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diff --git a/old/falk10.txt b/old/falk10.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 94fc241..0000000 --- a/old/falk10.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4158 +0,0 @@ -*****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Falk, by Joseph Conrad***** -#4 in our series by Joseph Conrad - - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check -the copyright laws for your country before posting these files! - -Please take a look at the important information in this header. -We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an -electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* - -Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and -further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* - - - - - -FALK - -BY JOSEPH CONRAD - - - - - -FALK - -A REMINISCENCE - -Several of us, all more or less connected with the -sea, were dining in a small river-hostelry not more -than thirty miles from London, and less than twenty -from that shallow and dangerous puddle to which -our coasting men give the grandiose name of "Ger- -man Ocean." And through the wide windows we -had a view of the Thames; an enfilading view down -the Lower Hope Reach. But the dinner was exe- -crable, and all the feast was for the eyes. - -That flavour of salt-water which for so many of -us had been the very water of life permeated our -talk. He who hath known the bitterness of the -Ocean shall have its taste forever in his mouth. But -one or two of us, pampered by the life of the land, -complained of hunger. It was impossible to swal- -low any of that stuff. And indeed there was a -strange mustiness in everything. The wooden din- -ing-room stuck out over the mud of the shore like -a lacustrine dwelling; the planks of the floor seemed -rotten; a decrepit old waiter tottered pathetically -to and fro before an antediluvian and worm-eaten -sideboard; the chipped plates might have been dis- -interred from some kitchen midden near an inhab- -ited lake; and the chops recalled times more ancient -still. They brought forcibly to one's mind the -night of ages when the primeval man, evolving the -first rudiments of cookery from his dim conscious- -ness, scorched lumps of flesh at a fire of sticks in the -company of other good fellows; then, gorged and -happy, sat him back among the gnawed bones to -tell his artless tales of experience--the tales of hun- -ger and hunt--and of women, perhaps! - -But luckily the wine happened to be as old as -the waiter. So, comparatively empty, but upon the -whole fairly happy, we sat back and told our artless -tales. We talked of the sea and all its works. The -sea never changes, and its works for all the talk of -men are wrapped in mystery. But we agreed that -the times were changed. And we talked of old -ships, of sea-accidents, of break-downs, dismast- -ings; and of a man who brought his ship safe to -Liverpool all the way from the River Platte under -a jury rudder. We talked of wrecks, of short ra- -tions and of heroism--or at least of what the news- -papers would have called heroism at sea--a mani- -festation of virtues quite different from the heroism -of primitive times. And now and then falling silent -all together we gazed at the sights of the river. - -A P. & O. boat passed bound down. "One gets -jolly good dinners on board these ships," remarked -one of our band. A man with sharp eyes read out -the name on her bows: Arcadia. "What a beauti- -ful model of a ship!" murmured some of us. She -was followed by a small cargo steamer, and the flag -they hauled down aboard while we were looking -showed her to be a Norwegian. She made an awful -lot of smoke; and before it had quite blown away, a -high-sided, short, wooden barque, in ballast and -towed by a paddle-tug, appeared in front of the -windows. All her hands were forward busy setting -up the headgear; and aft a woman in a red hood, -quite alone with the man at the wheel, paced the -length of the poop back and forth, with the grey -wool of some knitting work in her hands. - -"German I should think," muttered one. "The -skipper has his wife on board," remarked another; -and the light of the crimson sunset all ablaze behind -the London smoke, throwing a glow of Bengal light -upon the barque's spars, faded away from the Hope -Reach. - -Then one of us, who had not spoken before, a -man of over fifty, that had commanded ships for a -quarter of a century, looking after the barque now -gliding far away, all black on the lustre of the river, -said: - -This reminds me of an absurd episode in my life, -now many years ago, when I got first the command -of an iron barque, loading then in a certain Eastern -seaport. It was also the capital of an Eastern king- -dom, lying up a river as might be London lies up -this old Thames of ours. No more need be said of -the place; for this sort of thing might have hap- -pened anywhere where there are ships, skippers, -tugboats, and orphan nieces of indescribable splen- -dour. And the absurdity of the episode concerns -only me, my enemy Falk, and my friend Hermann. - -There seemed to be something like peculiar em- -phasis on the words "My friend Hermann," which -caused one of us (for we had just been speaking of -heroism at sea) to say idly and nonchalantly: - -"And was this Hermann a hero?" - -Not at all, said our grizzled friend. No hero at -all. He was a Schiff-fuhrer: Ship-conductor. -That's how they call a Master Mariner in Germany. -I prefer our way. The alliteration is good, and -there is something in the nomenclature that gives -to us as a body the sense of corporate existence: -Apprentice, Mate, Master, in the ancient and hon- -ourable craft of the sea. As to my friend Hermann, -he might have been a consummate master of the -honourable craft, but he was called officially Schiff- -fuhrer, and had the simple, heavy appearance of a -well-to-do farmer, combined with the good-natured -shrewdness of a small shopkeeper. With his shaven -chin, round limbs, and heavy eyelids he did not look -like a toiler, and even less like an adventurer of the -sea. Still, he toiled upon the seas, in his own way, -much as a shopkeeper works behind his counter. -And his ship was the means by which he maintained -his growing family. - -She was a heavy, strong, blunt-bowed affair, -awakening the ideas of primitive solidity, like the -wooden plough of our forefathers. And there were, -about her, other suggestions of a rustic and homely -nature. The extraordinary timber projections -which I have seen in no other vessel made her square -stern resemble the tail end of a miller's waggon. -But the four stern ports of her cabin, glazed with -six little greenish panes each, and framed in wooden -sashes painted brown, might have been the windows -of a cottage in the country. The tiny white cur- -tains and the greenery of flower pots behind the -glass completed the resemblance. On one or two -occasions when passing under stern I had de- -tected from my boat a round arm in the act of tilt- -ing a watering pot, and the bowed sleek head of a -maiden whom I shall always call Hermann's niece, -because as a matter of fact I've never heard her -name, for all my intimacy with the family. - -This, however, sprang up later on. Meantime in -common with the rest of the shipping in that East- -ern port, I was left in no doubt as to Hermann's no- -tions of hygienic clothing. Evidently he believed -in wearing good stout flannel next his skin. On -most days little frocks and pinafores could be seen -drying in the mizzen rigging of his ship, or a tiny -row of socks fluttering on the signal halyards; but -once a fortnight the family washing was exhibited -in force. It covered the poop entirely. The after- -noon breeze would incite to a weird and flabby activ- -ity all that crowded mass of clothing, with its vague -suggestions of drowned, mutilated and flattened hu- -manity. Trunks without heads waved at you arms -without hands; legs without feet kicked fantasti- -cally with collapsible flourishes; and there were long -white garments that, taking the wind fairly -through their neck openings edged with lace, be- -came for a moment violently distended as by the -passage of obese and invisible bodies. On these days -you could make out that ship at a great distance -by the multi-coloured grotesque riot going on abaft -her mizzen mast. - -She had her berth just ahead of me, and her -name was Diana,--Diana not of Ephesus but of -Bremen. This was proclaimed in white letters a -foot long spaced widely across the stern (somewhat -like the lettering of a shop-sign) under the cottage -windows. This ridiculously unsuitable name struck -one as an impertinence towards the memory of the -most charming of goddesses; for, apart from the -fact that the old craft was physically incapable of -engaging in any sort of chase, there was a gang of -four children belonging to her. They peeped over -the rail at passing boats and occasionally dropped -various objects into them. Thus, sometime before -I knew Hermann to speak to, I received on my hat -a horrid rag-doll belonging to Hermann's eldest -daughter. However, these youngsters were upon -the whole well behaved. They had fair heads, round -eyes, round little knobby noses, and they resembled -their father a good deal. - -This Diana of Bremen was a most innocent old -ship, and seemed to know nothing of the wicked sea, -as there are on shore households that know nothing -of the corrupt world. And the sentiments she sug- -gested were unexceptionable and mainly of a do- -mestic order. She was a home. All these dear chil- -dren had learned to walk on her roomy quarter-deck. -In such thoughts there is something pretty, even -touching. Their teeth, I should judge, they had -cut on the ends of her running gear. I have many -times observed the baby Hermann (Nicholas) en- -gaged in gnawing the whipping of the fore-royal -brace. Nicholas' favourite place of residence was -under the main fife-rail. Directly he was let loose -he would crawl off there, and the first seaman who -came along would bring him, carefully held aloft -in tarry hands, back to the cabin door. I fancy -there must have been a standing order to that effect. -In the course of these transportations the baby, -who was the only peppery person in the ship, tried -to smite these stalwart young German sailors on the -face. - -Mrs. Hermann, an engaging, stout housewife, -wore on board baggy blue dresses with white dots. -When, as happened once or twice I caught her at an -elegant little wash-tub rubbing hard on white col- -lars, baby's socks, and Hermann's summer neck- -ties, she would blush in girlish confusion, and rais- -ing her wet hands greet me from afar with many -friendly nods. Her sleeves would be rolled up to -the elbows, and the gold hoop of her wedding ring -glittered among the soapsuds. Her voice was -pleasant, she had a serene brow, smooth bands of -very fair hair, and a good-humoured expression of -the eyes. She was motherly and moderately talka- -tive. When this simple matron smiled, youthful -dimples broke out on her fresh broad cheeks. Her- -mann's niece on the other hand, an orphan and very -silent, I never saw attempt a smile. This, however, -was not gloom on her part but the restraint of -youthful gravity. - -They had carried her about with them for the -last three years, to help with the children and be -company for Mrs. Hermann, as Hermann men- -tioned once to me. It had been very necessary while -they were all little, he had added in a vexed manner. -It was her arm and her sleek head that I had -glimpsed one morning, through the stern-windows -of the cabin, hovering over the pots of fuchsias and -mignonette; but the first time I beheld her full -length I surrendered to her proportions. They fix -her in my mind, as great beauty, great intelligence, -quickness of wit or kindness of heart might have -made some her other woman equally memorable. - -With her it was form and size. It was her physi- -cal personality that had this imposing charm. She -might have been witty, intelligent, and kind to an -exceptional degree. I don't know, and this is not to -the point. All I know is that she was built on a -magnificent scale. Built is the only word. She was -constructed, she was erected, as it were, with a regal -lavishness. It staggered you to see this reckless ex- -penditure of material upon a chit of a girl. She -was youthful and also perfectly mature, as though -she had been some fortunate immortal. She was -heavy too, perhaps, but that's nothing. It only -added to that notion of permanence. She was bare- -ly nineteen. But such shoulders! Such round -arms! Such a shadowing forth of mighty limbs -when with three long strides she pounced across the -deck upon the overturned Nicholas--it's perfectly -indescribable! She seemed a good, quiet girl, vigi- -lant as to Lena's needs, Gustav's tumbles, the state -of Carl's dear little nose--conscientious, hardwork- -ing, and all that. But what magnificent hair she -had! Abundant, long, thick, of a tawny colour. -It had the sheen of precious metals. She wore it -plaited tightly into one single tress hanging girl- -ishly down her back and its end reached down to -her waist. The massiveness of it surprised you. -On my word it reminded one of a club. Her face -was big, comely, of an unruffled expression. She -had a good complexion, and her blue eyes were so -pale that she appeared to look at the world with -the empty white candour of a statue. You could -not call her good-looking. It was something much -more impressive. The simplicity of her apparel, -the opulence of her form, her imposing stature, -and the extraordinary sense of vigorous life that -seemed to emanate from her like a perfume exhaled -by a flower, made her beautiful with a beauty of a -rustic and olympian order. To watch her reaching -up to the clothes-line with both arms raised high -above her head, caused you to fall a musing in a -strain of pagan piety. Excellent Mrs. Hermann's -baggy cotton gowns had some sort of rudimentary -frills at neck and bottom, but this girl's print frocks -hadn't even a wrinkle; nothing but a few straight -folds in the skirt falling to her feet, and these, when -she stood still, had a severe and statuesque quality. -She was inclined naturally to be still whether sit- -ting or standing. However, I don't mean to say -she was statuesque. She was too generously alive; -but she could have stood for an allegoric statue of -the Earth. I don't mean the worn-out earth of our -possession, but a young Earth, a virginal planet -undisturbed by the vision of a future teeming with -the monstrous forms of life and death, clamorous -with the cruel battles of hunger and thought. - -The worthy Hermann himself was not very en- -tertaining, though his English was fairly compre- -hensible. Mrs. Hermann, who always let off one -speech at least at me in an hospitable, cordial tone -(and in Platt-Deutsch I suppose) I could not un- -derstand. As to their niece, however satisfactory -to look upon (and she inspired you somehow with -a hopeful view as to the prospects of mankind) -she was a modest and silent presence, mostly en- -gaged in sewing, only now and then, as I observed, -falling over that work into a state of maidenly -meditation. Her aunt sat opposite her, sewing also, -with her feet propped on a wooden footstool. On -the other side of the deck Hermann and I would -get a couple of chairs out of the cabin and settle -down to a smoking match, accompanied at long in- -tervals by the pacific exchange of a few words. I -came nearly every evening. Hermann I would find -in his shirt sleeves. As soon as he returned from -the shore on board his ship he commenced operations -by taking off his coat; then he put on his head an -embroidered round cap with a tassel, and changed -his boots for a pair of cloth slippers. Afterwards -he smoked at the cabin-door, looking at his children -with an air of civic virtue, till they got caught one -after another and put to bed in various staterooms. -Lastly, we would drink some beer in the cabin, which -was furnished with a wooden table on cross legs, and -with black straight-backed chairs--more like a farm -kitchen than a ship's cuddy. The sea and all nauti- -cal affairs seemed very far removed from the hos- -pitality of this exemplary family. - -And I liked this because I had a rather worrying -time on board my own ship. I had been appointed -ex-officio by the British Consul to take charge of -her after a man who had died suddenly, leaving for -the guidance of his successor some suspiciously un- -receipted bills, a few dry-dock estimates hinting at -bribery, and a quantity of vouchers for three years' -extravagant expenditure; all these mixed up to- -gether in a dusty old violin-case lined with ruby -velvet. I found besides a large account-book, -which, when opened, hopefully turned out to my -infinite consternation to be filled with verses--page -after page of rhymed doggerel of a jovial and im- -proper character, written in the neatest minute hand -I ever did see. In the same fiddle-case a photograph -of my predecessor, taken lately in Saigon, repre- -sented in front of a garden view, and in company -of a female in strange draperies, an elderly, squat, -rugged man of stern aspect in a clumsy suit of black -broadcloth, and with the hair brushed forward above -the temples in a manner reminding one of a boar's -tusks. Of a fiddle, however, the only trace on board -was the case, its empty husk as it were; but of the -two last freights the ship had indubitably earned -of late, there were not even the husks left. It was -impossible to say where all that money had gone to. -It wasn't on board. It had not been remitted home; -for a letter from the owners, preserved in a desk -evidently by the merest accident, complained mildly -enough that they had not been favoured by a -scratch of the pen for the last eighteen months. -There were next to no stores on board, not an inch -of spare rope or a yard of canvas. The ship had -been run bare, and I foresaw no end of difficulties -before I could get her ready for sea. - -As I was young then--not thirty yet--I took -myself and my troubles very seriously. The old -mate, who had acted as chief mourner at the cap- -tain's funeral, was not particularly pleased at my -coming. But the fact is the fellow was not legally -qualified for command, and the Consul was bound, -if at all possible, to put a properly certificated man -on board. As to the second mate, all I can say his -name was Tottersen, or something like that. His -practice was to wear on his head, in that tropical -climate, a mangy fur cap. He was, without excep- -tion, the stupidest man I had ever seen on board -ship. And he looked it too. He looked so con- -foundedly stupid that it was a matter of surprise -for me when he answered to his name. - -I drew no great comfort from their company, to -say the least of it; while the prospect of making a -long sea passage with those two fellows was depress- -ing. And my other thoughts in solitude could not -be of a gay complexion. The crew was sickly, the -cargo was coming very slow; I foresaw I would -have lots of trouble with the charterers, and doubted -whether they would advance me enough money for -the ship's expenses. Their attitude towards me was -unfriendly. Altogether I was not getting on. I -would discover at odd times (generally about mid- -night) that I was totally inexperienced, greatly ig- -norant of business, and hopelessly unfit for any -sort of command; and when the steward had to be -taken to the hospital ill with choleraic symptoms I -felt bereaved of the only decent person at the after -end of the ship. He was fully expected to recover, -but in the meantime had to be replaced by some sort -of servant. And on the recommendation of a cer- -tain Schomberg, the proprietor of the smaller of -the two hotels in the place, I engaged a Chinaman. -Schomberg, a brawny, hairy Alsatian, and an awful -gossip, assured me that it was all right. "First- -class boy that. Came in the suite of his Excellency -Tseng the Commissioner--you know. His Excel- -lency Tseng lodged with me here for three weeks." - -He mouthed the Chinese Excellency at me with -great unction, though the specimen of the "suite" -did not seem very promising. At the time, however, -I did not know what an untrustworthy humbug -Schomberg was. The "boy" might have been forty -or a hundred and forty for all you could tell-- -one of those Chinamen of the death's-head type of -face and completely inscrutable. Before the end of -the third day he had revealed himself as a confirmed -opium-smoker, a gambler, a most audacious thief, -and a first-class sprinter. When he departed at the -top of his speed with thirty-two golden sovereigns -of my own hard-earned savings it was the last straw. -I had reserved that money in case my difficulties -came to the worst. Now it was gone I felt as poor -and naked as a fakir. I clung to my ship, for all -the bother she caused me, but what I could not bear -were the long lonely evenings in her cuddy, where -the atmosphere, made smelly by a leaky lamp, was -agitated by the snoring of the mate. That fellow -shut himself up in his stuffy cabin punctually at -eight, and made gross and revolting noises like a -water-logged trump. It was odious not to be able -to worry oneself in comfort on board one's own -ship. Everything in this world, I reflected, even -the command of a nice little barque, may be made -a delusion and a snare for the unwary spirit of -pride in man. - -From such reflections I was glad to make any es- -cape on board that Bremen Diana. There appar- -ently no whisper of the world's iniquities had ever -penetrated. And yet she lived upon the wide sea: -and the sea tragic and comic, the sea with its horrors -and its peculiar scandals, the sea peopled by men -and ruled by iron necessity is indubitably a part of -the world. But that patriarchal old tub, like some -saintly retreat, echoed nothing of it. She was world -proof. Her venerable innocence apparently had -put a restraint on the roaring lusts of the sea. And -yet I have known the sea too long to believe in its -respect for decency. An elemental force is ruthlessly -frank. It may, of course, have been Hermann's -skilful seamanship, but to me it looked as if the al- -lied oceans had refrained from smashing these high -bulwarks, unshipping the lumpy rudder, frighten- -ing the children, and generally opening this fam- -ily's eyes out of sheer reticence. It looked like reti- -cence. The ruthless disclosure was in the end left -for a man to make; a man strong and elemental -enough and driven to unveil some secrets of the sea -by the power of a simple and elemental desire. - -This, however, occurred much later, and mean- -time I took sanctuary in that serene old ship early -every evening. The only person on board that -seemed to be in trouble was little Lena, and in due -course I perceived that the health of the rag-doll -was more than delicate. This object led a sort of -"in extremis" existence in a wooden box placed -against the starboard mooring-bitts, tended and -nursed with the greatest sympathy and care by all -the children, who greatly enjoyed pulling long faces -and moving with hushed footsteps. Only the baby ---Nicholas--looked on with a cold, ruffianly leer, -as if he had belonged to another tribe altogether. -Lena perpetually sorrowed over the box, and all of -them were in deadly earnest. It was wonderful the -way these children would work up their compassion -for that bedraggled thing I wouldn't have touched -with a pair of tongs. I suppose they were exercis- -ing and developing their racial sentimentalism by -the means of that dummy. I was only surprised -that Mrs. Hermann let Lena cherish and hug that -bundle of rags to that extent, it was so disreputably -and completely unclean. But Mrs. Hermann would -raise her fine womanly eyes from her needlework to -look on with amused sympathy, and did not seen to -see it, somehow, that this object of affection was a -disgrace to the ship's purity. Purity, not cleanli- -ness, is the word. It was pushed so far that I seemed -to detect in this too a sentimental excess, as if dirt -had been removed in very love. It is impossible to -give you an idea of such a meticulous neatness. It -was as if every morning that ship had been ardu- -ously explored with--with toothbrushes. Her very -bowsprit three times a week had its toilette made -with a cake of soap and a piece of soft flannel. Ar- -rayed--I MUST say arrayed--arrayed artlessly in -dazzling white paint as to wood and dark green as -to ironwork the simple-minded distribution of these -colours evoked the images of simple-minded peace, -of arcadian felicity; and the childish comedy of -disease and sorrow struck me sometimes as an abom- -inably real blot upon that ideal state. - -I enjoyed it greatly, and on my part I brought -a little mild excitement into it. Our intimacy arose -from the pursuit of that thief. It was in the even- -ing, and Hermann, who, contrary to his habits, had -stayed on shore late that day, was extricating him- -self backwards out of a little gharry on the river -bank, opposite his ship, when the hunt passed. -Realising the situation as though he had eyes in his -shoulder-blades, he joined us with a leap and took -the lead. The Chinaman fled silent like a rapid -shadow on the dust of an extremely oriental road. -I followed. A long way in the rear my mate -whooped like a savage. A young moon threw a -bashful light on a plain like a monstrous waste -ground: the architectural mass of a Buddhist tem- -ple far away projected itself in dead black on the -sky. We lost the thief of course; but in my disap- -pointment I had to admire Hermann's presence of -mind. The velocity that stodgy man developed in -the interests of a complete stranger earned my -warm gratitude--there was something truly cordial -in his exertions. - -He seemed as vexed as myself at our failure, and -would hardly listen to my thanks. He said it was -"nothings," and invited me on the spot to come on -board his ship and drink a glass of beer with him. -We poked sceptically for a while amongst the -bushes, peered without conviction into a ditch or -two. There was not a sound: patches of slime glim- -mered feebly amongst the reeds. Slowly we trudged -back, drooping under the thin sickle of the moon, -and I heard him mutter to himself, "Himmel! Zwei -und dreissig Pfund!" He was impressed by the -figure of my loss. For a long time we had ceased to -hear the mate's whoops and yells. - -Then he said to me, "Everybody has his troub- -les," and as we went on remarked that he would -never have known anything of mine hadn't he by an -extraordinary chance been detained on shore by -Captain Falk. He didn't like to stay late ashore-- -he added with a sigh. The something doleful in his -tone I put to his sympathy with my misfortune, of -course. - -On board the Diana Mrs. Hermann's fine eyes -expressed much interest and commiseration. We -had found the two women sewing face to face under -the open skylight in the strong glare of the lamp. -Hermann walked in first, starting in the very door- -way to pull off his coat, and encouraging me with -loud, hospitable ejaculations: "Come in! This -way! Come in, captain!" At once, coat in hand, -he began to tell his wife all about it. Mrs. Hermann -put the palms of her plump hands together; I -smiled and bowed with a heavy heart: the niece got -up from her sewing to bring Hermann's slippers -and his embroidered calotte, which he assumed pon- -tifically, talking (about me) all the time. Billows -of white stuff lay between the chairs on the cabin -floor; I caught the words "Zwei und dreissig -Pfund" repeated several times, and presently came -the beer, which seemed delicious to my throat, -parched with running and the emotions of the chase. - -I didn't get away till well past midnight, long -after the women had retired. Hermann had been -trading in the East for three years or more, carry- -ing freights of rice and timber mostly. His ship -was well known in all the ports from Vladivostok to -Singapore. She was his own property. The profits -had been moderate, but the trade answered well -enough while the children were small yet. In an- -other year or so he hoped he would be able to sell the -old Diana to a firm in Japan for a fair price. He -intended to return home, to Bremen, by mail boat, -second class, with Mrs. Hermann and the children. -He told me all this stolidly, with slow puffs at his -pipe. I was sorry when knocking the ashes out he -began to rub his eyes. I would have sat with him -till morning. What had I to hurry on board my -own ship for? To face the broken rifled drawer in -my state-room. Ugh! The very thought made me -feel unwell. - -I became their daily guest, as you know. I think -that Mrs. Hermann from the first looked upon me -as a romantic person. I did not, of course, tear my -hair coram populo over my loss, and she took it for -lordly indifference. Afterwards, I daresay, I did -tell them some of my adventures--such as they were ---and they marvelled greatly at the extent of my -experience. Hermann would translate what he -thought the most striking passages. Getting up on -his legs, and as if delivering a lecture on a phenom- -enon, he addressed himself, with gestures, to the -two women, who would let their sewing sink slowly -on their laps. Meantime I sat before a glass of -Hermann's beer, trying to look modest. Mrs. Her- -mann would glance at me quickly, emit slight -"Ach's!" The girl never made a sound. Never. -But she too would sometimes raise her pale eyes to -look at me in her unseeing gentle way. Her glance -was by no means stupid; it beamed out soft and dif- -fuse as the moon beams upon a landscape--quite -differently from the scrutinising inspection of the -stars. You were drowned in it, and imagined your- -self to appear blurred. And yet this same glance -when turned upon Christian Falk must have been -as efficient as the searchlight of a battle-ship. - -Falk was the other assiduous visitor on board, -but from his behaviour he might have been coming -to see the quarter-deck capstan. He certainly used -to stare at it a good deal when keeping us company -outside the cabin door, with one muscular arm -thrown over the back of the chair, and his big -shapely legs, in very tight white trousers, extended -far out and ending in a pair of black shoes as -roomy as punts. On arrival he would shake Her- -mann's hand with a mutter, bow to the women, and -take up his careless and misanthropic attitude by -our side. He departed abruptly, with a jump, go- -ing through the performance of grunts, hand- -shakes, bow, as if in a panic. Sometimes, with a -sort of discreet and convulsive effort, he approached -the women and exchanged a few low words with -them, half a dozen at most. On these occasions Her- -mann's usual stare became positively glassy and -Mrs. Hermann's kind countenance would colour up. -The girl herself never turned a hair. - -Falk was a Dane or perhaps a Norwegian, I -can't tell now. At all events he was a Scandinavian -of some sort, and a bloated monopolist to boot. It -is possible he was unacquainted with the word, but -he had a clear perception of the thing itself. His -tariff of charges for towing ships in and out was -the most brutally inconsiderate document of the sort -I had ever seen. He was the commander and owner -of the only tug-boat on the river, a very trim white -craft of 150 tons or more, as elegantly neat as a -yacht, with a round wheel-house rising like a glazed -turret high above her sharp bows, and with one slen- -der varnished pole mast forward. I daresay there -are yet a few shipmasters afloat who remember Falk -and his tug very well. He extracted his pound and -a half of flesh from each of us merchant-skippers -with an inflexible sort of indifference which made -him detested and even feared. Schomberg used to -remark: "I won't talk about the fellow. I don't -think he has six drinks from year's end to year's end -in my place. But my advice is, gentlemen, don't -you have anything to do with him, if you can help -it." - -This advice, apart from unavoidable business re- -lations, was easy to follow because Falk intruded -upon no one. It seems absurd to compare a tug- -boat skipper to a centaur: but he reminded me some- -how of an engraving in a little book I had as a boy, -which represented centaurs at a stream, and there -was one, especially in the foreground, prancing bow -and arrows in hand, with regular severe features -and an immense curled wavy beard, flowing down -his breast. Falk's face reminded me of that cen- -taur. Besides, he was a composite creature. Not -a man-horse, it is true, but a man-boat. He lived -on board his tug, which was always dashing up and -down the river from early morn till dewy eve. - -In the last rays of the setting sun, you could pick -out far away down the reach his beard borne high -up on the white structure, foaming up stream to -anchor for the night. There was the white-clad -man's body, and the rich brown patch of the hair, -and nothing below the waist but the 'thwart-ship -white lines of the bridge-screens, that lead the eye -to the sharp white lines of the bows cleaving the -muddy water of the river. - -Separated from his boat to me at least he seemed -incomplete. The tug herself without his head and -torso on the bridge looked mutilated as it were. -But he left her very seldom. All the time I re- -mained in harbour I saw him only twice on shore. -On the first occasion it was at my charterers, where -he came in misanthropically to get paid for towing -out a French barque the day before. The second -time I could hardly believe my eyes, for I beheld -him reclining under his beard in a cane-bottomed -chair in the billiard-room of Schomberg's hotel. - -It was very funny to see Schomberg ignoring -him pointedly. The artificiality of it contrasted -strongly with Falk's natural unconcern. The big -Alsatian talked loudly with his other customers, go- -ing from one little table to the other, and passing -Falk's place of repose with his eyes fixed straight -ahead. Falk sat there with an untouched glass at -his elbow. He must have known by sight and name -every white man in the room, but he never addressed -a word to anybody. He acknowledged my presence -by a drop of his eyelids, and that was all. Sprawl- -ing there in the chair, he would, now and again, -draw the palms of both his hands down his face, -giving at the same time a slight, almost impercepti- -ble, shudder. - -It was a habit he had, and of course I was per- -fectly familiar with it, since you could not remain -an hour in his company without being made to won- -der at such a movement breaking some long period -of stillness. it was a passionate and inexplicable -gesture. He used to make it at all sorts of times; -as likely as not after he had been listening to little -Lena's chatter about the suffering doll, for instance. -The Hermann children always besieged him about -his legs closely, though, in a gentle way, he shrank -from them a little. He seemed, however, to feel a -great affection for the whole family. For Hermann -himself especially. He sought his company. In -this case, for instance, he must have been waiting -for him, because as soon as he appeared Falk rose -hastily, and they went out together. Then Schom- -berg expounded in my hearing to three or four -people his theory that Falk was after Captain Her- -mann's niece, and asserted confidently that nothing -would come of it. It was the same last year when -Captain Hermann was loading here, he said. - -Naturally, I did not believe Schomberg, but I -own that for a time I observed closely what went -on. All I discovered was some impatience on Her- -mann's part. At the sight of Falk, stepping over -the gangway, the excellent man would begin to -mumble and chew between his teeth something that -sounded like German swear-words. However, as -I've said, I'm not familiar with the language, and -Hermann's soft, round-eyed countenance remained -unchanged. Staring stolidly ahead he greeted -him with, "Wie gehts," or in English, "How are -you?" with a throaty enunciation. The girl would -look up for an instant and move her lips slightly: -Mrs. Hermann let her hands rest on her lap to talk -volubly to him for a minute or so in her pleasant -voice before she went on with her sewing again. -Falk would throw himself into a chair, stretch his -big legs, as like as not draw his hands down his face -passionately. As to myself, he was not pointedly -impertinent: it was rather as though he could not -be bothered with such trifles as my existence; and -the truth is that being a monopolist he was under -no necessity to be amiable. He was sure to get his -own extortionate terms out of me for towage -whether he frowned or smiled. As a matter of fact, -he did neither: but before many days elapsed he -managed to astonish me not a little and to set -Schomberg's tongue clacking more than ever. - -It came about in this way. There was a shallow -bar at the mouth of the river which ought to have -been kept down, but the authorities of the State -were piously busy gilding afresh the great Buddhist -Pagoda just then, and I suppose had no money to -spare for dredging operations. I don't know how -it may be now, but at the time I speak of that sand- -bank was a great nuisance to the shipping. One of -its consequences was that vessels of a certain -draught of water, like Hermann's or mine, could not -complete their loading in the river. After taking -in as much as possible of their cargo, they had to -go outside to fill up. The whole procedure was an -unmitigated bore. When you thought you had as -much on board as your ship could carry safely over -the bar, you went and gave notice to your agents. -They, in their turn, notified Falk that so-and-so -was ready to go out. Then Falk (ostensibly when it -fitted in with his other work, but, if the truth were -known, simply when his arbitrary spirit moved -him), after ascertaining carefully in the office that -there was enough money to meet his bill, would -come along unsympathetically, glaring at you with -his yellow eyes from the bridge, and would drag you -out dishevelled as to rigging, lumbered as to the -decks, with unfeeling haste, as if to execution. And -he would force you too to take the end of his own -wire hawser, for the use of which there was of course -an extra charge. To your shouted remonstrances -against that extortion this towering trunk with one -hand on the engine-room telegraph only shook its -bearded head above the splash, the racket, and the -clouds of smoke in which the tug, backing and fill- -ing in the smother of churning paddle-wheels be- -haved like a ferocious and impatient creature. He -had her manned by the cheekiest gang of lascars I -ever did see, whom he allowed to bawl at you inso- -lently, and, once fast, he plucked you out of your -berth as if he did not care what he smashed. Eigh- -teen miles down the river you had to go behind him, -and then three more along the coast to where a -group of uninhabited rocky islets enclosed a shel- -tered anchorage. There you would have to lie at -single anchor with your naked spars showing to -seaward over these barren fragments of land scat- -tered upon a very intensely blue sea. There was -nothing to look at besides but a bare coast, the mud- -dy edge of the brown plain with the sinuosities of -the river you had left, traced in dull green, and the -Great Pagoda uprising lonely and massive with -shining curves and pinnacles like the gorgeous and -stony efflorescence of tropical rocks. You had -nothing to do but to wait fretfully for the balance -of your cargo, which was sent out of the river with -the greatest irregularity. And it was open to you -to console yourself with the thought that, after all, -this stage of bother meant that your departure from -these shores was indeed approaching at last. - -We both had to go through that stage, Hermann -and I, and there was a sort of tacit emulation be- -tween the ships as to which should be ready first. -We kept on neck and neck almost to the finish, when -I won the race by going personally to give notice in -the forenoon; whereas Hermann, who was very slow -in making up his mind to go ashore, did not get to -the agents' office till late in the day. They told him -there that my ship was first on turn for next morn- -ing, and I believe he told them he was in no hurry. -It suited him better to go the day after. - -That evening, on board the Diana, he sat with -his plump knees well apart, staring and puffing at -the curved mouthpiece of his pipe. Presently he -spoke with some impatience to his niece about put- -ting the children to bed. Mrs. Hermann, who was -talking to Falk, stopped short and looked at her -husband uneasily, but the girl got up at once and -drove the children before her into the cabin. In a -little while Mrs. Hermann had to leave us to quell -what, from the sounds inside, must have been a dan- -gerous mutiny. At this Hermann grumbled to him- -self. For half an hour longer Falk left alone with -us fidgeted on his chair, sighed lightly, then at last, -after drawing his hands down his face, got up, and -as if renouncing the hope of making himself under- -stood (he hadn't opened his mouth once) he said in -English: "Well. . . . Good night, Captain Her- -mann." He stopped for a moment before my chair -and looked down fixedly; I may even say he glared: -and he went so far as to make a deep noise in his -throat. There was in all this something so marked -that for the first time in our limited intercourse of -nods and grunts he excited in me something like -interest. But next moment he disappointed me-- -for he strode away hastily without a nod even. - -His manner was usually odd it is true, and I cer- -tainly did not pay much attention to it; but that -sort of obscure intention, which seemed to lurk in -his nonchalance like a wary old carp in a pond, had -never before come so near the surface. He had dis- -tinctly aroused my expectations. I would have been -unable to say what it was I expected, but at all -events I did not expect the absurd developments he -sprung upon me no later than the break of the very -next day. - -I remember only that there was, on that evening, -enough point in his behaviour to make me, after he -had fled, wonder audibly what he might mean. To -this Hermann, crossing his legs with a swing and -settling himself viciously away from me in his chair, -said: "That fellow don't know himself what he -means." - -There might have been some insight in such a -remark. I said nothing, and, still averted, he -added: "When I was here last year he was just -the same." An eruption of tobacco smoke envel- -oped his head as if his temper had exploded like -gunpowder. - -I had half a mind to ask him point blank whether -he, at least, didn't know why Falk, a notoriously -unsociable man, had taken to visiting his ship with -such assiduity. After all, I reflected suddenly, it -was a most remarkable thing. I wonder now what -Hermann would have said. As it turned out he -didn't let me ask. Forgetting all about Falk ap- -parently, he started a monologue on his plans for -the future: the selling of the ship, the going home; -and falling into a reflective and calculating mood -he mumbled between regular jets of smoke about -the expense. The necessity of disbursing passage -money for all his tribe seemed to disturb him in a -manner that was the more striking because other- -wise he gave no signs of a miserly disposition. And -yet he fussed over the prospect of that voyage home -in a mail boat like a sedentary grocer who has made -up his mind to see the world. He was racially thrifty -I suppose, and for him there must have been a great -novelty in finding himself obliged to pay for travel- -ling--for sea travelling which was the normal state -of life for the family--from the very cradle for -most of them. I could see he grudged prospectively -every single shilling which must be spent so absurd- -ly. It was rather funny. He would become doleful -over it, and then again, with a fretful sigh, he would -suppose there was nothing for it now but to take -three second-class tickets--and there were the four -children to pay for besides. A lot of money that -to spend at once. A big lot of money. - -I sat with him listening (not for the first time) -to these heart-searchings till I grew thoroughly -sleepy, and then I left him and turned in on board -my ship. At daylight I was awakened by a yelping -of shrill voices, accompanied by a great commotion -in the water, and the short, bullying blasts of a -steam-whistle. Falk with his tug had come for me. - -I began to dress. It was remarkable that the -answering noise on board my ship together with the -patter of feet above my head ceased suddenly. But -I heard more remote guttural cries which seemed to -express surprise and annoyance. Then the voice of -my mate reached me howling expostulations to -somebody at a distance. Other voices joined, ap- -parently indignant; a chorus of something that -sounded like abuse replied. Now and then the -steam-whistle screeched. - -Altogether that unnecessary uproar was distract- -ing, but down there in my cabin I took it calmly. -In another moment, I thought, I should be going -down that wretched river, and in another week at -the most I should be totally quit of the odious place -and all the odious people in it. - -Greatly cheered by the idea, I seized the hair- -brushes and looking at myself in the glass began to -use them. Suddenly a hush fell upon the noise out- -side, and I heard (the ports of my cabin were thrown -open)--I heard a deep calm voice, not on board my -ship, however, hailing resolutely in English, but -with a strong foreign twang, "Go ahead!" - -There may be tides in the affairs of men which -taken at the flood . . . and so on. Personally I -am still on the look out for that important turn. -I am, however, afraid that most of us are fated to -flounder for ever in the dead water of a pool whose -shores are arid indeed. But I know that there are -often in men's affairs unexpectedly--even irration- -ally--illuminating moments when an otherwise in- -significant sound, perhaps only some perfectly com- -monplace gesture, suffices to reveal to us all the -unreason, all the fatuous unreason, of our compla- -cency. "Go ahead" are not particularly striking -words even when pronounced with a foreign accent; -yet they petrified me in the very act of smiling at -myself in the glass. And then, refusing to believe -my ears, but already boiling with indignation, I -ran out of the cabin and up on deck. - -It was incredibly true. It was perfectly true. I -had no eyes for anything but the Diana. It was she, -then, was being taken away. She was already out -of her berth and shooting athwart the river. "The -way this loonatic plucked that ship out is a cau- -tion," said the awed voice of my mate close to my -ear. "Hey! Hallo! Falk! Hermann! What's this -infernal trick?" I yelled in a fury. - -Nobody heard me. Falk certainly could not hear -me. His tug was turning at full speed away under -the other bank. The wire hawser between her and -the Diana, stretched as taut as a harpstring, -vibrated alarmingly. - -The high black craft careened over to the awful -strain. A loud crack came out of her, followed by -the tearing and splintering of wood. "There!" -said the awed voice in my ear. "He's carried away -their towing chock." And then, with enthusiasm, -"Oh! Look! Look! sir, Look! at them Dutchmen -skipping out of the way on the forecastle. I hope -to goodness he'll break a few of their shins before -he's done with 'em." - -I yelled my vain protests. The rays of the rising -sun coursing level along the plain warmed my back, -but I was hot enough with rage. I could not have -believed that a simple towing operation could sug- -gest so plainly the idea of abduction, of rape. Falk -was simply running off with the Diana. - -The white tug careered out into the middle of the -river. The red floats of her paddle-wheels revolv- -ing with mad rapidity tore up the whole reach into -foam. The Diana in mid-stream waltzed round -with as much grace as an old barn, and flew after -her ravisher. Through the ragged fog of smoke -driving headlong upon the water I had a glimpse -of Falk's square motionless shoulders under a white -hat as big as a cart-wheel, of his red face, his yel- -low staring eyes, his great beard. Instead of keep- -ing a lookout ahead, he was deliberately turning his -back on the river to glare at his tow. The tall -heavy craft, never so used before in her life, seemed -to have lost her senses; she took a wild sheer against -her helm, and for a moment came straight at us, -menacing and clumsy, like a runaway mountain. -She piled up a streaming, hissing, boiling wave -half-way up her blunt stem, my crew let out one -great howl,--and then we held our breaths. It was -a near thing. But Falk had her! He had her in -his clutch. I fancied I could hear the steel hawser -ping as it surged across the Diana's forecastle, with -the hands on board of her bolting away from it in -all directions. It was a near thing. Hermann, with -his hair rumpled, in a snuffy flannel shirt and a pair -of mustard-coloured trousers, had rushed to help -with the wheel. I saw his terrified round face; I -saw his very teeth uncovered by a sort of ghastly -fixed grin; and in a great leaping tumult of water -between the two ships the Diana whisked past so -close that I could have flung a hair-brush at his -head, for, it seems, I had kept them in my hands -all the time. Meanwhile Mrs. Hermann sat placidly -on the skylight, with a woollen shawl on her shoul- -ders. The excellent woman in response to my in- -dignant gesticulations fluttered a handkerchief, -nodding and smiling in the kindest way imagina- -ble. The boys, only half-dressed, were jumping -about the poop in great glee, displaying their -gaudy braces; and Lena in a short scarlet petticoat, -with peaked elbows and thin bare arms, nursed the -rag-doll with devotion. The whole family passed -before my sight as if dragged across a scene of un- -paralleled violence. The last I saw was Hermann's -niece with the baby Hermann in her arms standing -apart from the others. Magnificent in her close- -fitting print frock she displayed something so com- -manding in the manifest perfection of her figure -that the sun seemed to be rising for her alone. The -flood of light brought out the opulence of her form -and the vigour of her youth in a glorifying way. -She went by perfectly motionless and as if lost in -meditation; only the hem of her skirt stirred in the -draught; the sun rays broke on her sleek tawny -hair; that bald-headed ruffian, Nicholas, was whack- -ing her on the shoulder. I saw his tiny fat arm -rise and fall in a workmanlike manner. And then -the four cottage windows of the Diana came into -view retreating swiftly down the river. The sashes -were up, and one of the white calico curtains was -fluttered straight out like a streamer above the agi- -tated water of the wake. - -To be thus tricked out of one's turn was an un- -heard of occurrence. In my agent's office, where I -went to complain at once, they protested with apol- -ogies they couldn't understand how the mistake -arose: but Schomberg when I dropped in later to get -some tiffin, though surprised to see me, was perfect- -ly ready with an explanation. I found him seated at -the end of a long narrow table, facing his wife--a -scraggy little woman, with long ringlets and a blue -tooth, who smiled abroad stupidly and looked -frightened when you spoke to her. Between them a -waggling punkah fanned twenty cane-bottomed -chairs and two rows of shiny plates. Three China- -men in white jackets loafed with napkins in their -hands around that desolation. Schomberg's pet -table d'hote was not much of a success that day. -He was feeding himself ferociously and seemed to -overflow with bitterness. - -He began by ordering in a brutal voice the chops -to be brought back for me, and turning in his chair: -"Mistake they told you? Not a bit of it! Don't -you believe it for a moment, captain! Falk isn't a -man to make mistakes unless on purpose." His -firm conviction was that Falk had been trying all -along to curry favour on the cheap with Hermann. -"On the cheap--mind you! It doesn't cost him a -cent to put that insult upon you, and Captain Her- -mann gets in a day ahead of your ship. Time's -money! Eh? You are very friendly with Captain -Hermann I believe, but a man is bound to be pleased -at any little advantage he may get. Captain Her- -mann is a good business man, and there's no such -thing as a friend in business. Is there?" He -leaned forward and began to cast stealthy glances -as usual. "But Falk is, and always was, a misera- -ble fellow. I would despise him." - -I muttered, grumpily, that I had no particular -respect for Falk. - -"I would despise him," he insisted, with an ap- -pearance of anxiety which would have amused me -if I had not been fathoms deep in discontent. To -a young man fairly conscientious and as well-mean- -ing as only the young man can be, the current ill- -usage of life comes with a peculiar cruelty. Youth -that is fresh enough to believe in guilt, in innocence, -and in itself, will always doubt whether it have not -perchance deserved its fate. Sombre of mind and -without appetite, I struggled with the chop while -Mrs. Schomberg sat with her everlasting stupid -grin and Schomberg's talk gathered way like a slide -of rubbish. - -"Let me tell you. It's all about that girl. I -don't know what Captain Hermann expects, but if -he asked me I could tell him something about Falk. -He's a miserable fellow. That man is a perfect -slave. That's what I call him. A slave. Last -year I started this table d'hote, and sent cards out ---you know. You think he had one meal in the -house? Give the thing a trial? Not once. He has -got hold now of a Madras cook--a blamed fraud -that I hunted out of my cookhouse with a rattan. -He was not fit to cook for white men. No, not for -the white men's dogs either; but, see, any damned -native that can boil a pot of rice is good enough for -Mr. Falk. Rice and a little fish he buys for a few -cents from the fishing boats outside is what he lives -on. You would hardly credit it--eh? A white -man, too. . . ." - -He wiped his lips, using the napkin with indig- -nation, and looking at me. It flashed through my -mind in the midst of my depression that if all the -meat in the town was like these table d'hote chops, -Falk wasn't so far wrong. I was on the point of -saying this, but Schomberg's stare was intimidat- -ing. "He's a vegetarian, perhaps," I murmured -instead. - -"He's a miser. A miserable miser," affirmed the -hotel-keeper with great force. "The meat here is -not so good as at home--of course. And dear too. -But look at me. I only charge a dollar for the tif- -fin, and one dollar and fifty cents for the dinner. -Show me anything cheaper. Why am I doing it? -There's little profit in this game. Falk wouldn't -look at it. I do it for the sake of a lot of young -white fellows here that hadn't a place where they -could get a decent meal and eat it decently in good -company. There's first-rate company always at -my table." - -The convinced way he surveyed the empty chairs -made me feel as if I had intruded upon a tiffin of -ghostly Presences. - -"A white man should eat like a white man, dash -it all," he burst out impetuously. "Ought to eat -meat, must eat meat. I manage to get meat for my -patrons all the year round. Don't I? I am not ca- -tering for a dam' lot of coolies: Have another chop -captain. . . . No? You, boy--take away!" - -He threw himself back and waited grimly for the -curry. The half-closed jalousies darkened the room -pervaded by the smell of fresh whitewash: a swarm -of flies buzzed and settled in turns, and poor Mrs. -Schomberg's smile seemed to express the quintes- -sence of all the imbecility that had ever spoken, had -ever breathed, had ever been fed on infamous buffalo -meat within these bare walls. Schomberg did not -open his lips till he was ready to thrust therein a -spoonful of greasy rice. He rolled his eyes ridicu- -lously before he swallowed the hot stuff, and only -then broke out afresh. - -"It is the most degrading thing. They take the -dish up to the wheelhouse for him with a cover on it, -and he shuts both the doors before he begins to eat. -Fact! Must be ashamed of himself. Ask the engi- -neer. He can't do without an engineer--don't you -see--and as no respectable man can be expected to -put up with such a table, he allows them fifteen dol- -lars a month extra mess money. I assure you it is -so! You just ask Mr. Ferdinand da Costa. That's -the engineer he has now. You may have seen him -about my place, a delicate dark young man, with -very fine eyes and a little moustache. He arrived -here a year ago from Calcutta. Between you and -me, I guess the money-lenders there must have been -after him. He rushes here for a meal every chance -he can get, for just please tell me what satisfaction -is that for a well-educated young fellow to feed all -alone in his cabin--like a wild beast? That's what -Falk expects his engineers to put up with for fifteen -dollars extra. And the rows on board every time a -little smell of cooking gets about the deck! You -wouldn't believe! The other day da Costa got the -cook to fry a steak for him--a turtle steak it was -too, not beef at all--and the fat caught or some- -thing. Young da Costa himself was telling me of -it here in this room. 'Mr. Schomberg'--says he-- -'if I had let a cylinder cover blow off through the -skylight by my negligence Captain Falk couldn't -have been more savage. He frightened the cook so -that he won't put anything on the fire for me now.' -Poor da Costa had tears in his eyes. Only try to -put yourself in his place, captain: a sensitive, gen- -tlemanly young fellow. Is he expected to eat his -food raw? But that's your Falk all over. Ask any -one you like. I suppose the fifteen dollars extra he -has to give keep on rankling--in there." - -And Schomberg tapped his manly breast. I sat -half stunned by his irrelevant babble. Suddenly -he gripped my forearm in an impressive and cau- -tious manner, as if to lead me into a very cavern of -confidence. - -"It's nothing but enviousness," he said in a low- -ered tone, which had a stimulating effect upon my -wearied hearing. "I don't suppose there is one -person in this town that he isn't envious of. I tell -you he's dangerous. Even I myself am not safe -from him. I know for certain he tried to poi- -son . . . ." - -"Oh, come now," I cried, revolted. - -"But I know for certain. The people themselves -came and told me of it. He went about saying -everywhere I was a worse pest to this town than the -cholera. He had been talking against me ever since -I opened this hotel. And he poisoned Captain Her- -mann's mind too. Last time the Diana was loading -here Captain Hermann used to come in every day -for a drink or a cigar. This time he hasn't been -here twice in a week. How do you account for -that?" - -He squeezed my arm till he extorted from me -some sort of mumble. - -"He makes ten times the money I do. I've -another hotel to fight against, and there is no other -tug on the river. I am not in his way, am I? He -wouldn't be fit to run an hotel if he tried. But that's -just his nature. He can't bear to think I am mak- -ing a living. I only hope it makes him properly -wretched. He's like that in everything. He -would like to keep a decent table well enough. -But no--for the sake of a few cents. Can't do it. -It's too much for him. That's what I call being a -slave to it. But he's mean enough to kick up a row -when his nose gets tickled a bit. See that? That -just paints him. Miserly and envious. You can't -account for it any other way. Can you? I have -been studying him these three years." - -He was anxious I should assent to his theory. -And indeed on thinking it over it would have been -plausible enough if there hadn't been always the -essential falseness of irresponsibility in Schom- -berg's chatter. However, I was not disposed to in- -vestigate the psychology of Falk. I was engaged -just then in eating despondently a piece of stale -Dutch cheese, being too much crushed to care what -I swallowed myself, let along bothering my head -about Falk's ideas of gastronomy. I could expect -from their study no clue to his conduct in matters -of business, which seemed to me totally unrestrained -by morality or even by the commonest sort of de- -cency. How insignificant and contemptible I must -appear, for the fellow to dare treat me like this--I -reflected suddenly, writhing in silent agony. And -I consigned Falk and all his peculiarities to the devil -with so much mental fervour as to forget Schom- -berg's existence, till he grabbed my arm urgently. -"Well, you may think and think till every hair of -your head falls off, captain; but you can't explain -it in any other way." - -For the sake of peace and quietness I admitted -hurriedly that I couldn't: persuaded that now he -would leave off. But the only result was to make -his moist face shine with the pride of cunning. He -removed his hand for a moment to scare a black -mass of flies off the sugar-basin and caught hold of -my arm again. - -"To be sure. And in the same way everybody is -aware he would like to get married. Only he can't. -Let me quote you an instance. Well, two years ago -a Miss Vanlo, a very ladylike girl, came from home -to keep house for her brother, Fred, who had an en- -gineering shop for small repairs by the water side. -Suddenly Falk takes to going up to their bunga- -low after dinner, and sitting for hours in the veran- -dah saying nothing. The poor girl couldn't tell -for the life of her what to do with such a man, so she -would keep on playing the piano and singing to -him evening after evening till she was ready to -drop. And it wasn't as if she had been a strong -young woman either. She was thirty, and the cli- -mate had been playing the deuce with her. Then-- -don't you know--Fred had to sit up with them for -propriety, and during whole weeks on end never got -a single chance to get to bed before midnight. -That was not pleasant for a tired man--was it? -And besides Fred had worries then because his shop -didn't pay and he was dropping money fast. He -just longed to get away from here and try his luck -somewhere else, but for the sake of his sister he -hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his -ears--I can tell you. I, myself, could show a hand- -ful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer. -I could never find out tho' where he found all the -money at last. Can't be but he must have got some- -thing out of that brother of his, a coal merchant in -Port Said. Anyhow he paid everybody before he -left, but the girl nearly broke her heart. Disap- -pointment, of course, and at her age, don't you -know. . . . Mrs. Schomberg here was very friendly -with her, and she could tell you. Awful despair. -Fainting fits. It was a scandal. A notorious scan- -dal. To that extent that old Mr. Siegers--not -your present charterer, but Mr. Siegers the father, -the old gentleman who retired from business on a -fortune and got buried at sea going home, HE had -to interview Falk in his private office. He was a -man who could speak like a Dutch Uncle, and, be- -sides, Messrs. Siegers had been helping Falk with -a good bit of money from the start. In fact you -may say they made him as far as that goes. -It so happened that just at the time he turned up -here, their firm was chartering a lot of sailing ships -every year, and it suited their business that there -should be good towing facilities on the river. See? -. . . Well--there's always an ear at the keyhole-- -isn't there? In fact," he lowered his tone confiden- -tially, "in this case a good friend of mine; a man -you can see here any evening; only they conversed -rather low. Anyhow my friend's certain that Falk -was trying to make all sorts of excuses, and old Mr. -Siegers was coughing a lot. And yet Falk wanted -all the time to be married too. Why! It's notorious -the man has been longing for years to make a home -for himself. Only he can't face the expense. -When it comes to putting his hand in his pocket-- -it chokes him off. That's the truth and no other. -I've always said so, and everybody agrees with me -by this time. What do you think of that--eh?" - -He appealed confidently to my indignation, but -having a mind to annoy him I remarked, "that it -seemed to me very pitiful--if true." - -He bounced in his chair as if I had run a pin into -him. I don't know what he might have said, only -at that moment we heard through the half open -door of the billiard-room the footsteps of two men -entering from the verandah, a murmur of two -voices; at the sharp tapping of a coin on a table -Mrs. Schomberg half rose irresolutely. "Sit still," -he hissed at her, and then, in an hospitable, jovial -tone, contrasting amazingly with the angry glance -that had made his wife sink in her chair, he cried -very loud: "Tiffin still going on in here, gentle- -men." - -There was no answer, but the voices dropped sud- -denly. The head Chinaman went out. We heard -the clink of ice in the glasses, pouring sounds, the -shuffling of feet, the scraping of chairs. Schom- -berg, after wondering in a low mutter who the devil -could be there at this time of the day, got up napkin -in hand to peep through the doorway cautiously. -He retreated rapidly on tip-toe, and whispering be- -hind his hand informed me that it was Falk, Falk -himself who was in there, and, what's more, he had -Captain Hermann with him. - -The return of the tug from the outer Roads was -unexpected but possible, for Falk had taken away -the Diana at half-past five, and it was now two -o'clock. Schomberg wished me to observe that -neither of these men would spend a dollar on a tiffin, -which they must have wanted. But by the time I -was ready to leave the dining-room Falk had gone. -I heard the last of his big boots on the planks of -the verandah. Hermann was sitting quite alone in -the large, wooden room with the two lifeless billiard -tables shrouded in striped covers, mopping his face -diligently. He wore his best go-ashore clothes, a -stiff collar, black coat, large white waistcoat, grey -trousers. A white cotton sunshade with a cane han- -dle reposed between his legs, his side whiskers were -neatly brushed, his chin had been freshly shaved; -and he only distantly resembled the dishevelled and -terrified man in a snuffy night shirt and ignoble old -trousers I had seen in the morning hanging on to -the wheel of the Diana. - -He gave a start at my entrance, and addressed -me at once in some confusion, but with genuine ea- -gerness. He was anxious to make it clear he had -nothing to do with what he called the "tam piz- -ness" of the morning. It was most inconvenient. -He had reckoned upon another day up in town to -settle his bills and sign certain papers. There were -also some few stores to come, and sundry pieces of -"my ironwork," as he called it quaintly, landed for -repairs, had been left behind. Now he would have -to hire a native boat to take all this out to the ship. -It would cost five or six dollars perhaps. He had -had no warning from Falk. Nothing. . . . He -hit the table with his dumpy fist. . . . Der ver- -fluchte Kerl came in the morning like a "tam' -ropper," making a great noise, and took him away. -His mate was not prepared, his ship was moored -fast--he protested it was shameful to come upon -a man in that way. Shameful! Yet such was the -power Falk had on the river that when I suggested -in a chilling tone that he might have simply refused -to have his ship moved, Hermann was quite startled -at the idea. I never realised so well before that this -is an age of steam. The exclusive possession of a -marine boiler had given Falk the whiphand of us -all. Hermann, recovering, put it to me appealingly -that I knew very well how unsafe it was to contra- -dict that fellow. At this I only smiled distantly. - -"Der Kerl!" he cried. He was sorry he had not -refused. He was indeed. The damage! The dam- -age! What for all that damage! There was no -occasion for damage. Did I know how much dam- -age he had done? It gave me a certain satisfaction -to tell him that I had heard his old waggon of a -ship crack fore and aft as she went by. "You -passed close enough to me," I added significantly. - -He threw both his hands up to heaven at the rec- -ollection. One of them grasped by the middle the -white parasol, and he resembled curiously a carica- -ture of a shopkeeping citizen in one of his own Ger- -man comic papers. "Ach! That was dangerous," -he cried. I was amused. But directly he added -with an appearance of simplicity, "The side of -your iron ship would have been crushed in like-- -like this matchbox." - -"Would it?" I growled, much less amused now; -but by the time I had decided that this remark was -not meant for a dig at me he had worked himself -into a high state of resentfulness against Falk. -The inconvenience, the damage, the expense! Gott- -ferdam! Devil take the fellow. Behind the bar -Schomberg with a cigar in his teeth, pretended to -be writing with a pencil on a large sheet of paper; -and as Hermann's excitement increased it made me -comfortingly aware of my own calmness and supe- -riority. But it occurred to me while I listened to -his revilings, that after all the good man had come -up in the tug. There perhaps--since he must come -to town--he had no option. But evidently he had -had a drink with Falk, either accepted or offered. -How was that? So I checked him by saying loftily -that I hoped he would make Falk pay for every -penny of the damage. - -"That's it! That's it! Go for him," called out -Schomberg from the bar, flinging his pencil down -and rubbing his hands. - -We ignored his noise. But Hermann's excite- -ment suddenly went off the boil as when you remove -a saucepan from the fire. I urged on his considera- -tion that he had done now with Falk and Falk's con- -founded tug. He, Hermann, would not, perhaps, -turn up again in this part of the world for years to -come, since he was going to sell the Diana at the end -of this very trip ("Go home passenger in a mail -boat," he murmured mechanically). He was there- -fore safe from Falk's malice. All he had to do was -to race off to his consignees and stop payment of -the towage bill before Falk had the time to get in -and lift the money. - -Nothing could have been less in the spirit of my -advice than the thoughtful way in which he set -about to make his parasol stay propped against the -edge of the table. - -While I watched his concentrated efforts with as- -tonishment he threw at me one or two perplexed, -half-shy glances. Then he sat down. "That's all -very well," he said reflectively. - -It cannot be doubted that the man had been -thrown off his balance by being hauled out of the -harbour against his wish. His stolidity had been -profoundly stirred, else he would never have made -up his mind to ask me unexpectedly whether I had -not remarked that Falk had been casting eyes upon -his niece. "No more than myself," I answered with -literal truth. The girl was of the sort one necessa- -rily casts eyes at in a sense. She made no noise, -but she filled most satisfactorily a good bit of space. - -"But you, captain, are not the same kind of -man," observed Hermann. - -I was not, I am happy to say, in a position to -deny this. "What about the lady?" I could not -help asking. At this he gazed for a time into my -face, earnestly, and made as if to change the sub- -ject. I heard him beginning to mutter something -unexpected, about his children growing old enough -to require schooling. He would have to leave them -ashore with their grandmother when he took up that -new command he expected to get in Germany. - -This constant harping on his domestic arrange- -ments was funny. I suppose it must have been like -the prospect of a complete alteration in his life. An -epoch. He was going, too, to part with the Diana! -He had served in her for years. He had inherited -her. From an uncle, if I remember rightly. And -the future loomed big before him, occupying his -thought exclusively with all its aspects as on the -eve of a venturesome enterprise. He sat there -frowning and biting his lip, and suddenly he began -to fume and fret. - -I discovered to my momentary amusement that -he seemed to imagine I could, should or ought, -have caused Falk in some way to pronounce him- -self. Such a hope was incomprehensible, but funny. -Then the contact with all this foolishness irritated -me. I said crossly that I had seen no symptoms, -but if there were any--since he, Hermann, was so -sure--then it was still worse. What pleasure Falk -found in humbugging people in just that way I -couldn't say. It was, however, my solemn duty to -warn him. It had lately, I said, come to my knowl- -edge that there was a man (not a very long time -ago either) who had been taken in just like this. - -All this passed in undertones, and at this point -Schomberg, exasperated at our secrecy, went out -of the room slamming the door with a crash that -positively lifted us in our chairs. This, or else what -I had said, huffed my Hermann, He supposed, with -a contemptuous toss of his head towards the door -which trembled yet, that I had got hold of some of -that man's silly tales. It looked, indeed, as though -his mind had been thoroughly poisoned against -Schomberg. "His tales were--they were," he re- -peated, seeking for the word--"trash." They -were trash, he reiterated, and moreover I was young -yet . . . - -This horrid aspersion (I regret I am no longer -exposed to that sort of insult) made me huffy too. -I felt ready in my own mind to back up every asser- -tion of Schomberg's and on any subject. In a mo- -ment, devil only knows why, Hermann and I were -looking at each other most inimically. He caught -up his hat without more ado and I gave myself the -pleasure of calling after him: - -"Take my advice and make Falk pay for break- -ing up your ship. You aren't likely to get any- -thing else out of him." - -When I got on board my ship later on, the old -mate, who was very full of the events of the morn- -ing, remarked: - -"I saw the tug coming back from the outer Roads -just before two P.M." (He never by any chance used -the words morning or afternoon. Always P.M. or -A.M., log-book style.) "Smart work that. Man's -always in a state of hurry. He's a regular -chucker-out, ain't he, sir? There's a few pubs I -know of in the East-end of London that would be -all the better for one of his sort around the bar." -He chuckled at his joke. "A regular chucker-out. -Now he has fired out that Dutchman head over heels, -I suppose our turn's coming to-morrow morning." - -We were all on deck at break of day (even the -sick--poor devils--had crawled out) ready to cast -off in the twinkling of an eye. Nothing came. -Falk did not come. At last, when I began to think -that probably something had gone wrong in his -engine-room, we perceived the tug going by, full -pelt, down the river, as if we hadn't existed. For a -moment I entertained the wild notion that he was -going to turn round in the next reach. Afterwards -I watched his smoke appear above the plain, now -here, now there, according to the windings of the -river. It disappeared. Then without a word I -went down to breakfast. I just simply went down -to breakfast. - -Not one of us uttered a sound till the mate, after -imbibing--by means of suction out of a saucer-- -his second cup of tea, exclaimed: "Where the devil -is the man gone to?" - -"Courting!" I shouted, with such a fiendish -laugh that the old chap didn't venture to open his -lips any more. - -I started to the office perfectly calm. Calm with -excessive rage. Evidently they knew all about it -already, and they treated me to a show of conster- -nation. The manager, a soft-footed, immensely -obese man, breathing short, got up to meet me, -while all round the room the young clerks, bend- -ing over the papers on their desks, cast upward -glances in my direction. The fat man, without -waiting for my complaint, wheezing heavily and -in a tone as if he himself were incredulous, con- -veyed to me the news that Falk--Captain Falk-- -had declined--had absolutely declined--to tow my -ship--to have anything to do with my ship--this -day or any other day. Never! - -I did my best to preserve a cool appearance, but, -all the same, I must have shown how much taken -aback I was. We were talking in the middle of the -room. Suddenly behind my back some ass blew -his nose with great force, and at the same time an- -other quill-driver jumped up and went out on the -landing hastily. It occurred to me I was cutting -a foolish figure there. I demanded angrily to see -the principal in his private room. - -The skin of Mr. Siegers' head showed dead white -between the iron grey streaks of hair lying plas- -tered cross-wise from ear to ear over the top of his -skull in the manner of a bandage. His narrow -sunken face was of an uniform and permanent ter- -ra-cotta colour, like a piece of pottery. He was -sickly, thin, and short, with wrists like a boy of ten. -But from that debile body there issued a bullying -voice, tremendously loud, harsh and resonant, as -if produced by some powerful mechanical contriv- -ance in the nature of a fog-horn. I do not know -what he did with it in the private life of his home, -but in the larger sphere of business it presented the -advantage of overcoming arguments without the -slightest mental effort, by the mere volume of -sound. We had had several passages of arms. It -took me all I knew to guard the interests of my -owners--whom, nota bene, I had never seen--while -Siegers (who had made their acquaintance some -years before, during a business tour in Australia) -pretended to the knowledge of their innermost -minds, and, in the character of "our very good -friends," threw them perpetually at my head. - -He looked at me with a jaundiced eye (there was -no love lost between us), and declared at once that -it was strange, very strange. His pronunciation -of English was so extravagant that I can't even -attempt to reproduce it. For instance, he said -"Fferie strantch." Combined with the bellowing -intonation it made the language of one's childhood -sound weirdly startling, and even if considered -purely as a kind of unmeaning noise it filled you -with astonishment at first. "They had," he con- -tinued, "been acquainted with Captain Falk for -very many years, and never had any reason. . . ." - -"That's why I come to you, of course," I inter- -rupted. "I've the right to know the meaning of -this infernal nonsense." In the half light of the -room, which was greenish, because of the tree-tops -screening the window, I saw him writhe his meagre -shoulders. It came into my head, as disconnected -ideas will come at all sorts of times into one's head, -that this, most likely, was the very room where, if -the tale were true, Falk had been lectured by Mr. -Siegers, the father. Mr. Siegers' (the son's) over- -whelming voice, in brassy blasts, as though he had -been trying to articulate his words through a trom- -bone, was expressing his great regret at a conduct -characterised by a very marked want of discre- -tion. . . As I lived I was being lectured too! His -deafening gibberish was difficult to follow, but it -was MY conduct--mine!--that . . . Damn! I -wasn't going to stand this. - -"What on earth are you driving at?" I asked -in a passion. I put my hat on my head (he never -offered a seat to anybody), and as he seemed for -the moment struck dumb by my irreverence, I -turned my back on him and marched out. His vo- -cal arrangements blared after me a few threats of -coming down on the ship for the demurrage of the -lighters, and all the other expenses consequent -upon the delays arising from my frivolity. - -Once outside in the sunshine my head swam. It -was no longer a question of mere delay. I per- -ceived myself involved in hopeless and humiliating -absurdities that were leading me to something very -like a disaster. "Let us be calm," I muttered to -myself, and ran into the shade of a leprous wall. -From that short side-street I could see the broad -main thoroughfare ruinous and gay, running -away, away between stretches of decaying mason- -ry, bamboo fences, ranges of arcades of brick and -plaster, hovels of lath and mud, lofty temple gates -of carved timber, huts of rotten mats--an im- -mensely wide thoroughfare, loosely packed as far -as the eye could reach with a barefooted and brown -multitude paddling ankle deep in the dust. For a -moment I felt myself about to go out of my mind -with worry and desperation. - -Some allowance must be made for the feelings -of a young man new to responsibility. I thought -of my crew. Half of them were ill, and I really -began to think that some of them would end by dy- -ing on board if I couldn't get them out to sea soon. -Obviously I should have to take my ship down the -river, either working under canvas or dredging -with the anchor down; operations which, in com- -mon with many modern sailors, I only knew theo- -retically. And I almost shrank from undertaking -them shorthanded and without local knowledge -of the river bed, which is so necessary for the con- -fident handling of the ship. There were no pilots, -no beacons, no buoys of any sort; but there was a -very devil of a current for anybody to see, no end -of shoal places, and at least two obviously awkward -turns of the channel between me and the sea. But -how dangerous these turns were I would not tell. I -didn't even know what my ship was capable of! -I had never handled her in my life. A misunder- -standing between a man and his ship in a difficult -river with no room to make it up, is bound to end in -trouble for the man. On the other hand, it must -be owned I had not much reason to count upon a -general run of good luck. And suppose I had the -misfortune to pile her up high and dry on some -beastly shoal? That would have been the final un- -doing of that voyage. It was plain that if Falk -refused to tow me out he would also refuse to pull -me off. This meant--what? A day lost at the -very best; but more likely a whole fortnight of -frizzling on some pestilential mudflat, of desperate -work, of discharging cargo; more than likely it -meant borrowing money at an exorbitant rate of -interest--from the Siegers' gang too at that. They -were a power in the port. And that elderly seaman -of mine, Gambril, had looked pretty ghastly when -I went forward to dose him with quinine that morn- -ing. HE would certainly die--not to speak of two -or three others that seemed nearly as bad, and of -the rest of them just ready to catch any tropical -disease going. Horror, ruin and everlasting re- -morse. And no help. None. I had fallen amongst -a lot of unfriendly lunatics! - -At any rate, if I must take my ship down myself -it was my duty to procure if possible some local -knowledge. But that was not easy. The only per- -son I could think of for that service was a certain -Johnson, formerly captain of a country ship, but -now spliced to a country wife and gone utterly to -the bad. I had only heard of him in the vaguest -way, as living concealed in the thick of two hundred -thousand natives, and only emerging into the light -of day for the purpose of hunting up some brandy. -I had a notion that if I could lay my hands on him -I would sober him on board my ship and use him -for a pilot. Better than nothing. Once a sailor -always a sailor--and he had known the river for -years. But in our Consulate (where I arrived drip- -ping after a sharp walk) they could tell me noth- -ing. The excellent young men on the staff, though -willing to help me, belonged to a sphere of the -white colony for which that sort of Johnson does -not exist. Their suggestion was that I should hunt -the man up myself with the help of the Consulate's -constable--an ex-sergeant-major of a regiment of -Hussars. - -This man, whose usual duty apparently consisted -in sitting behind a little table in an outer room -of Consular offices, when ordered to assist me in -my search for Johnson displayed lots of energy -and a marvellous amount of local knowledge of a -sort. But he did not conceal an immense and scep- -tical contempt for the whole business. We explored -together on that afternoon an infinity of infamous -grog shops, gambling dens, opium dens. We -walked up narrow lanes where our gharry--a tiny -box of a thing on wheels, attached to a jibbing Bur- -mah pony--could by no means have passed. The -constable seemed to be on terms of scornful inti- -macy with Maltese, with Eurasians, with China- -men, with Klings, and with the sweepers attached -to a temple, with whom he talked at the gate. We -interviewed also through a grating in a mud wall -closing a blind alley an immensely corpulent Ital- -ian, who, the ex-sergeant-major remarked to me -perfunctorily, had "killed another man last year." -Thereupon he addressed him as "Antonio" and -"Old Buck," though that bloated carcase, appar- -ently more than half filling the sort of cell where- -in it sat, recalled rather a fat pig in a stye. Fa- -miliar and never unbending, the sergeant chucked ---absolutely chucked--under the chin a horribly -wrinkled and shrivelled old hag propped on a stick, -who had volunteered some sort of information: and -with the same stolid face he kept up an animated -conversation with the groups of swathed brown -women, who sat smoking cheroots on the door-steps -of a long range of clay hovels. We got out of the -gharry and clambered into dwellings airy like -packing crates, or descended into places sinister -like cellars. We got in, we drove on, we got out -again for the sole purpose, as it seemed, of looking -behind a heap of rubble. The sun declined; my -companion was curt and sardonic in his answers, -but it appears we were just missing Johnson all -along. At last our conveyance stopped once more -with a jerk, and the driver jumping down opened -the door. - -A black mudhole blocked the lane. A mound of -garbage crowned with the dead body of a dog ar- -rested us not. An empty Australian beef tin -bounded cheerily before the toe of my boot. Sud- -denly we clambered through a gap in a prickly -fence. . . . - -It was a very clean native compound: and the -big native woman, with bare brown legs as thick -as bedposts, pursuing on all fours a silver dollar -that came rolling out from somewhere, was Mrs. -Johnson herself. "Your man's at home," said the -ex-sergeant, and stepped aside in complete and -marked indifference to