CHAPTER X
PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT.
The next morning Godfrey and Mikail were by the doctor's orders carriedto the hospital and placed in a comfortable and well-arranged ward. "Youwon't have to be here many days," the doctor said when he came round theward. "I only had you brought here because the air is sweeter and betterthan it is in that room you were in." An hour later the governor with aclerk came in. Mikail was first called upon for his statement, which waswritten down by the clerk.
"Had you any reason for supposing that the man had any special enmityagainst you?" the governor asked.
"Only because of that flogging he had for the row in the ward last week,sir."
"Ah, yes, he was one of those who attacked you then and was flogged;that accounts for it."
Then Godfrey gave his account of what had happened.
"Did you observe anything that made you specially watchful?" thegovernor asked.
"I thought perhaps one of them might try to take revenge on Mikail, sir.One or two of them were very sullen and surly, and would, I thought, dohim harm if they had the chance; but I suspected this man more than theothers because he seemed so unnaturally pleasant, and as I had heard himboasting about the things for which he is here, I thought he was moredangerous than those who grumbled and threatened."
The governor nodded. "Yes, he is a thorough-paced villain; you have donevery well, young man, and I shall not forget it."
Five days later there was a stir in front of the hospital, and Mikail,whose bed was by the side of the window, raised himself on his elbow andlooked out.
"It is a punishment parade," he said; "I expect they are going to flogKoshkin with the _plete_. No governor of a prison is allowed to do thatuntil the circumstances of the case have been sent to the governor ofthe province, and the sentence receives his approval; that is no doubtwhat has caused the delay. All the prisoners are mustering."
Godfrey, who was in the next bed, managed to draw himself on toMikail's, and then to sit up so as to look out. The whole of theconvicts of that prison, some eight hundred in number, were drawn upforming three sides of a square; in front of them, four paces apart,were a line of soldiers with fixed bayonets, while behind was anotherline. Then Koshkin, stripped to the waist, was brought forward and boundto a thick board having an iron leg, so that when laid down the boardinclined to an angle of about thirty degrees. On this he was so strappedas to be perfectly immovable. Then a man approached with the dreadedwhip and took his place on one side of the criminal. The governor thenentered the square. He was attended by all the prison officials. Hisface was very grave and stern, and he walked along the lines,scrutinizing closely each man as he passed him. Then he took his placein the centre of the square and held up his hand.
"This man," he said, "has attempted to murder the starosta of his ward,and is for this sentenced to fifty lashes. Let this be a lesson to allhere."
Then he signalled to the executioner, who brought down his lash withgreat force upon the bare back of the prisoner. A terrible cry brokefrom Koshkin. Two more blows were given, and then the executioner movedto the other side and delivered another three blows. In this way thelashes crossed each other at an angle. Godfrey could look no more, butcrawled back on to his own bed. Mikail continued looking out until thepunishment was over.
"He has not bled," he said; "he will die."
"How do you mean, Mikail?"
"Well, that is how it is, Ivan. It is as the executioner likes, or as heis ordered. He can, according to the way he strikes, cut the flesh ornot each stroke. If it bleeds the man seldom dies, if it doesn't thereis little chance for him. There are several ways of flogging theprisoner, and his friends generally bribe the executioner; then hestrikes with all his strength the first blow that is terrible, but itseems to numb the flesh somehow, and afterwards he does not strike sohard, and the prisoner hardly feels the blows. The worst is when he hitssoftly at first and then harder and harder, then the man feels everyblow to the end; but they are obliged to hit hard, if not they getflogged themselves. I saw a case where the executioner had been wellbribed and, therefore, hit gently, and the prisoner was taken down andhe was tied up in his place and got twenty lashes. Years ago they usedthe _plete_ at all the prisons, now they only use it at three prisons,where the worst criminals are sent, and this is one of them."
A week later they were both discharged from the hospital and returned tothe ward. The first thing they heard on entering it was that Koshkin haddied the night before. Godfrey went back to his work in the office. Hewas doubtful how he should be received in the ward, but he found that,except by Kobylin and four or five others, he was welcomed quitecordially.
"You have done us all a service," Osip said. "There was sure to havebeen trouble sooner or later, and that flogging will cow these fellowsfor some time. This is only the second there has been since I camehere--I mean, of course, at this prison. Besides, Mikail is a goodfellow, and we all like him, and everyone would have been sorry if hehad been killed."
