Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-06-14
VOL. XIV. NEW SERIES, VOL. XVIII

could get any horses to take him to the fair
at lrblte. In few moments bargain was
strck, and the horses were ready and har-
messed to 4 sledge. To the question Of the
inn-keeper where he came from, he replied
that he was the clerk of a merchant in T0msk
that his master had gone on before him to
the iair at lrbite, and, having had to stay
behind TO attend to some matters of his own,
he was now very late, and. fearing his en-
ployer would be angry, offered to pay the
man something extra if he would drive quick
ly.
The peasant whstled and the horses start
ed of at full speed. Suddenly the sky be-
came overcast, and the snow fell so thickly
tnat the driver lost his way. After wander
ing about in all directions they were obliged
to halt and pass the night in the forest. As
they we're only four leagues from Ekatcriski-
L1vod, PiotrOwski was in grea: anxiety, ex-
pecting every moment to hear the bells Of the
klbit-kas sent in pursuit Of him. At day
break they started again, and found the right
road, 10 the great delight Of the fugitive. Re
membering, however, how his countryman,
Colonel WYsocki, was given up to the gend-
armes by his guard after being detained a
night in the forest, he still felt considerable
uneasiness. Fortunately, these Suspicious
were unfounded. The peasant took him to a
friends house, where he got some tea. and
was provided with fresh horses to continue
his journey. Thus going on, changing horses
at moderate prices. be arrived at last at
/ night at a village called Soldatskaia, where,
not having change enough to pay the driver,
/ he went with him to an inn where hap
Iened to be a number Of drunken mcn-f0r
! 1t was near the end Of the carnival. Taking
| two or three bank-notes from under bis waist
/ coat, intending to get them changed by the
/ landlord a movement of the crowd pushed him
back from the table on which his papers were
/ placed, and they were seized and carried of
/ In an instant. Ii was in VAIN that be made
/ his loss known; the thief was not u be
/ found and, as the Pole was afraid 70 sum
mon the police, he had to be resigned to mis-
/ fortune. The loss Of iorty-fve ruhles was
! itself a serious matter, but what alarmed
/ him still more was the disappearance Of two
/ papers Of the utmost importance; one being
a list of the towns and villages through which
he must pass on the way to Archangel. and
the other the passport, on stamped paper
I thar he had been at SO much trouble to ur1-
/
had lost a quarter Of his modest savings. the
paper which was 10 have been his guide. and
the plakatny, the only document capable of
disarming the suspicious Of curious people.
lie was in despair.
The reflection. however, that il was too
late To 90 back, that his fate would be the
srme wherever captured. and that every step
brought him nearer 10 freedom. now urged
him out.
Striking into the high-r5ad to Irbite, BE
mingled with the swarm of travellers going
/ to or returning from the fair. and the thought
of the difficulty of being discovered amid this
vast crowd gave him renewed courage. On
the third day Of his fight, notwithstanding
l the delay in the forest, he reached the gates
/ Of lrbite, when he was startled by the voice
/ Of the sentry shouting. "Ilalt, and show your
passport Luckily be added in a low tone.
Give me twenty koIeks, ana through with
you"
This opp1rtune mobilization Of the law 10
| his favor was very gratifying to Piouowski,
who quickly paid the required sum and pass
/ ed through the gates.
After spending one night at lrbite De left
/ the town by different way from that which
/ be entered 1t, without being questioned by
/ the sentry. The expenses OF the journey and
/ losses by theft having reduced his money 70
/ seventy five rublcs (ah1ut eighty fraucs). he
was obliged u set out0n foot. Ii was very
severe winter, and though the weather mod
Grated a little on the morning Of his depGr-
ture from lrhite, the snow fen so thick that
/ 1t was difficult to make any hoadway. About
noon however, the storm ablted. and travel
] HI--
avoided villages, but, if it were necessary 70
cross one, he walked through as if he be-
/ longed in the neighborhood and needed no
information. Even when in great doubt as
/ to the right road TO take, he only yentured 70
inquire at The last house OF hamlet. When
hungry he took piece Of frozen bread from
his bag and ate it while walking along OF
sitting at the foot OF tree in a remote part
of the forest, and slakei his thirst at one of
the holes made in the ice by the people OF
the country for the purpose of watering their
cattle. Sometimes, however, he had to con-
tent himself with letting snow melt in his
mouth.
The first days tramp after leaving lrhite
was very hard, and the evening found him
completely exhausted. His fatigue was IN
creased by the heavy clothes he bad worn,
but be was afraid 10 part with them. At
night be adopted the method used hy tie
Ostiaks in their deserts Of ice, making a bed
in the thickest part of the forest by following
a deep hole under the snOw-heap. lie aw0kc
next morning in a half-frozen condition, but
/ by vigorous walking and running, succeeded
in quickening his sluggish circulation. \
binding snow-storm soon set in which made
him lose his way, and, after wandering
about in the deep drifts all day, be found tie
right road at nightiall.
Exhausted with fatigue, he yentuIel toask
for a nights lodging al a small house on the
outskirts Of village. Ills request was grant
ed. lie represented himself as a workman
from lobols on his way TO the iron
foundery at Bohotolc, among the L. RAJ Noun
tains, in search Of employment. Though
taking every precaution to avoid suspicion,
he was not successful, and the sight Of the
linen he had tried to dry made the women Of
the house think him too well dressed for an
artisan.
Hardly had he got to sleep when lie was
awoke by three peasants, who asked TO see
his passport. After disputing their right tl
make such a demad, he finally showed them
his only remaining pass, which could not
have imposed on any official. but the sight o
the seal satisfied these ignorant peasants who
excused themselves for troubling him by the
not very comforting assurance that they hac
mistaken him for an escaped convict. The
rest of the night passed of quietly, but, re-
I alising as he left IN the morning the danger
of asking for shelter, he determined to de-
pend for the future wholly on his bed scooped
in the ground in Ostiak fashion. In his long
journey over the Ural Mountain to Nelkl-
Oustiong, extending from the middle Of Feb
ruary to the beginning Of April, he had tl
content himself with this primitive way ol
sleeping. Only three or four times did he
dare to ask for shelter for the night in some
lonely hut, being forced to do so 10y utter ex-
haustion after fifteen or twenty days tramp
in the forest, which made him almost uncon-
scious Of what he did. All the other nights
were passed in the scooped out hole in the
earth, in the natural hollows formed at the
foot of great trees. or on the ground where
the thickly-falling snow soon formed warn
covering, which, however, was not easily
thrown of in the morning. By degrees h'
became SO accustomed to this way Of sleeping
that he used to find himself at night going
into the thickest part Of the forest as TO al
inn, though at other times tins savage lltt
was almost unbearable. The absence Of AM
human habitation, the want Of hot food ant
even of frozen bread, which was sometime
his only nourishment for days together
brought before him, IN all their horrible re
ality, the two hideous spectres called Col,
and Hunger. At such times he dreaded mos
the sudden fits of drowsiness which can't
over him. for they seemed like premonition
of death, and he struggled against them witt
his little remaining strength. The craving
for hot food was sometimes 50 strong that /
was very difficult for him to refrain from goini
to.some hut to beg for a little Siberian turnip
soup.
The solemn silence brooding over the vas
expanse Of snow and Ice in these forest soil
tudes, only broken by the cracking Of tn