Surely tears, and sobs, and smiles, and ejaculations of gratitude were never more rapturously blended than in the small, stuffy hole in which we were all reunited! But prudence soon reasserted itself, and ten minutes later a Russian spy might have listened at the door without hearing a sound from within. Yet a little while longer and we could hear the vibration of the screw. We had entered upon another phase of our adventurous journey.
Excitement and danger are prone to make one forget or ignore bodily claims which weigh very seriously with us at other times. But when these unwonted stimulants are withdrawn, nature is apt to take a little revenge for the temporary slight put upon her. Thus it is not surprising that, the happy reunion of friends and relatives being accomplished, the quartet of newest arrivals should become conscious of extreme fatigue and of the need of some kind of refreshment.
The latter was soon forthcoming. A larder at one end of the room we were in was stocked with a liberal supply of eatables and drinkables, and there were plenty of willing hands to serve us with a meal to which some at least of us did full justice.
“And now, Miss Dora,” said Trischl, “the best thing we can do is to lie down and sleep for a while. Everybody else has much to talk over with friends, and we shall not be missed.”
It was quite true. We could, for a time, at least, be easily, perhaps gladly, spared. While traveling, and sharing mutual dangers, we had all seemed tolerably equal in our claims upon each other. The situation was altered now. Trischl was kindly and warmly welcomed. But her welcome was the one which generous employers would naturally extend to a faithful servant. I was treated in every respect as an equal, but was still conscious of the fact that I was not actually one of the family, as seemed to be the case with Ivan. That madame should appear all in all to her husband and child was natural. But that Ivan, whom I had admired while I thought him madame’s very humble assistant, should turn out to be none other than Count Sergius Volkhoffsky, the cousin and bosom friend of Prince Michaelow, was a great surprise to me. They all had much to talk about, or rather, to whisper about, for great caution was necessary, and I felt no compunction in following Trischl’s advice.
But it was long before I could sleep; for the motion of the vessel, combined with the unpleasant vibration of the screw, which seemed to be almost under me, soon made me feel sick again, and I underwent a period of intense but silent misery, too ill to lift my head, but not too ill to feel a fresh accession of terror every time the motion of the ship ceased.
I did not know then that the coming out of dock of a merchant steamer is a tedious business which involves many fresh starts and stoppages, if collisions with quay walls or ships are to be avoided. Had I been aware of this fact, I should not have kept fancying that the Beacon had been detained by Russian government officials, and that pursuers were about to discover our hiding-place.
When at last sleep did visit me, it performed its work so effectually that on awaking I had no trace of fatigue or illness left. My cushions were at one end of our curious room, which was no wider than an ordinary bunk, and would hardly have permitted any one to pass me without disturbing me. As it was, I had slept uninterruptedly for hours, and was quite refreshed when I opened my eyes and saw that a lamp was casting its brightening rays around me. Trischl stood by my bedside, if such I can call it, smiling with joy, and holding in her hand a cup of fragrant coffee.
“I have brought you some coffee and a ham sandwich,” she said. “You may get up as soon as you like now, and come on deck when you have had some breakfast. We have left Russia behind us and have got rid of the Russian pilot. The captain says there is no more fear of pursuit.”
This was joyful news indeed, and I lost no time in preparing myself to go on deck.