“Ah!” he sighed, looking me straight in the face, “I fear that what you say is only too true.  She evidently holds some secret which he fears she will reveal.  He wishes to rearrest her in order—­well—­” he added in a low tone, “in order to close her lips.  It would not be the first time that persons have been silenced in secret at Kajana.  Many fatal accidents take place in that fortress, you know.”

CHAPTER XII

“THE STRANGLER”

Where was Elma?  What was the cause of her inexplicable disappearance into the gloomy forest while we had slept?

I returned to the hotel where I had stayed on my arrival, a comfortable place called the Phoenix, and lunched there alone.  Both Felix, the Finn, and my host, the wood-cutter, had received their douceurs and left, but to the last-named I had given instructions to return home at once and report by telegraph any news of my lost one.

A thousand conflicting thoughts arose within me as I sat in that crowded salle-a-manger filled with a gobbling crowd of the commercial men of Abo.  I had, I recognized, now to deal with the most powerful man in that country, and I suffered a distinct disadvantage by being in ignorance of the reason he held that sweet English girl a prisoner.  The tragedy of the dastardly manner in which she had been willfully maimed caused my blood to boil within me.  I had never believed that in this civilized twentieth century such things could be.

Michael Boranski had given his pledge to assist me, yet he had most plainly explained to me his fears.  The Baron was intent upon again getting Elma into his power.  Was it at his orders, I wondered, that the sweet-faced girl had been deprived of speech and hearing?  Had she fallen an innocent victim to his infamous scheming?

About me men were eating strange dishes and talking in Finnish, while others were smoking and drinking their vodka; but I was in no mood for observation.  My only thought was of she who was now lost to me.

Why had she disappeared without warning I was at loss to imagine, yet I could only surmise that her flight had been compulsory.  Some women possess a mysterious sense of intuition, a curious and indescribable faculty of knowing when evil threatens them, that presents a strange and puzzling problem to our scientists.  It is unaccountable, and yet many women possess it in a very marked degree.  Was it, therefore, possible that Elma had awakened, and being warned of her peril had fled without arousing us?  The suggestion was possible, but I feared improbable.

Another very curious feature in the affair was the sudden manner in which Michael Boranski had exerted his power and influence in order to render me that service.  He had actually bribed the guards of Kajana; he had instructed the faithful Felix, he had provided our boat, and he had ordered the nun to open the water-gate to me.  Why?