Platoff briefly explained what had just taken place, and then turned his attention to the horses, which had stuck to the road in spite of the lack of guidance, and were dashing forward at a tremendous pace.
"Hand me the lines," said Poussin. "I will drive now," and with a touch of the whip he urged the horses to still greater efforts.
"Stop," said Platoff, "for your own safety you must put us off by the road. Your peril is too great already—-it will be increased if you are caught in our company. Put us off right here, and we can easily escape to the hills."
"No," replied Poussin, "I will do nothing of the kind. At present there is no danger. The military outpost is nearly half a mile from the post-station in the village. To give the alarm, it is necessary for one of the soldiers to go there on foot. Of course, the Cossacks will at once start in pursuit, but their horses are pretty well worn out, while ours are fresh. The next station is fifty miles distant. I can keep in advance of our pursuers at least that far. When daylight comes, I will let you out, and you can seek safety in the hills. Your absence will not be discovered until I reach the station, where, of course, I shall be arrested at once."
"Ah, my friend, escape with us," implored Platoff. "Together we will reach the coast and sail on some friendly vessel to a better country than this. Don't trust yourself to the mercies of those tyrants. They will inflict some terrible punishment——"
"I do not fear," interrupted Poussin. "I can make an explanation which I think will save me. I have not time to explain now. What I have done for you was only a debt. You saved my life; I hope I have saved yours. Remember your identity is unknown to me. It is even possible that the authorities will not discover for some time who my strange passengers were. Your disguise is effective, and the fact that a third man was concealed in the sledge will never be known.
In spite of Platoff's continued entreaties, Poussin remained firm.
Holding the horses with a skilled hand, he urged them on unsparingly, and the sledge skimmed over the frozen ground at a speed which made the landscape on each side one dizzy blend. Hour after hour passed on. The dark sky paled gradually, and a grey light stole over the frozen plain until the distant hills were dimly seen. Morning was close at hand, and yet no trace of the pursuit was visible. Eastward the rugged hilltops were flecked with pale crimson mist beneath which the morning sun was creeping upward. The atmosphere was clear and radiant, revealing every tree and rock for miles around. Still the horses sped on untiringly, their nostrils white with foam, their glossy flanks damp and steaming.
Platoff and Poussin were on the front seat, Maurice and Phil behind. All were grave and silent, scanning the landscape intently, straining their ears to catch the slightest sound.
It was Maurice who sounded the alarm. His sharp cry echoed on the frosty air, his arm pointed straight to the northward, and turning quickly, all saw on the rolling crest of a distant hill a single black streak moving in a serpentine course down the slope.
"Cossacks," ejaculated Platoff—"a whole company, at least. They are coming at full speed."
"Be calm," said Poussin. "They are fully two miles distant. The time has come to part."
He touched up the horses, and they dashed at a furious gallop over the level ground. His companions, turning in their seats, watched the approaching soldiers until they gained the plain and vanished behind the gentle undulations of the road. A moment later the sledge swept over a ridge, and Poussin drew up the panting horses in the hollow of a wooded ravine. A bubbling mountain stream poured down from the hills and emptied into the Ussum, some yards distant.
"There is no time to lose," said Poussin, as the fugitives sprang to the ground. "Take these provisions, take a rug apiece, strike back into the heart of the hills, and wade up the bed of the stream until the road is out of sight. Make a wide detour to reach Vladivostok. God be with you and help you to escape. There will be plenty of vessels in the harbour at this time of year. Vladivostok is now but one hundred and seventy miles away by the road. Do you need anything else?"
"No," exclaimed Platoff. "We have everything. Heaven grant that no harm come to you! "I have known many brave men in my time, but none that would have dared to do what you have."
"Go," said Poussin, huskily. "Don't delay, remember I must lead your pursuers far off the track that you may have time to escape."
One at a time they clasped the brave merchant's hand fervently and with tears in their eyes.
"Good-bye, good-bye," they called out, chokingly.
