ators of it."

"Ah, m'sieur. Do not act rashly, I pray of you," the woman said
seriously, placing her hand upon my arm. "Recollect you are in
Finland--where the Baron Oberg is all-powerful."

"I do not fear the Baron Oberg," I exclaimed. "If necessary, I will
appeal to the Czar himself. Mademoiselle is kept here for the reason
that she is in possession of some secret. She must be released--I will
take the responsibility."

"But you must not try to release her from here. It would mean death to
you both. The Castle of Kajana tells no secrets of those who die within
its walls, or of those cast headlong into its waters and forgotten."

Again I turned to Elma, who stood in anxious wonder of the subject of
our conversation, and had suddenly taken the old nun's hand and kissed
it affectionately, perhaps in order to show me that she trusted her.

Then upon the paper I wrote--

"Is the Baron Oberg your uncle?"

She shook her head in the negative, showing that the dreaded
Governor-General of Finland had only acted a part towards her in which
she had been compelled to concur.

"Who is Philip Hornby?" I inquired, writing rapidly.

"My friend--at least, I believe so."

Friend! And I had all along believed him to be an adventurer and an
enemy!

"Why did he go to Leghorn?" I asked.

"For a secret purpose. There was a plot to kill you, only I managed to
thwart them," were the words she printed with much labor.

"Then I owe my life to you," I wrote. "And in return I will do my utmost
to rescue you from here, if you do not fear to place yourself in my
hands."

And to this she replied--

"I shall be thankful, for I cannot bear this awful place longer. I
believe they must torture the women here. They will torture me some day.
Do your best to get me out of here and I will tell you everything. But,"
she wrote, "I fear you can never secure my release. I am confined here
on a life sentence."

"But you are English, and if you have had no trial I can complain to our
Ambassador."

"No, I am a Russian subject. I was born in Russia, and went to England
when I was a girl."

That altered the case entirely. As a subject of the Czar in her own
country she was amenable to that disgraceful blot upon civilization that
allows a person to be consigned to prison at the will of a high
official, without trial or without being afforded any opportunity of
appeal. I therefore at once saw a difficulty.

Yet she promised to tell me the tru