Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-03-09
The Courier
of the Gar
BY Jules Verne

Alcide Jolivet had followed him.
Both listened TO what the old sailor
and his men were saying.
Guard there on the rightw
Look! The blocks Of Ice are thick
ening on the leftr'
Keep 1t on! Keep T. of with your
b3athookr'
Before an hour we shall be stop
pedr'
'If God wills it!' replied the old sail
or. Against his will nothing can be
done"
You hear themr' said Alcide Jolivet
Yes" replied Michael Strogoff, but
God is with u.s."
Meantime the situation became more
and more serious. IL 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, crush
cd 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, were
becoming entangled under the hard
crust. and soon the unfortunate people
would have no other refuge than the
fee 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 wait
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:
III am ready"
For some versts more the raft con-
/ tnued TO make its way through the
/ floating ice. If the Angara should be
choked up with ice, ii would form q
barrier, and consequently it would be
impossible to follow the current. Al
ready the passage down the river was
slower. At every instant there were
collisions, or time was lost by having
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.
And now only n few hours Of the
night remained. II 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 spite of
all their united efforts, the raft struck
against a thick barrier and stopped al
together. The ice which was floating
down the river cast itself upon it and
forced II against the obstacle and held
II motionless as IL it had been driven
upon n reef.
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 wns redoubling. At 500 PAGES
down the river again became wide, and
ice blocks, detachlng themselves by lit
tie and little from the lower edge of that
field, continued TO float down to Irkutsk;
hence II Is probable that without that
narrowingof the banks the barrier would
not have been formed, and the raft could
have continued to descend the current
But the evil was irreparable, and the
AuEiNlNtS llhu W give w hOpS VI
reaching the end of their journey. II
they had had at their disposal the tools
which the whalers usually employ to
open out canals across the icefields, II
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
saw. not n pickax, nothing with which
o cut the crust, which the extreme colo
pad rendered as hard as granite.
What should they do?
At that moment rifle shots were heard
pn the right bank OF the Angara. A
hover OF bullets was directed upoI
he raft. Had the unhappy men beer
perceived? Evidently. for other deto
pations resounded on the left bank
he fugitives. caught between two fires
Decame n target for the Tartar marks
nen. Some were wounded by thes
alls. although In the midst OF thu
reat darkness they only fell by chance
"COme. NADIA" whispered Michae
trogoff in the ear Of the young girl.
Without making any observation
eady for everything. Nadia took tn
and OF Michael Strogof.
Il am thinking OF crossing the bar
err" he said to her in n low voice
Guide me. but let no one see us leav
be raft"
Nadia obeyed. Michael StrogoG an
be glided quickly over the surface o
he icefield in n silence that was broke
ara anI thera hv the firing