"What is he in for? I never asked before. Of course, I see that he hasthe murderer's badge on his back. Do you know how it happened? I neverheard him speak of it."
"Yes, he told us about it one evening, that was before he becamestarosta. Some vodka had been smuggled in and he had more than was goodfor him, and that opened his lips. He had been a charcoal-burner andhaving had the good fortune to escape the conscription he married. Shewas a pretty girl, and it seems that the son of a rich proprietor hadtaken a fancy to her, and when the next year's conscription came hemanaged by some unfair means to get Mikail's name put down again on thelist. Such things can be done, you know, by a man with influence. Mikailran away and took to the woods. He was hunted for two or three months invain. Then someone betrayed him, and one morning he woke up in a hut hehad built for himself and saw the place was surrounded by soldiers.
"With the officers was the man who had injured him. Mikail was mad withfury, and rushing out with a big club he had cut he stretched the fellowdead on the ground--and served him right. However, of course Mikail wastaken, tried, and condemned. He had killed a noble's son, and threeweeks later was on his way to Siberia. His wife has followed him, and isliving now in a village two miles away. Another six months and Mikailwill have served his ten years, which is the least time a murderer canserve before he gets leave to live outside the prison. He is sure to getit then, his conduct has been always good, and no doubt this affair willcount in his favour. His wife came out two years after he was sent here.She keeps herself by spinning and helping at a farm. It has been a goodthing for Mikail, for it has kept him straight. If it had not been forthat he would have taken to the woods long ago."
"I don't call that a murder," Godfrey said indignantly. "If I had beenon the jury I would never have convicted him. He was treated illegallyand had the right to resist."
"I don't blame him very much myself," Osip said. "Of course it wouldhave been wiser to have submitted, and then to have tried to get offserving, but I don't suppose anyone would have listened to him. If ithadn't been a noble he killed I have no doubt he would have got off."
"But you are noble yourself, Osip."
"Yes, but that does not give me any marked advantage at present. Ofcourse it will make a difference when I get out. My friends will send memoney, and I shall live at Tobolsk and marry some wealthy gold-miner'sdaughter, and be in the best society. Oh, yes, it is an advantage beingnoble born, even in Siberia."
Godfrey was quite touched with the joy that Luka manifested when, on hisreturn from work, he found him in the ward. "Ah, my master," heexclaimed, with tears in his eyes, "why did you not tell me that youwere watching? I would have kept awake all night and would have thrownmyself on that dog; it would have made no matter if he had killed me. Itwould not have hurt me so much as it did to see you bleeding."
"You must not call me master," Godfrey said, holding out his hand, whichthe Tartar seized and pressed to his forehead. "You and I are friends,there are no masters here."
/> Godfrey learnt that every effort had been made by the authorities todiscover how Koshkin had obtained the knife, but without success. Hemust have bribed one of the guards to fetch it in for him, but there wasno tracing which had been concerned in the matter. All the prisonershad been searched and their bags examined, but no other weapons hadbeen discovered. Godfrey did not hear a single word of pity for Koshkin,or of regret at his death. Indifference for others was one of theleading characteristics of the prisoners. Although living so longtogether they seldom appeared to form a friendship of any kind; each manlived for and thought only of his own lot. Godfrey observed that it wasvery seldom that a prisoner shared any dainty he had purchased withanother, and it was only when three or four had clubbed together to getin a ham, a young sucking pig, or some vodka that they were seen topartake of it together.
Some of the prisoners, indeed, scarcely ever exchanged a word with therest, but moved about in moody silence paying no attention to what wasgoing on around them. Some again were always quarrelling, and seemed totake a delight in stirring up others by giving them unpleasantnicknames, or by turning them into ridicule.
"I am glad indeed, Mikail," Godfrey said, as he lay down beside thestarosta that night, "that you were not seriously hurt. I only heardto-day that you had a wife waiting for you outside."
