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diff --git a/old/outci09.txt b/old/outci09.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..34acd21 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/outci09.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13857 @@ +****The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Outcast of the Islands*** +#10 in our series by Joseph Conrad + + +This is version 09, still with page numbers. Working on 10. +Still with markups. + + +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* + + + AN OUTCAST OF + THE ISLANDS + + BY + JOSEPH CONRAD + + + + + + + Pues el delito mayor + Del hombre es haber nacito + --CALDERON + + + + + + + + TO + EDWARD LANCELOT SANDERSON + +[page intentionally blank] + + + AUTHOR'S NOTE + + "<i>An Outcast of the Islands</I>" is my second novel in the +absolute sense of the word; second in conception, second +in execution, second as it were in its essence. There +was no hesitation, half-formed plan, vague idea, or the +vaguest reverie of anything else between it and +"<i>Almayer's Folly</I>." The only doubt I suffered from, +after the publication of "<i>Almayer's Folly</I>," was whether +I should write another line for print. Those days, now +grown so dim, had their poignant moments. Neither in +my mind nor in my heart had I then given up the sea. +In truth I was clinging to it desperately, all the more +desperately because, against my will, I could not help +feeling that there was something changed in my rela- +tion to it. "<i>Almayer's Folly</I>," had been finished and +done with. The mood itself was gone. But it had +left the memory of an experience that, both in thought +and emotion was unconnected with the sea, and I sup- +pose that part of my moral being which is rooted in +consistency was badly shaken. I was a victim of +contrary stresses which produced a state of immobility. +I gave myself up to indolence. Since it was impossible +for me to face both ways I had elected to face nothing. +The discovery of new values in life is a very chaotic +experience; there is a tremendous amount of jostling +and confusion and a momentary feeling of darkness. +I let my spirit float supine over that chaos. + A phrase of Edward Garnett's is, as a matter of fact, +responsible for this book. The first of the friends I + +ix + + +x AUTHOR'S NOTE + +made for myself by my pen it was but natural that he +should be the recipient, at that time, of my confidences. +One evening when we had dined together and he had +listened to the account of my perplexities (I fear he +must have been growing a little tired of them) he +pointed out that there was no need to determine my +future absolutely. Then he added: "You have the +style, you have the temperament; why not write an- +other?" I believe that as far as one man may wish to +influence another man's life Edward Garnett had a +great desire that I should go on writing. At that time, +and I may say, ever afterwards, he was always very +patient and gentle with me. What strikes me most +however in the phrase quoted above which was offered +to me in a tone of detachment is not its gentleness but +its effective wisdom. Had he said, "Why not go on +writing," it is very probable he would have scared me +away from pen and ink for ever; but there was nothing +either to frighten one or arouse one's antagonism in the +mere suggestion to "write another." And thus a dead +point in the revolution of my affairs was insidiously got +over. The word "another" did it. At about eleven +o'clock of a nice London night, Edward and I walked +along interminable streets talking of many things, and +I remember that on getting home I sat down and +wrote about half a page of "<i>An Outcast of the Islands</I>" +before I slept. This was committing myself definitely, +I won't say to another life, but to another book. There +is apparently something in my character which will +not allow me to abandon for good any piece of work I +have begun. I have laid aside many beginnings. I +have laid them aside with sorrow, with disgust, with +rage, with melancholy and even with self-contempt; +but even at the worst I had an uneasy consciousness +that I would have to go back to them. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE xi + + "<i>An Outcast of the Islands</I>" belongs to those novels of +mine that were never laid aside; and though it brought +me the qualification of "exotic writer" I don't think +the charge was at all justified. For the life of me I +don't see that there is the slightest exotic spirit in the +conception or style of that novel. It is certainly the +most <i>tropical</I> of my eastern tales. The mere scenery got +a great hold on me as I went on, perhaps because (I +may just as well confess that) the story itself was never +very near my heart. It engaged my imagination +much more than my affection. As to my feeling for +Willems it was but the regard one cannot help having +for one's own creation. Obviously I could not be in- +different to a man on whose head I had brought so +much evil simply by imagining him such as he appears +in the novel--and that, too, on a very slight foundation. + The man who suggested Willems to me was not par- +ticularly interesting in himself. My interest was +aroused by his dependent position, his strange, dubious +status of a mistrusted, disliked, worn-out European +living on the reluctant toleration of that Settlement +hidden in the heart of the forest-land, up that sombre +stream which our ship was the only white men's ship +to visit. With his hollow, clean-shaved cheeks, a heavy +grey moustache and eyes without any expression what- +ever, clad always in a spotless sleeping suit much be- +frogged in front, which left his lean neck wholly un- +covered, and with his bare feet in a pair of straw slip- +pers, he wandered silently amongst the houses in day- +light, almost as dumb as an animal and apparently +much more homeless. I don't know what he did with +himself at night. He must have had a place, a hut, +a palm-leaf shed, some sort of hovel where he kept +his razor and his change of sleeping suits. An air of +futile mystery hung over him, something not exactly + + +xii AUTHOR'S NOTE + +dark but obviously ugly. The only definite state- +ment I could extract from anybody was that it was he +who had "brought the Arabs into the river." That +must have happened many years before. But how +did he bring them into the river? He could hardly +have done it in his arms like a lot of kittens. I knew +that Almayer founded the chronology of all his mis- +fortunes on the date of that fateful advent; and yet the +very first time we dined with Almayer there was Will- +ems sitting at table with us in the manner of the skele- +ton at the feast, obviously shunned by everybody, +never addressed by any one, and for all recognition of +his existence getting now and then from Almayer a +venomous glance which I observed with great +surprise. In the course of the whole evening he ven- +tured one single remark which I didn't catch because +his articulation was imperfect, as of a man who had +forgotten how to speak. I was the only person who +seemed aware of the sound. Willems subsided. Pres- +ently he retired, pointedly unnoticed--into the forest +maybe? Its immensity was there, within three hundred +yards of the verandah, ready to swallow up anything. +Almayer conversing with my captain did not stop talking +while he glared angrily at the retreating back. Didn't +that fellow bring the Arabs into the river! Nevertheless +Willems turned up next morning on Almayer's verandah. +From the bridge of the steamer I could see plainly these +two, breakfasting together, tete a tete and, I suppose, in +dead silence, one with his air of being no longer inter- +ested in this world and the other raising his eyes now +and then with intense dislike. + It was clear that in those days Willems lived on +Almayer's charity. Yet on returning two months +later to Sambir I heard that he had gone on an expedi- +tion up the river in charge of a steam-launch belonging + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE xiii + +to the Arabs, to make some discovery or other. On +account of the strange reluctance that everyone man- +ifested to talk about Willems it was impossible for me +to get at the rights of that transaction. Moreover, I +was a newcomer, the youngest of the company, and, +I suspect, not judged quite fit as yet for a full con- +fidence. I was not much concerned about that ex- +clusion. The faint suggestion of plots and mys- +teries pertaining to all matters touching Almayer's +affairs amused me vastly. Almayer was obviously +very much affected. I believe he missed Willems im- +mensely. He wore an air of sinister preoccupation +and talked confidentially with my captain. I could +catch only snatches of mumbled sentences. Then one +morning as I came along the deck to take my place at +the breakfast table Almayer checked himself in his +low-toned discourse. My captain's face was per- +fectly impenetrable. There was a moment of profound +silence and then as if unable to contain himself Almayer +burst out in a loud vicious tone: + "One thing's certain; if he finds anything worth hav- +ing up there they will poison him like a dog." + Disconnected though it was, that phrase, as food for +thought, was distinctly worth hearing. We left the +river three days afterwards and I never returned to +Sambir; but whatever happened to the protagonist of +my Willems nobody can deny that I have recorded for +him a less squalid fate. + + J. C. +1919. + +[page intentionally blank] + + + + PART I + + +[page intentionally blank] + + <b>AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS</b> + + CHAPTER ONE + + WHEN he stepped off the straight and narrow path +of his peculiar honesty, it was with an inward assertion +of unflinching resolve to fall back again into the mo- +notonous but safe stride of virtue as soon as his little +excursion into the wayside quagmires had produced +the desired effect. It was going to be a short episode +--a sentence in brackets, so to speak--in the flowing +tale of his life: a thing of no moment, to be done un- +willingly, yet neatly, and to be quickly forgotten. He +imagined that he could go on afterwards looking at the +sunshine, enjoying the shade, breathing in the perfume +of flowers in the small garden before his house. He +fancied that nothing would be changed, that he would +be able as heretofore to tyrannize good-humouredly +over his half-caste wife, to notice with tender contempt +his pale yellow child, to patronize loftily his dark- +skinned brother-in-law, who loved pink neckties and +wore patent-leather boots on his little feet, and was so +humble before the white husband of the lucky sister. +Those were the delights of his life, and he was unable +to conceive that the moral significance of any act of +his could interfere with the very nature of things, could +dim the light of the sun, could destroy the perfume of +the flowers, the submission of his wife, the smile of his +child, the awe-struck respect of Leonard da Souza and +of all the Da Souza family. That family's admiration + +3 + + +4 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +was the great luxury of his life. It rounded and com- +pleted his existence in a perpetual assurance