Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-03-02

cessive darkness enyeloped all the
country. The moon. being new, would
not rise above the horizon. From the
middle of the river the banks were visi-
BILE. The cliffs at not a great height
were blended with those heavy clouds
which they displaced with difficulty.
At intervals breeze would come from
the east and seem to expire in that mar
row valley of the Angara.
The old mariner. lying down on the
fore part of the raft near his men. &C.
cupied himself altogether in turning
aside from the ice blocks. a maneuver
which he executed without making any
noise.
This drifting of the ice. after all. was
a favorable circumstance as long as II
did not oppose an insurmountable OBJ
stacle In the passage OF the raft; for
indeed this apparatus alone on the free
waters OF the river would have run the
risk Of being perceived even through
the thick shade, whereas 1t was now
COMPOUNDED with these moving masses
of all sizes and all shapes. and the din
produced by the grating Of the blocks
drowned all other suspicious noise.
There was a very keen frost. The
fugitives suffered dreadfully from 1t,
not having any other shelter but some
branches of the birch tree. They press
ed close to each other In order 10 better
support the low temperature, which
during that night had reached 10 de-
grees below zero.
Michael Strogon and Nadia, lying
down at the back part of the raft. Ell
dured without complaint this addition
al suffering. For a man who was reck-
oning soon to attain his end Michael
Strogof seemed singulariy calm. Be-
sides, in the most grave situations bis
energy had never abandoned him. Al
ready he looked forward to the moment
when at last it would be permitted him
to think Of his mother, Of Nadia, Of
himself. He only feared one last and
evil chance. 1t was lest the raft should
be absolutely stopped by barrier Of
thick ice before having reached IT.
kutsk. He did not think Of anything
but that, being, moreover. decided IL it
were necessary to attempt some SUI
preme act of daring.
Nadia. refreshed by some hours Of re-
pose, had recovered that physical en-
ergy which misery had sometimes been
able to subdue without ever having
shaken her moral energy. She was
thinking also that in case Michael Stro-
golf should make a new effort to attain
his end she must be there to guide him.
But at the time that she was approach
ing Irkutsk the image of her father was
pictured more wildly in her mind. She
saw him in the invested town. far from
those he cherished, but-for she did
not doubt it-struggling against the in
yaders with all the dash OF his patriots
ism. Before many hours. il 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,
amid 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
! 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.
All 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 INSTRUCTED.
To be continued.