Was the struggle, then, in Kolyvan? Michael was compelled to think so.
It was evident that Russians and Tartars were fighting in
the streets of the town. Was this a time to seek refuge there?
Would he not run a risk of being taken prisoner? Should he succeed
in escaping from Kolyvan, as he had escaped from Omsk? He hesitated
and stopped a moment. Would it not be better to try, even on foot,
to reach some small town, and there procure a horse at any price?
This was the only thing to be done; and Michael, leaving the Obi,
went forward to the right of Kolyvan.
The firing had now increased in violence. Flames soon sprang
up on the left of the town. Fire was devouring one entire
quarter of Kolyvan.
Michael was running across the steppe endeavoring to gain the covert
of some trees when a detachment of Tartar cavalry appeared on the right.
He dared not continue in that direction. The horsemen advanced rapidly,
and it would have been difficult to escape them.
Suddenly, in a thick clump of trees, he saw an isolated house,
which it would be possible to reach before he was perceived.
Michael had no choice but to run there, hide himself and ask
or take something to recruit his strength, for he was exhausted
with hunger and fatigue.
He accordingly ran on towards this house, still about half
a verst distant. As he approached, he could see that it
was a telegraph office. Two wires left it in westerly and
easterly directions, and a third went towards Kolyvan.
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