of unques- +tionable superiority. He loved to breathe the coarse +incense they offered before the shrine of the successful +white man; the man that had done them the honour +to marry their daughter, sister, cousin; the rising man +sure to climb very high; the confidential clerk of Hudig +& Co. They were a numerous and an unclean crowd, +living in ruined bamboo houses, surrounded by neg- +lected compounds, on the outskirts of Macassar. He +kept them at arm's length and even further off, per- +haps, having no illusions as to their worth. They +were a half-caste, lazy lot, and he saw them as they +were--ragged, lean, unwashed, undersized men of +various ages, shuffling about aimlessly in slippers; +motionless old women who looked like monstrous bags +of pink calico stuffed with shapeless lumps of fat, and +deposited askew upon decaying rattan chairs in shady +corners of dusty verandahs; young women, slim and +yellow, big-eyed, long-haired, moving languidly amongst +the dirt and rubbish of their dwellings as if every step +they took was going to be their very last. He heard +their shrill quarrellings, the squalling of their children, +the grunting of their pigs; he smelt the odours of the +heaps of garbage in their courtyards: and he was greatly +disgusted. But he fed and clothed that shabby multi- +tude; those degenerate descendants of Portuguese con- +querors; he was their providence; he kept them singing +his praises in the midst of their laziness, of their dirt, +of their immense and hopeless squalor: and he was +greatly delighted. They wanted much, but he could +give them all they wanted without ruining himself. +In exchange he had their silent fear, their loquacious +love, their noisy veneration. It is a fine thing to be a +providence, and to be told so on every day of one's life. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 5 + +It gives one a feeling of enormously remote superiority, +and Willems revelled in it. He did not analyze the +state of his mind, but probably his greatest delight lay +in the unexpressed but intimate conviction that, should +he close his hand, all those admiring human beings +would starve. His munificence had demoralized them. +An easy task. Since he descended amongst them and +married Joanna they had lost the little aptitude and +strength for work they might have had to put forth +under the stress of extreme necessity. They lived now +by the grace of his will. This was power. Willems +loved it. + In another, and perhaps a lower plane, his days did +not want for their less complex but more obvious pleas- +ures. He liked the simple games of skill--billiards; +also games not so simple, and calling for quite another +kind of skill--poker. He had been the aptest pupil of +a steady-eyed, sententious American, who had drifted +mysteriously into Macassar from the wastes of the +Pacific, and, after knocking about for a time in the +eddies of town life, had drifted out enigmatically into +the sunny solitudes of the Indian Ocean. The memory +of the Californian stranger was perpetuated in the game +of poker--which became popular in the capital of Cele- +bes from that time--and in a powerful cocktail, the +recipe for which is transmitted--in the Kwang-tung +dialect--from head boy to head boy of the Chinese +servants in the Sunda Hotel even to this day. Willems +was a connoisseur in the drink and an adept at the game. +Of those accomplishments he was moderately proud. +Of the confidence reposed in him by Hudig--the master +--he was boastfully and obtrusively proud. This arose +from his great benevolence, and from an exalted sense +of his duty to himself and the world at large. He ex- +perienced that irresistible impulse to impart information + + +6 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +which is inseparable from gross ignorance. There is +always some one thing which the ignorant man knows, +and that thing is the only thing worth knowing; it +fills the ignorant man's universe. Willems knew all +about himself. On the day when, with many misgiv- +ings, he ran away from a Dutch East-Indiaman in +Samarang roads, he had commenced that study of +himself, of his own ways, of his own abilities, of those +fate-compelling qualities of his which led him toward +that lucrative position which he now filled. Being of a +modest and diffident nature, his successes amazed, +almost frightened him, and ended--as he got over the +succeeding shocks of surprise--by making him fero- +ciously conceited. He believed in his genius and in his +knowledge of the world. Others should know of it also; +for their own good and for his greater glory. All those +friendly men who slapped him on the back and greeted +him noisily should have the benefit of his example. For +that he must talk. He talked to them conscientiously. +In the afternoon he expounded his theory of success +over the little tables, dipping now and then his mous- +tache in the crushed ice of the cocktails; in the evening +he would often hold forth, cue in hand, to a young lis- +tener across the billiard table. The billiard balls stood +still as if listening also, under the vivid brilliance of the +shaded oil lamps hung low over the cloth; while away +in the shadows of the big room the Chinaman marker +would lean wearily against the wall, the blank mask of +his face looking pale under the mahogany marking- +board; his eyelids dropped in the drowsy fatigue of late +hours and in the buzzing monotony of the unintelligible +stream of words poured out by the white man. In a +sudden pause of the talk the game would recommence +with a sharp click and go on for a time in the flowing +soft whirr and the subdued thuds as the balls rolled + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 7 + +zig-zagging towards the inevitably successful cannon. +Through the big windows and the open doors the salt +dampness of the sea, the vague smell of mould and +flowers from the garden of the hotel drifted in and +mingled with the odour of lamp oil, growing heavier +as the night advanced. The players' heads dived into +the light as they bent down for the stroke, springing +back again smartly into the greenish gloom of broad +lamp-shades; the clock ticked methodically; the un- +moved Chinaman continuously repeated the score in a +lifeless voice, like a big talking doll--and Willems +would win the game. With a remark that it was getting +late, and that he was a married man, he would say a +patronizing good-night and step out into the long, +empty street. At that hour its white dust was like a +dazzling streak of moonlight where the eye sought repose +in the dimmer gleam of rare oil lamps. Willems +walked homewards, following the line of walls over- +topped by the luxuriant vegetation of the front gar- +dens. The houses right and left were hidden behind +the black masses of flowering shrubs. Willems had +the street to himself. He would walk in the middle, +his shadow gliding obsequiously before him. He looked +down on it complacently. The shadow of a successful +man! He would be slightly dizzy with the cocktails +and with the intoxication of his own glory. As he often +told people, he came east fourteen years ago--a cabin +boy. A small boy. His shadow must have been very +small at that time; he thought with a smile that he was +not aware then he had anything--even a shadow-- +which he dared call his own. And now he was looking +at the shadow of the confidential clerk of Hudig & Co. +going home. How glorious! How good was life for +those that were on the winning side! He had won the +game of life; also the game of billiards. He walked + + +8 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +faster, jingling his winnings, and thinking of the white +stone days that had marked the path of his existence. +He thought of the trip to Lombok for ponies--that +first important transaction confided to him by Hudig; +then he reviewed the more important affairs: the quiet +deal in opium; the illegal traffic in gunpowder; the great +affair of smuggled firearms, the difficult business of the +Rajah of Goak. He carried that last through by sheer +pluck; he had bearded the savage old ruler in his council +room; he had bribed him with a gilt glass coach, which, +rumour said, was used as a hen-coop now; he had over- +persuaded him; he had bested him in every way. That +was the way to get on. He disapproved of the elemen- +tary dishonesty that dips the hand in the cash-box, but +one could evade the laws and push the principles of +trade to their furthest consequences. Some call that +cheating. Those are the fools, the weak, the contemp- +tible. The wise, the strong, the respected, have no +scruples. Where there are scruples there can be no +power. On that text he preached often to the young +men. It was his doctrine, and he, himself, was a shining +example of its truth. + Night after night he went home thus, after a day of +toil and pleasure, drunk with the sound of his own voice +celebrating his own prosperity. On his thirtieth birth- +day he went home thus. He had spent in good com- +pany a nice, noisy evening, and, as he walked along the +empty street, the feeling of his own greatness grew upon +him, lifted him above the white dust of the road, and +filled him with exultation and regrets. He had not +done himself justice over there in the hotel, he had not +talked enough about himself, he had not impressed his +hearers enough. Never mind. Some other time. Now +he would go home and make his wife get up and listen +to him. Why should she not get up?--and mix a cock- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 9 + +tail for him--and listen patiently. Just so. She shall. +If he wanted he could make all the Da Souza family +get up. He had only to say a word and they would +all come and sit silently in their night vestments on +the hard, cold ground of his compound and listen, as +long as he wished to go on explaining to them from the +top of the stairs, how great and good he was. They +would. However, his wife would do--for to-night. + His wife! He winced inwardly. A dismal woman +with startled eyes and dolorously drooping mouth, that +would listen to him in pained wonder and mute stillness. +She was used to those night-discourses now. She had +rebelled once--at the beginning. Only once. Now, +while he sprawled in the long chair and drank and +talked, she would stand at the further end of the table, +her hands resting on the edge, her frightened eyes +watching his lips, without a sound, without a stir, hardly +breathing, till he dismissed her with a contemptuous: +"Go to bed, dummy." She would draw a long breath +then and trail out of the room, relieved but unmoved. +Nothing could startle her, make her scold or make her +cry. She did not complain, she did not rebel. That +first difference of theirs was decisive. Too decisive, +thought Willems, discontentedly. It had frightened +the soul out of her body apparently. A dismal woman! +A damn'd business altogether! What the devil did he +want to go and saddle himself. . . . Ah! Well! he +wanted a home, and the match seemed to please Hudig, +and Hudig gave him the bungalow, that flower-bowered +house to which he was wending his way in the cool +moonlight. And he had the worship of the Da Souza +tribe. A man of his stamp could carry off anything, +do anything, aspire to