The dense volume of smoke which rose up from the bank of the river completely concealed the Cossacks, and of course prevented them from seeing the boats, which they possibly might have supposed were still lying off the place, ready to commit other mischief. Higson had received orders, however, on no account to injure private property, and he could only hope that the flames had not reached the buildings he had seen beyond the storehouses. Just as they got a little way beyond the point there came the thundering sound of an explosion. "That must be a magazine blown up," observed Tom. "Perhaps one of the vessels has powder on board," said Green; "I think I caught sight of some spars through the smoke, but they may have been fragments of timber." Just then there came another explosion as loud as the first, and scarcely had its echoes died away among the hills on the left when a third occurred. "No doubt about it now," said Green; "some of the vessels we set on fire must have been laden with powder." "I hope no unfortunate people were on board them. A pretty considerable amount of mischief we have done this morning," said Tom; "but I suppose it was our duty, so we mustn't think too much about it." "Of course it was," answered Green; "if people will go to war, they must take the consequences." "But perhaps the people didn't want to go to war," said Tom; "it was all their Emperor's doing." "Then they ought not to live under such an Emperor," said Green. "How can they help themselves?" asked Tom; "I daresay, if they had been asked they would have preferred remaining at peace." "I confess that I don't feel any animosity against them; I would much rather be fighting the French; but they, by a sort of hocus-pocus, are our allies," remarked Green. "In reality we are not making war on the Russian people; we are expressly ordered not to injure any of their property; our business is only to destroy Government stores." "Well, that's some comfort," said Tom, "though it may not always be easy to distinguish one from the other."