Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/135

Rh There was a door which was doubly locked, the key being held by a petty officer who could speak broken English and who rejoiced in the simple name of Rosenvischpoff. For short Luke nicknamed him Rosey and this name stuck to him.

"Doesn't look as if a fellow could break out of here very easily," said Larry, after an inspection of their prison. "This is a regular bank vault."

"Wouldn't do you any good to break out," returned Grandon. "As we are on the ocean, where would you go to?"

"We might hide until the vessel made a landing."

"Humph, and that would be in some Russian port, so you'd be just as bad off."

"Well, I'm not trying to escape just now. I want to get the lay of the land first, and try to find out what they are going to do with us."

From Rosenvischpoff they learned that the Pocastra was one of a large number of steamers of various Russian lines which had been lately pressed into the service of the national navy. She had been rushed through at one of the Russian navy yards and provided with a battery of four small and four large guns, none, however, over eight inches. She carried a crew of one hundred and eighty men, drafted principally from other warships. She had an advertised speed of twenty knots an hour but