e Tartars occupied it, they must at every
cost avoid the place.

"Advance cautiously," said Michael Strogoff, "but advance!"

A verst was soon traversed.

"Those are not clouds, that is smoke!" exclaimed Nadia. "Brother, they
are burning the town!"

It was, indeed, only too plain. Flashes of light appeared in the midst
of the vapor. It became thicker and thicker as it mounted upwards. But
were they Tartars who had done this? They might be Russians, obeying the
orders of the Grand Duke. Had the government of the Czar determined that
from Krasnoiarsk, from the Yenisei, not a town, not a village should
offer a refuge to the Emir's soldiers? What was Michael to do?

He was undecided. However, having weighed the pros and cons, he thought
that whatever might be the difficulties of a journey across the steppe
without a beaten path, he ought not to risk capture a second time by
the Tartars. He was just proposing to Nicholas to leave the road, when
a shot was heard on their right. A ball whistled, and the horse of the
kibitka fell dead, shot through the head.

A dozen horsemen dashed forward, and the kibitka was surrounded. Before
they knew where they were, Michael, Nadia, and Nicholas were prisoners,
and were being dragged rapidly towards Nijni-Oudinsk.

Michael, in this second attack, had lost none of his presence of
mind. Being unable to see his enemies, he had not thought of defending
himself. Even had he possessed the use of his eyes, he would not have
attempted it. The consequences would have been his death and that of his
companions. But, though he could not see, he could listen and understand
what was said.

From their language he found that these soldiers were Tartars, and from
their words, that they preceded the invading army.

In short, what Michael learnt from the talk at the present moment, as
well as from the scraps of conversation he overheard later, was this.
These men were not under the direct orders of the Emir, who was now
detained beyond the Yenisei. They made part of a third column chiefly
composed of Tartars from the khanats of Khokland and Koondooz, with
which Feofar's army was to affect a junction in the neighborhood of
Irkutsk.

By Ogareff's advice, in order to assure the success of the invasion in
the Eastern provinces, this column had skirted the base of the Altai
Mountains. Pillaging and ravaging, it had reached the upper course of
the Yenisei. There, guessing what had been done at Krasnoi