“Captain in the corps of Couriers to the Czar.”
“Thou dost know Siberia?”
“I am a Siberian.”
“A native of—?”
“Omsk, sire.”
“Hast thou relations there?”
“Yes, sire, my aged mother.”
The Czar suspended his questions for a moment; then pointed to a letter which he held in his hand:
“Here is a letter which I charge thee, Michael Strogoff, to deliver into the hands of the Grand Duke, and to no one but him.”
“I will deliver it, sire.”