“Such a brute!” declared Terry.
“You should have shouted for help,” argued Sim.
“I tried to, dear young lady, but one cannot shout with one’s mouth bundled up like a muff. So I remained a prisoner. At times the man came down to me and opened my mouth that I might eat, but he stood over me with a gun so I dared not shout. But his place is so isolated that it would have done no good if I had. Each time he said he would let me go if I would promise. But I would not promise. I assure you we Russians are very stubborn.” Even now he seemed proud of it, and the girls rather liked him for it.
“You couldn’t trick him out of it?” asked Mr. Reilly.
“Trick?” Dimitri questioned.
“I mean promise and then get out and later do as you pleased.”
“The Uzlovs never do that, sir! I beg of you! Yes!”
“Oh, well, all right. You can’t go two ways at the same time,” said the chief, grinning. “What else happened?”
“Nothing. I stayed in the cellar closet. Clayton maintained me bound and gagged as you saw. Once he came to me to say he had gone back to my boat to restore my beautiful box. But, as he was about to put it in the broken cupboard, he was surprised by you girls and my brother Serge coming on board. So Clayton leaped over the rail in great haste. I suppose you did not then see him or my box?”
“We heard a noise,” said Terry, “and saw a man jump off your boat, but we didn’t even guess who was leaving the Merry Jane in such a rush. And to think at that time the snuffbox was on the point of being given back. If we only had known!”