"Yes, it is true," Mikail replied. "I never talk of her. I dare not evenlet myself think of her, it seems too great a happiness to be true; andsomething may occur, one never knows. Ah, Ivan, if it had not been foryou what news would have been taken to her! Think of it, after her longjourney out here; after waiting ten years for me, to hear that it wasuseless. I tremble like a leaf when I think of it. That night I layawake all night and cried like a young child, not for myself, you know,but for her. She has taken a cottage already, and is furnishing it withher savings. She is allowed to write to me, you know, once every month.At first it was every three months. What happiness it was to me when myfirst five years was up and she could write once a month! Do you think Ishall know her? She will have changed much. I tell myself that always;and I--I have changed much too, but she will know me, I am sure she willknow me. I tremble now at the thought of our meeting, Ivan; but I oughtnot to talk so, I ought not to speak to you of my happiness--you, whohave no friend waiting to see you."
"I like to hear you talk of your wife, Mikail. My friends are a long wayoff indeed; but I hope that I shall see them before very long."
"You think that you may be pardoned?" Mikail asked.
"No, I mean to escape."
"Ah, lad," Mikail said kindly, "I don't suppose there is ever a prisonercomes here who does not say to himself, I will escape. Every springthere are thousands who take to the woods, and scarce one of these buthopes never to see the inside of a prison again, and yet they come back,every one of them."
"But there have been escapes, Mikail, therefore there is nothingimpossible in it."
"There are twenty thousand convicts cross the frontier every year, lad.There is not one man makes his escape in five years."
"Well, I mean to be the man this five years, Mikail."
"I would not try if I were you. Were you in on a life sentence formurder, or still worse, as a political prisoner, I would say try if youlike, for you would have nothing to lose; but you have a good prospectnow. I am sure you must have been a political, but now that you havebeen a wanderer you are so no longer. You have won the governor'sgood-will, and as soon as your time is up, perhaps before, you will beallowed to live outside the prison. If you go away in the spring youwill, when you return as winter comes on, forfeit all this, and have tobegin again. When you come out there will be my little hut ready foryou, and such a welcome from my wife and me that you will forget howsmall and rough it is, and there you will live with us till your fiveyears are up, and you can go anywhere you like in Siberia."
"I thank you sincerely, Mikail, and I should, I am sure, be as happy asan exile could be with you and your faithful wife; but if I have to tryafresh every year for twenty years I will break out and strive toescape. You know that I am English by my mother's side. I can tell younow that I am altogether English, and I will gain England or die. At anyrate, if it is to be done I will do it. I have health and strength anddetermination. I have learnt all that there is to be learnt as to thedifficulties of the journey. I have more to gain, more to strive forthan other prisoners. Even if they escape they cannot return home. Theymust still be exiled from Russia; must earn their bread among strangersas they are earning it here. I have a home awaiting me--a father,mother, and sisters--to whom I shall come back as one from the grave.Why, man, the difficulties are nothing in comparison to the reward. Ajourney across Asia is as nothing to the journeys many of my countrymenhave made across Africa. Here there is no fear of fever, of savagetribes, or savage beasts. It is in comparison a mere pleasure excursion.I may not succeed next time, just as I did not succeed last year, butsucceed in the end I will."
"I believe you," Mikail said earnestly, infected by Godfrey'senthusiasm. "Did you not overthrow, as if he were a babe, Kobylin, whomeveryone else feared? Yes, if anyone can do it you can."
At last the long winter was over, the thaw came, and the work at themine was renewed. Godfrey was afraid that he might be still kept in theoffice, and he spoke to Mikail on the subject; the latter spoke to oneof the officials, and told him that the prisoner Ivan Holstoffpetitioned that he might be again put to work on the mine instead ofbeing kept in the office, as he felt his health suffering from theconfinement. Two days later Godfrey was called into the governor's room.
"I hear that you have asked to go to the mine again, lad."
"Yes, sir; I like active work better than sitting indoors all day."
The colonel looked at him keenly. "You are doing well here, lad; it willbe a pity to have to begin over again. I can guess what is in yourthoughts. Think it over, lad, don't do anything rash; but if--," and hehesitated, "if you are headstrong and foolish, remember you will bebetter off here than elsewhere, and that I am never very hard onrunaways. That will do; you will go out again with the gang to-morrow."
"Thank you, sir," Godfrey said earnestly, and with a bow returned to hiswork at the desk in the next room.
On the following day work at the mine was resumed. Godfrey at once beganhis preparations for his flight, and as a first step managed to concealunder a lump of rock a heavy hammer and a pick used in the work; he hadalready laid in a stock of a dozen boxes of matches. The next evening hesaid to Mikail when they had lain down for the night,--
"Now, Mikail, I want you to help me."
