I took him by the scruff, rattled his teeth, and ordered him to speak.
"She's gone," he moaned—"gone away in the night, and left her poor old father all alone!"
I hauled him on deck by the ear, kicked him overboard, and went to Baranov. Our sorrows had made us brethren, and we wept. We were sampling a small keg of brandy, to assuage our anguish, when in came Ivan, with his nose bandaged up and his tongue hanging out, to mourn with us.
In proof of our sympathy we gave him some of the brandy, and as we three sat together mingling our tears with our spirits, a rude little boy came in and laughed at us. Olga, he said, was his sister, and had whispered to him last night, before she went away that any one who wanted Fur Seal would have to hunt! She said also that she was going to St. Petr on Kadiak Island, and bade him tell nobody of the fact, particularly Captain Tschirikov.
Baranov rose from his chair with a most absurd assumption of dignity, and said: "Captain Tschirikov, you will at once beach the St. Paul for repairs in the East Cove, and superintend the work in person. Ivan, you will report to me at nine o'clock this evening, and receive dispatches for Attoo Island. Boy, consider yourself entered on the books of the Company as my body servant, and be ready by to-morrow morning to go with me to Kadiak Island."
Dismissing Ivan and the boy, I told Baranov that I intended to beach my ship for repairs, not in the East Cove but at St. Petr, where there are better facilities. He at once ordered me under arrest. I replied that I was not accustomed to receive indignities at the hands of tradesmen, that as a naval officer I was responsible to no civilian, and only refrained from calling him out because he was not a gentleman. Leaving him speechless with rage, I boarded my vessel, slipped and buoyed my cable, and squared away for Kadiak.
A Russian does not sleep when he is out wife-hunting, and you have only to hold in remembrance the black eyes of my Little Fur Seal to realize that I was not many days in reaching her hiding place. I landed at St. Petr with my whole starboard watch, and proceeded to search the village. Just as one of my men entered a house, he called to me, but I reached the front door only in time to see something flutter out at the back. Giving chase, I had the Little Fur Seal safe in my arms within a hundred yards of the house. We have hunted bears together, O my brother, and faced them when they were defending their cubs; but a she-bear in the spring is a lamb compared to Olga. She scratched, kicked, bit, screamed; she tried to plunge a long knife into me, and when I took that from her, clutched my hair. Wherefore I do beseech thee, Alexei Pavlovitch, as thou dost honor the memory of our sire, to send for a wig to Petersburg—just a little wig, with a becoming queue, in the latest mode of the vielle noblesse, in size about the same as you wear on full-dress occasions. Have this consigned to the care of Hans Schlitz at Petropavlovsk.
When I got her down to the boat the Little One began to sulk; and except for some little scratching as we got her up over the ship's side, she sulked on consistently until supper time. I felt like a brute as, after a solitary meal in the cabin, I smoked my pipe before turning in. I was conscious all the time of the glare from her black eyes. Whenever I tried to make friends they flashed upon me like twin stars; while once in my bunk I had an uncomfortable presentiment that, presently finding me asleep, she would cut me off in the flower of my youth with a big butcher knife. But reflecting that it is much wiser to sleep than to lie awake imagining vain things, and greatly solaced by the memory of having seen Baranov's vessel beating her way up the harbor, I partly closed my eyes, and dozed a little.
As luck would have it, I was just sufficiently awake to note that the Little One, believing me to be asleep, was stirring. To give her confidence, I snored comfortably and, unsuspected by her, watched every movement. How pretty she looked as she stood in the faint glow of the candlelight, and then moved slowly towards me, almost imperceptibly and softly as a panther! Picture to yourself, Alexei, the gentle swaying of her limbs, the tangled mass of shadowy hair, the brilliant eyes, the full red lips! Outside I could hear Baranov's crew letting their anchor go, and taking in their canvas. I thought also, with a sense of pleasure, of Ivan stealing slowly along the coast in his canoe towards us. Then, brother, conceive my delight as I saw her creep past the locker upon which lay the knife without even stretching out her hand towards it. A moment later I felt that she was bending over me; her breath played upon my face, her lips drew closer and closer, until at last they rested upon my cheek, leaving there the imprint of the sweetest small round kiss that ever sent a thrill of joy through the heart of man.
The Little Fur Seal was mine!