The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1902-01-09


those he cherished, but-for she did
not doubt it-struggling against the in
vaders with all the dash of his patriots
ism. Before many hours, if heaven
should at length favor them, she would
be in his arms, reciting to him the last
words Of her mother, and nothing
should again separate them.
The raft still moved on, unperceived,
hmid the mass of floating ice.
Up to this time no Tartar detachment
had been signaled on the high banks
of the Angara, and this indicated that
the raft had not as yet come on a line
with their outposts.
Meanwhile it was necessary to ma
neuver with more care in the midst Of
the ice, which was fast closing.
The old mariner rose up, and the mu-
jiks took up again their boathooks.
AL had as much as they could do, and
the management of tie raft became
more and more difficult, for the bed of
the river was becoming obstructed
Michael Strogoff had moved softly to
the fore part of the raft.
Alcide Jolivet had followed him.
Both listened to what the old sailor
and his men were saying.
Guard there ON the rightv'
Look! The blocks of ice are thick
ening on the leftv'
keep it off! Keep it off with your
boathoOk!'
Before an hour we shall sbe stops
| pedv' gYNs q.
eff God wills itr' replied the old SAIL.
| or. against his will nothing can be
| DONE"
"You hear then? % said Alcide Joliyets
EYES," replied Michael Strogoff, "buts
God is witt U.s. sss IL J. T J } y. 7
Meantime the situation became more
| and more serious. If the raft once
| ceased to make Roadway, the fugtives
| would not only never reach Irkutsk,
| but they would be obliged to abandon
| their floating apparatus, which, crushz11
| ed by the ice blocks, would not be long
| in sinking under the waters. : The will
low bindings were already breaking,
the fir trunks, violently separated, We're
becoming entangfed under the hard
crust, and soon the unfortunate people
| would have no other refuge than the
| ice itself. Then, when daylight should
| come, they would be perceived by the
| Tartars and massacred without pity.
Michael Strogoff returned to the back
| part Of the raft, where Nadia was watt
| ing for him. He approached the young
girl, he took her hand and put to her
| that invariable question. NADIA, are
| you ready? to which she answered as
usual:
| 81 am ready"
| For some versts more the raft, con-
| tinued to make it's way through the
| floating ice. If the Angara should be.
| choked up with ice,, it would form a :
| barrier, and consequently it would be
| impossible to follow the current. All
| ready the passage down the river was
slower. At every instant there were
collisions, or time was Jlost by haying
to make long turnings. Here they must
escape landing on the ice; there they
| must take a narrow pass between it
in fine many anxious drawbacks: y :
And now only SaS few hours of the
night remained. If the fugitives did
not reach Irkutsk before o'clock in
the morning, they must give up all
hope of ever entering there.
At length, at half past 1, in spiteSof.
all their united efforts, the raft struck,
| against thick barrier and stopped al
| together. The ice which was floating
| down the river cast itself upon it and
| forced it against the obstacle and held
| it motionless as if it had been driven
upon reef. rSN = S =
At this place the Angara becomes mar
| rowed to not more than half its normal
breadth; hence the accumulation of ice
blocks, which were by little and little
piled one upon another under the action
of the double pressure, WHICH was. con-
siderable, and of the cold, whose in
tensity was redoubling. At 500 PAGES
down the river again became wide, and
ice blocks, detaching themselves by lit
tie and little from the lower edge of that
| field continued to float down, to Irkutsk;
! hence it is probable that without that
narrowing of the banks the barrier would
not have been formed, and the raft could
have continued to descend the current.
But the eST was 1rreparable, and the
| fugitives had to give up all hope Of
reaching the end of their journey. If
| they had had at their disposal the tools
which the whalers usually employ to
open out canals across the icefields,. if
| they had been able to cut this field as
far as the place where the river be-
came wider, perhaps the time would
not have been wanting, but not single
J saw, not pickax, nothing with which
to cut the crust, which the extreme cold
had rendered as hard as granite. y q
What should they DO? 49,, 90
At that moment rifle shots were heard
on the right bank of the, sAngara. A
shower of bullets was directed upon
the raft. Had the unhappy men been
perceived? Evidently, for other deto-
; nations resounded on the left bank.
The fugitives, caught between two tiress
became target for the Tartar marks
men. Some were wounded by these
balls, although in the midst of the
! great darkness they only fell by chance
"Come, NADIA" whispered Michael
Strogoff in the ear of the young girl.
Without making any observation,