"At this point he drove into a ditch, and we were both spilled out on the tundra, an unpleasant thing in summer when the peaty ground is one vast sponge. At Maidy we met this young man's father. Here I found that it was a good thing for me that I had been isolated at the Yoort, for had I been in the Free Command I should certainly have been spotted. The wily old merchant knew every prisoner in the Command; but as I had always obtained all my supplies indirectly through Big Peter, my name and appearance were alike unknown to him. He approached me, however, with caution and circumspection, and asked for a drink of vodka for the ride which his son had given me.
"'Why should I give thee a drink of vodka?' I asked, lest I should seem suspiciously ready to be friendly.
"'Because my son drove you thirteen versts and more.'
"'But I paid your son for all he has done—two roubles, according to bargain. Why should I buy thee vodka? Thou art better without vodka. Vodka will make thee drunk, and thou shalt be brought before the ispravnik.'
"The dirty old rascal drew himself up.
"'I, even I, am ispravnik, and the horses were mine and the tarantass also.'
"'But thy son drove badly and upset us in the ditch.'
"'Then,' whispered the old scoundrel, coming close up with a look of indescribable cunning on his face, 'give my son no vodka—give me all the vodka.'
"Being glad on any terms to get clear of the precious couple, I gave them both money for their vodka, and set off along the backwaters towards the place described by Leof and Big Peter. I found them there before me, and we lost no time in embarking. I found that they had the boat well provendered and equipped. Indeed, the sight of their luxuries tempted us all to excess; but I reminded them that we were still in a country of game, and that we must save all our supplies till we were out in the ocean. The Lena was swollen by the melting snows, and the boat made slow progress, especially as we had to follow the least frequented arms of the vast delta. We found, however, plenty of fish—specially salmon, which were in great quantities wherever, in the blind alleys of the backwaters, we put down the fish-spear. We were not the only animals who rejoiced in the free and open life of the delta archipelago. Often we saw bears swimming far ahead, but none of them came near our boat.
"One night when the others were sleeping I strayed away over the marshy tundra, plunging through the hundred yards of black mud and moss where the willow-grouse and the little stint were feeding. I came upon a nest or two of the latter, and paused to suck some of the eggs, one of the birds meanwhile coming quite close, putting its head quaintly to the side as though to watch where its property was going, with a view to future recovery. A little farther along I got on the real tundra, and wandered on in the full light of a midnight sun, which coloured all the flat surface of the marshy moorland a deep crimson, and laid deep shadows of purple mist in the great hollow of the Lena river.