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 the raft became
more and more difficult, for the bed of
the river was becoming DISTRACTED.
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
boathoOkv'
Before an hour we shall gbe stop
pedr' TNas ~
eff God wills itP' fepled the old saik
or. Against his will nothing can be
| DONE"
"You hear them?' said Alcide Joliyets
EYES," replied Miehael Strogoff, butt
God is witt US ;sss IL J. C43D/
| Meantime the situation became more
and more serious. If the raft once
ceased to make Roadway, the fugitives
would not only never reach Irkutsk,
but they would be obliged to abandon
their floating apparatus, WHICH. cfnshs1
ed by the ice blocks, would not be long
in sinking under the waters. : The will
1 low bindings were already breaking,
the fir trunks, violently separated, We're
| becoming entangfed Under the hard
i crust, and soon the unfortunate people.
i 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
i ing for him. He approached the young
4 girl, he took her hand and put. to her
that invariable question. nadia, are
you ready?" to which she answered as
usual:
i 81 am ready"
! For some versts more the raft cona
tinued to make its 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
I collisions, or time was 5ost by hayinS
| to make long turnings. Here they must
escape landing on the ice; there they
must take a narrow pass between it-T
in fine, many anxious drawbacks. = = =
i And now only GaafeW Cheursi ofathe
night remained. If the fugitives did
not reach Irkutsk before o'clock~iR
the morning, they must give up an
hope of ever entering there.
Il At length, at half past 1, in spiteeof.
all their united efforts, the raft struck
against a thick barrier and stopped af-'
together The ice which was floating
down the river cast itself upon it and
forced it against the obstacle and held
Il it motionless as if it had been driven
upon reef. Der HSSLI
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
Il tie and little from the lower edge of that
field, continued to float dOwnto lrkutsk;
!. hence it is probable that without that
narrowing of the banks the barrierWould
:, not have been formed, and the raft could
: have continued to descend the current.
But the ST was Grreparable, and the
: fugitives had to give up all hope OF
/ reaching the end of their journey. II
they had had at their disposal the tools
Il
, open out canals across the icefelds,. il
they had been able to cut this field as
3 far as the place where the, river be-
!, came wider, perhaps the time would
not have been wanting, but not single
saw, not pickax, nothing with which
: to cut the crust. which the extreme cold
{, had rendered as hard as granite. IA
What should they DO? r
At that moment rife shots were heard
I 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 deto7
nations resounded on the left bank
;. The fugitives, caught between two fress
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,