IT was just about a week after the adventure with Olga Kapoostin that on drifting down to the landing-stage of a riverside village late one afternoon, the young raftsmen were gladdened by the sight of a tall, grey-bearded man standing on the bank.
It was Ivan himself, healed of the lynx-bite, in excellent spirits, and very happy to see again his three sons, the little cook-boy, and his beloved "Swan."
"I arrived by train this morning," said he, "and came down to watch for you, as, from what I could hear, I judged that you had not yet passed down the river. And glad I am, my children, to set my old eyes upon you all once more, and find you safe and well. For which God be thanked." And the old man doffed his cap and bowed reverently.
The "Swan,"—reprovisioned for her further voyage,—was about to be unmoored, when a wharf watchman came up, and made a sign that he would speak with Ivan.
The old man, rope in hand, stepped ashore again.
"What is it, Gregori?" said he.
"Only this," replied the watchman in low tones. "Keep an eye on the banks as you go, skipper, and hold to mid-stream wherever you can. There has been a wood-famine hereabouts, and timber is scarce. A man called Yefraim Issakoff has a saw-mill not far from here, and of late it has been stopped quite often for want of tree stems to saw up. He is not over-particular as to how or where he gets his material, and he won't pay for anything that he can steal. But forewarned is forearmed. Thou art no novice, Skipper Ivan, and wilt know how to be careful."
"I thank thee, friend!" replied the old man. "It is kind of thee to give me this warning. I will keep mine eyes open, and no one shall take my 'Swan' from me if I can help it."
And after a few more words, the raft was started, but not before both Ivan and Kostia had noticed, standing on the bank at a short distance, a slim, sly-looking youth, with a greasy cap crushed down over his eyes. He had, moreover, a bright red scar across his left cheek, which made his face one to be remembered. But just as the raft began to glide down the stream, the young stranger disappeared, and the raftsmen drew their own conclusions as to his reasons for having watched them.
"Look here, Rebiata (children)," said Ivan, "that fellow, I am certain, is a spy in the hire of Issakoff of the saw-mill, farther down the river. He has taken stock of us, and now is gone to report us to his master. I have been warned that he may try in some way to get possession of the raft. But perhaps we can manage to slip through his hands without having to fight him; that is, my children, if for an hour or so, you are willing to work extra hard?"
"Try us, father! We shall not disappoint thee," said Kostia.
And Sasha, Vassia, and Sergey backed him up manfully.
"Well then," said the old man, "you see, all of you, how sluggish is the current here, and that the 'Swan' hardly seems to move. Of course, Issakoff is reckoning upon this, and can very well guess just how long it will take us, in an ordinary way, to reach some lonely, convenient place, where he and his fellows can, by trick or by force, make us give up the raft."
"Which we will not do!" muttered Kostia in his deep voice.
"Which most assuredly we will not do!" chimed in the others.
"Well, listen, children! One way in which I have known a raft stopped, is like this. A stout rope is stretched across a narrow part of the river, and just under the surface of the water, to catch that portion of the raft which is beneath, and arrest its progress. Then, while the raftsmen are wondering what is the matter, and getting in each other's way to find out, some men appear, as though accidentally, in a boat, and offer their help. While they are helping, the raft is drawn nearer and nearer to one of the banks, and here the rest of the timber robbers are ready waiting, and the raft is speedily taken to pieces and carried off."
"And what becomes of the raftsmen?" asked Sergey.
"Well, sometimes (to their shame be it said), they take a bribe and a bottle of vodki to keep the thing secret, and they make up a story for their master about having lost the raft in the rapids, or smashed it up on the rocks. And now and then their master never hears of either men or raft again, for they find it safer to disappear."
"Well, father," said Kostia, "since we are not such raftsmen as these, what is thy plan for us?"
"It is this," replied the skipper. "If Issakoff tries the rope trick, it will certainly be at the bend lower down, where the river narrows in the curve. But he will not expect us to be there for at least two hours more, the current being so slow. Now, children, supposing we could be there in one hour instead of double that time, we might get past that curve before he is ready for us. Afterwards the stream brns out, and the land on each side is marshy, and the rope trick would be impossible."
"But how are we going to send the 'Swan' along thus quickly, father?" asked Sasha.
"My son, if two strong men towed it, one on either bank, we could more than double our pace."
"Good! Good! Batiuska! The two strong men shall be Sasha and myself!" cried Kostia.
"So be it, my children! But in case of the rope being stretched across early, it would be well for one of you to crouch in the front of the raft, with my big hunting-knife in his hand. Then the very instant the rope is reached, cut it through, and we go on at speed again without a minute's delay. Sergey, that task shall be thine!"
"How thankful I am that thou art skipper once more, father!" said Kostia, as the old man punted the raft to one bank and landed his eldest son, and then to the opposite side to set Sasha on shore. "I should never have known what to do."
"Are the towing-ropes firmly fastened in the rings, children?" cried the old man. "Pull, then, with all your might! And thou, little Sergey, sit here, and be ready with the knife."
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