VI + 

Here the narrator frowned, and relapsed into silence. After a while he rose. + 

“But how did it end?” I inquired. + 

“It seems to me that my horse must be dry by this time.⁠ ⁠… I must unfasten him.” + 

We went out into the yard. The frost had diminished, and the fog was lifted. The vagrant looked at the sky. + 

“It must be after midnight,” he said, gazing at the stars. Divested of the veil of fog, the yourts of the neighboring settlement had now become plainly visible. The village was sleeping. White columns of smoke rose leisurely and indolently into the air; only now and then from some chimney a shower of sparks suddenly flew up, madly leaping in the frosty air. The Yakúts keep their fires going all night, for the heat escapes quickly from their short, open chimneys, and it is the habit of each person who chances to wake, made restless perhaps by the cold, to throw on fresh logs. + 

The vagrant remained silent for some time, gazing at the village. + 

“This reminds me of our villages,” he said, with a sigh. “It is a long time since I have seen one. The Yakúts in their districts live apart, like wild beasts.⁠ ⁠… I wish I could move to this part of the country. I might perhaps endure life here.” + 

“Can’t you endure it in your own district? You have a farm there, I think. You said, just now, that you were satisfied with your life.” + 

For some time he made no reply. + 

“I cannot bear it! I wish I might never see this country again!” + 

He went up to his horse, felt of his neck, and patted him. The intelligent animal turned his head and neighed. + 

“All right, all right!” said Vasíli, caressingly; “you may go now.⁠ ⁠… I intend racing with the Tartars,” he continued; “he is a good horse. I have trained him so that he can compete with any of them. He goes like the wind.” + 

He took off the bridle, and the horse trotted off to the hay. We returned to the yourt. + 

Vasíli’s face was still gloomy. He seemed to have forgotten or perhaps was unwilling to continue his story; but I reminded him of it, saying that I was anxious to hear the end. + 

“There is not much to tell,” he replied, reluctantly, “and what is the use? It is a sad story; but, as I began it, I suppose I may as well finish it.⁠ ⁠… We travelled in this way twelve days longer, and still we had not reached the end of Saghálin, whereas we ought to have crossed to the Amúr by the eighth day, and all this was due to lack of confidence in our leader. Instead of going by the easier way wherever it were possible, we travelled across the highlands, sometimes through ravines, sometimes plunging into the depths of forests, now crossing barren spots, now forcing our way through thickets.⁠ ⁠… It was slow work. Our provisions were nearly exhausted, for we had only taken food enough to last twelve days.⁠ ⁠… We had to cut down our rations. The supply of biscuits grew short, and everyone had in a measure to provide for himself. Berries, however, were plenty, and finally we reached an estuary of the sea. The water was naturally salt; but when, at times, the flow of the Amúr rushed in greater volume than usual, it became fresh. Well, now we had to think of providing boats to cross to the Amúr side. We were anxiously talking over our plans, and wanted Burán to advise us. The old man had weakened perceptibly;⁠ ⁠… his eyes had grown dim, day by day he lost flesh, and we could get no advice from him, ‘Get the boats from the Ghiláks,’ he said; but where to find the Ghiláks, or how to obtain the boats, he seemed unable to tell. So Volóydka and I said to the boys: ‘You had better remain here, and we will follow the shore, and may possibly chance to fall in with some of the natives and to obtain one or two boats. In the meantime, be on your guard, for there must be an outpost somewhere near by.’ + 

“Most of the boys remained behind, while three of us, following the shore, went on. After a while we came out upon a cliff that overhung the river, on the banks of which we saw a Ghilák mending his sails. God must have sent Orkún to us.” + 

