hand. I felt  over and under his blankets. There
was no warmth, no sign of fire. Yet that smoke which blinded  me and made me
cough  and gasp must have a  source.  I lost my head temporarily  and dashed
frantically about the steerage. A collision with the table partially knocked
the  wind from my  body and brought me to myself. I reasoned that a helpless
man could start a fire only near to where he lay.

     V  tesnom pomeshchenii  dym  stoyal plotnoj stenoj,  i  ya mog  prodvigat'sya
tol'ko oshchup'yu. Obraz prezhnego Volka Larsena  vse eshche  tak  dejstvoval na moe
voobrazhenie, chto  ya by,  kazhetsya,  ne  udivilsya,  esli by  etot  bespomoshchnyj
velikan vdrug  shvatil  menya  za gorlo  i  nachal dushit'.  ZHelanie  brosit'sya
obratno vverh po trapu chut' ne vozobladalo vo mne,  no  ya tut zhe vspomnil  o
Mod. Na mgnovenie ya uvidel ee pered soboj -- takoj, kakoyu tol'ko chto videl v
tryume pri tusklom svete fonarya, -- uvidel ee karie glaza, v kotoryh sverkali
slezy radosti, i ponyal, chto ne mogu obratit'sya v begstvo. Zadyhayas' ot dyma,
ya dobralsya do kojki Volka Larsena i  nashchupal ego ruku. On lezhal  nepodvizhno,
no slegka  poshevelilsya, kogda  ya prikosnulsya  k nemu.  YA  oshchupal  ego odeyalo
snaruzhi  i iznutri,  no  nichego ne obnaruzhil. Otkuda  zhe etot  dym,  kotoryj
slepit menya, dushit, zastavlyaet kashlyat'  i lovit' vozduh rtom? Na mgnovenie ya
sovsem  poteryal  golovu  i, kak bezumnyj, zametalsya  po  kubriku.  Naletev s
razmahu na stol, ya prishel v sebya i nemnogo uspokoilsya. YA soobrazil, chto esli
pаralizovannyj   chelovek   i  mog   ustroit'  pozhar,   to   tol'ko   v
neposredstvennoj blizosti ot sebya.


     I  returned  to  Wolf Larsen's bunk. There I encountered Maud. How long
she had been there in that suffocating atmosphere I could not guess.

     YA  vernulsya k kojke Volka  Larsena i stolknulsya s Mod. Ne znayu, skol'ko
vremeni ona probyla v etom dymu.


     "Go up on deck!" I commanded peremptorily.

     -- Stupajte naverh -- reshitel'no prikazal ya.


     "But, Humphrey - " she began to protest in a queer, husky voice.

     -- No, Hemfri... -- vozrazila bylo ona kakim-to chuzhim, siplym golosom.


     "Please! please!" I shouted at her harshly.

     -- Net, uzh, pozhalujsta, proshu vas! -- rezko kriknul ya.


     She drew away obediently, and  then I thought, What if she  cannot find
the steps? I started after  her, to  stop at the  foot of the companion-way.
Perhaps she had gone up. As I stood there, hesitant, I heard her cry softly:

     Ona poslushno otoshla ot kojki, no tut ya ispugalsya: a vdrug ona ne najdet
vyhoda.  YA  brosilsya  za nej --  u trapa ee  ne  bylo. Mozhet  byt', ona  uzhe
podnyalas'? YA stoyal v nereshitel'nosti i vnezapno uslyshal ee slabyj vozglas:


     "Oh, Humphrey, I  am lost."  I  found her  fumbling  at the wall of the
after bulkhead, and,  half leading her, half carrying her, I took her up the
companion-way. The pure air was like  nectar. Maud was only faint and dizzy,
and I left her lying on the deck when I took my second plunge below.

     -- O Hemfri, ya zabludilas'YA nashel Mod  u zadnej pereborki,  po  kotoroj
ona bespomoshchno sharila rukami, i vytashchil  ee  naverh. CHistyj vozduh pokazalsya
mne  nektarom.  Mod byla  v  poluobmorochnom  sostoyanii, no ya  ostavil  ee na
palube, a sam opyat' kinulsya vniz.


     The source of the smoke must be very close to Wolf Larsen - my mind was
made up to this, and I  went straight to his bunk. As I felt about among his
blankets,  something hot  fell on  the back of my hand.  It burned me, and I
jerked my hand away. Then I understood. Through  the cracks in the bottom of
the upper bunk he had set fire to the mattress. He still retained sufficient
use of  his left arm  to do this. The damp straw of the mattress, fired from
beneath and denied air, had been smouldering all the while.

     Istochnik  dyma  nado  bylo iskat' vozle Volka Larsena --  v  etom ya byl
ubezhden i potomu napravilsya pryamo k ego kojke. Kogda ya snova  stal oshchupyvat'
odeyalo,  chto-to  goryachee upalo sverhu mne  na  ruku i obozhglo  ee. YA  bystro
otdernul ruku, i mne vse stalo yasno. Skvoz' shchel' v doskah verhnej kojki Volk
Larsen podzheg lezhavshij na  nej tyufyak, -- dlya etogo on eshche dostatochno  vladel
levoj rukoj. Podozhzhennaya  snizu  i lishennaya dostupa vozduha,  volglaya soloma
matraca medlenno tlela.


     As I dragged the mattress out of the bunk it seemed  to disintegrate in
mid-air, at the same time bursting  into  flames.  I  beat  out the  burning
remnants of straw in the bunk, then made a dash for the deck for fresh air.

     YA stal staskivat'  matrac  s kojki,  i on  raspalsya  u  menya v rukah na
kuski. Soloma vspyhnula yarkim plamenem. YA zatushil ostatki solomy, tlevshie na
kojke, i brosilsya na palubu glotnut' svezhego vozduha.


     Several  buckets of water sufficed to put  out the burning  mattress in
the middle of the steerage  floor; and ten minutes later, when the smoke had
fairly cleared, I allowed  Maud to come below. Wolf Larsen  was unconscious,
but it was a matter  of  minutes for the fresh  air to  restore him. We were
working over him, however, when he signed for paper and pencil.

