[Illustration: ESCAPING EXILES CROSSING A STREAM.]
"Ivanoff (under his new name of Petrovitch) was sent to live in a village about twenty miles from Irkutsk, and required to report twice a week to the police. He found employment with a peasant farmer, and managed to communicate with a friend in Irkutsk, though not without much difficulty. The peasant used to send him to market with the produce of the farm, as he found that Ivanoff could obtain better prices than himself; the fact was he generally sold to his friend, who purposely overpaid him, and if he did not find his friend he added a little to the amount out of his own pocket. Ivanoff and his friend haggled a great deal over their transactions, and thus conversed without arousing suspicion.
"Things went on in this way for some months, and the good conduct of the apparently reformed criminal won him the favor of the police-master to whom he was required to report. His time of reporting was extended to once a week, and later to once a month. This gave him the chance of escaping.
"By a judicious use of his money he secured the silence of his employer and obtained a paderojnia of the second class. The day after reporting to the police he went to fish in the Angara, the river that flows past Irkutsk and has a very swift current. As soon as he was missed his employer led the search in the direction of the river. The coat, basket, and fishing-rod of the unfortunate man lay on the bank; it was easy to see that he had been standing on a stone at the edge of the water, and the stone having given way the river had swallowed Ivanoff, and carried his body away towards the Arctic Ocean. Some money was in the pocket of the coat, and was appropriated by the officers.
"But instead of being drowned, Ivanoff was safely concealed in a cave under a large rock in the forest. He had found it on one of his hunting excursions, and had previously conveyed to it a quantity of provisions, together with some clothing supplied by his friend in Irkutsk. There he remained for a fortnight; then he went to Irkutsk, and started on his journey.
"People leaving Irkutsk frequently drive to the first station in their own vehicles, and there hire the carriages of the posting service. So one evening Ivanoff rode out to the station in a carriage hired in front of the hotel. He did not tell me, but I suspect that his friend supplied the carriage, and possibly handled the reins himself.