Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-28

Avos finished the two boats supplied with
ornaments at Okhotsk, and under way be-
fore he started across Siberia. he knew it
was doubtful If the expedition took place
before his return; in that case might never
take place, for these two young men might
have drifted elsewhere, and he knew of no
one else. to whom he could intrust such
a commission. nj spite of their idiosyn-
crasies he could trust them implicitly-up
to a certain point That point involved
keeping them in sight until exactly the
right moment and leaving nothing to their
executive which could be certainly accom-
plished by himself alone. Did he sail tive
days hence on the Juno one of the officers
would be exposed for an inteterminate time
to the temptations of Okhotsk, the ship,
perhaps at the mercy of some sudden re-
quirement of the company. His authority
was absolute when enforced in person, but
1t was a proverb west of the Ural: GOD
reigns and the car is far away If the
Juno was wanted the manager at Okhotsk
would argue that two years was period
in which an ardent servant OF the com
pany could find many an excuse to JUSTIFY
Its seizure.
And here in Stka 1t was doubtful If the
work on the Avos proceeded at all Bara1-
how was not In sympathy with the enter
prise against the Japanese, fearing the
consequences to himself In the event of the
tsar's disapproval, and resenting the i'm
pressment Of the promuschleniki into
service that deprived him of their ieglH,
mate work Moreover. although he loved
Rezanov personally, he had enjoyed SUI
preme power in the wilderness too long not
to chafe under even the temporary assn nl'-
ton of authority by his hlgh-handed ST.
perior With the best of intentions David
oy could make little Roadway against the
passive resistance Of the chief manager.
and those intentions would be weakened
by the consultations the company so gen"
erously afforded.
The result was hardly open to doubt: II
he left sitka before the completion OF the
Avos Russia would for ins
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
decision on the morrow, ordered the sentry
to open the gate and passed out of the
Enclosure.
He crossed the clearing and entered the
forest The warlike tribes themselves had
trodden paths through the dense uator-
growth Of young trees and ferns. Rezanov
despite Baranhov's warning. had tramped
the forest many times 1t was the one
are few woods more beautiful. In spite or
because of the incessant rains, 1t Is per-
yaded by rich golden gloom, the result
of the constant rotting Of the brown and
trees, but of the many killed by crowding
and unable to seek the earth with the nat
ural instinct Of death. And above, the
green of henlock and spruce was peren-
nially fresh and young. glistening and
fragrant. Here and there was a small
clearing where the clans had erected their
ingenious and hideous 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 WOO
Ing to man burdened with civilization. but
Rezanov needed 1t less than usual, although
he had turned to 1t instinctively. He was
occupied with a question to which nature
would turn an aloof disdainful ear. Was