pressed him too closely. Each time an Usbeck rolled on the ground,
midst cries of rage from his companions. But this pursuit could only
terminate to Michael's disadvantage. His horse was almost exhausted. He
managed to reach the bank of the river. The Usbeck detachment was now
not more than fifty paces behind him.

The Obi was deserted--not a boat of any description which could take him
over the water!

"Courage, my brave horse!" cried Michael. "Come! A last effort!" And he
plunged into the river, which here was half a verst in width.

It would have been difficult to stand against the current--indeed,
Michael's horse could get no footing. He must therefore swim across the
river, although it was rapid as a torrent. Even to attempt it showed
Michael's marvelous courage. The soldiers reached the bank, but
hesitated to plunge in.

The pendja-baschi seized his musket and took aim at Michael, whom he
could see in the middle of the stream. The shot was fired, and Michael's
horse, struck in the side, was borne away by the current.

His master, speedily disentangling himself from his stirrups, struck out
boldly for the shore. In the midst of a hailstorm of balls he managed to
reach the opposite side, and disappeared in the rushes.

CHAPTER XVII THE RIVALS

MICHAEL was in comparative safety, though his situation was still
terrible. Now that the faithful animal who had so bravely borne him had
met his death in the waters of the river, how was he to continue his
journey?

He was on foot, without provisions, in a country devastated by the
invasion, overrun by the Emir's scouts, and still at a considerable
distance from the place he was striving to reach. "By Heaven, I will get
there!" he exclaimed, in reply to all the reasons for faltering. "God
will protect our sacred Russia."

Michael was out of reach of the Usbeck horsemen. They had not dared to
pursue him through the river.

Once more on solid ground Michael stopped to consider what he should
do next. He wished to avoid Tomsk, now occupied by the Tartar troops.
Nevertheless, he must reach some town, or at least a post-house, where
he could procure a horse. A horse once found, he would throw himself out
of the beaten track, and not again take to the Irkutsk road until in the
neighborhood of Krasnoiarsk. From that place, if he were quick, he
hoped to find the way still open, and he intended to go through the Lake
Baikal provinces in a southeasterly direction.

M