     Pritashchiv  neskol'ko  veder  vody,  ya zagasil  tyufyak, gorevshij  na  polu
kubrika. Minut  cherez  desyat' dym  pochti rasseyalsya, i  ya pozvolil Mod  sojti
vniz. Volk Larsen lezhal bez soznaniya,  no svezhij vozduh bystro  privel ego v
chuvstvo. My vse eshche hlopotali vozle nego, kak vdrug on znakom  poprosil dat'
emu karandash i bumagu.


     "Pray do not interrupt me," he wrote. "I am smiling."

     "Proshu ne meshat' mne, -- napisal on. -- YA ulybayus'".


     "I am still a bit of the ferment, you see," he wrote a little later.

     "Kak vidite, ya vse eshche kusok zakvaski!" -- pripisal on nemnogo pogodya.


     "I am glad you are as small a bit as you are," I said.

     -- Mogu tol'ko radovat'sya, chto kusok etot ne slishkom velik, -- skazal ya
vsluh.


     "Thank you," he wrote. "But just think of how  much smaller I shall  be
before I die."

     "Blagodaryu,  --  napisal  on. -- No  vy podumali o tom, chto, prezhde chem
ischeznut' sovsem, on dolzhen eshche znachitel'no umen'shit'sya?"


     "And yet  I am all here, Hump," he wrote with a final  flourish. "I can
think  more  clearly than  ever in my  life  before.  Nothing to disturb me.
Concentration is perfect. I am all here and more than here."

     "A  ya eshche  zdes', Hemp, -- napisal on v  zaklyuchenie. -- I mysli  u menya
rabotayut  tak   yasno,   kak  nikogda.   Nichto   ne   otvlekaet  ih.   Polnaya
sosredotochennost'. YA ves' zdes', dazhe malo skazat' -- zdes'..."


     It was  like a message from the night of the grave; for this man's body
had become  his  mausoleum. And  there, in so strange  sepulchre, his spirit
fluttered  and  lived. It  would  flutter  and live till  the last  line  of
communication was broken, and after that  who was to say how  much longer it
might continue to flutter and live?

     Slova eti  pokazalis'  mne vest'yu iz  mogil'nogo mraka,  ibo telo etogo
cheloveka stalo ego usypal'nicej.  I  gde-to  v  etom strashnom sklepe vse eshche
trepetal  i zhil  ego  duh. I  tak  predstoyalo emu zhit' i trepetat',  poka ne
oborvetsya poslednyaya nit', svyazyvayushchaya ego s vneshnim mirom. A tam, kto znaet,
kak dolgo suzhdeno emu bylo eshche zhit' i trepetat'?



        CHAPTER XXXVIII

        GLAVA XXXVIII


     "I think my left  side is going," Wolf Larsen wrote, the  morning after
his attempt to fire the ship. "The numbness is growing. I can hardly move my
hand. You will have to speak louder. The last lines are going down."

     Kazhetsya, levaya  storona tozhe  otnimaetsya,  --  napisal  Volk  Larsen na
drugoe  utro posle svoej popytki podzhech'  korabl'.  -- Onemenie usilivaetsya.
Edva shevelyu rukoj. I govorite teper' pogromche. Otdayu poslednie koncy".


     "Are you in pain?" I asked.

     -- Vy chuvstvuete bol'? -- sprosil ya.


     I was compelled to repeat my question loudly before he answered:

     Mne prishlos' povtorit' vopros bolee gromko, i tol'ko togda on otvetil:


     "Not all the time."

     "Vremenami".


     The  left hand stumbled slowly and  painfully across  the paper, and it
was  with extreme  difficulty that  we deciphered the scrawl. It  was like a
"spirit message,"  such as are delivered at  seances  of spiritualists for a
dollar admission.

     Ego levaya ruka medlenno,  s trudom carapala po bumage,  i razobrat' ego
karakuli bylo nelegko. Oni napominali otvety  duhov, kotorye prepodnosyat vam
na spiriticheskih seansah, gde vy platite dollar za vhod.


     "But  I  am still  here,  all here," the hand  scrawled more slowly and
painfully than ever.

     "No ya eshche zdes', ya  eshche ves' zdes'", -- vse  medlennee i  nerazborchivee
vyvodila ego ruka.


     The pencil dropped, and we had to replace it in the hand.

     Karandash vypal u nego iz pal'cev, i prishlos' vlozhit' ego snova.


     "When there  is  no pain I have perfect peace and  quiet. I  have never
thought so clearly. I can ponder life and death like a Hindoo sage."

     "Kogda boli net,  ya naslazhdayus' tishinoj i pokoem. Nikogda eshche moi mysli
ne byli tak yasny. YA mogu razmyshlyat' o zhizni i smerti, kak jog".


     "And immortality?" Maud queried loudly in the ear.

     -- I o bessmertii? -- gromko sprosila Mod, naklonyayas' k ego uhu.


     Three  times the  hand  essayed  to write  but fumbled  hopelessly. The
pencil fell. In vain  we tried to replace it. The fingers could not close on
it. Then Maud  pressed and held the fingers  about the pencil  with her  own
hand and the hand  wrote,  in large letters, and  so slowly that the minutes
ticked off to each letter: "B-O-S-H."

     Tri  raza  on  bezuspeshno   pytalsya  nacarapat'  chto-to,  no   karandash
vyvalivalsya  iz ego  ruki.  Naprasno  probovali my vlozhit' ego  obratno,  --
pal'cy uzhe ne mogli uderzhat' karandasha.  Togda Mod sama prizhala ego pal'cy k
karandashu i  derzhala tak,  poka ego ruka  medlenno,  stol' medlenno, chto  na
kazhduyu bukvu uhodila minuta, vyvela krupnymi bukvami: "CH-U-SH-X".


