e and hurry to the Bolchaia Gate. If it was unguarded, he
would open it; or at least he would direct the overwhelming mass of its
assailants against the few defenders.

He now crouched in the shadow, like a wild beast ready to spring on
its prey. A few minutes before two o'clock, the Grand Duke desired
that Michael Strogoff--which was the only name they could give to Ivan
Ogareff--should be brought to him. An aide-de-camp came to the room, the
door of which was closed. He called.

Ogareff, motionless near the window, and invisible in the shade did not
answer. The Grand Duke was therefore informed that the Czar's courier
was not at that moment in the palace.

Two o'clock struck. Now was the time to cause the diversion agreed
upon with the Tartars, waiting for the assault. Ivan Ogareff opened the
window and stationed himself at the North angle of the side terrace.

Below him flowed the roaring waters of the Angara. Ogareff took a match
from his pocket, struck it and lighted a small bunch of tow, impregnated
with priming powder, which he threw into the river.

It was by the orders of Ivan Ogareff that the torrents of mineral oil
had been thrown on the surface of the Angara! There are numerous
naphtha springs above Irkutsk, on the right bank, between the suburb
of Poshkavsk and the town. Ogareff had resolved to employ this terrible
means to carry fire into Irkutsk. He therefore took possession of the
immense reservoirs which contained the combustible liquid. It was only
necessary to demolish a piece of wall in order to allow it to flow out
in a vast stream.

This had been done that night, a few hours previously, and this was the
reason that the raft which carried the true Courier of the Czar, Nadia,
and the fugitives, floated on a current of mineral oil. Through the
breaches in these reservoirs of enormous dimensions rushed the naphtha
in torrents, and, following the inclination of the ground, it spread
over the surface of the river, where its density allowed it to float.
This was the way Ivan Ogareff carried on warfare! Allied with Tartars,
he acted like a Tartar, and against his own countrymen!

The tow had been thrown on the waters of the Angara. In an instant, with
electrical rapidity, as if the current had been of alcohol, the whole
river was in a blaze above and below the town. Columns of blue flames
ran between the two banks. Volumes of vapor curled up above. The few
pieces of ice which still drifted were seiz