"Let him loose, then," said the general; "but warn him, if he plays us false, that he had better not fall into our clutches again."
"You may trust him not to do that, sir," said McKay, rather discontented at seeing his prisoner so easily set free.
The general ignored the remark, but he was evidently displeased at its tone, for he now turned sharply on McKay, saying—
"As regards you—how comes it you speak Russian?"
"I was born in Moscow."
"Of Russian parents?"
"My father was a Pole by birth, but by extraction a Scotchman."
"What is your name?"
"McKay—Stanislas Anastasius Wilders McKay."
"Ah! Stanislas; I understand that. But how is it you were christened Wilders? And Anastasius, too—that is a family name, I think. Are you related to Lord Essendine?—a Wilders, in fact?"