Rouletabille showed the guard the
paper Koupriane had given him in the beginning, and with the officer
(who turned out to be a police officer) as interpreter, he asked his
questions. As a matter of fact the guard had been sufficiently
puzzled by the doings and comings of a light boat which, after
disappearing for an instant, around the bend of the river, had
suddenly rowed swiftly out again and accosted a sailing-yacht which
appeared at the opening of the gulf. It was one of those small but
rapid and elegant sailing craft such as are seen in the Lachtka
regattas.
Lachtka! "The Bay of Lachtka!"
The word was a ray of light for the reporter, who recalled now the
counsel Gounsovski had given him. "Watch the Bay of Lachtka, and
tell me then if you still believe Natacha is innocent!" Gounsovski
must have known when he said this that Natacha had embarked in
company with the Nihilists, but evidently he was ignorant that she
had gone with them under compulsion, as their prisoner.
Was it too late to save Natacha? In any case, before he died, he
would try in every way possible, so as at least to have kept her
as much as he could from the disaster for which he held himself
responsible. He ran to the Barque, near the Point.
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