- s ulybkoj skazala Mod. -- Teper' i ya
veryu, chto my proskochim.


     I had seen a distant headland past the extreme edge of  the promontory,
and as we looked we  could see grow  the intervening coastline  of  what was
evidently  a  deep  cove.  At  the  same time  there broke  upon  our ears a
continuous  and mighty  bellowing. It partook of the magnitude and volume of
distant thunder, and it came to us directly  from  leeward, rising above the
crash of the surf and travelling  directly in the teeth of  the storm. As we
passed the point the  whole cove  burst upon our view,  a half-moon of white
sandy beach upon which broke a huge surf, and which was covered with myriads
of seals. It was from them that the great bellowing went up.

     Za kraem  mysa  uzhe  viden  byl  vdali  vysokij bereg,  i nashim  glazam
postepenno otkryvalas'  glubokaya  buhta. Odnovremenno s  etim do nas doletel
kakoj-to  gluhoj, neumolchnyj rev.  On perekatyvalsya, kak otdalennyj grom,  i
donosilsya  s  podvetrennoj storony  skvoz' grohot  priboya  i  voj  buri.  My
obognuli  mys,  i  vsya  buhta  srazu  otkrylas'  nam   --  belyj,  izognutyj
polumesyacem peschanyj bereg, o kotoryj razbivalsya moshchnyj priboj i kotoryj byl
splosh' useyan miriadami kotikov. Ot nih-to i ishodil doletavshij do nas rev.


     "A rookery!" I  cried. "Now are we indeed saved. There must be  men and
cruisers to protect  them from the seal-hunters. Possibly there is a station
ashore."

     -- Lezhbishche! -- voskliknul ya, -- teper' my i vpravdu spaseny. Tut dolzhna
byt' ohrana i storozhevye  suda dlya zashchity zhivotnyh ot ohotnikov. Byt' mozhet,
na beregu est' dazhe post.


     But  as I  studied the surf which beat upon  the beach, I said,  "Still
bad, but  not so bad. And now, if the gods  be truly kind, we shall drift by
that next  headland and come upon a perfectly sheltered beach,  where we may
land without wetting our feet."

     Odnako, prodolzhaya vsmatrivat'sya v liniyu priboya, razbivavshegosya o bereg,
ya vynuzhden byl zametit':
     --  Ne  tak-to  vse  eto  prosto,  konechno,  nu da  nichego.  Esli  bogi
smilostivyatsya nad nami, my obognem eshche odin mys i, mozhet byt', najdem horosho
zashchishchennuyu buhtu, gde smozhem vyjti iz shlyupki, dazhe ne zamochiv nog.


     And the gods were kind. The first and second headlands were directly in
line  with the south-west wind;  but once around  the second, - and  we went
perilously  near,  - we picked up the third headland, still in line with the
wind  and with the other  two. But the  cove  that intervened! It penetrated
deep into the land, and the tide,  setting in, drifted us under  the shelter
of  the  point.  Here  the  sea  was  calm,  save  for  a  heavy but  smooth
ground-swell,  and I took in the sea-anchor and began to row. From the point
the shore curved away, more and more to the south and west, until at last it
disclosed a cove within  the cove, a little  land-locked  harbour, the water
level as a pond, broken only by tiny ripples where vagrant breaths and wisps
of the  storm hurtled down from over the  frowning wall of rock that  backed
the beach a hundred feet inshore.

     I bogi  smilostivilis'. CHut'  ne vrezavshis'  vo vtoroj  mys, my vse  zhe
obognuli ego, gonimye yugovostochnym vetrom, i uvideli tretij, pochti na  odnoj
linii  s  pervymi  dvumya.  No  kakaya  buhta  otkrylas'  nam zdes'Ona gluboko
vdavalas' v sushu, i priliv srazu podhvatil nashu shlyupku i  otnes  pod ukrytie
vtorogo mysa. Zdes' more bylo pochti spokojno, krupnaya, no rovnaya zyb' kachala
shlyupku, i ya vtyanul plavuchij yakor' i sel na vesla. Bereg zagibalsya vse dal'she
na  yugo-zapad,  i  vdrug vnutri etoj bol'shoj  buhty nam  otkrylas' eshche  odna
nebol'shaya, horosho zakrytaya estestvennaya  gavan', gde voda stoyala tiho, kak v
prudu, lish' izredka  podergivaemaya ryab'yu,  kogda iz-za navisshej nad peschanym
beregom otvesnoj  gryady skal, futah  v  sta ot vody,  naletali slabye poryvy
vetra -- otgoloski bushevavshego v okeane shtorma.


     Here were no seals whatever. The boat's stern touched the hard shingle.
I sprang out,  extending my hand to Maud. The next moment she was beside me.
As my fingers released hers, she clutched  for my arm  hastily. At  the same
moment I swayed, as about to fall to the sand. This was the startling effect
of the cessation of motion. We had been so long upon the moving, rocking sea
that the stable land  was  a shock to us. We expected the beach to  lift  up
this  way and  that,  and the rocky walls to swing  back and forth like  the
sides  of  a ship; and when we braced  ourselves,  automatically,  for these
various   expected   movements,  their  non-occurrence  quite  overcame  our
equilibrium.

     Kotikov  zdes'  sovsem ne bylo vidno. Kil'  lodki  vrezalsya  v  tverduyu
gal'ku. YA vyskochil, protyanul Mod ruku, i sekundu spustya ona uzhe stoyala ryadom
so mnoyu. No, kak tol'ko ya otpustil ee ruku, ona pospeshno uhvatilas' za menya.
V tot zhe  mig ya sam poshatnulsya i chut' ne  upal na pesok. Tak povliyalo na nas
prekrashchenie kachki.  Slishkom dolgo nosilo nas po moryu i  shvyryalo na volnah, i
teper', stav na tverduyu pochvu, my  byli oshelomleny. Nam  kazalos', chto bereg
tozhe dolzhen opuskat'sya i podnimat'sya u nas pod nogami, a skaly --  kachat'sya,
kak  borta sudna. I  kogda  my po privychke  prigotovilis' protivostoyat' etim
dvizheniyam, otsutstvie ih sovershenno narushilo nashe chuvstvo ravnovesiya.