“What does ‘Orkún’ mean? Was that his name?” I inquired. + 

“I am sure, I don’t know,” replied Vasíli. “It may have been his name, but I think that in the Ghilák language it means ‘stárosta’⁠—I am not positive. I only know that, as we approached him cautiously lest he might run away, he pointed to himself, repeating: ‘Orkún, Orkún’; but what ‘Orkún’ meant, we did not understand. However, we spoke to him. Volóydka took a stick and drew a boat on the sand, as much as to say, ‘This is what we need.’ The Ghilák understood him at once; he nodded, and raised his fingers⁠—two at first, then five, then the whole ten. For a long time we could not understand what he meant; but at last Makárof guessed. + 

“ ‘He wants to know how many there are of us, and what kind of boat we need?’ + 

“ ‘Oh, yes! of course, that is what he means!’ and we made signs to the Ghilák that there were twelve of us. He nodded again, so as to let us know that he understood that also. Then he asked us to take him to the rest of our party. We hesitated;⁠—and yet what was there to be done? We could not cross the sea on foot, so we carried him back with us. + 

“Our comrades blamed us. ‘Why did you bring this Ghilák here? Do you want to betray us?’ But what could we have done? ‘Keep still!’ we replied; ‘we are managing this business!’ Meanwhile, the Ghilák was walking calmly about, examining our coats. We gave him all the extra ones, which he strapped up, and, shouldering them, started on his way, and we, as a matter of course, followed him. A few Ghilák yourts stood below, forming a sort of settlement. + 

“ ‘What are we to do now, boys? He has gone to the village to call out the inhabitants.’ + 

“ ‘ “What of that!’ we said. ‘There are but four yourts in all; how many people can there be, do you suppose! There are twelve of us, and our knives are three-quarters of an arshin long⁠ ⁠… besides, the Ghiláks are not equal to Russians in strength. They live on fish, and we live on bread. How much strength can anyone gain living on such food! They are not to be compared with us!’ But, to tell the truth, I too was somewhat alarmed lest misfortune should befall us. I thought to myself, ‘We have reached the end of Saghálin; will it ever be our luck to cross to the Amúr side, looming up with its blue mountains in the distance? If only it were possible to become a bird and fly across! But “though the elbow is near, one cannot bite it.” ’ + 

“After we had waited for some time, we saw a party of Ghiláks coming toward us, with Orkún at the head; all were armed with spears. ‘You see,’ said the boys, ‘the Ghiláks are coming to fight.’⁠—‘Well, let them come. Get your knives ready, boys, and don’t let yourselves be taken without a struggle. Stand on your guard! Not a man must be taken alive! If one is to be killed, it cannot be helped⁠—that’s his fate; but stand up and defend yourselves as long as you have breath in your body! Let us escape or perish together! Make a bold stand, boys!’ + 

“We suspected the Ghiláks without any cause. When Orkún saw that we were preparing to defend ourselves against an attack, he disarmed his people, giving all the spears to one man, and thus approached us. When we became convinced that the Ghiláks were dealing honorably with us, we went with them to the spot where their boats were hauled up, ready for us. There were two of them, of different sizes. The larger boat would hold eight, and the rest of the party were to go in a small one. + 

“The boats were ours; but we could not cross at present, for the wind had sprung up from the direction of the Amúr, and large waves were dashing on our shore. In rough weather it would be impossible to cross in such boats, and we therefore were obliged to remain on shore two days longer. + 

“Meanwhile, the provisions gave out, and, beside the fish that Orkún had kindly given us, we had nothing but berries to keep us alive. This lasted us four days. A worthy and honest Ghilák was Orkún; I often think of him now, God bless him! + 

“Another day passed, and still the wind prevented us from starting. It was a great disappointment. The night wore away, and yet the wind had not abated; it was hard to bear! During these four windy days the Amúr shore stood out clearer than ever, for the fog had entirely disappeared. All this time, Burán remained seated on a rock, his eyes fixed on the opposite shore. He neither spoke nor did he, like the others, go in search of berries. Whenever one of us, taking pity on him, brought him berries, he ate them, but would not take the trouble to get them for himself. It may have been that the heart of the old man was sick with longing, or perhaps he was conscious of the approach of death. + 

