BORIS GOES A-SAILING.
It was all very well for Boris to tell his new friend that he would
enter his service; but when, away from the glamour of his presence,
he considered the matter in cold blood, it appeared to him to be a
somewhat audacious proceeding on his part to coolly bring to his master
a note from some one else, whom he could only describe as a tall and
masterful young barin of the name of Peter Alexeyevitch, stating that
somebody proposed to deprive his lawful lord of the services of his
paid serf and servant, the bear-hunter! Why, after all, should his lord
consent to so audacious a proposal from a total stranger? There was
no reason that Boris knew why he should do so; in all probability he
would refuse, and perhaps punish Boris besides for his impertinence and
disloyalty in proposing such a thing, or at least being a consenting
party to such a proposal. Hence Boris entered the barin's house at
Dubinka in some trepidation, and gave his letter into the master's own
hands, quite expecting an angry reception.
"Well, Boris, so you killed one of the two bears, I'm told," began
the barin. "You've come for your 'tea-money,' I suppose? Well, you
have deserved it this time, and I shall pay it with pleasure. What's
this?--a letter? from whom?"
"That's what I can't tell your Mercifulness," said Boris. "Petka, he
calls himself, but I don't know who he is, excepting that he is a
gentleman like yourself, and very big and strong--like me."
The barin took the letter and glanced at it; then he flushed, and
uttered an exclamation of surprise. Then he laughed, and patted Boris
kindly on the back.
"Bravo, Boris!" he said, "you have made a useful friend. Do you know
whom this letter is from?"
"From Petka, of course!" said blunt Boris.
"Your friend is the Tsar of all the Russias, my son; and, moreover, he
has requested me to transfer you to his service. You are a lucky boy,
Boris, and I hope you may do your new master credit. Serve him well.
He is Peter, the Hope of the Nation; all Russia looks to him, for he
promises much. You are a lucky fellow, Boris, and you may be a great
man yet."
Astonishment and wonder had caused the bear-hunter to collapse into a
chair, a liberty he would never have thought of taking except under
extraordinary circumstances. The Tsar! it was actually the Tsar himself
who had stepped forward to save his humble life. Boris pinched his leg
to see whether he was awake or asleep: it was all right, he was not
dreaming. And he had called him "Petka," and the Tsar had not promptly
cut off his head for the impertinence! Perhaps he would to-morrow when
he went to the burgomaster's house in the morning. And those were the
Tsar's servants with whose whining forms he had carpeted the floor of
the entrance hall! Assuredly he would pay for all this with his head.
In a dazed condition Boris left the barin's presence, and walked home
to his father's cottage, wondering whether it would not be wiser, on
the whole, to disappear into the depths of the forest until such time
as the Tsar should have left Archangel and returned to Moscow? But
worthier thoughts quickly succeeded these promptings of cowardice.
Boris recalled the Tsar's kind words--he had taken a fancy to the
bear-hunter, he said; and again, "Russia had need of strong arms and
brave hearts!" If this was so, and he could please the magnificent
young Tsar by doing it, he should unreservedly place his life and his
service at Peter's disposal.
The next morning found Boris once again at the house of the
burgomaster. This time the embroidered functionary in charge of the
front entrance, mindful of his experience of the preceding day, was
careful to keep his conversation void of offence, and to preserve a
respectful demeanour to the owner of two such powerful fists. Acting
perhaps on orders received, he ushered the young bear-hunter directly
into the presence of his new master.
Peter sat at a table, busily employed in manipulating a model
sailing-vessel, explaining the uses of the various sails and other
portions of the ship's furniture to a stolidly attentive companion,
who sat and listened and smoked, and occasionally bowed his head in
assent to the propositions laid down by his handsome young companion.
There could not well be a greater contrast between any two men than
existed between these two--the one, a short, thick-set, squat-figured,
Dutch-built caricature of a man; the other, tall, far beyond the
ordinary height of man, straight as any one of all the millions of
pines that stood sentinel over his vast dominions, noble and majestic,
the very incarnate spirit of majesty.