     "I really must sit down," Maud said,  with a nervous  laugh and a dizzy
gesture, and forthwith she sat down on the sand.

     -- Net,  ya  dolzhna prisest',  --  skazala  Mod,  nervno rassmeyavshis' i,
vzmahnuv rukami, kak p'yanaya, opustilas' na pesok.


     I attended  to making the boat secure and joined her. Thus we landed on
Endeavour Island, as we came to it, land-sick from long custom of the sea.

     Vtashchiv  lodku povyshe, ya  prisoedinilsya k Mod.  Tak proizoshla vysadka na
"Ostrov Usilij"  dvuh lyudej, otvykshih ot zemli i posle dolgogo prebyvaniya na
more ispytavshih "kachku" na sushe.


        CHAPTER XXIX

        GLAVA XXIX


     "Fool!" I cried aloud in my vexation.

     -- Durak! -- voskliknul ya, davaya vyhod svoej dosade.


     I had unloaded the boat  and carried its contents high up on the beach,
where  I had set  about making a camp. There was driftwood, though not much,
on the  beach,  and the sight of a  coffee tin I had taken from the  Ghost's
larder had given me the idea of a fire.

     YA tol'ko chto  razgruzil shlyupku  i perenes vse nashi veshchi tuda, gde dumal
ustroit' stoyanku, --  podal'she ot vody. Na beregu valyalis' vybroshennye morem
oblomki  dereva,   i  vid  banki  kofe,  kotoruyu  ya  prihvatil  iz  kladovoj
"Prizraka", srazu navel menya na mysl' razzhech' koster.


     "Blithering idiot!" I was continuing.

     -- ZHalkij idiot! -- prodolzhal ya.


     But Maud said, "Tut, tut," in gentle reproval, and then asked why I was
a blithering idiot.

     -- CHto vy, chto vy!.. -- progovorila Mod tonom myagkogo upreka i pozhelala
uznat', pochemu ya zhalkij idiot.


     "No matches," I  groaned. "Not  a match did I bring.  And now  we shall
have no hot coffee, soup, tea, or anything!"

     -- Spichek-to net! --  prostonal  ya.  --  YA ne pripas ni odnoj spichki, i
teper'  u  nas ne  budet ni goryachego kofe,  ni supa, ni chaya -- voobshche nichego
goryachego!


     "Wasn't it - er - Crusoe who rubbed sticks together?" she drawled.

     -- A ved', kazhetsya, Robinzon Kruzo dobyval ogon' treniem  odnoj palki o
druguyu? -- zametila ona.


     "But I have read the personal narratives of a score of  shipwrecked men
who tried, and tried in vain," I answered. "I remember Winters, a  newspaper
fellow with an Alaskan and Siberian reputation. Met him at the Bibelot once,
and  he was telling us  how  he attempted to make a fire  with a  couple  of
sticks. It was most amusing. He told it inimitably, but it was the story  of
a failure.  I remember his  conclusion, his black eyes flashing  as he said,
'Gentlemen, the South Sea  Islander may do it, the Malay may do it, but take
my word it's beyond the white man.'"

     -- Nu da! YA raz dvadcat' chital rasskazy poterpevshih korablekrushenie, --
oni tozhe pytalis' eto delat', no  bez malejshego uspeha, -- skazal ya. -- Znal
ya  eshche nekoego Vintersa,  gazetnogo reportera,  -- on pobyval  na Alyaske i v
Sibiri. My  kak-to  vstretilis'  s nim, i on rasskazal  mne o  svoej popytke
razvesti koster s pomoshch'yu dvuh palok. Zabavnaya istoriya, i rasskazyval on  ee
nepodrazhaemo.  No ego popytka  tozhe  konchilas'  neudachej.  YA  pomnyu,  kak  v
zaklyuchenie  on izrek,  sverknuv  svoimi  chernymi  glazami:  "Dzhentl'menyByt'
mozhet, zhitelyam tihookeanskih  ostrovov eto  i udaetsya, byt' mozhet,  malajcam
eto udaetsya, no dayu vam slovo, chto belomu cheloveku eto nedostupno".


     "Oh, well, we've managed  so far without it," she said cheerfully. "And
there's no reason why we cannot still manage without it."

     -- Nu  chto zh, my ved' do sih  por obhodilis' bez ognya, -- bodro skazala
Mod. -- I teper' kak-nibud' obojdemsya, nado polagat'.


     "But  think of the coffee!" I  cried. "It's good coffee, too, I know. I
took it from Larsen's private stores. And look at that good wood."

     --  No  podumajte, u nas est' kofe! -- voskliknul  ya. -- I prevoshodnyj
kofe! YA zhe znayu, --  ya  vzyal  ego iz lichnyh  zapasov Volka Larsena.  I  est'
otlichnye drova!


     I  confess,  I  wanted  the  coffee  badly; and  I  learned,  not  long
afterward, that the berry was likewise a little weakness of Maud's. Besides,
we had been  so long on a cold diet that we were numb inside as well as out.
Anything warm would have been most gratifying. But I complained  no more and
set about making a tent of the sail for Maud.

     Priznayus', mne uzhasno hotelos' kofe, a vskore ya uznal, chto i Mod pitaet
slabost' k etomu napitku. K tomu  zhe my tak dolgo byli  lisheny goryachej pishchi,
chto, kazalos', okocheneli iznutri ne men'she, chem  snaruzhi. Glotok chego-nibud'
goryachego prishelsya by nam ochen'  kstati. No  ya perestal  setovat' i  prinyalsya
sooruzhat' iz parusa palatku dlya Mod.


     I had looked upon it as  a simple task, what of the  oars,  mast, boom,
and sprit,  to  say  nothing  of  plenty  of  lines. But  as  I was  without
experience, and  as  every detail  was  an  experiment and every  successful
detail  an invention,  the day was  well  gone  before  her  shelter was  an
accomplished fact. And then, that night, it rained, and she was  flooded out
and driven back into the boat.

