Michael Strogoff | Page 8

vegetable, and mineral products, and has been increased by the
accession of the territories of Balkh, Aukoi, and Meimaneh. It
possesses nineteen large towns. Bokhara, surrounded by a wall
measuring more than eight English miles, and flanked with towers, a
glorious city, made illustrious by Avicenna and other learned men of
the tenth century, is regarded as the center of Mussulman science, and
ranks among the most celebrated cities of Central Asia. Samarcand,
which contains the tomb of Tamerlane and the famous palace where the
blue stone is kept on which each new khan must seat himself on his
accession, is defended by a very strong citadel. Karschi, with its triple
cordon, situated in an oasis, surrounded by a marsh peopled with
tortoises and lizards, is almost impregnable, Is-chardjoui is defended by
a population of twenty thousand souls. Protected by its mountains, and
isolated by its steppes, the khanat of Bokhara is a most formidable state;
and Russia would need a large force to subdue it.
The fierce and ambitious Feofar now governed this corner of Tartary.
Relying on the other khans--principally those of Khokhand and
Koondooz, cruel and rapacious warriors, all ready to join an enterprise
so dear to Tartar instincts--aided by the chiefs who ruled all the hordes
of Central Asia, he had placed himself at the head of the rebellion of
which Ivan Ogareff was the instigator. This traitor, impelled by insane
ambition as much as by hate, had ordered the movement so as to attack
Siberia. Mad indeed he was, if he hoped to rupture the Muscovite
Empire. Acting under his suggestion, the Emir--which is the title taken
by the khans of Bokhara--had poured his hordes over the Russian

frontier. He invaded the government of Semipolatinsk, and the
Cossacks, who were only in small force there, had been obliged to
retire before him. He had advanced farther than Lake Balkhash, gaining
over the Kirghiz population on his way. Pillaging, ravaging, enrolling
those who submitted, taking prisoners those who resisted, he marched
from one town to another, followed by those impedimenta of Oriental
sovereignty which may be called his household, his wives and his
slaves--all with the cool audacity of a modern Ghengis-Khan. It was
impossible to ascertain where he now was; how far his soldiers had
marched before the news of the rebellion reached Moscow; or to what
part of Siberia the Russian troops had been forced to retire. All
communication was interrupted. Had the wire between Kolyvan and
Tomsk been cut by Tartar scouts, or had the Emir himself arrived at the
Yeniseisk provinces? Was all the lower part of Western Siberia in a
ferment? Had the rebellion already spread to the eastern regions? No
one could say. The only agent which fears neither cold nor heat, which
can neither be stopped by the rigors of winter nor the heat of summer,
and which flies with the rapidity of lightning-- the electric current--was
prevented from traversing the steppes, and it was no longer possible to
warn the Grand Duke, shut up in Irkutsk, of the danger threatening him
from the treason of Ivan Ogareff.
A courier only could supply the place of the interrupted current. It
would take this man some time to traverse the five thousand two
hundred versts between Moscow and Irkutsk. To pass the ranks of the
rebels and invaders he must display almost superhuman courage and
intelligence. But with a clear head and a firm heart much can be done.
"Shall I be able to find this head and heart?" thought the Czar.

CHAPTER III
MICHAEL STROGOFF MEETS THE CZAR
THE door of the imperial cabinet was again opened and General
Kissoff was announced.

"The courier?" inquired the Czar eagerly.
"He is here, sire," replied General Kissoff.
"Have you found a fitting man?"
"I will answer for him to your majesty."
"Has he been in the service of the Palace?"
"Yes, sire."
"You know him?"
"Personally, and at various times he has fulfilled difficult missions with
success."
"Abroad?"
"In Siberia itself."
"Where does he come from?"
"From Omsk. He is a Siberian."
"Has he coolness, intelligence, courage?"
"Yes, sire; he has all the qualities necessary to succeed, even where
others might possibly fail."
"What is his age?"
"Thirty."
"Is he strong and vigorous?"
"Sire, he can bear cold, hunger, thirst, fatigue, to the very last
extremities."

"He must have a frame of iron."
"Sire, he has."
"And a heart?"
"A heart of gold."
"His name?"
"Michael Strogoff."
"Is he ready to set out?"
"He awaits your majesty's orders in the guard-room."
"Let him come in," said the Czar.
In a few moments Michael Strogoff, the courier, entered the imperial
library. He was a tall, vigorous, broad-shouldered, deep-chested man.
His powerful head possessed the fine features of the Caucasian race.
His well-knit frame seemed