g coming our way."

"I don't hear anything," replied Berwick. "What does it sound like?"

"It's a vehicle of some kind," declared Jim.

"Now I hear it," admitted the engineer, "and I reckon that it is a
carriage of some kind."

"This is as good a place as any," remarked Jim. "It's lucky there is a
fog because there is no cover to get behind."

"Coming direct our way," said the engineer, as the thud of horses' feet
could be heard distinctly, and the low roll of wheels over the ground.

The two comrades moved quickly to one side, and they saw emerge from the
fog a high-stepping team drawing a closed carriage. The horses shied at
what they saw at the side of the way, but the coachman pulled them
quickly to their course and drove rapidly on. It was impossible to get
even a glimpse of the occupants of the carriage.

"Me lord Duke," said Jim, "going to his ancestral castle."

"That's surely where he is bound for," declared the engineer.

"There goes the gate," cried Jim, as the sound of the iron closing came
to his ears.

"The plot thickens," remarked the engineer; "that wasn't an ordinary
turnout by any means."

"We will investigate this business before morning," determined Jim,
"but there is nothing gained by rushing,--better let things settle. What
do you say, John, to getting something to eat?"

"I'm with you there," agreed Berwick. "I may have been hungrier in my
life before, but I can't remember."

"No Russian Duke this time to help you out, eh?" queried Jim.

"Don't mention that," cried the engineer; "I'm in no need of an
appetiser."

If you have read "Frontier Boys in The Sierras," you will recall the
chief engineer's account of his experience while traveling from St.
Petersburg to the frontier, when he appropriated the Grand Duke's
hamper while his Highness was wrapped in the deep stupor of sleep. He
had told it with much nerve and vivacity, and Jim could recollect very
clearly the scene in the warm engine-room of the _Sea Eagle_, with the
stormy rain sweeping the decks outside, and the good old crowd of
Juarez, and the boys, listening to the engineer.

"I have a hunch that we are going to get something to eat soon,"
remarked Jim encouragingly.

"Shall we strike the trail back to the city, and return in the small wee
hours to call on our friends in the castle?" asked Berwick.

"No need of that," replied Jim; "I am sure we can find a place to eat
down by the beach."

They had a little difficult