bearded Tartar, jabbering away till he foamed at the mouth. The red-bearded Tartar merely frowned and clacked his tongue.
They grew silent and the interpreter said, "The master thinks a ransom of five hundred roubles is not enough. He himself paid two hundred roubles for you. Kasi-Mohammed was in his debt, and he took you in payment. He wants three thousand roubles and refuses to let you go for less. If you won't pay the money you'll be flung into a pit and flogged."
"The more you show you're afraid of them, the worse it is," Jilin thought. He leapt to his feet and said, " Tell the dog that if he begins to threaten me, he shan't have a farthing! I won't write home at all! I was never afraid of you, and I'm not going to be now, you dogs!"
The interpreter conveyed his words, and again the Tartars began to speak all at once.
They jabbered for a long time, then the dark one sprang up and came to Jilin. "Russ," he said, "djigit, djigit" Russ!
