CHAPTER IX.
PRISON LIFE.
Godfrey found that there was no Sunday break in the work at Kara, butthat once a fortnight the whole of the occupants of the ward had baths,and upon these days no work was done. Upon a good many saints' days theyalso rested; so that, practically, they had a holiday about once inevery ten days. For his own part he would have been glad had the workgone on without these breaks. When the men started for work at five inthe morning, and returned to the prison at seven at night, the greatmajority, after smoking a pipe or two, turned in at once, while upon thedays when there was no work quarrels were frequent; and, what was to himstill more objectionable, men told stories of their early lives, andseemed proud rather than otherwise of the horrible crimes they hadcommitted. His own time did not hang at all heavy upon his hands.
One of the Tartar prisoners who spoke Russian was glad enough to agree,in exchange for a sufficient amount of tobacco to enable him to smokesteadily while so employed, to teach him his own dialect. Godfrey found,as he had expected, a sufficient similarity between the two languages toassist him very greatly, and with two hours' work every evening, and along bout on each holiday, he made rapid progress with it, especially ashe got into the habit of going over and over again through thevocabulary of all the words he had learned, while he was at work in themine. When not employed with the Tartar he spent his time inconversation with Osip Ivanoff and the little group of men of the sametype. They spent much of their time in playing cards, whist being a verypopular game in Russia. They often invited Godfrey to join them, but hismind was so much occupied with his own plans that he felt quite unableto give the requisite attention to the game.
He soon learnt the methods by which order and discipline were maintainedin the prisons. For small offences the punishment was a decrease in therations, the prohibition of smoking--the prisoners' one enjoyment--andconfinement to the room. The last part of the sentence was that whichthe prisoners most disliked. So far from work being hardship, the breakwhich it afforded to the monotony of their life rendered the privationof it the severest of punishments, and Godfrey learned that there wasthe greatest difficulty in getting men to accept the position ofstarosta, in spite of the privileges and power the position gave,because he did not go out to work. For more serious offences men werepunished by a flogging, more or less severe, with birch rods. For this,however, they seemed to care very little, although sometimesincapacitated for doing work for some days, from the effects of thebeating.
Lastly, for altogether exceptional crimes, or for open outbreaks ofinsubordination, there was the _plete_--flogging with a whip of twistedhide, fastened to a handle ten inches long and an inch thick. The lashis at first the same thickness as the handle, tapering for twelveinches, and then divided into three smaller lashes, each twenty-fiveinches long and about the thickness of the little finger. This terribleweapon is in use only at three of the Siberian prisons, of which Kara isone. From twenty to twenty-five lashes are given, and the punishment isconsidered equivalent to a sentence to death, as in many cases theculprit survives the punishment but a short time. The prisoners wereagreed that at Kara the punishment of the _plete_ was extremely rare,only being given for the murder of a convict or official by one of theconvicts. The quarrels among the prisoners, although frequent, andattended by great shouting and gesticulation, very rarely came to blows,the Russians having no idea of using their fists, and the contests, whenit came to that, being little more than a tussle, with hair pulling andrandom blows. Had the prisoners had knives or other weapons ready tohand, the results would have been very different.
Godfrey had not smoked until he arrived at Kara; but he found that inthe dense atmosphere of the prison room it was almost necessary, andtherefore took to it. Besides smoking being allowed as useful to wardoff fevers and improve the health of the prisoners, it also had theeffect of adding to their contentment, rendering them more easy ofmanagement, as the fear of the smoking being cut off did more to ensureready obedience than even the fear of the stick. Tea was not among thearticles of prison diet; but a samovar was always kept going by Mikail,and the tea sold to the prisoners at its cost price, and the small sumpaid to the convicts sufficed to provide them with this and withtobacco.
Vodka was but seldom smuggled in, the difficulty of bringing it in beinggreat, and the punishment of those detected in doing so being severe. Attimes, however, a supply was brought in, being carried, as Godfreyfound, in skins similar to those used for sausages, filled with thespirit and wound round and round the body. These were generally broughtin when one or other of the prisoners had received a remittance, as mostof them were allowed to receive a letter once every three months; andthese letters, in the case of men who had once been in a good position,generally contained money. This privilege was only allowed to men aftertwo years' unbroken good conduct.