     It was Wolf Larsen's last word, "bosh," sceptical and invincible to the
end. The  arm and hand relaxed.  The trunk  of the body moved slightly. Then
there was no  movement. Maud released the hand. The fingers spread slightly,
falling apart of their own weight, and the pencil rolled away.

     |to  bylo  poslednee  slovo  Volka  Larsena,  ostavshegosya  neispravimym
skeptikom do konca dnej svoih. "CHush'!" Pal'cy perestali dvigat'sya. Telo chut'
drognulo  i zamerlo.  Mod  vypustila  ego  ruku,  otchego  pal'cy ego  slegka
razzhalis' i karandash vypal.


     "Do you still hear?" I shouted, holding the fingers and waiting for the
single pressure which would signify "Yes." There  was no response.  The hand
was dead.

     --  Vy  slyshite  menya?  --  kriknul  ya,  vzyav  ego  za  ruku  i  ozhidaya
utverditel'nogo nazhima pal'cev. No oni ne dvigalis'. Ruka byla mertva.


     "I noticed the lips slightly move," Maud said.

     -- On poshevelil gubami, -- skazala Mod.


     I repeated the  question. The lips  moved. She placed the tips  of  her
fingers on  them. Again  I  repeated the question. "Yes," Maud announced. We
looked at each other expectantly.

     YA povtoril vopros. Guby shevel'nulis' snova. Mod kosnulas'  ih konchikami
pal'cev,  i  ya  eshche  raz  povtoril  vopros.  --  "Da",  --  ob®yavila Mod. My
voprositel'no posmotreli drug na druga.


     "What good is it?" I asked. "What can we say now?"

     --  Kakaya ot  etogo pol'za?  --  probormotal ya. -- CHto my mozhem skazat'
emu?


     "Oh, ask him - "

     -- O, sprosite ego...


     She hesitated.

     Ona ostanovilas' v nereshitel'nosti.


     "Ask him something that  requires no for an answer," I suggested. "Then
we will know for certainty."

     -- Sprosite  ego o  chem-nibud',  na  chto on dolzhen  otvetit' "net",  --
podskazal ya. -- Togda my budem znat' navernyaka.


     "Are you hungry?" she cried.

     -- Vy hotite est'? -- kriknula ona.


     The lips moved under her fingers, and she answered, "Yes."

     Guby shevel'nulis', i Mod ob®yavila:
     -- "Da".


     "Will you have some beef?" was her next query.

     -- Hotite myasa? -- sprosila ona zatem.


     "No," she announced.

     -- "Net", -- prochla ona po ego gubam.


     "Beef-tea?"

     -- A bul'ona?


     "Yes, he will have some beef-tea," she said, quietly, looking up at me.
"Until his hearing goes we shall be  able to communicate with him. And after
that - "

     -- Da, on hochet bul'ona,  -- tiho skazala ona, podnyav na menya glaza. --
Poka u nego sohranyaetsya sluh, my mozhem obshchat'sya s nim. A potom...


     She  looked  at me  queerly. I  saw her  lips  trembling  and the tears
swimming up in her eyes. She swayed toward me and I caught her in my arms.

     Ona  posmotrela  na   menya  kakim-to  strannym  vzglyadom.  Guby  u  nee
zadrozhali, i  na  glazah navernulis' slezy.  Ona vdrug pokachnulas', i ya edva
uspel podhvatit' ee.


     "Oh, Humphrey," she sobbed,  "when  will it all end? I am  so tired, so
tired."

     --  O  Hemfri!  --  voskliknula  ona. -- Kogda vse eto konchitsya?  YA tak
izmuchena, tak izmuchena!


     She buried her head on my shoulder, her frail form  shaken with a storm
of weeping. She was like a feather in my arms, so slender, so ethereal. "She
has broken down at last," I thought. "What can I do without her help?"

     Ona  utknulas' licom mne v  plecho,  rydaniya sotryasali ee telo. Ona byla
kak peryshko v moih ob®yatiyah, takaya tonen'kaya, hrupkaya.  "Nervy ne vyderzhali,
-- podumal ya. -- A chto ya budu delat' bez ee pomoshchi?"


     But  I soothed  and  comforted  her,  till she  pulled herself  bravely
together  and recuperated  mentally  as  quickly  as  she  was  wont  to  do
physically.

     No  ya uspokaival i obodryal  ee,  poka ona muzhestvennym  usiliem voli ne
vzyala  sebya   v  ruki;  krepost'  ee  duha  byla  pod  stat'  ee  fizicheskoj
vynoslivosti.


     "I ought  to  be  ashamed  of myself," she said. Then  added, with  the
whimsical smile I adored, "but I am only one, small woman."

     -- Kak  mne tol'ko ne sovestno! -- skazala ona. I cherez minutu dobavila
s lukavoj ulybkoj, kotoruyu ya tak obozhal: -- No ya ved' vsego-navsego malyshka!


     That phrase, the "one small woman," startled me like an electric shock.
It was my own phrase, my pet, secret phrase, my love phrase for her.

     Uslyshav  eto slovo, ya vzdrognul, kak ot  elektricheskogo toka. Ved'  eto
bylo to dorogoe mne, zavetnoe slovo, kotorym vyrazhal ya vtajne moyu nezhnost' i
lyubov' k nej.


     "Where did you get that phrase?" I demanded, with an abruptness that in
turn startled her.

     -- Pochemu vy nazvali  sebya  tak? -- vzvolnovanno vyrvalos' u  menya. Ona
vzglyanula na menya s udivleniem.


     "What phrase?" she asked.

     -- Kak "tak"? -- sprosila ona.


     "One small woman."

     -- "Malyshka".


     "Is it yours?" she asked.

     -- A vy ne nazyvali menya tak?


     "Yes," I answered. "Mine. I made it."

     -- Da, -- otvetil ya. -- Nazyval pro sebya. |to moe sobstvennoe slovechko.


     "Then you must have talked in your sleep," she smiled.

     -- Znachit, vy razgovarivali vo sne, -- ulybnulas' ona.


