All this while Ivan was performing wonders, and I heard him fire his carbine and both pistols, showing that our opponents were getting as hot a reception on the extreme left as on the left and right centre, and in another minute four wolves again crossed the lighted area, but this time to flee, and curious to relate two or three of those which we imagined to be mortally wounded raised themselves on their paws. Then dragging themselves along and leaving behind them a wide trail of blood, they followed their companions and disappeared with them; so that when we took stock we found only three of our enemies on the field of battle.

  I turned to George, beneath whose wagon two wolves were lying; the one he had pierced with his pike and the one I had shot with my carbine.

  “Load again at once,” he said, “they are old acquaintances and I know all their tricks; load again quickly, we shall not get rid of them so cheaply.”

  “What!” I said, putting his advice into execution at once, “don’t you think that we are already quit of them?”

  “Listen to them,” answered George; “listen, do you hear them calling; and.... there, out there....” and he stretched out his hand towards the horizon.

  In truth the howls near at hand were answered by more distant howls; so it was clear the old guide was right and the first attack was nothing but an affair of outposts.

  Just then I turned round and saw glowing like two flaming torches the two eyes of a wolf which had climbed on to the crest of the snow mound and was diving straight into our camp. I aimed at him, but just as I fired he leapt among the horses and fell clinging to the throat of one of them. Two or three of the men immediately let themselves down at the back of the wagons; but they were restrained by the shouts of old George.

  “It is only one wolf,” he cried, “and one man is enough; all you others stick to your posts.... and you,” he added, addressing me, “load again quick and only fire if you are certain of your aim.”

  Two of the men climbed back into the wagons, while the third crept along on his stomach with his long knife in his hand, between the horses’ feet, while the latter were stamping in terror and throwing themselves like mad creatures against the wagons which confined them. A moment later I saw a blade flash and then immediately disappear; then the wolf relaxed its hold on the horse, which streaming with blood reared up on its hind legs, while a shapeless mass could be seen rolling on the ground, and wolf could not be distinguished from man nor man from wolf; it was a really terrific sight. In another moment the man got up; we uttered a shout of joy, for we had been greatly depressed.

  “David,” shouted the man, shaking himself, “come and help me to pick up this carrion; as long as it is within the enclosure the horses will not be happy.”

  David got down, dragged the wolf as far as his father’s wagon, and raised it with the assistance of his companion. George caught hold of it by the hind paws as if it had been a hare, and dragging it towards him threw it beyond the circle with the two others which were already dead; then turning to the wagoner who was sitting on the ground, while David climbed back on to his wagon, he said: — ”Well, Nicholas, are not you going to return to your post?”

  “No, old fellow, no,” said the man, shaking his head, “I have had enough of it.”

  “Are you wounded, then?” cried Louise, coming half out of the sleigh.

  “I hardly know what to say, madam,” answered Nicholas; “only what I do know is that I believe I am done for.”

  “Eugène! “Louise called to me, “Eugène! come and help me to tend this poor man; he is bleeding to death.”

  I handed my carbine to George, jumped down from the wagon and ran to the wounded man.

  In fact, a piece of his jaw was torn away, and the blood was pouring from a deep wound in his neck. I feared for a moment that the carotid artery had been severed; I took a handful of snow and applied it to the wound, without knowing whether I was doing good or otherwise. The poor fellow, overcome by the cold, uttered a cry and fainted; I thought he was dead.

  “Oh! God,” cried Louise, “pardon me, I am the cause of it all.”

  “Help, your Excellency! help!” cried George, “here are the wolves.”

  I left the wounded man in charge of Louise and returned to my wagon.

  This time I could not follow the details, for I had enough to do on my own account without attending to others. We were attacked by at least twenty wolves; I discharged my two pistols point blank and then seized an axe which George handed me. When my pistols were emptied they were good for nothing, and I replaced them in my belt and tried to do my best with my new weapon.

  The fight lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour and during this period all who were taking part in the struggle were presented with one of the most terrible spectacles it is possible to see. In about a quarter of an hour’s time, I heard a loud shout of victory pass along our line and made a final effort. A wolf had scrambled on to the cordage of my wagon to get at me, and I struck him a terrible blow on the head, and although the axe glided off his skull he received a severe wound in the shoulder, let go his hold and fell backwards.

  Then as before we saw the wolves beat a retreat, pass howling across the lighted space, and disappear into the darkness, — this time not to re-appear.

  Each of us cast a silent and sorrowful look around him; three of our men were more or less severely wounded, and seven or eight wolves were lying about: it was evident that unless we had found means to light up the field of battle, we should most likely have all been devoured.

  The peril we had just encountered made us realise more than ever the necessity of reaching the plains speedily. Who could foresee the fresh dangers another night might produce should we be forced to spend it in the mountains?

  We placed the wounded men as sentinels over the wagons, after bandaging their wounds, for, although it was probable, from the more and more distant howls of the fugitives, that we were quite rid of them, it would be rash not to hold ourselves in readiness; when this precaution was taken we set to work again to dig out our gallery.