Godfrey's teacher in the Tartar language had been recommended to him byOsip as being the most companionable of the Tartar prisoners. He was ayoung fellow of three or four and twenty, short and sturdy, like most ofhis race, and with a good-natured expression in his flat face. He was infor life, having in a fit of passion killed a Russian officer who hadstruck him with a whip. He came from the neighbourhood of Kasan in thefar west. Godfrey took a strong liking to him, and was not long beforehe conceived the idea that when he made his escape he would, ifpossible, take Luka with him. Such companionship would be of immenseadvantage, and would greatly diminish the difficulties of the journey.As for Luka, he became greatly attached to his pupil. The Tartars werelooked down upon by their fellow-prisoners, and the terms of equalitywith which Godfrey chatted with them, and his knowledge of the world,which seemed to the Tartar to be prodigious, made him look up to himwith unbounded respect.
The friendship was finally cemented by an occurrence that took placethree months after Godfrey arrived at the prison. Among the convicts wasa man named Kobylin, a man of great strength. He boasted that he hadcommitted ten murders, and was always bullying and tyrannizing thequieter and weaker prisoners. One day he passed where Luka and Godfreywere sitting on the edge of the plank bed talking together. Lukahappened to get up just as he came along, and Kobylin gave him a violentpush, saying, "Get out of the way, you miserable little Tartar dog."
Luka fell with his head against the edge of the bench, and lay for atime half stunned. Godfrey leapt to his feet, and springing forwardstruck the bully a right-handed blow straight from the shoulder. The manstaggered back several paces, and fell over the opposite bench. Then,with a shout of fury, he recovered his feet and rushed at Godfrey, withhis arms extended to grasp him; but the lad, who had been one of thebest boxers at Shrewsbury, awaited his onset calmly, and, making aspring forward just as Kobylin reached him, landed a blow, given withall his strength and the impetus of his spring, under the Russian'schin, and the man went backwards as if he had been shot.
A roar of applause broke from the convicts. Mikail rushed forward, butGodfrey said to him:
"Let us alone, Mikail. This fellow has been a nuisance in the wardever since I came. It is just as well that he should have a lesson. Isha'n't do him any harm. Just leave us alone for a minute or two; hewon't want much more."
GODFREY PUNISHES KOBYLIN IN THE CONVICT PRISON.]
The Russian rose slowly to his feet, bewildered and half stupefied bythe blow and fall. He would probably have done nothing more; but,maddened by the taunts and jeers of the others, he gathered himselftogether and renewed the attack, but he in vain attempted to seize hisactive opponent. Godfrey eluded his furious rushes, and before he couldrecover himself, always succeeded in getting in two or three straightblows, and at last met him, as in his first rush, and knocked him offhis feet.
By this time Kobylin had had enough of it, and sat on the floorbewildered and crestfallen. Everything that a Russian peasant does notunderstand savours to him of magic; and that he, Kobylin, should havebeen thus vanquished by a mere lad seemed altogether beyond nature. Hecould not understand how it was that he had been unable to g
rasp hisfoe, or how that, like a stroke of lightning, these blows had shot intohis face. Even the jeering and laughter of his companions failed to stirhim. The Russian peasant is accustomed to be beaten, and is humble tothose who are his masters. Kobylin rose slowly to his feet.
"You have beaten me," he said humbly. "I do not know how; forgive me; Iwas wrong. I am ignorant, and did not know."
"Say no more about it," Godfrey replied. "We have had a quarrel, andthere is an end of it. There need be no malice. We are all prisonershere together, and it is not right that one should bully others becausehe happens to be a little stronger. There are other things besidesstrength. You behaved badly, and you have been punished. Let us smokeour pipes, and think no more about it."
The sensation caused in the ward by the contest was prodigious, and thevictory of this lad was as incomprehensible to the others as to Kobylinhimself. The rapidity with which the blows were delivered, and the easewith which Godfrey had evaded the rushes of his opponent, seemed tothem, as to him, almost magical, and from that moment they regardedGodfrey as being possessed of some strange power, which placed himaltogether apart from themselves. Osip and the other men of the samestamp warmly congratulated Godfrey.
"What magic is this?" Osip said, taking him by the shoulders and lookingwith wonder at him. "I have been thinking you but a lad, and yet thatstrong brute is as a child in your hands. It is the miracle of David andGoliath over again."
