Page:Ossendowski - The Shadow of the Gloomy East.djvu/79

Rh felt it. All round It was silent, and only the horses were panting and neighing. The Yamshchiks marched beside the sledges, running from time to time to get warmer.

"Everything seemed to be in order and just as usual, and still I could not lift my eyes from the snow upon which I noticed a great many large spots. They were white, a little darker or a little brighter than the snow perhaps, but they captured and held my eyes.

"At last I called two of the nearest drivers and went to see. No sooner did we leave the road than the spots moved violently.

"I knew we were attacked by bandits.

"The bandits and deserters from prisons and Saghalien, a 'shpana,' as we called them in Siberia, lie hidden by the road, dressed in white cloaks over their fur coats. If we had been asleep on the sledges the bandits would have stolen near us unnoticed and cut the ropes holding the loads on the sledges. One by one the boxes of tea would have dropped noiselessly into the deep snow. We shouldn't have found it out till possibly the next halting-place, and of course much too late to get them back, as the 'shpana' would then have gathered our goods and decamped in safety.

"But seeing themselves discovered they attacked. We were fired at Two of my men fell dead, five were wounded. All the others followed me against the attackers. Yamshchiks always carry their weapons with them. A long knife stuck into the leg of the