Itwas，however，necessarytofollowthisroaduntilitwasmanifestlyimpossibletodosolongerwithoutfallingintothehandsoftheinvaders。Theroadtheywerefollowingcouldnotbeabandoned，andyetthesignsofdevastationandruinincreasedateveryvillagetheypassedthrough。Thebloodofthevictimswasnotyetdry。
Astogaininginformationaboutwhathadoccurred，thatwasimpossible。
Therewasnotalivingbeinglefttotellthetale。
Aboutfouro’clockintheafternoonofthisday，NicholascaughtsightofthetallsteeplesofthechurchesofNijni-Oudinsk。Thickvapors，whichcouldnothavebeenclouds，werefloatingaroundthem。
NicholasandNadialooked，andcommunicatedtheresultoftheirobservationstoMichael。Theymustmakeuptheirmindswhattodo。