Naiade oil painting

'About what?' asked the imperturbable Smoke. ¡¡¡¡Smoke's mates were now smiling broadly. His captain could have killed him, and I doubt not that blood would have flowed had not Maud Brewster been present. For that matter, it was her presence which enabled Smoke to act as he did. He was too discreet and cautious a man to incur Wolf Larsen's anger at a time when that anger could be expressed in terms stronger than words. I was in fear that a struggle might take place, but a cry from the helmsman made it easy for the situation to save itself. ¡¡¡¡'Smoke ho!' the cry came down the open companionway. ¡¡¡¡'How's it bear?' Wolf Larsen called up. ¡¡¡¡'Dead astern, sir!' ¡¡¡¡'Maybe it's a Russian,' suggested Latimer. His words brought anxiety into the faces of the other hunters. A Russian could mean but one thing- a cruiser. The hunters, never more than roughly aware of the position of the ship, nevertheless knew that we were close to the boundaries of the forbidden sea, while Wolf Larsen's record as a poacher was notorious. All eyes centered upon him.