"Farewell," said Poussin. "God be with you," and bringing down the whip on his restless horses, he swept up the ravine and vanished from sight over the pine-crowned ridge.
The halt had been of less than two minutes' duration. The Cossacks were still two miles in the rear, and the chances of escape were good.
The fugitives had climbed out of the sledge on some loose stones that bordered the stream.
Platoff led the way carefully down to the water's edge, and stepping fearlessly in, they waded briskly up the shallow channel, thus leaving no trace behind to show that the sledge had been relieved of its load at that point.
For fully a mile they remained in the water, penetrating deeper and deeper into the forest.
The weather was sligh[t]ly milder, but the snow was still covered with a firm crust, and their feet made no impression on it as they turned aside from the stream and ascended the hill.
The country was wild and rugged—more so than it had been at any time. The forest was gloomy and dim, and the hills were gaunt and rocky, full of precipices and dark chasms.
"We are very near the Chinese border," said Platoff, "that is why the scenery is so wild and lonely. The country is uninhabited."
Fortified by their long rest, the fugitives travelled all that day at a rapid pace, covering at least twenty-five miles, and when twilight came on they halted among a heap of loose stones and made themselves comfortable with the rugs that Poussin had given them, which they had carried on their backs all that day. Not daring to light a fire, they ate their supper cold, and then not being able to sleep, talked for an hour or more over the situation.
Platoff was much distressed about Poussin.
"I fear that he will be punished severely," he said; "the government will never overlook such a thing as this, and yet he spoke as though he would be able to make a satisfactory explanation."
"Yes, he did," said Maurice; "perhaps he has some influence at Vladivostok."
"Either that," replied Platoff, "or he is a man of wealth and can bribe the officials here to overlook his indiscretion. Money is a powerful agent in this part of Siberia, six thousand miles from St. Petersburg."
"How about the pursuits?" asked Maurice.
"Well," said Platoff, "of course they will make an effort to scour the country, but we can readily avoid the soldiers. The coast will be closely watched, though, and that is where we shall encounter the most difficulty. At present we have little to fear. You must remember that our identity may not even be suspected yet, although the discovery must be made sooner or later. Don't worry over the situation, but keep up your courage," and with this admonition Platoff wrapped himself tighter in his rug, and went calmly to sleep.
Maurice and Phil did not remain long awake. The spot they had chosen was a sheltered nook between a dozen big rocks, into which no cool wind could penetrate, and all slept as only weary men can, waking strengthened and refreshed at early dawn.
Platoff slipped away on a reconnoissance, and returned in half an hour with the welcome news that no intruders were in the neighbourhood.
"I think we can risk a little fire this morning," he said, and gathering a few pine-cones and dried tips of branches, he lit them and held a tin flask of cold tea in the flames.
He smothered the fire with snow, and the warm beverage was a grateful addition to the breakfast.
On that day they first journeyed two or three miles to the westward, drawing still closer to the borders of Mongolia, and then headed slightly to south-east, where Vladivostok lay. The same wild and barren country prevailed, and Platoff matched with great caution, keeping his revolver ready for immediate use, and bidding Maurice do the same. This was not from any fear of meeting the Cossacks, for danger from this source was slight, but because they were now in the neighbourhood frequented by large and ferocious tigers, and a casual encounter with one of these monarchs was not at all improbable.
Once huge footprints were seen in the snow, and the boys felt their hair beginning to rise on end.
On a closer examination it was seen that the marks had been made during the last thaw—perhaps a month before—and were frozen solidly in the crust.
For three whole days they neither met tiger nor other peril, but marched on steadily to the south, sleeping at night in crannies among the rocks. The fourth morning the air was warm and a thin rain was falling. The long-delayed spring had come at last.
"It's useless to travel," said Platoff; "in this slush we could not make half a dozen miles. We will stay right here until the weather changes. Vladivostok is less than a hundred miles distant. Let that be a consolation to you.
Fortunately the camping-place they had chosen the previous night was eminently suitable for a protracted stay. It was a shallow cavern hollowed from the base of a high cliff, and running back half a dozen feet—its face open, of course, and protected from wind and rain by a thick screen of young fir-trees.
