead of such a barbaric jargon! If they only knew Spanish, now, that would do all right.”

“Yes, it would do all right for us,” said Sidney, laughing, “but it might not for the next travelers.”

“I don’t believe there are any next travelers here; we are the only ones.”

The boys ate a dry breakfast, slung their blanket rolls over their shoulders, and took up their long tramp. Their way led past the first bandit who had fallen a victim to Raymond’s skill. The man, apparently, did not move after he fell. His hands still grasped a long-barreled, silver-trimmed rifle, and from a cord hung an ornately decorated dagger. His head was covered with a conical, black, lamb’s wool cap, and he was clothed in a coat which was so long that it reached nearly to his ankles. On either side of the front of his coat were fastened silver cartridge cases. The whole effect of the man’s equipment was that of comfortable affluence.

“I suppose,” said Sidney, as they regarded the prostrate form, “that if he had gone to the war with Germany he might have met the same fate.”

“He certainly would have made a fine soldier, but I guess he had a better business. Brigandage must be profitable.”

“I can’t help feeling uneasy, Ray,” said Sidney as they went on, “about what will happen when those men are found.”

“I’m not going to worry, Sid. As you said, there was nothing else we could do.”

The boys soon reached the gorge, where the bandits had, probably, planned to waylay them. It was an ideal spot for such an enterprise. The opening was narrow, and the cliffs on either side were ragged and broken, affording the best possible place for concealment. The boys were quite sure if they had gone on the night before that they would not then be traveling.

A short distance above the entrance to the gorge they came upon two horses tied with ropes. The animals were fully accoutered, carrying bridles and saddles. They had evidently been tied there many hours, for they had restlessly tramped the ground within the length of their tethers, and they whinnied entreatingly when they saw the boys.

“Gee, Sid,” exclaimed Raymond when he saw the animals, “those horses must have belonged to the bandits, and they’re just the ticket for us.”

“It would never in this world do for us to take them, Ray. That would make it look as though we had killed the men for their horses.”

“You don’t mean you’re going to leave them here?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Why, that would be outrageous, Sid, when we need horses so badly, and we are sure the owners were those dead men.”

“Nothing under Heaven could make me touch those horses, Ray.”

“Well, I guess you’re right, Sid, you always are. But at any rate, we’ll give them some water, they must be awfully dry.”

“I would like to water them, Ray, but I think it wouldn’t be safe to do even that. I would rather leave them exactly as they are. It is almost certain that some one will pass soon and find them.”

“Gee, you are cautious, Sid. Well, if we’ve got to hoof it, we may as well keep going.” And Raymond rather grumpily continued the march.

The gorge proved to be a short one, and the boys soon came out into a valley, on the farther side of which, climbing up the mountain slope, they saw a village. They were uncertain whether to be pleased or apprehensive at the prospect of encountering people. If they could get into the high mountains before the bodies which they had left in the ravine were discovered, it might be that they would not be followed and would not be caused any trouble by their successful effort to protect their own lives. On the other hand, they had very little food, and they were not sure that they would be able to replenish their supply after they had once really entered the mountains.

There seemed, however, to be no way of avoiding the town, if they had wished to do so. The trail led directly to it, and as the country rose abruptly beyond, they knew that the village, in all probability, must be at the foot of the only road that penetrated the range.

When they were halfway across the valley, two wild-looking horsemen emerged from the gorge and dashed past them.

“Those fellows act as though they were scared by what they saw in the ravine,” remarked Raymond as he watched the riders enter the village.

“More likely,” said Sidney, “they are hurrying to report what they found, and warn officers to take us.”

The boys followed slowly and reluctantly. They would have been very much happier if they could have skipped that first village, for the more they reflected on the possibilities before them, the more uneasy they felt. They wondered if they had made a supreme effort to get out of Russia only to land in a mountain jail. And they thought, if that should be the outcome of their adventure, that their father would be infinitely better off in a civilized city like Nizhni-Novgorod, even if he had not yet recovered his liberty.