"So you really mean to go?"
"Yes, my mind is quite made up. I want you to get me in some things fromoutside."
"I will get you anything if you will tell me what you want."
"I want most of all two long knives."
"Yes, knives are useful," Mikail said; "but they are awkward things toget. I dare not ask any of the people who trade here to get such athing. Ah! I know what I will do; I am losing my head. I will steal youtwo from the kitchen; but that must be done the last thing, for ifknives were missed there would be a great search for them. What is thenext thing?"
"I should like a coil of thirty or forty yards of fine rope, and somestring. They are always useful things to have."
"That is so," the convict assented.
"Then I shall want some thread and needles."
"There is no difficulty about that; I can buy them for you at the gate.I don't know what excuse to make to get you the rope, but I will thinkof something."
"I don't think there is anything else, except that I should like thesetwenty roubles changed into kopecks."
The man nodded. "When will you try?"
"To-morrow. It is dark now by the time we leave off work; it will beeasy to slip away then. Luka is going with me."
"That is good," Mikail said, "he will be very useful; he is a goodlittle fellow, and will be faithful to you. You had best keep steadilywest, and give yourself up at Irkutsk. I
t is a rough road working roundby the north of Lake Baikal; but you had better take that way, it issafer than by the south. But no doubt if you are careful you might gothat way too. Then the summer after, if you can get away again, you cangive up at Tomsk. Once fairly away from here there is no fear of yourbeing overtaken; they never take the trouble to hunt the woods far, theyknow it is of no use. Remember, as long as you don't go too far from theroad, you will light upon cottages and little farm-houses where you canget something to eat; but if you go too far into the woods you maystarve. There will be no berries except strawberries yet, andstrawberries are not much use to keep life together when you aretravelling."
"Oh, by the by, there is one more thing I want you to get for me ifpossible, and that is fish-hooks and line."
"That is difficult," Mikail said; "however, a rouble or two will go along way. But you must put off your start for another two or three days.The rope and the hooks will need time to get."
It was, indeed, the fourth evening before Mikail told Godfrey that hehad got everything except the knives. "I will manage to get these in themorning," he said, "when I go into the kitchen and see about breakfast.If I were you, I would put on those two spare shirts over the one youwear, and take your three spare pairs of stockings. Of course you willwind the rope round your waist. I suppose you will buy bread from theothers, there are always plenty ready to sell; you had better takeenough for two or three days. Cut it in slices, put them inside yourupper shirt with the other things you take, your belt will keep themsafe. Don't try to slip away unless you see a really good opportunity;it is no use being shot at. Besides, with those irons on your legs, theywould soon overtake you. Better put it off for another time than to runany risk."
Godfrey at once informed Luka that they were to try to escape on thefollowing evening, told him to put on his spare shirts at night, gavehim the matches, and told him to stow away in the morning as much breadas he could carry. The young Tartar made no reply beyond a pleasant nod;his confidence in his companion was unbounded. The next morning, whileeating their breakfasts by the dim light of a candle, Mikail passedclose to Godfrey and slipped two long knives into his hand; these he hidinstantly inside his shirt.
"I have got the bread," Mikail said; "it was better for me to buy itthan you. I have put it under your bag."
As it was quite dark in the corner of the room Godfrey had no difficultyin cutting up the hunks of bread, and concealing them withoutobservation. Mikail strolled up while he was so engaged. Godfrey hadalready given him money for the various purchases, and he now pressed ahundred-rouble note into his hand, and said:
"Now, Mikail, you must take this from me; it is not a present to you,but to your brave wife. When you get out you will want to do your sharetowards making the house she has got for you comfortable. Till you getyour free ticket you will still be working in the mines like the others;and though you will get the same pay as free labourers then, it will besome time before you can lay much by. When your term is over you willwant to take up a piece of land and farm, and you must have money forthis until your crops grow."
"I will not take it," the man said huskily; "it is a hundred roubles. Iwould not rob you; you will want every kopeck you have. The money wouldbe a curse to me."
"I have five hundred still left, Mikail, which will be ample for me. Youwill grieve me if you refuse to take it. It will be pleasant to me,whether I am taken again or whether I escape, to think that I have madeone home happier for my stay here, and that you and your brave wife, inyour comfortable home, think sometimes of the young fellow you were kindto."
