“A young Russian officer, a relative of the princess Lodoiska, by the name of Suvarrow, is going to Okotsk, at the western extremity of Siberia, where he will enter a Russian ship of war, that is to be there; he will take command of a corp of marines on board, and will return home in her. Krusenstern has offered you a passage home in her; and as Suvarrow is a fine fellow, and, I suspect, is disposed to become your brother-in-law, if Kathinka will consent--nothing could be more pleasant or beneficial to you. You will see a good deal of the world, learn the manners and customs of various people, at whose harbors you will touch, and make agreeable, and, perhaps, useful acquaintances on board the ship. These are advantages not to be lightly rejected; and, therefore, if you so decide and accept the offer, I shall not oppose your choice. Indeed, the only thing that makes me waver in my advice, is my fear that I shall not live, and that Kathinka will be left here without a protector. And even if this happens, she is well qualified to take care of herself, for she has a vigor and energy only surpassed by her discretion. After all, the voyage from Okotsk to St. Petersburgh, in Russia, is but a year’s sail, though it requires a passage almost quite around the globe. At all events, even if you do not go with Suvarrow, you can hardly get home in less than a year--so that the time of your absence will not constitute a material objection. Therefore, go, if you prefer it. “I have now said all that is necessary, and I must stop here--for my hand is feeble. Take with you, my dear boy, a father’s blessing--and wherever you are, whether upon the mountain wave, or amid the snows of a Siberian winter, place your trust in Heaven. Farewell. PULTOVA.” This affecting letter touched Alexis to the quick; the tears ran down his cheeks, and such was his anxiety and gloom, on account of his father’s feelings, that he waited several minutes, before he could secure courage to open the epistle from Kathinka. At last he broke the seal, and, to his great joy, found in it a much more cheerful vein of thought and sentiment. She said her father was feeble, and subject to fits of great depression--but she thought him, on the whole, pretty well, and if not content, at least submissive and tranquil.