     The dancing,  tremulous  light  was  in her  eyes.  Mine, I knew,  were
speaking beyond the will of my speech. I leaned toward her. Without volition
I leaned toward her, as a tree is swayed by the wind. Ah, we were very close
together  in  that moment. But  she  shook her head, as one might shake  off
sleep or a dream, saying:

     I  snova ya  ulovil v ee glazah etot teplyj, trepetnyj ogonek.  O, znayu,
chto  moi  glaza  govorili  v  etu  minutu  krasnorechivee  vsyakih slov.  Menya
neuderzhimo  vleklo  k  nej. Pomimo voli ya  sklonilsya  k nej, kak derevo  pod
vetrom. Kak blizki byli my  v etu minutu!  No  ona tryahnula  golovoj, slovno
otgonyaya kakuyu-to mysl' ili grezu, i skazala:


     "I have known it all my life. It was my father's name for my mother."

     --  YA pomnyu eto  slovo s  teh por, kak pomnyu sebya. Tak moj otec nazyval
moyu mamu.


     "It is my phrase too," I said stubbornly.

     -- Vse ravno ono moe, -- upryamo povtoril ya.


     "For your mother?"

     -- Vy, mozhet byt', tozhe nazyvali tak svoyu mamu?


     "No," I  answered, and she questioned  no further, though I could  have
sworn her eyes retained for some time a mocking, teasing expression.

     -- Net, -- skazal ya;  i bol'she ona ne zadavala voprosov, no ya gotov byl
poklyast'sya,  chto  v  ee  glazah,  kogda  ona  smotrela  na menya,  vspyhivali
nasmeshlivye i zadornye iskorki.


     With the foremast in, the work  now went on apace. Almost before I knew
it,  and  without  one  serious  hitch,  I  had  the   mainmast  stepped.  A
derrick-boom,  rigged  to the foremast,  had accomplished this;  and several
days more found all stays and shrouds in place, and everything set  up taut.
Topsails would be a nuisance and a danger for a crew of two, so I heaved the
topmasts on deck and lashed them fast.

     Posle togo kak fok-machta stala na svoe mesto, rabota nasha  bystro poshla
na lad. YA  sam  udivilsya  tomu,  kak legko  i prosto udalos'  nam ustanovit'
grot-machtu v steps. My sdelali  eto pri pomoshchi pod®emnoj strely, ukreplennoj
na  fok-machte.  Eshche cherez neskol'ko dnej  vse shtagi i  vanty byli na meste i
obtyanuty. Dlya  komandy  iz dvuh chelovek topselya  predstavlyayut  tol'ko lishnyuyu
obuzu i dazhe  opasnost',  i  poetomu ya  ulozhil sten'gi  na  palubu  i krepko
prinajtovil ih.


     Several more days were consumed in finishing the sails and putting them
on. There were only three - the  jib, foresail,  and mainsail; and, patched,
shortened, and distorted, they were a  ridiculously ill-fitting suit for  so
trim a craft as the Ghost.

     Eshche dva dnya provozilis' my s parusami. Ih bylo vsego tri: kliver, fok i
grot. Zalatannye, ukorochennye,  nepravil'noj  formy, oni kazalis'  urodlivym
ubranstvom na takoj strojnoj shhune, kak "Prizrak".


     "But they'll  work!"  Maud cried jubilantly. "We'll make them work, and
trust our lives to them!"

     -- No oni budut sluzhit'! -- radostno voskliknula Mod. -- My zastavim ih
sluzhit' nam i doverim im svoyu zhizn'!


     Certainly, among my many new trades,  I shone least as a sail-maker.  I
could sail  them better than  make them, and I  had  no doubt of my power to
bring the schooner  to  some northern port of Japan.  In fact, I had crammed
navigation  from text-books aboard;  and besides,  there  was  Wolf Larsen's
star-scale, so simple a device that a child could work it.

     Pryamo skazhu:  iz vseh novyh professij, kotorymi ya ponemnogu  ovladeval,
men'she vsego  udalos'  mne blesnut'  v  roli  parusnika. Upravlyat' parusami,
kazalos', bylo mne kuda legche, nezheli sshivat' ih, -- vo vsyakom sluchae,  ya ne
somnevalsya,  chto sumeyu  privesti  shhunu  v kakoj-nibud'  iz severnyh  portov
YAponii.  YA  uzhe davno  nachal  izuchat' korablevozhdenie s  pomoshch'yu  uchebnikov,
kotorye otyskalis' na shhune, a krome  togo, v moem rasporyazhenii byl zvezdnyj
planshet  Volka Larsena, -- a ved',  po ego  slovam, im mog pol'zovat'sya dazhe
rebenok.


     As for its inventor, beyond an increasing deafness and the movement  of
the lips  growing fainter and  fainter, there had been little change  in his
condition for a week.  But  on the  day  we finished bending  the schooner's
sails, he heard his last,  and the last movement of his lips died away - but
not before I had asked him, "Are you all there?" and the lips  had answered,
"Yes."

     CHto  kasaetsya samogo izobretatelya plansheta,  to  sostoyanie ego  vsyu etu
nedelyu ostavalos' pochti bez peremen, tol'ko  gluhota usililas' da eshche slabee
stali dvizheniya gub. No v tot den', kogda  machty "Prizraka" odelis' v parusa,
Larsen poslednij raz ulovil kakoj-to zvuk izvne i v poslednij  raz poshevelil
gubami. YA sprosil ego: "Vy eshche zdes'?" -- i guby ego otvetili: "Da".


     The last line was down. Somewhere  within that tomb of  the flesh still
dwelt  the soul  of  the  man.  Walled  by  the  living  clay,  that  fierce
intelligence  we  had  known burned on;  but  it  burned on  in  silence and
darkness.  And  it was  disembodied. To that intelligence there  could be no
objective knowledge of a body.  It  knew no body. The very world was not. It
knew only itself and the vastness and profundity of the quiet and the dark.

     Porvalas' poslednyaya nit'. Ego  plot' stala dlya nego mogiloj, ibo v etom
polumertvom  tele vse eshche obitala dusha.  Da,  etot svirepyj duh,  kotoryj my
uspeli tak horosho uznat', prodolzhal goret' sredi okruzhayushchego ego bezmolviya i
mraka.  Ego  plot' uzhe  ne prinadlezhala emu --  on ne  mog ee  oshchushchat'.  Ego
telesnaya obolochka uzhe ne sushchestvovala dlya nego, kak ne sushchestvoval dlya  nego
i  vneshnij mir. On  soznaval teper' lish' sebya  i bezdonnuyu glubinu  pokoya  i
mraka.


