THREE DAYS ON THE EDGE OF A PRECIPICE Armed with our false passports, we moved along up the valley of the Tuba.

Every ten or fifteen versts we came across large villages of from one to six hundred houses, where all administration was in the hands of Soviets and where spies scrutinized all passers-by.

We could not avoid these villages for two reasons.

First, our attempts to avoid them when we were constantly meeting the peasants in the country would have aroused suspicion and would have caused any Soviet to arrest us and send us to the "Cheka" in Minnusinsk, where we should have sung our last song.

Secondly, in his documents my fellow traveler was granted permission to use the government post relays for forwarding him on his journey.