He had arranged a
neat little switch of the accumulator, and so snapped the light on and
off at his pleasure, without the trouble of unscrewing the nuts which
held in place one of the copper ends of the wire. Going to the edge of
the stream and lighting his candle, he placed the glass bulb in the
current, paid out the flexible line attached to it, and allowed the
bulb to run the risk of being smashed against the iron bars of the
passage, but the little globe negotiated the rapids without even a
perceptible clink, and came to rest in the bed of the torrent
somewhere about the center of the next cell, tugging like a fish on a
hook. Then Jack mounted the table, leaned into the upper tunnel, and
listened.
"I protest," Drummond cried, speaking loudly, as if the volume of
sound would convey meaning to alien ears, "I protest against this as
an outrage, and demand my right of communication with the British
Ambassador."
Jack heard the gaoler growl: "This loaf of bread will last you for
four days," but as this statement was made in Russian, it conveyed no
more meaning to the Englishman than had his own protest of a moment
before brought intelligence to the gaoler. The door clanged shut, and
there followed a dead silence.
"Now we ought to hear some good old British oaths," said Jack to
himself, but the silence continued.
"Hullo, Alan," cried Jack through the bars, "I said you would be
nabbed if you didn't leave St.
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