"Crows," said he, without caring whether he was overheard or not;"crows, at six copecks a verst!"
"No, eagles!" said Michael, who understood the iemschik's slang perfectly;"eagles, do you hear, at nine copecks a verst, and a tip besides."He was answered by a merry crack of the whip.
In the language of the Russian postillions the "crow" is the stingy or poor traveler, who at the post-houses only pays two or three copecks a verst for the horses. The "eagle" is the traveler who does not mind expense, to say nothing of liberal tips.
Therefore the crow could not claim to fly as rapidly as the imperial bird.
Nadia and Michael immediately took their places in the tarantass.
A small store of provisions was put in the box, in case at any time they were delayed in reaching the post-houses, which are very comfortably provided under direction of the State. The hood was pulled up, as it was insupport-ably hot, and at twelve o'clock the tarantass left Perm in a cloud of dust.
The way in which the iemschik kept up the pace of his team would have certainly astonished travelers who, being neither Russians nor Siberians, were not accustomed to this sort of thing.
The leader, rather larger than the others, kept to a steady long trot, perfectly regular, whether up or down hill.
The two other horses seemed to know no other pace than the gallop, though they performed many an eccentric curvette as they went along.
The iemschik, however, never touched them, only urging them on by startling cracks of his whip. But what epithets he lavished on them, including the names of all the saints in the calendar, when they behaved like docile and conscientious animals!
The string which served as reins would have had no influence on the spirited beasts, but the words "na pravo," to the right, "na levo," to the left, pronounced in a guttural tone, were more effectual than either bridle or snaffle.
And what amiable expressions! "Go on, my doves!" the iemschik would say. "Go on, pretty swallows! Fly, my little pigeons!
Hold up, my cousin on the left! Gee up, my little father on the right!"But when the pace slackened, what insulting expressions, instantly understood by the sensitive animals!
"Go on, you wretched snail! Confound you, you slug!
I'll roast you alive, you tortoise, you!"Whether or not it was from this way of driving, which requires the iemschiks to possess strong throats more than muscular arms, the tarantass flew along at a rate of from twelve to fourteen miles an hour. Michael Strogoff was accustomed both to the sort of vehicle and the mode of traveling. Neither jerks nor jolts incommoded him. He knew that a Russian driver never even tries to avoid either stones, ruts, bogs, fallen trees, or trenches, which may happen to be in the road. He was used to all that.
His companion ran a risk of being hurt by the violent jolts of the tarantass, but she would not complain.
For a little while Nadia did not speak. Then possessed with the one thought, that of reaching her journey's end, "I have calculated that there are three hundred versts between Perm and Ekaterenburg, brother," said she.
"Am I right?"
"You are quite right, Nadia," answered Michael; "and when we have reached Ekaterenburg, we shall be at the foot of the Ural Mountains on the opposite side.""How long will it take to get across the mountains?""Forty-eight hours, for we shall travel day and night.
I say day and night, Nadia," added he, "for I cannot stop even for a moment; I go on without rest to Irkutsk.""I shall not delay you, brother; no, not even for an hour, and we will travel day and night.""Well then, Nadia, if the Tartar invasion has only left the road open, we shall arrive in twenty days.""You have made this journey before?" asked Nadia.
"Many times."
"During winter we should have gone more rapidly and surely, should we not?""Yes, especially with more rapidity, but you would have suffered much from the frost and snow.""What matter! Winter is the friend of Russia.""Yes, Nadia, but what a constitution anyone must have to endure such friendship! I have often seen the temperature in the Siberian steppes fall to more than forty degrees below freezing point!
I have felt, notwithstanding my reindeer coat, my heart growing chill, my limbs stiffening, my feet freezing in triple woolen socks; I have seen my sleigh horses covered with a coating of ice, their breath congealed at their nostrils.
I have seen the brandy in my flask change into hard stone, on which not even my knife could make an impression.