ase in
pay, besides the orders and Imperial thanks you so richly deserve.
Lest anything happen to me on my homeward journey, I shall write to St.
Petersburg before I leave."

The lieutenants, overcome as ever when he chose to put forth his full
powers, assured him of their fidelity and, if with misgivings, vowed to
mete out vengeance to the Japanese. And although their misgivings were
not unfounded, and they paid a high price in suffering and
mortification, they accomplished their object and in due course
received the rewards the Chamberlain had promised them.

They did not retire, and Rezanov, noting their sudden hesitation and
embarrassment, felt an instant thrill of apprehension.

"What is it?" he demanded. "What has happened?"

"Life has moved slowly in Sitka during your absence, Excellency,"
replied Davidov. "There has been little work done on the Avos. It
will not be finished for a month or six weeks."

Then, had the young men been possessed by a not infrequent mood, they
would have glowed with a sense of just satisfaction. Rezanov felt
himself turn so white that he wheeled about and left the tent. A month
or six weeks! And the speed and safety of his journey across Siberia
depended upon his making the greater part of it before the heavy autumn
rains swelled the rivers and flooded the swamps. Winter or summer the
journey from Okhotsk to St. Petersburg might be made in four months;
with the wealth and influence at his command, possibly in less; but in
the deluge between he was liable to detentions lasting nearly as long
again, to say nothing of illness caused by inevitable exposure.

He stood staring at the palisades for many minutes. The separation
must be long enough, the dangers numerous enough if he started within
the week, but at least he had in a measure accustomed himself to the
idea of not seeing Concha again for "the best part of two years," and
the sanguineness of his temperament had led him to hope that the time
might be reduced to eighteen months. If he delayed too long, only by
means of an unprecedented run of good fortune would he reach St.
Petersburg but a month behind his calculations. And the chances were in
favor of four, or three at the best! Never since the morning that the
real nature of his feeling for Concha had declared itself had he
yearned toward her as at that moment; never since the dictum of what
she called their "tribunal" had he so rebelled against the long delay.
An