CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1903-01-29

IG&44SN plain. planted here and
VSDEHSSI there with great trees.
principally pines and ce'
dars. There stood the Tartartents. There
1 Feofar Khan. the terrible emir ,f Box
hara, was cncamped. and there on th"
/ following day, the Tth of August, wer
brought the prisoners taken Mt kaly'
! van after the humiliation of the Rus
sian force, which had vainly attempted
to oppose the progress of the Invaders.
\ OF the 1000 men who had engaged
with the two columns OF the enemy.
the bases of which rested on Tomsk
and Omsk, only few hundred re-
malned. Thus events were going bad
/ ly, and the imperial government ap-
peared to have lost its power beyond
the frontiers Of the Ural, for a time at
least. for the Russians could not fail
/ eventually 10 defeat the savage hordes
of the invaders. But in the meantime
the invasion had reached the center Of
Siberia, and 1t was spreading through
the revolted country both to the east
ern and the western provinces. II the
troops of the Amur and the province
of Takutsk did not arrive In time to
sia, being insufiiciently garrisoned.
would fall into the hands OF the Tar
tars, and before II could be retaken the
grand duke. brother OF the emperor.
would be sacrificed to the vengeance OF
Ivan Ogareff.
Feofar's camp presented n magnifi-
cent spectacle. Numberless tents OF
skin or silk glistened in the rays Of
the sun. The lofty plumes which sur
mounted their conlcal tops waved amid
banners. hags and penDons OF every
color. The richest of these tents be
longed to the Seldes and Khodjas. who
are the principal personages of the
khanate. A special pavilion. ornament
ed with a horses tail issuing from n
sheaf of red and white sticks artisticaL
ly interlaced, Indicated the high rank
OF these Tartar chiefs. Then in the
distance rose several thousand OF the
Turcoman tents. which had been car
ried on the backs OF camcls.
The camp contained at least hun.
dred and fifty thousand soldiers, as
many foot as horse soldiers, collected
under the name of Alamanes. Among
them and as the principal types OF Tur
kestan would have been remarked the
Tadjiks from their regular features.
white skin. tall forms and black eyes
and hair. They formed the bulk of the
Tartar army. and of them the khanatcs
of khokhand and Koundough had fur
nlshed a contingent nearly equal TO
that of Bokhara. With the TadjIks
were mingled specimens OF different
races who either reside In Turkestan
or whose native countries border on H..
There were Usbecks. red bearded. small
in stature. similar to those who had
pursued Michael. Here were Kirghls,
with Hat faces like the Kalmucks.
dressed In coats of mail. Some car
ried the lance, bows and arrows Of Ash
attic manufacture. some the saber. n
matchbox gun and little short han
died Ak, the wounds from which inya-
riably prove fatal. There were Mon
gols, of middle height. with black hair
plated into plgtails, which hung down
their backs. round faces, swarthy com
plexions. lively deep set eyes. scanty
boards, dressed In blue nankeen trim
med with black plush, sword belts Of
leather with silver buckles. boots gayiy
braided and silk caps edged with fur
and three ribbons fiuttering behind.
Brown skinned Afghans. too. might
have been seen. Arabs, having the
primitive type Of the beautiful Semitic
! races. and Turcomans. with eyes which
looked as II they had lost the pupil-all
enrolled under the emir's flag. the flag
of incendiaries and devastators.
When the prisoners were brought into
l.... H.. II T.
did not show himself. This was for
tunate no doubt A sign. a word, from
him might have been the signal for
some bloody execution. But he in
trenched himself In that isolation
which constitutes in part the majesty
OF eastern kings. He who does not
show himself Is admired and, above
ALL feared.
As to the prisoners, they were to be
penned up in some lnclosure where. III
treated, poorly fed and exposed to all
the inclemencles OF the weather, they
would await Feofar's pleasure.
The most docile and patient of them
all was undoubtedly Michael Strogoff.
He allowed himself to be led. for they
were leading him where he wished to
go and under conditions of safety
which free he could not have found on
the road from kalyvan to Tomsk. To
escape before reaching that town was
to risk again falling into the hands Of
the scouts who were securing the
steppe.
At the same time with Michael Gtro-
gon and many other prisoners Harry
Blount and Alcide Jolivet had also bsen
taken to the Tartar camp. Their for
mer travelling companion. captured iiks