Boris the Bear-Hunter

  CHAPTER XXVI.HOW BORIS OUTWITTED THE SWEDISH ADMIRAL.

  His reverse at Narva aroused the Tsar to tremendous exertions. He metthe remains of his beaten troops at Novgorod, where he ordered everyportion of the scattered army to assemble and report itself. The townof Novgorod first, and afterwards those of Pskof and Petcherski--thesite of the famous monastery--were strongly fortified and garrisoned,as the frontier to be defended against a possible advance of theenemy. For the work of fortification every man, woman, and child inthe several districts was employed; the services in the churches weresuspended in order that the priests might be free to assist in thebusiness of national defence; houses and even churches were pulled downif they in any degree impeded the work; the bells of cathedrals andmonasteries all over the country were melted down to supply metal forthe forging of cannon; and through it all Peter himself worked like acommon labourer in the trenches, except that he did as much work as anythree other men. His disposition towards those generals who had beenbeaten at Narva was kind, and he did not this time allow his passion toget the mastery of his judgment; so that all men worked in harmony forthe defence of the fatherland.

  Gradually the troops dribbled into Novgorod, arriving sometimes inbodies of several hundreds, and occasionally in small companies of tenor a dozen men.

  One fine afternoon a small company reached the town, bringing withthem a Swedish prisoner, whom they led straight to the Tsar as hestood working in the trenches, exceedingly proud of their achievementin having secured and retained the fellow, for he was a big man, muchbigger than any of themselves, and a good deal too big for his clothes.The men marched up to the trench where the Tsar was busy with hisspade, and stood at attention. Peter looked up after a while. "Well,"he said, "what is it?"

  "A Swedish prisoner, your Majesty," said the men.

  Peter was all attention immediately, for this was the first prisonerbrought in, and he might prove an exceedingly valuable source ofinformation as to Charles's intended movements. The Tsar fumbled inhis pocket for loose cash, intending to bestow a gratuity on those whohad effected the capture. But as he did so his eye fell upon the faceof the prisoner. Peter stared at the fellow. Suddenly his countenancechanged, and he burst into one of his loudest laughs.

  "Bear-eater," he said, "I shall never believe you dead again, untilI bury you with my own hands.--Get out there, you idiots, and reportyourselves to your colonel; your prisoner is about as much a Swede as Iam.--Here, Boris, my wonderful Bear-eater, come into this ditch, if youaren't a ghost, and tell me all about it. Don't think I am not mightyglad to see you; but there's no time for chatting idly. Get a spade andcome in; we can talk as we dig."

  So Boris was obliged to do half a day's work in the trenches while hetold the Tsar his story, part of which we know.

  "At last," Boris continued, having described his adventures in thewater, and how he had travelled half the night in pursuit of theretiring Russian troops--"at last I overtook those heroes there, who,seeing that I was in a Swedish uniform, were at first for catching upall they were possessed of and continuing their headlong flight; butfinding that I was but one belated man, and without a musket besides,they gallantly surrounded me and discussed my throat as a suitablewhetstone for their swords. I informed them in my purest Russianthat I was of their own way of thinking--not as to my throat, butpolitically; but they were not to be taken in, and declared that I wasa Swedish spy, and as such ought to be shot. I pointed out that, evenif this were so, it would be far better to make me a prisoner and takeme straight to the Tsar, who would give them a handsome gratuity fortheir service. What would they gain by shooting me down? There would beno nachaiok [tea-money], and no glory either; for none would believethem, and they could not well take along my body for evidence, withthe Swedish troops in full pursuit behind them; it would hamper theirmovements and prevent their escape! This last consideration decidedthem, and they took me prisoner, and bound me hand and foot. One ofthem had secured a horse, and as I found it awkward to walk all tiedup like a bit of boiled beef, they put me on the horse and gave me apleasant lift to Novgorod; and here I am."

  "Well done, my Bear-eater," said the Tsar, delighted with the tale."I thought we could trust you to take good care of yourself, and,believing this, I did not send word to Nancy of your death--which isjust as well. And now I have plenty of work for you!"

  There was indeed work, not only for Boris but for all those who hadthe safety of the country at heart. Besides the fortifying of thefrontier towns, there was much recruiting to be done. The Tsar wouldhave nine new regiments of dragoons formed at once; this being one ofthe results of his object lesson at Narva, where the cavalry of Charleshad swept Peter's timid footmen before them like autumn leaves beforethe storm-wind. Then the infantry regiments must be patched up with newmen to fill the gaps. And the drilling of all these soldiers, new andold, must be taken in hand by men like Boris qualified to undertakeit. All this necessary work was set agoing without a moment's delay bythe never-weary Tsar; and so well did it proceed that, within a fewmonths after the rout at Narva, Peter found himself in possession of afar better army than that which he had left beneath the walls of theSwedish fortress to be cut to pieces by the enemy as soon as he hadturned his back.

  Boris was as busy as man could be over his various occupations, butfound time to write continually to Moscow, where his letters comfortedand entertained his wife amazingly, whose faith in the star of Boriswas so great, that even his narrative of the adventures at and afterNarva alarmed her less than they amused her. She felt, as the Tsar haddeclared that he also felt, that under any conceivable circumstancesher husband was well able to take care of himself.

  But with the spring came a change for the hunter. News arrivedthat the Swedish fleet meditated a descent upon Archangel as soonas the disappearance of the ice should have rendered navigationpossible. Boris, to his delight, was sent up north to superintend thefortification of the old town which had been the home of his boyhoodand early youth. The hunter received his new commission with joy, andstarted at once, passing through those forests and villages whichwere memorable by reason of his adventures with the Tsar nearly tenyears ago. Though there was no time to waste, Boris managed to enjoy aday or two in the woods, after his old friends the bears and wolves,and reached Archangel early in April, when he commenced the work offortifying the place without further delay.

