第 二十八 章 · BETWEEN TWO BANKS

. BETWEEN TWO BANKS

BY eight in the evening, the country, as the state of the sky had

foretold, was enveloped in complete darkness. The moon being new had not

yet risen. From the middle of the river the banks were invisible. The

cliffs were confounded with the heavy, low-hanging clouds. At intervals

a puff of wind came from the east, but it soon died away in the narrow

valley of the Angara.

The darkness could not fail to favor in a considerable degree the plans

of the fugitives. Indeed, although the Tartar outposts must have

been drawn up on both banks, the raft had a good chance of passing

unperceived. It was not likely either that the besiegers would have

barred the river above