Chapter 12 Chapter XII Enforcement of Decree

The door opened, and Striga stopped at the door, hesitating.Darkness enveloped the entire cell, and he couldn't see anything clearly, except for the faint light from the small square window on the side of the ship.The prisoner must have been huddled in a corner of the cabin, and his figure could not be discerned with his eyes.Ticha!Striga called impatiently, "Bring the lamp!" Ticha hurriedly lit the lamp, and the flickering light suddenly illuminated the whole room.The two quickly glanced around, and couldn't help but looked at each other in bewilderment.The cabin was empty.Broken ropes and stripped clothes were littered on the floor, but the captives were nowhere to be seen.

How do you explain it to me? !Striga roared. Before answering, Ticha ran to the window and ran her fingers over the sash. Escaped, he said, stretching out his blood-stained finger. escaped!Striga repeated, swearing dirtyly. However, after running for a short time, Ticha went on to say that the blood was not dry yet.Besides, I hadn't delivered his food for two hours. Didn't you notice anything wrong then? Absolutely not, I tied him up like a sausage! ass!Striga cursed. Ticha spread his hands, obviously saying that he didn't understand how the prisoner escaped.Anyway, it wasn't his fault anyway.Striga is not willing to let it go.

What an ass!Striga growled furiously, repeating the words.At the same time, he snatched the lantern from his companion and walked back and forth along the four walls of the cabin.You should have looked at this guy from time to time and not let appearances fool you!Look at this piece of iron sheet, it's all polished.That's where he broke the rope in his hand. He'd have to grind it for days, days!But you didn't notice it at all!No one is as stupid as you! Enough is enough, you're never done!Tiqia couldn't help being furious, and shouted back loudly, do you treat me like your dog?Anyway, if you have to detain this Dragos, then you should watch him yourself!

I really regret not doing that!Striga actually agreed with him, but first, we need to clarify one thing, is it really Dragos that we captured? Then you say who else? how could I know?Seeing your frizzy way of doing things, I have to prepare for the worst.Did you recognize who he was when you caught him? I can't be sure of that, Ticha confesses, because his back is on us Herein lies the problem! But I clearly recognize that fishing boat!Definitely the boat you pointed out to me in Vienna, this one, I'm pretty sure. Boat!Boat!Come on, let me ask you, what did that captive look like?Is he tall?

In fact, Serge.Radko and Ivan.Striga is very similar in stature.But it is well known that a man is much taller when he is lying down than when he is standing.And when Ticha saw the captain, he was almost always lying on the floor of the cell.So Ticha honestly replied: He is a head taller than you. This is not Dragos!Striga grunted, knowing he was taller than the detective. After thinking for a moment, he asked again: Does the captive look like someone you recognize? I recognize it?Ticha asked in puzzlement, never seeing this person before. Does he look like Radko, for example? What a strange idea!Ticha yelled: "What the hell, why do you want Dragos like Radko?"

What if we don't capture Dragosh? Then he couldn't be Radko, how could I not know Radko?You can't go wrong! You answer my question first, Striga insisted, is he like Radko? You are dreaming, Ticha protested, exclaiming, first of all, the prisoner has no beard, but Radko does. Beards are shaveable!Striga reminded. I didn't say no. Moreover, the captives wear sunglasses. Ssriga shrugged, and then asked: Is he brown or blond? brown hair.Ticha replied in the affirmative. Are you sure? confident. He's not Radko either!Striga is guilty of muttering again, then he is really Ilya.Brush

Which Elijah.Brush? That fishing champ! oh!Ticha was bewildered.Well, if our prisoner is neither Radko nor KarlDragosh, it didn't matter that he got away. Striga made no reply, but went straight to the window.After looking at the bloodstains on the window frame, he leaned over to the outside of the cabin, but with great effort, he couldn't clearly see every plant and tree shrouded in the pitch-black night. How long had he been on the run?Striga muttered to himself. It won't take more than two hours.Ticha answered him. If he's been away for two hours, he's gone a long way!Striga yelled, unable to suppress the anger in his heart.

