over the palace of the Czar, or one of the Grand
Dukes, drop a bomb, utterly destroy it, and come back before any of the
hated police would be any the wiser."

"I'm afraid I can't lend it to you," said Tom, and he could scarcely
repress a shudder at the terrible ideas of the Nihilists.

"It would never do," agreed Ivan Petrofsky. "The campaign of education
is the only way."

There were gutteral objections on the part of the other Russians, and
they turned to more cheerful subjects of talk.

"What are your plans?" asked Tom of the exile. "You say you can get no
trace here of your brother?"

"No, he seems to have totally disappeared from sight. Usually we
enemies of the government can get some news of a prisoner, but poor
Peter is either dead, or in some obscure mine, which is hidden away in
the forests or mountains."

"Maybe he is in the lost platinum mine," suggested Ned.

"No, that has not been discovered," declared the exile, "or my friends
here would have heard of it. That is still to be found."

"And we'll do it, in the air glider," declared Tom. "By the way, Mr.
Petrofsky, would it not be a good plan to ask your friends the location
of the place where the winds constantly blow with such force. It occurs
to me that in some such way we might locate the mine."

"It would be of use if there was only one place of the gales," replied
the exile. "But Siberia has many such spots in the mountain
fastnesses--places which, by the peculiar formation of the land, have
constant eddys of air over them. No, the only way is for us to go as
nearly as possible to the place where my brother and I were imprisoned,
and search there."

"But what is that you said about us having to stay here, to get some
news of your brother?" asked Tom.

"I had hoped to get some information here," resumed Mr. Petrofsky, "but
my friends here are without news. However, they are going to make
inquiries, and we will have to stay here until they have an answer. It
will be safe, they think, as there are not many police in town, and the
local authorities are not very efficient. So the airship will remain
here, and, from time to time I will go to the village, disguised, and
see if any word has come."

"And we will bring you news as soon as we get it," promised Mr.
Androwsky. "You are not exactly one of us, but you are against the
government, and, therefor, a brother. But you will be one of us in
time."

"Never," replied the exile with a smile.