“They have us now!” exclaimed Shamarin. “The game’s up!” Sandoff gritted his teeth and took a firmer hold of the lines. “There is a chance yet,” he cried hoarsely to his companions. “Drowning is better than recapture.” Then he lashed the horses more furiously than ever, and the sledge went down the frozen descent like a meteor, and whizzed out on the sheet of ice. Had the horses been moving less rapidly they must have broken through at once, but their very speed carried them on over the treacherous surface. The frail ice behind the sledge creaked and groaned and broke, and the angry and amazed Cossacks, who were close in pursuit, found their progress cut off by a watery gulf. On went the sledge, Sandoff all the while urging the noble beasts by whip and voice, but when the shore was only half a dozen yards away the ice gave way with a terrific crash. Sandoff plunged into the icy water waist deep, and, taking Vera in his arms, conveyed her in safety to the bank. Shamarin followed him with an armful of rifles and ammunition. Then Sandoff returned to the horses, knife in hand, and regardless of the bullets that pattered about him, he severed two of the animals from their fastenings, and after much kicking and plunging they gained a foothold on the firm ice. The third horse was struck in the head by a bullet, just as Shamarin—who had hurried back to aid his companion—was cutting it loose, and with a shrill neigh it rolled over into the water. “Mount as once,” cried Sandoff, as he led the horses out on the shore. “Vera can ride with you or me—it matters not which.” “And Zamosc! Shall I shoot him before I go?” “No, leave him to his fate.” “But,” said Vera, placing her hand softly on Sandoff’s arm, “the sledge is sinking, and he is helpless. Give him a chance for his life.” “The villain doesn’t deserve it,” replied Sandoff shortly, but meeting an appealing glance from Vera’s eyes he turned and waded back to the sledge. Leaning over the seat he pulled Zamosc to an upright position, and took the gag from his mouth. “If you value your life you had better tell your friends to cease firing,” he said. Zamosc lost no time in making good use of his voice, and he was shouting lustily for help when Sandoff regained the shore. By the aid of a huge bowlder Shamarin mounted one of the horses. As it happened to be the smaller of the two, Sandoff mounted the other, and helped Vera up behind him. A moment later the fugitives vanished over the crest of the next ridge.