anything that might follow. -Johnson--at home--stood with his back to a native -house built on posts and with its walls made of -mats. In his left hand he held a banana. Out of -the right he dealt another dollar into space. The -woman captured this one on the wing, and there -and then plumped down on the ground to look at -us with greater comfort. - -My man was sallow of face, grizzled, unshaven, -muddy on elbows and back; where the seams of his -serge coat yawned you could see his white naked- -ness. The vestiges of a paper collar encircled his -neck. He looked at us with a grave, swaying sur- -prise. "Where do you come from?" he asked. -My heart sank. How could I have been stupid -enough to waste energy and time for this? - -But having already gone so far I approached a -little nearer and declared the purpose of my visit. -He would have to come at once with me, sleep on -board my ship, and to-morrow, with the first of the -ebb, he would give me his assistance in getting my -ship down to the sea, without steam. A six-hun- -dred-ton barque, drawing nine feet aft. I pro- -posed to give him eighteen dollars for his local -knowledge; and all the time I was speaking he -kept on considering attentively the various aspects -of the banana, holding first one side up to his eye, -then the other. - -"You've forgotten to apologise," he said at last -with extreme precision. "Not being a gentleman -yourself, you don't know apparently when you in- -trude upon a gentleman. I am one. I wish you to -understand that when I am in funds I don't work, -and now . . ." - -I would have pronounced him perfectly sober -hadn't he paused in great concern to try and brush -a hole off the knee of his trousers. - -"I have money--and friends. Every gentle- -man has. Perhaps you would like to know my -friend? His name is Falk. You could borrow -some money. Try to remember. F-A-L-K, Falk." -Abruptly his tone changed. "A noble heart," he -said muzzily. - -"Has Falk been giving you some money?" I -asked, appalled by the detailed finish of the dark -plot. - -"Lent me, my good man, not given me. Lent," -he corrected suavely. "Met me taking the air -last evening, and being as usual anxious to oblige --- Hadn't you better go to the devil out of my -compound?" - -And upon this, without other warning, he let -fly with the banana which missed my head, and took -the constable just under the left eye. He rushed -at the miserable Johnson, stammering with fury. -They fell. . . . But why dwell on the wretched- -ness, the breathlessness, the degradation, the sense- -lessness, the weariness, the ridicule and humiliation -and--and--the perspiration, of these moments? I -dragged the ex-hussar off. He was like a wild -beast. It seems he had been greatly annoyed at -losing his free afternoon on my account. The gar- -den of his bungalow required his personal atten- -tion, and at the slight blow of the banana the brute -in him had broken loose. We left Johnson on his -back, still black in the face, but beginning to kick -feebly. Meantime, the big woman had remained -sitting on the ground, apparently paralysed with -extreme terror. - -For half an hour we jolted inside our rolling -box, side by side, in profound silence. The ex-ser- -geant was busy staunching the blood of a long -scratch on his cheek. "I hope you're satisfied," he -said suddenly. "That's what comes of all that -tomfool business. If you hadn't quarrelled with -that tugboat skipper over some girl or other, all -this wouldn't have happened." - -"You heard THAT story?" I said. - -"Of course I heard. And I shouldn't wonder if -the Consul-General himself doesn't come to hear -of it. How am I to go before him to-morrow with -that thing on my cheek--I want to know. Its -YOU who ought to have got this!" - -After that, till the gharry stopped and he -jumped out without leave-taking, he swore to him- -self steadily, horribly; muttering great, purpose- -ful, trooper oaths, to which the worst a sailor can -do is like the prattle of a child. For my part I had -just the strength to crawl into Schomberg's coffee- -room, where I wrote at a little table a note to the -mate instructing him to get everything ready for -dropping down the river next day. I couldn't -face my ship. Well! she had a clever sort of skip- -per and no mistake--poor thing! What a horrid -mess! I took my head between my hands. At -times the obviousness of my innocence would reduce -me to despair. What had I done? If I had done -something to bring about the situation I should at -least have learned not to do it again. But I felt -guiltless to the point of imbecility. The room was -empty yet; only Schomberg prowled round me -goggle-eyed and with a sort of awed respectful cu- -riosity. No doubt he had set the story going him- -self; but he was a good-hearted chap, and I am -really persuaded he participated in all my troubles. -He did what he could for me. He ranged aside the -heavy matchstand, set a chair straight, pushed a -spittoon slightly with his foot--as you show small -attentions to a friend under a great sorrow-- -sighed, and at last, unable to hold his tongue: - -"Well! I warned you, captain. That's what -comes of running your head against Mr. Falk. -Man'll stick at nothing." - -I sat without stirring, and after surveying me -with a sort of commiseration in his eyes he burst -out in a hoarse whisper: "But for a fine lump of -a girl, she's a fine lump of a girl." He made a loud -smacking noise with his thick lips. "The finest -lump of a girl that I ever . . ." he was going on -with great unction, but for some reason or other -broke off. I fancied myself throwing something -at his head. "I don't blame you, captain. Hang -me if I do," he said with a patronising air. - -"Thank you," I said resignedly. It was no use -fighting against this false fate. I don't know even -if I was sure myself where the truth of the matter -began. The conviction that it would end disas- -trously had been driven into me by all the succes- -sive shocks my sense of security had received. I -began to ascribe an extraordinary potency to -agents in themselves powerless. It was as if -Schomberg's baseless gossip had the power to bring -about the thing itself or the abstract enmity of -Falk could put my ship ashore. - -I have already explained how fatal this last -would have been. For my further action, my -youth, my inexperience, my very real concern for -the health of my crew must be my excuse. The ac- -tion itself, when it came, was purely impulsive. It -was set in movement quite undiplomatically and -simply by Falk's appearance in the doorway. - -The room was full by then and buzzing with -voices. I had been looked at with curiosity by -every one, but how am I to describe the sensation -produced by the appearance of Falk himself block- -ing the doorway? The tension of expectation -could be measured by the profundity of the silence -that fell upon the very click of the billiard balls. -As to Schomberg, he looked extremely frightened; -he hated mortally any sort of row (fracas he called -it) in his establishment. Fracas was bad for busi- -ness, he affirmed; but, in truth, this specimen of -portly, middle-aged manhood was of a timid dis- -position. I don't know what, considering my pres- -ence in the place, they all hoped would come of it. -A sort of stag fight, perhaps. Or they may have -supposed Falk had come in only to annihilate me -completely. As a matter of fact, Falk had come in -because Hermann had asked him to inquire after the -precious white cotton parasol which, in the worry -and excitement of the previous day, he had forgot- -ten at the table where we had held our little discus- -sion. - -It was this that gave me my opportunity. I -don't think I would have gone to seek Falk out. -No. I don't think so. There are limits. But there -was an opportunity and I seized it--I have already -tried to explain why. Now I will merely state that, -in my opinion, to get his sickly crew into the sea -air and secure a quick despatch for his ship a skip- -per would be justified in going to any length, short -of absolute crime. He should put his pride in his -pocket; he may accept confidences; explain his in- -nocence as if it were a sin; he may take advantage -of misconceptions, of desires and of weaknesses; he -ought to conceal his horror and other emotions, -and, if the fate of a human being, and that human -being a magnificent young girl, is strangely in- -volved--why, he should contemplate that fate -(whatever it might seem to be) without turning a -hair. And all these things I have done; the ex- -plaining, the listening, the pretending--even to -the discretion--and nobody, not even Hermann's -niece, I believe, need throw stones at me now. -Schomberg at all events needn't, since from first to -last, I am happy to say, there was not the slightest -"fracas." - -Overcoming a nervous contraction of the wind- -pipe, I had managed to exclaim "Captain Falk!" -His start of surprise was perfectly genuine, but -afterwards he neither smiled nor scowled. He sim- -ply waited. Then, when I had said, "I must have -a talk with you," and had pointed to a chair at my -table, he moved up to me, though he didn't sit -down. Schomberg, however, with a long tumbler -in his hand, was making towards us prudently, and -I discovered then the only sign of weakness in Falk. -He had for Schomberg a repulsion resembling that -sort of physical fear some people experience at the -sight of a toad. Perhaps to a man so essentially -and silently concentrated upon himself (though he -could talk well enough, as I was to find out -presently) the other's irrepressible loquacity, em- -bracing every human being within range of the -tongue, might have appeared unnatural, disgust- -ing, and monstrous. He suddenly gave signs of -restiveness--positively like a horse about to rear, -and, muttering hurriedly as if in great pain, "No. -I can't stand that fellow," seemed ready to bolt. -This weakness of his gave me the advantage at the -very start. "Verandah," I suggested, as if ren- -dering him a service, and walked him out by the -arm. We stumbled over a few chairs; we had the -feeling of open space before us, and felt the fresh -breath of the river--fresh, but tainted. The Chi- -nese theatres across the water made, in the sparsely -twinkling masses of gloom an Eastern town pre- -sents at night, blazing centres of light, and of a -distant and howling uproar. I felt him become -suddenly tractable again like an animal, like a -good-tempered horse when the object that scares -him is removed. Yes. I felt in the darkness there -how tractable he was, without my conviction of his -inflexibility--tenacity, rather, perhaps--being in -the least weakened. His very arm abandoning it- -self to my grasp was as hard as marble--like a limb -of iron. But I heard a tumultuous scuffling of -boot-soles within. The unspeakable idiots inside -were crowding to the windows, climbing over each -other's backs behind the blinds, billiard cues and all. -Somebody broke a window pane, and with the sound -of falling glass, so suggestive of riot and devasta- -tion, Schomberg reeled out after us in a state of -funk which had prevented his parting with his -brandy and soda. He must have trembled like an -aspen leaf. The piece of ice in the long tumbler -he held in his hand tinkled with an effect of chat- -tering teeth. "I beg you, gentlemen," he expost- -ulated thickly. "Come! Really, now, I must in- -sist . . ." - -How proud I am of my presence of mind! -"Hallo," I said instantly in a loud and naive tone, -"somebody's breaking your windows, Schomberg. -Would you please tell one of your boys to bring -out here a pack of cards and a couple of lights? -And two long drinks. Will you?" - -To receive an order soothed him at once. It was -business. "Certainly," he said in an immensely -relieved tone. The night was rainy, with wander- -ing gusts of wind, and while we waited for the can- -dles Falk said, as if to justify his panic, "I don't -interfere in anybody's business. I don't give any -occasion for talk. I am a respectable man. But -this fellow is always making out something wrong, -and can never rest till he gets somebody to believe -him." - -This was the first of my knowledge of Falk. -This desire of respectability, of being like every- -body else, was the only recognition he vouchsafed -to the organisation of mankind. For the rest he -might have been the member of a herd, not of a so- -ciety. Self-preservation was his only concern. -Not selfishness, but mere self-preservation. Sel- -fishness presupposes consciousness, choice, the pres- -ence of other men; but his instinct acted as though -he were the last of mankind nursing that law like -the only spark of a sacred fire. I don't mean to -say that living naked in a cavern would have satis- -fied him. Obviously he was the creature of the -conditions to which he was born. No doubt self- -preservation meant also the preservation of these -conditions. But essentially it meant something -much more simple, natural, and powerful. How -shall I express it? It meant the preservation of the -five senses of his body--let us say--taking it in its -narrowest as well as in its widest meaning. I think -you will admit before long the justice of this judg- -ment. However, as we stood there together in the -dark verandah I had judged nothing as yet--and -I had no desire to judge--which is an idle practice -anyhow. The light was long in coming. - -"Of course," I said in a tone of mutual under- -standing, "it isn't exactly a game of cards I want -with you." - -I saw him draw his hands down his face--the -vague stir of the passionate and meaningless ges- -ture; but he waited in silent patience. It was only -when the lights had been brought out that he -opened his lips. I understood his mumble to mean -that "he didn't know any game." - -"Like this Schomberg and all the other fools -will have to keep off," I said tearing open the pack. -"Have you heard that we are universally supposed -to be quarrelling about a girl? You know who-- -of course. I am really ashamed to ask, but is it -possible that you do me the honour to think me dan- -gerous?" - -As I said these words I felt how absurd it was -and also I felt flattered--for, really, what else -could it be? His answer, spoken in his usual dis- -passionate undertone, made it clear that it was so, -but not precisely as flattering as I supposed. He -thought me dangerous with Hermann, more than -with the girl herself; but, as to quarrelling, I saw -at once how inappropriate the word was. We had -no quarrel. Natural forces are not quarrelsome. -You can't quarrel with the wind that inconveniences -and humiliates you by blowing off your hat in a -street full of people. He had no quarrel with me. -Neither would a boulder, falling on my head, have -had. He fell upon me in accordance with the law -by which he was moved--not of gravitation, like a -detached stone, but of self-preservation. Of course -this is giving it a rather wide interpretation. -Strictly speaking, he had existed and could have -existed without being married. Yet he told me that -he had found it more and more difficult to live -alone. Yes. He told me this in his low, careless -voice, to such a pitch of confidence had we arrived -at the end of half an hour. - -It took me just about that time to convince him -that I had never dreamed of marrying Hermann's -niece. Could any necessity have been more extrava- -gant? And the difficulty was the greater because -he was so hard hit that he couldn't imagine any- -body being able to remain in a state of indifference. -Any man with eyes in his head, he seemed to think, -could not help coveting so much bodily magnifi- -cence. This profound belief was conveyed by the -manner he listened sitting sideways to the table and -playing absently with a few cards I had dealt to -him at random. And the more I saw into him the -more I saw of him. The wind swayed the lights -so that his sunburnt face, whiskered to the eyes, -seemed to successively flicker crimson at me and to -go out. I saw the extraordinary breadth of the -high cheek-bones, the perpendicular style of the -features, the massive forehead, steep like a cliff, -denuded at the top, largely uncovered at the tem- -ples. The fact is I had never before seen him with- -out his hat; but now, as if my fervour had made -him hot, he had taken it off and laid it gently on -the floor. Something peculiar in the shape and -setting of his yellow eyes gave them the provoking -silent intensity which characterised his glance. -But the face was thin, furrowed, worn; I discov- -ered that through the bush of his hair, as you may -detect the gnarled shape of a tree trunk lost in a -dense undergrowth. These overgrown cheeks were -sunken. It was an anchorite's bony head fitted with -a Capuchin's beard and adjusted to a herculean -body. I don't mean athletic. Hercules, I take it, -was not an athlete. He was a strong man, suscep- -tible to female charms, and not afraid of dirt. -And thus with Falk, who was a strong man. He -was extremely strong, just as the girl (since I -must think of them together) was magnificently at- -tractive by the masterful power of flesh and blood, -expressed in shape, in size, in attitude--that is by -a straight appeal to the senses. His mind mean- -time, preoccupied with respectability, quailed be- -fore Schomberg's tongue and seemed absolutely -impervious to my protestations; and I went so far -as to protest that I would just as soon think of -marrying my mother's (dear old lady!) faithful -female cook as Hermann's niece. Sooner, I pro- -tested, in my desperation, much sooner; but it did -not appear that he saw anything outrageous in the -proposition, and in his sceptical immobility he -seemed to nurse the argument that at all events the -cook was very, very far away. It must be said that, -just before, I had gone wrong by appealing to the -evidence of my manner whenever I called on board -the Diana. I had never attempted to approach the -girl, or to speak to her, or even to look at her in any -marked way. Nothing could be clearer. But, as -his own idea of--let us say--courting, seemed to -consist precisely in sitting silently for hours in the -vicinity of the beloved object, that line of argu- -ment inspired him with distrust. Staring down his -extended legs he let out a grunt--as much as to -say, "That's all very fine, but you can't throw dust -in MY eyes." - -At last I was exasperated into saying, "Why -don't you put the matter at rest by talking to Her- -mann?" and I added sneeringly: "You don't ex- -pect me perhaps to speak for you?" - -To this he said, very loud for him, "Would -you?" - -And for the first time he lifted his head to look -at me with wonder and incredulity. He lifted his -head so sharply that there could be no mistake. I -had touched a spring. I saw the whole extent of -my opportunity, and could hardly believe in it. - -"Why. Speak to . . . Well, of course," I -proceeded very slowly, watching him with great at- -tention, for, on my word, I feared a joke. "Not, -perhaps, to the young lady herself. I can't speak -German, you know. But . . ." - -He interrupted me with the earnest assurance -that Hermann had the highest opinion of me; and -at once I felt the need for the greatest possible -diplomacy at this juncture. So I demurred just -enough to draw him on. Falk sat up, but except -for a very noticeable enlargement of the pupils, -till the irises of his eyes were reduced to two narrow -yellow rings, his face, I should judge, was incapa- -ble of expressing excitement. "Oh, yes! Hermann -did have the greatest . . ." - -"Take up your cards. Here's Schomberg peep- -ing at us through the blind!" I said. - -We went through the motions of what might -have been a game of e'carte'. Presently the intoler- -able scandalmonger withdrew, probably to inform -the people in the billiard-room that we two were -gambling on the verandah like mad. - -We were not gambling, but it was a game; a -game in which I felt I held the winning cards. The -stake, roughly speaking, was the success of the voy- -age--for me; and he, I apprehended, had nothing -to lose. Our intimacy matured rapidly, and before -many words had been exchanged I perceived that -the excellent Hermann had been making use of me. -That simple and astute Teuton had been, it seems, -holding me up to Falk in the light of a rival. I -was young enough to be shocked at so much duplic- -ity. "Did he tell you that in so many words?" I -asked with indignation. - -Hermann had not. He had given hints only; -and of course it had not taken very much to alarm -Falk; but, instead of declaring himself, he had -taken steps to remove the family from under my in- -fluence. He was perfectly straightforward about -it--as straightforward as a tile falling on your -head. There was no duplicity in that man; and -when I congratulated him on the perfection of his -arrangements--even to the bribing of the wretched -Johnson against me--he had a genuine movement -of protest. Never bribed. He knew the man -wouldn't work as long as he had a few cents in his -pocket to get drunk on, and, naturally (he said-- -"NATURALLY") he let him have a dollar or two. He -was himself a sailor, he said, and anticipated the -view another sailor, like myself, was bound to take. -On the other hand, he was sure that I should have -to come to grief. He hadn't been knocking about -for the last seven years up and down that river for -nothing. It would have been no disgrace to me-- -but he asserted confidently I would have had my -ship very awkwardly ashore at a spot two miles -below the Great Pagoda. . . . - -And with all that he had no ill-will. That was -evident. This was a crisis in which his only object -had