He thought for a while and said: Right now there is no other way.The night is so dark!Now that the bird has flown away, let it be.As for ourselves, we had to start before daybreak, passing Belgrade early. Striga stood there blankly and meditated for a while, then left the cell without saying anything, and walked into the opposite cabin.Ticha listened.At first, nothing happened.But after a while, intermittent voices reached his ears through the closed door, and the voice became louder and louder.Ticha curled her lips in disdain, walked away, and got back into her bed. Striga made a mistake in thinking that it would be useless to pursue the captives at once.Perhaps it would not have been in vain if one had pursued it as soon as one saw it, for the escaped man had not gone very far.

Serge.Radko heard the sound of the key turning in the lock, and in desperation, he overcame the obstacle.His muscles tightened suddenly, his shoulders went out, his face followed, his whole body rushed out of the narrow window like an arrow off a string, and fell headfirst into the Danube River, where the river opened and closed silently .He swam for a while before he surfaced, and the current had carried him quite a distance from where he fell.In an instant he was over the stern of the barge.Barges are moored with their bows facing upstream.The way before him is free! Radko didn't hesitate, as long as he floated along the water for a while, once he was out of the hands of the gangsters, he could swim to the shore with all his strength.However, when he goes ashore, he will be almost naked, which will of course cause great difficulties for later operations, but he has no other choice.The first thing to do was to get away as quickly as possible from the floating prison where he had had a miserable time.Everything will be discussed after escaping ashore.

Suddenly, in the night, the shadow of another ship appeared before his eyes.He was overwhelmed with emotion when he recognized it was his small fishing boat, and a cable hung it behind the barge, holding it so that it would not be carried away by the current.Instinctively, he hugged the rudder of the fishing boat tightly. For a moment, it seemed that time and space were frozen. The voice of talking faintly reached his ears from the silence of the night.Presumably the enemy was arguing about his escape.He waited patiently, the dark river covered Radko's body like an impenetrable cloth sail, with only his head sticking out of the water.