"It is simply skill against brute force, Osip. I may tell you, what Ihave not told anyone before since I came here, that my mother wasEnglish. I did not say so, because, as you may guess, I feared that wereit known and reported it might be traced who I was, and then, instead ofbeing merely classed as a vagabond, I should be sent back to the prisonI escaped from, and be put among another class of prisoners."
"I understand, Ivan. Of course I have all along felt sure you were apolitical prisoner; and I thought, perhaps, you might have been astudent in Switzerland, which would account for you having ideasdifferent to other people."
"No, I was sent for a time to a school in England, and there I learnedto box."
"So, that is your English boxing," Osip said. "I have heard of it, but Inever thought it was anything like that. Why, he never once touchedyou."
"If he had, I should have got the worst of it," Godfrey laughed; "butthere was nothing in it. Size and weight go for very little in boxing;and a man knowing nothing about it has not the smallest chance against afair boxer who is active on his legs."
"But you did not seem to be exerting yourself," Osip said. "You were ascool and as quiet as if you had been shovelling sand. You even laughedwhen he rushed at you."
"That is the great point of boxing, Osip. One learns to keep cool, andto have one's wits about one; for anyone who loses his temper has but apoor chance indeed against another who keeps cool. Moreover a man whocan box well will always keep his head in all times of danger anddifficulty. It gives him nerve and self-confidence, and enables him atall times to protect the weak against the strong."
"Just as you did now," Osip said. "Well, I would not have believed it ifI had not seen it. I am sure we all feel obliged to you for having takendown that fellow Kobylin. He and a few others have been a nuisance forsome time. You may be sure there will be no more trouble with them afterthe lesson you have given."
Luka's gratitude to Godfrey was unbounded, and from that time he wouldhave done anything on his behalf, while the respect with which he hadbefore regarded him was redoubled. Therefore when one day Godfrey saidto him, "When the spring comes, Luka, I mean to try to escape, and Ishall take you with me," the Tartar considered it to be a settled thing,and was filled with a deep sense of gratitude that his companion shoulddeem him worthy of sharing in his perils.
Winter set in in three weeks after Godfrey reached Kara, and the work atthe mine had to be abandoned. As much employment as possible was madefor the convicts. Some were sent out to aid in bringing in the treesthat had been felled during the previous winter for firewood, otherssawed the wood up and split it into billets for the stoves, otherparties went out into the forest to fell trees for the next winter'sfires. Some were set to whitewash the houses, a process that was donefive times a year; but in spite of all this there was not work for halfthe number. The time hung very heavily on the hands of those who wereunemployed. Godfrey was not of this number, for as soon as the work atthe mine terminated he received an order to work in the office as aclerk.
He warmly appreciated this act of kindness on the part of thecommandant. It removed him from the constant companionship of theconvicts, which was now more unpleasant than before, as during the longhours of idleness quarrels were frequent and the men became surly anddiscontented. Besides this he received regular pay for his work, andthis was of importance, as it was necessary to start upon such anundertaking as he meditated with as large a store of money as possible.He had, since his arrival, refused to join in any of the proposals forobtaining luxuries from outside. The supply of food was ample, for inaddition to the bread and soup there was, three or four times a week, anallowance of meat, and his daily earnings in the mines were sufficientto pay for tobacco and tea. Even the ten roubles he had handed over toMikail remained untouched.
One reason why he was particularly glad at being promoted to the officewas that he had observed, upon the day when he first arrived, a largemap of Siberia hanging upon the wall; and although he had obtained fromAlexis and others a fair idea of the position of the towns and variousconvict settlements, he knew nothing of the wild parts of the countrythrough which he would have to pass, and the inhabited portion formedbut a small part indeed of the whole. During the winter months he seizedevery opportunity, when for a few minutes he happened to be alone in theoffice, to study the map and to obtain as accurate an idea as possibleof the ranges of mountains. One day, when the colonel was out, and theother two clerks were engaged in taking an inventory of stores, and heknew, therefore, that he had little chance of being interrupted, hepushed a table against the wall, and with a sheet of tracing paper tookthe outline of the northern coast from the mouth of the Lena to Norway,specially marking the entrances to all rivers however small. He alsotook a tracing, giving the positions of the towns and rivers across thenearest line between the head of Lake Baikal and the nearest point ofthe Angara river, one of the great affluents of the Yenesei.