anything. In another five years +those white people who attended the Sunday card- +parties of the Governor would accept him--half-caste + + +10 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +wife and all! Hooray! He saw his shadow dart for- +ward and wave a hat, as big as a rum barrel, at the +end of an arm several yards long. . . . Who +shouted hooray? . . . He smiled shamefacedly to +himself, and, pushing his hands deep into his pockets, +walked faster with a suddenly grave face. + Behind him--to the left--a cigar end glowed in the +gateway of Mr. Vinck's front yard. Leaning against +one of the brick pillars, Mr. Vinck, the cashier of Hudig +& Co., smoked the last cheroot of the evening. Amongst +the shadows of the trimmed bushes Mrs. Vinck crunched +slowly, with measured steps, the gravel of the circular +path before the house. + "There's Willems going home on foot--and drunk I +fancy," said Mr. Vinck over his shoulder. "I saw him +jump and wave his hat." + The crunching of the gravel stopped. + "Horrid man," said Mrs. Vinck, calmly. "I have +heard he beats his wife." + "Oh no, my dear, no," muttered absently Mr. Vinck, +with a vague gesture. The aspect of Willems as a wife- +beater presented to him no interest. How women do +misjudge! If Willems wanted to torture his wife he +would have recourse to less primitive methods. Mr. +Vinck knew Willems well, and believed him to be very +able, very smart--objectionably so. As he took the +last quick draws at the stump of his cheroot, Mr. Vinck +reflected that the confidence accorded by Hudig to +Willems was open, under the circumstances, to loyal +criticism from Hudig's cashier. + "He is becoming dangerous; he knows too much. +He will have to be got rid of," said Mr. Vinck aloud. +But Mrs. Vinck had gone in already, and after shaking +his head he threw away his cheroot and followed her +slowly. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 11 + + Willems walked on homeward weaving the splendid +web of his future. The road to greatness lay plainly +before his eyes, straight and shining, without any obsta- +cle that he could see. He had stepped off the path of +honesty, as he understood it, but he would soon regain +it, never to leave it any more! It was a very small +matter. He would soon put it right again. Meantime +his duty was not to be found out, and he trusted in his +skill, in his luck, in his well-established reputation that +would disarm suspicion if anybody dared to suspect. +But nobody would dare! True, he was conscious of a +slight deterioration. He had appropriated temporarily +some of Hudig's money. A deplorable necessity. But +he judged himself with the indulgence that should be +extended to the weaknesses of genius. He would make +reparation and all would be as before; nobody would be +the loser for it, and he would go on unchecked toward +the brilliant goal of his ambition. + Hudig's partner! + Before going up the steps of his house he stood for +awhile, his feet well apart, chin in hand, contemplating +mentally Hudig's future partner. A glorious occupa- +tion. He saw him quite safe; solid as the hills; deep-- +deep as an abyss; discreet as the grave. + + + CHAPTER TWO + + THE sea, perhaps because of its saltness, roughens +the outside but keeps sweet the kernel of its servants' +soul. The old sea; the sea of many years ago, whose +servants were devoted slaves and went from youth to +age or to a sudden grave without needing to open the +book of life, because they could look at eternity re- +flected on the element that gave the life and dealt the +death. Like a beautiful and unscrupulous woman, the +sea of the past was glorious in its smiles, irresistible in +its anger, capricious, enticing, illogical, irresponsible; +a thing to love, a thing to fear. It cast a spell, it gave +joy, it lulled gently into boundless faith; then with +quick and causeless anger it killed. But its cruelty was +redeemed by the charm of its inscrutable mystery, by +the immensity of its promise, by the supreme witchery +of its possible favour. Strong men with childlike hearts +were faithful to it, were content to live by its grace-- +to die by its will. That was the sea before the time +when the French mind set the Egyptian muscle in +motion and produced a dismal but profitable ditch. +Then a great pall of smoke sent out by countless steam- +boats was spread over the restless mirror of the In- +finite. The hand of the engineer tore down the veil +of the terrible beauty in order that greedy and faithless +landlubbers might pocket dividends. The mystery +was destroyed. Like all mysteries, it lived only in +the hearts of its worshippers. The hearts changed; the +men changed. The once loving and devoted servants +went out armed with fire and iron, and conquering + +12 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 13 + +the fear of their own hearts became a calculating crowd +of cold and exacting masters. The sea of the past +was an incomparably beautiful mistress, with inscruta- +ble face, with cruel and promising eyes. The sea of +to-day is a used-up drudge, wrinkled and defaced by the +churned-up wakes of brutal propellers, robbed of the +enslaving charm of its vastness, stripped of its beauty, +of its mystery and of its promise. + Tom Lingard was a master, a lover, a servant of +the sea. The sea took him young, fashioned him body +and soul; gave him his fierce aspect, his loud voice, his +fearless eyes, his stupidly guileless heart. Generously +it gave him his absurd faith in himself, his universal +love of creation, his wide indulgence, his contemptuous +severity, his straightforward simplicity of motive and +honesty of aim. Having made him what he was, +womanlike, the sea served him humbly and let him +bask unharmed in the sunshine of its terribly uncertain +favour. Tom Lingard grew rich on the sea and by the +sea. He loved it with the ardent affection of a lover, +he made light of it with the assurance of perfect mas- +tery, he feared it with the wise fear of a brave man, and +he took liberties with it as a spoiled child might do with +a paternal and good-natured ogre. He was grateful +to it, with the gratitude of an honest heart. His great- +est pride lay in his profound conviction of its faithful- +ness--in the deep sense of his unerring knowledge of its +treachery. + The little brig <i>Flash</i> was the instrument of Lingard's +fortune. They came north together--both young-- +out of an Australian port, and after a very few years +there was not a white man in the islands, from Palem- +bang to Ternate, from Ombawa to Palawan, that did +not know Captain Tom and his lucky craft. He was +liked for his reckless generosity, for his unswerving + + +14 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +honesty, and at first was a little feared on account of +his violent temper. Very soon, however, they found +him out, and the word went round that Captain Tom's +fury was less dangerous than many a man's smile. He +prospered greatly. After his first--and successful-- +fight with the sea robbers, when he rescued, as rumour +had it, the yacht of some big wig from home, somewhere +down Carimata way, his great popularity began. As +years went on it grew apace. Always visiting out-of- +the-way places of that part of the world, always in +search of new markets for his cargoes--not so much +for profit as for the pleasure of finding them--he soon +became known to the Malays, and by his successful +recklessness in several encounters with pirates, estab- +lished the terror of his name. Those white men with +whom he had business, and who naturally were on the +look-out for his weaknesses, could easily see that it was +enough to give him his Malay title to flatter him greatly. +So when there was anything to be gained by it, and +sometimes out of pure and unprofitable good nature, +they would drop the ceremonious "Captain Lingard" +and address him half seriously as Rajah Laut--the +King of the Sea. + He carried the name bravely on his broad shoulders. +He had carried it many years already when the boy +Willems ran barefooted on the deck of the ship <i>Kos- +mopoliet IV.</i> in Samarang roads, looking with innocent +eyes on the strange shore and objurgating his immediate +surroundings with blasphemous lips, while his childish +brain worked upon the heroic idea of running away. +From the poop of the <i>Flash</i> Lingard saw in the early +morning the Dutch ship get lumberingly under weigh, +bound for the eastern ports. Very late in the evening +of the same day he stood on the quay of the landing +canal, ready to go on board of his brig. The night + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 15 + +was starry and clear; the little custom-house building +was shut up, and as the gharry that brought him down +disappeared up the long avenue of dusty trees leading +to the town, Lingard thought himself alone on the quay. +He roused up his sleeping boat-crew and stood waiting +for them to get ready, when he felt a tug at his coat and +a thin voice said, very distinctly-- + "English captain." + Lingard turned round quickly, and what seemed to be +a very lean boy jumped back with commendable +activity. + "Who are you? Where do you spring from?" asked +Lingard, in startled surprise. + From a safe distance the boy pointed toward a cargo +lighter moored to the quay. + "Been hiding there, have you?" said Lingard. +"Well, what do you want? Speak out, confound you +You did not come here to scare me to death, for fun, +did you?" + The boy tried to explain in imperfect English, but +very soon Lingard interrupted him. + "I see," he exclaimed, "you ran away from the +big ship that sailed this morning. Well, why don't +you go to your countrymen here?" + "Ship gone only a little way--to Sourabaya. Make +me go back to the ship," explained the boy. + "Best thing for you," affirmed Lingard with con- +viction. + "No," retorted the boy; "me want stop here; not +want go home. Get money here; home no good." + "This beats all my going a-fishing," commented the +astonished Lingard. "It's money you want? Well! +well! And you were not afraid to run away, you bag +of bones, you!" + The boy intimated that he was frightened of nothing + + +16 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +but of being sent back to the ship. Lingard looked +at him in meditative silence. + "Come closer," he said at last. He took the boy +by the chin, and turning up his face gave him a search- +ing look. "How old are you?" + "Seventeen." + "There's not much of you for seventeen. Are you +hungry?" + "A little." + "Will you come with me, in that brig there?" + The boy moved without a word towards the boat and +scrambled into the bows. + "Knows his place," muttered Lingard to himself as +he stepped heavily into the stern sheets and took up +the yoke lines. "Give way there." + The Malay boat crew lay back together, and the gig +sprang away from the quay heading towards the brig's +riding light. + Such was the beginning of Willems' career. + Lingard learned in half an hour all that there was +of Willems' commonplace story. Father outdoor clerk +of some ship-broker in Rotterdam; mother dead. The +boy quick in learning, but idle in school. The strait- +ened circumstances in the house filled with small +brothers and sisters, sufficiently clothed and fed but +otherwise running wild, while the disconsolate widower +tramped about all day in a shabby overcoat and im- +perfect boots on the muddy quays, and in the evening +piloted wearily the half-intoxicated foreign skippers +amongst the places of cheap delights, returning home +late, sick with too much smoking and drinking--for +company's sake--with these men, who expected such +attentions in the way of business. Then the offer of +the good-natured captain of <i>Kosmopoliet IV.