nes had been
taken from stories written by men who had never been within thousands of
miles of them, and who drew terrible pictures of the sufferings of
exiles simply for the purpose of exciting feeling throughout Europe
against the Russian government.

"But it is very unhealthy in the mines underground, is it not?"

"No; why should it be? It is much cooler and pleasanter working
underground than it is in the dust and heat, I can tell you."

"But I thought all quicksilver mines were unhealthy."

"Quicksilver!" the man repeated; "there is not a quicksilver mine in all
Siberia. There is gold and silver, but I don't believe there is a place
where quicksilver is found. Anyhow there is not one that is worked. They
have been gammoning you, young fellow."

"Well, they have gammoned a good many other people too," Godfrey said.
"I know I have read frightful accounts of the sufferings of prisoners in
quicksilver mines."

"Who wrote them?" Mikail asked. "There are a few convicts who may years
afterwards be proved innocent, and allowed to return to Russia, but they
are not the sort that would write lies about this place, for if they did
they would soon find themselves on the road again. There are not a dozen
men who have ever made their escape. Some of them may have invented lies
for the sake of getting pity, and make themselves out to be hard used.
Have you ever read any books by them?"

"Only one," Godfrey said. "It was written by Baron Rosen; he was a
political prisoner who was pardoned after being here a great many years.
He described the life of political prisoners, of course, and even that
was not very bad. Many of them had their wives with them, and they seem
to have lived together pretty comfortably."

"Ah! well, I don't think a political prisoner who came here now would
say as much. They are sent to lonely settlements, many of them up at
Yakutsk; though, of course, there are some down here. It is a horribly
dull life. Some of them do work in the mines, but they are better off
than those who have no work to do at all. I would rather be in for
murder a hundred times than be a political; and what name do you go by,
young fellow?"

"I am entered as Ivan Holstoff."

"That will do well enough. Don't you be fool enough to tell any one what
your real name is. There are sneaks here as well as elsewhere who are
glad enough to curry favour so as to get easy jobs, or to be let out
sooner than they otherwise would be, by ac