Chapter 26
TrappedThe clock was striking eight as I
entered the restaurant of the Two-Headed Eagle, in the seaport of
Revel on the Gulf of Finland, about a week after the mysterious
disappearance of Petrovitch had become the talk of Petersburg.
Picking out a table at which an officer in the uniform of a
Russian naval captain was already seated, I went up to it, and sat
down in front of him with the formal bow prescribed by etiquette in
the circumstances.
The ships intended to sail to the relief of Port Arthur were
lying at this time some at Revel and others at Libau on the Baltic.
From time to time their departure was officially announced for a
certain date, reviews were held, and one or two preliminary trips
had been undertaken.
But each time some unseen obstacle was interpo