"If you wish it I will take it," Mikail said. "Feodora and I will praybefore the _ikon_ to the saints morning and night to protect youwherever you may be."
"Pray for me as Godfrey Bullen, Mikail; that is my real name. I amEnglish, and it is to England I shall make my way."
"Godfrey Bullen," the man repeated four or five times over. "I shall notforget it. Feodora and I will teach it to our children if the good Godshould send us any."
"I should like to let you know if I get safely home," Godfrey said; "howcan I write to you?"
"I can receive letters when I am out of prison," Mikail said. "You knowmy name, Mikail Stomoff; put Karoff, that is the name of the village mywife lives at--Karoff, near Kara. If the letter does not come until myterm is over, and I have left, I will leave word there where it can beforwarded to me."
"I hope that you will get it long before that, Mikail. The journey istoo long to do in one summer. I shall winter somewhere in the north, andI hope to be in England by the following autumn; therefore, if I havegot safely away, you may look for a letter before the Christmas afternext. If it does not come by that time, you will know that I have failedin my first attempt, and then you will, I hope, get one a year later. Ishall, of course, be careful what I say; in case it should be opened andread, there will be nothing in it about your knowing that I intended toescape."
"We shall look for it, Godfrey Bullen, we shall look for it always, andpray the good God to send it to us."
The next morning when Godfrey rose he wrung Mikail's hand warmly.
"God bless you," the starosta said with tears in his eyes. "I shall notcome near you again; they would see that something was strange with me,and when you were missing, would guess that I knew you were going. Mayall the saints preserve you."
Before they formed up to march to their work, Godfrey shook hands withhis friend Osip. "I am going to try on our way back to-night," he said.
"Good-bye, and good luck to you," Osip replied. "I would go with you ifI was in for life; but I have lost two years already by running away,and I dare not try again."
During the day Godfrey observed very carefully the spot where he hadhidden the tools, so that he might be able to find it in the dark,piling three small stones one on the top of the other by the roadside atthe point nearest to it. When work was over, he managed to fall in withLuka at the rear of the line. A Cossack marched alongside of him.
"Five roubles," Godfrey whispered, "if you will let us drop behind."
Five roubles was a large sum to the soldier. The life of the guards wasreally harder than that of the prisoners, except that they did no work,for they had to mount guard at night when the convicts slept, and theirrations were much more scanty than those given to the working convicts,and they were accustomed to eke out their scanty pay by taking smallbribes for winking at various infractions of the prison rules. TheCossack at once held out his hand. Godfrey slipped five rouble notesinto it. They kept on till they reached a wood, where beneath the shadowof the trees it was already perfectly dark.
The Cossack had stepped forward two or three paces and was walking bythe next couple.
"Now, Luka," Godfrey said, and the two sprang off the path among thetrees. They waited two or three minutes, then returned to the road andhurried back to the mine. They had been the last party to start for theprison, and the place was quite deserted. It took them fully half anhour to find the tools. The rings round their ankles were sufficientlyloose to enable the pick to be inserted between them and the leg;thrusting it in as far as it would go under the rivet, it wascomparatively easy work to break off the head with the hammer. In tenminutes both were free. Leaving the chains and tools behind them, theymade their way out of the cutting and struck across the country, and inan hour entered the forest. It was too dark here to permit them toproceed farther; they lay down and slept until day began to break, andthen continued their way up the rising ground until, after four hours'walking, they were well among the mountains. They found an open space bythe side of a rivulet where the wild strawberries grew thickly, and herethey sat down and enjoyed a hearty meal of bread and strawberries.
"Now we have got to keep along on this side of that range of mountainsin front of us till we get to Lake Baikal," Godfrey said. "We will pushon for a day or two, and then we must find some cottages, and get rid ofthese clothes. What we want above all things, Luka, are guns."
"Yes, or bows and arrows," L
uka said.
"It would be as difficult to get them as guns. They don't use them inthese parts, Luka."
"I can make them," Luka said; "not as good as the Ostjaks' bows, butgood enough to kill with."
"That is satisfactory, Luka. If I can get hold of a gun and you can makea bow and arrows we shall do very well."
