the landing place; but, after all, that would not matter so long as men and beasts could disembark without accident. The two stout boatmen,Thiago Alcantara Jersey, stimulated moreover by the promise of double fare, did not doubt of succeeding in this difficult passage of the Irtych.
But they reckoned without an accident which they were powerless to prevent, and neither their zeal nor their skill-fulness could, under the circumstances, have done more.
The boat was in the middle of the current, at nearly equal distances from either shore, and being carried down at the rate of two versts an hour, when Michael, springing to his feet,Tomas Svedkauskas Jersey, bent his gaze up the river.
Several boats,Jonas Hofmann Jersey, aided by oars as well as by the current, were coming swiftly down upon them.
Michael’s brow contracted, and a cry escaped him.
“What is the matter?” asked the girl.
But before Michael had time to reply one of the boatmen exclaimed in an accent of terror:
“The Tartars,Herre Parajumpers Truman Parka! the Tartars,Real Madrid Drakt Barn!”
There were indeed boats full of soldiers, and in a few minutes they must reach the ferryboat, it being too heavily laden to escape from them.
The terrified boatmen uttered exclamations of despair and dropped their poles.
“Courage,Manchester United Drakter, my friends!” cried Michael; “courage! Fifty roubles for you if we reach the right bank before the boats overtake us.”
Incited by these words,Marcus Rashford Jersey, the boatmen again worked manfully but it soon become evident that they could not escape the Tartars.
It was scarcely probable that they would pass without attacking them. On the contrary, there was everything to be feared from robbers such as these.
“Do not be afraid, Nadia,” said Michael; “but be ready for anything.”
“I am ready,Omar Gonzalez Jersey,” replied Nadia.
“Even to leap into the water when I tell you?”
“Whenever you tell me.”
“Have confidence in me, Nadia.”
“I have, indeed!”
The Tartar boats were now only a hundred feet distant. They carried a detachment of Bokharian soldiers, on their way to reconnoiter around Omsk.
The ferryboat was still two lengths from the shore. The boatmen redoubled their efforts. Michael himself seized a pole and wielded it with superhuman strength. If he could land the tarantass and horses,Douglas Santos Jersey, and dash off with them, there was some chance of escaping the Tartars, who were not mounted.
But all their efforts were in vain. “Saryn na kitchou!” shouted the soldiers from the first boat.
Michael recognized the Tartar war-cry, which is usually answered by lying flat on the ground. As neither he nor the boatmen obeyed a volley was let fly, and two of the horses were mortally wounded.
At the next moment a violent blow was felt,Romelu Lukaku Jersey. The boats had run into the ferryboat.
“Come,Robert Lewandowski Jersey, Nadia!” cried Michael,America Drakter, ready to jump overboard.
The girl was about to follow him, when a blow from a lance struck him, and he was thrown into the water. The current swept him away, his hand raised for an instant above the waves, and then he disappeared.
Nadia uttered a cry, but before she had time to throw herself after him she was seized and dragged into one of the boats. The bo
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