Peter paused in his lesson to greet the new-comer.
"De Kuyper," he said, "look here! This is a fellow who calls himself
a bear-hunter, and I saw him the other day running away from a bear
for dear life, like a hare from a hound--it was grand! If I had not
interfered, the bear would have deprived me of the services of an
excellent soldier, or sailor, or keeper, or whatever I may decide to
make of him--eh, Boris?"
"I will serve your Majesty with my life blood in whatever manner you
may be pleased to use me," said Boris, kneeling before the young Tsar
and touching the ground with his forehead; "and I entreat you to
forgive my ignorance yesterday, and my impertinence in treating you as
little better than my equal----"
"Nonsense," said Peter; "get up. I hate cringing and all foolery.
You shall show me what you are good for; I shall see that you have
ample opportunity. Meanwhile let's have no talk about equality or
inferiority. You will find that they who serve me well are my equals
in all but the name. For the present you are my special body-servant,
to attend me wherever I go. And first you shall attend me on board De
Kuyper's ship, and we shall see what prospect there is of making a
sailor of you.--Come on, De Kuyper, the wind is getting up. We shall
have a glorious sail.--Come on you too, Boris."
De Kuyper was the fortunate skipper of the first foreign vessel which
had entered the port of Archangel during the present season, after
the disappearance of the ice had left the harbour open to arrivals
from abroad. Peter had instantly boarded the _Drei Gebrüder_ on its
appearance, and having himself purchased the cargo, and handsomely
rewarded the skipper and crew for their enterprise, carried away De
Kuyper to be his guest and favourite companion until his departure from
Archangel. Under the Dutch skipper's guidance, Peter was laying the
foundations of that nautical experience which was so often to stand him
in good stead in after life.
Boris was no sailor--indeed, he had never been fifty yards from the
shore upon shipboard, though he had ventured very much further in
swimming. His sensations, therefore, as the lumbering old vessel
plunged through the waves, were the reverse of enviable. Peter himself
handled the rudder, and gave all the necessary orders for managing the
sails, insisting upon Boris doing his share of the work in spite of the
misery of sea-sickness which sat heavily upon the poor landsman.
It was a splendid day--hot on shore, but delightfully cool and pleasant
out at sea. The wind blew freshly from the north and east, and Peter
crowded on all the sail he could. The clumsy old vessel, squat-built
and broad in the beam like her master, strained and groaned beneath
the weight of canvas, but sped along at a rate which filled the young
Tsar's soul with the wildest delight. As usual, when particularly
happy, he was boisterous and very noisy, poking fun at De Kuyper,
Boris, and the sailors, and from time to time singing snatches of his
favourite songs.
It so happened that a small boat which was attached by a short length
of tow-rope to the stern of the _Drei Gebrüder_ presently broke adrift,
in consequence of the strain, and floated away astern. The young Tsar
was annoyed. He loved a good boat, and disliked to see one needlessly
lost before his eyes.
"De Kuyper," he shouted, "have you a swimmer on board? Send one of
your Dutchmen after it! Come, look sharp about it! They're not afraid
surely? Why, I'll go myself; see here!"
Before the horrified skipper could prevent him, the rash young Tsar had
thrown away his kaftan and boots, and was in the act of mounting the
bulwark, when a strong hand seized his shoulder and pulled him back.
The Tsar flushed with anger, and raised his big right hand to strike
the man who had presumed to take so great a liberty; but Boris pushed
back the lifted arm with a sweep of his own, leaped upon a hen-coop
near at hand, so to the bulwark of the vessel, and in an instant was
overboard, battling with the waves, and making good progress towards
the fast-disappearing boat, now far astern. The Tsar's face was all
beaming with delight in a moment.
"De Kuyper!" he cried, "look at the lad--a Russian lad, mind you,
skipper; none of your Dutchmen! Would your Dutchmen swim those waves? I
think not. I tell you, skipper, that bear-hunter is a man after my own
heart. Did you observe him push me aside--glorious!--as though I had
been the cabin-boy? Oh, for ten thousand such Russians!"