For four days they continued their journey through the forest, gatheringmuch fruit, chiefly strawberries and raspberries, and eating sparinglyof their bread. At night they lit fires, for the evenings were stillcold, and slept soundly beside them. On the fifth morning Godfrey said,"We must turn south now, Luka, our bread won't last more than two daysat the outside, and we must lay in a fresh supply. We have kept as nearwest as we could, and we know by the mountains that we cannot be farwrong, still it may take us some time to find a village." To Godfrey'ssatisfaction they arrived at the edge of the forest early in theafternoon.
"We cannot be very far from Nertchinsk," he said. "We must be carefulhere, for there are lots of mines in the neighbourhood."
After walking for another three or four hours several large buildingswere seen among the trees in the valley, and these it was certainbelonged to one or other of the mines. When it became dark theydescended still farther, and kept down until they came upon a road. Thisthey followed until about midnight they came upon a small village. Theyfound, as they had hoped, bread and other provisions upon several of thewindow-sills, and thankfully stowing these away again struck off to thehills.
"This is capital," Godfrey said, as after getting well into the forestthey lighted a fire, threw themselves down beside it, and made a heartymeal. "If we could rely upon doing as well as this always I should notmind how long our journey lasted. It is glorious to be out in thesewoods after that close prison."
The Tartar nodded. The closeness of the air in the prison never troubledhim, but he was quite ready to agree to anything that Godfrey might say."Good in summer," he said, "but not very good in winter."
"No, I expect not; but we shall have to make the best of it, Luka, forit is quite certain that we shall have to spend the winter outsomewhere."
"We will make skin coats and keep ourselves warm," Luka saidconfidently. "Make a good hut."
"Yes, that part of the thing seems simple enough," Godfrey agreed; "thedifficulty will be in feeding ourselves. But we need not bother aboutthat now. Well, we had better go off to sleep, Luka; we have beentramping fully eighteen hours, and I feel as tired as a dog."
In a few minutes they were fast asleep, but they were on their feetagain at daybreak and journeyed steadily for the next three days, alwayskeeping near the edge of the forest. On the fourth day they saw a smallfarm-house lying not far from the edge of the wood.
"Here is the place that we have been looking for for the last week,"Godfrey said. "This is where we must manage to get clothes. The questionis, how many men are there there? Not above two or three, I should say.But anyhow we must risk it."
They waited until they saw lights in the cottage, and guessed that thefamily had all returned from their work.
"Now then, Luka, come along. You must look fierce, you know, and try tofrighten them a bit. But mind, if they refuse and show fight we must goaway without hurting them."
Luka looked up in surprise. "Why that?" he asked. "You could beat thatpig Kobylin as if he were a child, why not beat them and make themgive?"
"Because I am not going to turn robber, Luka. I know some of therunaways do turn robbers, and murder peasants and travellers. You knowsome of the men in the prison boasted of what they had done, but that isnot our way. We are honest men though we have been shut up in prison. Iam willing to pay for what I want as long as I have money, after that weshall see about it. If these people won't sell we shall find others thatwill."
They went quietly up to the house, lifted the latch and walked in,holding their long knives in their hands. Two men were seated at table,three women and several children were near the fire. There was a generalexclamation of alarm as the two convicts entered.
"Do not fear," Godfrey said loudly; "we do not wish to rob anyone. Weare not bandits, we are ready to pay for what we require, but that wemust have."
The men were both convicts who had long since served out their time."What do you want?" one of them asked.
"We want clothes. You need not be afraid of selling them to us. If wewere captured to-morrow, which we don't mean to be, we will swear to youthat we will not say where we obtained them. We are ready to pay thefull value. Why should you not make an honest deal instead of forcing usto take life?"
"We will sell them to you," one of the men said after speaking a fewwords in a low tone to the other, and then rising to his feet.
"Sit down," Godfrey said sternly. "We want no tricks. Tell the women tofetch in the clothes."
The man, seeing that Godfrey was determined, abandoned his intention ofseizing a club and making a fight for it, and told one of the women tofetch some clothes down. She returned in a minute or two with a largebundle.
"Pick out two suits, Luka, one for you and one for me." Luka was makinga careful choice when Godfrey said, "Don't pick out the best, Luka, Idon't want Sunday clothes, but just strong serviceable suits; they willbe none the worse for a patch or two. Now," he said to the men, "name afair price for those clothes and I will pay you."