  At daybreak the mound of snow was pierced from end to end.

  Then George gave the order to put the horses in. Four of the wagoners attended to this, while the four others stript the carcases, for the fur, especially at that season, has a certain value; but just as we were starting it was noticed that the horse which had been bitten by the wolf was so terribly wounded as to be not only unfit for duty but unable even to walk.

  Then the carter to whom it belonged borrowed one of my pistols, and taking the poor creature aside blew out its brains.

  When this was over we once more started forth silently and sadly. Nicholas was in an almost desperate condition, and Louise, who assumed the responsibility of him, had him placed beside her in the sleigh; the others lay down on their wagons, while we walked by the horses.

  After progressing for three or four hours, during which the wagons just escaped falling over the precipices twenty times, we arrived at a little wood, which the wagoners recognised with shouts of joy, for it was only three or four leagues from the first village on the Asiatic slope of the Urals. We stopped here, and as we were all greatly in need of rest, George ordered a general halt.

  Everyone set vigorously to work, even the wounded; in ten minutes the horses were unharnessed, three or four fir trees cut down and a big fire lighted. Once more the bear supplied us with a meal, and as we had no lack of charcoal on which to roast it, everyone partook of it, even Louise.

  Then as all of us were eager to quit the cursed mountains, as soon as we had finished our meal and given the horses a feed, we again set out. After travelling for an hour and a half we caught sight at a bend of the road of several columns of smoke which seemed to be coming out of the earth; this was the eagerly expected village which more than one of us had never expected to reach. At last we entered it about four o’clock in the evening.

  There was nothing but one wretched inn, which in any other circumstances I would not have used as a dog kennel, and yet to us it seemed a palace.

  The next day, when starting, we left five hundred roubles with George, asking him to distribute it among the others.

  CHAPTER XXV

  FROM this moment all went well, for we found ourselves amidst the vast plains of Siberia, which extend as far as the Arctic Ocean, without a single elevation meriting the title of hill. Thanks to the orders which Ivan carried, the best horses were at our service; then at night-time, to guard against accidents such as those to which we had nearly fallen victims, ten or a dozen men armed with carbines or lances accompanied us as an escort, galloping on either side of our sleigh. We passed through Ekaterinburg without stopping at the magnificent jewellers’ shops, which make it sparkle like a fairy city, and appear all the more marvellous to us, who had just emerged from a wilderness of snow, where for three nights we had found no better shelter than a hut; then Tiumen where Siberia proper begins; at last we entered the valley of the Tobol and seven days after leaving the terrible Ural Mountains we reached at nightfall the capital of Siberia.

  We were overwhelmed with fatigue, yet Louise, sustained by the intensity of her love, which increased in volume the nearer she approached its object, would only stop long enough to take a bath. About two in the morning we started for Koslovo, a little town on the banks of the Irtich, which had been fixed upon as quarters for about twenty of the convicts, among whom was Count Alexis, as I have already mentioned.

  We drew up at the residence of the Captain in command of the colony, and found the Emperor’s order of great assistance as usual. We were told that the Count was still at Koslovo and that he was in excellent health. I settled with Louise that I should go and see him immediately to inform him of her arrival. I therefore asked the Governor if I might see him, and received the necessary permission without any difficulty. As I did not know where the Count resided and could not speak the language of the country, I was given a Cossack as a guide.

  We proceeded to a part of the village, which was enclosed by high palisades, with gates guarded by sentinels, and consisted of nearly twenty houses. The Cossack halted and pointed to one of them. I knocked at the door with a strange beating of the heart, and heard the voice of Alexis answer, “Come in.” I opened the door and found him lying fully dressed on his bed, with his arm hanging down and an open book on the floor.

  I stood on the threshold looking at him and stretching out my arms, while he rose in astonishment and did not appear able to recognise me “Yes,” I said, “it is I.”

  “What! you! you!”

  Then he leapt from his bed and threw his arms round my neck; the next moment he started back as if terrified.

  “Good God!” he cried, “you must be exiled too, and I am unlucky enough to be the cause of it.”

  “Make yourself easy,” I said, “I have come here as a tourist.”

  He smiled bitterly.

  “A tourist in the depths of Siberia, nine hundred leagues from St. Petersburg. Explain yourself.. or rather.. first of all, can you give me any news of Louise?”

  “Excellent and the very latest. I have just left her.”

  “You have just left her! You must have left her a month ago?”

  “Five minutes ago.”

  “Good God!” cried Alexis, turning pale, “what are you saying?”

  “The truth.”

  “Louise?...”

  “Is here.”

  “Oh! noble-hearted woman!” he murmured, raising his hands to Heaven, while two great tears rolled down his cheeks.

  Then after a moment’s silence, during which he seemed to be thanking God, he asked: — ” Where is she?”

