The fugitives' plan was very simple. A current in the lake runs
along by the upper bank to the mouth of the Angara; this current
they hoped to utilize, and with its assistance to reach the outlet
of Lake Baikal. From this point to Irkutsk, the rapid waters of
the river would bear them along at a rate of eight miles an hour.
In a day and a half they might hope to be in sight of the town.
No kind of boat was to be found; they had been obliged to make one;
a raft, or rather a float of wood, similar to those which usually
are drifted down Siberian rivers, was constructed. A forest of firs,
growing on the bank, had supplied the necessary materials; the trunks,
fastened together with osiers, made a platform on which a hundred
people could have easily found room.
On board this raft Michael and Nadia were taken. The girl had returned
to herself; some food was given to her as well as to her companion.
Then, lying on a bed of leaves, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
To those who questioned him, Michael Strogoff said nothing
of what had taken place at Tomsk. He gave himself out as an
inhabitant of Krasnoiarsk, who had not been able to get to Irkutsk
before the Emir's troops arrived on the left bank of the Dinka,
and he added that, very probably, the bulk of the Tartar forces
had taken up a position before the Siberian capital.
There was not a moment to be lost; besides, the cold was becoming more
and more severe. During the night the temperature fell below zero;
ice was already forming on the surface of the Baikal.
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