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railroad camp. It was far too general for day-to-day use, but enabled him to
get the large picture of what he was attempting.
His problem was one that must be faced each morning, and as his grandfather
used to say, "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Each day must be
approached as a unit; each day must be lived with care; and if this was done,
the procession of days would turn out all right.
Tomorrow must be a shadow at the back of his thinking, something of which he
must think while living out today.
He must try to get other, more detailed maps. He must try to think out his
route while being ready to adapt to any change of plan. He must smoke and dry
meat so he could move rapidly once on the way.
Before he left here, he must have a series of goals in mind, each one to be
mentally checked off when he reached it. Above all, he must be prepared to
move on the instant, from here or from anywhere he stopped. He could not
afford to become emotionally involved ... now why did he think of that?
He shook his head to clear the thought. He was not involved, and it was not
likely he would be. Not here, not in Siberia.
He knew they were searching for him, and he knew they were thorough. He knew
that at first the search had been quick but haphazard, for in the beginning
there had been no doubt he would be recaptured at once. Those first few days
had seen them sweeping the area where he should have been. He had not been
there because he had traveled too fast and had then taken to the river. Above
all, he had stayed in wild country. Now the search would be slow, painstaking
and would use every possible angle.
He believed he was now in an area where he would not be expected to be. He did
not believe they had any idea where he was and hoped they did not. Yet there
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was doubt. Suppose they did know? That he must consider.
Each day he hunted; each night he dried meat. He delivered meat to the village
and kept them living better than ever before. Constantly, he was told that,
and because of that most of them wanted him to stay, at least until spring.
Again and again he went to the house of Stephan Baronas, and each night he
learned a little Russian. He could ask simple questions now and was beginning
to form sentences. His knowledge was increasing, and it was possible even now
that he could get along, for there were many ethnic groups in Siberia, many of
whom had little if any Russian, Each had its own tongue, and they spoke
Russian, if at all, only as a foreign language.
He now had more than fifty pounds of meat, dried and smoked, and in the
intense cold there was no question but that it would keep.
His plan was to follow down the Gonam River to where it met the Uchur, cross
that river and head across country to the Maya and then to the Udoma, and
follow it upstream and then cross the mountains to the Kolyma. It was but a
general plan, and the chances of keeping to it were slight, yet it was that
route or something akin to it that he must follow.
The distance he must cover was incredible, but if he was lucky, part of it
could be done floating on rivers. That was an outside chance and a risk. There
was something else he must consider, yet he shied from it. He might have to
spend another winter before he could escape.
No use to worry about that. He must face immediate problems. He needed
clothing.
He needed Russian clothing of the kind worn in Siberia. His present condition
would immediately attract attention, something he did not want. Sooner or
later a time was sure to come when he would have to mingle with people, and he
must look as they did. His dark skin was not unusual here. The Yakuts, the
Tungus, the Golds, and the Buriats were all as dark as he and some darker.
Meanwhile he prepared a way incase of flight. Hiking through the dense forest
he found a way that was relatively free of obstacles, one he could run over if
need be. In his mind he charted every move, every turn, every step he might
take. The chance that he might have to escape over this route was slight. No
one could guess where he might be when flight became necessary, but if it
happened close to the village or at night from his hideout, he would have the
route clearly in mind.
Many miles away, near the head of the Ningam River, he prepared an emergency
hideout. The region was isolated, and there was much game which he did not
hunt. He might need it at a later time. He found a place where several
blown-down trees had lodged in the branches of their neighbors. One, a great
spruce, had heavy branches that swept the ground. Under it grew a smaller
spruce with a skirt of branches that touched the ground also. Other trees had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]