They entered the village and passed along the narrow, crooked street, looking for a bazaar where food might be purchased. They thought they would buy the very first eatables they saw, and then hurry out of town and on into the mountains. They were not, however, to be allowed to do that. They had proceeded but a short distance in their search for supplies when they were met by two men who were armed with the customary rifles and swords. The men, who somehow gave the impression of being officials, placed themselves one on each side of the boys, and taking hold of their arms hurried them along with a brief statement in a strange language that was plainly not Russian.

Sidney began a remonstrance and a request to know why they were seized in that way, but their captors paid not the least attention to what he said. He wished to present his passport to one of the men, but they were forced along so precipitately that he could not get the paper out of his pocket. Indeed, they were nearly out of breath when they were pulled up before a small stone building, pushed through a doorway, and the door slammed and locked behind them.

It was so dark in the room where the boys were thrown, the only light coming through one small window, that at first they were unable to distinguish anything. Moreover, they were dazed by the sudden and violent change in their condition. Presently, however, as their eyes became accustomed to the dim light, they were able to see into what sort of quarters they had been thrust.

The room in which they found themselves was absolutely bare except that in one corner were three or four planks raised a little above the floor, evidently designed for a bed. At least the room was bare of furniture, but it was indescribably filthy, and the boys gradually became aware that the filth which littered the floor and the plank bed was swarming with vermin. The boys gazed at each other, at first too stunned and shocked for expression, then indignation possessed Raymond.

“I suppose,” he said, “that we ought to have expected this. Russia is not civilized, anyway, and we are served right for visiting such a God-forsaken country.”

“But you must remember,” said Sidney, “that appearances are very much against us. They have no doubt found the bandits, and assume, quite reasonably, I must admit, that we killed them. I really don’t wonder that they arrested us.”

“Well, they might have done it in a civilized way.”

“That man must have been explaining why they arrested us, but we couldn’t understand him, which was not his fault.”

“For Heaven’s sake, Sid, are you excusing these ruffians?”

“No, but I am trying to imagine what I should think in their place.”

“You’ll be fully occupied in what you think of this place,” said Raymond with sarcastic emphasis. “Do you suppose they’ll keep us here to-night? If they do, we’ll have to sleep standing. I don’t want to put my blankets down on that bed, if it is a bed.”

The boys still had their blankets slung over their shoulders. Rather strangely, as it seemed to them now that they had time to think it over, none of their belongings had been taken from them. Even Raymond’s revolver was still in his possession.

“It isn’t a very attractive bed, that’s a fact,” said Sidney.

“I’d like to get rid of my load, too.” And Raymond looked around to see if by any chance there was a spot that was passably clean. There was no comfort to be found in examining the floor, or the plank bed, and he turned his attention to the walls. The house was built of rough stone, and the walls were not finished in any way on the inside. But rough as the walls were, there was no projection on which anything might be laid or from which it might be suspended. The window, which was about two feet square and was some five feet above the floor, was set with iron bars, but contained no glass. Raymond examined that, and said to his brother:—

“We can hang our things to these bars, Sid, if they are strong enough to hold anything, but they are nearly rusted through. Sid!” he continued in a tone of excitement, “I believe we can easily break these bars out.” And he grasped one to test it.

“Hold on, Ray,” cried his brother; “don’t touch them now. We couldn’t get out until after dark, and if they found we had broken a bar, they would put us somewhere else.”

“That’s so,” assented Raymond, “but I’m sure we can break them out. They’re not so smart, after all, with their filthy old jail.”

“I expect if we do get out,” said Sidney, “that we’ll have a tough time in finding our way out of this town in the dark. My vague recollection of the place is that the streets are a regular Chinese puzzle.”

“Well,” said Raymond, “we’ll be outside of this wretched place, anyway, and I’ll take my chances then on making a getaway.”

They proceeded to suspend their blanket rolls and knapsacks from the bars, and had no more than disposed of their packs in that way when the door was thrown open and an official with two attendants entered.