Chapter 8
The Czar’s MessageI drew out my watch and glanced
at it by the light of the flaring stoke-hole. It was just half-past
eight.
The time taken up on the journey between Petersburg and Moscow
varies greatly according to the state of the weather and the amount
of snow on the line. But even in the summer the best trains are
allowed twelve hours, while the slow ones take nearly twenty-four.
The special Siberian express was timed to reach the ancient capital
of the czars at ten o’clock in the morning, and we had overtaken it
with rather more than an hour to spare.
I ordered the driver to creep up gradually, but not to approach
too near the hindmost coach of the train in front until Moscow was
in sight.
Obedient to my instructions, he slackened speed by degrees, till
we we