been to gain time--I fancy. And presently -he mentioned that he had written for some jewel- -lery, real good jewellery--had written to Hong- -Kong for it. It would arrive in a day or two. - -"Well, then," I said cheerily, "everything is all -right. All you've got to do is to present it to the -lady together with your heart, and live happy ever -after." - -Upon the whole he seemed to accept that view as -far as the girl was concerned, but his eyelids -drooped. There was still something in the way. -For one thing Hermann disliked him so much. As -to me, on the contrary, it seemed as though he could -not praise me enough. Mrs. Hermann too. He -didn't know why they disliked him so. It made -everything most difficult. - -I listened impassive, feeling more and more dip- -lomatic. His speech was not transparently clear. -He was one of those men who seem to live, feel, -suffer in a sort of mental twilight. But as to being -fascinated by the girl and possessed by the desire -of home life with her--it was as clear as daylight. -So much being at stake, he was afraid of putting -it to the hazard of declaration. Besides, there -was something else. And with Hermann being so -set against him . . . - -"I see," I said thoughtfully, while my heart beat -fast with the excitement of my diplomacy. "I -don't mind sounding Hermann. In fact, to show -you how mistaken you were, I am ready to do all I -can for you in that way." - -A light sigh escaped him. He drew his hands -down his face, and it emerged, bony, unchanged of -expression, as if all the tissues had been ossified. -All the passion was in those big brown hands. He -was satisfied. Then there was that other matter. -If there were anybody on earth it was I who could -persuade Hermann to take a reasonable view! I -had a knowledge of the world and lots of expe- -rience. Hermann admitted this himself. And then -I was a sailor too. Falk thought that a sail- -or would be able to understand certain things -best. . . . - -He talked as if the Hermanns had been living all -their life in a rural hamlet, and I alone had been -capable, with my practice in life, of a large and -indulgent view of certain occurrences. That was -what my diplomacy was leading me to. I began -suddenly to dislike it. - -"I say, Falk," I asked quite brusquely, "you -haven't already a wife put away somewhere?" - -The pain and disgust of his denial were very -striking. Couldn't I understand that he was as -respectable as any white man hereabouts; earning -his living honestly. He was suffering from my sus- -picion, and the low undertone of his voice made his -protestations sound very pathetic. For a moment -he shamed me, but, my diplomacy notwithstanding, -I seemed to develop a conscience, as if in very -truth it were in my power to decide the success of -this matrimonial enterprise. By pretending hard -enough we come to believe anything--anything to -our advantage. And I had been pretending very -hard, because I meant yet to be towed safely down -the river. But through conscience or stupidity, I -couldn't help alluding to the Vanlo affair. "You -acted rather badly there. Didn't you?" was what -I ventured actually to say--for the logic of our -conduct is always at the mercy of obscure and un- -foreseen impulses. - -His dilated pupils swerved from my face, glan- -cing at the window with a sort of scared fury. We -heard behind the blinds the continuous and sudden -clicking of ivory, a jovial murmur of many voices, -and Schomberg's deep manly laugh. - -"That confounded old woman of a hotel-keeper -then would never, never let it rest!" Falk ex- -claimed. "Well, yes! It had happened two years -ago." When it came to the point he owned he -couldn't make up his mind to trust Fred Vanlo-- -no sailor, a bit of a fool too. He could not trust -him, but, to stop his row, he had lent him enough -money to pay all his debts before he left. I was -greatly surprised to hear this. Then Falk could -not be such a miser after all. So much the better -for the girl. For a time he sat silent; then he -picked up a card, and while looking at it he -said: - -"You need not think of anything bad. It was -an accident. I've been unfortunate once." - -"Then in heaven's name say nothing about it." - -As soon as these words were out of my mouth I -fancied I had said something immoral. He shook -his head negatively. It had to be told. He con- -sidered it proper that the relations of the lady -should know. No doubt--I thought to myself-- -had Miss Vanlo not been thirty and damaged by the -climate he would have found it possible to entrust -Fred Vanlo with this confidence. And then the fig- -ure of Hermann's niece appeared before my mind's -eye, with the wealth of her opulent form, her rich -youth, her lavish strength. With that powerful -and immaculate vitality, her girlish form must have -shouted aloud of life to that man, whereas poor -Miss Vanlo could only sing sentimental songs to -the strumming of a piano. - -"And that Hermann hates me, I know it!" he -cried in his undertone, with a sudden recrudescence -of anxiety. "I must tell them. It is proper that -they should know. You would say so yourself." - -He then murmured an utterly mysterious allu- -sion to the necessity for peculiar domestic arrange- -ments. Though my curiosity was excited I did not -want to hear any of his confidences. I feared he -might give me a piece of information that would -make my assumed role of match-maker odious-- -however unreal it was. I was aware that he could -have the girl for the asking; and keeping down a -desire to laugh in his face, I expressed a confident -belief in my ability to argue away Hermann's dis- -like for him. "I am sure I can make it all right," -I said. He looked very pleased. - -And when we rose not a word had been said about -towage! Not a word! The game was won and the -honour was safe. Oh! blessed white cotton um- -brella! We shook hands, and I was holding myself -with difficulty from breaking into a step dance of -joy when he came back, striding all the length of -the verandah, and said doubtfully: - -"I say, captain, I have your word? You--you ---won't turn round?" - -Heavens! The fright he gave me. Behind his -tone of doubt there was something desperate and -menacing. The infatuated ass. But I was equal to -the situation. - -"My dear Falk," I said, beginning to lie with -a glibness and effrontery that amazed me even at -the time--"confidence for confidence." (He had -made no confidences.) "I will tell you that I am -already engaged to an extremely charming girl at -home, and so you understand. . . ." - -He caught my hand and wrung it in a crushing -grip. - -"Pardon me. I feel it every day more difficult -to live alone . . ." - -"On rice and fish," I interrupted smartly, gig- -gling with the sheer nervousness of a danger es- -caped. - -He dropped my hand as if it had become sud- -denly red hot. A moment of profound silence en- -sued, as though something extraordinary had hap- -pened. - -"I promise you to obtain Hermann's consent," -I faltered out at last, and it seemed to me that he -could not help seeing through that humbug- -ging promise. "If there's anything else to get -over I shall endeavour to stand by you," I conceded -further, feeling somehow defeated and overborne; -"but you must do your best yourself." - -"I have been unfortunate once," he muttered -unemotionally, and turning his back on me he went -away, thumping slowly the plank floor as if his feet -had been shod with iron. - -Next morning, however, he was lively enough as -man-boat, a combination of splashing and shout- -ing; of the insolent commotion below with the -steady overbearing glare of the silent head-piece -above. He turned us out most unnecessarily at an -ungodly hour, but it was nearly eleven in the morn- -ing before he brought me up a cable's length from -Hermann's ship. And he did it very badly too, in -a hurry, and nearly contriving to miss altogether -the patch of good holding ground, because, for- -sooth, he had caught sight of Hermann's niece on -the poop. And so did I; and probably as soon as -he had seen her himself. I saw the modest, sleek -glory of the tawny head, and the full, grey shape -of the girlish print frock she filled so perfectly, so -satisfactorily, with the seduction of unfaltering -curves--a very nymph of Diana the Huntress. -And Diana the ship sat, high-walled and as solid -as an institution, on the smooth level of the water, -the most uninspiring and respectable craft upon -the seas, useful and ugly, devoted to the support -of domestic virtues like any grocer's shop on shore. -At once Falk steamed away; for there was some -work for him to do. He would return in the even- -ing. - -He ranged close by us, passing out dead slow, -without a hail. The beat of the paddle-wheels re- -verberating amongst the stony islets, as if from the -ruined walls of a vast arena, filled the anchorage -confusedly with the clapping sounds of a mighty -and leisurely applause. Abreast of Hermann's -ship he stopped the engines; and a profound si- -lence reigned over the rocks, the shore and the sea, -for the time it took him to raise his hat aloft before -the nymph of the grey print frock. I had snatched -up my binoculars, and I can answer for it she didn't -stir a limb, standing by the rail shapely and erect, -with one of her hands grasping a rope at the height -of her head, while the way of the tug carried slowly -past her the lingering and profound homage of the -man. There was for me an enormous significance -in the scene, the sense of having witnessed a solemn -declaration. The die was cast. After such a man- -ifestation he couldn't back out. And I reflected -that it was nothing whatever to me now. With a -rush of black smoke belching suddenly out of the -funnel, and a mad swirl of paddle-wheels provoking -a burst of weird and precipitated clapping, the tug -shot out of the desolate arena. The rocky islets -lay on the sea like the heaps of a cyclopean ruin -on a plain; the centipedes and scorpions lurked un- -der the stones; there was not a single blade of grass -in sight anywhere, not a single lizard sunning him- -self on a boulder by the shore. When I looked -again at Hermann's ship the girl had disappeared. -I could not detect the smallest dot of a bird on the -immense sky, and the flatness of the land continued -the flatness of the sea to the naked line of the hori- -zon. - -This is the setting now inseparably connected -with my knowledge of Falk's misfortune. My di- -plomacy had brought me there, and now I had only -to wait the time for taking up the role of an ambas- -sador. My diplomacy was a success; my ship was -safe; old Gambril would probably live; a feeble -sound of a tapping hammer came intermittently -from the Diana. During the afternoon I looked -at times at the old homely ship, the faithful nurse -of Hermann's progeny, or yawned towards the dis- -tant temple of Buddha, like a lonely hillock on the -plain, where shaven priests cherish the thoughts of -that Annihilation which is the worthy reward of us -all. Unfortunate! He had been unfortunate once. -Well, that was not so bad as life goes. And what -the devil could be the nature of that misfortune? -I remembered that I had known a man before who -had declared himself to have fallen, years ago, a -victim to misfortune; but this misfortune, whose -effects appeared permanent (he looked desper- -ately hard up) when considered dispassionately, -seemed indistinguishable from a breach of trust. -Could it be something of that nature? Apart, -however, from the utter improbability that he -would offer to talk of it even to his future uncle- -in-law, I had a strange feeling that Falk's physique -unfitted him for that sort of delinquency. As the -person of Hermann's niece exhaled the profound -physical charm of feminine form, so her ador- -er's big frame embodied to my senses the hard, -straight masculinity that would conceivably kill -but would not condescend to cheat. The thing -was obvious. I might just as well have suspected -the girl of a curvature of the spine. And I per- -ceived that the sun was about to set. - -The smoke of Falk's tug hove in sight, far -away at the mouth of the river. It was time for -me to assume the character of an ambassador, and -the negotiation would not be difficult except in the -matter of keeping my countenance. It was all too -extravagantly nonsensical, and I conceived that it -would be best to compose for myself a grave de- -meanour. I practised this in my boat as I went -along, but the bashfulness that came secretly upon -me the moment I stepped on the deck of the Diana -is inexplicable. As soon as we had exchanged -greetings Hermann asked me eagerly if I knew -whether Falk had found his white parasol. - -"He's going to bring it to you himself directly," -I said with great solemnity. "Meantime I am -charged with an important message for which he -begs your favourable consideration. He is in love -with your niece. . . ." - -"Ach So!" he hissed with an animosity that -made my assumed gravity change into the most -genuine concern. What meant this tone? And I -hurried on. - -"He wishes, with your consent of course, to ask -her to marry him at once--before you leave here, -that is. He would speak to the Consul." - -Hermann sat down and smoked violently. Five -minutes passed in that furious meditation, and -then, taking the long pipe out of his mouth, he -burst into a hot diatribe against Falk--against his -cupidity, his stupidity (a fellow that can hardly -be got to say "yes" or "no" to the simplest ques- -tion)--against his outrageous treatment of the -shipping in port (because he saw they were at his -mercy)--and against his manner of walking, -which to his (Hermann's) mind showed a conceit -positively unbearable. The damage to the old -Diana was not forgotten, of course, and there was -nothing of any nature said or done by Falk (even -to the last offer of refreshment in the hotel) that -did not seem to have been a cause of offence. -"Had the cheek" to drag him (Hermann) into -that coffee-room; as though a drink from him could -make up for forty-seven dollars and fifty cents of -damage in the cost of wood alone--not counting -two days' work for the carpenter. Of course he -would not stand in the girl's way. He was going -home to Germany. There were plenty of poor -girls walking about in Germany. - -"He's very much in love," was all I found to -say. - -"Yes," he cried. "And it is time too after mak- -ing himself and me talked about ashore the last -voyage I was here, and then now again; coming on -board every evening unsettling the girl's mind, and -saying nothing. What sort of conduct is that?" - -The seven thousand dollars the fellow was always -talking about did not, in his opinion, justify such -behaviour. Moreover, nobody had seen them. He -(Hermann) seriously doubted if there were seven -thousand cents, and the tug, no doubt, was mort- -gaged up to the top of the funnel to the firm of -Siegers. But let that pass. He wouldn't stand in -the girl's way. Her head was so turned that she -had become no good to them of late. Quite unable -even to put the children to bed without her aunt. -It was bad for the children; they got unruly; and -yesterday he actually had to give Gustav a thrash- -ing. - -For that, too, Falk was made responsible ap- -parently. And looking at my Hermann's heavy, -puffy, good-natured face, I knew he would not ex- -ert himself till greatly exasperated, and, therefore, -would thrash very hard, and being fat would resent -the necessity. How Falk had managed to turn the -girl's head was more difficult to understand. I sup- -posed Hermann would know. And then hadn't -there been Miss Vanlo? It could not be his silvery -tongue, or the subtle seduction of his manner; he -had no more of what is called "manner" than an -animal--which, however, on the other hand, is -never, and can never be called vulgar. Therefore -it must have been his bodily appearance, exhibiting -a virility of nature as exaggerated as his beard, and -resembling a sort of constant ruthlessness. It was -seen in the very manner he lolled in the chair. He -meant no offence, but his intercourse was charac- -terised by that sort of frank disregard of suscepti- -bilities a man of seven foot six, living in a world of -dwarfs, would naturally assume, without in the -least wishing to be unkind. But amongst men of -his own stature, or nearly, this frank use of his ad- -vantages, in such matters as the awful towage bills -for instance, caused much impotent gnashing of -teeth. When attentively considered it seemed ap- -palling at times. He was a strange beast. But -maybe women liked it. Seen in that light he was -well worth taming, and I suppose every woman at -the bottom of her heart considers herself as a tamer -of strange beasts. But Hermann arose with pre- -cipitation to carry the news to his wife. I had -barely the time, as he made for the cabin door, to -grab him by the seat of his inexpressibles. I -begged him to wait till Falk in person had spoken -with him. There remained some small matter to -talk over, as I understood. - -He sat down again at once, full of suspicion. - -"What matter?" he said surlily. "I have had -enough of his nonsense. There's no matter at all, -as he knows very well; the girl has nothing in the -world. She came to us in one thin dress when my -brother died, and I have a growing family." - -"It can't be anything of that kind," I opined. -"He's desperately enamoured of your niece. I -don't know why he did not say so before. Upon -my word, I believe it is because he was afraid to -lose, perhaps, the felicity of sitting near her on -your quarter deck." - -I intimated my conviction that his love was so -great as to be in a sense cowardly. The effects of -a great passion are unaccountable. It has been -known to make a man timid. But Hermann looked -at me as if I had foolishly raved; and the twilight -was dying out rapidly. - -"You don't believe in passion, do you, Her- -mann?" I said cheerily. "The passion of fear will -make a cornered rat courageous. Falk's in a cor- -ner. He will take her off your hands in one thin -frock just as she came to you. And after ten years' -service it isn't a bad bargain," I added. - -Far from taking offence, he resumed his air of -civic virtue. The sudden night came upon him -while he stared placidly along the deck, bringing -in contact with his thick lips, and taking away -again after a jet of smoke, the curved mouthpiece -fitted to the stem of his pipe. The night came -upon him and buried in haste his whiskers, his glob- -ular eyes, his puffy pale face, his fat knees and the -vast flat slippers on his fatherly feet. Only his -short arms in respectable white shirt-sleeves re- -mained very visible, propped up like the flippers of -a seal reposing on the strand. - -"Falk wouldn't settle anything about repairs. -Told me to find out first how much wood I should -require and he would see," he remarked; and after -he had spat peacefully in the dusk we heard over -the water the beat of the tug's floats. There is, on -a calm night, nothing more suggestive of fierce and -headlong haste than the rapid sound made by the -paddle-wheels of a boat threshing her way through -a quiet sea; and the approach of Falk towards his -fate seemed to be urged by an impatient and pas- -sionate desire. The engines must have been driven -to the very utmost of their revolutions. We heard -them slow down at last, and, vaguely, the white -hull of the tug appeared moving against the black -islets, whilst a slow and rhythmical clapping as of -thousands of hands rose on all sides. It ceased all -at once, just before Falk brought her up. A sin- -gle brusque splash was followed by the long drawn -rumbling of iron links running through the hawse -pipe. Then a solemn silence fell upon the Road- -stead. - -"He will soon be here," I murmured, and after -that we waited for him without a word. Meantime, -raising my eyes, I beheld the glitter of a lofty sky -above the Diana's mastheads. The multitude of -stars gathered into clusters, in rows, in lines, in -masses, in groups, shone all together, unanimously ---and the few isolated ones, blazing by themselves -in the midst of dark patches, seemed to be of a su- -perior kind and of an inextinguishable nature. But -long striding footsteps were heard hastening along -the deck; the high bulwarks of the Diana made a -deeper darkness. We rose from our chairs quickly, -and Falk, appearing before us, all in white, stood -still. - -Nobody spoke at first, as though we had been -covered with confusion. His arrival was fiery, but -his white bulk, of indefinite shape and without fea- -tures, made him loom up like a man of snow. - -"The captain here has been telling me . . ." -Hermann began in a homely and amicable voice; -and Falk had a low, nervous laugh. His cool, neg- -ligent undertone had no inflexions, but the strength -of a powerful emotion made him ramble in his -speech. He had always desired a home. It was -difficult to live alone, though he was not answera- -ble. He was domestic; there had been difficulties; -but since he had seen Hermann's niece he found -that it had become at last impossible to live by him- -self. "I mean--impossible," he repeated with no -sort of emphasis and only with the slightest of -pauses, but the word fell into my mind with the -force of a new idea. - -"I have not said anything to her yet," Hermann -observed quietly. And Falk dismissed this by a -"That's all right. Certainly. Very proper." -There was a necessity for perfect frankness--in -marrying, especially. Hermann seemed attentive, -but he seized the first opportunity to ask us into the -cabin. "And by-the-by, Falk," he said innocent- -ly, as we passed in, "the