“They’ll have to starve their own men first. It’s not likely we’re going to go hungry and feed our prisoners.”
“Oh, we don’t mind a little thing like that, we Russians. They may send help, or they may not. Probably a cruiser will come within hailing distance and try to find out what the trouble is. Then it will lie off and wait till everybody’s dead, and after that put in a new Governor and another garrison.”
“You take too pessimistic a view, Jack. This isn’t the season of the year for a cruiser to lie off in the Baltic. Winter is coming on. Most of the harbors in Finland will be ice-closed in a month, and there’s no shelter hereabouts in a storm. They’ll attack; probably open shell fire on us for a while, then attempt to land a storming party. That will be fun for us if you’ve got good rifles and plenty of ammunition.”
Jack raised his head.
“Oh, we’re well-equipped,” he said, “if we only have enough to eat.”
Springing to his feet, all dejection gone, he said to the Governor:
“Now, my friend, we’re compelled to put you into a cell. I’m sorry to do this, but there is no other course open. Where is your larder, and what quantity of provisions have you in stock?”
A gloomy smile added to the dejection of the old man’s countenance.
“You must find that out for yourself,” he said.
“Are the soldiers upstairs well supplied with food?”