Friday noon
Have him put into your passport as your courier or servant . '' `` All right ; we will see him to-morrow , '' replied the coxswain ; and the problem seemed to be solved . The next day they went to the American legation , but the minister had gone to Upsala for a week , and the secretary declined to issue the passports , because the boys could not prove that they were citizens of the United States . Vexed and discouraged , they wandered about the city till Friday noon , when an English steamer came into port . They stood on the quay , watching the movements of the passengers as they landed . They had almost concluded to take a steamer to Stettin , Lübeck , or some other port in Germany ; but Russia was a strange land , and they were not willing to abandon the idea of seeing its sights . `` I wonder whether this steamer goes any farther , '' said Stockwell .