After Ogareff had replied, the Grand Duke signed to all his officers to withdraw. He and the false Michael Strogoff remained alone in the saloon. The Grand Duke looked at Ivan Ogareff for some moments with extreme attention. Then he said, “On the 15th of July you were at Moscow?” “Yes, your Highness; and on the night of the 14th I saw His Majesty the Czar at the New Palace.” “Have you a letter from the Czar?” “Here it is.” And Ivan Ogareff handed to the Grand Duke the Imperial letter, crumpled to almost microscopic size. “Was the letter given you in this state?” “No, your Highness, but I was obliged to tear the envelope, the better to hide it from the Emir’s soldiers.” “Were you taken prisoner by the Tartars?” “Yes, your Highness, I was their prisoner for several days,” answered Ogareff. “That is the reason that, having left Moscow on the 15th of July, as the date of that letter shows, I only reached Irkutsk on the 2d of October, after traveling seventy-nine days.” The Grand Duke took the letter. He unfolded it and recognized the Czar’s signature, preceded by the decisive formula, written by his brother’s hand. There was no possible doubt of the authenticity of this letter, nor of the identity of the courier. Though Ogareff’s countenance had at first inspired the Grand Duke with some distrust, he let nothing of it appear, and it soon vanished. The Grand Duke remained for a few minutes without speaking. He read the letter slowly, so as to take in its meaning fully. “Michael Strogoff, do you know the contents of this letter?” he asked. “Yes, your Highness. I might have been obliged to destroy it, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Tartars, and should such have been the case, I wished to be able to bring the contents of it to your Highness.” “You know that this letter enjoins us all to die, rather than give up the town?” “I know it.” “You know also that it informs me of the movements of the troops which have combined to stop the invasion?” “Yes, your Highness, but the movements have failed.” “What do you mean?” “I mean that Ichim, Omsk, Tomsk, to speak only of the more important towns of the two Siberias, have been successively occupied by the soldiers of Feofar-Khan.” “But there has been fighting? Have not our Cossacks met the Tartars?” “Several times, your Highness.” “And they were repulsed?” “They were not in sufficient force to oppose the enemy.” “Where did the encounters take place?” “At Kolyvan, at Tomsk.” Until now, Ogareff had only spoken the truth, but, in the hope of troubling the defenders of Irkutsk by exaggerating the defeats, he added, “And a third time before Krasnoiarsk.” “And what of this last engagement?” asked the Grand Duke, through whose compressed lips the words could scarcely pass. “It was more than an engagement, your Highness,” answered Ogareff; “it was a battle.” “A battle?”