[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
But, happily, the breeze did not blow from that side. It came from the east,
and drove the flames towards the left. It was just possible that the fugitives
would escape this danger. The blazing town was at last passed.
Little by little the glare grew dimmer, the crackling became fainter, and the
flames at last disappeared behind the high cliffs which arose at an abrupt
turn of the river.
By this time it was nearly midnight. The deep gloom again threw its protecting
shadows over the raft. The
Tartars were there, going to and fro near the river. They could not be seen,
but they could be heard. The fires
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XI BETWEEN TWO BANKS
149
of the outposts burned brightly.
In the meantime it had become necessary to steer more carefully among the
blocks of ice. The old boatman stood up, and the moujiks resumed their poles.
They had plenty of work, the management of the raft becoming more and more
difficult as the river was further obstructed.
Michael had crept forward; Jolivet followed; both listened to what the old
boatman and his men were saying.
"Look out on the right!"
"There are blocks drifting on to us on the left!"
"Fend! fend off with your boathook!"
"Before an hour is past we shall be stopped!"
"If it is God's will!" answered the old man. "Against His will there is
nothing to be done."
"You hear them," said Alcide.
"Yes," replied Michael, "but God is with us!"
The situation became more and more serious. Should the raft be stopped, not
only would the fugitives not reach Irkutsk, but they would be obliged to leave
their floating platform, for it would be very soon smashed to pieces in the
ice. The osier ropes would break, the fir trunks torn asunder would drift
under the hard crust, and the unhappy people would have no refuge but the ice
blocks themselves. Then, when day came, they would be seen by the Tartars, and
massacred without mercy!
Michael returned to the spot where Nadia was waiting for him. He approached
the girl, took her hand, and put to her the invariable question: "Nadia, are
you ready?" to which she replied as usual, "I am ready!"
For a few versts more the raft continued to drift amongst the floating ice.
Should the river narrow, it would soon form an impassable barrier. Already
they seemed to drift slower. Every moment they encountered severe shocks or
were compelled to make detours; now, to avoid running foul of a block, there
Page 141
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
to enter a channel, of which it was necessary to take advantage. At length the
stoppages became still more alarming.
There were only a few more hours of night. Could the fugitives not reach
Irkutsk by five o'clock in the morning, they must lose all hope of ever
getting there at all.
At halfpast one, notwithstanding all efforts, the raft came up against a thick
barrier and stuck fast. The ice, which was drifting down behind it, pressed it
still closer, and kept it motionless, as though it had been stranded.
At this spot the Angara narrowed, it being half its usual breadth. This was
the cause of the accumulation of ice, which became gradually soldered
together, under the double influence of the increased pressure and of the
cold. Five hundred feet beyond, the river widened again, and the blocks,
gradually detaching themselves from the floe, continued to drift towards
Irkutsk. It was probable that had the banks not narrowed, the barrier would
not have formed. But the misfortune was irreparable, and the fugitives must
give up all hope of attaining their object.
Had they possessed the tools usually employed by whalers to cut channels
through the icefieldshad they been able to get through to where the river
widenedthey might have been saved. But they had nothing
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XI BETWEEN TWO BANKS
150
which could make the least incision in the ice, hard as granite in the
excessive frost. What were they to do?
At that moment several shots on the right bank startled the unhappy fugitives.
A shower of balls fell on the raft. The devoted passengers had been seen.
Immediately afterwards shots were heard fired from the left bank. The
fugitives, taken between two fires, became the mark of the Tartar
sharpshooters. Several were wounded, although in the darkness it was only by
chance that they were hit.
"Come, Nadia," whispered Michael in the girl's ear.
Without making a single remark, "ready for anything," Nadia took Michael's
hand.
"We must cross the barrier," he said in a low tone. "Guide me, but let no one
see us leave the raft."
Nadia obeyed. Michael and she glided rapidly over the floe in the obscurity,
only broken now and again by the flashes from the muskets. Nadia crept along
in front of Michael. The shot fell around them like a tempest of hail, and
pattered on the ice. Their hands were soon covered with blood from the sharp
and rugged ice over which they clambered, but still on they went.
In ten minutes, the other side of the barrier was reached. There the waters of
the Angara again flowed freely.
Several pieces of ice, detached gradually from the floe, were swept along in
the current down towards the town. Nadia guessed what Michael wished to
attempt. One of the blocks was only held on by a narrow strip.
"Come," said Nadia. And the two crouched on the piece of ice, which their
weight detached from the floe.
