not now delay in doing. All must be over by the time
that the Russian troops should come in sight of Irkutsk. Ogareff's
arrangements were made, and on this evening a note fell from the top of
the earthworks into Sangarre's hands.

On the next day, that is to say during the hours of darkness from the
5th to the 6th of October, at two o'clock in the morning, Ivan Ogareff
had resolved to deliver up Irkutsk.

CHAPTER XIV THE NIGHT OF THE FIFTH OF OCTOBER

IVAN OGAREFF'S plan had been contrived with the greatest care, and
except for some unforeseen accident he believed that it must succeed.
It was of importance that the Bolchaia Gate should be unguarded or
only feebly held when he gave it up. The attention of the besieged
was therefore to be drawn to another part of the town. A diversion was
agreed upon with the Emir.

This diversion was to be effected both up and down the river, on the
Irkutsk bank. The attack on these two points was to be conducted in
earnest, and at the same time a feigned attempt at crossing the Angara
from the left bank was to be made. The Bolchaia Gate, would be probably
deserted, so much the more because on this side the Tartar outposts
having drawn back, would appear to have broken up.

It was the 5th of October. In four and twenty hours, the capital of
Eastern Siberia would be in the hands of the Emir, and the Grand Duke in
the power of Ivan Ogareff.

During the day, an unusual stir was going on in the Angara camp. From
the windows of the palace important preparations on the opposite shore
could be distinctly seen. Numerous Tartar detachments were converging
towards the camp, and from hour to hour reinforced the Emir's troops.
These movements, intended to deceive the besieged, were conducted in the
most open manner possible before their eyes.

Ogareff had warned the Grand Duke that an attack was to be feared. He
knew, he said, that an assault was to be made, both above and below
the town, and he counselled the Duke to reinforce the two directly
threatened points. Accordingly, after a council of war had been held in
the palace, orders were issued to concentrate the defense on the bank
of the Angara and at the two ends of the town, where the earthworks
protected the river.

This was exactly what Ogareff wished. He did not expect that the
Bolchaia Gate would be left entirely without defenders, but that there
would only be a small number. Besides, Ogareff meant to give such
importance to t