etter. I struck  a
match  and looked  at my watch.  It marked midnight. And I had not left  the
deck until three! I should have been puzzled had I not guessed the solution.
No wonder I was sleeping brokenly. I  had slept twenty-one hours. I listened
for a while to the behaviour of the Ghost,  to the  pounding of the seas and
the  muffled roar of the wind on deck,  and then turned over on my ride  and
slept peacefully until morning.

     YA  prosnulsya vtorichno,  ottogo chto  son  moj  stal  nespokoen.  CHirknuv
spichkoj,  ya  posmotrel na chasy. Oni pokazyvali polnoch'. A ya ushel s  paluby v
tri chasa nochi. V pervuyu minutu eto  menya ozadachilo, no ya tut zhe soobrazil, v
chem delo.  Nemudreno, chto son  moj stal bespokoen, ved'  ya prospal  dvadcat'
odin chas! YA eshche polezhal, prislushivayas', kak zavyvaet veter  i  volny b'yut  o
bort, a potom povernulsya na bok i mirno prospal do utra.


     When I arose  at seven I saw no sign of Maud  and concluded she was  in
the galley preparing breakfast.  On deck I found the Ghost doing  splendidly
under her patch of canvas. But in the galley, though a fire  was burning and
water boiling, I found no Maud.

     YA vstal  v  sem' chasov i, ne obnaruzhiv Mod v  kayut-kompanii, reshil, chto
ona  v kambuze gotovit zavtrak.  Vyjdya  na palubu, ya ubedilsya, chto "Prizrak"
otlichno  derzhitsya pod  svoim malen'kim  parusom. V kambuze topilas' plita  i
kipel chajnik, no Mod ne bylo i tam.


     I  discovered her in the steerage, by  Wolf  Larsen's bunk. I looked at
him, the  man  who had been hurled down from the topmost pitch of life to be
buried  alive  and be  worse  than  dead. There  seemed a relaxation of  his
expressionless face which was new. Maud looked at me and I understood.

     YA  nashel ee v  kubrike  u  kojki  Volka Larsena.  YA vglyadelsya v nego  i
podumal:  vot  chelovek, kotoryj  v polnom rascvete sil  poterpel krushenie  i
okazalsya  pogrebennym  zazhivo.  CHto-to novoe pochudilos'  mne  v smyagchivshihsya
chertah ego zastyvshego tela. Mod posmotrela na menya, i ya ponyal.


     "His life flickered out in the storm," I said.

     -- Ego zhizn' ugasla vo vremya shtorma, -- skazal ya.


     "But he still lives," she answered, infinite faith in her voice.

     --  No ona ne  okonchena dlya  nego, -- promolvila  s glubokim ubezhdeniem
Mod.


     "He had too great strength."

     -- Sila ego byla chrezmerna.


     "Yes," she  said,  "but  now it no  longer  shackles him.  He is a free
spirit."

     -- Da, -- skazala Mod. -- No teper'  ona uzhe ne obremenyaet ego. Duh ego
svoboden.


     "He is a free spirit  surely," I  answered; and, taking her hand, I led
her on deck.

     -- Da, teper' duh ego svoboden,  -- povtoril ya i, vzyav ee za ruku, uvel
na palubu.


     The  storm  broke  that  night,  which is to say  that it diminished as
slowly  as it had arisen.  After breakfast next morning, when I had  hoisted
Wolf  Larsen's body on deck ready  for burial,  it was still blowing heavily
and a  large sea  was running.  The deck was  continually awash with the sea
which  came  inboard over the rail and through  the scuppers. The wind smote
the schooner with a  sudden gust, and she heeled over till her lee rail  was
buried, the roar in her rigging rising in pitch to a shriek. We stood in the
water to our knees as I bared my head.

     Za  noch' shtorm zametno utih. No on zatihal  tak zhe  postepenno,  kak  i
narastal, i utrom, kogda ya podnyal na palubu prigotovlennoe k pogrebeniyu telo
Volka  Larsena,  byl  eshche  dovol'no  sil'nyj  veter i  bol'shie  volny.  Voda
pominutno  zalivala palubu  i  stekala  v  shpigaty.  Vnezapnyj  poryv  vetra
nakrenil shhunu,  i ona zarylas' v vodu po planshir podvetrennogo borta. Veter
istoshno vyl v snastyah. My s Mod stoyali po koleno v vode. YA obnazhil golovu.


     "I  remember only one part of the service," I said,  "and that is, 'And
the body shall be cast into the sea.'"

     -- YA pomnyu tol'ko chast' pohoronnoj sluzhby, -- skazal ya. --  Ona glasit:
"I telo da budet predano moryu".


     Maud looked at me, surprised and shocked; but the spirit of something I
had seen before was strong upon me,  impelling me  to give service  to  Wolf
Larsen as  Wolf Larsen had once given  service  to another man. I lifted the
end of  the hatch cover and the canvas-shrouded body slipped feet first into
the sea. The weight of iron dragged it down. It was gone.

     Mod vzglyanula na  menya  udivlenno i negoduyushche. No peredo mnoyu voskresla
scena, svidetelem  kotoroj  ya  byl  kogda-to,  i  eto  vospominanie  vlastno
pobuzhdalo  menya otdat' poslednij dolg Volku Larsenu imenno tak, kak on otdal
ego  v  tot  pamyatnyj den' svoemu  pomoshchniku.  YA  pripodnyal kryshku  lyuka,  i
zavernutoe v brezent telo soskol'znulo nogami  vpered v more.  Privyazannyj k
nemu gruz potyanul ego vniz. Ono ischezlo.