It began to drift. The river widened, the way was open. Michael and Nadia
heard the shots, the cries of distress, the yells of the Tartars. Then, little
by little, the sounds of agony and of ferocious joy grew faint in the
distance.
"Our poor companions!" murmured Nadia.
For half an hour the current hurried along the block of ice which bore Michael
and Nadia. They feared every moment that it would give way beneath them. Swept
along in the middle of the current, it was unnecessary to give it an oblique
direction until they drew near the quays of Irkutsk. Michael, his teeth tight
set, his ear on the strain, did not utter a word. Never had he been so near
his object. He felt that he was about to attain it!
Page 142
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Towards two in the morning a double row of lights glittered on the dark
horizon in which were confounded the two banks of the Angara. On the right
hand were the lights of Irkutsk; on the left, the fires of the Tartar camp.
Michael Strogoff was not more than half a verst from the town. "At last!" he
murmured.
But suddenly Nadia uttered a cry.
At the cry Michael stood up on the ice, which was wavering. His hand was
extended up the Angara. His face, on which a bluish light cast a peculiar hue,
became almost fearful to look at, and then, as if his eyes had been opened to
the bright blaze spreading across the river, "Ah!" he exclaimed, "then Heaven
itself is against us!"
CHAPTER XII IRKUTSK
IRKUTSK, the capital of Eastern Siberia, is a populous town, containing, in
ordinary times, thirty thousand inhabitants. On the right side of the Angara
rises a hill, on which are built numerous churches, a lofty
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XII IRKUTSK
151
cathedral, and dwellings disposed in picturesque disorder.
Seen at a distance, from the top of the mountain which rises at about twenty
versts off along the Siberian highroad, this town, with its cupolas, its
belltowers, its steeples slender as minarets, its domes like potbellied
Chinese jars, presents something of an oriental aspect. But this similarity
vanishes as the traveler enters.
The town, half Byzantine, half Chinese, becomes European as soon as he sees
its macadamized roads, bordered with pavements, traversed by canals, planted
with gigantic birches, its houses of brick and wood, some of which have
several stories, the numerous equipages which drive along, not only
tarantasses but broughams and coaches; lastly, its numerous inhabitants far
advanced in civilization, to whom the latest Paris fashions are not unknown. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
But, happily, the breeze did not blow from that side. It came from the east,
and drove the flames towards the left. It was just possible that the fugitives
would escape this danger. The blazing town was at last passed.
Little by little the glare grew dimmer, the crackling became fainter, and the
flames at last disappeared behind the high cliffs which arose at an abrupt
turn of the river.
By this time it was nearly midnight. The deep gloom again threw its protecting
shadows over the raft. The
Tartars were there, going to and fro near the river. They could not be seen,
but they could be heard. The fires
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XI BETWEEN TWO BANKS
149
of the outposts burned brightly.
In the meantime it had become necessary to steer more carefully among the
blocks of ice. The old boatman stood up, and the moujiks resumed their poles.
They had plenty of work, the management of the raft becoming more and more
difficult as the river was further obstructed.
Michael had crept forward; Jolivet followed; both listened to what the old
boatman and his men were saying.
"Look out on the right!"
"There are blocks drifting on to us on the left!"
"Fend! fend off with your boathook!"
"Before an hour is past we shall be stopped!"
"If it is God's will!" answered the old man. "Against His will there is
nothing to be done."
"You hear them," said Alcide.
"Yes," replied Michael, "but God is with us!"
The situation became more and more serious. Should the raft be stopped, not
only would the fugitives not reach Irkutsk, but they would be obliged to leave
their floating platform, for it would be very soon smashed to pieces in the
ice. The osier ropes would break, the fir trunks torn asunder would drift
under the hard crust, and the unhappy people would have no refuge but the ice
blocks themselves. Then, when day came, they would be seen by the Tartars, and
massacred without mercy!
Michael returned to the spot where Nadia was waiting for him. He approached
the girl, took her hand, and put to her the invariable question: "Nadia, are
you ready?" to which she replied as usual, "I am ready!"
For a few versts more the raft continued to drift amongst the floating ice.
Should the river narrow, it would soon form an impassable barrier. Already
they seemed to drift slower. Every moment they encountered severe shocks or
were compelled to make detours; now, to avoid running foul of a block, there
Page 141
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
to enter a channel, of which it was necessary to take advantage. At length the
stoppages became still more alarming.
There were only a few more hours of night. Could the fugitives not reach
Irkutsk by five o'clock in the morning, they must lose all hope of ever
getting there at all.