The winter passed slowly and uneventfully. The cold was severe, but hedid not feel it, the office being well warmed, and the heat in thecrowded prison far greater than was agreeable to him. At Christmas therewere three days of festivity. The people of Kara, and the peasantsround, all sent in gifts for the prisoners. Every one laid by a littlemoney to buy special food for the occasion, and vodka had been smuggledin. The convicts of the different prisons were allowed to visit eachother freely, and although there was much drunkenness on Christmas Daythere were no serious quarrels. All were on their best behaviour, butGodfrey was glad when all was over and they returned to their ordinaryoccupations again, for the thought of the last Christmas he had spent inEngland brought the change in his circumstances home to him morestrongly than ever, and for once his buoyant spirits left him, and hewas profoundly depressed, while all around him were cheerful and gay.
Nothing surprised Godfrey more than the brutal indifference with whichmost of the prisoners talked of the crimes they had committed, exceptperhaps the indifference with which these stories were listened to. Itseemed to him indeed that some of the convicts had almost a pride intheir crimes, and that they even went so far as to invent atrocities forthe purpose of giving themselves a supremacy in ferocity over theirfellows. He noticed that those who were in for minor offences, such asrobbery with violence, forgery, embezzlement, and militaryinsubordination, were comparatively reticent as to their offences, andthat it was those condemned for murder who were the most given toboasting about their exploits.
"One could almost wish," he said one day to his friend Osip, "that onehad the strength of Samson, to bring the building down
and destroy thewhole of them."
"I am very glad you have not, if you have really a fancy of that sort. Ihave not the least desire to be finished off in that sudden way."
"But it is dreadful to listen to them," Godfrey said. "I cannotunderstand what the motive of government can be in sending thousands ofsuch wretches out here instead of hanging them. I can understandtransporting people who have been convicted of minor offences, as, whentheir term is up, they may do well and help to colonize the country. Butwhat can be hoped from such horrible ruffians as these? They have thetrouble of keeping them for years, and even when they are let out no onecan hope that they will turn out useful members of the community. Theyprobably take to their old trade and turn brigands."
"I don't think they do that. Some of those who escape soon after comingout might do so, but not when they have been released. They would notcare then to run the risk of either being flogged to death by the_plete_ or kept in prison for the rest of their lives. Running away isnothing. I have heard of a man, who had run away repeatedly, beingchained to a barrow which he had to take with him wherever he went,indoors and out. That is the worst I ever heard of, for as for floggingwith rods these fellows think very little of it. They will often walkback in the autumn to the same prison they went from, take theirflogging, and go to work as if nothing had happened. They are neverflogged with the _plete_ for that sort of thing; that is kept for murderor heading a mutiny in which some of the officials have been killed. No;the brigands are chiefly composed of long-sentence men who have got awayearly, and who perhaps have killed a Cossack or a policeman who tried toarrest them, or some peasant who will not supply them with food. Afterthat they dare not return, and so join some band of brigands in order tobe able to keep to the woods through the winter. I think that very fewof the men who have once served their time and been released ever comeback again."
During the winter the food, although still ample, was less than theallowance they had received while working. The allowance of bread wasreduced by a pound a day, and upon Wednesdays and Fridays, which werefast days, no meat was issued except to those engaged in chopping upfirewood or bringing in timber from the forest. Leather gloves wereserved out to all men working in the open air, but in spite of thistheir hands were frequently frost-bitten. The evenings would have beenlong indeed to Godfrey had it not been for his Tartar instructor; thetwo would sit on the bench in the angle of the room and would talktogether in Tartar eked out by Russian. The young fellow's face was muchmore intelligent than those of the majority of his countrymen, and therewas a merry and good-tempered expression in his eyes. They chatted abouthis home and his life there. His mother had been an Ostjak, and he hadspent some years among her tribe on the banks both of the Obi andYenesei, but had never been far north on either river. He took hiscaptivity easily. His father and mother both died when he had been achild, and when he was not with the Ostjaks he had lived with hisfather's brother, who had, he said, "droves of cattle and horses."