     Imeya  v svoem  rasporyazhenii vesla, machtu, shprint i  gik da eshche izryadnyj
zapas verevok, ya  schital, chto legko spravlyus' s etoj zadachej. No u  menya  ne
bylo opyta, i  mne  do  vsego prihodilos' dohodit'  svoim  umom i  vse vremya
chto-to izobretat', tak chto palatka  byla gotova lish' k vecheru. A noch'yu poshel
dozhd', palatku zatopilo, i Mod perebralas' obratno v shlyupku.


     The next morning I  dug a shallow ditch around the tent,  and,  an hour
later, a sudden gust of wind, whipping over the rocky wall behind us, picked
up the tent and smashed it down on the sand thirty yards away.

     Na sleduyushchee utro  ya okopal  palatku neglubokoj kanavoj, a  chasom pozzhe
vnezapnym  poryvom  vetra,  Naletevshim  iz-za vysokoj  gryady  skal,  palatku
sorvalo i shvyrnulo na pesok v tridcati shagah ot nas.


     Maud laughed at my  crestfallen expression, and I said, "As soon as the
wind abates I intend going in the boat to explore  the island. There must be
a  station  somewhere,  and  men.  And ships  must  visit the  station. Some
Government must protect all these seals. But I  wish to have you comfortable
before I start."

     Mod rassmeyalas', uvidav moe ogorchennoe lico, a ya skazal:
     --  Kak tol'ko veter  spadet, ya  syadu na  shlyupku i obsleduyu bereg. Tut,
verno,  est'  kakoj-nibud'  post,  a znachit,  i lyudi. I korabli ne mogut  ne
zahodit'   syuda.   |ti   kotiki,   nesomnenno,   ohranyayutsya   pravitel'stvom
kakoj-nibud' strany. No prezhde ya hochu vse-taki ustroit' vas poudobnee.


     "I should like to go with you," was all she said.

     -- YA by predpochla poehat' s vami, -- skazala Mod.


     "It would be better if  you  remained. You have had enough of hardship.
It is a miracle that you have survived. And  it won't  be comfortable in the
boat rowing and sailing in this rainy weather. What you  need is rest, and I
should like you to remain and get it."

     -- Net, vam luchshe ostat'sya. Vy i tak uzh namuchilis'. Prosto chudo, chto vy
eshche zhivy. A  idti  na  veslah i stavit' parus  pod etim dozhdem  -- nebol'shoe
udovol'stvie. Vam nuzhno otdohnut', i ya proshu vas ostat'sya.


     Something  suspiciously akin  to  moistness dimmed her  beautiful  eyes
before she dropped them and partly turned away her head.

     Mne  pokazalos', chto chudesnye glaza Mod  zatumanilis'; ona potupilas' i
oтvernulas'.


     "I should  prefer  going  with you," she said in  a low voice, in which
there was just a  hint of appeal. "I  might be able  to help you  a  - " her
voice broke, - "a little. And if anything should happen to you, think of  me
left here alone."

     -- YA predpochla by poehat' s vami, -- povtorila ona tiho i s mol'boj. --
YA  mogla  by... -- golos ee drognul, -- pomoch'  vam, hot' nemnogo.  A esli s
vami chtonibud' sluchitsya -- podumajte, -- ya ostanus' zdes' sovsem odna!


     "Oh, I intend being  very careful," I  answered. "And I shall not go so
far but what I can get back before night. Yes, all said and done, I think it
vastly better for you to remain, and sleep, and rest and do nothing."

     --  YA  budu  ostorozhen,  -- otvechal ya. --  Daleko  ne poedu i vernus' k
vecheru. Net, net, ya schitayu, chto vam sleduet ostat'sya,  otdohnut' kak sleduet
i vyspat'sya.


     She turned and  looked me in the eyes. Her  gaze  was  unfaltering, but
soft.

     Ona podnyala golovu i zaglyanula mne v glaza myagkim molyashchim vzglyadom.


     "Please, please," she said, oh, so softly.

     -- Pozhalujsta, proshu vas! -- progovorila ona krotko. O, tak krotko...


     I  stiffened myself to refuse, and shook my head. Still  she waited and
looked at me. I tried to word my refusal, but wavered. I saw  the glad light
spring into her eyes and knew that I  had lost. It  was impossible to say no
after that.

     YA prizval na  pomoshch' vsyu svoyu stojkost' i otricatel'no pokachal golovoj.
No ona  prodolzhala molcha zaglyadyvat'  mne v glaza.  YA pytalsya povtorit' svoj
otkaz i  ne nashel  slov.  Radost' vspyhnula  v  ee vzore,  i  ya  ponyal,  chto
proigral. Teper' ya uzhe ne mog skazat' "net".


     The wind  died down in the afternoon, and we were prepared to start the
following morning. There was no way of penetrating the island from our cove,
for the walls  rose perpendicularly from  the  beach, and, on either side of
the cove, rose from the deep water.

     Posle  poludnya  veter  utih,  i my  stali gotovit'sya  k  poezdke, reshiv
otpravit'sya v put' na  sleduyushchee utro. Proniknut' v glub' ostrova  iz  nashej
buhtochki  bylo  nevozmozhno, tak kak skaly  okruzhali  otlogij  peschanyj bereg
otvesnoj stenoj, a po krayam buhty podnimalis' pryamo iz vody.


     Morning broke dull  and grey, but calm, and I  was  awake early and had
the boat in readiness.

     S utra den' obeshchal byt' pasmurnym, no tihim. Vstav poran'she, ya prinyalsya
gotovit' shlyupku.


     "Fool!  Imbecile!  Yahoo!" I shouted,  when I  thought it  was  meet to
arouse Maud;  but this time  I  shouted in merriment  as I  danced about the
beach, bareheaded, in mock despair.

