92 A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 



whole distance — a thousand versts up the frozen river. 

 Some died on the way : others arrived in a pitiable 

 condition, and it is said that only a few of them were 

 able to appear in court, for the r^st were all in hospital 

 after amputations for frostbite. Michael Petrovitch's 

 great strength and vitality helped him to struggle 

 through the terrible journey. But Madame AntonofF 

 had remained behind at Turukhansk with the know- 

 ledge of the awful risk that her husband ran ; and 

 only a spirit as fine as hers could have come through 

 such an ordeal and kept so much of its youth and 

 brightness. 



By and by, however, a friend in high places managed 

 to obtain a pardon for Michael Petrovitch, and the 

 couple went back to their native province. But they 

 had grown out of touch with their old surroundings, and 

 did not prosper there. In official eyes, the stigma of 

 exile still clung to them. Besides, Siberia had taken 

 hold of them. They came back, and brought Katrina's 

 family with them into the new country. That was five 

 years ago. Leaving his father-in-law to settle in 

 Yenesiesk, Michael Petrovitch and his wife went down 

 the river to remote Golchika, and set to work to build 

 up a business there. The life suited them, for they 

 were both young enough to enjoy carving out a future 

 for themselves, and yet not so young but that they 

 wanted a comfortable home to settle down in. In 

 winter there were the traps to visit. In summer there 

 was the fishing and the trade with the natives who 

 came to buy and sell. In summer, too, Michael 

 Petrovitch went to Krasnoyarsk to purchase the winter 



