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It is true that a second routethe one of which Michael had just spoken
avoiding the slight detour by
Perm, also connects Kasan with Ishim. It is perhaps shorter than the other,
but this advantage is much diminished by the absence of posthouses, the bad
roads, and lack of villages. Michael Strogoff was right in the choice he had
made, and if, as appeared probable, the gipsies should follow the second route
from Kasan to Ishim, he had every chance of arriving before them.
An hour afterwards the bell rang on board the Caucasus, calling the new
passengers, and recalling the former ones. It was now seven o'clock in the
morning. The requisite fuel had been received on board. The whole vessel began
to vibrate from the effects of the steam. She was ready to start. Passengers
going from Kasan to
Perm were crowding on the deck.
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER VIII GOING UP THE KAMA
39
Michael noticed that of the two reporters Blount alone had rejoined the
steamer. Was Alcide Jolivet about to miss his passage?
But just as the ropes were being cast off, Jolivet appeared, tearing along.
The steamer was already sheering off, the gangway had been drawn onto the
quay, but Alcide Jolivet would not stick at such a little thing as that, so,
with a bound like a harlequin, he alighted on the deck of the Caucasus almost
in his rival's arms.
"I thought the Caucasus was going without you," said the latter.
"Bah!" answered Jolivet, "I should soon have caught you up again, by
chartering a boat at my cousin's expense, or by traveling post at twenty
copecks a verst, and on horseback. What could I do? It was so long a way from
the quay to the telegraph office."
"Have you been to the telegraph office?" asked Harry Blount, biting his lips.
"That's exactly where I have been!" answered Jolivet, with his most amiable
smile.
"And is it still working to Kolyvan?"
"That I don't know, but I can assure you, for instance, that it is working
from Kasan to Paris."
"You sent a dispatch to your cousin?"
"With enthusiasm."
"You had learnt then?"
"Look here, little father, as the Russians say," replied Alcide Jolivet, "I'm
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a good fellow, and I don't wish to keep anything from you. The Tartars, and
FeofarKhan at their head, have passed Semipolatinsk, and are descending the
Irtish. Do what you like with that!"
What! such important news, and Harry Blount had not known it; and his rival,
who had probably learned it from some inhabitant of Kasan, had already
transmitted it to Paris. The English paper was distanced! Harry
Blount, crossing his hands behind him, walked off and seated himself in the
stern without uttering a word.
About ten o'clock in the morning, the young Livonian, leaving her cabin,
appeared on deck. Michael Strogoff went forward and took her hand. "Look,
sister!" said he, leading her to the bows of the Caucasus.
The view was indeed well worth seeing. The Caucasus had reached the confluence
of the Volga and the
Kama. There she would leave the former river, after having descended it for
nearly three hundred miles, to ascend the latter for a full three hundred.
The Kama was here very wide, and its wooded banks lovely. A few white sails
enlivened the sparkling water.
The horizon was closed by a line of hills covered with aspens, alders, and
sometimes large oaks.
But these beauties of nature could not distract the thoughts of the young
Livonian even for an instant. She had left her hand in that of her companion,
and turning to him, "At what distance are we from Moscow?" she asked.
"Nine hundred versts," answered Michael.
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER VIII GOING UP THE KAMA
40
"Nine hundred, out of seven thousand!" murmured the girl.
The bell now announced the breakfast hour. Nadia followed Michael Strogoff to
the restaurant. She ate little, and as a poor girl whose means are small would
do. Michael thought it best to content himself with the fare which satisfied
his companion; and in less than twenty minutes he and Nadia returned on deck.
There they seated themselves in the stern, and without preamble, Nadia,
lowering her voice to be heard by him alone, began:
"Brother, I am the daughter of an exile. My name is Nadia Fedor. My mother
died at Riga scarcely a month ago, and I am going to Irkutsk to rejoin my
father and share his exile."
"I, too, am going to Irkutsk," answered Michael, "and I shall thank Heaven if
it enables me to give Nadia
Fedor safe and sound into her father's hands."
"Thank you, brother," replied Nadia.
Michael Strogoff then added that he had obtained a special podorojna for
Siberia, and that the Russian authorities could in no way hinder his progress.
Nadia asked nothing more. She saw in this fortunate meeting with Michael a
means only of accelerating her journey to her father.
"I had," said she, "a permit which authorized me to go to Irkutsk, but the new
order annulled that; and but for you, brother, I should have been unable to
leave the town, in which, without doubt, I should have perished."
"And dared you, alone, Nadia," said Michael, "attempt to cross the steppes of
Siberia?"
"The Tartar invasion was not known when I left Riga. It was only at Moscow
that I learnt the news."
"And despite it, you continued your journey?"
"It was my duty."
The words showed the character of the brave girl.
She then spoke of her father, Wassili Fedor. He was a muchesteemed physician
at Riga. But his connection with some secret society having been asserted, he
received orders to start for Irkutsk. The police who brought the order
conducted him without delay beyond the frontier.
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Wassili Fedor had but time to embrace his sick wife and his daughter, so soon
to be left alone, when, shedding bitter tears, he was led away. A year and a
half after her husband's departure, Madame Fedor died in the arms of her
daughter, who was thus left alone and almost penniless. Nadia Fedor then
asked, and easily obtained from the Russian government, an authorization to
join her father at Irkutsk. She wrote and told him she was starting. She had
barely enough money for this long journey, and yet she did not hesitate to
undertake it. She would do what she could. God would do the rest.
CHAPTER IX DAY AND NIGHT IN A TARANTASS
THE next day, the 19th of July, the Caucasus reached Perm, the last place at
which she touched on the Kama.
Michael Strogoff
CHAPTER IX DAY AND NIGHT IN A TARANTASS
41
The government of which Perm is the capital is one of the largest in the
Russian Empire, and, extending over the Ural Mountains, encroaches on Siberian
territory. Marble quarries, mines of salt, platina, gold, and coal are worked
here on a large scale. Although Perm, by its situation, has become an
important town, it is by no means attractive, being extremely dirty, and
without resources. This want of comfort is of no consequence to those going to
Siberia, for they come from the more civilized districts, and are supplied
with all necessaries.
At Perm travelers from Siberia resell their vehicles, more or less damaged by
the long journey across the plains. There, too, those passing from Europe to
Asia purchase carriages, or sleighs in the winter season.
Michael Strogoff had already sketched out his programme. A vehicle carrying
the mail usually runs across the Ural Mountains, but this, of course, was
discontinued. Even if it had not been so, he would not have taken it, as he
wished to travel as fast as possible, without depending on anyone. He wisely
preferred to buy a carriage, and journey by stages, stimulating the zeal of
the postillions by wellapplied "na vodkou," or tips.
Unfortunately, in consequence of the measures taken against foreigners of
Asiatic origin, a large number of travelers had already left Perm, and
therefore conveyances were extremely rare. Michael was obliged to content
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