  “At the Governor’s house.”

  “Let us hasten there.”

  Then he stopped dead.

  “What a fool I am! I forgot that I am penned in and cannot leave my hut without permission from the Sergeant 111 charge. My dear friend, go and fetch Louise, that I may see her, and fold her in my arms; or rather stay here, the man can go. Meanwhile we will talk about her.”

  He said a few words to the Cossack, who left us to execute the commission.

  Then I told Alexis all that had happened since his arrest; Louise’s determination, how she had sold everything, how she had been robbed, her interview with the Emperor, his kindness to her, our departure, from St. Petersburg, our arrival at Moscow, our reception by his mother and sisters, who had taken possession of his child; then I spoke of our departure, our weariness, our dangers; the terrible journey across the Urals and finally of our arrival at Tobolsk and Koslovo. The Count listened to my narrative as if it had been a fairy tale, every now and then catching hold of my hands and looking me in the face to assure Himself that it was really myself who was there in front of him and speaking to him. Then he got up impatiently and walked to the door, but seeing no one coming, he sat down again, asking me some fresh details, which it did not weary me to repeat any more than it did him to listen to. At length the door opened and the Cossack came in alone.

  “Well?” asked the Count, turning pale.

  “The Governor replied that you ought to know that the prisoners are forbidden...

  “What?”

  “To see women.”

  The Count put his hand to his forehead and fell back into his chair. I began to feel doubtful myself and I looked at the Count, whose face betrayed the tumult of emotion that was passing through his breast. After a moment’s silence, he turned to the Cossack: “Can I speak to the Sergeant?” he said.

  “He was with the Governor when I was there.”

  “Will you wait for him at the door, and beg him from me to have the kindness to call here?”

  The Cossack bowed and left us.

  “These people obey you still?” said I to the Count.

  “Yes, from habit,” he answered with a smile. “But did you ever hear of anything like this anything so dreadful? here she is within a stone’s throw, after journeying nine hundred leagues to join me, and I am not able to see her.”

  “But there must be some mistake,” I said, “they must have misunderstood the instructions, they will change their minds about it,”

  Alexis smiled doubtfully.

  “Then, we can petition the Emperor.”

  “Yes, and the answer will come in three months’ time; and meanwhile... My God? you don’t know what this country is!”

  Then a look of despair came into the Count’s eyes which frightened me.

  “Well; if it must be,” I answered with a smile, “during these three months I will keep you company; we will talk of her and that will help you to grow patient, besides the heart of the Governor will be softened or he will keep his eyes shut.”

  Alexis looked at me and smiled.

  “Look here,” said he, “you must not expect anything of the sort. All is ice here like the ground. If there is an order the order will be carried out, and I shall not see her.’’

  “This is terrible,” I murmured.

  Just then the Sergeant came in.

  “Sir!” cried Alexis, rushing up to him, “a woman by the strength of her heroic and sublime devotion, has travelled from St. Petersburg to join me; she is here on the spot after running countless dangers, and this man tells me I may not see her... Surely he is mistaken?”

  “No sir,” replied the Sergeant icily; “you know quite well that prisoners are not allowed to see females.”

  “And yet, sir, Prince Trubetski got the permission which has been refused me; is that because he is a Prince?”

  “No, sir,” answered the Sergeant, “but because the Princess is his wife.”

  “If Louise was my wife,” cried the Count, “would they offer no opposition to my seeing her?”

  “None, sir.”

  “Oh!” cried the Count, as if he had been relieved of a heavy load.

  Then a moment later he said to the Sergeant: — ” Sir, will you allow a priest to come and see me?”

  “I will send for one at once,” answered the Sergeant.

  “Will you, my friend,” continued the Count, pressing my hands, “after acting as a companion and defender of Louise, carry out the duties of a witness and a father?”

  I threw my arms round his neck and embraced him with tears; I could not utter a word.

  “Go and find Louise,” said the Count, “and tell her we shall see her tomorrow.”

  On the morrow at ten o’clock in the morning, Louise, escorted by the Governor and myself and Count Alexis, followed by Prince Troubetski and all the other exiles, entered the doors of the little church at Koslovo, bowed in silence before the altar, and there exchanged their first words.

  By the solemn “Yes “they were bound to each other for life. The Emperor, in an autograph letter addressed to the Governor, and delivered to him by Ivan, unknown to us, had ordered that Louise was not to go to the Count except as his wife.

  As we have noted, the Count had anticipated the Emperor’s wishes.

  On returning to St. Petersburg I found letters recalling me urgently to France.

  It was now February and the sea route was impracticable, but sleighing was in full swing and I did not hesitate to travel by that method.

  I found it less a wrench to leave the city of Peter the Great. Although the Emperor had had the kindness not to fill up my place in the regiment in spite of my absence without leave, I had lost by the conspiracy a good number of my pupils, and I could not help feeling sorry for the misguided young men, however guilty they may have been.

 

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