"If they would put me to work on a river," he said, "I should not mind.Here one has plenty to eat, and the work is not hard, and there is awarm room to sleep in, but I should like to be employed in cuttingtimber and taking it in rafts down the river to the sea. I love theriver, and I can shoot. All the Ostjaks can shoot, though shooting hasbrought me bad luck. If I had not had my bow in my hand when thatRussian struck me I should not be here now. It was all done in a moment.You see I was on the road when his sledge came along. The snow was freshand soft, and I did not hear it coming. The horses swerved, nearlyupsetting the sledge, and knocking me down in the snow. Then I got upand swore at the driver, and then the Russian, who was angry because thesledge had nearly been upset, jumped out, caught the whip from thedriver and struck me across the face. It hurt me badly, for my face wascold. I had been in the wood shooting squirrels, and I hardly know howit was, but I fitted an arrow to the string and shot. It was all over ina moment, and there he lay on the snow with the arrow through histhroat. I was so frightened that I did not even try to run away, and wasstupid enough to let the driver hold me till some people came up andcarried me off to prison; so you see my shooting did me harm. But it washard to be sent here for life for a thing like that. He was a bad manthat Russian. He was an officer in one of the regiments there, and asoldier who was in prison with me afterwards told me that there wasgreat joy among the soldiers when he was killed."
"But it was very wrong, Luka, to kill a man like that."
"Yes; but then you see I hadn't time to think. I was almost mad withpain, and it was all done in a minute. I think it is very hard that Ishould be punished as much as I am when there are many here who havekilled five or six people, or more, and some of them women, and theyhave no worse punishment than I have. Look at Kobylin; he was a banditfirst of all, as I have heard him say over and over again. He beat hiswife to death, because she scolded him for being drunk, then he took tothe woods. The first he killed was a Jew pedlar, then he burnt down thehouse of the head-man of a village because he had put the police on histrack. He killed him as he rushed out from the door, and his wife andchildren were burnt alive. He killed four or five others on the road,and when he was betrayed, as he was asleep in the hut, he cut down withan axe two of the policemen who came to arrest him. He is in for life,but he is a great deal worse than I am, is he not?
"Then there is that little Koshkin, the man who is always walking aboutsmiling to himself. He was a clerk to a notary, and he murdered hismaster and mistress and two servant women, and got away with the moneyand lived on it for a year; then he went into another family and did thesame, but this time the police got on his track and caught him. Ninelives he took altogether, not in a passion or because they were cruel tohim. I heard him say that he was quite a favourite, and how he used tosing to them and was trusted in every way. No, I say it isn't fair thatI, who did nothing but just pay a man for a blow, should get as much asthose two."
"It does seem rather hard on you, but you see there cannot be a greatvariety of punishments. You killed a man, and so you had sentence forlife. They can't give more than that, and if they were to give lessthere would be more murders than there are, for every one would thinkthat they could kill at least one person without being punished veryheavily for it."
"I don't call mine murder at all," Luka said. "I would not kill a manfor his money; but this was just a fight. Whiz went his whip across myface, and then whiz went my arrow."
"Oh, it is not so bad, Luka, I grant. If you had killed a man in coldblood I would have had nothing to do with you. I could not be friendswith a man who was a cold-blooded murderer. I could never give him myhand, or travel with him, or sleep by his side. I don't feel that withyou. In the eye of the law you committed a murder, and the law does notask why it was done, or care in what way it was done. The law only saysyou killed the man, and the punishment for that is imprisonment forlife. But I, as a man, can see that there is a great difference in themoral guilt, and that, acting as you did in a fit of passion, suddenlyand without premeditation, and smarting under an assault, it was what weshould in England call manslaughter. Before I asked you to teach me,when Osip first said that he should recommend me to try you, I saw bythe badge on your coat that you were in for murder, and if it had notbeen that he knew how it came about, I would not have had anything to dowith you, even if I had been obliged to give up altogether my idea oflearning your language."
The starosta continued a steady friend to Godfrey. The lad acted as asort of deputy to him, and helped him to keep the accounts of the moneyhe spent for the convicts, and the balance due to them, and once did himreal service. As Mikail's office was due to the vote of the prisoners,his authority over them was but slight, and although he was supported bya considerable majority of them there were some who constantly opposedhim, and at times openly defied his authority. Had Mikail reported theirconduct they would have been severely punished; but they knew he wasvery averse to getting any one into trouble, and that he preferred tosettle things for himself. He was undoubtedly
the most powerful man inthe ward, and even the roughest characters feared to provoke him singly.