</i>, who was +pleased to do something for the patient and obliging + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 17 + +fellow; young Willems' great joy, his still greater dis- +appointment with the sea that looked so charming from +afar, but proved so hard and exacting on closer acquaint- +ance--and then this running away by a sudden im- +pulse. The boy was hopelessly at variance with the +spirit of the sea. He had an instinctive contempt for +the honest simplicity of that work which led to nothing +he cared for. Lingard soon found this out. He offered +to send him home in an English ship, but the boy begged +hard to be permitted to remain. He wrote a beautiful +hand, became soon perfect in English, was quick at +figures; and Lingard made him useful in that way. +As he grew older his trading instincts developed them- +selves astonishingly, and Lingard left him often to +trade in one island or another while he, himself, made +an intermediate trip to some out-of-the-way place. +On Willems expressing a wish to that effect, Lingard +let him enter Hudig's service. He felt a little sore at +that abandonment because he had attached himself, +in a way, to his protege. Still he was proud of him, +and spoke up for him loyally. At first it was, "Smart +boy that--never make a seaman though." Then when +Willems was helping in the trading he referred to him +as "that clever young fellow." Later when Willems +became the confidential agent of Hudig, employed in +many a delicate affair, the simple-hearted old seaman +would point an admiring finger at his back and whisper +to whoever stood near at the moment, "Long-headed +chap that; deuced long-headed chap. Look at him. +Confidential man of old Hudig. I picked him up in a +ditch, you may say, like a starved cat. Skin and bone. +'Pon my word I did. And now he knows more than I +do about island trading. Fact. I am not joking. +More than I do," he would repeat, seriously, with inno- +cent pride in his honest eyes. + + +18 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + From the safe elevation of his commercial successes +Willems patronized Lingard. He had a liking for his +benefactor, not unmixed with some disdain for the crude +directness of the old fellow's methods of conduct. There +were, however, certain sides of Lingard's character for +which Willems felt a qualified respect. The talkative +seaman knew how to be silent on certain matters that +to Willems were very interesting. Besides, Lingard +was rich, and that in itself was enough to compel Wil- +lems' unwilling admiration. In his confidential chats +with Hudig, Willems generally alluded to the benevolent +Englishman as the "lucky old fool" in a very distinct +tone of vexation; Hudig would grunt an unqualified +assent, and then the two would look at each other in a +sudden immobility of pupils fixed by a stare of un- +expressed thought. + "You can't find out where he gets all that india- +rubber, hey Willems?" Hudig would ask at last, turn- +ing away and bending over the papers on his desk. + "No, Mr. Hudig. Not yet. But I am trying," +was Willems' invariable reply, delivered with a ring of +regretful deprecation. + "Try! Always try! You may try! You think your- +self clever perhaps," rumbled on Hudig, without looking +up. "I have been trading with him twenty--thirty +years now. The old fox. And I have tried. Bah!" + He stretched out a short, podgy leg and contemplated +the bare instep and the grass slipper hanging by the +toes. "You can't make him drunk?" he would add, +after a pause of stertorous breathing. + "No, Mr. Hudig, I can't really," protested Willems, +earnestly. + "Well, don't try. I know him. Don't try," ad- +vised the master, and, bending again over his desk, his +staring bloodshot eyes close to the paper, he would go + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 19 + +on tracing laboriously with his thick fingers the slim +unsteady letters of his correspondence, while Willems +waited respectfully for his further good pleasure before +asking, with great deference-- + "Any orders, Mr. Hudig?" + "Hm! yes. Go to Bun-Hin yourself and see the +dollars of that payment counted and packed, and have +them put on board the mail-boat for Ternate. She's +due here this afternoon." + "Yes, Mr. Hudig." + "And, look here. If the boat is late, leave the case +in Bun-Hin's godown till to-morrow. Seal it up. Eight +seals as usual. Don't take it away till the boat is here." + "No, Mr. Hudig." + "And don't forget about these opium cases. It's +for to-night. Use my own boatmen. Transship them +from the <i>Caroline</I> to the Arab barque," went on the +master in his hoarse undertone. "And don't you +come to me with another story of a case dropped over- +board like last time," he added, with sudden ferocity, +looking up at his confidential clerk. + "No, Mr. Hudig. I will take care." + "That's all. Tell that pig as you go out that if he +doesn't make the punkah go a little better I will break +every bone in his body," finished up Hudig, wiping his +purple face with a red silk handkerchief nearly as big +as a counterpane. + Noiselessly Willems went out, shutting carefully be- +hind him the little green door through which he passed to +the warehouse. Hudig, pen in hand, listened to him +bullying the punkah boy with profane violence, born of +unbounded zeal for the master's comfort, before he +returned to his writing amid the rustling of papers +fluttering in the wind sent down by the punkah that +waved in wide sweeps above his head. + + +20 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + Willems would nod familiarly to Mr. Vinck, who had +his desk close to the little door of the private office, and +march down the warehouse with an important air. +Mr. Vinck--extreme dislike lurking in every wrinkle +of his gentlemanly countenance--would follow with his +eyes the white figure flitting in the gloom amongst +the piles of bales and cases till it passed out through the +big archway into the glare of the street. + + + + CHAPTER THREE + + THE opportunity and the temptation were too much +for Willems, and under the pressure of sudden necessity +he abused that trust which was his pride, the perpetual +sign of his cleverness and a load too heavy for him to +carry. A run of bad luck at cards, the failure of a small +speculation undertaken on his own account, an unex- +pected demand for money from one or another member +of the Da Souza family--and almost before he was well +aware of it he was off the path of his peculiar honesty. +It was such a faint and ill-defined track that it took him +some time to find out how far he had strayed amongst +the brambles of the dangerous wilderness he had been +skirting for so many years, without any other guide than +his own convenience and that doctrine of success which +he had found for himself in the book of life--in those +interesting chapters that the Devil has been permitted +to write in it, to test the sharpness of men's eyesight +and the steadfastness of their hearts. For one short, +dark and solitary moment he was dismayed, but he had +that courage that will not scale heights, yet will wade +bravely through the mud--if there be no other road. +He applied himself to the task of restitution, and de- +voted himself to the duty of not being found out. On +his thirtieth birthday he had almost accomplished the +task--and the duty had been faithfully and cleverly +performed. He saw himself safe. Again he could look +hopefully towards the goal of his legitimate ambition. +Nobody would dare to suspect him, and in a few days +there would be nothing to suspect. He was elated. + +21 + + +22 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +He did not know that his prosperity had touched then +its high-water mark, and that the tide was already on +the turn. + Two days afterwards he knew. Mr. Vinck, hearing +the rattle of the door-handle, jumped up from his desk-- +where he had been tremulously listening to the loud +voices in the private office--and buried his face in the +big safe with nervous haste. For the last time Willems +passed through the little green door leading to Hudig's +sanctum, which, during the past half-hour, might have +been taken--from the fiendish noise within--for the +cavern of some wild beast. Willems' troubled eyes took +in the quick impression of men and things as he came +out from the place of his humiliation. He saw the +scared expression of the punkah boy; the Chinamen +tellers sitting on their heels with unmovable faces +turned up blankly towards him while their arrested +hands hovered over the little piles of bright guilders +ranged on the floor; Mr. Vinck's shoulder-blades with +the fleshy rims of two red ears above. He saw the long +avenue of gin cases stretching from where he stood to the +arched doorway beyond which he would be able to +breathe perhaps. A thin rope's end lay across his path +and he saw it distinctly, yet stumbled heavily over it +as if it had been a bar of iron. Then he found himself +in the street at last, but could not find air enough to +fill his lungs. He walked towards his home, gasping. + As the sound of Hudig's insults that lingered in his +ears grew fainter by the lapse of time, the feeling of +shame was replaced slowly by a passion of anger against +himself and still more against the stupid concourse of +circumstances that had driven him into his idiotic in- +discretion. Idiotic indiscretion; that is how he defined +his guilt to himself. Could there be anything worse +from the point of view of his undeniable cleverness? + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 23 + +What a fatal aberration of an acute mind! He did not +recognize himself there. He must have been mad. +That's it. A sudden gust of madness. And now the +work of long years was destroyed utterly. What would +become of him? + Before he could answer that question he found him- +self in the garden before his house, Hudig's wedding +gift. He looked at it with a vague surprise to find it +there. His past was so utterly gone from him that the +dwelling which belonged to it appeared to him in- +congruous standing there intact, neat, and cheerful +in the sunshine of the hot afternoon. The house was a +pretty little structure all doors and windows, surrounded +on all sides by the deep verandah supported on slender +columns clothed in the green foliage of creepers, which +also fringed the overhanging eaves of the high-pitched +roof. Slowly, Willems mounted the dozen steps that +led to the verandah. He paused at every step. He +must tell his wife. He felt frightened at the prospect, +and his alarm dismayed him. Frightened to face her! +Nothing could give him a better measure of the great- +ness of the change around him, and in him. Another +man--and another life with the faith in himself gone. +He could not be worth much if he was afraid