Tartar detachment, sent to beat the shores of the Baikal,
in which case flight would have been impossible to them both. But Nadia
was soon reassured.

"Russians!" she exclaimed. And with this last effort, her eyes closed
and her head fell on Michael's breast.

But they had been seen, and some of these Russians, running to them, led
the blind man and the girl to a little point at which was moored a raft.

The raft was just going to start. These Russians were fugitives of
different conditions, whom the same interest had united at Lake Baikal.
Driven back by the Tartar scouts, they hoped to obtain a refuge at
Irkutsk, but not being able to get there by land, the invaders having
occupied both banks of the Angara, they hoped to reach it by descending
the river which flows through the town.

Their plan made Michael's heart leap; a last chance was before him,
but he had strength to conceal this, wishing to keep his incognito more
strictly than ever.

The fugitives' plan was very simple. A current in the lake runs along
by the upper bank to the mouth of the Angara; this current they hoped
to utilize, and with its assistance to reach the outlet of Lake Baikal.
From this point to Irkutsk, the rapid waters of the river would bear
them along at a rate of eight miles an hour. In a day and a half they
might hope to be in sight of the town.

No kind of boat was to be found; they had been obliged to make one;
a raft, or rather a float of wood, similar to those which usually are
drifted down Siberian rivers, was constructed. A forest of firs, growing
on the bank, had supplied the necessary materials; the trunks, fastened
together with osiers, made a platform on which a hundred people could
have easily found room.

On board this raft Michael and Nadia were taken. The girl had returned
to herself; some food was given to her as well as to her companion.
Then, lying on a bed of leaves, she soon fell into a deep sleep.

To those who questioned him, Michael Strogoff said nothing of what
had taken place at Tomsk. He gave himself out as an inhabitant of
Krasnoiarsk, who had not been able to get to Irkutsk before the Emir's
troops arrived on the left bank of the Dinka, and he added that, very
probably, the bulk of the Tartar forces had taken up a position before
the Siberian capital.

There was not a moment to be lost; besides, the cold was becoming more
and more severe. During the night the temperature fell below zero; ice
was alrea