wanted to take us in his sled, but we knew he might be suspected of
having tried to aid us to get away, and he might be arrested. So we went
alone.

"As might have been expected, we became lost again, and wandered about
for several days. But we had enough food to keep us alive. And it was
during this wandering that I came upon the platinum mine. It was down in
a valley, in the midst of a country densely wooded and very desolate.
There was an outcropping of the ore, and rather idly I put some of it in
my pockets. Then we wandered on, and finally after awful suffering in
terrific storms, were found by a searching party and brought back to the
barracks."

"Did they think you had escaped?" asked Tom.

"They did," replied the Russian, "and they punished us severely for it,
in spite of our denials. In time I managed secretly to smelt the
platinum ore, and I found I had some of the purest metal I had ever
seen. I was wishing I could find the mine, or tell some of my friends
about it, when one of the officers discovered the metal in my bed.

"He demanded to know where I had gotten it, and knowing that refusal
would only make it the worse for me I told him. There was considerable
excitement, for the value of the discovery was recognized, and a search
was at once made for the mine.

"But, even with the aid we were able to give, it could not be located.
Many expeditions went out to hunt for it but came back baffled. They
could not penetrate that wild country."