The peasants had not in the slightest degree believed that the convictswere going to pay them, and their faces lighted up. They hesitated as tothe price.
"Come, I will give you ten roubles. I am sure that is more than they areworth to you now."
"Very well," the man said, "I am contented."
Godfrey placed a ten-rouble note upon the table. "Now," he said, "wewant a couple of hats." Two fairly good ones were brought down.
"Is there nothing else?" the man asked, ready enough to sell now that hesaw that he was to be paid fair prices.
"We want some meat and bread, ten pounds of each if you have got it."
"We have a pig we salted down the other day," the man said. "We have nobread--we are going to bake to-morrow morning but you can have tenpounds of flour."
"That will do. We want a small frying-pan, a kettle, and two tin mugs.Have you got any tea in the house?"
"I have got about a pound."
"We will take it all. We can't bother ourselves about sugar, Luka, wemust do without that; every pound tells. We have brought plenty oftobacco with us to last some time. Have you got a gun?" he asked the mansuddenly.
"Yes," he said, "we have got two. The wolves are troublesome sometimesin winter. Fetch the guns, Elizabeth."
The guns were brought down. One was a double-barrel of German make, theother a long single-barrel. "How much do you want for this?" he asked,taking up the former.
"I don't use it much," the man said, "one will be enough for me, I willtake fifty roubles."
"No, no," Godfrey said. "You value your goods too high; money is not asplentiful with me as all that. I can't go higher than twenty roubles,"and he laid the gun down again.
"I will take thirty," the man said.
After a good deal of bargaining Godfrey obtained the gun, a flask ofpowder, and a bag of bullets and shot for twenty-five roubles. Then hepaid for the other goods he had purchased. Luka made them into a bundleand lifted them all on to his shoulder. Then saying good-bye to thepeasants they again started for the forest.
"We are set up now, Luka."
"Yes indeed," the Tartar replied. "We could journey anywhere now; wewant but two or three blankets and some furs and we could travel toMoscow."
"Yes, if we had one more thing, Luka."
"What is that?"
"Passports."
"Yes, we should want those; but I daresay we could do without them."
They enjoyed their suppers greatly that night, frying some pork and thensome dough-cakes in the fat, and washing it down with numerous cups oftea.
"The next thing will be for you to make a bow and arrows, Luka. I didnot buy the other gun for tw
o reasons: in the first place because wecould not afford it, and in the second because you said you liked a bowbest."
Luka nodded. "I never shot with a gun," he said. "A bow is just as good,and makes no noise."
"That is true enough, Luka. Well, I shall be a good deal morecomfortable when we leave those convict clothes behind us. Of course weshall be just as liable to be seized and shut up as vagabonds when wecannot produce papers as if we were in our convict suits, but there issomething disgusting in being dressed up in clothing that tells everyone you are a murderer or a robber, and to know there is that patchbetween one's shoulders."
Luka was quite indifferent to any sentimental considerations. Still headmitted that it was an advantage to get rid of the convict garb. In themorning they put on the peasants' clothes. As Godfrey was about the samesize as the man whose garments he had got, the things fitted him fairly.Luka's were a good deal too large for him, but as the Russian peasants'clothes always fit them loosely, this mattered little. The other thingswere divided into two bundles of equal weight.
Luka would willingly have carried the whole, pointing out that Godfreyhad the gun and ammunition, but the latter said:
"If you take the frying-pan and kettle and the two tin mugs that willmake matters even, Luka."
The two convict suits were left at the foot of the tree where they hadslept. Godfrey first thought of throwing them on to the fire, butchanged his mind, saying:
"Some poor beggar whose clothes are worn out may come upon them, and beglad of them, some time during the summer; we may just as well let themlie here. Now, Luka, we must walk in good earnest. We ought to be ableto make five-and-thirty miles a day over a tolerably level country, andat that rate we shall be a long way off before winter."
The forests abounded with squirrels. Although Luka assured him that theywere excellent eating, Godfrey could not bring himself to shoot at thepretty creatures. "It would be a waste of powder and shot, Luka," hesaid. "We have plenty of meat to go on with at present, when it is goneit will be time enough to begin to think of shooting game; besides,there are numbers of mines about this country, and the sound of a gunmight bring out the Cossacks."