     -- DurakBolvan! Iehu! --  zakrichal  ya, reshiv,  chto nastalo vremya budit'
Mod. Na  etot raz, odnako,  ya krichal  v pritvornom otchayanii, a sam bez shapki
veselo priplyasyval na beregu.


     Her head appeared under the flap of the sail.

     Otkinuv kraj palatki, vyglyanula Mod.


     "What now?" she asked sleepily, and, withal, curiously.

     -- CHto eshche sluchilos'? -- sprosila ona sonno, no ne bez lyubopytstva.


     "Coffee!" I  cried. "What do  you  say  to a cup of coffee? hot coffee?
piping hot?"

     -- Kofe! -- kriknul  ya.  -- CHto vy skazhete naschet chashki kofe? Goryachego,
dymyashchegosya kofe?


     "My!" she murmured, "you  startled me, and  you are cruel.  Here I have
been  composing my soul to do without  it, and  here you are vexing  me with
your vain suggestions."

     -- Bozhe  moj, -- probormotala  ona,  -- kak vy napugali menya! I kak eto
zhestoko! YA uzhe priuchila sebya k mysli, chto pridetsya obhodit'sya bez kofe, a vy
opyat' draznite menya.


     "Watch me," I said.

     -- A vot poglyadite, chto sejchas proizojdet! -- vozrazil ya.


     From under  clefts  among the  rocks  I gathered a few  dry  sticks and
chips.  These I  whittled  into shavings  or  split  into kindling. From  my
note-book  I tore out a page, and  from the ammunition  box took a  shot-gun
shell. Removing the wads from the latter with my knife, I emptied the powder
on a flat rock. Next I pried the primer, or cap, from the shell, and laid it
on the rock, in the midst of the scattered powder. All was ready. Maud still
watched from the tent. Holding  the  paper in my lelf  hand, I smashed  down
upon  the cap with a rock held in my right. There was a puff of white smoke,
a burst of flame, and the rough edge of the paper was alight.

     U  podnozhiya navisshih  skal  ya sobral  nemnogo  suhih  vetochek i shchepok i
prigotovil iz nih rastopku, nastrutav tonen'kih luchinok. Zatem vyrval listok
iz svoej zapisnoj knizhki i dostal ohotnichij patron. Vykovyrnuv nozhom pyzhi, ya
vysypal  poroh na  bol'shoj ploskij kamen'. Potom ostorozhno izvlek iz patrona
kapsyul'  i polozhil  ego na kuchku poroha.  Vse bylo  gotovo.  Mod vnimatel'no
sledila  za mnoj, vysunuvshis'  iz  palatki.  Podnyav s zemli  kamen' i  derzha
bumagu  nagotove, ya s  siloj  udaril kamnem  po kapsyulyu.  Podnyalos'  oblachko
belogo dyma, vspyhnul ogonek, i kraj bumagi zagorelsya.


     Maud clapped her hands gleefully. "Prometheus!" she cried.

     Mod vostorzhenno zahlopala v ladoshi.
     -- Prometej! -- voskliknula ona.


     But I  was too  occupied  to acknowledge her  delight. The feeble flame
must be cherished tenderly if it were to gather strength and live. I fed it,
shaving  by shaving, and sliver by sliver, till at last it was  snapping and
crackling as it laid hold of the  smaller  chips and sticks. To be cast away
on an island had  not entered into  my  calculations, so  we were without  a
kettle or cooking utensils  of any sort; but I  made shift with the tin used
for bailing the boat, and later, as we consumed our supply  of canned goods,
we accumulated quite an imposing array of cooking vessels.

     No v etu minutu mne bylo ne do likovaniya. CHtoby sohranit' slabyj ogonek
i pridat' emu sily,  ego nuzhno bylo vsyacheski  berech'  i leleyat'. Struzhku  za
struzhkoj,  luchinku  za luchinkoj  daval  ya  pozhirat' ognyu, poka ne  zatreshchali
ohvachennye ognem vetochki i shchepki. U nas ne bylo ni chajnika, ni skovorodki --
ved' ya nikak ne predpolagal, chto shlyupku mozhet pribit' k kakomu-to bezlyudnomu
ostrovu, --  i  v hod poshel cherpak  iz  shlyupki. Vposledstvii, kogda my s®eli
chast' konservov, pustye banki nedurno zamenili nam kuhonnuyu utvar'.


     I  boiled the water, but it  was Maud who made the coffee. And how good
it was! My contribution was canned beef  fried with crumbled sea-biscuit and
water. The breakfast was a success, and  we sat about  the  fire much longer
than  enterprising explorers should have  done, sipping the hot black coffee
and talking over our situation.

     YA vskipyatil vodu, a  Mod vzyalas' za prigotovlenie  kofe. I kakoj zhe eto
byl  vkusnyj   kofe!  YA  podal  k  stolu  govyazh'yu  tushenku,  razogrev  ee  s
razmochennymi v vode galetami, i zavtrak udalsya na slavu. Prihlebyvaya goryachij
chernyj kofe i  obsuzhdaya nashi dela,  my zasidelis' u kostra  kuda dol'she, chem
mogli pozvolit' sebe eto predpriimchivye issledovateli neobzhityh zemel'.


     I was confident that we should find a station in some one of the coves,
for I  knew that  the rookeries  of Bering Sea  were thus guarded;  but Maud
advanced  the theory  - to prepare  me for disappointment, I  do believe, if
disappointment were to come - that we had discovered an unknown rookery. She
was in very  good spirits, however,  and made  quite merry in  accepting our
plight as a grave one.

     YA znal, chto  lezhbishcha v Beringovom more obychno nahodyatsya  pod ohranoj, i
nadeyalsya  obnaruzhit'  v  odnoj  iz  buht storozhevoj  post.  No  Mod,  zhelaya,
po-vidimomu,  podgotovit'  menya  k   vozmozhnomu   razocharovaniyu,   vyskazala
predpolozhenie,  chto my  otkryli novoe  lezhbishche.  Tem  ne  menee ona  byla  v
otlichnom nastroenii i  govorila o nashem dovol'no plachevnom polozhenii v samom
veselom tone.