        CHAPTER XXXIX

        GLAVA XXXIX


     The day came for our departure. There was no  longer anything to detain
us on  Endeavour  Island. The Ghost's  stumpy masts were in place, her crazy
sails bent. All my handiwork was strong, none  of  it beautiful;  but I knew
that it would work, and I felt myself a man of power as I looked at it.

     Nastal  den'  otplytiya.  Bol'she nichto  ne  zaderzhivalo nas  na  Ostrove
Usilij.  Kucye  machty "Prizraka"  stoyali na mestah, nesya  na sebe  urodlivye
parusa. Vse, chto vyhodilo iz moih  ruk, ne otlichalos' krasotoj, no derzhalos'
krepko. YA znal, chto eti machty i parusa eshche posluzhat nam, i poglyadyval na nih
s bezotchetnym soznaniem svoej sily.


     "I did  it! I did it!  With my  own hands I  did it!" I  wanted  to cry
aloud.

     "YA sam sdelal etoSam! Svoimi rukami!" -- hotelos' kriknut' mne.


     But Maud and  I had a  way of  voicing each  other's thoughts,  and she
said, as we prepared to hoist the mainsail:

     Ne  raz uzhe  sluchalos',  chto  Mod vyskazyvala  vsluh moi  mysli  ili  ya
ugadyval, o chem dumaet ona; na etot  raz, kogda my gotovilis'  podnyat' grot,
ona skazala:


     "To think, Humphrey, you did it all with your own hands?"

     -- Podumat' tol'ko, Hemfri, chto vse eto sdelali vy, svoimi rukami!


     "But there were  two  other hands," I  answered. "Two small hands,  and
don't say that was a phrase, also, of your father."

     --  Zdes', mne kazhetsya, potrudilas' eshche  para ruk, -- otvetil ya. -- Dve
kroshechnye ruchki. Tol'ko  ne govorite, pozhalujsta, chto  eto vyrazhenie  vashego
otca!


     She laughed and shook her head, and held her hands up for inspection.

     Ona rassmeyalas', pokachala golovoj i prinyalas' razglyadyvat' svoi ruki.


     "I can never  get  them  clean again,"  she  wailed,  "nor  soften  the
weather-beat."

     -- Mne ni za chto ne otmyt' ih teper', -- zhalobno  progovorila ona. -- I
kozha tak obvetrilas' i zagrubela -- uzhe, dolzhno -- byt', naveki.


     "Then dirt and  weather-beat shall be your  guerdon of honour," I said,
holding them in mine; and, spite of my resolutions, I would have  kissed the
two dear hands had she not swiftly withdrawn them.

     -- V  takom sluchae eta obvetrennaya  kozha i  v®evshayasya vo vse pory gryaz'
vsegda budut delat' vam chest', -- skazal  ya, vzyav ee ruki v svoi.  YA, verno,
ne uderzhalsya by i, nesmotrya na vse moi torzhestvennye resheniya, rasceloval eti
dorogie ruki, esli by ona pospeshno ne otnyala ih.


     Our comradeship was becoming tremulous, I had mastered my love long and
well, but now it was mastering me. Wilfully had it disobeyed and won my eyes
to speech, and now it was winning my tongue - ay, and my lips, for they were
mad this  moment to kiss the  two small hands which had toiled so faithfully
and  hard. And I,  too,  was  mad. There  was a cry in my being  like bugles
calling me to her. And there was a wind blowing  upon  me  which I could not
resist,  swaying  the  very  body of  me  till  I  leaned  toward  her,  all
unconscious that I leaned. And she knew it. She could not but know it as she
swiftly drew away her hands, and yet,  could not forbear one quick searching
look before she turned away her eyes.

     Nashi tovarishcheskie otnosheniya  teper' vse  chashche nahodilis' pod ugrozoj. YA
dolgo  i uspeshno smiryal svoyu lyubov', no  ona nachinala  brat' nado mnoj verh.
Ona  slomila moyu volyu  i svoenravno podchinila sebe  moi glaza i  otchasti moj
yazyk i dazhe guby, ibo v etu samuyu minutu mne neuderzhimo hotelos' rascelovat'
eti malen'kie ruchki, kotorye trudilis' vmeste so mnoj tak predanno i uporno.
YA teryal golovu. Vse  moe sushchestvo rvalos' k Mod, i vse vo mne gromko krichalo
o moej lyubvi. Lyubov' naletela, podobno uraganu,  i ya uzhe ne  v  silah byl ej
protivit'sya.  I Mod videla  eto. Ona  ne mogla  ne videt' etogo, potomu  tak
pospeshno i vydernula ona svoi ruki iz moih. I vse zhe  chto-to zastavilo ee --
prezhde chem ona otvela glaza -- brosit' na menya bystryj, pytlivyj vzglyad...


     By  means of deck-tackles I had arranged  to carry the halyards forward
to the windlass; and now  I hoisted the  mainsail, peak and throat,  at  the
same  time. It  was  a clumsy way, but it did  not  take  long, and soon the
foresail as well was up and fluttering.

     Pri pomoshchi hvat-talej ya vzyal gardel' i dirik-fal na  brashpil'  i teper'
mog  odnovremenno  podnyat'  perednij  i zadnij ugly  grota. Parus polz vverh
dovol'no  neuklyuzhe,  no  bystro, a vskore i fok raspravilsya i zatrepetal  na
vetru.


     "We can never get that anchor up in this narrow place, once it has left
the bottom," I said. "We should be on the rocks first."

     -- V takoj malen'koj buhtochke my  ni za chto ne uspeem podnyat' yakor', --
skazal ya. -- Prezhde chem nam eto udastsya, shhunu razob'et o skaly.


     "What can you do?" she asked.

     -- CHto zhe delat'? -- sprosila Mod.


     "Slip it," was my answer. "And when I do,  you must do your  first work
on the windlass. I shall have to run  at once to the wheel, and at  the same
time you must be hoisting the jib."

