CHAPTER XIX
NIGHT IN THE FOREST
As the sounds of flight and pursuit receded, I crawled out of the ditch,and called softly to my companion, who answered me, from the other sideof the road, with a groan and an oath.
"I am hurt; it is my leg--my ankle; I cannot stand," he saiddespairingly.
As the lightning flared again, I saw his face for a moment, plasteredwith black mud, and furious with pain and chagrin. I groped my wayacross to him, hauled him out of the ditch, and felt his limbs to try toascertain the extent of his injury.
It might have been worse, for there were no broken bones, as I hadfeared at first; but he had a badly sprained ankle.
"Bind it--hard, with your handkerchief," he said, between his set teeth."We must get out of this, into the wood. They will return directly."
His grit was splendid, for he never uttered a sound--though his footmust have hurt him badly--as I helped him up. Supporting him as well asI could, we stumbled into the wood, groping our way through thedarkness, and thankful for every flash that gave us light, an instant ata time, and less dazzling--though more dangerous--here under the canopyof pine branches than yonder on the open road.
Even if Mishka had not been lamed, our progress must have been slow, forthe undergrowth was thick; still, he managed to get along somehow,leaning on me, and dragging himself forward by grasping each slenderpine trunk that he lurched up against.
He sank down at length, utterly exhausted, and, in the pause thatfollowed, above the sound of our labored breathing and the ceaselesspatter of the rain on the pines, I heard the jangle of the cavalrypatrol returning along the road. Had "Ivan" eluded or outdistanced them?Were they taking him back with them, a prisoner; or, worst of all, hadthey shot him?
The sounds passed--how close we still were to the road!--and graduallydied away.
"He has escaped, thanks be to God!" Mishka said, in a hoarse whisper.
"How do you know that?"
"If they had overtaken him they would have found the droshky empty, andwould have sought us along the road."
"Well, what now? How far are we from the meeting-place?"
"Three versts, more or less. We should have been there by this time!Come, let us get on. Have you the pocket lamp? We can use it now. Itwill help us a little, and we shall strike a track before long."
The lamp was a little flash-light torch which I had slipped into mypocket at the last moment, and showed to Mishka when I was changing myclothes. It served us well now, for the lightning flashes were lessfrequent; the worst of the storm was over.
I suppose we must have gone about half a verst--say the third of anEnglish mile--when we found the track he had mentioned, a rough andnarrow one, trodden out by the foresters, and my spirits rose at thesight of it. At least it must lead somewhere!
Here Mishka stumbled and fell again.
"It is useless. I can go no further, and I am only a hindrance. Butyou--what will you do--?"
"I'm going on; I'll find the place somehow."
"Follow the track till you come to an open space,--a clearing; it is along way ahead. Cross that to your right, and, if your lamp holds, orthe storm passes, you will see a tree blazed with five white marks, suchas the foresters make. There is another track there; follow it till youare challenged; and the rest will be easy. God be with you."
We gripped hands and parted. I guessed we should not meet again in thisworld, though we might in the next,--and that pretty soon!
I pushed on rapidly. The track, though narrow, was good enough, and Ionly had to flash my torch occasionally. I was afraid of the batterygiving out, which, as a fact, it did before I emerged in the clearingMishka had mentioned. But the light was better now, for the storm hadpassed; and in this northern latitude there is no real night in summer,only "the daylight sick," as Von Eckhardt would say. Out in the clearingI could see quite a distance. The air felt fresh and pleasant and thepatch of sky overhead was an exquisite topaz tint. I stood to drawbreath, and for a moment the sheer splendor of the night,--the solemnsilence,--held me spellbound with some strange emotion in which awe andjoy were mingled. Yes, joy! For although I had lost my two goodcomrades, and was undertaking, alone, a task which could scarcely havebeen accomplished by three desperate men, my heart was light. I hadlittle hope, now, of saving Anne, as we reckon salvation in this poorearth-life; but I could, and would, die with and for her; and together,hand in hand, we would pass to the fuller, freer life beyond, where themystery that encompassed her, and that had separated us, would vanish.
I was about to cross the clearing, keeping to the right and seeking forthe blazed tree, as Mishka had told me, when I heard the faint sound ofstealthy footsteps through the wet grass that grew tall and rank here inthe open. In the soft light a shadowy figure came from the oppositeside, passed across the space, and disappeared among the further trees,followed almost immediately by two more. The time was now, as I guessed,after midnight, and these were late comers, who had been delayed by thestorm, or perhaps, like myself, had had to dodge the patrol.
I followed the last two in my turn, and at the place where theyre-entered the wood I saw the gleam of the white blazes on the tree. Ihad struck the path right enough, and went along it confidently in thegloom of the trees, for perhaps a hundred yards, when a light flashed afew paces in front of me, just for a second, and I saw against the gleamthe figures of the two men who were preceding me. They had passed onwhen I reached the place, and a hand grasped my shoulder, while thelight was flashed in my face. I saw now it was a dark lantern, such aspolicemen carry in England.
"The password, stranger, and the sign," a hoarse voice whispered in thedarkness that followed the momentary flash of light.
I felt for his hand, gave both word and sign, and was allowed to go on,to be challenged again in a similar manner at a little distance. Herethe picket detained me.
"You are a stranger, comrade; do you know the way?" he asked. All thequestions and answers had been in Russian.
"No. I will follow those in front."
He muttered something, and a second man stepped out on to the path, andbade me follow him. How many others were at hand I do not know. The woodseemed full of stealthy sounds.
My guide followed the path for only a short distance further, thenturned aside, drawing me after him, his hand on my coat-sleeve.
"Be careful; the trees are thick hereabouts," he said in a low voice, ashe walked sideways. He seemed to know every inch of the way. I followedhis example, and after a minute or two of this crab-like progress weemerged into a second clearing, smaller than the first, made round asmall building, from which came the subdued sound of voices, though fora moment I could see no light. Then a door was partially opened,emitting a faint gleam, and two men passed in,--doubtless those whom Ihad seen in front of me just now.
Without a word my guide turned back into the darkness, and I walkedforward boldly, pushed the door, which gave under my touch, and enteredthe place.
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