But you will be one of us in
time."
"Never," replied the exile with a smile. "My only hope now is to get my
brother safely away, and then we will go and live in free America. But,
Tom, I hope I won't put you out by delaying here."
"Not a bit of it. More than half the object of our trip is to rescue
your brother. We must do that first. Now as to details," and they fell
to discussing plans. It was late that night when the Nihilists left the
airship, first having made a careful inspection to see that they were
not spied upon. They promised at once to set to work their secret
methods of getting information.
For several days the airship remained in the vicinity of the Russian
town. Our friends were undisturbed by visitors, as they were in a forest
where the villagers seldom came and the nearest wood-road was nearly
half a mile off.
Every day either Mr. Petrofsky went in to town to see the Nihilists or
some of them came out to the Falcon, usually at night.
"Well, have you any word yet?" asked Tom, after about a week had passed.
"Nothing yet," answered the exile, and his tone was a bit hopeless. "But
we have not given up. All the most likely places have been tried, but he
is not there. We have had traces of him, but they are not fresh ones. He
seems to have been moved from one mine to another.
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