e across the steppe, may be
easily guessed to be a courier of the Czar. If, on the contrary, this
young girl accompanies me, I shall appear, in the eyes of all, the
Nicholas Korpanoff of my podorojna. Therefore, she must accompany me.
Therefore, I must find her again at any cost. It is not probable that
since yesterday evening she has been able to get a carriage and leave
Nijni-Novgorod. I must look for her. And may God guide me!"

Michael left the great square of Nijni-Novgorod, where the tumult
produced by the carrying out of the prescribed measures had now reached
its height. Recriminations from the banished strangers, shouts from the
agents and Cossacks who were using them so brutally, together made an
indescribable uproar. The girl for whom he searched could not be there.
It was now nine o'clock in the morning. The steamboat did not start till
twelve. Michael Strogoff had therefore nearly two hours to employ in
searching for her whom he wished to make his traveling companion.

He crossed the Volga again and hunted through the quarters on the
other side, where the crowd was much less considerable. He entered
the churches, the natural refuge for all who weep, for all who suffer.
Nowhere did he meet with the young Livonian.

"And yet," he repeated, "she could not have left Nijni-Novgorod yet.
We'll have another look." He wandered about thus for two hours. He went
on without stopping, feeling no fatigue, obeying a potent instinct which
allowed no room for thought. All was in vain.

It then occurred to him that perhaps the girl had not heard of the
order--though this was improbable enough, for such a thunder-clap could
not have burst without being heard by all. Evidently interested in
knowing the smallest news from Siberia, how could she be ignorant of
the measures taken by the governor, measures which concerned her so
directly?

But, if she was ignorant of it, she would come in an hour to the quay,
and there some merciless agent would refuse her a passage! At any cost,
he must see her beforehand, and enable her to avoid such a repulse.

But all his endeavors were in vain, and he at length almost despaired
of finding her again. It was eleven o'clock, and Michael thought of
presenting his podorojna at the office of the head of police. The
proclamation evidently did not concern him, since the emergency had been
foreseen for him, but he wished to make sure that nothing would hinder
his departure from the town.

Mic