it in the water. Two others
were attached to the shafts to keep them on a level with the body of the
machine, thus transformed into a raft. This work was soon finished.

"You will not be afraid, Nadia?" asked Michael.

"No, brother," answered the girl.

"And you, friend?"

"I?" cried Nicholas. "I am now going to have one of my dreams
realized--that of sailing in a cart."

At the spot where they were now standing, the bank sloped, and was
suitable for the launching of the kibitka. The horse drew it into the
water, and they were soon both floating. As to Serko, he was swimming
bravely.

The three passengers, seated in the vehicle, had with due precaution
taken off their shoes and stockings; but, thanks to the bottles, the
water did not even come over their ankles. Michael held the reins, and,
according to Nicholas's directions, guided the animal obliquely, but
cautiously, so as not to exhaust him by struggling against the current.
So long as the kibitka went with the current all was easy, and in a few
minutes it had passed the quays of Krasnoiarsk. It drifted northwards,
and it was soon evident that it would only reach the opposite bank far
below the town. But that mattered little. The crossing would have been
made without great difficulty, even on this imperfect apparatus, had
the current been regular; but, unfortunately, there were whirlpools in
numbers, and soon the kibitka, notwithstanding all Michael's efforts,
was irresistibly drawn into one of these.

There the danger was great. The kibitka no longer drifted, but spun
rapidly round, inclining towards the center of the eddy, like a rider in
a circus. The horse could scarcely keep his head above water, and ran a
great risk of being suffocated. Serko had been obliged to take refuge in
the carriage.

Michael knew what was happening. He felt himself drawn round in a
gradually narrowing line, from which they could not get free. How he
longed to see, to be better able to avoid this peril, but that was no
longer possible. Nadia was silent, her hands clinging to the sides
of the cart, which was inclining more and more towards the center of
depression.

And Nicholas, did he not understand the gravity of the situation? Was it
with him phlegm or contempt of danger, courage or indifference? Was his
life valueless in his eyes, and, according to the Eastern expression,
"an hotel for five days," which, whether one is willing or not, must be
left the sixth? At any rate