to face +that woman. + He dared not enter the house through the open door +of the dining-room, but stood irresolute by the little +work-table where trailed a white piece of calico, with +a needle stuck in it, as if the work had been left hur- +riedly. The pink-crested cockatoo started, on his +appearance, into clumsy activity and began to climb +laboriously up and down his perch, calling "Joanna" +with indistinct loudness and a persistent screech that +prolonged the last syllable of the name as if in a peal +of insane laughter. The screen in the doorway moved + + +24 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +gently once or twice in the breeze, and each time Wil- +lems started slightly, expecting his wife, but he never +lifted his eyes, although straining his ears for the sound +of her footsteps. Gradually he lost himself in his +thoughts, in the endless speculation as to the manner +in which she would receive his news--and his orders. +In this preoccupation he almost forgot the fear of her +presence. No doubt she will cry, she will lament, she +will be helpless and frightened and passive as ever. +And he would have to drag that limp weight on and on +through the darkness of a spoiled life. Horrible! +Of course he could not abandon her and the child to +certain misery or possible starvation. The wife and +the child of Willems. Willems the successful, the +smart; Willems the conf . . . . Pah! And what +was Willems now? Willems the. . . . He strangled +the half-born thought, and cleared his throat to stifle a +groan. Ah! Won't they talk to-night in the billiard- +room--his world, where he had been first--all those +men to whom he had been so superciliously condescend- +ing. Won't they talk with surprise, and affected regret, +and grave faces, and wise nods. Some of them owed +him money, but he never pressed anybody. Not he. +Willems, the prince of good fellows, they called him. +And now they will rejoice, no doubt, at his downfall. +A crowd of imbeciles. In his abasement he was yet +aware of his superiority over those fellows, who were +merely honest or simply not found out yet. A crowd +of imbeciles! He shook his fist at the evoked image of +his friends, and the startled parrot fluttered its wings +and shrieked in desperate fright. + In a short glance upwards Willems saw his wife come +round the corner of the house. He lowered his eyelids +quickly, and waited silently till she came near and stood +on the other side of the little table. He would not look + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 25 + +at her face, but he could see the red dressing-gown he +knew so well. She trailed through life in that red +dressing-gown, with its row of dirty blue bows down +the front, stained, and hooked on awry; a torn flounce +at the bottom following her like a snake as she moved +languidly about, with her hair negligently caught up, +and a tangled wisp straggling untidily down her back. +His gaze travelled upwards from bow to bow, noticing +those that hung only by a thread, but it did not go be- +yond her chin. He looked at her lean throat, at the +obtrusive collarbone visible in the disarray of the upper +part of her attire. He saw the thin arm and the bony +hand clasping the child she carried, and he felt an im- +mense distaste for those encumbrances of his life. He +waited for her to say something, but as he felt her eyes +rest on him in unbroken silence he sighed and began to +speak. + It was a hard task. He spoke slowly, lingering +amongst the memories of this early life in his reluctance +to confess that this was the end of it and the beginning +of a less splendid existence. In his conviction of having +made her happiness in the full satisfaction of all material +wants he never doubted for a moment that she was +ready to keep him company on no matter how hard +and stony a road. He was not elated by this certitude. +He had married her to please Hudig, and the greatness +of his sacrifice ought to have made her happy without +any further exertion on his part. She had years of +glory as Willems' wife, and years of comfort, of loyal +care, and of such tenderness as she deserved. He had +guarded her carefully from any bodily hurt; and of any +other suffering he had no conception. The assertion of +his superiority was only another benefit conferred on +her. All this was a matter of course, but he told her all +this so as to bring vividly before her the greatness of her + + +26 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +loss. She was so dull of understanding that she would +not grasp it else. And now it was at an end. They +would have to go. Leave this house, leave this island, +go far away where he was unknown. To the English +Strait-Settlements perhaps. He would find an opening +there for his abilities--and juster men to deal with than +old Hudig. He laughed bitterly. + "You have the money I left at home this morning, +Joanna?" he asked. "We will want it all now." + As he spoke those words he thought he was a fine +fellow. Nothing new that. Still, he surpassed there +his own expectations. Hang it all, there are sacred +things in life, after all. The marriage tie was one of +them, and he was not the man to break it. The solidity +of his principles caused him great satisfaction, but he +did not care to look at his wife, for all that. He waited +for her to speak. Then he would have to console her; +tell her not to be a crying fool; to get ready to go. Go +where? How? When? He shook his head. They +must leave at once; that was the principal thing. He +felt a sudden need to hurry up his departure. + "Well, Joanna," he said, a little impatiently--- +"don't stand there in a trance. Do you hear? We +must. . . ." + He looked up at his wife, and whatever he was going +to add remained unspoken. She was staring at him +with her big, slanting eyes, that seemed to him twice +their natural size. The child, its dirty little face pressed +to its mother's shoulder, was sleeping peacefully. The +deep silence of the house was not broken, but rather +accentuated, by the low mutter of the cockatoo, now +very still on its perch. As Willems was looking at +Joanna her upper lip was drawn up on one side, giving +to her melancholy face a vicious expression altogether +new to his experience. He stepped back in his surprise. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 27 + + "Oh! You great man!" she said distinctly, but in +a voice that was hardly above a whisper. + Those words, and still more her tone, stunned him +as if somebody had fired a gun close to his ear. He +stared back at her stupidly. + "Oh! you great man!" she repeated slowly, glancing +right and left as if meditating a sudden escape. "And +you think that I am going to starve with you. You +are nobody now. You think my mamma and Leonard +would let me go away? And with you! With you," +she repeated scornfully, raising her voice, which woke +up the child and caused it to whimper feebly. + "Joanna!" exclaimed Willems. + "Do not speak to me. I have heard what I have +waited for all these years. You are less than dirt, you +that have wiped your feet on me. I have waited +for this. I am not afraid now. I do not want you; +do not come near me. Ah-h!" she screamed shrilly, +as he held out his hand in an entreating gesture-- +"Ah! Keep off me! Keep off me! Keep off!" + She backed away, looking at him with eyes both +angry and frightened. Willems stared motionless, in +dumb amazement at the mystery of anger and revolt in +the head of his wife. Why? What had he ever done to +her? This was the day of injustice indeed. First Hudig +--and now his wife. He felt a terror at this hate +that had lived stealthily so near him for years. He +tried to speak, but she shrieked again, and it was like +a needle through his heart. Again he raised his hand. + "Help!" called Mrs. Willems, in a piercing voice. +"Help!" + "Be quiet! You fool!" shouted Willems, trying to +drown the noise of his wife and child in his own angry +accents and rattling violently the little zinc table in his +exasperation. + + +28 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + From under the house, where there were bathrooms +and a tool closet, appeared Leonard, a rusty iron bar in +his hand. He called threateningly from the bottom of +the stairs. + "Do not hurt her, Mr. Willems. You are a savage. +Not at all like we, whites." + "You too!" said the bewildered Willems. "I haven't +touched her. Is this a madhouse?" He moved +towards the stairs, and Leonard dropped the bar with +a clang and made for the gate of the compound. Wil- +lems turned back to his wife. + "So you expected this," he said. "It is a conspiracy. +Who's that sobbing and groaning in the room? Some +more of your precious family. Hey?" + She was more calm now, and putting hastily the +crying child in the big chair walked towards him with +sudden fearlessness. + "My mother," she said, "my mother who came to +defend me from you--man from nowhere; a vaga- +bond!" + "You did not call me a vagabond when you hung +round my neck--before we were married," said Wil- +lems, contemptuously. + "You took good care that I should not hang round +your neck after we were," she answered, clenching her +hands, and putting her face close to his. "You boasted +while I suffered and said nothing. What has become +of your greatness; of our greatness--you were always +speaking about? Now I am going to live on the charity +of your master. Yes. That is true. He sent Leonard +to tell me so. And you will go and boast somewhere +else, and starve. So! Ah! I can breathe now! This +house is mine." + "Enough!" said Willems, slowly, with an arresting +gesture. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 29 + + She leaped back, the fright again in her eyes, snatched +up the child, pressed it to her breast, and, falling into a +chair, drummed insanely with her heels on the re- +sounding floor of the verandah. + "I shall go," said Willems, steadily. "I thank you. +For the first time in your life you make me happy. +You were a stone round my neck; you understand. +I did not mean to tell you that as long as you lived, +but you made me--now. Before I pass this gate you +shall be gone from my mind. You made it very easy. +I thank you." + He turned and went down the steps without giving +her a glance, while she sat upright and quiet, with +wide-open eyes, the child crying querulously in her +arms. At the gate he came suddenly upon Leonard, +who had been dodging about there and failed to get +out of the way in time. + "Do not be brutal, Mr. Willems," said Leonard, +hurriedly. "It is unbecoming between white men +with all those natives looking on." Leonard's legs +trembled very much, and his voice wavered between +high and low tones without any attempt at control on +his part. "Restrain your improper violence," he +went on mumbling rapidly. "I am a respectable man +of very good family, while you . . . it is regret- +table . . . they all say so . . ." + "What?" thundered Willems. He felt a sudden +impulse of mad anger, and before he knew what had +happened he was looking at Leonard da Souza rolling +in the dust at his feet. He stepped over his prostrate +brother-in-law and tore blindly down the street, every- +body making way for the frantic white man. + When he came to himself he was beyond the out- +skirts of the town, stumbling on the hard and cracked +earth of reaped rice fields. How did he get there? + + +30 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +It was dark. He must get back. As he walked towards +the town slowly, his mind reviewed the events of the +day and he felt a sense of bitter loneliness. His wife +had turned him out of his own house. He had as- +saulted brutally his brother-in-law, a member of the +Da Souza family--of that band of his worshippers. +He did. Well, no! It was some other man. Another +man was coming back. A man without a past, with- +out a future, yet full of pain and shame and anger. He +stopped and looked round. A dog or two glided across +the empty street and rushed past him with a fright- +ened snarl. He was now in the midst of the Malay +quarter whose bamboo houses, hidden in the verdure +of their little gardens, were dark and silent. Men, +women and children slept in there. Human beings. +Would he ever sleep, and where? He felt as if he was +the outcast of all mankind, and as he looked hopelessly +round, before resuming his weary march, it seemed to +him that the world was bigger, the night more vast and +more black; but he went on doggedly with his head down +as if pushing his way through some thick brambles. +Then suddenly he felt planks under his feet and, look- +ing up, saw the red light at the end of the jetty. He +walked quite to the end and stood leaning against the +post, under the lamp, looking at the roadstead where +two vessels at anchor swayed their slender rigging +amongst the stars. The end of the jetty; and here in +one step more the end of life; the end of everything. +Better so. What else could he do? Nothing ever comes +back. He saw it clearly. The respect and admiration +of them all, the old habits and old affections finished +abruptly in the clear perception of the cause of his dis- +grace. He saw all this; and for a time he came out of +himself, out of his selfishness--out of the constant +preoccupation of his interests and his desires--out of + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 31 + +the temple of self and the concentration of personal +thought. + His thoughts now wandered home. Standing in +the tepid stillness of a starry tropical night he felt the +breath of the bitter east wind, he saw the high and +narrow fronts of tall houses under the gloom of a +clouded sky; and on muddy quays he saw the shabby, +high-shouldered figure--the patient, faded face of the +weary man earning bread for the children that waited +for him in a dingy home. It was miserable, miserable. +But it would never come back. What was there in +common between those things and Willems the clever, +Willems the successful. He had cut himself adrift +from that home many years ago. Better for him +then. Better for them now. All this was gone, +never to come back again; and suddenly he shivered, +seeing himself alone in the presence of unknown and +terrible dangers. + For the first time in his life he felt afraid of the +future, because he had lost his faith, the faith in his +own success. And he had destroyed it foolishly with +his own hands! + + + + CHAPTER FOUR + + HIS meditation which resembled slow drifting into +suicide was interrupted by Lingard, who, with a loud +"I've got you at last!" dropped his hand heavily on +Willems' shoulder. This time it was the old seaman +himself going out of his way to pick up the uninter- +esting waif--all that there was left of that sudden +and sordid shipwreck. To Willems, the rough, friendly +voice was a quick and fleeting relief followed by a +sharper pang of anger and unavailing regret. That +voice carried him back to the beginning of his promising +career, the end of which was very visible now from the +jetty where they both stood. He shook himself free +from the friendly grasp, saying with ready bitterness-- + "It's all your fault. Give me a push now, do, and +send me over. I have been standing here waiting for +help. You are the man--of all men. You helped +at the beginning; you ought to have a hand in the end." + "I have better use for you than to throw you to +the fishes," said Lingard, seriously, taking Willems +by the arm and forcing him gently to walk up the +jetty. "I have been buzzing over this town like a +bluebottle fly, looking for you high and low. I have +heard a lot. I will tell you what, Willems; you are +no saint, that's a fact. And you have not been over- +wise either. I am not throwing stones," he added, +hastily, as Willems made an effort to get away, "but +I am not going to mince matters. Never could! You +keep quiet while I talk. Can't you?" + With a gesture of resignation and a half-stifled groan + +32 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 33 + +Willems submitted to the stronger will, and the two +men paced slowly up and down the resounding planks, +while Lingard disclosed to Willems the exact manner +of his undoing. After the first shock Willems lost the +faculty of surprise in the over-powering feeling of +indignation. So it was Vinck and Leonard who had +served him so. They had watched him, tracked his +misdeeds, reported them to Hudig. They had bribed +obscure Chinamen, wormed out confidences from tipsy +skippers, got at various boatmen, and had pieced out +in that way the story of his irregularities. The black- +ness of this dark intrigue filled him with horror. He +could understand Vinck. There was no love lost be- +tween them. But Leonard! Leonard! + "Why, Captain Lingard," he burst out, "the fellow +licked my boots." + "Yes, yes, yes," said Lingard, testily, "we know +that, and you did your best to cram your boot down +his throat. No man likes that, my boy." + "I was always giving money to all that hungry lot," +went on Willems, passionately. "Always my hand in +my pocket. They never had to ask twice." + "Just so. Your generosity frightened them. They +asked themselves where all that came from, and con- +cluded that it was safer to throw you overboard. After +all, Hudig is a much greater man than you, my friend, +and they have a claim on him also." + "What do you mean, Captain Lingard?" + "What do I mean?" repeated Lingard, slowly. +"Why, you are not going to make me believe you did not +know your wife was Hudig's daughter. Come now!" + Willems stopped suddenly and swayed about. + "Ah! I understand," he gasped. "I never heard +. . . Lately I thought there was . . . But no, +I never guessed." + + +34 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Oh, you simpleton!" said Lingard, pityingly. +"'Pon my word," he muttered to himself, "I don't +believe the fellow knew. Well! well! Steady now. +Pull yourself together. What's wrong there. She is +a good wife to you." + "Excellent wife," said Willems, in a dreary voice, +looking far over the black and scintillating water. + "Very well then," went on Lingard, with increasing +friendliness. "Nothing wrong there. But did you +really think that Hudig was marrying you off and giving +you a house and I don't know what, out of love for +you?" + "I had served him well," answered Willems. "How +well, you know yourself--through thick and thin. No +matter what work and what risk, I was always there; +always ready." + How well he saw the greatness of his work and +the immensity of that injustice which was his reward. +She was that man's daughter! In the light of this +disclosure the facts of the last five years of his life +stood clearly revealed in their full meaning. He had +spoken first to Joanna at the gate of their dwelling as +he went to his work in the brilliant flush of the early +morning, when women and flowers are charming even +to the dullest eyes. A most respectable family--two +women and a young man--were his next-door neigh- +bours. Nobody ever came to their little house but the +priest, a native from the Spanish islands, now and then. +The young man Leonard he had met in town, and was +flattered by the little fellow's immense respect for the +great Willems. He let him bring chairs, call the waiters, +chalk his cues when playing billiards, express his +admiration in choice words. He even condescended +to listen patiently to Leonard's allusions to "our +beloved father," a man of official position, a govern- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 35 + +ment agent in Koti, where he died of cholera, alas! +a victim to duty, like a good Catholic, and a good +man. It sounded very respectable, and Willems +approved of those feeling references. Moreover, he +prided himself upon having no colour-prejudices and +no racial antipathies. He consented to drink curacoa +one afternoon on the verandah of Mrs. da Souza's +house. He remembered Joanna that day, swinging +in a hammock. She was untidy even then, he remem- +bered, and that was the only impression he carried +away from that visit. He had no time for love in those +glorious days, no time even for a passing fancy, but +gradually he fell into the habit of calling almost every +day at that little house where he was greeted by Mrs. +da Souza's shrill voice screaming for Joanna to come +and entertain the gentleman from Hudig & Co. And +then the sudden and unexpected visit of the priest. He +remembered the man's flat, yellow face, his thin legs, +his propitiatory smile, his beaming black eyes, his con- +ciliating manner, his veiled hints which he did not under- +stand at the time. How he wondered what the man +wanted, and how unceremoniously he got rid of him. +And then came vividly into his recollection the morning +when he met again that fellow coming out of Hudig's +office, and how he was amused at the incongruous visit. +And that morning with Hudig! Would he ever forget +it? Would he ever forget his surprise as the master, +instead of plunging at once into business, looked at him +thoughtfully before turning, with a furtive smile, to +the papers on the desk? He could hear him now, his +nose in the paper before him, dropping astonishing words +in the intervals of wheezy breathing. + "Heard said . . . called there often . . . +most respectable ladies . . . knew the father very +well . . . estimable . . . best thing for a + + +36 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +young man . . . settle down. . . . Person- +ally, very glad to hear . . . thing arranged. . . +. Suitable recognition of valuable services. . . . +Best thing--best thing to do." + And he believed! What credulity! What an ass! +Hudig knew the father! Rather. And so did every- +body else probably; all except himself. How proud +he had been of Hudig's benevolent interest in his fate! +How proud he was when invited by Hudig to stay with +him at his little house in the country--where he could +meet men, men of official position--as a friend. Vinck +had been green with envy. Oh, yes! He had believed +in the best thing, and took the girl like a gift of fortune. +How he boasted to Hudig of being free from prejudices. +The old scoundrel must have been laughing in his sleeve +at his fool of a confidential clerk. He took the girl, +guessing nothing. How could he? There had been a +father of some kind to the common knowledge. Men +knew him; spoke about him. A lank man of hopelessly +mixed descent, but otherwise--apparently--unobjec- +tionable. The shady relations came out afterward, +but--with his freedom from prejudices--he did not mind +them, because, with their humble dependence, they +completed his triumphant life. Taken in! taken in! +Hudig had found an easy way to provide for the begging +crowd. He had shifted the burden of his youthful +vagaries on to the shoulders of his confidential clerk; +and while he worked for the master, the master had +cheated him; had stolen his very self from him. He +was married. He belonged to that woman, no matter +what she might do! . . . Had sworn . . . for +all life! . . . Thrown himself away. . . . And +that man dared this very morning call him a thief! +Damnation! + "Let go, Lingard!" he shouted, trying to get away + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 37 + +by a sudden jerk from the watchful old seaman. "Let +me go and kill that . . ." + "No you don't!" panted Lingard, hanging on man- +fully. "You want to kill, do you? You lunatic. +Ah!