The sound grew louder, then died away, and everything fell silent again.Radkola stayed on the side of the boat, slowly emerged from the water, slipped into the boat tent, and disappeared.He hid under the canopy and listened for a while.Nothing happened.There was silence all around. In the canopy of the boat, he couldn't even stretch out his hands and fingers, and Radko couldn't see anything, just like a blind man, groping to distinguish the friendly objects on the boat.It seems that no one has moved.His fishing tackle was still where it was and on the nail was the otter hat which he had put on with his own hands.On the right is his bed, and on the left is the place where Mr. Jaeger slept for a few days. However, why were the boxes placed under the bed opened?Did someone pry the case?It was so dark that Radko had to tentatively touch it with his fingers, counting his shabby belongings.Not a single thing was taken away.The clothes were still neatly placed, and the knife was still in its original place.Radko drew his knife, then crawled on the bottom of the bilge and crawled towards the stem. What a trek it was!His ears were pricked up vigilantly, and even if he heard the sound of dripping water, he quickly held his breath.Stop going.Even the eyes were wide open, though in the dark it was futile to do so.In this way, it took him a full ten minutes to reach his destination.At last his hands were able to grasp the cable, and he cut it with a single blow. The snap of the disconnected cable on the water was loud enough.Radko was so terrified that his heart was pounding, and he immediately lay down on the bottom of the boat.It's so quiet around here, it's impossible not to hear the sound of the rope falling into the water But there was no movement. The navigator raised himself up little by little, knowing that he was far away from the enemy.For as soon as the boat was freed, it floated with the current, and in an instant the night built a solid partition between it and the barge, impenetrable to the eye. He guessed that he had drifted far enough, and when he didn't need to worry anymore, he grabbed the oar and rowed vigorously a few times, and the distance was further widened.Until now, he felt shivering from the cold, so he quickly found clothes and put them on.Surely no one had rummaged through the contents, and he had no trouble finding the necessary underwear and coat.After putting on his clothes, he grabbed the oar again and started shaking it desperately. Where are you at this moment?He felt nothing at all.There was no sign to tell him in which direction the barge that had imprisoned him was heading.Whether that floating prison is going downstream or upstream remains unclear. In any case, now he himself had to sail in the direction of the current, since both Ruse and Nadya were in that direction.If the enemy carried him some distance back, he would have to swing his arms harder to make up for lost time, that's all.Now, he began to move forward overnight, trying to stay away from those enemies who didn't know the details.He estimated that the night would last another seven hours or so.Seven hours, but still a long way to go.After dawn, he stopped to rest in the first city he passed. Radko rowed vigorously for about twenty minutes, and suddenly a scream came from far away in the night sky. Because the distance was too far, the cry reached his ears very softly.Whether the cry represented joy, anger, or fear was already blurred.Although the voice was so faint, as if it came from the sky, the navigator couldn't help but feel his heart tense, feeling a dull pain in his heart.Where had he heard a sound like this?It seemed that he thought it was Nadya's voice.He stopped rowing the oar, listened attentively, and carefully discerned all the movements in the night. There was no more screaming, and the surrounding night sky fell into silence again.Nadya!This name was the only thing left in the navigator's mind. He straightened his back, temporarily put aside the pain that was lingering in his heart at this moment, and returned to his work. Time passed by every minute and every second.It was about midnight, and the shadows of houses appeared vaguely on the right bank.It was just a small village called Slankamen, but Radko didn't recognize it and kept going. A few hours later, in the twilight of morning, a small town appeared on the right bank, Nove︱Banovez.He couldn't see clearly either, and he was still rowing past the town. Then, the scenery on both sides of the strait became desolate.The sky is also starting to light up. As soon as the light was sufficient, Radko hurriedly repaired his makeup.After so many days in captivity, his disguise has lost its shape.A few minutes later, his hair was black again from root to tip, his new beard was shaved off, and his twisted glasses were replaced with a new pair of shades.After doing this well, he continued to row the oar without hesitation. He glanced back from time to time, and found nothing suspicious. He was far away from the enemy, which must be the case. As a result, his mind was gradually liberated from the urgent anxiety just now, and the sense of security regained made him able to speculate on this puzzling encounter again.Who were the enemies who had compelled him to escape in this way?What do they want to do with him?Why imprison him for so many days?So many questions he couldn't answer.No matter who they are, in short, we must be more wary of them in the future.How irritatingly complicated his travels would be by all these considerations!Unless, after he arrived in the next city, he asked the police for protection, so as not to be harmed by these strange kidnappers again, regardless of the risks involved in this move. Which city will it pass through next?He also didn't know the answer to this question.The banks of the river were still very desolate, and there were no signs to remind him.There are only a few dilapidated cottages scattered on the shore. At 8 o'clock in the morning, on the right bank of the river, several towering bell towers appeared nearby, and in front of the boat, another city stood in the distant sky.Radko couldn't help being surprised.He is too familiar with these cities.The city nearby is Semlin, the last city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the Danube; the city directly ahead is Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.It is also located on the right bank of the river, at the confluence of the Danube and Sava, just a sharp bend away. That is to say, when he was imprisoned on the barge, he was still going downstream, and the floating prison carried it close to the destination, and he had crossed a voyage of more than 500 kilometers before he knew it. Besides, he was saved when he got to Semlin.If necessary, he can seek help and protection in this city.But will the navigator really make up his mind to seek help?If he went to the police station and reported his inexplicable adventures, wouldn't the police investigate?In that case, he himself would be the first to be the victim.It was likely that they would find out who he was, where he came from, and where he was going; perhaps they would discover his true identity, which he had sworn not to reveal, no matter what happened. Radko was not in a hurry to make up his mind for the time being, but focused on speeding up the pace of the boat.When the city clock tower struck eight-thirty, he tied the boat to the iron ring on the quay.Then, he hastily tidied up the items in the boat, and then reconsidered the question just now: to report to the police station, or to keep silent.In the end, he decided to waive the right to report the crime.After weighing again and again, he would rather keep silent, go to the cabin to enjoy the hard-won opportunity to rest, and then leave Semlin quietly, just like he came here quietly. At this moment, four men walked up the pier and stopped in front of the boat.These people jumped on the fishing boat, and one of them pointed at Serge.Radko came over.Radko couldn't help being quite surprised to see his menacing approach.The man asked: You are Elijah.Brush? Yes.replied the navigator, eyeing his interrogator in bewilderment. The man lifted his coat to reveal shoulder straps in the shape of the Hungarian flag. I arrest you according to the law.He grabbed the navigator's shoulder and said clearly.