Saluting him, the doctor delivered to him an order for the safe guardianship of the two English officers.
"Ah," he said, as he perused the document, and glanced at the midshipmen, "if these are British officers, I can scarcely understand the trouble they are giving us. They are mere boys. I thought their uniform was red. The soldiers who were brought here a month ago were all in red."
"These are young naval officers," the doctor said. "I understand that some of the sailors are serving on shore, and these were captured, I am told, when out with a party of their men cutting fuel."
"A wonderful capture, truly," the governor said sneeringly. "Two boys scarce out of the nursery."
"It cost us some men," the doctor said calmly, "for I hear from the officer who brought them in that we lost altogether fifteen men, and the sailors would all have got away had it not been that one of these young officers was shot in the leg and the other stood by him, and shot several men with his revolver before he was captured."
"A perfect St. George," the commandant sneered. "Well, sir, your duty is done, and I will see to them. Are they on parole?"
"They gave me their parole not to try to escape during the journey, and have expressed their willingness to renew it."
"It matters little one way or the other," the governor said. "Unless they could fly, they could not make their way through the country. There, sir, that will do."
The doctor bowed, shook hands with the boys, and without a word went out, touching his lips with his fingers to them as he turned his back to the governor, a movement which the lads understood at once as a hint that it would be as well to say nothing which might show that they had any knowledge of Russian.
The governor rang a hand-bell, and a sergeant entered. The governor wrote a few words on a piece of paper.