--I've got you now! Be quiet, I say!" + They struggled violently, Lingard forcing Willems +slowly towards the guard-rail. Under their feet the +jetty sounded like a drum in the quiet night. On the +shore end the native caretaker of the wharf watched +the combat, squatting behind the safe shelter of some +big cases. The next day he informed his friends, with +calm satisfaction, that two drunken white men had +fought on the jetty. It had been a great fight. They +fought without arms, like wild beasts, after the manner +of white men. No! nobody was killed, or there would +have been trouble and a report to make. How could +he know why they fought? White men have no reason +when they are like that. + Just as Lingard was beginning to fear that he would +be unable to restrain much longer the violence of the +younger man, he felt Willems' muscles relaxing, and +took advantage of this opportunity to pin him, by a +last effort, to the rail. They both panted heavily, +speechless, their faces very close. + "All right," muttered Willems at last. "Don't +break my back over this infernal rail. I will be quiet." + "Now you are reasonable," said Lingard, much +relieved. "What made you fly into that passion?" +he asked, leading him back to the end of the jetty, and, +still holding him prudently with one hand, he fumbled +with the other for his whistle and blew a shrill and pro- +longed blast. Over the smooth water of the roadstead +came in answer a faint cry from one of the ships at +anchor. + "My boat will be here directly," said Lingard. + + +38 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +"Think of what you are going to do. I sail to-night." + "What is there for me to do, except one thing?" +said Willems, gloomily. + "Look here," said Lingard; "I picked you up as a +boy, and consider myself responsible for you in a way. +You took your life into your own hands many years ago +--but still . . ." + He paused, listening, till he heard the regular grind +of the oars in the rowlocks of the approaching boat +then went on again. + "I have made it all right with Hudig. You owe +him nothing now. Go back to your wife. She is a +good woman. Go back to her." + "Why, Captain Lingard," exclaimed Willems, +she . . ." + "It was most affecting," went on Lingard, without +heeding him. "I went to your house to look for you +and there I saw her despair. It was heart-breaking. +She called for you; she entreated me to find you. She +spoke wildly, poor woman, as if all this was her fault." + Willems listened amazed. The blind old idiot! +How queerly he misunderstood! But if it was true, +if it was even true, the very idea of seeing her filled +his soul with intense loathing. He did not break +his oath, but he would not go back to her. Let hers +be the sin of that separation; of the sacred bond broken. +He revelled in the extreme purity of his heart, and he +would not go back to her. Let her come back to him. +He had the comfortable conviction that he would never +see her again, and that through her own fault only. +In this conviction he told himself solemnly that if she +would come to him he would receive her with generous +forgiveness, because such was the praiseworthy solidity +of his principles. But he hesitated whether he would or +would not disclose to Lingard the revolting complete- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 39 + +ness of his humiliation. Turned out of his house-- +and by his wife; that woman who hardly dared to +breathe in his presence, yesterday. He remained per- +plexed and silent. No. He lacked the courage to tell +the ignoble story. + As the boat of the brig appeared suddenly on the +black water close to the jetty, Lingard broke the painful +silence. + "I always thought," he said, sadly, "I always thought +you were somewhat heartless, Willems, and apt to cast +adrift those that thought most of you. I appeal to +what is best in you; do not abandon that woman." + "I have not abandoned her," answered Willems, +quickly, with conscious truthfulness. "Why should I? +As you so justly observed, she has been a good wife to +me. A very good, quiet, obedient, loving wife, and +I love her as much as she loves me. Every bit. But +as to going back now, to that place where I . . . +To walk again amongst those men who yesterday were +ready to crawl before me, and then feel on my back the +sting of their pitying or satisfied smiles--no! I can't. +I would rather hide from them at the bottom of the +sea," he went on, with resolute energy. "I don't +think, Captain Lingard," he added, more quietly, "I +don't think that you realize what my position was +there." + In a wide sweep of his hand he took in the sleeping +shore from north to south, as if wishing it a proud and +threatening good-bye. For a short moment he forgot +his downfall in the recollection of his brilliant triumphs. +Amongst the men of his class and occupation who +slept in those dark houses he had been indeed the first. + "It is hard," muttered Lingard, pensively. "But +whose the fault? Whose the fault?" + "Captain Lingard!" cried Willems, under the sudden + + +40 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +impulse of a felicitous inspiration, "if you leave me +here on this jetty--it's murder. I shall never return +to that place alive, wife or no wife. You may just as +well cut my throat at once." + The old seaman started. + "Don't try to frighten me, Willems," he said, with +great severity, and paused. + Above the accents of Willems' brazen despair he +heard, with considerable uneasiness, the whisper of +his own absurd conscience. He meditated for awhile +with an irresolute air. + "I could tell you to go and drown yourself, and be +damned to you," he said, with an unsuccessful assump- +tion of brutality in his manner, "but I won't. We +are responsible for one another--worse luck. I am +almost ashamed of myself, but I can understand your +dirty pride. I can! By . . ." + He broke off with a loud sigh and walked briskly +to the steps, at the bottom of which lay his boat, +rising and falling gently on the slight and invisible swell. + "Below there! Got a lamp in the boat? Well, +light it and bring it up, one of you. Hurry now!" + He tore out a page of his pocketbook, moistened +his pencil with great energy and waited, stamping his +feet impatiently. + "I will see this thing through," he muttered to him- +self. "And I will have it all square and ship-shape; +see if I don't! Are you going to bring that lamp, you +son of a crippled mud-turtle? I am waiting." + The gleam of the light on the paper placated his +professional anger, and he wrote rapidly, the final dash +of his signature curling the paper up in a triangular +tear. + "Take that to this white Tuan's house. I will send +the boat back for you in half an hour." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 41 + + The coxswain raised his lamp deliberately to Wil- +lem's face. + "This Tuan? Tau! I know." + "Quick then!" said Lingard, taking the lamp from +him--and the man went off at a run. + "Kassi mem! To the lady herself," called Lingard +after him. + Then, when the man disappeared, he turned to +Willems. + "I have written to your wife," he said. "If you +do not return for good, you do not go back to that +house only for another parting. You must come as +you stand. I won't have that poor woman tormented. +I will see to it that you are not separated for long. +Trust me!" + Willems shivered, then smiled in the darkness. + "No fear of that," he muttered, enigmatically. "I +trust you implicitly, Captain Lingard," he added, in a +louder tone. + Lingard led the way down the steps, swinging the +lamp and speaking over his shoulder. + "It is the second time, Willems, I take you in hand. +Mind it is the last. The second time; and the only +difference between then and now is that you were bare- +footed then and have boots now. In fourteen years. +With all your smartness! A poor result that. A very +poor result." + He stood for awhile on the lowest platform of the +steps, the light of the lamp falling on the upturned +face of the stroke oar, who held the gunwale of the boat +close alongside, ready for the captain to step in. + "You see," he went on, argumentatively, fumbling +about the top of the lamp, "you got yourself so crooked +amongst those 'longshore quill-drivers that you could +not run clear in any way. That's what comes of such + + +42 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +talk as yours, and of such a life. A man sees so much +falsehood that he begins to lie to himself. Pah!" +he said, in disgust, "there's only one place for an honest +man. The sea, my boy, the sea! But you never would; +didn't think there was enough money in it; and now-- +look!" + He blew the light out, and, stepping into the boat, +stretched quickly his hand towards Willems, with friendly +care. Willems sat by him in silence, and the boat +shoved off, sweeping in a wide circle towards the brig. + "Your compassion is all for my wife, Captain Lin- +gard," said Willems, moodily. "Do you think I am +so very happy?" + "No! no!" said Lingard, heartily. "Not a word +more shall pass my lips. I had to speak my mind +once, seeing that I knew you from a child, so to speak. +And now I shall forget; but you are young yet. Life +is very long," he went on, with unconscious sadness; +"let this be a lesson to you." + He laid his hand affectionately on Willems' shoulder, +and they both sat silent till the boat came alongside the +ship's ladder. + When on board Lingard gave orders to his mate, +and leading Willems on the poop, sat on the breech of +one of the brass six-pounders with which his vessel was +armed. The boat went off again to bring back the mes- +senger. As soon as it was seen returning dark forms +appeared on the brig's spars; then the sails fell in fes- +toons with a swish of their heavy folds, and hung motion- +less under the yards in the dead calm of the clear +and dewy night. From the forward end came the +clink of the windlass, and soon afterwards the hail of +the chief mate informing Lingard that the cable was +hove short. + "Hold on everything," hailed back Lingard; "we + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 43 + +must wait for the land-breeze before we let go our hold +of the ground." + He approached Willems, who sat on the skylight, +his body bent down, his head low, and his hands hang- +ing listlessly between his knees. + "I am going to take you to Sambir," he said. +"You've never