timber came to no less -than forty-seven dollars and fifty cents." - -Falk, uncovering his head, lingered in the pas- -sage. "Some other time," he said; and Hermann -nudged me angrily--I don't know why. The girl -alone in the cabin sat sewing at some distance from -the table. Falk stopped short in the doorway. -Without a word, without a sign, without the slight- -est inclination of his bony head, by the silent in- -tensity of his look alone, he seemed to lay his her- -culean frame at her feet. Her hands sank slowly -on her lap, and raising her clear eyes, she let her -soft, beaming glance enfold him from head to foot -like a slow and pale caress. He was very hot when -he sat down; she, with bowed head, went on with -her sewing; her neck was very white under the light -of the lamp; but Falk, hiding his face in the palms -of his hands, shuddered faintly. He drew them -down, even to his beard, and his uncovered eyes as- -tonished me by their tense and irrational expres- -sion--as though he had just swallowed a heavy -gulp of alcohol. It passed away while he was -binding us to secrecy. Not that he cared, but he -did not like to be spoken about; and I looked at the -girl's marvellous, at her wonderful, at her regal -hair, plaited tight into that one astonishing and -maidenly tress. Whenever she moved her well- -shaped head it would stir stiffly to and fro on her -back. The thin cotton sleeve fitted the irreproach- -able roundness of her arm like a skin; and her very -dress, stretched on her bust, seemed to palpitate -like a living tissue with the strength of vitality ani- -mating her body. How good her complexion was, -the outline of her soft cheek and the small convo- -luted conch of her rosy ear! To pull her needle she -kept the little finger apart from the others; it -seemed a waste of power to see her sewing--eter- -nally sewing--with that industrious and precise -movement of her arm, going on eternally upon all -the oceans, under all the skies, in innumerable har- -bours. And suddenly I heard Falk's voice declare -that he could not marry a woman unless she knew -of something in his life that had happened ten -years ago. It was an accident. An unfortunate ac- -cident. It would affect the domestic arrangements -of their home, but, once told, it need not be alluded -to again for the rest of their lives. "I should want -my wife to feel for me," he said. "It has made me -unhappy." And how could he keep the knowledge -of it to himself--he asked us--perhaps through -years and years of companionship? What sort of -companionship would that be? He had thought it -over. A wife must know. Then why not at once? -He counted on Hermann's kindness for presenting -the affair in the best possible light. And Her- -mann's countenance, mystified before, became very -sour. He stole an inquisitive glance at me. I -shook my head blankly. Some people thought, -Falk went on, that such an experience changed a -man for the rest of his life. He couldn't say. It -was hard, awful, and not to be forgotten, but he -did not think himself a worse man than before. -Only he talked in his sleep now, he believed. . . . -At last I began to think he had accidentally killed -some one; perhaps a friend--his own father may- -be; when he went on to say that probably we were -aware he never touched meat. Throughout he -spoke English, of course of my account. - -He swayed forward heavily. - -The girl, with her hands raised before her pale -eyes, was threading her needle. He glanced at her, -and his mighty trunk overshadowed the table, -bringing nearer to us the breadth of his shoulders, -the thickness of his neck, and that incongruous, an- -chorite head, burnt in the desert, hollowed and lean -as if by excesses of vigils and fasting. His beard -flowed imposingly downwards, out of sight, be- -tween the two brown hands gripping the edge of -the table, and his persistent glance made sombre by -the wide dilations of the pupils, fascinated. - -"Imagine to yourselves," he said in his ordinary -voice, "that I have eaten man." - -I could only ejaculate a faint "Ah!" of com- -plete enlightenment. But Hermann, dazed by the -excessive shock, actually murmured, "Himmel! -What for?" - -"It was my terrible misfortune to do so," said -Falk in a measured undertone. The girl, uncon- -scious, sewed on. Mrs. Hermann was absent in -one of the state-rooms, sitting up with Lena, who -was feverish; but Hermann suddenly put both his -hands up with a jerk. The embroidered calotte -fell, and, in the twinkling of an eye, he had rum- -pled his hair all ends up in a most extravagant -manner. In this state he strove to speak; with -every effort his eyes seemed to start further out of -their sockets; his head looked like a mop. He -choked, gasped, swallowed, and managed to shriek -out the one word, "Beast!" - -From that moment till Falk went out of the cab- -in the girl, with her hands folded on the work lying -in her lap, never took her eyes off him. His own, -in the blindness of his heart, darted all over the -cabin, only seeking to avoid the sight of Hermann's -raving. It was ridiculous, and was made almost -terrible by the stillness of every other person pres- -ent. It was contemptible, and was made appalling -by the man's overmastering horror of this awful -sincerity, coming to him suddenly, with the confes- -sion of such a fact. He walked with great strides; -he gasped. He wanted to know from Falk how -dared he to come and tell him this? Did he think -himself a proper person to be sitting in this cabin -where his wife and children lived? Tell his niece! -Expected him to tell his niece! His own brother's -daughter! Shameless! Did I ever hear tell of such -impudence?--he appealed to me. "This man here -ought to have gone and hidden himself out of sight -instead of . . ." - -"But it's a great misfortune for me. But it's a -great misfortune for me," Falk would ejaculate -from time to time. - -However, Hermann kept on running frequently -against the corners of the table. At last he lost a -slipper, and crossing his arms on his breast, walked -up with one stocking foot very close to Falk, in or- -der to ask him whether he did think there was any- -where on earth a woman abandoned enough to mate -with such a monster. "Did he? Did he? Did -he?" I tried to restrain him. He tore himself out -of my hands; he found his slipper, and, endeavour- -ing to put it on, stormed standing on one leg-- -and Falk, with a face unmoved and averted -eyes, grasped all his mighty beard in one vast -palm. - -"Was it right then for me to die myself?" he -asked thoughtfully. I laid my hand on his shoul- -der. - -"Go away," I whispered imperiously, without -any clear reason for this advice, except that I -wished to put an end to Hermann's odious noise. -"Go away." - -He looked searchingly for a moment at Hermann -before he made a move. I left the cabin too to see -him out of the ship. But he hung about the quar- -ter-deck. - -"It is my misfortune," he said in a steady -voice. - -"You were stupid to blurt it out in such a man- -ner. After all, we don't hear such confidences -every day." - -"What does the man mean?" he mused in deep -undertones. "Somebody had to die--but why -me?" - -He remained still for a time in the dark--silent; -almost invisible. All at once he pinned my elbows -to my sides. I felt utterly powerless in his grip, -and his voice, whispering in my ear, vibrated. - -"It's worse than hunger. Captain, do you know -what that means? And I could kill then--or be -killed. I wish the crowbar had smashed my skull -ten years ago. And I've got to live now. Without -her. Do you understand? Perhaps many years. -But how? What can be done? If I had allowed -myself to look at her once I would have carried her -off before that man in my hands--like this." - -I felt myself snatched off the deck, then suddenly -dropped--and I staggered backwards, feeling -bewildered and bruised. What a man! All was -still; he was gone. I heard Hermann's voice de- -claiming in the cabin, and I went in. - -I could not at first make out a single word, but -Mrs. Hermann, who, attracted by the noise, had -come in some time before, with an expression of -surprise and mild disapproval, depicted broadly on -her face, was giving now all the signs of profound, -helpless agitation. Her husband shot a string of -guttural words at her, and instantly putting out -one hand to the bulkhead as if to save herself from -falling, she clutched the loose bosom of her dress -with the other. He harangued the two women ex- -traordinarily, with much of his shirt hanging out of -his waistbelt, stamping his foot, turning from one -to the other, sometimes throwing both his arms to- -gether, straight up above his rumpled hair, and -keeping them in that position while he uttered a -passage of loud denunciation; at others folding -them tight across his breast--and then he hissed -with indignation, elevating his shoulders and pro- -truding his head. The girl was crying. - -She had not changed her attitude. From her -steady eyes that, following Falk in his retreat, had -remained fixed wistfully on the cabin door, the -tears fell rapid, thick, on her hands, on the work in -her lap, warm and gentle like a shower in spring. -She wept without grimacing, without noise--very -touching, very quiet, with something more of pity -than of pain in her face, as one weeps in compassion -rather than in grief--and Hermann, before her, -declaimed. I caught several times the word -"Mensch," man; and also "Fressen," which last I -looked up afterwards in my dictionary. It means -"Devour." Hermann seemed to be requesting an -answer of some sort from her; his whole body -swayed. She remained mute and perfectly still; -at last his agitation gained her; she put the palms -of her hands together, her full lips parted, no -sound came. His voice scolded shrilly, his arms -went like a windmill--suddenly he shook a thick -fist at her. She burst out into loud sobs. He -seemed stupefied. - -Mrs. Hermann rushed forward babbling rap- -dly. The two women fell on each other's necks, -and, with an arm round her niece's waist, she led her -away. Her own eyes were simply streaming, her -face was flooded. She shook her head back at me -negatively, I wonder why to this day. The girl's -head dropped heavily on her shoulder. They dis- -appeared. - -Then Hermann sat down and stared at the cabin -floor. - -"We don't know all the circumstances," I ven- -tured to break the silence. He retorted tartly that -he didn't want to know of any. According to his -ideas no circumstances could excuse a crime--and -certainly not such a crime. This was the opinion -generally received. The duty of a human being -was to starve. Falk therefore was a beast, an ani- -mal; base, low, vile, despicable, shameless, and de- -ceitful. He had been deceiving him since last year. -He was, however, inclined to think that Falk must -have gone mad quite recently; for no sane person, -without necessity, uselessly, for no earthly reason, -and regardless of another's self-respect and peace -of mind, would own to having devoured human -flesh. "Why tell?" he cried. "Who was asking -him?" It showed Falk's brutality because after -all he had selfishly caused him (Hermann) much -pain. He would have preferred not to know that -such an unclean creature had been in the habit of -caressing his children. He hoped I would say noth- -ing of all this ashore, though. He wouldn't like it -to get about that he had been intimate with an -eater of men--a common cannibal. As to the scene -he had made (which I judged quite unnecessary) -he was not going to inconvenience and restrain -himself for a fellow that went about courting and -upsetting girls' heads, while he knew all the time -that no decent housewifely girl could think of mar- -rying him. At least he (Hermann) could not con- -ceive how any girl could. Fancy Lena! . . . No, -it was impossible. The thoughts that would come -into their heads every time they sat down to a meal. -Horrible! Horrible! - -"You are too squeamish, Hermann," I said. - -He seemed to think it was eminently proper to be -squeamish if the word meant disgust at Falk's con- -duct; and turning up his eyes sentimentally he -drew my attention to the horrible fate of the victims ---the victims of that Falk. I said that I knew -nothing about them. He seemed surprised. Could -not anybody imagine without knowing? He--for -instance--felt he would like to avenge them. But -what if--said I--there had not been any? They -might have died as it were, naturally--of starva- -tion. He shuddered. But to be eaten--after -death! To be devoured! He gave another deep -shudder, and asked suddenly, "Do you think it -is true?" - -His indignation and his personality together -would have been enough to spoil the reality of the -most authentic thing. When I looked at him I -doubted the story--but the remembrance of Falk's -words, looks, gestures, invested it not only with -an air of reality but with the absolute truth of -primitive passion. - -"It is true just as much as you are able to make -it; and exactly in the way you like to make it. For -my part, when I hear you clamouring about it, I -don't believe it is true at all." - -And I left him pondering. The men in my boat -lying at the foot of Diana's side ladder told me that -the captain of the tug had gone away in his gig -some time ago. - -I let my fellows pull an easy stroke; because of -the heavy dew the clear sparkle of the stars seemed -to fall on me cold and wetting. There was a sense -of lurking gruesome horror somewhere in my mind, -and it was mingled with clear and grotesque -images. Schomberg's gastronomic tittle-tattle -was responsible for these; and I half hoped I -should never see Falk again. But the first thing -my anchor-watchman told me was that the captain -of the tug was on board. He had sent his boat -away and was now waiting for me in the cuddy. - -He was lying full length on the stern settee, his -face buried in the cushions. I had expected to see -it discomposed, contorted, despairing. It was -nothing of the kind; it was just as I had seen it -twenty times, steady and glaring from the bridge -of the tug. It was immovably set and hungry, -dominated like the whole man by the singleness of -one instinct. - -He wanted to live. He had always wanted to -live. So we all do--but in us the instinct serves a -complex conception, and in him this instinct existed -alone. There is in such simple development a gi- -gantic force, and like the pathos of a child's naive -nd uncontrolled desire. He wanted that girl, and -the utmost that can be said for him was that he -wanted that particular girl alone. I think I saw -then the obscure beginning, the seed germinating -in the soil of an unconscious need, the first shoot -of that tree bearing now for a mature mankind the -flower and the fruit, the infinite gradation in -shades and in flavour of our discriminating love. -He was a child. He was as frank as a child too. -He was hungry for the girl, terribly hungry, as -he had been terribly hungry for food. - -Don't be shocked if I declare that in my belief -it was the same need, the same pain, the same tor- -ture. We are in his case allowed to contemplate -the foundation of all the emotions--that one joy -which is to live, and the one sadness at the root of -the innumerable torments. It was made plain by -the way he talked. He had never suffered so. It -was gnawing, it was fire; it was there, like this! -And after pointing below his breastbone, he made -a hard wringing motion with his hands. And I as- -sure you that, seen as I saw it with my bodily eyes, -it was anything but laughable. And again, as he -was presently to tell me (alluding to an early inci- -dent of the disastrous voyage when some damaged -meat had been flung overboard), he said that a -time soon came when his heart ached (that was the -expression he used), and he was ready to tear his -hair out at the thought of all that rotten beef -thrown away. - -I had heard all this; I witnessed his physical -struggles, seeing the working of the rack and hear- -ing the true voice of pain. I witnessed it all pa- -tiently, because the moment I came into the cuddy -he had called upon me to stand by him--and this, -it seems, I had diplomatically promised. - -His agitation was impressive and alarming in -the little cabin, like the floundering of a great -whale driven into a shallow cove in a coast. He -stood up; he flung himself down headlong; he tried -to tear the cushion with his teeth; and again hug- -ging it fiercely to his face he let himself fall on the -couch. The whole ship seemed to feel the shock -of his despair; and I contemplated with wonder the -lofty forehead, the noble touch of time on the un- -covered temples, the unchanged hungry character -of the face--so strangely ascetic and so incapable -of portraying emotion. - -What should he do? He had lived by being -near her. He had sat--in the evening--I knew?-- -all his life! She sewed. Her head was bent--so. -Her head--like this--and her arms. Ah! Had I -seen? Like this. - -He dropped on a stool, bowed his powerful neck -whose nape was red, and with his hands stitched -the air, ludicrous, sublimely imbecile and compre- -hensible. - -And now he couldn't have her? No! That was -too much. After thinking too that . . . What -had he done? What was my advice? Take her by -force? No? Mustn't he? Who was there then -to kill him? For the first time I saw one of his fea- -tures move; a fighting teeth-baring curl of the lip. -. . . "Not Hermann, perhaps." He lost himself -in thought as though he had fallen out of the -world. - -I may note that the idea of suicide apparently -did not enter his head for a single moment. It oc- -curred to me to ask: - -"Where was it that this shipwreck of yours took -place?" - -"Down south," he said vaguely with a start. - -"You are not down south now," I said. "Vio- -lence won't do. They would take her away from -you in no time. And what was the name of the -ship?" - -"Borgmester Dahl," he said. "It was no ship- -wreck." - -He seemed to be waking up by degrees from that -trance, and waking up calmed. - -"Not a shipwreck? What was it?" - -"Break down," he answered, looking more like -himself every moment. By this only I learned that -it was a steamer. I had till then supposed they -had been starving in boats or on a raft--or per- -haps on a barren rock. - -"She did not sink then?" I asked in surprise. -He nodded. "We sighted the southern ice," he -pronounced dreamily. - -"And you alone survived?" - -He sat down. "Yes. It was a terrible misfor- -tune for me. Everything went wrong. All the -men went wrong. I survived." - -Remembering the things one reads of it was diffi- -cult to realise the true meaning of his answers. I -ought to have seen at once--but I did not; so diffi- -cult is it for our minds, remembering so much, in- -structed so much, informed of so much, to get in -touch with the real actuality at our elbow. And -with my head full of preconceived notions as to -how a case of "cannibalism and suffering at sea" -should be managed I said--"You were then so -lucky in the drawing of lots?" - -"Drawing of lots?" he said. "What lots? Do -you think I would have allowed my life to go for -the drawing of lots?" - -Not if he could help if, I perceived, no matter -what other life went. - -"It was a great misfortune. Terrible. Awful," -he said. "Many heads went wrong, but the best -men would live." - -"The toughest, you mean," I said. He consid- -ered the word. Perhaps it was strange to him, -though his English was so good. - -"Yes," he asserted at last. "The best. It was -everybody for himself at last and the ship open to -all." - -Thus from question to question I got the whole -story. I fancy it was the only way I could that -night have stood by him. Outwardly at least he -was himself again; the first sign of it was the re- -turn of that incongruous trick he had of drawing -both his hands down his face--and it had its mean- -ing now, with that slight shudder of the frame and -the passionate anguish of these hands uncovering -a hungry immovable face, the wide pupils of the -intent, silent, fascinating eyes. - -It was an iron steamer of a most respectable ori- -gin. The burgomaster of Falk's native town had -built her. She was the first steamer ever launched -there. The burgomaster's daughter had christened -her. Country people drove in carts from miles -around to see her. He told me all this. He got the -berth as what we should call a chief mate. He -seemed to think it had been a feather in his cap; -and, in his own corner of the world, this lover of -life was of good parentage. - -The burgomaster had advanced ideas in the -ship-owning line. At that time not every one -would have known enough to think of despatching -a cargo steamer to the Pacific. But he loaded her -with pitch-pine deals and sent her off to hunt for -her luck. Wellington was to be the first port, I -fancy. It doesn't matter, because in latitude 44 d -south and somewhere halfway between Good Hope -and New Zealand the tail shaft broke and the pro- -peller dropped off. - -They were steaming then with a fresh gale on -the quarter and all their canvas set, to help the en- -gines. But by itself the sail power was not enough -to keep way on her. When the propeller went the -ship broached-to at once, and the masts got -whipped overboard. - -The disadvantage of being dismasted consisted -in this, that they had nothing to hoist flags on to -make themselves visible at a distance. In the -course of the first few days several ships failed to -sight them; and the gale was drifting them out of -the usual track. The voyage had been, from the -first, neither very successful nor very harmonious. -There had been quarrels