     "Good-bye, Lucifer,  proud spirit," Maud whispered, so  low that it was
drowned by the shouting of the wind; but I  saw the movement of her lips and
knew.

     -- Proshchaj,  Lyucifer, gordyj duh! --  prosheptala  Mod tak  tiho,  chto ee
slova zatonuli v reve vetra, i ya razgadal ih lish' po dvizheniyu ee gub.


     As  we clung  to the lee rail and worked  our way aft,  I  happened  to
glance  to leeward.  The Ghost, at the moment, was uptossed on a  sea, and I
caught  a clear view of a  small steamship two or three miles away,  rolling
and pitching, head on to the sea,  as it  steamed  toward us. It was painted
black,  and  from  the  talk  of the  hunters of  their  poaching exploits I
recognized it  as a United States revenue cutter.  I pointed it  out to Maud
and hurriedly led her aft to the safety of the poop. I started to rush below
to  the flag-locker,  then  remembered  that  in rigging  the  Ghost.  I had
forgotten to make provision for a flag- halyard.

     Derzhas' za planshir, my probiralis' na  yut, i ya sluchajno brosil vzglyad v
podvetrennuyu storonu.  V etu minutu "Prizrak" vzmyl  na  vysokuyu  volnu, i ya
sovershenno  otchetlivo  uvidel  milyah  v  dvuh-treh ot nas nebol'shoj parohod.
Nyryaya i snova vzletaya na grebni voln, on shel pryamo na nas. On  byl okrashen v
chernyj cvet, i mne srazu pripomnilis' rasskazy ohotnikov ob ih brakon'erskih
pohozhdeniyah. YA ponyal, chto eto tamozhennoe sudno Soedinennyh SHtatov. YA pokazal
na  nego Mod i  pospeshil  provodit' ee  na yut,  gde  men'she  zalivalo vodoj.
Ostaviv  Mod tam, ya  kinulsya  bylo  vniz  k  signal'nomu  shkafu, no  tut  zhe
vspomnil, chto pri osnashchenii "Prizraka" ne pozabotilsya o signal'nom fale.


     "We need no distress signal," Maud said. "They have only to see us."

     -- Nam nezachem podnimat'  signal  bedstviya, -- skazala Mod.  -- Oni vse
pojmut, uvidev nas!


     "We  are  saved,"  I  said,  soberly  and  solemnly. And  then,  in  an
exuberance of joy, "I hardly know whether to be glad or not."

     -- My spaseny, -- spokojno i torzhestvenno skazal  ya. YA likoval, radost'
menya  dushila...  I  vdrug ya  pribavil: --  My  spaseny  -- i vot ya  ne znayu,
radovat'sya mne ili net?


     I looked at her. Our eyes were not loath to meet. We leaned toward each
other, and before I knew it my arms were about her.

     YA posmotrel  na Mod. Teper' my bol'she ne boyalis' vstretit'sya vzglyadami.
Nas vlastno  tolknulo  drug k drugu, i uzhe ne pomnyu kak, no Mod ochutilas'  v
moih ob®yatiyah.


     "Need I?" I asked.

     -- Nuzhno li govorit'? -- sprosil ya.


     And she  answered, "There is no need, though the telling of it would be
sweet, so sweet."

     Ona otvetila:
     -- Ne nuzhno... No uslyshat' eto bylo by tak priyatno...


     Her lips met  the  press of  mine, and, by  what strange trick  of  the
imagination I know not, the scene in the cabin of the Ghost flashed upon me,
when she had pressed her fingers lightly on my lips and said, "Hush, hush."

     Guby ee slilis' s moimi.  Ne znayu pochemu,  no pered moimi glazami vdrug
vstala  kayut-kompaniya  "Prizraka"  i   mne  vspomnilos',  kak  Mod   odnazhdy
prikosnulas'   konchikami   pal'cev  k  moim   gubam,   shepcha:  "Uspokojtes',
uspokojtes'!"


     "My  woman,  my one  small woman,"  I said, my  free hand  petting  her
shoulder in the way all lovers know though never learn in school.

     -- ZHena  moya, moya  edinstvennaya! -- skazal ya, nezhno gladya ee plecho, kak
delayut eto vse vlyublennye, hotya nikto ih etomu ne uchil. -- Moya malyshka!


     "My man," she said,  looking at  me for an  instant with tremulous lids
which fluttered down and veiled her eyes as she snuggled her head against my
breast with a happy little sigh.

     --  Muzh moj! -- skazala ona, na mgnovenie  podnyav na menya glaza, i, tut
zhe  opustiv zatrepetavshie  resnicy,  s tihim  schastlivym vzdohom pril'nula k
moej grudi.


     I  looked  toward  the cutter.  It  was  very close.  A  boat was being
lowered.

     YA posmotrel  na tamozhennyj  parohod.  On byl  sovsem blizko. S nego uzhe
spuskali shlyupku.


     "One kiss, dear love," I whispered. "One kiss more before they come."

     -- Eshche poceluj, lyubov' moya! -- prosheptal ya. -- Eshche odin poceluj, prezhde
chem oni podojdut...


     "And rescue us from ourselves," she  completed,  with  a  most adorable
smile, whimsical as I had never seen it, for it was whimsical with love.

     -- I spasut nas ot nas samih, -- dokonchila ona s  plenitel'noj ulybkoj,
ispolnennoj novogo, eshche ne znakomogo mne lukavstva -- lukavstva lyubvi.