"We have had a somewhat similar experience in dealing with the Indians in this country," replied the Senator.
"In one of the numerous attempts made by the freebooters to reach the Great Land, they fell in with some Japanese castaways who claimed to have found gold and silver there in abundance. When this was reported to Peter the Great he organized a scientific and military expedition under Bering to find Alaska, with the hope that it would lead to commercial relations with America and Japan."
"It seems a hard fate that Bering should die of scurvy in the winter when all was dark as night and exceedingly cold," said the Senator.
"Yes," answered the Diplomat, "especially after he had survived the six weary years of hardship and toil necessary to march across Siberia. It is possible that he would have failed at last had he not noted the flight of the land birds and known that there must be a shore-line not far away."
"Did he or his family profit by the discoveries he made?"
"Very little. It has been the fate of all the Russian explorers in America to die poor," responded the Diplomat. "It has cost my government vast sums of money and more than two hundred years have elapsed since the first efforts were made. We have profited greatly by the seal fisheries and so will your people when once Alaska becomes a territory of the United States."
"It has always been a puzzle to me why the Czar recalled the Russian colonists living in peace and prosperity in California under Spanish rule," said the Senator, after a pause.
"It was because he wished to maintain friendly relations with the United States and he was far-sighted enough to see that California would some day come under the American flag. It is to increase that feeling that he now offers to sell Alaska to you. He does not wish to have any possessions on this continent. The destiny of Russia lies in another direction."
Both the Senator and Diplomat went to see the President and it was not very long until the purchase was made. When the Senator came back from Washington he said:
"We have paid exactly two cents an acre for Alaska, and its seal fisheries are well worth that amount. We will not have to fight for its possession, and I am certain that we have made a good bargain."