De Forrest was fascinated by the beauty and sprightliness of Miss Gurney. Her innocence and simplicity imparted a candor to her speech which pleased him, and, fatigued as he was, he was sorry to lose sight of her when the party retired to their rooms. Then her image went with him, and followed him into his dreams. He met her again in the morning, and the runaways were invited to accompany the party to Villenoy, and to see the sights of the capital of Poland. In a few days they left for Bromberg, and though Beckwith protested, De Forrest insisted upon accompanying them. Then he could not resist his inclination to go with the party to Königsberg, where Mr. Kinnaird desired to see a friend; but he hoped the squadron would not come there. It did not go to Königsberg, because the water was not deep enough, but it anchored at Pillau, the port of the city, twenty-six miles distant. While the runaways were dining with their new friends at the _Hôtel de Prusse_, feeling perfectly secure because they had heard nothing of the squadron, the officers and students marched through the room to another, where dinner had been prepared for them. "O, I am so delighted to see them!" exclaimed Julia. "How glad you must be, Mr. De Forrest!" "Yes--yes--very glad," stammered the purser. "Will you excuse us for a few moments? I want to speak to some of them." "O, certainly! How delighted you must be!" chattered the pretty Miss Gurney. Before they had time to retire, the principal confronted them, and prevented their escape. [Illustration: DE FORREST AND JULIA. PAGE 294.] CHAPTER XVI. SOMETHING ABOUT PRUSSIA AND GERMANY. Dr. Winstock grasped the hand of the principal when they met in Moscow, and briefly reported the incidents of his trip down the Volga, with the little party. "Of course you knew that De Forrest and Beckwith left us at Tver?" added the doctor. "Yes; Mr. Agneau informed me, and, poor man, he was very much worried about the absentees," replied Mr. Lowington. "I concluded they had gone down the Volga to Nijni. I asked the police to detain them, and they did so. On my return from Kazan, I found them in custody, and not at all satisfied with the results of their runaway excursion. I brought them up with me, so that they are all right now. They claimed to have been left by the train at Tver by accident." "I suppose they tried that plan because they thought it succeeded in Norway and Sweden; but I did not punish those because they made a full confession, and seemed to be sorry for what they had done. Where are the runaways?" "They are here, sir. I saw them come into the hotel with the others." The word was passed along for De Forrest and Beckwith, but they were not there to answer. A dozen had seen them come into the house, and a party who were standing at the door were sure they had not gone out. They could not be found, and the doctor was even more chagrined than the chaplain had been.