     -- Vytravit' cep' sovsem,  -- otvechal  ya. -- Poka ya  budu travit',  vam
pridetsya  stat' k brashpilyu. A kak tol'ko  ya  pokonchu s  yakorem, tak pobegu k
shturvalu, a vy podnimete kliver.


     This manoeuvre of  getting  under way I  had studied  and worked out  a
score  of times; and, with the  jib-halyard to the windlass, I knew Maud was
capable  of hoisting that most necessary sail. A brisk wind was blowing into
the cove, and though the water was calm,  rapid work was required to  get us
safely out.

     Desyatki  raz ya  izuchal  i  podrobno  razrabatyval etot  manevr snyatiya s
yakorya. YA znal,  chto pri pomoshchi brashpilya Mod sumeet  podnyat'  kliver -- samyj
neobhodimyj sejchas parus. Svezhij veter zaduval v buhtu, i, hotya volnenie eshche
ne  podnyalos', nuzhno bylo  dejstvovat'  bystro,  chtoby  blagopoluchno vyvesti
shhunu v more.


     When I knocked the shackle-bolt loose, the chain roared out through the
hawse-hole and  into  the sea. I raced aft, putting  the wheel up. The Ghost
seemed  to start into life as she heeled to the first fill of her sails. The
jib was rising. As it filled, the Ghost's bow swung off and I had to put the
wheel down a few spokes and steady her.

     YA vybil  bolt iz skoby,  i yakornaya cep' zagrohotala v  klyuze,  padaya  v
vodu.  YA brosilsya na yut  i  polozhil  rul'  pod  veter.  Parusa  zatrepetali,
napolnilis' vetrom, shhuna nakrenilas' i ozhila. Kliver popolz  vverh. Kogda i
on zabral veter, nos  "Prizraka" stalo snosit',  i mne prishlos' eshche polozhit'
rulya, chtoby uderzhat'sya na kurse.


     I  had devised an  automatic  jib-sheet  which passed the jib across of
itself, so  there was no need for  Maud to attend to that; but she was still
hoisting the jib when I put the wheel hard down. It was a moment of anxiety,
for the Ghost was rushing directly upon  the beach, a stone's throw distant.
But  she  swung  obediently  on  her heel into the wind.  There  was a great
fluttering and flapping  of canvas and reef-points, most welcome to my ears,
then she filled away on the other tack.

     YA pridumal  osobyj avtomaticheskij  kliver-shkot,  kotoryj sam  perenosil
kliver, kogda eto trebovalos', tak chto Mod  ne nado bylo zabotit'sya ob etom.
No ya uzhe polozhil  rul'  kruto na  veter, prezhde chem Mod zakonchila  podnimat'
kliver.  Moment  byl  napryazhennyj:  shhunu  neslo  pryamo  k  beregu,  kotoryj
nahodilsya  ot  nas  na rasstoyanii  broska kamnya.  No,  sil'no  nakrenivshis',
"Prizrak" povernul  i poslushno privelsya k vetru YA uslyshal stol' priyatnoe dlya
moego sluha gromkoe  hlopan'e i  trepetan'e  parusov i  rif-shtertov, i shhuna
zabrala veter uzhe na drugom galse.


     Maud had finished her task  and come aft, where she stood beside me,  a
small cap perched on her wind-blown hair, her cheeks flushed  from exertion,
her eyes wide and bright with the excitement,  her nostrils quivering to the
rush  and bite  of the fresh salt air. Her  brown  eyes were like a startled
deer's. There was a wild, keen look in them I had never seen before, and her
lips parted and her breath suspended as the Ghost, charging upon the wall of
rock at the entrance to the inner  cove, swept into the wind and filled away
into safe water.

     Mod zakonchila svoe delo i, podnyavshis' na yut, stala ryadom so  mnoj. SHCHeki
ee  razrumyanilis'  ot  raboty,  veter   razveval  svetlo-kashtanovye  volosy,
vybivshiesya izpod zyujdvestki, shiroko raskrytye  glaza goreli  ot volneniya,  a
nozdri  vzdragivali, zhadno vbiraya rvavshijsya  nam navstrechu  solenyj  morskoj
veter.  Ee  karie  glaza byli  kak  u  ispugannoj lani.  Zataiv dyhanie, ona
vstrevozheno  i zorko  smotrela vpered. Guby ee priotkrylis'. "Prizrak" nessya
pryamo  na otvesnuyu skalu u vyhoda iz vnutrennej buhty, no v poslednyuyu minutu
privelsya k vetru i vyshel na bezopasnoe mesto.


     My  first  mate's berth on  the sealing grounds stood me in good stead,
and I cleared the inner  cove and  laid a long tack  along the shore  of the
outer cove. Once again about,  and the Ghost headed out to open sea. She had
now caught the bosom-breathing  of the ocean, and  was herself a-breath with
the rhythm of it as she smoothly mounted and slipped  down each broad-backed
wave.  The day had been dull and overcast, but the sun now burst through the
clouds,  a welcome omen, and shone upon the curving beach where together  we
had dared the lords  of the harem and slain the holluschickie. All Endeavour
Island brightened under  the sun.  Even  the  grim  south-western promontory
showed less grim, and here and  there, where  the sea-spray wet its surface,
high lights flashed and dazzled in the sun.

     Moya rabota starshim pomoshchnikom vo vremya promyslovogo plavaniya  poshla mne
vprok. YA blagopoluchno obognul mys pervoj buhty i napravil shhunu vdol' berega
vtoroj. Eshche odin povorot na  drugoj gals, i "Prizrak" vzyal  kurs v  otkrytoe
more. Moshchnoe dyhanie okeana oveyalo shhunu, i ona plavno zakachalas' na vysokoj
volne. S utra  pogoda byla  pasmurnaya i  oblachnaya, no  tut solnce proglyanulo
skvoz'  tuchi, kak  by  v predznamenovanie  nashego  schastlivogo  plavaniya,  i
osvetilo  izognutyj dugoyu bereg, gde  my voevali s vladykami garemov  i bili
"holostyakov". Ves' Ostrov Usilij  yarko zasiyal v luchah  solnca.  Dazhe mrachnyj
yugozapadnyj  mys  uzhe  ne  kazalsya  takim  mrachnym;  na  vlazhnyh  ot  priboya
pribrezhnyh skalah igrali solnechnye bliki.


