But the eyes did look out of the tangle, and they were the sad eyes of some Russian serf.

I am no Russian serf, I am a free man, and no one has a right so to threaten me!

Did I, an English shipmaster, ever think that I would come to this, to be insulted by a Russian serf?

I refused to avenge him: he is going to revenge himself, and a Russian serf seeking vengeance is capable of anything.

What are the sinews and souls of Russian serfs and Republican slaves but Fast-Fish, whereof possession is the whole of the law?

"Free from their master's supervision the serfs will leave the fields uncultivated," said the Russian serf-owners.