Two others were attached to the shafts to keep them on a level
with the body of the machine, thus transformed into a raft.
This work was soon finished.
"You will not be afraid, Nadia?" asked Michael.
"No, brother," answered the girl.
"And you, friend?"
"I?" cried Nicholas. "I am now going to have one of my dreams realized--
that of sailing in a cart."
At the spot where they were now standing, the bank sloped,
and was suitable for the launching of the kibitka.
The horse drew it into the water, and they were soon both floating.
As to Serko, he was swimming bravely.
The three passengers, seated in the vehicle, had with due
precaution taken off their shoes and stockings; but, thanks to
the bottles, the water did not even come over their ankles.
Michael held the reins, and, according to Nicholas's directions,
guided the animal obliquely, but cautiously, so as not to exhaust
him by struggling against the current. So long as the kibitka
went with the current all was easy, and in a few minutes it
had passed the quays of Krasnoiarsk. It drifted northwards,
and it was soon evident that it would only reach the opposite
bank far below the town. But that mattered little.
The crossing would have been made without great difficulty,
even on this imperfect apparatus, had the current been regular;
but, unfortunately, there were whirlpools in numbers,
and soon the kibitka, notwithstanding all Michael's efforts,
was irresistibly drawn into one of these.
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