Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-02-23

chael Strogoff, feeling that he was
the open grass field.
Eyes; it is necessary answered Ma
dia. 1T is from over there on the right
that the cry Gamer
Some minutes afterward the two were
only half verst from the river.
a second bark was heard, and, al
though more feeble, it was certainly
nearer
Nadia stopped.
YES" said Michael, cit is Serko who
is barking. He has followed his mas
ter"
Nicholas cried the young girl.
Her call remained unanswered Only
some birds of prey rose up and disap-
peared amid the high clouds of heaven.
Michael Strogoff listened. Nadia look
ed at the plain, lit up with flashes of
lightning in rapid succession, but she
saw nothing.
And yet a voice came again, which
this time murmured in plaintive Tone
"Michaelv'
Then a dog, all bleeding, came bound
Nicholas could not be far away. He
alone could murmur that name of Mi
chael. Where was he? Nadia had not
even the strength to call out to him.
Michael Strogoff, lying on the ground,
searched with his hand
Suddenly Serko gave a fresh bark
and rushed toward a gigantic bird,
which was clawing the ground.
1t was a vulture. When Serko pre-
cipitated himself upon it, it rose up:
but, returning to the charge, it struck
the dog.
He again renewed the attack, but he
received blow on the head from that
terrible beak, and this time Serko fell
back dead on the ground.
At the same time cry of horror es-
capped from Nadia.
"There, therev' said she.
| A head rose just above the ground!
1t would have struck against their feet
! had it not been for the intense bright
ness that the heavens cast upon the
| steppe.
| head.
Nicholas, buried up to the neck, &C
cording to the atrocious customs of the
Tartars, had been abandoned on the
| steppe to there die of hunger and thirst
and perhaps to be torn into pieces by
| the fangs of wolves or the beaks of birds
| of prey. A most horrible punishment
| FOR the victim thus imprisoned in the
! earth, who presses the earth without
being able to cast it off, having his
arms tied and fastened to his body like
those of a corpse in a coffin. The vic
tim. living in this clay mold, which he
is una BILE to break, can do nothing but
implore death, which is too slow in
coming.
1t was there the Tartars had inferred
their prisoner for three days. For
| three days Nicholas had been waiting
for succor, which had come at last too
late
The vultures had perceived that head
exposed to the suns rays, and for some
hours the dog defended his master
| against these ferocious birds.
Michael Strogoff dug the earth with
his claspknife to release it from that
imprisoned body.
The eyes of Nicholas, closed until
then, once more opened themselves.
He recognized Michael and Nadia.
Then he murmured:
"Adieu, friends. am happy to have
seen you once more. Pray for me-"
And these words were the last.
Michael Strogof continued to dig the
soil, which, being strongly trodden
down, had the hardness of rock, and
at length he succeeded in drawing from
it the body of the unfortunate man.
He listened if his heart still beat. 1t
beat no more!
He wished then to bury it, that ii
might not remain exposed on the
steppe, and that hole in which Nicho-
las had been buried alive he enlarged
and deepeaed in such a manner as to
be able to lay him there when dead
The faithful Serko was placed near his
master.
At that moment a great noise was
heard on the road about half verst
bo