     "If you are right," I said, "then  we must prepare to winter here.  Our
food will not last, but there are the seals. They go away  in the fall, so I
must soon begin to lay in a supply of meat. Then there will be huts to build
and driftwood  to  gather. Also we  shall try  out  seal  fat  for  lighting
purposes. Altogether, we'll  have  our  hands  full  if  we find  the island
uninhabited. Which we shall not, I know."

     --  Esli  vy  pravy, -- skazal ya, -- nuzhno gotovit'sya  k zimovke. Nashih
zapasov nam, konechno, ne hvatit, no tut vyruchat kotiki.  Odnako  osen'yu  oni
otkochuyut, tak chto nado uzhe sejchas nachat' zapasat'sya myasom. Krome togo, nuzhno
budet postroit'  hizhiny i nasobirat' pobol'she drov. Dlya osveshcheniya popytaemsya
ispol'zovat' kotikovyj zhir. Slovom, esli ostrov okazhetsya neobitaemym, hlopot
u nas budet po gorlo. Vprochem, ne dumayu, chtoby zdes' ne bylo lyudej.


     But  she  was  right.  We  sailed  with  a  beam wind  along the shore,
searching  the coves with  our  glasses  and  landing occasionally,  without
finding a sign of  human life. Yet we learned that we were not the first who
had landed on Endeavour Island. High up on the beach of the second cove from
ours, we discovered the  splintered wreck  of a boat -  a sealer's boat, for
the rowlocks were bound in  sennit, a gun-rack was on the starboard side  of
the bow, and  in white letters was  faintly visible Gazelle No. 2. The  boat
had  lain there for  a long time, for it was half filled  with sand, and the
splintered wood had that weather-worn appearance due to long exposure to the
elements.  In the stern-sheets I  found a  rusty ten- gauge shot-gun  and  a
sailor's sheath-knife broken short across and  so  rusted  as  to  be almost
unrecognizable.

     No  ona  okazalas'  prava.  V  polvetra my  obhodili  na shlyupke ostrov,
rassmatrivali v binokl' kazhduyu buhtochku  i koe-gde pristavali  k  beregu, no
nigde ne  obnaruzhili chelovecheskogo zhil'ya. Pravda, my ubedilis', chto lyudi uzhe
pobyvali na Ostrove Usilij. Vo vtoroj ot nas buhte my nashli razbituyu shlyupku,
vybroshennuyu volnoj  na bereg. |to byla  promyslovaya shlyupka:  uklyuchiny u  nee
byli opleteny, na nosu pravogo borta  imelas' stojka dlya ruzh'ya, a na korme ya
razobral polustershuyusya nadpis', vyvedennuyu beloj maslyanoj  kraskoj: "Gazel'.
N  2". SHlyupka lezhala  zdes' davno, tak kak  ee  napolovinu zaneslo peskom, a
rastreskavshiesya  doski  pocherneli  ot  nepogody.  V  kormovoj  chasti ya nashel
zarzhavlennyj  drobovik desyatogo kalibra  i  matrosskij nozh. Lezvie nozha bylo
oblomano pochti u rukoyatki i tozhe iz®edeno rzhavchinoj.


     "They  got away," I  said cheerfully; but I felt a sinking at the heart
and seemed to divine the presence of bleached bones somewhere on that beach.

     -- Im udalos'  vybrat'sya otsyuda! -- bodro skazal ya, hotya  serdce u menya
szhalos'  pri  mysli,  chto  gde-nibud'  na  beregu  my  mozhem  natknut'sya  na
pobelevshie chelovecheskie kosti.


     I  did  not  wish Maud's spirits to be dampened by  such a  find,  so I
turned  seaward  again with our boat and skirted the  north-eastern point of
the  island. There  were  no beaches on the  southern  shore,  and by  early
afternoon we rounded the black promontory and completed the circumnavigation
of the island. I estimated its circumference at twenty-five miles, its width
as  varying from two to  five miles; while my most conservative  calculation
placed on  its beaches two hundred thousand seals. The island was highest at
its  extreme  south-western point,  the  headlands and backbone  diminishing
regularly until the north-eastern portion was only a few feet above the sea.
With the exception of our little  cove, the other beaches sloped gently back
for  a distance of half-a-mile or so, into what I might call rocky  meadows,
with here and there  patches of moss and tundra grass. Here the seals hauled
out, and the old  bulls guarded their harems,  while the young bulls  hauled
out by themselves.

     Mne  ne hotelos', chtoby nastroenie Mod bylo omracheno podobnoj nahodkoj,
poetomu ya  pospeshil ottolknut'  nashu  shlyupku  ot berega i napravil ee vokrug
severo-vostochnoj okonechnosti ostrova. Na  yuzhnom  beregu otlogih  spuskov  ne
bylo sovsem,  i,  obognuv  vystupavshij  v more  chernyj  mys, my vskore posle
poludnya zakonchili ob®ezd  ostrova. YA prikinul, chto okruzhnost' ego sostavlyaet
primerno dvadcat' pyat'  mil', a diametr  -- ot dvuh do pyati mil'. I po samym
skromnym podschetam na nem bylo ne men'she dvuhsot  tysyach kotikov. Vozvyshennaya
chast'  ostrova  nahodilas'  u  ego  yugo-zapadnoj  okonechnosti  i  postepenno
ponizhalas' k severo-vostoku, gde susha lish' na  neskol'ko futov vydavalas' iz
vody.  Vo  vseh  buhtah,  krome  nashej,  peschanyj bereg  podnimalsya  pologo,
perehodya  na rasstoyanii  polumili  ot  morya  v kamenistye  ploshchadki, koe-gde
porosshie mhom i drugoj rastitel'nost'yu, napominavshej tundru. Syuda i vyhodili
stada  kotikov;   starye  samcy  steregli  svoi  garemy,  molodye  derzhalis'
osobnyakom.