At halfpast one, notwithstanding all efforts, the raft came up against a thick
barrier and stuck fast. The ice, which was drifting down behind it, pressed it
still closer, and kept it motionless, as though it had been stranded.
At this spot the Angara narrowed, it being half its usual breadth. This was
the cause of the accumulation of ice, which became gradually soldered
together, under the double influence of the increased pressure and of the
cold. Five hundred feet beyond, the river widened again, and the blocks,
gradually detaching themselves from the floe, continued to drift towards
Irkutsk. It was probable that had the banks not narrowed, the barrier would
not have formed. But the misfortune was irreparable, and the fugitives must
give up all hope of attaining their object.
Had they possessed the tools usually employed by whalers to cut channels
through the icefieldshad they been able to get through to where the river
widenedthey might have been saved. But they had nothing
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XI BETWEEN TWO BANKS
150
which could make the least incision in the ice, hard as granite in the
excessive frost. What were they to do?
At that moment several shots on the right bank startled the unhappy fugitives.
A shower of balls fell on the raft. The devoted passengers had been seen.
Immediately afterwards shots were heard fired from the left bank. The
fugitives, taken between two fires, became the mark of the Tartar
sharpshooters. Several were wounded, although in the darkness it was only by
chance that they were hit.
"Come, Nadia," whispered Michael in the girl's ear.
Without making a single remark, "ready for anything," Nadia took Michael's
hand.
"We must cross the barrier," he said in a low tone. "Guide me, but let no one
see us leave the raft."
Nadia obeyed. Michael and she glided rapidly over the floe in the obscurity,
only broken now and again by the flashes from the muskets. Nadia crept along
in front of Michael. The shot fell around them like a tempest of hail, and
pattered on the ice. Their hands were soon covered with blood from the sharp
and rugged ice over which they clambered, but still on they went.
In ten minutes, the other side of the barrier was reached. There the waters of
the Angara again flowed freely.
Several pieces of ice, detached gradually from the floe, were swept along in
the current down towards the town. Nadia guessed what Michael wished to
attempt. One of the blocks was only held on by a narrow strip.
"Come," said Nadia. And the two crouched on the piece of ice, which their
weight detached from the floe.
It began to drift. The river widened, the way was open. Michael and Nadia
heard the shots, the cries of distress, the yells of the Tartars. Then, little
by little, the sounds of agony and of ferocious joy grew faint in the
distance.
"Our poor companions!" murmured Nadia.
For half an hour the current hurried along the block of ice which bore Michael
and Nadia. They feared every moment that it would give way beneath them. Swept
along in the middle of the current, it was unnecessary to give it an oblique
direction until they drew near the quays of Irkutsk. Michael, his teeth tight
set, his ear on the strain, did not utter a word. Never had he been so near
his object. He felt that he was about to attain it!
Page 142
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Towards two in the morning a double row of lights glittered on the dark
horizon in which were confounded the two banks of the Angara. On the right
hand were the lights of Irkutsk; on the left, the fires of the Tartar camp.
Michael Strogoff was not more than half a verst from the town. "At last!" he
murmured.
But suddenly Nadia uttered a cry.
At the cry Michael stood up on the ice, which was wavering. His hand was
extended up the Angara. His face, on which a bluish light cast a peculiar hue,
became almost fearful to look at, and then, as if his eyes had been opened to
the bright blaze spreading across the river, "Ah!" he exclaimed, "then Heaven
itself is against us!"
CHAPTER XII IRKUTSK
IRKUTSK, the capital of Eastern Siberia, is a populous town, containing, in
ordinary times, thirty thousand inhabitants. On the right side of the Angara
rises a hill, on which are built numerous churches, a lofty
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER XII IRKUTSK
151
cathedral, and dwellings disposed in picturesque disorder.
Seen at a distance, from the top of the mountain which rises at about twenty
versts off along the Siberian highroad, this town, with its cupolas, its
belltowers, its steeples slender as minarets, its domes like potbellied
Chinese jars, presents something of an oriental aspect. But this similarity
vanishes as the traveler enters.
The town, half Byzantine, half Chinese, becomes European as soon as he sees
its macadamized roads, bordered with pavements, traversed by canals, planted
with gigantic birches, its houses of brick and wood, some of which have
several stories, the numerous equipages which drive along, not only
tarantasses but broughams and coaches; lastly, its numerous inhabitants far
advanced in civilization, to whom the latest Paris fashions are not unknown. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]