"well, according to the measure of my eyes," answered simeon, "i fancy it would take a ship ten years less two days; or, if it happened to be stormy, i am afraid even a little longer than ten years. and that king has not a small army. i have seen altogether a hundred thousand spearmen, a hundred thousand armed men, and a hundred thousand or more could be gathered from the tsar's court, from his servants and all kinds of underlings. besides, there is no small armament of guards held in reserve for a special occasion, fed and petted by the king."