quest.

I saw the portrait and bust of Yermak, but no one could assure me of
their fidelity. The face was thoroughly Russian, and the lines of
character were such as one might expect from the history of the man.
He was represented in the suit of armor he wore at his death.

[Illustration: TAIL PIECE]

CHAPTER XLVII.

The evening after we passed the Irtish, a severe bouran arose. As the
night advanced the wind increased. The road was filled and apparently
obliterated. The yemshicks found it difficult to keep the track, and
frequently descended to look for it. Each interval of search was a
little longer than the preceding one, so that we passed considerable
time in impatient waiting. About midnight we reached a station, where
we were urged to rest until morning, the people declaring it unsafe to
proceed. A slight lull in the storm decided us and the yemshicks to go
forward, but as we set out from the station it seemed like driving
into the spray at the foot of Niagara. Midway between the station, we
wandered from the route and appeared hopelessly lost, with the
prospect of waiting until morning.

Just before nightfall, we saw three wolves on the steppe, pointing
their sharp noses in our direction, and apparently estimating how many
dinners our horses would make. Whether they took the mammoth into
account I cannot say, but presume he was not considered. Wolves are
numerous in all Siberia, and are not admired by the biped inhabitants.
When our road seemed utterly lost, and our chances good for a bivouac
in the steppe, we heard a dismal howl in a momentary lull of the wind.

"VOLK," (wolf,) said the yemshick, who was clearing away the snow near
the sleigh.

Again we heard the sound, and saw the horses lift their ears uneasily.

An instant later the fury of the wind returned. The snow whirled in
dense clouds, and the roaring of the tempest drowned all other sounds.
Had there been fifty howling wolves, within a hundred yards of us, we
could have known nothing until they burst upon us through the curtain
of drifting snow.

It was a time of suspense. I prepared to throw off my outer garments
in case we were attacked, and roused the doctor, who had been some
time asleep. At the cry of "wolf," he was very soon awake, though he
did not lose that calm serenity that always distinguished him. The
yemshicks continued their search for the road, one of them keeping
near the sleigh and the other walking in circles in th