The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-07

burg might be made in four months:
with the wealth and influence at his
command, possibly less; but in the del
uge between he was liable to detcn.
lions lasting nearly as long again. to
say nothing of illness caused bv in
eyitable exposure. He stood staring at
the palisades for many minutes The
separation must be long enough, the
dangers numerous enough ii he started
whiting the week, but at least he had.
IN measure accustomed himself TT
the idea of not seeing Concha again for
the best part of two years. and the
sangulneness 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 ne 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 ct that
moment; never since the dictum Of
what she called their tribunal had
he SO rebelled against the long delay.
And yet he hesitated. To leave Japan
UNPUBLISHED for the senseless humilia-
tions to which it had subjected Russia
In his person was not to be thought of,
and vet did he leave without seeing the
Avos finished, the two boats supplied
with ornaments at Okhotsk. and under
way before he started across Siberia,
he knew it was doubtful if the expedi-
ton took place before his return: in
that case might never take place. for
these two young men might have drift
ed elsewhere, and he knew of no one
else to whom he could entrust such a
commission. In spite of their idiosyn-.
crasies he could trust them implicitly
up, to a certain point. That point in
volyed keeping them in sight until ex-
nothing, to their executive which could
be certainly accomplished by himself
alone. Did he sail five days hence On
the Juno, one of the officers would be
exposed for an indeterminate time to
the, temptations Of Okhotsk, the ship,
perhaps. at the mercy of some sudden
requirement of the company. His an
thorlty was absolute when enforced in
person, but 1t was a proverb west of
the Ural: God reigns and the ear is
far away Ii the Juno were waEted,
the manager at Okhotsk would algne
that two years was period in which
an ardent servant of the company could
find many an excuse to Justify its seiz-
ure.
And here in Sitka it was doubtful if
the work on the Avos proceeded at all.
Baranhov was not in sympathy with
the enterprise against the japanese,
fearing the consequences to himself in
the event of the car s disapproval, and
resenting the impressment of the pro
nuschleniki into a service that de-
prived him Of their Legitimate work.
Moreover, altho he loved Rezanov per-
sonally, he had enjoyed supreme power
In the wilderness too long not to chafe
under even ther-temporary assumption
OF authority by his hign-handed superb
or. With the best of intentions Davidov
could make little Roadway against the
passive resistance of the chief mana
ger, and those intentions would be
weakened by the consultations the COM
pany so generously afforded. il .-.f
The result was hardly open to doubt.
If he left Sitka before. the completion
OF the AvOs, Russia would go IN
avenged for the present. g. Or himselfi
hezanov, sangu1ne and imaginative as
he was, even to the point of creating
premises to rhyme with ends, was very
honest fundamentally. He = turned
abruptly on his heel, and calling to the
officers that he.would announce his de-
cision on the morrow, ordered the sem
try to open the gate and passed out Of
the enclosure. g.: ...
He crossed the clearing and entered
the forest. The warlike tribes them
selves had trodden{paths thru the dense
underground of young trees and ferns.
Rezanov, despite Baranhov' warning,
had tramped the forest many times.
It was the one thing that reeonciled
him to Sitka, for there are few woods
more beautiful In spite or because
of the incessant rains, it is pervaded
by rich golden gloom, the result of
the constant rotting of the brown and
yellow bark, not only on the PROSTATE
trees, but of the many killed by
with the natural instinct of death.
And above, the green of hemlock and
spruce was perennially fresh and
young, ghstening and fragrant. Here
and there was a small clearing where
the clans had erected their ingenious
and hldeouS totem poles, out of place
in the ancient beauty of the wood
The ferns brushed his waist, the roar
of the river came to his ears. the forest
had never looked more primeval. more
wooing to man burdened with civil
than usual, altho he had turned to it
instinctively. He was occupied with
question to which nature would turn an
aloof disdainful ear. Was his own
wounded vanity at the root Of his de-
sire to humiliate Japan? Russia was
too powerful, too occupied, for the pres
emit at least, greatly to care that her
overtures and presents had been
scorned. Upon her ambassador had
fallen the full brunt of that wearisome
and incomparably notifying expert
ence, and unfortunately the ambassador
happened to be one of the proudest and
most autocratic men in her empire. No
man Of Rezanov's caliber but accommo-
dates that sort of personal vanity that
tenaciously resents a blow to the pride
of which it is a part, to the love Of
power it feeds. AS well expect lover
without passion, a state without corrup-
ton. Rezanovs. finally shrugged his
shoulders and admitted the impeach-
ment, but at the same time he recog-
nized that the desire for vengeance still
held, and that the tenacity of his ma
ture, tenacity that had been no mean
factor in the remodeling of himself from
voluptuous young sprig of nobility
into one Of the most successful business
men and subiugators of other men that
the Russian empire could show, was not
likely to weaken when its very roots
had been stiff with purpose for fifteen
months. Power had been Rezanov's
ruling passion for many years before
he met Concha Arguello, and altho it
might mate very comfortably with love,
it was not to be expected that it would
remain submerged beyond the first en-
thusiasm, nor even assume the position
of the "party of the second part.'
ITO Be Continued.)
OVER THE WIRE.