"At the station he boldly exhibited his paderojnia and demanded horses, and in a few minutes he was on the road. Safe? Well, he could never tell whether he was safe or not, as the telegraph might at any moment flash an order for his detention.
"On and on he went. He pretended to be, and really was, in a great hurry. He was liberal to the drivers, but not over-liberal, lest he might be suspected. Suspicion would lead to inquiry, and inquiry would be followed by arrest. But he obtained the best speed that could be had for a careful use of money, and was compelled to be satisfied.
"Several times he thought he had been discovered, and his feelings were those of intense agony. At one of the large stations the smotretal came to him with an open telegram which said a prisoner was missing, and orders had been sent along the line to watch for him.
"Ivanoff took the telegram and read it. Then he noted down the description of the fugitive (happily not himself), and told the smotretal to take no further trouble till he heard from him, but to keep a sharp watch for all new arrivals. 'Unless I telegraph you from the next town,' said he, 'you may be sure that he has not passed any of the intervening stations.'
"He went on, and heard no more of the matter. At another point he fell in with a Russian captain going the same way as himself. The captain proposed they should travel together, for the double purpose of companionship and economy. Much as he disliked the proposal, he was forced to accede, as a refusal might rouse suspicion.
"Luckily for him, his new friend was garrulous, and did most of the talking; but, like most garrulous people, he was inquisitive, and some of his queries were decidedly unpleasant. Ivanoff had foreseen just such a circumstance, and made up a plausible story. He had just come to Siberia, and only three days after his arrival was summoned back by the announcement of his father's death. His presence was needed in St. Petersburg to arrange the financial affairs of the family.
[Illustration: EXILES AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.]
"By this story he could account for knowing nobody in Siberia; and as he was well acquainted with St. Petersburg he could talk as freely as one might wish about the affairs of the capital. He was thrown into a cold perspiration at one of the stations, where his garrulous companion proposed, as a matter of whiling away the time after breakfast, that they should examine the register for the record of their journeys eastward. Ivanoff managed to put the idea out of his head, and ever after made their stay at the stations as short as possible.