“Finally, our patience was exhausted, and we made up our minds that when night came on we would start. Not daring to run the risk in the daytime, lest the soldiers from the outpost should perceive us, we thought we might venture by night with less risk of detection, hoping, by God’s help, to cross in safety. + 

“In the straits, the wind blew as hard as ever; whitecaps danced here and there, and the seagulls shrieked like evil spirits. The rocky shore groaned as the sea dashed madly against it. + 

“ ‘Let us lie down and sleep, boys,’ I said; ‘the moon rises at midnight, and then, by God’s help, we will start; that will be no time to rest, and we shall need all our strength for the journey.’ + 

“They heeded my advice, and all threw themselves on the ground. We had selected a place on the shore, near the cliffs, where we could not be seen from below⁠—trees concealing us. Burán alone did not fall asleep⁠—he sat watching the west. When we lay down the sun was still high above the horizon, and it was quite early in the evening. + 

“I made the sign of the cross, listened for a while to the wind whistling through the forest, then dropped asleep. We were off our guard, unconscious that misfortune was about to befall us. + 

“How long we slept, I cannot say. All at once I heard Burán calling me. I awoke and saw that the sun was about to set, and that the sea had grown calm. Burán, with widely dilated eyes, was standing beside me. + 

“ ‘Get up; they have come after our souls already⁠ ⁠…’ he exclaimed, pointing to the bushes. + 

“I started, and in the direction towards which he was pointing I saw the soldiers, the nearest one aiming at us, another following him; while three more were running down the hill, pointing their guns at us. I was wide-awake in a moment, and called to the boys. They too woke, and sprang instantly to their feet. The nearest soldier was the only one who had time to fire before we were upon them.” + 

A suppressed emotion choked Vasíli’s voice; he hung his head. A partial darkness enveloped the yourt, for he had forgotten to throw in fresh logs. + 

“I ought not to have told this story,” he said. + 

“Why not? But you must finish it, now that you have begun!” + 

“Well, there is not much to tell; you can easily guess the rest. There were but five of them, and we were twelve. Besides, they expected to catch us asleep, and shoot us down like woodcocks; instead of that, we hardly gave them time to combine their forces or to decide what they ought to do.⁠ ⁠… You know, we had long knives.⁠ ⁠… They fired one hasty volley, and missed.⁠ ⁠… Then, as they had started down the hill, they were unable to stop. Would you believe it!” he continued, in a mournful voice, lifting his sad eyes, “they did not even know how to defend themselves⁠—beating the air with their bayonets, as if defending themselves from a pack of hounds, while we beset them like a pack of wolves!⁠ ⁠… One soldier grazed my leg with his bayonet; I stumbled and fell, and he over me, Makárof falling on us both. We got up⁠—Makárof and I⁠—but the soldier remained where he fell. + 

“As I rose, I saw that the last two men had run up the hill. Their officer, Saltánof, was a brave and fearless fellow, whose fame had spread far and wide. Even the Ghiláks feared him as they did the Evil Spirit, and many convicts had been killed by his hand. + 

“There were two Circassians among us⁠—daring fellows, and as agile as cats. One of them threw himself on Saltánof. They had met halfway up the hill. Saltánof fired his revolver at him; the Circassian ducked, and both fell to the ground. The other Circassian, thinking that his friend had been killed, threw himself on Saltánof, and we had not time to breathe before, in the twinkling of an eye, he had severed Saltánof’s head with his knife. + 

“He jumped on his feet,⁠ ⁠… grinned,⁠ ⁠… and held the head in the air.⁠ ⁠… We were struck dumb.⁠ ⁠… Shrieking something in his own language, he swung the head around, and tossed it up.⁠ ⁠… It flew high above the trees, and disappeared behind the cliff.⁠ ⁠… We were awestricken.⁠ ⁠… We heard the splash as it fell into the sea. + 

