So it happened that Blount and Alcide had not the slightest trouble
in replacing, by a sound telga, the famous demi-carriage which had managed
to take them to Ekaterenburg. As to Michael, he retained his tarantass,
which was not much the worse for its journey across the Urals;
and he had only to harness three good horses to it to take him swiftly
over the road to Irkutsk.
As far as Tioumen, and even up to Novo-Zaimskoe, this road has
slight inclines, which gentle undulations are the first signs
of the slopes of the Ural Mountains. But after Novo-Zaimskoe
begins the immense steppe.
At Ichim, as we have said, the reporters intended to stop, that is at
about four hundred and twenty miles from Ekaterenburg. There they
intended to be guided by circumstances as to their route across
the invaded country, either together or separately, according as their
news-hunting instinct set them on one track or another.
This road from Ekaterenburg to Ichim--which passes through Irkutsk--
was the only one which Michael could take. But, as he did not run
after news, and wished, on the contrary, to avoid the country
devastated by the invaders, he determined to stop nowhere.
"I am very happy to make part of my journey in your company,"
said he to his new companions, "but I must tell you that I am most anxious
to reach Omsk; for my sister and I are going to rejoin our mother.
Who can say whether we shall arrive before the Tartars reach the town!
I must therefore stop at the post-houses only long enough to
change horses, and must travel day and night.
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