on board. The captain -was a clever, melancholic man, who had no unusual -grip on his crew. The ship had been amply pro- -visioned for the passage, but, somehow or other, -several barrels of meat were found spoiled on open- -ing, and had been thrown overboard soon after -leaving home, as a sanitary measure. Afterwards -the crew of the Borgmester Dahl thought of that -rotten carrion with tears of regret, covetousness -and despair. - -She drove south. To begin with, there had been -an appearance of organisation, but soon the bonds -of discipline became relaxed. A sombre idleness -succeeded. They looked with sullen eyes at the hori- -zon. The gales increased: she lay in the trough, -the seas made a clean breach over her. On one -frightful night, when they expected their hulk to -turn over with them every moment, a heavy sea -broke on board, deluged the store-rooms and spoiled -the best part of the remaining provisions. It seems -the hatch had not been properly secured. This in- -stance of neglect is characteristic of utter discour- -agement. Falk tried to inspire some energy into -his captain, but failed. From that time he retired -more into himself, always trying to do his utmost -in the situation. It grew worse. Gale succeeded -gale, with black mountains of water hurling them- -selves on the Borgmester Dahl. Some of the men -never left their bunks; many became quarrelsome. -The chief engineer, an old man, refused to speak -at all to anybody. Others shut themselves up in -their berths to cry. On calm days the inert steamer -rolled on a leaden sea under a murky sky, or -showed, in sunshine, the squalor of sea waifs, the -dried white salt, the rust, the jagged broken -places. Then the gales came again. They kept -body and soul together on short rations. Once, an -English ship, scudding in a storm, tried to stand -by them, heaving-to pluckily under their lee. The -seas swept her decks; the men in oilskins clinging -to her rigging looked at them, and they made des- -perate signs over their shattered bulwarks. Sud- -denly her main-topsail went, yard and all, in a ter- -rific squall; she had to bear up under bare poles, -and disappeared. - -Other ships had spoken them before, but at first -they had refused to be taken off, expecting the as- -sistance of some steamer. There were very few -steamers in those latitudes then; and when they -desired to leave this dead and drifting carcase, no -ship came in sight. They had drifted south out of -men's knowledge. They failed to attract the atten- -tion of a lonely whaler, and very soon the edge of -the polar ice-cap rose from the sea and closed the -southern horizon like a wall. One morning they -were alarmed by finding themselves floating -amongst detached pieces of ice. But the fear of -sinking passed away like their vigour, like their -hopes; the shocks of the floes knocking against the -ship's side could not rouse them from their apathy: -and the Borgmester Dahl drifted out again un- -harmed into open water. They hardly noticed -the change. - -The funnel had gone overboard in one of the -heavy rolls; two of their three boats had disap- -peared, washed away in bad weather, and the davits -swung to and fro, unsecured, with chafed rope's -ends waggling to the roll. Nothing was done on -board, and Falk told me how he had often listened -to the water washing about the dark engine-room -where the engines, stilled for ever, were decaying -slowly into a mass of rust, as the stilled heart de- -cays within the lifeless body. At first, after the -loss of the motive power, the tiller had been thor- -oughly secured by lashings. But in course of time -these had rotted, chafed, rusted, parting one by -one: and the rudder, freed, banged heavily to and -fro night and day, sending dull shocks through the -whole frame of the vessel. This was dangerous. -Nobody cared enough to lift a little finger. He -told me that even now sometimes waking up at -night, he fancied he could hear the dull vibrating -thuds. The pintles carried away, and it dropped -off at last. - -The final catastrophe came with the sending off -of their one remaining boat. It was Falk who had -managed to preserve her intact, and now it was -agreed that some of the hands should sail away into -the track of the shipping to procure assistance. -She was provisioned with all the food they could -spare for the six who were to go. They waited for -a fine day. It was long in coming. At last one -morning they lowered her into the water. - -Directly, in that demoralised crowd, trouble -broke out. Two men who had no business there -had jumped into the boat under the pretence of -unhooking the tackles, while some sort of squabble -arose on the deck amongst these weak, tottering -spectres of a ship's company. The captain, who -had been for days living secluded and unapproach- -able in the chart-room, came to the rail. He or- -dered the two men to come up on board and men- -aced them with his revolver. They pretended to -obey, but suddenly cutting the boat's painter, gave -a shove against the ship's side and made ready to -hoist the sail. - -"Shoot, sir! Shoot them down!" cried Falk-- -"and I will jump overboard to regain the boat." -But the captain, after taking aim with an irreso- -lute arm, turned suddenly away. - -A howl of rage arose. Falk dashed into his cabin -for his own pistol. When he returned it was too -late. Two more men had leaped into the water, but -the fellows in the boat beat them off with the oars, -hoisted the boat's lug and sailed away. They were -never heard of again. - -Consternation and despair possessed the remain- -ing ship's company, till the apathy of utter hope- -lessness re-asserted its sway. That day a fireman -committed suicide, running up on deck with his -throat cut from ear to ear, to the horror of all -hands. He was thrown overboard. The captain -had locked himself in the chart-room, and Falk, -knocking vainly for admittance, heard him recit- -ing over and over again the names of his wife and -children, not as if calling upon them or commend- -ing them to God, but in a mechanical voice like an -exercise of memory. Next day the doors of the -chart-room were swinging open to the roll of the -ship, and the captain had disappeared. He must -during the night have jumped into the sea. Falk -locked both the doors and kept the keys. - -The organised life of the ship had come to an -end. The solidarity of the men had gone. They -became indifferent to each other. It was Falk who -took in hand the distribution of such food as re- -mained. They boiled their boots for soup to eke -out the rations, which only made their hunger more -intolerable. Sometimes whispers of hate were -heard passing between the languid skeletons that -drifted endlessly to and fro, north and south, east -and west, upon that carcase of a ship. - -And in this lies the grotesque horror of this som- -bre story. The last extremity of sailors, overtaking -a small boat or a frail craft, seems easier to bear, -because of the direct danger of the seas. The con- -fined space, the close contact, the imminent menace -of the waves, seem to draw men together, in spite -of madness, suffering and despair. But there was -a ship--safe, convenient, roomy: a ship with beds, -bedding, knives, forks, comfortable cabins, glass -and china, and a complete cook's galley, pervaded, -ruled and possessed by the pitiless spectre of star- -vation. The lamp oil had been drunk, the wicks -cut up for food, the candles eaten. At night she -floated dark in all her recesses, and full of fears. -One day Falk came upon a man gnawing a splinter -of pine wood. Suddenly he threw the piece of wood -away, tottered to the rail, and fell over. Falk, too -late to prevent the act, saw him claw the ship's -side desperately before he went down. Next day -another man did the same thing, after uttering hor- -rible imprecations. But this one somehow man- -aged to get hold of the broken rudder chains and -hung on there, silently. Falk set about trying to -save him, and all the time the man, holding with -both hands, looked at him anxiously with his sunken -eyes. Then, just as Falk was ready to put his hand -on him, the man let go his hold and sank like a -stone. Falk reflected on these sights. His heart -revolted against the horror of death, and he said -to himself that he would struggle for every pre- -cious minute of his life. - -One afternoon--as the survivors lay about on -the after deck--the carpenter, a tall man with a -black beard, spoke of the last sacrifice. There was -nothing eatable left on board. Nobody said a -word to this; but that company separated quickly, -these listless feeble spectres slunk off one by one -to hide in fear of each other. Falk and the car- -penter remained on deck together. Falk liked -the big carpenter. He had been the best man of -the lot, helpful and ready as long as there was -anything to do, the longest hopeful, and had -preserved to the last some vigour and decision of -mind. - -They did not speak to each other. Henceforth -no voices were to be heard conversing sadly on -board that ship. After a time the carpenter tot- -tered away forward; but later on, Falk going to -drink at the fresh-water pump, had the inspiration -to turn his head. The carpenter had stolen upon -him from behind, and, summoning all his strength, -was aiming with a crowbar a blow at the back of -his skull. - -Dodging just in time, Falk made his escape and -ran into his cabin. While he was loading his re- -volver there, he heard the sound of heavy blows -struck upon the bridge. The locks of the chart- -room doors were slight, they flew open, and the car- -penter, possessing himself of the captain's revolver, -fired a shot of defiance. - -Falk was about to go on deck and have it out -at once, when he remarked that one of the ports of -his cabin commanded the approaches to the fresh- -water pump. Instead of going out he remained in -and secured the door. "The best man shall sur- -vive," he said to himself--and the other, he rea- -soned, must at some time or other come there to -drink. These starving men would drink often to -cheat the pangs of their hunger. But the carpen- -ter too must have noticed the position of the port. -They were the two best men in the ship, and the -game was with them. All the rest of the day Falk -saw no one and heard no sound. At night he -strained his eyes. It was dark--he heard a rustling -noise once, but he was certain that no one could -have come near the pump. It was to the left of his -deck port, and he could not have failed to see a -man, for the night was clear and starry. He saw -nothing; towards morning another faint noise -made him suspicious. Deliberately and quietly he -unlocked his door. He had not slept, and had not -given way to the horror of the situation. He -wanted to live. - -But during the night the carpenter, without at -all trying to approach the pump, had managed to -creep quietly along the starboard bulwark, and, -unseen, had crouched down right under Falk's deck -port. When daylight came he rose up suddenly, -looked in, and putting his arm through the round -brass framed opening, fired at Falk within a foot. -He missed--and Falk, instead of attempting to -seize the arm holding the weapon, opened his door -unexpectedly, and with the muzzle of his long re- -volver nearly touching the other's side, shot him -dead. - -The best man had survived. Both of them had -at the beginning just strength enough to stand on -their feet, and both had displayed pitiless resolu- -tion, endurance, cunning and courage--all the -qualities of classic heroism. At once Falk threw -overboard the captain's revolver. He was a born -monopolist. Then after the report of the two -shots, followed by a profound silence, there crept -out into the cold, cruel dawn of Antarctic regions, -from various hiding-places, over the deck of that -dismantled corpse of a ship floating on a grey sea -ruled by iron necessity and with a heart of ice-- -there crept into view one by one, cautious, slow, ea- -ger, glaring, and unclean, a band of hungry and -livid skeletons. Falk faced them, the possessor of -the only fire-arm on board, and the second best man ---the carpenter--was lying dead between him and -them. - -"He was eaten, of course," I said. - -He bent his head slowly, shuddered a little, draw- -ing his hands over his face, and said, "I had never -any quarrel with that man. But there were our -lives between him and me." - -Why continue the story of that ship, that story -before which, with its fresh-water pump like a -spring of death, its man with the weapon, the sea -ruled by iron necessity, its spectral band swayed by -terror and hope, its mute and unhearing heaven?-- -the fable of the Flying Dutchman with its conven- -tion of crime and its sentimental retribution fades -like a graceful wreath, like a wisp of white mist. -What is there to say that every one of us cannot -guess for himself? I believe Falk began by going -through the ship, revolver in hand, to annex all the -matches. Those starving wretches had plenty of -matches! He had no mind to have the ship set on -fire under his feet, either from hate or from despair. -He lived in the open, camping on the bridge, com- -manding all the after deck and the only approach -to the pump. He lived! Some of the others lived -too--concealed, anxious, coming out one by one -from their hiding-places at the seductive sound of -a shot. And he was not selfish. They shared, but -only three of them all were alive when a whaler, re- -turning from her cruising ground, nearly ran over -the water-logged hull of the Borgmester Dahl, -which, it seems, in the end had in some way sprung -a leak in both her holds, but being loaded with deals -could not sink. - -"They all died," Falk said. "These three too, -afterwards. But I would not die. All died, all! -under this terrible misfortune. But was I too to -throw away my life? Could I? Tell me, captain? -I was alone there, quite alone, just like the others. -Each man was alone. Was I to give up my re- -volver? Who to? Or was I to throw it into the -sea? What would have been the good? Only the -best man would survive. It was a great, terrible, -and cruel misfortune." - -He had survived! I saw him before me as -though preserved for a witness to the mighty truth -of an unerring and eternal principle. Great beads -of perspiration stood on his forehead. And sud- -denly it struck the table with a heavy blow, as he -fell forward throwing his hands out. - -"And this is worse," he cried. "This is a worse -pain! This is more terrible." - -He made my heart thump with the profound con- -viction of his cries. And after he had left me -alone I called up before my mental eye the image -of the girl weeping silently, abundantly, patiently, -and as if irresistibly. I thought of her tawny -hair. I thought how, if unplaited, it would have -covered her all round as low as the hips, like the -hair of a siren. And she had bewitched him. Fancy -a man who would guard his own life with the in- -flexibility of a pitiless and immovable fate, being -brought to lament that once a crowbar had missed -his skull! The sirens sing and lure to death, but -this one had been weeping silently as if for the pity -of his life. She was the tender and voiceless siren -of this appalling navigator. He evidently wanted -to live his whole conception of life. Nothing else -would do. And she too was a servant of that life -that, in the midst of death, cries aloud to our senses. -She was eminently fitted to interpret for him its -feminine side. And in her own way, and with her -own profusion of sensuous charms, she also seemed -to illustrate the eternal truth of an unerring prin- -ciple. I don't know though what sort of principle -Hermann illustrated when he turned up early on -board my ship with a most perplexed air. It -struck me, however, that he too would do his best -to survive. He seemed greatly calmed on the sub- -ject of Falk, but still very full of it. - -"What is it you said I was last night? You -know," he asked after some preliminary talk. -"Too--too--I don't know. A very funny word." - -"Squeamish?" I suggested. - -"Yes. What does it mean?" - -"That you exaggerate things--to yourself. -Without inquiry, and so on." - -He seemed to turn it over in his mind. We went -on talking. This Falk was the plague of his life. -Upsetting everybody like this! Mrs. Hermann -was unwell rather this morning. His niece was -crying still. There was nobody to look after the -children. He struck his umbrella on the deck. She -would be like that for months. Fancy carrying all -the way home, second class, a perfectly useless girl -who is crying all the time. It was bad for Lena -too, he observed; but on what grounds I could not -guess. Perhaps of the bad example. That child -was already sorrowing and crying enough over the -rag doll. Nicholas was really the least sentimental -person of the family. - -"Why does she weep?" I asked. - -"From pity," cried Hermann. - -It was impossible to make out women. Mrs. Her- -mann was the only one he pretended to understand. -She was very, very upset and doubtful. - -"Doubtful about what?" I asked. - -He averted his eyes and did not answer this. It -was impossible to make them out. For instance, -his niece was weeping for Falk. Now he (Her- -mann) would like to wring his neck--but then . . . -He supposed he had too tender a heart. "Frank- -ly," he asked at last, "what do you think of what -we heard last night, captain?" - -"In all these tales," I observed, "there is always -a good deal of exaggeration." - -And not letting him recover from his surprise I -assured him that I knew all the details. He begged -me not to repeat them. His heart was too tender. -They made him feel unwell. Then, looking at his -feet and speaking very slowly, he supposed that he -need not see much of them after they were married. -For, indeed, he could not bear the sight of Falk. -On the other hand it was ridiculous to take home a -girl with her head turned. A girl that weeps all -the time and is of no help to her aunt. - -"Now you will be able to do with one cabin only -on your passage home," I said. - -"Yes, I had thought of that," he said brightly, -almost. "Yes! Himself, his wife, four children ---one cabin might do. Whereas if his niece -went . . ." - -"And what does Mrs. Hermann say to it?" I -inquired. - -Mrs. Hermann did not know whether a man of -that sort could make a girl happy--she had been -greatly deceived in Captain Falk. She had been -very upset last night. - -Those good people did not seem to be able to re- -tain an impression for a whole twelve hours. I -assured him on my own personal knowledge that -Falk possessed in himself all the qualities to make -his niece's future prosperous. He said he was glad -to hear this, and that he would tell his wife. Then -the object of the visit came out. He wished me to -help him to resume relations with Falk. His niece, -he said, had expressed the hope I would do so in my -kindness. He was evidently anxious that I should, -for though he seemed to have forgotten nine-tenths -of his last night's opinions and the whole of his in- -dignation, yet he evidently feared to be sent to the -right-about. "You told me he was very much in -love," he concluded slyly, and leered in a sort of bu- -colic way. - -"As soon as he had left my ship I called Falk on -board by signal--the tug still lying at the anchor- -age. He took the news with calm gravity, as -though he had all along expected the stars to fight -for him in their courses. - -I saw them once more together, and only once-- -on the quarter-deck of the Diana. Hermann sat -smoking with a shirt-sleeved elbow hooked over the -back of his chair. Mrs. Hermann was sewing -alone. As Falk stepped over the gangway, Her- -mann's niece, with a slight swish of the skirt and a -swift friendly nod to me, glided past my chair. - -They met in sunshine abreast of the mainmast. -He held her hands and looked down at them, and -she looked up at him with her candid and unseeing -glance. It seemed to me they had come together -as if attracted, drawn and guided to each other by -a mysterious influence. They were a complete -couple. In her grey frock, palpitating with life, -generous of form, olympian and simple, she was in- -deed the siren to fascinate that dark navigator, this -ruthless lover of the five senses. From afar I -seemed to feel the masculine strength with which -he grasped those hands she had extended to him -with a womanly swiftness. Lena, a little pale, -nursing her beloved lump of dirty rags, ran to- -wards her big friend; and then in the drowsy si- -lence of the good old ship Mrs. Hermann's voice -rang out so changed that it made me spin round in -my chair to see what was the matter. - -"Lena, come here!" she screamed. And this -good-natured matron gave me a wavering glance, -dark and full of fearsome distrust. The child ran -back, surprised to her knee. But the two, stand- -ing before each other in sunlight with clasped -hands, had heard nothing, had seen nothing and -no one. Three feet away from them in the shade -a seaman sat on a spar, very busy splicing a strop, -and dipping his fingers into a tar-pot, as if utterly -unaware of their existence. - -When I returned in command of another ship, -some five years afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Falk -had left the place. I should not wonder if Schom- -berg's tongue had succeeded at last in scaring Falk -away for good; and, indubitably, there was a tale -still going about the town of a certain Falk, owner -of a tug, who had won his wife at cards from the -captain of an English ship. - - - - -THE END - - - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Falk, by Joseph Conrad - |