Michael was judged as he had been judged the first time, and warriors were commanded to lead away the condemned man. The second trial was on Friday, and lasted till late in the evening. The judges went directly to Uzbek. “We find Michael worthy of death this time also,” said they. “If that is just,” replied Uzbek, “act as ye have decided.” The judges now strove to hasten the execution, but Uzbek deferred it. From the moment of the second trial, Michael knew well that his cause was lost. On returning to his tent he repeated the words “My days have vanished like smoke and have passed like a vision.” Two hours later heavier fetters were put on him; his attendants were expelled; his robes of a prince were stripped from his body, and the guards seized his effects. This was done always in the case of condemned men. He was left then with guards to watch over him strictly. On Sunday he learned that the Horde was to follow the Khan to a hunt on the Caucasus north and south of the Terek. That day they put a kang on him,—an instrument of torture and an index of infamy, borrowed by the Mongols from China. It was made of two planks, and was four-cornered like a small oblong table. In the center was a round hole cut to fit the neck and a smaller one on either side into which the hands of the victim were inserted. The planks were pushed apart, the neck and wrists fixed in their places, and then the planks were brought together and fastened. Chains were attached to the kang, by which men led the prisoner. In this way the unfortunate Michael was led behind the Khan’s forces and for twenty-five days he traveled in that horrible torture. Hunting, the favorite amusement of the Mongol Khans, continued usually a month or two, and showed strikingly their character. The whole Horde was in motion. Two or three hundred thousand men often shared in this immense spectacle and enjoyment. Each man rode his best horse and wore his finest clothes; countless wagons carried goods from Greece, India and other distant regions. Delight and luxury were visible everywhere. Lonely steppes were filled with people; certain places in them became populous cities for a day or two, and all was noise, mirth and turmoil. Michael dragged on, walking behind this great army of pleasure seekers, for in his case Uzbek had not spoken the death words. A great part of the way the ill-fated prisoner was urged forward on foot. Occasionally the kang was removed, but at such times he was heavily chained. The hunt lasted long and extended far beyond the Terek to the mountains and the Caspian.