"
"Poor Michael!" answered Nadia, with emotion. "Do not speak so.
That does not answer me. Michael, why, now, are you in such haste
to reach Irkutsk?"
"Because I must be there before Ivan Ogareff," exclaimed Michael.
"Even now?"
"Even now, and I will be there, too!"
In uttering these words, Michael did not speak solely through hatred
to the traitor. Nadia understood that her companion had not told,
or could not tell, her all.
On the 15th of September, three days later, the two reached
the village of Kouitounskoe. The young girl suffered dreadfully.
Her aching feet could scarcely support her; but she fought,
she struggled, against her weariness, and her only thought was this:
"Since he cannot see me, I will go on till I drop."
There were no obstacles on this part of the journey, no danger
either since the departure of the Tartars, only much fatigue.
For three days it continued thus. It was plain that the
third invading column was advancing rapidly in the East;
that could be seen by the ruins which they left after them--
the cold cinders and the already decomposing corpses.
There was nothing to be seen in the West; the Emir's
advance-guard had not yet appeared. Michael began to consider
the various reasons which might have caused this delay.
Was a sufficient force of Russians directly menacing Tomsk
or Krasnoiarsk? Did the third column, isolated from the others,
run a risk of being cut off? If this was the case, it would
be easy for the Grand Duke to defend Irkutsk, and any time
gained against an invasion was a step towards repulsing it.
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