     This brief description  is  all that Endeavour  Island merits. Damp and
soggy  where  it was not sharp and rocky, buffeted by storm winds and lashed
by the sea, with the  air continually  a-tremble with the  bellowing of  two
hundred  thousand  amphibians,   it   was   a   melancholy   and   miserable
sojourning-place. Maud, who  had prepared me for disappointment, and who had
been sprightly and  vivacious all  day, broke down as we  landed  in our own
little cove. She strove bravely to hide it from me, but while I was kindling
another fire I knew she was  stifling her  sobs  in the  blankets  under the
sail-tent.

     Ostrov Usilij navryad li zasluzhivaet bolee  podrobnogo opisaniya. Mestami
skalistyj, mestami bolotistyj, povsyudu  otkrytyj shtormovym vetram, omyvaemyj
burnym priboem i vechno potryasaemyj  revom dvuhsot tysyach morskih zhivotnyh, on
predstavlyal soboj ves'ma  unyloe, bezradostnoe pribezhishche. Mod,  kotoraya sama
gotovila  menya  k vozmozhnomu  razocharovaniyu  i  ves' den' sohranyala  bodroe,
zhizneradostnoe nastroenie, teper', kogda  my vernulis' v svoyu buhtochku, pala
duhom. Ona  muzhestvenno staralas' skryt' eto ot menya, no, razzhigaya koster, ya
slyshal priglushennye rydaniya i znal, chto  ona plachet,  utknuvshis' v odeyala  v
svoej palatke.


     It was my turn to be cheerful, and I played the part to the  best of my
ability,  and  with such success that I  brought the  laughter back into her
dear eyes and song  on her lips; for she sang to  me before she  went to  an
early  bed. It  was the first time I  had  heard her sing, and I  lay by the
fire,  listening  and  transported, for she was  nothing if not an artist in
everything she did, and her  voice, though not strong, was wonderfully sweet
and expressive.

     Nastal moj chered  proyavit' bodrost'.  YA staralsya igrat'  svoyu rol'  kak
mozhno luchshe, i  mne eto, povidimomu, udalos', tak kak vskore  Mod  uzhe snova
smeyalas' i dazhe raspevala. Ona rano legla spat',  no pered  snom  spela  dlya
menya. YA vpervye slyshal ee penie i s upoeniem vnimal emu,  lezha  u kostra. Vo
vsem, chto ona delala, skazyvalas' artistichnost'  ee natury, a golos ee, hotya
i ne sil'nyj, byl udivitel'no nezhen i vyrazitelen.


     I still slept in the boat,  and I lay awake  long that night, gazing up
at the first stars  I had seen in  many  nights and pondering the situation.
Responsibility  of this sort was  a  new thing to me.  Wolf Larsen had  been
quite  right. I had stood on  my  father's  legs. My lawyers  and agents had
taken care of my money for me. I  had had no responsibilities  at all. Then,
on the Ghost I  had learned to be responsible  for myself. And now, for  the
first time in my life, I found myself responsible for some one  else. And it
was required of me  that this should be the gravest of responsibilities, for
she  was the  one woman in  the world  -  the one small woman, as I loved to
think of her.

     YA po-prezhnemu spal v lodke i v  etu noch'  dolgo lezhal bez sna. YA glyadel
na zvezdy, kotoryh  tak davno ne bylo vidno, i razmyshlyal. YA ponimal,  chto na
mne  lezhit  ogromnaya  otvetstvennost',  a  eto  bylo  sovershenno   dlya  menya
neprivychno. Volk Larsen okazalsya prav: prezhde ya ne stoyal na svoih nogah. Moi
advokaty i poverennye upravlyali za menya sostoyaniem, dostavshimsya mne ot otca,
sam zhe ya ne znal nikakih zabot. Tol'ko na "Prizrake" nauchilsya ya  otvechat' za
sebya. A teper', vpervye v zhizni, dolzhen byl nesti otvetstvennost' za drugogo
cheloveka. I eto byla velichajshaya otvetstvennost', kakaya mozhet vypast' na dolyu
muzhchiny,  ved'  ya  otvechal  za  sud'bu   zhenshchiny,   kotoraya  byla  dlya  menya
edinstvennoj v mire, -- za sud'bu "moej malyshki", kak ya lyubovno nazyval ee v
svoih mechtah.


        CHAPTER XXX

        GLAVA XXX


     No wonder we  called it Endeavour  Island.  For  two weeks we toiled at
building a  hut. Maud insisted  on  helping, and I could have wept over  her
bruised  and bleeding hands. And still, I was proud of  her  because  of it.
There  was  something  heroic  about  this  gently-bred woman  enduring  our
terrible hardship and  with her pittance of strength bending to the tasks of
a  peasant  woman. She  gathered many of the stones  which  I built into the
walls of the hut; also, she turned a deaf ear to my entreaties when I begged
her  to desist. She compromised, however, by taking upon herself the lighter
labours of cooking and gathering driftwood and moss for our winter's supply.

     Nemudreno,  chto  my  nazvali  nash  ostrov  Ostrovom Usilij.  Dve nedeli
trudilis' my nad vozvedeniem hizhiny. Mod nepremenno hotela pomogat' mne, i ya
chut' ne plakal, glyadya na ee iscarapannye v krov' ruki. Vmeste s tem ya ne mog
ne gordit'sya eyu. Bylo poistine chto-to  geroicheskoe v tom, kak eta iznezhennaya
zhenshchina  perenosila  stol' tyazhkie  lisheniya i nevzgody i  napryagala vse  svoi
slabye sily, starayas'  vypolnyat' tyazheluyu rabotu. Ona  taskala kamni, pomogaya
mne stroit' hizhinu, i  slushat' ne hotela,  kogda ya molil ee predostavit' eto
delo mne.  Ele-ele  udalos' mne  ugovorit'  ee  vzyat'  na sebya bolee  legkie
obyazannosti -- gotovit' pishchu i sobirat' drova i moh na zimu.


     The hut's walls rose without difficulty,  and everything  went smoothly
until  the problem  of  the roof confronted  me. Of what use  the four walls
without a roof? And of what could a roof be made? There were the spare oars,
very true.  They would  serve as roof- beams; but  with what was I  to cover
them?  Moss would never  do. Tundra grass was impracticable. We  needed  the
sail for the boat, and the tarpaulin had begun to leak.

