Nadia remained in a sort
of stupor, and Michael watched beside her; sleep only overtook
him at long intervals, and even then his brain did not rest.
At break of day, the raft, delayed by a strong breeze,
which counteracted the course of the current, was still forty versts
from the mouth of the Angara. It seemed probable that the fugitives
could not reach it before three or four o'clock in the evening.
This did not trouble them; on the contrary, for they would then
descend the river during the night, and the darkness would
also favor their entrance into Irkutsk.
The only anxiety exhibited at times by the old boatman was
concerning the formation of ice on the surface of the water.
The night had been excessively cold; pieces of ice could be seen
drifting towards the West. Nothing was to be dreaded from these,
since they could not drift into the Angara, having already
passed the mouth; but pieces from the Eastern end of the lake
might be drawn by the current between the banks of the river;
this would cause difficulty, possibly delay, and perhaps even
an insurmountable obstacle which would stop the raft.
Michael therefore took immense interest in ascertaining what was the state
of the lake, and whether any large number of ice blocks appeared.
Nadia being now awake, he questioned her often, and she gave him
an account of all that was going on.
Whilst the blocks were thus drifting, curious phenomena were
taking place on the surface of the Baikal.
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