Sitka (8 page)

Yet for that moment...

The Herndon party was an hour old when Jean entered the crowded rooms. Hutchins was there, a tall, handsome man of soldierly bearing with a shock of pure white hair and a dignity few could match. Royle Weber was there, too, a small, fat man, very busy and very talkative, always gesturing and smiling. Weber was an agent for the Russian American Company, buying and selling for them locally.
 
Perhaps, Jean suspected, a spy for them also. That might explain the disappearing ships.

As he was passing Sam Brannan, the latter stopped him. “We’ve been wanting to talk to you, LaBarge. We may need your help.”

“Thanks, no. I appreciate the problem, but I’ll skin my own cats.” “There is power in organization, LaBarge,” Brannan said seriously. “Alone, a man is helpless.”

“They’ve not bothered us so far.”

Brannan nodded. “You’ve been fortunate. The hoodlums from Sydney Town are growing bolder every day.”

From the beginning Sam Brannan had been one of the most intelligent and far-seeing citizens of the town, and one of the few willing to stand up to the Sydney Town thugs. He had been one of the original leaders of the first Vigilante organization, and it had been successful largely because of the men Brannan had selected, and because it had been no incoherent and hastily assembled mob. The men he had chosen were solid citizens as well as men of courage and integrity.

When LaBarge had passed them, Brannan turned to his companions and said, “If there’s trouble again, I want him with us.”

Charley Duane lifted his eyebrows. “Why? I’ve not seen any of his graveyards.”

Brannan knew enough about Duane not to like him. “No? Next time try Nevada.”

Royle Weber was emphatic with his nod of agreement “I know the story, Charley.
 
It was an attempted claim jumping, and two men lost out in a gun battle with LaBarge, but LaBarge didn’t stop there. He went to town to see the man who sent them.”

“And ... ?”

“He sent him out of town—walking. He had only what he stood up in, and a broken arm.”

Duane was thoughtful. His friends from Sydney Town had been wary of LaBarge, and this might be the reason.

“I hear he’s growing wheat,” Herndon commented.

“He bought property from you, didn’t he, Sam?” Weber asked.

“I handled the sale. Yes, he’s growing wheat, which more of us should be doing.
 
He’ll sell his crop this year for much more than many a miner will get from a claim. If you’re doing business with them it isn’t a good idea to underrate anything either Hutchins or LaBarge are doing.” Weber turned a cigar in his fingers, then bit off the end, his manner thoughtful. “What,” he asked then, “is all this interest in Alaska? I hear he’s forever asking questions about it.”

“You’ll have to ask him,” Brannan replied shortly.

Jean LaBarge moved from group to group, pausing only briefly here and there.
 
More than one pair of feminine eyes lingered on his broad shoulders and his dark, lean face with its high cheekbones and scar. His manner and dress was that of a gentleman, but his face was that of a pirate. He was carefully dressed: well-tailored suit, ruffled shirt and a black tie; but no matter how carefully he combed his hair it soon resumed its natural tumbled curliness. His boots were of Spanish leather, handmade. Turning away from the group where Hutchins stood, he came to an abrupt stop, audibly catching his breath.
 
Before him, wearing a satin evening gown surely from Paris, was the girl from the wharf ... and as his eyes found her she turned slightly and saw him.
 
For an instant their eyes held, then moved away as if by agreement. Jean felt a queer excitement. His mouth was dry. He turned to answer some comment from Hutchins, and replied to the question without really knowing what he said. The man who stood beside the girl was tall, much older, with iron-gray hair and the thoughtful face of a scholar. There was something about his poise, his dignity that commanded attention. But it was the other man who immediately drew Jean’s attention so that he scarcely noticed Royle Weber, who stood between them.
 
He was an inch taller than Jean’s six feet two inches, as broad of shoulder as Jean himself and somewhat heavier in the body. His hair was blond clipped high on the sides and close-cropped on top. His eyes were gray-white and closely set.
 
