The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1902-04-26


Omsk, taking the direction of 1rkutsk.
The dispatches which this courier bore
must have been Of immense impor-
lance Michael Strogoff knew, there
fore. that every effort would be made
to capture him.
But what he did not know and could
not know was that Maria Strogof was
in the hands Of Ivan Ogareff and that
she was about to atone. perhaps with
her life. for that natural exhibition OF
her feelings which she had been unable
to restrain when she suddenly found
herself In the presence of her son. And
it was fortunate that he was ignorant
of it. Could he have withstood this
fresh trial?
Michael Strogoff urged on his horse.
imbuihg him with all his. own feverish
Impotence, requiring of him one thing
only-namely. to bear him rapidly to
the next posting house, where he could
be exchanged for quicker conveyance,
At midnight he had cleared seventy
versts and halted at the station of Kou-
likovo. But there, as he feared, he
found neither horses nor carriages.
Several Tartar attachments had pass
ed along the highway of the steppe.
Everything had been stolen or requisi-
toned both in the villages and in the
posting houses. 1t was with difficulty
that Michael Strogoff was even able to
obtain some refreshment for his horse
and himself.
1t was of great Importance therefore
to spare his horse, for he could not tell
when or how he might be able to re-
place it. Desiring, however, to put the
greatest possible distance between him
self and the horsemen whom Ivan Oga-
ref had no doubt dispatched in pursuit
he resolved to push on. After one
hours rest he resumed his course across
the steppe.
And on July 80. at 4 p. M. Michael
Strogoff, needless of fatigue, arrived al
Elamsk
rest to his horse. The courageous
beast could not have continued that
journey any longer.
At Elamsk there was no means Of
transportation for the same reasons as
in the burghs already passed by-car-
riages-and horses were gone.
Elamsk. a small town the Tartars
had not visited yet, was almost com
pletely depopulated. for it was very
easy to invade it from the south and
almost impossible to succor it from the
north. So relay of post, police station,
government building, all were aban-
doned by governmental order, and on
one side the functionaries, on the other
fbo TIL, IA Tor &c l. - Z ~rxl~
the center of the Baraba.
Michael Strogoff was obliged to pass
the night at Elamsk to permit his horse
to rest at least twelve hours. He re-
membered the instructions given him
at Moscow to cross Siberia unknown,
reach Irkutsk at all hazards, but also
to not sacrifice success to the swiftness
of his passage. Consequently he was
forced to spare the only means of trav-
ell left him.
On the morrow Michael Strogoff left
Elamsk, and five days later, on the 9th
of August, twenty-one days since start
ing, he found himself 1900 versts yet
distant frosl Irkutsk
Michael Strogoff was rapidly nearing
Kalyvan when distant detonations
reached his ears.
He stopped and distinctly heard the
dull, heavy reports which shook the
air, mingled with sharper and shriller
sounds, the cause of which he well
knew.
He was only half a mile from Kaly-
van when long jet of flame flashed
betwixt the houses of the city, and the
spire of a church crumbled down in the
middle of torrent of embers and fire.
At that moment the detonations were
very violent. Soon the flames stretched
forth on the left of the city. The fire
had devoured a whole quarter of Kaly-
van.
Michael Strogoff was running across
the plain. trying to reach the cover Of
some trees scattered here and there,
when a detachment Of Tartar cavalry
appeared on the right
Michael Strogoff could no longer go
in that direction. The horsemen adj
vanced rapidly toward the city, and it
was difficult for him to escape. Sud.
denly at the corner of a thicket he saw
a house which he might perhaps reach
unperceived.
To run, to hide himself, to ask and
to take there, If need be, something to
renew his strength, for he was exhaust
ed with fatigue and hunger, was Mi
chael Strogoff's only resource He fled
then to this shelter, and, drawing near
he perceived that 1t was a telegraph
station. Two wires were going east
and west, and third was stretched to-
ward Kalyvan.
One would suppose that under the
circumstances that station would have
been abandoned, but as it was Michael
Strogof could find there a refuge, wait
for the night if need be to travel again
across the steppe which was searched
by the Tartar pickets.
Michael Strogoff hurried toward the
door Of that house and opened it hasti-
ly. single person was in the room
where the dispatches were written. He
was an employee. calm, cool, indiffer-