Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-08-28
friend an ran to his assistance.

clIng1nS to root that he might not sink
deeper.
'Yegorl" calculated the Partisan. "Ah
true ! was waiting for you-with philoso
ply and patience, for, IN this land of Cos
sacks and wolves, one learns to be patient
without reading the works OF the philoso-
phers."
How did you get here:"
II was herborizing From plant to plant
came like the butterfly to the edge OF this
| treacherous pond. I wished to Gull a stalk
! of this morochka, f1Lblls cha nldTnOrls, as We
call it in the language of science on. LAT
leur had made his debut, when twenty
| years of age, in an herb shop kept by one
of his uncles at Chateau hierry) l slip
! ped. and that explains how, in my turn, ]
| became one of the adornments of this pool ?
| Yegor grasped M. Lafieur in his arms
and succeeded in extricating him from his
! disagreeable situation.
'Where are my shoes-my pumps?" ex-
! claimed the dancing-master, on finding him
| self extended upon the grass deprived even
of his stockings. which had not seen fit tc
| abandon his light ShOes-for, in order to es
! cape suspicion, the dancing-master had Quit
| ted Yakoutsk wearing his pumps, as if going
| on one of his usual musical, commercial and
curiosity-hunting excursions.
! 'Ah! my dear Monsieur La1eur," said
Yegor. lit is but justice that you should pay
a slight tribute to this pond; it might have
entirely swallowed you up, but it has re-
| stored you almost complete
| stockings knit by the late Madame LAT
! leur!-and pumps I imported from Paris,
! from the Rue Richelieu, opposite the Thea
tre-F'rancais!"
"And probably the only pair you have
with you?"
you are right-my sole, my only pair
of shoes! 1 shall be compelled to walk
barefooted amid the bushes and briars :"
said M. Lafeur, with piteous and terrified
! looks.
No, my friend, no." answered Yegor.
''You shall see that mans industry has
| established shoe-shOps even in the aban-
doned solitudes Of the Verkho- Yansk Noun
/ tains.7
And approaching birch tree, he adroitly
cut Off long strips of its bark; he twisted
! them with much skill into that species of
| socks called ''laptis" peculiar to Russian
! country districts.
They are not very elegant I admit" said
-; yegor handing them to Nj. Lafeur, land
| you would probably be a trife embarrassed
in dancing f5iberienne' in them; but we
are not going to ball"
"Ah. no! we are not going to a ball! !" said
M. Lafeur, looking at his moccasins with a
droll air.
And he set out with Yegor, who was
eager to regain the encampment where Mad
eye and Ladislas were waiting for him.
!
The Esaoule, or relay-master and Justice
! of the Peace, of Nijni-Kolimsk Ga town stu
ated at the mouth of the Kolima, on the Arc
tic Ocean and at the frontier Of the country
of the Tchouatchis,) was Russian officer
named Toumanoff, who, having a daughter
and son about the ages of Nadege and
Ladislas, had sent them to one Of his rel
atives at Yakoutsk, there to receive an edu-
! cation that could not be acquired at Mini
| Kolimsk.
These young people were, besides, pupils
of M Lafleur, who, occasionally, gave the
lad lesson on the violin and instructed his
sister in dancing.
4egor, foreseeing that he would have to
pass not far from Mini Kolimsk-the last
and most northerly of the Russian towns
and that he would be compelled more than
he had prepared for himself upon a sheet of
paper stamped with the imperial arms, had
made it out as if for the Esaoule's chill
dren, accompanied by their cousin of the
same family name. There remained tc
| find plausible motive for the Journey &C.
| compliShed at the commencement of win
| ter. YegOr trusted to the situation to in.
| spire him.
He sometimes talked of this with Nadege
and M. Laileur, but without reaching any
determination.
The deep solitude, in which the fuitives
found themselves in the midst of the forest.
and the necessity for remaining concealed.
led them to look for the means of supplying
certain things they lacked.
To husband their supplies of food and
munitions, they devised methods for pro
| curing game without the use of powder anC
for catching fish without showing them
selves on the banks of the torrent where
some unfortunate meeting might take place
Yegor had noticed tracks of wild goats
! near the pond in which NJ. Lafleur had beer
forced to leave, as a ransom, his stockings
and pumps. The idea occurred to him tc
take one of these animals in a trap He
| succeeded with the aid of a rope and slip
| knot, and obtained both goats milk TO,
| Nadege and Ladislas and the kids which,
attracted by the cries Of their dam, remained
beside the captive, their gambols furnishing
amusement for the young girl and her adopt
| ed brother
In another part of the forest, he arranged
a more formidable engine, intended to trar
a bear after the fashion adopted by the
| Kamtchadales. The latter suspend a weight
I in tho air T1I1+tinor on If n 1,a;+ tho
of some animal. The bear no sooner scents
! it than it advances heavily, but scarcely
| has it touched the frail support of the
weight than the latter falls upon its neck
and Furnishes it for it's voracity by crushing
its skull.
On the second day, Yegor was rewarded
| by the carcass OF brown bear of res pecta
bic dimensions. The skin of the beast aug
mented the supply Of furs. M. Laf1eur pre-
| pared the meat for the kitchen and declared
that, in his opinion, nothing was more de-
! liciOuS than bear steaks cooked rare.
The following day, Yegor shot wild ran
which increased the stock Of food.
| Ladislas was charged with furnishing the
! household with birds and fish. The lad haC
| pulled some hairs from the horses tails anC
| made snares of them. He had snares fast
ened to stakes and snares with springs
| snares suspended in the air and snares or
the ground. NJ Lafeur was forced to de-
wise recipes for dishing up partridges.
heath-cocks. jackdaws and starlings which
were caught in the boys traps. Nadege.
on her side, prepared partridge pate, the
dough of which was formed of dry fish re-
duced to powder and mixed with little rye
| -four