He carried himself with a military bearing; his white uniform coat was ablaze with decorations. His trousers were black with a thin white stripe down each leg and he wore black boots. Yet the insignia he wore, despite the uniform, was of the Navy. This could only be Baron Paul Zinnovy.
 
“Mr. LaBarge?” Weber spoke loudly. “May I present Count Alexander Rotcheff? You were asking about wheat, sir. Jean LaBarge is one of the few, these days, who think of planting. If anyone will have wheat to sell, it will be Mr. LaBarge.” The older man bowed slightly. “It is good to know, Mr. LaBarge. It is the reason for our visit. We must have wheat at Sitka.”

“Well, we have the wheat,” Jean answered. At once his mind seized upon the idea.
 
Wheat for Sitka? Free, unquestioned access to the islands? It was just what he had been hoping for, planning for. “I am sure we can reach an agreement.” Rotcheff turned to include the girl and the tall blond officer. “Mr. LaBarge?

May I present my wife? And Baron Zinnovy, of the Imperial Russian Navy.” Some of his dismay must have been evident, for there was something in her eyes that responded to his ... was it regret?

“Baron Zinnovy,” Rotcheff continued, “is in command of the patrol ships at Sitka.”

“To a dealer in wheat that will not be important. If Mr. LaBarge dealt in fur it might be very important indeed.”

Jean smiled, but his eyes held a challenge. “But I am a dealer in furs, Baron Zinnovy! Wheat is just a sideline with me. My real business is in fur. In fact, Captain Hutching and myself are among the largest buyers of fur on the coast.” “No doubt,” Zinnovy said, his voice arrogant, “you have bought many Russian skins. For the future, if I were you, I would put no trust in that source.” “Russian skins?” Jean furrowed his brow with exaggerated perplexity. “You have the advantage of me, Baron. I have taken the skins of fox, marten and mink, but so far I’ve never had to skin a Russian.”

The girl laughed outright and Count Rotcheff smiled. “Let’s hope you never do,” he said agreeably. “There are furs enough for us all without our skinning each other. Don’t you agree, Baron?”

“I think,” Baron Zinnovy replied distinctly, “this merchant is insolent.” Count Rotcheff started to interrupt, obviously uncomfortable and hoping to turn the conversation. Jean spoke quickly.

“You use the term ‘merchant,’” Jean said, “as if you considered it an insult. I think of it only as a compliment, for it was the merchant adventurers of the world who opened the roads and discovered continents and developed the riches of the earth while, if Count Rotcheff will forgive me, the titled lords were mainly concerned with waging petty wars or robbing priests and women.” Zinnovy’s face was pale. Never had he been spoken to in this manner, and although he despised Count Rotcheff for his diplomacy and political views, to be openly insulted before him was insufferable.

“But we are!” Rotcheff interrupted sharply. “We are guests, Baron Zinnovy, and this visit is of great importance to our colony at Sitka. We can have no quarrels here.”

Zinnovy bowed slightly, his eyes coldly furious. “I regret my haste, Count Rotcheff. As for Mr. LaBarge, I hope he makes no further attempt to open his merchant roads to Russian America.”

Jean feigned surprise. “But Baron, you forget! Count Rotcheff has just been discussing a purchase of wheat. If he buys my wheat I’ll have to deliver it.” “It will be a delivery I shall watch with interest.” His cold gray-white eyes met Jean’s. “Who knows but that we shall meet when neither is a guest of the other?”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Jean turned, “Countess ...” “The name,” Rotcheff interposed, “is Princess. My wife is the Princess Helena de Gagarin, niece of His Majesty, the Czar of Russia.” “Oh ... of the Czar?”

“And the niece of the Grand Duke Constantin also—you may have heard of him.” “A lot of us Americans admire the Grand Duke for his liberal views ...
 
naturally, they would be popular here.”

“If you approve of the Grand Duke,” Zinnovy suggested, “then you must approve the policies of Muraviev?”

