line could be found. I asked
for one at every cottage I passed, but in vain. At length, with a sad
heart, I saw the vessel with her hapless crew drive by me. On she was
whirled by the rapid current till I lost sight of her. I had but faint
hopes of the people being saved. If, before starvation deprived them of
all strength to move, the vessel struck on one of the banks, they might
be saved. If not, they would be carried onward, down the stream, till
she reached the Caspian Sea, where, perhaps, leaky from the crushing she
had received from the masses of ice, she might go to the bottom; or,
after knocking about for a long time, she might be picked up, the bones
of her crew telling plainly their melancholy fate.

"That very day, as I rode back, I witnessed another scene, which I shall
never forget. High up the stream I descried an object on a large slab
of ice which came floating down towards me. As it came nearer, I
perceived a telega, a country cart, with a horse harnessed to it. Near
it I saw a human figure kneeling. By his side was a dog, which, from
its attitude, even at that distance, I guessed was looking up into his
master's face. So still were all the figures, that I might have fancied
them a group chiselled out of marble. Nearer drew the sheet of ice. I
then saw that the figure was that of an old man; his cap had fallen off,
and his long white locks were streaming in the wind. His hands were
lifted up in prayer, and his lips moved, as if imploring aid from above.
His faithful dog looked up wistfully and inquiringly, as if to say,
`Master dear, what is the matter?--how can I help you?' The old man
seemed resigned fully to his fate, and not inclined to make an effort to
save himself. He turned his head, and then saw farther down the stream
a number of people, who were beckoning to him, and showing their anxiety
to save him. At first when he saw them, he shook his head, and once
more addressed himself to prayer. He had evidently given up all hope of
being saved. But when the cheering voices of his fellow-creatures
reached his ears, and he saw their friendly gestures, the desire to live
returned, and he rose from his knees. In his cart were a number of long
poles. He seized one of them, and stood balancing it in his hand, while
he looked eagerly towards the shore. He called to his dog, `Now, my
faithful one, you and I have a dangerous work to perform. Life or death
depends on the course we take