Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from SiberiaHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from Siberia
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Escapes -- Fiction; Russia -- History -- Alexander II, 1855-1881 -- Fiction; Siberia (Russia) -- Fiction
Each day the air grew warmer, and they could pick as they walked any
quantity of raspberries and whortleberries. Luka always filled the
kettle at each streamlet they came to, as they could never tell how long
they would be before they arrived at another, and the supply rendered
them independent, and enabled them to camp whenever they took a fancy to
a spot. They walked steadily from sunrise to sunset, and as they went at
a good pace Godfrey was sure that they were doing fully the thirty-five
miles a day he had calculated on. Although Sundays had not been observed
at the prison, and the work went on those days as on others, Godfrey had
not lost count, and knew that it was on a Monday evening that they had
broken out, and each Sunday was used as a day of rest.
"We are travelling at a good pace, Luka," he said, "and thirty-five
miles a day six days a week is quite enough, so on Sundays we will
always choose a good camping ground by a stream, wash our clothes, and
rest."
They had little trouble about provisions. At lonely houses they could
always obtain them, and there they were received very hospitably, the
peasants often refusing absolutely to accept money, or at any rate
giving freely of all the articles they themselves raised, and taking pay
only for tea and sugar, which they themselves had to purchase. When no
such places could be met with they went down to villages at night, and
never failed to find bread and cakes on the window-sills, though it was
not often that meat was there, for the peasants themselves obtained it
but seldom. Godfrey had no fear of his money running short for a long
time. The six hundred roubles with which he arrived at Kara had been
increased by his earnings during the nine months he had been there. He
had spent but a few kopecks a week for tea and tobacco, and his pay
while he had been a clerk was a good deal larger than while he had been
working in the mine. Luka, too, had saved every kopeck he had received
from the day when Godfrey told him that he would take him with him when
he ran away. He had even given up smoking, and was with difficulty
persuaded by Godfrey to take some tobacco occasionally from him. Between
them in the nine months they had laid by nearly a hundred roubles, and
had, therefore, after deducting the money given by Godfrey to Mikail and
that paid for the gun and clothes, over five hundred roubles for their
journey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account