     "I shall always think of it with pride," I said to Maud.

     -- YA vsegda budu ispytyvat' gordost', vspominaya o nem, -- skazal ya Mod.


     She  threw  her  head  back in a  queenly  way  but  said,  "Dear, dear
Endeavour Island! I shall always love it."

     Ona otkinula nazad golovu, -- chto-to carstvennoe bylo v etom dvizhenii.
     -- Milyj, milyj Ostrov Usilij, -- skazala ona. -- YA vsegda  budu lyubit'
ego!


     "And I," I said quickly.

     -- I ya tozhe, -- bystro progovoril ya.


     It seemed  our eyes must meet in a great understanding, and yet, loath,
they struggled away and did not meet.

     My  chitali  v  dushe drug u druga,  kak  v raskrytoj knige. Eshche mig -- i
vzglyady nashi dolzhny byli vstretit'sya, no, sdelav nad soboj usilie, my otveli
glaza.


     There was a silence  I might almost  call  awkward,  till I  broke  it,
saying:

     Nastupilo nelovkoe molchanie; ya pervym prerval ego:


     "See  those  black  clouds to windward. You remember,  I told you  last
night the barometer was falling."

     -- Poglyadite, kakie tuchi sobirayutsya na gorizonte s navetrennoj storony.
Pomnite, eshche vchera vecherom ya govoril vam, chto barometr padaet.


     "And the sun is gone," she said, her eyes still fixed upon  our island,
where  we had proved  our  mastery  over  matter and attained to the  truest
comradeship that may fall to man and woman.

     -- I solnce skrylos'... -- skazala ona. Glaza ee byli ustremleny na nash
ostrov,  gde  my  dokazali  sud'be,  chto  umeem  postoyat'  za  sebya,  i  gde
prekrasnejshie uzy druzhby i tovarishchestva nakrepko svyazali nas drug s drugom.


     "And it's slack off  the  sheets for Japan I  cried gaily. "A fair wind
and a flowing sheet, you know, or however it goes."

     -- Nu chto zh, potravim shkoty, i kurs na YAponiyu! -- veselo kriknul ya.  --
Kak eto: "Poputnyj veter, potravlennyj shkot!.."


     Lashing the wheel I ran forward, eased the fore and mainsheets, took in
on  the boom-tackles and trimmed everything for  the quartering breeze which
was ours. It was a fresh breeze, very fresh, but I  resolved to run as  long
as I dared. Unfortunately,  when running free, it is  impossible to lash the
wheel,  so  I faced an  all-night watch. Maud insisted on  relieving me, but
proved that she had not the  strength to  steer in a  heavy sea, even if she
could  have  gained the  wisdom  on  such short  notice. She  appeared quite
heart-broken over the discovery,  but recovered her spirits  by coiling down
tackles and halyards and all stray ropes. Then there were meals to be cooked
in the  galley,  beds  to  make, Wolf Larsen to be attended  upon,  and  she
finished the  day with a grand  house-  cleaning attack upon  the  cabin and
steerage.

     Zakrepiv  shturval,  ya  sprygnul  s  yuta,  dal  slabinu  na  foka  --  i
grota-shkoty, vybral tali gikov i postavil parusa tak,  chtoby  prinyat' dobryj
poputnyj veter. Veter  byl svezhij, dazhe slishkom svezhij, no ya reshil idti  pod
vsemi parusami, poka  eto ne stanet opasno. K sozhaleniyu,  pri poputnom vetre
nel'zya zakrepit' shturval, i poetomu mne predstoyala bessmennaya vahta do utra.
Mod  trebovala, chtoby ya pozvolil ej smenit' menya,  no vskore sama ubedilas',
chto ej  budet ne pod silu derzhat'  kurs pri takoj vysokoj volne, dazhe esli b
ona i sumela v stol' korotkij srok ovladet' etoj premudrost'yu.  Otkrytie eto
chrezvychajno ogorchilo ee, no  vskore ona  uteshilas', svertyvaya v buhty  tali,
faly i podbiraya koncy, valyavshiesya na palube. Da k tomu zhe ej ved' nuzhno bylo
eshche  gotovit'  edu,  stelit'  posteli, uhazhivat'  za  Volkom Larsenom.  Svoj
trudovoj den' ona zakonchila general'noj uborkoj kayut-kompanii i kubrika.


     All  night  I  steered,  without relief, the  wind  slowly and steadily
increasing and the sea rising. At five  in the morning Maud  brought  me hot
coffee and biscuits she had baked, and at seven a substantial and piping hot
breakfast put new lift into me.

     Vsyu noch'  ya bessmenno prostoyal u  shturvala.  Veter ponemnogu krepchal, i
volnenie usilivalos'. V pyat' utra Mod prinesla mne  goryachego kofe i lepeshku,
kotoruyu  ispekla  sama,  a v sem' chasov  plotnyj goryachij zavtrak pridal  mne
novye sily.


     Throughout  the  day,  and  as slowly and steadily  as ever,  the  wind
increased. It impressed one with its sullen determination to blow,  and blow
harder, and keep on blowing. And  still the  Ghost  foamed along, racing off
the miles till I was certain  she was making at  least  eleven knots. It was
too good  to  lose, but by nightfall  I  was  exhausted. Though  in splendid
physical  trim, a thirty-six-hour trick  at the  wheel  was the limit of  my
endurance. Besides, Maud begged me to heave to,  and I knew, if the wind and
sea  increased at the same  rate  during  the night,  that  it would soon be
impossible to heave  to. So, as twilight deepened, gladly  and at  the  same
time reluctantly, I brought the Ghost up on the wind.

