Damon, who had come out, exclaimed:
"Bless my dictionary! they must know each other."
For several minutes the two Russians kept up their rapid-fire talk and
then Mr. Petrofsky, evidently realizing that his friends must wonder at
it, turned to them and said:
"This is a very strange thing. This man is an escaped convict, as I once
was. I recognized him by certain signs as soon as I saw him, though I
had never met him before. There are certain marks by which a Siberian
exile can never be forgotten," he added significantly. "He made his
escape from the mines some time ago, and has suffered great hardships
since. The revolutionists help him when they can, but he has to keep in
concealment and travels from town to town as best he may. He has heard
of our airship, I suppose from inquiries the revolutionists have been
making in our behalf, and when he unexpectedly came upon us just now he
was not frightened, as an ordinary peasant would have been. But he did
not know I was aboard."
"And does he know you?" asked Tom. "Does he know you are trying to
rescue your brother?"
"No, but I will tell him."
There was another exchange of the Russian language, and it seemed to
have a surprising result. For, no sooner had Ivan Petrofsky mentioned
his brother, than the other, whose name was Alexis Borious seemed
greatly excited.
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