Thanks to Poussin's generosity, it was needless to worry about food. They had plenty and to spare. Still it was a dreary four days that they spent in that rocky nook, with nothing to do but eat, sleep and talk. It rained hard day and night, the snow faded away, and the ice melted, and the grass underneath began to spring up with amazing rapidity. In four short days winter yielded to spring, and frozen Siberia was blossoming a Paradise.
"The ice is breaking on the rivers," said Platoff, "and in the harbour of Vladivostok. The ships will anchor now in the golden Horn, and the flags of all nations will float in the breeze."
On the morning of the fifth day the march was resumed. The sun was shining from a cloudless sky, and birds were singing sweetly in the forest.
The fugitives pressed forward with elastic step, snuffing the crisp, cool atmosphere, and bathing their faces in the warm sunlight that penetrated the foliage.
At noon they halted beside a spring of ice-water. They ate a hearty meal, and then, slightly fatigued by the brisk morning walk, dropped lazily on the short grass for a brief siesta.
* * *
CHAPTER XXIV
When Maurice awoke some time later both of his companions were sleeping soundly. The sun was far to the west, and the air was chilly and piercing.
He threw off the rug and sat up. A rustling sound not far away attracted his attention, and looking across the forest he saw a deer—a big buck with branching horns—strolling past an open glade, thirty yards distant,
With sudden excitement he extended a trembling hand for his revolver, and rose to his feet. He was hungry for fresh venison. and here was too good a chance to be neglected. The tinned food and musty cheese put up by the starosta was beginning to grow wearisome.
He delayed for a moment, uncertain whether to awake his companions or not.
"Better let them sleep," he thought; "I shan't be gone long."
The deer by this time had crossed the glade and vanished in the forest beyond, so Maurice started off briskly, intending to make a wide detour and get ahead of his victim.
He ran up the valley for nearly a quarter of a mile, keeping close to the base of the hill, and then crept cautiously down into the hollows peering ahead through the leafless branches of the trees.
In this sheltered retreat patches of snow still lay here and there on the ground, and through one such spot—an open glade—Maurice tramped heedlessly.
Still he saw no trace of the deer. He paused and listened intently, but the forest was very still. He drew back into a clump of bushes and sat down on a fallen log.
The minutes passed on without interruption, and he had about made up his mind to return to his companions, when a sudden crash echoed through the forest, and he sprang to his feet in wild excitement, just in time to see the frightened deer go past him like a streak.
Something had scared the animal badly.
The possibility that a tiger was lurking in the vicinity made Maurice's blood run cold, but on second thought he was inclined to believe that his companions were awake and searching for him.
Under this impression he was about to leave his hiding-place, and started up the valley, when a sight met his eyes that caused him to crouch deeper in the bushes with a shudder.
Through the forest, less than forty yard distant, came a burly Cossack, resplendent in his green uniform. In one hand he held a rifle, and with the other he led his horse.
Close behind him was a second soldier, also on foot, and leading his steed by the bridle.
They advanced into the open glade, bending over the ground and apparently conversing. Like a flash the truth entered Maurice's mind. They had discovered his footprints in the patches snow, and were following up his trail.
For a moment he gave himself up for lost. The Cossacks were between him and his companions, so that retreat up the valley was cut off. The footmarks showed the direction he had taken, and he was in danger of discovery at any moment.
He had presence of mind enough to remember the steep and rocky hillside behind him. If he could gain that, and climb up the face, he might escape after all. The Cossacks certainly could not follow him on horseback, and on foot the chances were even.
Thrusting the revolver into his belt, he dropped on hands and knees, and crawled off into the forest until the enemy were out of sight. Then rising to his feet, he dashed off across the valley at full speed
A short run brought him to rising ground, and he pressed on up the slope faster than ever, and soon he reached a level stretch at the base of a hill. The first glance brought despair to his heart, overhead were steep and barren rocks, rising many feet in air, and here and there a stunted pine-tree.
