"I will," said the joker, as the girl passed him, laughing merrily, with the pole in her hand. "Let me carry it for you;" and Scott attempted to take the pole.
She stoutly resented this interference, till Captain Ekovetz spoke to her, for he had heard the conversation. The girl laughed, and so did the old woman who worked with her. The poles were laid down and loaded, and Scott picked up his end. His share of the weight was all he could stagger under, and the solemn Russians laughed heartily at his gallantry.
"That's enough for me," said the joker, when he had dumped the load. "Here, Miss Maidenoff, I'm off."
The girl tittered, and Scott gave her a twenty-copeck piece, which she accepted with surprise and pleasure.
"Don't back out, Scott," said Lincoln.
"I thought I would back out while I had a back to back out with. The idea of that girl carrying such a load is cruel. It is enough for a pack mule."
"But the old woman sold you," laughed Billy Bobstay.
"Sold me?"
"She evidently understands the mechanical powers in practice, if not in theory, for she loaded the poles so that you carried two thirds of the weight. Probably she takes the other end with the girl."
"These women claim this work as their privilege," said the captain. "If the men should attempt to bring the wood on board, the women would think it was mean in them."