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Nadia resumed her place in the cart, and Michael took his seat beside her. Before the lowered hood hung two leathern curtains, which would in some degree protect the travelers against the wind and rain.
"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.
In consequence of this arrangement, Michael Strogoff, marching in the first ranks of those who had left the Tartar camp that is to say, among the Kolyvan prisoners was unable to mingle with the prisoners who had arrived after him from Omsk. He had therefore no suspicion that his mother and Nadia were present in the convoy, nor did they suppose that he was among those in front.
Nadia's voice came clearly in his ears. "I'll say I have! A hunk of solid, non-magnetic metal about the size of an office desk. I can't break off any of it, so I guess we'll have to grab the whole chunk." He hitched the end of his cable around the nugget, made sure that the loops would not slip, and then, as Nadia tightened the line, he shoved mightily. "All x, Nadia, she's coming!
Then, when day came, they would be seen by the Tartars, and massacred without mercy! Michael returned to the spot where Nadia was waiting for him. He approached the girl, took her hand, and put to her the invariable question: "Nadia, are you ready?" to which she replied as usual, "I am ready!" For a few versts more the raft continued to drift amongst the floating ice.
The Nadia was in and side-tracked, with a sleepy porter on guard. Ford climbed to the platform and asked for the president. "Yas, suh; dis is Mr. Colbrith's cyar; but he don't see no newspapuh men no, suh. Besides, dey's just gettin' up," was the rebuff; but Ford ignored it. "'They? Then Mr. Colbrith isn't alone?" "No, suh; got a pahty 'long with him a young gentleman and two ladies; yes, suh.
The folkses are playing dummy whist in the Nadia; and Gridley is holding the fort at the shops with the toughest-looking lot of myrmidons you ever laid your eyes on." Once again Lidgerwood was making tiny squares on his desk blotter. "I'm thankful that the news of the strike got to Copah in time to bring Gridley over on 203," he said. Benson's boyish eyes opened to their widest angle.
Nadia and Michael immediately took their places in the tarantass. A small store of provisions was put in the box, in case at any time they were delayed in reaching the post-houses, which are very comfortably provided under direction of the State. The hood was pulled up, as it was insupport-ably hot, and at twelve o'clock the tarantass left Perm in a cloud of dust.
Climbing to the observation platform, Penfield let himself into the cheerful central compartment of the Nadia quietly enough to surprise two people who were sitting together on one of the broad divans. The two were Ford and Miss Alicia Adair, with Aunt Hester Adair, reading under the drop-light at the table, for the only other occupant of the compartment.
Nadia accepted the invitation enthusiastically, and they made their way to the nearest of the miniature space-cruisers. Here, although no emergency had been encountered in all the four years of the vessel's life, they found everything in readiness, and the two soon had prepared and eaten a hearty luncheon.
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