“The last soldier had paused on the hill; we saw him throwing away his musket, and covering his face with his hands as he ran away. We did not pursue him, thinking, ‘Escape, poor soul, if you can.’ He was the only surviving man on the outpost. There had been twenty of them, but thirteen had gone over to the Amúr side, where the high wind had detained them; and the remaining six were killed. + 

“All was over, and yet we were frightened. Glancing at each other, we could not at once realize whether it had been a dream or a reality. Just then we heard someone groaning behind us, and under the trees, on the very spot where we had been sleeping, sat Burán, moaning. He had been shot by the first soldier, but did not die till the sun had set behind the hill. We were inexpressibly grieved. + 

“We went to him and found him sitting under a cedar-tree; his eyes were filled with tears, and, pressing his hands to his chest, he beckoned to me. + 

“ ‘Let the boys dig a grave for me,’ he said. ‘You cannot start before night, at any rate, on account of the danger of meeting the rest of the soldiers in the straits. Bury me here, for Christ’s sake!’ + 

“ ‘Hush, hush, uncle Burán! God bless you!’ I said. ‘How can we dig a grave for a living man? We will take you across to the Amúr, and then carry you in our arms.’ + 

“ ‘No, my boy; it is useless to contend with fate, and I am sure it is my fate to remain on this island. So you had better do as I say, for I have long felt that this was going to happen. All my life I have tried to escape from Siberia into Russia; I wish I could, at least, die on Siberian soil, and not on this cursed island.’ + 

“I confess that Burán took me entirely by surprise; for now he spoke sensibly, quite like a different being, and seemed fully conscious. His eyes looked bright; his voice only sounded weak. He gathered us about him and gave us the following instructions:⁠— + 

“ ‘Listen to me, boys, and remember what I tell you; you will not have me with you when you travel through Siberia, since it is my fate to remain here. It will be dangerous business for you, the more so for having killed Saltánof. The report of this deed will travel far. It will be known not only in Irkútsk but throughout Russia; and in Nikoláevsk they will be on the watch for you. Be on your guard, boys; travel cautiously; rather suffer cold and hunger than run the risk of capture; avoid cities and villages as much as possible. Do not fear the Ghiláks; they will not harm you. And remember what I am going to tell you about the road on the Amúr side; a little beyond the town of Nikoláevsk lives our benefactor, the clerk of Merchant Tarkhánof. He traded formerly with the Ghiláks on the island of Saghálin, and once while travelling with his merchandise he lost his way in the mountains. He was not then on good terms with the Ghiláks. Overtaking him in an unfrequented spot in the ravine, they nearly killed him. + 

“ ‘We happened to be tramping about the same time.⁠ ⁠… I was escaping for the first time.⁠ ⁠… Hearing the cries of a Russian in the woods, we hurried to his rescue, and, by delivering him from the hands of the Ghiláks, won his lasting gratitude. + 

“ ‘ “I must take care of the Saghálinian boys to my dying day,” he said, and, indeed, he has helped us a great deal. Find him, and he will be sure to assist you in every way he can.’ Then he told us of the different roads, giving us all the necessary directions, and finally said:⁠— + 

“ ‘Now, boys, you had better lose no time. This spot suits me; dig my grave here, Vasíli, that the wind from the Amúr shore may blow over my grave, and that my spirit may hear the sound of the sea dashing against the rocks. Don’t tarry, boys, but make haste and go to work.’ + 

“We obeyed him. + 

“There, under the cedar-tree, sat the old man while we were digging his grave with our knives; after we had finished, a prayer was read. In the meantime, Burán had become silent, only nodding his head, while tears ran down his cheeks. He died at sunset, and shortly after dark we buried him. + 

“The moon had risen as we reached the middle of the straits, and it was quite light. We looked back and took off our caps.⁠ ⁠… Behind us rose the island of Saghálin, with its hills, and we saw the cedar-tree by Burán’s grave. + 