NOTHING of any moment happened to the raftsmen and their cook-boy till they reached Krasnoi-Puil, where they had landed Olga Kapoostin. There they would have a day to wait before a cargo boat called that would take them up the stream.
So while the young men called on their friends, Ivan and Sergey went exploring in search of Number 10, Black Street. And as they neared the house, they saw, standing out in a small garden, and washing clothes in a huge tub, Olga Kapoostin, looking very well and happy, while near her, wringing out soapsuds over another tub, previous to rinsing in the river, was a pretty girl of thirteen, her short flaxen hair curling all over her little head like a boy's.
"Ach, Tiotia! Tiotia Olga!" cried Sergey, running and throwing his arms round his Aunt's neck.
"And here, too, dear boy, is thy cousin Dunia," said Olga. "It is thanks to thee, they tell me, that I have my girl again. Thou hast no sister, Sergey, let Dunia be one to thee! For are not cousins next best to sisters?"
Then while the children roamed away together, Olga told old Ivan her story. And he vowed, in his righteous indignation, that when he reached home, Abram Kapoostin should not go unpunished.
Just as they were parting, Olga said, "As thou goest up the river, kind Ivan, alighting here and there, wilt thou, in thy goodness, ask those whom thou dost meet, if they can tell thee where is my young brother Appolon—Appolon Gorlieff? He was footman when last I heard of him, in a nobleman's house on a big estate farther up the river. But I have no news of him for a long time."
Sergey, near enough now to hear the name, listened intently. But, for the sake of his promise to the chief of the robbers, he dare not ask a question which might involve his telling the story of his visit to the bandits' stronghold that night.
"I cannot but fear," said Olga, "that he may have got into bad company, or been ill in hospital. I dread lest something untoward should have befallen him."
"I will make all possible inquiry, and will let thee know," said Ivan. "The footmen of the great houses are well known in the towns near, as they are often sent thither on errands."
"The gentleman and lady whose servant he was," replied Olga, "are Count Yevgen Orloffsky, and his wife, the lady Elena."
Here was another connecting-link in the chain of Sergey's strange story!
His hitherto uneventful life in the village had merged in a series of experiences fitting into one another like those little boxes he had often seen—a dozen in a set of graduated sizes, cleverly made by some of the peasant toy-makers in villages not far from his home.
Before the returning crew of the "Swan" left Krasnoi-Puil, another of their own rafts, on its way down the river, called there for provisions, and brought astonishing news.
Abram Kapoostin had been caught breaking into a house some twenty versts from Glynoi-Liess. And he and two others had been arrested and sent in chains to one of the larger towns for trial.
"Matvey Philipitch told him," said Sergey, "that God would one day hinder him in his wicked work, and see—it is turning out even as he said! But oh, I am glad and thankful that he will not be in Glynoi-Liess when I get there. The air will be purer for his absence. But didst thou learn, Ivan, who my uncle's prison companions were?"
"One was a big, fine-looking fellow, they tell me," replied the skipper; "he was more educated than most, and should have known better. He was outdoor steward; a sort of under-manager on a large estate, and instead of protecting his master's property, he robbed him and others too."
"Without doubt my captain of the bandits!" said Sergey to himself. "I only hope Appolon is not one of the three taken, or poor Tiotia Olga will break her heart."
But he kept silence about these matters now, as he had done hitherto, for one of the lessons the boy had learned was to hold his tongue.
When the returning crew of the "Swan" arrived at the big town where Sergey had met Count Yevgen and his lady, the boy would have liked to walk about and look round as he had done before. But the little steamer was going on in an hour's time, so Ivan and the rest of the crew contented themselves with talking to their acquaintances on the quay.
But Sergey, knowing nobody, was standing apart, when some one came up behind and said—
"Canst thou tell me, boy, how soon this steamer leaves? I have to fetch a box of goods from a store in the town, and I would know if there be time to get it."
Sergey turned, the answer upon his lips, and found himself face to face with a young man whose eyes and forehead and voice he remembered at once. But this face was beardless; surely it had worn a beard once.
"Can it be thou, Appolon?" he said.
"And thou art the little Sergey!"
Then in a frightened whisper the young man added: "For God's sake, betray me not! Since that night we both know of, I have repented and have forsaken my evil ways. That night when I was witness of thy courage, I said to myself, 'If God can give a mere child grace to refuse to be wicked, He can surely give it also to a man, if that man asks Him.'"
"And did the man ask Him?"
"He did, and was heard, and strength came. I left the company there and then, and never returned."
Then, leaving the boy glad at heart, he went to get the box, and returning, heard all about his sister, and promised to write to her.
From place to place, sometimes tramping for a dozen versts or more, at others travelling by barge or cargo steamer, the crew went homeward, and on arrival at Glynoi-Liess the whole party received the warmest of welcomes.
And best of all was it to Sergey to be told by Matvey Philipitch and his wife Christina that from that time they would be his parents, and their home should be his.
And when he told them the story of his adventures during his life on the raft, Matvey said, "Little son, many lessons, doubtless, hast thou learnt in these last months, but methinks the greatest and most precious of all are these: 'First—A thing is always possible if it be duty;' and 'secondly—Out of evil God will surely bring good to all who trust in Him.'"
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