ards a narrow pass, lying north and south,
where they would be protected from the direct sweep of the tempest. At
one end a huge rock jutted out, round the summit of which whirled an
eddy. Behind the shelter of the rock there was a comparative calm; yet
once within the circumference of the cyclone, neither man nor beast
could resist its power.

Indeed, some firs which towered above this protection were in a trice
shorn of their tops, as though a gigantic scythe had swept across them.
The storm was now at its height. The lightning filled the defile, and
the thunderclaps had become one continued peal. The ground, struck by
the concussion, trembled as though the whole Ural chain was shaken to
its foundations.

Happily, the tarantass could be so placed that the storm might strike it
obliquely. But the counter-currents, directed towards it by the slope,
could not be so well avoided, and so violent were they that every
instant it seemed as though it would be dashed to pieces.

Nadia was obliged to leave her seat, and Michael, by the light of one
of the lanterns, discovered an excavation bearing the marks of a miner's
pick, where the young girl could rest in safety until they could once
more start.

Just then--it was one o'clock in the morning--the rain began to fall in
torrents, and this in addition to the wind and lightning, made the
storm truly frightful. To continue the journey at present was utterly
impossible. Besides, having reached this pass, they had only to descend
the slopes of the Ural Mountains, and to descend now, with the road torn
up by a thousand mountain torrents, in these eddies of wind and rain,
was utter madness.

"To wait is indeed serious," said Michael, "but it must certainly be
done, to avoid still longer detentions. The very violence of the storm
makes me hope that it will not last long. About three o'clock the day
will begin to break, and the descent, which we cannot risk in the dark,
we shall be able, if not with ease, at least without such danger, to
attempt after sunrise."

"Let us wait, brother," replied Nadia; "but if you delay, let it not be
to spare me fatigue or danger."

"Nadia, I know that you are ready to brave everything, but, in exposing
both of us, I risk more than my life, more than yours, I am not
fulfilling my task, that duty which before everything else I must
accomplish."

"A duty!" murmured Nadia.

Just then a bright flash lit up the sky; a loud clap followed. The air