The Caucasus had reached the confluence of the Volga and the Kama.

There she would leave the former river, after having descended it for nearly three hundred miles, to ascend the latter for a full three hundred.
The Kama was here very wide, and its wooded banks lovely.

A few white sails enlivened the sparkling water.

The horizon was closed by a line of hills covered with aspens, alders, and sometimes large oaks.
But these beauties of nature could not distract the thoughts of the young Livonian even for an instant.

She had left her hand in that of her companion, and turning to him, "At what distance are we from Moscow ?" she asked.
"Nine hundred versts," answered Michael.
"Nine hundred, out of seven thousand!" murmured the girl.
The bell now announced the breakfast hour.