     Steny hizhiny rosli dovol'no bystro, i vse shlo kak po maslu, poka peredo
mnoj ne  vstal vopros: iz chego delat' kryshu? Bez kryshi i steny ni k chemu!  U
nas, pravda, byli zapasnye  vesla,  i oni mogli posluzhit' stropilami, no chem
ih pokryt'?  Trava  dlya etogo ne godilas', moh  tozhe, parus neobhodimo  bylo
sohranit' dlya shlyupki, a brezent uzhe prohudilsya.


     "Winters used walrus skins on his hut," I said.

     -- Vintere pol'zovalsya shkurami morzhej, -- zametil ya.


     "There are the seals," she suggested.

     -- A u nas est' kotiki, -- podskazala Mod.


     So  next  day the  hunting  began.  I did not know how to shoot,  but I
proceeded  to learn. And  when I  had expended  some thirty shells for three
seals,  I decided  that the ammunition would be exhausted  before I acquired
the necessary knowledge. I had used eight shells for lighting fires before I
hit upon  the device of banking the embers with wet moss, and there remained
not over a hundred shells in the box.

     I na sleduyushchij den'  nachalas'  ohota.  Strelyat' ya  ne  umel -- prishlos'
uchit'sya. Odnako, izvedya tridcat' patronov na treh kotikov, ya reshil, chto nashi
boepripasy issyaknut, prezhde chem ya postignu  eto iskusstvo. K  tomu zhe ya  uzhe
potratil  vosem'  patronov  na  razzhiganie  kostra,  prezhde  chem   dogadalsya
sberegat'  ogon',  prikryvaya   tleyushchie  ugli  syrym  mhom.  Teper'  v  yashchike
ostavalos' ne bol'she sotni patronov.


     "We  must  club  the  seals,"  I announced, when convinced  of  my poor
marksmanship. "I have heard the sealers talk about clubbing them."

     -- Pridetsya  bit' zverya dubinkoj, -- zayavil ya, okonchatel'no ubedivshis',
chto strelok iz menya ne poluchitsya. YA slyshal ot ohotnikov, chto tak delayut.


     "They are so pretty," she objected. "I cannot bear to think of it being
done. It is so directly brutal, you know; so different from shooting them."

     --  Kak eto mozhno!  -- zaprotestovala Mod. -- |ti zhivotnye tak krasivy!
|to zhe prosto zverstvo. Strelyat' eshche kuda ni shlo...


     "That roof must go on," I  answered grimly. "Winter is almost  here. It
is  our  lives  against  theirs.  It  is  unfortunate  we haven't  plenty of
ammunition, but I think, anyway,  that they suffer  less from being  clubbed
than from being all shot up. Besides, I shall do the clubbing."

     -- Nam nuzhna krysha, -- surovo vozrazil  ya. -- Zima uzhe na nosu. Ili my,
ili  oni -- drugogo vybora net. ZHal', konechno, chto u nas malo patronov, no ya
dumayu,  chto ot udara dubinkoj oni budut dazhe men'she stradat', chem ot pul'. I
uzh, konechno, bit' ih ya pojdu odin.


     "That's just it," she began eagerly, and broke off in sudden confusion.

     -- Vot v tom-to i delo, -- vzvolnovanno  nachala ona i vdrug smutilas' i
zamolchala.


     "Of course," I began, "if you prefer - "

     -- Konechno, -- skazal ya, -- esli vy predpochitaete...


     "But what shall I be doing?" she interrupted, with that softness I knew
full well to be insistence.

     -- Nu, a chem ya budu zanimat'sya? -- sprosila ona  myagko, chto, kak ya znal
po opytu, oznachalo nastojchivost'.


     "Gathering firewood and cooking dinner," I answered lightly.

     --  Vy  budete sobirat' drova i  varit'  obed, -- ne razdumyvaya  dolgo,
otvechal ya.


     She shook her head. "It is too dangerous for you to attempt alone."

     Ona pokachala golovoj.
     -- Net, vam nel'zya idti odnomu, eto slishkom opasno.


     "I know, I know,"  she waived  my protest. "I am only a weak woman, but
just my small assistance may enable you to escape disaster."

     Znayu, znayu,  --  pospeshno  prodolzhala  ona,  zametiv, chto  ya  sobirayus'
vozrazhat'. -- YA slabaya zhenshchina, pust' tak.  No mozhet stat'sya, chto imenno moya
malen'kaya pomoshch' i spaset vas ot bedy.


     "But the clubbing?" I suggested.

     -- Pomoshch'? Ved' ih nado bit' dubinkoj, -- napomnil ya.


     "Of course, you will do that. I shall  probably scream. I'll  look away
when - "

     --  Konechno,  eto  budete  delat'  vy.  A  ya,  verno,  budu  vizzhat'  i
otvorachivat'sya, kak tol'ko...


     "The danger is most serious," I laughed.

     -- Kak tol'ko poyavitsya opasnost'? -- poshutil ya.


     "I  shall  use  my judgment when  to  look and when not  to look,"  she
replied with a grand air.

     -- |to  uzh pozvol'te  mne reshat' samoj,  kogda  otvorachivat'sya, a kogda
net, -- s velichestvennym vidom otrezala ona.


     The  upshot of the affair  was that she accompanied me next  morning. I
rowed  into the adjoining cove and up to the edge of  the  beach. There were
seals all about  us in the water, and the  bellowing  thousands on the beach
compelled us to shout at each other to make ourselves heard.

     Razumeetsya, delo konchilos' tem, chto na  sleduyushchee utro Mod  otpravilas'
so mnoj.  Sev na vesla, ya  privel shlyupku  v sosednyuyu buhtu. Voda vokrug  nas
kishela  kotikami, i na  beregu  ih  byli  tysyachi; oni  reveli tak,  chto  nam
prihodilos' krichat', chtoby uslyshat' drug druga.