On one occasion, however, after he had knocked down a man who hadrefused to obey his orders, six or seven of his fellow convicts sprungon him. Godfrey, Osip, and three or four of the better class of convictsrushed to his assistance, and for a few minutes there was a fiercefight, the rest of the prisoners looking on at the struggle but takingno active part one way or the other. The assailants were eventuallyoverpowered, and nothing might have been said about the matter had itnot been that one of Mikail's party was seriously injured, having an armbroken and being severely kicked. Mikail was therefore obliged to reportthe matter, and the whole of the men concerned in the attack upon himreceived a severe flogging.
"I should look out for those fellows, Mikail," Godfrey said, "or theymay injure you if they have a chance."
Mikail, however, scoffed at the idea of danger.
"They have got it pretty severely now," he said, "and the colonel toldthem that if there was any more insubordination he would give them the_plete_; and they have a good deal too much regard for their lives torisk that. You won't hear any more of it. They know well enough that Iwould not have reported them if I had not been obliged to do so, owingto Boulkin's arm being broken; therefore it isn't fair having any grudgeagainst me. They have been flogged before most of them, and by the timethe soreness has passed off they will have forgotten it."
Godfrey did not feel so sure of that, and determined to keep his eyeupon the men. He did not think they would openly assault the starosta,but at night one of them might do him an injury, relying upon thedifficulty of proving under such circumstances who had been theassailant.
The solitary candle that burned in the ward at night was placed well outof reach and protected by a wire frame. It could not, therefore, beextinguished, but the light it gave was so faint that, except whenpassing just under the beam from which it hung, it would be impossibleto identify any one even at arm's-length. Two of those concerned in theattack on Mikail were the men of whom Luka had been speaking. Kobylinthe bandit muttered and scowled whenever the starosta came near him, andthere could be little doubt that had he met him outside the prison wallshe would have shown him no mercy. Koshkin on the other hand appeared tocherish no enmity.
"I have done wrong, Mikail," he said half an hour after he had had hisflogging, "and I have been punished for it. It was not your fault; itwas mine. These things will happen, you know, and there is no need formalice;" and he went about the ward smiling and rubbing his hands asusual and occasionally singing softly to himself. As Godfrey knew howsubmissive the Russians are under punishment he would have thought thisperfectly natural had he not heard from Luka the man's history. That washow, he thought to himself, the scoundrel smiled upon the master andmistress he had resolved to murder. "Of the two I think there is more tobe feared from him than from that villain Kobylin, who has certainlybeen civil enough to me since I gave him that thrashing. I will keep myeye on the little fellow."
Of necessity the ward became quiet very soon after night set in. The mentalked and smoked for a short time, but in an hour after the candle waslit the ward was generally perfectly quiet. Godfrey, working as he didindoors, was far less inclined for sleep than either the men who hadbeen working in the forest or those who had been listlessly passing theday in enforced idleness, and he generally lay awake for a long time,either thinking of home and school-days, or in meditating over his plansfor escape as soon as spring arrived, and he now determined to keepawake still longer. "They are almost all asleep by seven o'clock," hesaid to himself. "If any of those fellows intend to do any harm toMikail they will probably do it by ten or eleven, there will be nomotive in putting it off longer; and indeed the ward is quieter thenthan it is later, for some of them when they wake light a pipe and havea smoke, and many do so early in the morning so as to have their smokebefore going to work."
Five evenings passed without anything happening, and Godfrey began tothink that he had been needlessly anxious, and that Mikail mustunderstand the ways of his own people better than he did. The sixthevening had also passed off quietly, and when Godfrey thought that itmust be nearly twelve o'clock he was about to pull his blanket up overhis ear and settle himself for sleep when he suddenly caught sight of astooping figure coming along. It was passing under the candle when hecaught sight of it. He did not feel quite sure that his eyes had notdeceived him, for it was but a momentary glance he caught of a darkobject an inch or two above the level of the feet of the sleepers.
Godfrey noiselessly pushed down his blanket, gathered his feet up inreadiness for a spring, and grasped one of his shoes, which as usual hehad placed behind the clothes-bag that served as his pillow. Several ofthe sleepers were snoring loudly, and intently as he listened he heardno footfall. In a few seconds, however, a dark figure arose against thewall at the foot of the bench; it stood there immovable for half aminute and then leaned over Mikail, placing one hand on the wall as ifto enable him to stretch as far over as possible without touching thesleeper. Godfrey waited no longer but brought the shoe down with all hisforce on the man's head, and then threw himself upon him pinning himdown for a moment upon the top of Mikail. The latter woke with a shoutof surprise followed by a sharp cry of pain. Godfrey clung to the man,who, as with a great effort he rose, dragged him from the bed, and thetwo rolled on the ground together. Mikail's shout had awakened the wholeward and a sudden din arose. Mikail leapt from the bench and as he didso fell over the struggling figures on the ground.
