He at once envied and pitied
this young existence, derided it and was moved to compassion at the
thought that it might again fall into hands like his own. All these
feelings were finally mingled in one--paternal and authoritative. He
took Gavrilo by the arm, led and gently pushed him from the public
house and deposited him in the shade of a pile of cut wood; he sat down
beside him and lighted his pipe. Gavrilo stirred a little, muttered
something and went to sleep.
* * * * *
"Well, is it ready?" asked Tchelkache in a low voice to Gavrilo who was
looking after the oars.
"In a moment! one of the thole-pins is loose; may I pound it down with
an oar?"
"No, no! No noise! Push it down with your hands, it will be firm."
They noiselessly cut loose the boat fastened to the bow of a sailing
vessel. There was here a whole fleet of sailing vessels, loaded with
oak bark, and Turkish feluccas still half full of palma, sandal-wood
and great cypress logs.
The night was dark; the sky was overspread with shreds of heavy clouds,
and the sea was calm, black and thick as oil. It exhaled a humid and
salt aroma, and softly murmured as it beat against the sides of the
vessels and the shore and gently rocked Tchelkache's boat.
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