will devise some improvement in this last-named vehicle.
Springs are wanting in it as well as in the telga;
in the absence of iron, wood is not spared; but its four wheels,
with eight or nine feet between them, assure a certain
equilibrium over the jolting rough roads. A splash-board
protects the travelers from the mud, and a strong leathern hood,
which may be pulled quite over the occupiers, shelters them
from the great heat and violent storms of the summer.
The tarantass is as solid and as easy to repair as the telga,
and is, moreover, less addicted to leaving its hinder part
in the middle of the road.

It was not without careful search that Michael managed to
discover this tarantass, and there was probably not a second
to be found in all Perm. He haggled long about the price,
for form's sake, to act up to his part as Nicholas Korpanoff,
a plain merchant of Irkutsk.

Nadia had followed her companion in his search after a suitable vehicle.
Although the object of each was different, both were equally
anxious to arrive at their goal. One would have said the same will
animated them both.

"Sister," said Michael, "I wish I could have found a more comfortable
conveyance for you."

"Do you say that to me, brother, when I would have gone on foot,
if need were, to rejoin my father?"

"I do not doubt your courage, Nadia, but there are physical fatigues