“There is one thing, Ray,” said Sidney; “we must first cable mother in New York what we are going to do. I don’t believe we had better tell about father, though, except to say that he has been detained here.” “I am sorry,” said the clerk, “but it is not allowed to send any private telegrams out of the country.” “Could letters be sent out?” “Oh no; I am sure the German fleet in the Baltic will intercept all mail.” “The only thing we can do apparently,” said Raymond, “is to get out ourselves, if we _can_ do that.” CHAPTER III THE FLIGHT DOWN THE VOLGA The boys were not sure that they were really going to be allowed to leave Nizhni-Novgorod until the boat had actually started on its voyage down the river. Even then they feared that it might be stopped and they would be taken off and thrown into a Russian dungeon. When they found, however, that they were truly leaving the city where their father was held in some sort of mysterious restraint, his plight seemed more dreadful to them than it had before. The thought that they were deserting him when he might be in great danger made them so miserable that they almost determined to ask to be put ashore and then to make their way back to the hotel and stay quietly there until their father was released or they received a message from him. “It makes me feel positively sick,” said Raymond, “when I think we are leaving father in an awful Russian prison.” “It does me, too,” said Sidney, “and I’ve a good mind to go back.” “I expect it would be pretty tough, though, Sid, to stay at the hotel, maybe for weeks, without hearing from father.” “And then when he got out perhaps we shouldn’t be able to leave the city at all, and mother would think we were all killed.” “That’s so,” said Raymond; “if we reach some place where we can telegraph, it will be a great relief to mother.” “You know, Ray, when father was shut up in Chihuahua by the rebels he sent us a message to get home the best way we could, and said he could depend on us to take care of ourselves. I believe he would want us to do the same thing now.” “I guess that’s right, Sid, and we are doing the best thing after all.” When the matter was finally settled and the boys had decided that they were doing the right thing, they felt easier in their minds and were able to enjoy the strange sights on the boat. Their cabin, in the bow on the upper deck, was very comfortable, and with their soft rugs and pillows they made up an excellent bed, for on Russian steamboats and trains bedding is not supplied without extra charge, so most travelers take their own. While the boat was classed as a freight carrier there were really a great many passengers, and all were Russian, or people under Russian rule. Many of the latter were decidedly Eastern and gave a very Oriental atmosphere to the scene.