De Kuyper grunted and took the rudder, which Peter in his excitement
had neglected.
"Your bear-hunter had better look sharp and get into that boat," he
muttered, "for the sky looks squally, and we shall have a knock-about
before we reach Archangel. The sooner we get him and the boat aboard
the better I shall be pleased!"
Boris meanwhile was fast gaining upon the lost boat. Soon he had
reached it and was hauling himself over the side. The oars were safe,
so that he had little difficulty in propelling the small craft towards
the larger vessel, which had put about, and was now coming round as
quickly as possible, in order to take up the recovered boat and its
occupant.
With some considerable difficulty, owing to the roughness of the sea,
this was at last effected; and Boris felt that he was amply repaid for
the risk he had run by the few words of the Tsar, and his mighty grip
of the hand.
"Bear-eater," he had said, "you are my brother; let that be understood
between us."
After this episode neither sea-sickness nor the discomfort of sitting
in wet clothes could divert the mind of Boris from the thought of
his exceeding great joy. He had been called "brother" by the young
Tsar--the god-like Peter, who had been hailed almost from his cradle
as the hope of Russia; of whom even the unlettered Boris in far-off
Archangel had heard distant and indistinct rumours, as of some prince
of fairyland, come from no one knew where, to work wonders for his
empire, and astonish the world by his power and magnificence! Now he
had seen this wonder of the age with his own eyes--he had spoken with
him--was his servant--had received his approbation, nay, had been
called "brother" by him.
Boris, musing thus on his great good fortune, suddenly became aware of
a commotion on board. A squall had violently struck the vessel, and she
was heeling over till her rail lay deep in the surging sea, and her
deck sloped like the side of one of his beloved snow-hills. Peter, at
the helm, was shouting orders to the seamen, with his eyes fixed upon
the sails, while the vessel plunged and lay over till the seas washed
her fore and aft.
De Kuyper rushed to the rudder.
"Steady her--steady, Tsar!" he shouted, "or we shall founder in a
minute!"
Peter, wanting experience and unused to squalls and emergencies, was
thinking only of the splendid excitement of rushing through the big
waves as fast as the ship could be made to go; the danger of the
moment was nothing to him. Perhaps he did not realize it; he certainly
did not heed it.
"Steady her, I tell you!" shrieked the skipper once more. "Here; let me
come! I won't go to the bottom for a hundred Russian kings. Let go, I
say!"
Peter's face flushed angrily.
"Keep away, De Kuyper, keep away," he cried; "don't anger me. This is
glorious!"
But De Kuyper knew that this was no time for the politeness of courts
and the deference due to princes. He seized Peter by the shoulders and
forced him from the tiller.
"I'm skipper of this vessel," he shouted, "and I intend to be obeyed
while aboard of her. You shall command when we get ashore, if we ever
do!"
Peter let go his hold of the clumsy tiller-shaft, looking for a moment
like a thunder-cloud. During that moment he revolved in his mind
whether or not he should take up that squat little Dutch skipper in his
great arms and throw him overboard; but better impulses prevailed. The
vessel quickly righted under De Kuyper's experienced guidance, and flew
through the water actually quicker than before, and upon a more even
keel. In a moment Peter had recovered his equanimity. He burst into
a roar of laughter, and brought his big hand with a whack upon the
little Dutchman's shoulder.
"Skipper," he cried, in his hearty loud tones of approval, "forgive
me! You are a better sailor than I am, and a plucky fellow to boot. I
love a man who stands up to me. You Dutchmen are a fine race, and good
sailors."
De Kuyper, the excitement over and the danger past, was much upset by
the recollection of his rudeness to one who, though his inferior in
the art of sailing, was so immeasurably his superior in position and
importance. He apologized profusely and humbly, and on his knees begged
to be forgiven.
"Get up," said Peter, "and don't be a fool, skipper. I liked you far
better when you forced me away from the tiller. I was a fool, and you
told me so; that is what I like in a man."