"Dead!" he shouted. "And you dare to tell it to me? You, no doubt, had a hand in his death!"
"On the contrary," returned the lad quietly, "I tried to save him, as did my chum; but it was too late. But he died like a brave man and a true Cossack."
Ivan was silent for several moments, and then said sneeringly:
"And what do you know of the Cossacks?"
"Well, very little, to be sure," Hal confessed, "though, for a short time, I had the honor of serving in a Cossack regiment."
"What, you?" exclaimed Ivan incredulously. "Impossible."
"No; what I say is true," said Hal. "And it was there that I met your brother Alexis, than whom I have never seen a braver man."
"'Tis true," muttered Ivan. "Alexis was ever a brave man, though much given to boasting. Also, barring perhaps myself, he was the most powerful man I have ever seen."
"He was indeed," replied Hal, "and it will give me pleasure at some time to relate to you some of the remarkable feats I have seen him accomplish."
"Alexis has related enough," returned Ivan dryly. "But come, now, tell me what you know of him."