     Celyj  den'  veter  krepchal  i  krepchal. Kazalos',  on byl  preispolnen
upryamoj  reshimosti dut' i  dut'  bezostanovochno  i  vse sil'nee  i  sil'nee.
"Prizrak"  mchalsya  vpered, penya  volny i glotaya mili, i  ya byl  uveren,  chto
teper' my delaem ne men'she odinnadcati uzlov. Mne do smerti zhal' bylo teryat'
takoj  hod,  no k  vecheru ya iznemog.  Hot'  ya i ochen' zakalilsya i okrep,  no
tridcatichasovaya  vahta  za  rulem  byla   predelom  moej  vynoslivosti.  Mod
ugovarivala menya polozhit' shhunu v drejf, da ya i sam ponimal, chto, esli veter
i volnenie  za  noch' eshche  usilyatsya,  mne budet uzhe  ne pod silu sdelat' eto.
Poetomu, kogda na more  pali  sumerki, ya s  chuvstvom  dosady i  vmeste s tem
oblegcheniya nachal privodit' "Prizrak" k vetru.


     But  I had not reckoned  upon the colossal  task the  reefing  of three
sails  meant  for  one  man. While  running  away  from the  wind I had  not
appreciated its force, but when we ceased to run I learned to my sorrow, and
well-nigh to my despair, how fiercely it was really blowing. The wind balked
my  every effort,  ripping  the canvas out  of  my  hands  and in an instant
undoing  what  I had gained by  ten minutes of severest struggle.  At  eight
o'clock I had succeeded only  in putting  the second reef into the foresail.
At  eleven o'clock I was no farther along. Blood  dripped from every finger-
end, while  the  nails  were  broken  to  the  quick.  From pain  and  sheer
exhaustion I wept in the darkness, secretly, so that Maud should not know.

     Odnako  ya nikak ne predpolagal,  chto vzyat' rify  u  treh parusov  stol'
neimoverno  trudnoe delo dlya  odnogo cheloveka. Poka shhuna shla bakshtag,  ya ne
mog  oshchutit'  vsej sily vetra  i, tol'ko nachav  privodit'sya,  pochuvstvoval s
ispugom,  esli  ne  skazat'  s  otchayaniem,  vsyu  ego  svirepuyu  moshch'.  Veter
paralizoval kazhdoe moe usilie, rval parus  u menya iz ruk i  mgnovenno svodil
na net vse, chego mne udavalos' dostignut' cenoyu upornoj, ozhestochennoj bor'by
s  nim. K vos'mi chasam ya uspel vzyat' lish' vtoroj  rif u foka.  K odinnadcati
chasam delo ne podvinulos' ni na jotu. YA tol'ko v krov' obodral sebe pal'cy i
oblomal nogti do samogo  myasa. Ot boli i iznemozheniya  ya  tihon'ko  plakal  v
temnote, pryachas' ot Mod.


     Then, in desperation, I abandoned the  attempt to reef the mainsail and
resolved  to  try  the experiment  of heaving  to  under the  close-  reefed
foresail. Three hours more were required to gasket the mainsail and jib, and
at two in the morning,  nearly dead, the life almost buffeted and worked out
of me, I  had barely sufficient consciousness to  know  the experiment was a
success. The close- reefed foresail worked. The Ghost  clung on close to the
wind and betrayed no inclination to fall off broadside to the trough.

     Sovsem pridya  v otchayanie, ya otkazalsya ot  popytok vzyat' rify  u grota i
reshil poprobovat' lech' v drejf pod odnim zariflennym  fokom. Tri chasa ushlo u
menya na to, chtoby zakrepit'  spushchennyj grot i kliver, a v dva chasa nochi, ele
zhivoj,  edva ne teryaya soznaniya ot ustalosti, ya ponyal, chto popytka udalas', i
s  trudom poveril  svoim  glazam. Zariflennyj fok  delal svoe  delo, i shhuna
derzhalas' kruto k vetru, ne proyavlyaya stremleniya povernut' bortom k volne.


     I was famished, but Maud tried vainly to get me to eat. I dozed with my
mouth full  of food. I would fall  asleep in the act of carrying food to  my
mouth and  waken in  torment to find the act  yet uncompleted.  So  sleepily
helpless was I that she was compelled to hold me  in my  chair to prevent my
being flung to the floor by the violent pitching of the schooner.

     YA  byl  strashno  goloden,  no  Mod  tshchetno  staralas'   zastavit'  menya
chto-nibud'  s®est':  ya zasypal s kuskom vo rtu, a ne  to tak  dazhe  ne uspev
donesti  ego  do rta. Potom  vdrug vzdragival,  i  prosypalsya v  smyatenii, i
videl, chto  ruka  moya s vilkoj eshche visit  v vozduhe. YA byl tak  bespomoshchen i
slab, chto Mod prihodilos'  podderzhivat' menya, chtoby ya  ne svalilsya  so stula
pri pervom zhe krene sudna.


     Of the passage from the galley to the  cabin  I knew nothing.  It was a
sleep-walker Maud guided and supported. In fact, I was aware of nothing till
I  awoke, how long after I could not imagine, in my bunk  with my boots off.
It  was  dark.  I  was  stiff and lame,  and  cried out with  pain  when the
bed-clothes touched my poor finger- ends.

     Ne pomnyu, kak dobralsya ya iz kambuza do svoej kayuty. Verno,  ya byl pohozh
na  lunatika,  kogda  Mod  vela  menya tuda. Ochnulsya ya  uzhe na  svoej kojke i
zametil,  chto  bashmaki s  menya snyaty. Skol'ko proshlo vremeni,  ya ne  znal. V
kayute bylo temno. Vse telo  u menya lomilo, i  ya s trudom mog poshevelit'sya, a
prikosnovenie odeyala k moim izranennym pal'cam prichinyalo nesterpimuyu bol'.


     Morning had evidently not come, so I closed my eyes and went  to  sleep
again. I did not know it, but I had slept the  clock around and it was night
again.

     YA  reshil,  chto utro  eshche ne nastalo, i, zakryv  glaza, mgnovenno  snova
pogruzilsya  v  son.  YA  ne znal, chto  prospal  pochti sutki i chto  uzhe  opyat'
nastupil vecher.


     Once more I woke, troubled because I could sleep no b