"Get hold of his hands, Mikail," Godfrey shouted, "he has got a knifeand I can't hold him."
But in the dark it was some time before the starosta could make out thefigures on the floor. Suddenly Godfrey felt Mikail's hand on his throat.
"That's me," he gasped. The hand was removed and a moment later he feltthe struggles of his adversary cease, and there was a choking sound.
"That is right, Mikail, but don't kill him," he said.
At this moment the door at the end of the ward opened and two of theguard ran in with lanterns. They shouted orders to the convicts to keeptheir places on the benches.
"This way," Mikail called, "there has been attempted murder, I believe."
The guards came up with the lanterns.
"What has happened to him?" one of them said, bending over the man whowas lying insensible on the ground.
"He is short of wind," Mikail said, "that is all that ails him; I had tochoke him off."
"But what is it all about?"
"I don't know myself," Mikail said. "I was asleep when I felt a thump asif a cow had fallen on me, then I felt a sharp stab on the hip, two ofthem one after the other, then the weight was lifted suddenly off and Ijumped up. As I put my feet on the ground I tumbled over Ivan hereand--who is it? Hold the lantern close to his face--ah, Koshkin. What isit, Ivan, are you hurt?"
"He ran his knife pretty deep into my leg once or twice," Godfrey said."I got his arms pinned down, but I could not keep him from moving hishands. If we had lain quiet he would have hurt me seriously, I expect;but we were both struggling, so he only got a chance to give me a dignow and then."
"But what is it all about, Ivan, for I don't quite understand yet?"Mikail asked.
"I told you, Mikail, that fellow would do you a mischief. You laughed atme, but I was quite sure that that smiling manner of his was all put on.I have lain awake for the last five nights to watch, and to-night I justcaught sight of something crawling along at the edge of the bench. Hestood up at your feet and leant over, as I thought then, and I know now,to stab you, but I flung myself on him, and you know the rest of it."
"Well, you have saved my life, there is no mistake about that," andMikail lifted and laid him on the bench. "Now," he said to the guards,"you had better take that fellow out and put him in the guard cell, thecold air will bring him round as soon as you get him out of this room.You had better hold him tight when he does, for he is a slipperycustomer. When you have locked him up will one of you go
round to thedoctor's? This young fellow is bleeding fast, and I fancy I have lost agood deal of blood myself."
As soon as the soldiers had left the ward carrying Koshkin between themMikail called Osip and Luka. "Here," he said, "get the lad's things downfrom under his iron belt and try and stop the bleeding till the doctorcomes. I feel a bit faint myself or I would ask no one else to do it."
In ten minutes the doctor arrived. Godfrey had three cuts about half-waybetween the hip and the knee.
"They are of no consequence except for the bleeding," the doctor said."Has anyone got a piece of cord?"
"There is a piece in my bag," Mikail replied. The doctor took it andmade a rough tourniquet above the wounds, then drew the edges together,put in two stitches in each, and then strapped them up. Then he attendedto Mikail. "You have had a narrow escape," he said; "the knife hasstruck on your hip bone and made a nasty gash, and there is another justbelow it. If the first wound had been two inches higher there would havebeen nothing to do but to bury you."
"Well, this is a nice business," Mikail said, when the doctor had left."To think of that little villain being so treacherous! You were rightand I was wrong, Ivan, though how you guessed he was up to mischief ismore than I can imagine."
"Well, you know the fellow's history, Mikail, and that he had murderednine people he had lived among and who trusted him. What could oneexpect from a villain like that?"
"Oh, I know he is a bad one," Mikail said, "but I did not think he daretake the risk."
"I don't suppose he thought there was much risk, Mikail. If I had beenasleep he would have stabbed you to the heart, and when we found youdead in the morning who was to know what prisoner had done it?"
"Well, it was a lucky thought my putting you next to me, young fellow; Imeant it for your good not for my own, and now you see it has saved mylife."
"A kind action always gets its reward, Mikail--always, sooner or later;in your case it has been sooner, you see. Now I shall go off to sleep,for I feel as drowsy as if I had been up for the last three nights."