Free Novel 1986 - Last Of The Breed (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour

decided bend toward the west, gaining in width.
    Yakov puzzled him. Where was he going, armed as he was? Was there armed anti-Soviet resistance in Siberia? He doubted it. Or was he a thief, associated with a gang of thieves? There had been robberies in the Soviet Union, some of them quite dramatic, but beyond an occasional article printed in their papers and copied in American or European papers, or information gleaned from reports of trials, he knew nothing.
    He kept to the cover of the trees. The earth was covered with needles from the pines and was soft underfoot. When he came within sight of the Olekma, from a high point among the trees he studied what he could see of the stream.
    Almost at once he heard the distant mutter of an engine, and then a steam launch came within sight. It was headed upstream, and it carried at least a dozen soldiers.
    Searching for him? But how could they know where he was? Had he somehow failed to conceal his presence? Or was this a blanket search across a wide area? Even as he watched, the boat veered in toward the shore. He waited, then watched the soldiers disembark. At once they began making camp.
    It was warm in the sunshine, and Joe Mack sat watching the movements in the growing camp. A dozen soldiers—he counted them again—and an officer, perhaps a noncommissioned officer. He could see the sun glint from their weapons. If they were not hunting him, they were certainly hunting somebody or something.
    The steamboat, not over forty feet long, had tied up at the bank. It was too far away for him to make out details, but he had the impression that it was old, probably a boat long in use on the river. He should be moving on, but he hoped to get some idea of their direction. Yet once they were under cover of the forest, he would be unable to follow their progress.
    Rising and keeping under the trees, he started north along the face of the mountain. Below him and not far from where the soldiers had camped, two streams entered the Olekma, one from either side. The wind was cold and he was glad when he dipped deeper into the forest and away from it. He weaved among the trees, careful to break no branches and leave no obvious sign. His soft moccasins made almost no impression on the needles underfoot.
    What awaited him beyond the Olekma he did not know, yet slowly things forgotten were returning to mind—from books he had read long ago and Army orientation lectures.
    How to cross the Olekma?
    Finding a game trail, he followed it along the mountainside, pausing from time to time to listen. He heard nothing.
    When he had walked for what he believed was over two miles he paused to rest and to listen. As he waited, he chewed on some of the dried mutton from the mountain sheep.
    If that group of soldiers was hunting him there would be others. Somehow he had given away his presence here, or he had been seen.
    The river would be watched. Crossing the Olekma would not be as easy as crossing the Kalar.
    Would they try to take him alive? It did not matter. He would be better dead than a prisoner again. But what if he could cross the river in darkness? The nights were growing longer. Could he find some means, some way?
    He turned down the slope among the stone pines, taking a diagonal route along the mountainside. Ahead of him was a small stream. He paused before approaching to listen again. Then he went down to the water and followed the stream down toward the main river, pausing often to listen.
    He was one man alone in a hostile country, where no man was his friend. He must be prepared to kill or be killed.
    Above all, he must remain alert. Although the land before him was virtually uninhabited, there was always the chance of coming up to a hunter or prospector. If he remembered correctly, the Russians were building a new railroad across the country before him. Their Trans-Siberian line ran along the Amur, too close to China for comfort.
    Finding a rock under larch trees, closely screened from behind by