"Exactly. He captured him single-handed."

Colonel Edwards eyed Stubbs in the greatest surprise, until Hal explained in a low voice, so that neither Stubbs nor the dwarf might hear.

"Well, we may as well be moving then," said Colonel Edwards. "Have your guide take the lead, Stubbs."

Stubbs, undeniably proud at the honor now being bestowed upon him, did as requested, and the dwarf led the way down the road at a rapid gait.

Hour after hour they walked along encountering no one, until shortly before nightfall when they drew up near a small hut. Here Nikol went forward and secured food, which he brought back in his hands. This they devoured hungrily, drank from a little brook, and moved forward again.

Now Nikol deserted the beaten path and struck off through the mountains proper, climbing steep hills, leaping ruts and gullies, rocks and brooks, but making such good progress that the others were hard pressed to keep up with him.

Darkness fell suddenly and Stubbs shuddered.

"Nice place for an a.s.sa.s.sin here, too," he muttered gloomily.

"Back at it, are you?" said Hal. "What will your friend Nikol say?"

Stubbs did not reply.

Suddenly the dwarf halted and motioned the others to silence. All listened intently and directly made out what the sharp ears of Nikol had caught first--the sound of approaching footsteps.

Nikol motioned the others back into the shadow of a great rock and stepped boldly forward. Then he hesitated a moment, came back and spoke to Stubbs in a low voice, yet loud enough for the others to hear.

"If I should chance to be outmatched," he said, "you will come to my a.s.sistance? The others," he snapped his fingers, "are no good. You will come?"

Taken wholly off his guard, Stubbs stuttered and stammered.

"You will come?" Nikol repeated again.

"Ye-e-s, I'll come," Stubbs articulated at last.

Nikol wasted no further time in words, but moved forward perhaps a hundred yards. Then he halted and stood still, waiting.

The sound of footsteps drew nearer and still nearer, and then suddenly Nikol sprang forward, silently and swiftly.

There came a sudden startled cry from ahead and then a great, boisterous laugh.

"Ho! Ho!" exclaimed a voice in French. "Look what has attacked Ivan Vergoff."

For some reason that he could not explain, Hal left his place of concealment and moved toward the combatants. The others followed him.

"Ho! Ho!" came the great voice again. "Ivan Vergoff, the greatest of the Cossacks, attacked by this puny pygmy."

Hal had now approached close enough to see the gigantic figure of Nikol's antagonist and to witness the struggle.

The giant had stooped over and seized Nikol by one arm. He pulled, but the dwarf, his feet firmly planted on the ground, did not budge. It was a great exhibition of strength, for Hal knew that the stranger must be a powerful man.

This time the giant did not laugh.

"A strong man," he muttered aloud. "A strong man, though he be a pygmy."

He now extended another arm, seized the dwarf around the middle and lifted him high above his head. With his right arm the dwarf struck the face that gazed up at him as he was suspended high in the air.

The big man gave a roar like that of an angry bull, hurled the dwarf from him and then jumped after the flying figure with remarkable agility for a man of his huge size.

But even as he would have seized Nikol again, Hal stepped forward.

"Wait!" cried the lad, who had been doing some quick thinking. "Your name is Ivan Vergoff and you are a Cossack?"

The big man paused suddenly and glanced about him.

"Yes!" he shouted. "What of it?"

"Only," replied Hal quietly, "that I bring you word of your brother, Alexis!"

CHAPTER VII.

NEW FRIENDS.

The big man paused and turned an enquiring eye upon Hal, whom he could dimly perceive in the darkness.

"Alexis!" he echoed. "What of him? How do you know I have a brother Alexis?"

Hal replied rapidly in the Russian dialect which he had picked up during his service with the Cossacks, as told in the story of "The Boy Allies With the Cossacks," while the man listened intently. Then the giant set the dwarf upon his feet remarking:

"Now, you just stay there a little while. I may have more to say to you later, but right now I would know something of my brother Alexis, whom I have not seen in years. And my brother Stephan, also, what do you know of him?" he demanded of Hal.

The lad shook his head.

"Not much," he said. "But come, we'll find some spot where we can make a fire and I'll tell you what I know of Alexis."

"Good," boomed the big man. "Follow me."

Without another word he turned on his heel and strode away whence he had come. The other four followed him, Nikol the while muttering angrily to himself.

Stubbs turned upon him suddenly.

"What's the matter with you?" he demanded. "Don't you know it's cold here? I want to sit by the fire awhile. Keep still."

The dwarf made no reply, but became silent. It was plain enough that he stood very much in awe of Stubbs.

After a five-minute walk through the dark woods, the big Cossack wheeled sharply to the left, and walking swiftly for perhaps fifty yards drew up before what appeared to be a solid rock.

Looking closer in the darkness, however, Hal saw a slight opening at the bottom, the s.p.a.ce between the rock and the ground being perhaps three feet. The rock, apparently, rested upon more solid ground farther back.