     "I know men club  them,"  I said, trying to reassure myself, and gazing
doubtfully  at  a  large  bull,  not  thirty  feet  away,  upreared  on  his
fore-flippers and regarding me intently. "But  the  question is, How do they
club them?"

     -- YA znayu, chto ih b'yut dubinkami, -- skazal ya, starayas' priobodrit'sya i
s  somneniem  poglyadyvaya  na  ogromnogo  samca,  pripodnyavshegosya  na  lastah
primerno v tridcati  futah  ot berega i  smotrevshego pryamo na menya. --  Ves'
vopros v tom, kak eto delaetsya?


     "Let us gather tundra grass and thatch the roof," Maud said.

     -- Davajte luchshe naberem dlya kryshi travy, -- skazala Mod.


     She  was  as frightened  as I at the prospect, and  we had reason to be
gazing at close range at the gleaming teeth and dog-like mouths.

     Ona byla napugana ne  men'she  menya,  da  i  nemudreno bylo  ispugat'sya,
uvidav vblizi eti sverkayushchie klyki i pasti, pohozhie na sobach'i.


     "I always thought they were afraid of men," I said. "How do I know they
are not  afraid?" I queried a moment  later, after having rowed a  few  more
strokes along the  beach.  "Perhaps, if I were  to  step boldly ashore, they
would cut for it, and I could not catch up with one."

     -- A ya vsegda  dumal, chto oni boyatsya lyudej, -- zametil ya. -- Vprochem, s
chego  ya vzyal, chto oni ne boyatsya? -- dobavil ya, prodolzhaya gresti vdol' plyazha.
-- Byt' mozhet, stoit  mne tol'ko smelo  vyjti  na bereg, kak oni obratyatsya v
begstvo i pokazhut takuyu pryt', chto ya eshche, pozhaluj, i ne dogonyu ih.


     And still I hesitated.

     I vse zh ya medlil.


     "I  heard  of  a  man, once, who  invaded  the nesting  grounds of wild
geese," Maud said. "They killed him."

     -- Mne rasskazyvali, kak odin chelovek zabrel na  gnezdov'e dikih gusej,
-- skazala Mod. -- Oni zaklevali ego.


     "The geese?"

     -- Gusi?


     "Yes, the geese. My brother told me about it when I was a little girl."

     -- Da, gusi. YA slyshala ob etom ot svoego brata, kogda byla malen'koj.


     "But I know men club them," I persisted.

     -- No ya zhe znayu, chto kotikov b'yut dubinkami! -- nastaival ya.


     "I think the tundra grass will make just as good a roof," she said.

     --  A ya dumayu, chto iz travy krysha poluchitsya nichut' ne  huzhe, -- skazala
Mod.


     Far from  her intention,  her words were maddening me, driving me on. I
could not  play the  coward before her eyes. "Here goes,"  I  said,  backing
water with one oar and running the bow ashore.

     Sama togo ne zhelaya, ona tol'ko podzadorila  menya.  Ne mog zhe ya pokazat'
sebya trusom.
     --  Byla  ne  byla!  --  voskliknul  ya i,  tabanya  odnim veslom,  nachal
prichalivat' k beregu.


     I stepped  out and  advanced valiantly  upon a  long-maned bull  in the
midst  of his wives. I was  armed  with  the  regular  club with  which  the
boat-pullers killed the wounded seals  gaffed aboard by the  hunters. It was
only a foot and a half long, and in my superb ignorance I never dreamed that
the club used ashore when raiding the rookeries  measured four to five feet.
The cows lumbered out  of my way, and the distance between me  and  the bull
decreased. He raised himself on his flippers with an angry movement. We were
a dozen feet apart. Still I advanced steadily, looking for him to  turn tail
at any moment and run.

     Vyprygnuv iz shlyupki,  ya smelo  poshel na grivastogo sekacha,  okruzhennogo
svoimi  mnogochislennymi  samkami. YA prihvatil  s soboj obyknovennuyu dubinku,
kakoyu grebcy dobivayut ranenyh kotikov,  vytashchennyh iz  vody  ohotnikami. Ona
byla vsego v poltora futa dlinoj, i ya v svoem nevedenii dazhe  ne podozreval,
chto pri nabegah na  lezhbishcha primenyayutsya dubinki  dlinoyu v chetyre-pyat' futov.
Samki raspolzalis' pri moem priblizhenii; rasstoyanie mezhdu mnoj i sekachom vse
umen'shalos'. On  serdito pripodnyalsya na lastah.  YA  byl ot nego  uzhe futah v
dvenadcati i prodolzhal idti  vpered, ozhidaya, chto on vot-vot pustitsya ot menya
nautek...


     At six feet the  panicky thought rushed  into my mind,  What if he will
not  run? Why, then I shall club  him, came  the  answer. In  my fear I  had
forgotten that I was there to get the  bull instead of to make him run.  And
just  then  he  gave  a  snort  and a snarl  and rushed at me. His eyes were
blazing, his mouth was  wide open;  the teeth gleamed cruelly white. Without
shame, I confess that it was  I  who turned and footed it. He ran awkwardly,
but he ran  well. He was  but two paces behind when I tumbled into the boat,
and as I shoved off with an oar his teeth  crunched down upon the blade. The
stout  wood was  crushed like an egg-shell. Maud  and  I  were  astounded. A
moment later  he had dived under the boat, seized the keel in his mouth, and
was shaking the boat violently.

     Sdelav eshche neskol'ko  shagov, ya ispugalsya: a vdrug on ne pobezhit? Nu chto
zh,  togda ya  stuknu ego dubinkoj, -- reshil ya.  So strahu ya dazhe pozabyl, chto
moya cel'  --  ubit' zverya, a  ne obratit' ego v begstvo.  No v etu minutu on
fyrknul, vzrevel  i brosilsya na  menya. Glaza ego sverkali, past' byla shiroko
razinuta, i v nej zloveshche beleli klyki. Bez lozhnogo styda dolzhen priznat'sya,
chto v begstvo obratilsya ne