“If he were an American I might approve. As he is a Russian, I do not.” “You approve his territorial claims against China? As you might approve of your own government if they laid claim to Russian America?” Jean shrugged. “I don’t know anything about statecraft, Baron, but I have heard of no claims made by the United States on Alaska. As to purchase, that is another thing. We might be interested in that question.” Count Rotcheff studied Jean more carefully. This young American was no fool ...
 
or did he speak with information of some sort? There had been talk in St.
 
Petersburg of a bargain with the United States. It was most interesting that it should be mentioned here.

Rotcheff had been listening to the discussion with irritation. The Russian colony at Sitka was dependent on foodstuffs from California and Hawaii for its very existence. Russian ships were received without undue warmth and any dispute might bring an end to trading; the success of his own mission depended on friendship with the business interests of San Francisco. He seized the moment to change the subject. “My wife is very interested in your country, Mr. LaBarge, and I would be honored if you could show her something of the state outside the city.”

Rotcheff led Zinnovy aside, anxious to break up the circle and avoid a discussion that could lead to trouble. The music started and Jean led Helena de Gagarin out on the floor. For a time they danced without speaking, each content with their own thoughts. She danced lightly, gracefully, moving easily to the waltz. And he could only think that being a princess as well as a wife she was doubly lost to him.

The thought brought irritated amusement to his eyes: he had never before thought of a woman in terms of marriage, and now he had chosen someone as remote as a star. Yet he had never seen a woman so beautiful and desirable.
 
She looked up at him. “You’ve not said you were sorry.”

“That you’re married? Of course I’m sorry.”

“I did not mean that. I meant for what happened on the wharf.”

He grinned cheerfully. “Sorry? I’m not a bit sorry. I liked it!”

Late that night, Jean LaBarge climbed the stairs to his rooms and opened the door. He felt gay and more excited than he could remember, and although it was two o’clock in the morning he was not in the least sleepy. All the way home through the poorly lighted streets he had thought of nothing but Helena.
 
Throwing off his coat he sailed his hat to the settee against the wall and as he lighted the lamp he glanced at the map that covered the wall.
 
Not even Captain Hutchins knew of his map. It was on canvas and was six feet wide by nine feet long, and it had been pieced together, bit by bit, fragment by fragment, for six years. It embodied information acquired from ship’s masters, common seamen, hunters, trappers, traders and occasional Indians. Each day or so Jean added another bit of information to the map or checked something already there.

In his business of buying he had occasion to do much listening and to ask many questions, and most of the traders or mariners were eager enough to talk of their successes or discoveries. Yesterday he had added an inlet to the map, two days before it had been a rocky ridge with pine trees at the tip. Beside the map, on a small desk, was an open book. It was one of a number of such books, and each item of information on the map was also entered in the books, along with much more. Descriptions of landmarks, tides, currents, timber, people, customs, weapons and living conditions. Without doubt his knowledge of Russian America was greater than the knowledge of men who had lived there for years.
 
Each of those who lived in Alaska knew their own area and perhaps a little more, but Jean LaBarge’s books contained knowledge gleaned from thousands of men, and it was gathered by himself, who knew how to ask questions, how to make leading remarks, and who could ask those questions from a broad base of already acquired knowledge.

He knew the depth of water and best anchorage in Yakutat Bay, the best place to anchor and trade on Kassan Island. He knew by name the Indian in each village who was the best trapper and therefore most likely to have furs. He knew each chief by name and reputation, and knew his relations with other tribes. He knew of a fine salmon stream that flowed into Hump backed Bay, and of the waterfall about a half mile back from the beach. He knew the channels where tidal currents were most dangerous and where lay hidden rocks likely to rip the bottom from a ship.

Most of all he had made discreet inquiries about landlocked harbors, hidden channels, portages, and places likely to offer concealment from a patrol ship.
 
Not one of the men to whom he talked knew very much, but in the aggregate they could tell him a great deal. No hunting story was too long to listen to, and any drunken trader or trapper found LaBarge a willing audience.
 
The few charts of the Sitka area were woefully inadequate, but he secured copies and studied them. No day passed that he did not review the information he had gathered, for it was not enough that he had it in books; all he had gathered must be in his own head. Only one other man knew of that map, and that man was Robert J. Walker.