  And now the hunter was to experience one of the most exciting of allthe adventures of his chequered career. Scarcely was the ice away,and the mouth of the Dwina open to navigation, than one fine day inMay there appeared a fleet of, seemingly, English and Dutch merchantvessels, which sailed in from sea and anchored off the island ofModiug. Suspecting nothing, a boat containing fifteen soldiers, actingas custom-house officials, made the usual visit to the foreign shipsto collect the harbour dues, receive the reports of cargo, and gothrough the ordinary commercial formalities in connection with theport. These men did not return at once; and when night fell and theywere still absent, the authorities were obliged to conclude that theDutch or British skippers had proved too hospitable, and that theofficials were still occupied in drinking the health of the firstarrivals of the year. But in the middle of the night Boris, in hiscapacity of commissioner of the Tsar, was awakened from his sleep by ahalf-drowned, dripping person, who stated that he was one of those whohad been sent on board the supposed English and Dutch merchantmen. Hehad swum ashore at Modiug, he said, having escaped from the cabin inwhich the company had been confined. But the rest were still on board,and likely to remain so; for the ships were not merchantmen but vesselsof war, and their crews were not good Englishmen and Dutchmen butblackguardly Swedes, sailing under false colours in order to steal amarch upon the forts and capture the city unawares as soon as the firstglimmering of light should render such an enterprise possible. The manhad climbed out, by the help of his companions, through the skylight,choosing his time when the sentry had his back turned, had crept tothe side, let himself down by means of a rope, and swum to th
e island.There he found a boat, and got himself rowed quickly to the town; andhere he was! The man added that he had overheard it said that threeof the vessels would signal for a pilot in the morning, and sail intoport; the remainder of the fleet were to wait where they were, in caseof accidents, and would come on if required.

  Boris made glad the heart of this dripping hero by rewarding himhandsomely in money, and promising to mention his conduct to the Tsarat the first opportunity. Then the hunter sat down to think mattersout, and the result of his cogitations was, first, a visit to thecommandant of the fort, to whom he gave his instructions. After thisBoris got himself ready for the further development of his plans,and took up his position in the pilot-house, whence a good view ofthe foreigners would be obtained as soon as it became light enough tosee. Boris had concocted a delightful plot, and hugged himself withjoy to think how the Tsar would roar with laughter when he told him ofit, after its successful outcome. It did not occur to Boris that heran about as good a chance of having his own throat cut as ever mandeliberately set himself to run; but then Boris was a great believer inhis own star, and would have laughed at the very idea of danger in hisscheme.

  When morning came, Boris soon observed the usual signal flying from thedeceitful flag-ship's mainmast indicating that a pilot was required.Then he arrayed himself in an over-garment, which caused him to look asmuch like a pilot as any other man, stepped into the pilot-boat, andhad himself conveyed on board the Swedish admiral's ship, to the greatastonishment of the real pilot, who could not imagine why the Tsar'scommissioner usurped his duties when he had plenty of his own to lookafter.

  When Boris stepped aboard the frigate, the Swedish admiral did notpretend to be other than he really was, but roughly bade the "pilot"take the vessel into Archangel harbour. The pilot, simulating greatfear and distress of mind, did as he was told--the frigate, followed byits two companions, sailing gallantly forward on a light wind directfor port.

  But that deceitful pilot did not intend that those Swedish ships shouldever reach the harbour save under the Russian flag, and before a mileof water had been covered they were all three suddenly brought up byrunning straight upon a sandbank which jutted out from the island ofModiug. When the admiral and the rest of the Swedish gentlemen whohappened to be on deck at the moment of the catastrophe had pickedthemselves up from the undignified attitudes into which they had beenthrown by the shock, they learned two extremely unpleasant things.One was that their pilot had left them the legacy of his topcoat, andhad taken a neat header into the water, whence he was now addressingcertain remarks to them in the English language, remarks of avaledictory nature, coupled with flattering expressions of the hopethat he would soon have the pleasure of meeting them again on shore;and the other that the forts were in the act of opening fire upon themas they lay helpless and immovable upon the sandbank.

  Within half a minute of the first discovery a dozen furious Swedes hadsnatched their muskets, and a dozen Swedish bullets whistled throughthe air and sent up little fountains of spray as they struck the watersomewhere near the spot where the head of that pilot had last appeared.But the head was no longer there. When it appeared again it did so in adirection where it was not expected; and though the bullets sought itonce more, they did not find it. The furious Swedes even went so far asto train a gun upon the vanishing black spot, and banged away merrilyat it with musket and cannon as long as it was in sight, but never wentwithin several yards of the mark; for Boris dived so deftly and dodgedso cunningly that he invariably had plenty of time to fill his lungsbefore he was seen and shot at.

  Meanwhile the fort blazed away at the stranded ships, with such successthat these soon hauled down their colours; after which a party ofRussians from the fort put off in boats to take possession, picking upthe swimming pilot on their way. Once on board, the Russians turned theships' guns upon the four remaining Swedish vessels and quickly drovethem from their moorings.

  Boris was not mistaken as to the Tsar's delight upon hearing of hisexploit. Peter wrote him an affectionate and appreciative letter, inwhich he congratulated him on his out-foxing the old Swedish reynard,presented him with a gratuity of two thousand roubles, and gave him acommission in the navy. Peter himself was at this time a boatswain inthe same service, having risen, some say, from the humble position ofcabin-boy, in which capacity he had insisted upon entering the navyin order that he might experience the duties of every grade of bothbranches of the service.