heard of the place, have you? Well, it's +up that river of mine about which people talk so much +and know so little. I've found out the entrance for a ship +of <i>Flash's</I> size. It isn't easy. You'll see. I will show +you. You have been at sea long enough to take an +interest. . . . Pity you didn't stick to it. Well, +I am going there. I have my own trading post in the +place. Almayer is my partner. You knew him when +he was at Hudig's. Oh, he lives there as happy as a +king. D'ye see, I have them all in my pocket. The +rajah is an old friend of mine. My word is law--and I +am the only trader. No other white man but Almayer +had ever been in that settlement. You will live quietly +there till I come back from my next cruise to the west- +ward. We shall see then what can be done for you. +Never fear. I have no doubt my secret will be safe +with you. Keep mum about my river when you get +amongst the traders again. There's many would give +their ears for the knowledge of it. I'll tell you some- +thing: that's where I get all my guttah and rattans. +Simply inexhaustible, my boy." + While Lingard spoke Willems looked up quickly, +but soon his head fell on his breast in the discouraging +certitude that the knowledge he and Hudig had wished +for so much had come to him too late. He sat in a +listless attitude. + "You will help Almayer in his trading if you have a +heart for it," continued Lingard, "just to kill time till I +come back for you. Only six weeks or so." + + +44 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + Over their heads the damp sails fluttered noisily in +the first faint puff of the breeze; then, as the airs fresh- +ened, the brig tended to the wind, and the silenced +canvas lay quietly aback. The mate spoke with low +distinctness from the shadows of the quarter-deck. + "There's the breeze. Which way do you want to +cast her, Captain Lingard?" + Lingard's eyes, that had been fixed aloft, glanced +down at the dejected figure of the man sitting on the +skylight. He seemed to hesitate for a minute. + "To the northward, to the northward," he answered, +testily, as if annoyed at his own fleeting thought, "and +bear a hand there. Every puff of wind is worth money +in these seas." + He remained motionless, listening to the rattle of +blocks and the creaking of trusses as the head-yards +were hauled round. Sail was made on the ship and +the windlass manned again while he stood still, lost in +thought. He only roused himself when a barefooted +seacannie glided past him silently on his way to the +wheel. + "Put the helm aport! Hard over!" he said, in his +harsh sea-voice, to the man whose face appeared sud- +denly out of the darkness in the circle of light thrown +upwards from the binnacle lamps. + The anchor was secured, the yards trimmed, and the +brig began to move out of the roadstead. The sea +woke up under the push of the sharp cutwater, and whis- +pered softly to the gliding craft in that tender and rip- +pling murmur in which it speaks sometimes to those it +nurses and loves. Lingard stood by the taff-rail lis- +tening, with a pleased smile till the <i>Flash</I> began to draw +close to the only other vessel in the anchorage. + "Here, Willems," he said, calling him to his side, +"d'ye see that barque here? That's an Arab vessel. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 45 + +White men have mostly given up the game, but this +fellow drops in my wake often, and lives in hopes of +cutting me out in that settlement. Not while I live, +I trust. You see, Willems, I brought prosperity to +that place. I composed their quarrels, and saw them +grow under my eyes. There's peace and happiness +there. I am more master there than his Dutch Excel- +lency down in Batavia ever will be when some day a +lazy man-of-war blunders at last against the river. +I mean to keep the Arabs out of it, with their lies +and their intrigues. I shall keep the venomous breed out, +if it costs me my fortune." + The <i>Flash</I> drew quietly abreast of the barque, and +was beginning to drop it astern when a white figure +started up on the poop of the Arab vessel, and a voice +called out-- + "Greeting to the Rajah Laut!" + "To you greeting!" answered Lingard, after a mo- +ment of hesitating surprise. Then he turned to Wil- +lems with a grim smile. "That's Abdulla's voice," +he said. "Mighty civil all of a sudden, isn't he? I +wonder what it means. Just like his impudence! No +matter! His civility or his impudence are all one to +me. I know that this fellow will be under way and +after me like a shot. I don't care! I have the heels of +anything that floats in these seas," he added, while his +proud and loving glance ran over and rested fondly +amongst the brig's lofty and graceful spars. + + + CHAPTER FIVE + + "IT WAS the writing on his forehead," said Baba- +latchi, adding a couple of small sticks to the little fire +by which he was squatting, and without looking at +Lakamba who lay down supported on his elbow on +the other side of the embers. "It was written when he +was born that he should end his life in darkness, and +now he is like a man walking in a black night--with +his eyes open, yet seeing not. I knew him well when +he had slaves, and many wives, and much merchandise, +and trading praus, and praus for fighting. Hai--ya! +He was a great fighter in the days before the breath of +the Merciful put out the light in his eyes. He was a +pilgrim, and had many virtues: he was brave, his hand +was open, and he was a great robber. For many years +he led the men that drank blood on the sea: first in +prayer and first in fight! Have I not stood behind him +when his face was turned to the West? Have I not +watched by his side ships with high masts burning in a +straight flame on the calm water? Have I not fol- +lowed him on dark nights amongst sleeping men that +woke up only to die? His sword was swifter than the +fire from Heaven, and struck before it flashed. Hai! +Tuan! Those were the days and that was a leader, +and I myself was younger; and in those days there were +not so many fireships with guns that deal fiery death +from afar. Over the hill and over the forest--O! +Tuan Lakamba! they dropped whistling fireballs into +the creek where our praus took refuge, and where they +dared not follow men who had arms in their hands." + +46 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 47 + + He shook his head with mournful regret and threw +another handful of fuel on the fire. The burst of clear +flame lit up his broad, dark, and pock-marked face, +where the big lips, stained with betel-juice, looked like +a deep and bleeding gash of a fresh wound. The re- +flection of the firelight gleamed brightly in his solitary +eye, lending it for a moment a fierce animation that died +out together with the short-lived flame. With quick +touches of his bare hands he raked the embers into a +heap, then, wiping the warm ash on his waistcloth--his +only garment--he clasped his thin legs with his en- +twined fingers, and rested his chin on his drawn-up +knees. Lakamba stirred slightly without changing his +position or taking his eyes off the glowing coals, on +which they had been fixed in dreamy immobility. + "Yes," went on Babalatchi, in a low monotone, as +if pursuing aloud a train of thought that had its be- +ginning in the silent contemplation of the unstable +nature of earthly greatness--"yes. He has been rich +and strong, and now he lives on alms: old, feeble, blind, +and without companions, but for his daughter. The +Rajah Patalolo gives him rice, and the pale woman-- +his daughter--cooks it for him, for he has no slave." + "I saw her from afar," muttered Lakamba, dis- +paragingly. "A she-dog with white teeth, like a woman +of the Orang-Putih." + "Right, right," assented Babalatchi; "but you have +not seen her near. Her mother was a woman from the +west; a Baghdadi woman with veiled face. Now she +goes uncovered, like our women do, for she is poor and he +is blind, and nobody ever comes near them unless to ask +for a charm or a blessing and depart quickly for fear of +his anger and of the Rajah's hand. You have not been +on that side of the river?" + "Not for a long time. If I go . . ." + + +48 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "True! true!" interrupted Babalatchi, soothingly, +"but I go often alone--for your good--and look--and +listen. When the time comes; when we both go to- +gether towards the Rajah's campong, it will be to enter-- +and to remain." + Lakamba sat up and looked at Babalatchi gloomily. + "This is good talk, once, twice; when it is heard too +often it becomes foolish, like the prattle of children." + "Many, many times have I seen the cloudy sky and +have heard the wind of the rainy seasons," said Baba- +latchi, impressively. + "And where is your wisdom? It must be with the +wind and the clouds of seasons past, for I do not hear it +in your talk." + "Those are the words of the ungrateful!" shouted +Babalatchi, with sudden exasperation. "Verily, our +only refuge is with the One, the Mighty, the Redresser +of . . ." + "Peace! Peace!" growled the startled Lakamba. +"It is but a friend's talk." + Babalatchi subsided into his former attitude, mutter- +ing to himself. After awhile he went on again in a +louder voice-- + "Since the Rajah Laut left another white man here +in Sambir, the daughter of the blind Omar el Badavi +has spoken to other ears than mine." + "Would a white man listen to a beggar's daughter?" +said Lakamba, doubtingly. + "Hai! I have seen . . ." + "And what did you see? O one-eyed one!" ex- +claimed Lakamba, contemptuously. + "I have seen the strange white man walking on the +narrow path before the sun could dry the drops of +dew on the bushes, and I have heard the whisper of +his voice when he spoke through the smoke of the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 49 + +morning fire to that woman with big eyes and a pale +skin. Woman in body, but in heart a man! She +knows no fear and no shame. I have heard her voice +too." + He nodded twice at Lakamba sagaciously and gave +himself up to silent musing, his solitary eye fixed im- +movably upon the straight wall of forest on the opposite +bank. Lakamba lay silent, staring vacantly. Under +them Lingard's own river rippled softly amongst the +piles supporting the bamboo platform of the little +watch-house before which they were lying. Behind +the house the ground rose in a gentle swell of a low hill +cleared of the big timber, but thickly overgrown with +the grass and bushes, now withered and burnt up in +the long drought of the dry season. This old rice +clearing, which had been several years lying fallow, +was framed on three sides by the impenetrable and +tangled growth of the untouched forest, and on the +fourth came down to the muddy river bank. There +was not a breath of wind on the land or river, but high +above, in the transparent sky, little clouds rushed past +the moon, now appearing in her diffused rays with the +brilliance of silver, now obscuring her face with the +blackness of ebony. Far away, in the middle of the +river, a fish would leap now and then with a short +splash, the very loudness of which measured the pro- +fundity of the overpowering silence that swallowed up +the sharp sound suddenly. + Lakamba dozed uneasily off, but the wakeful Baba- +latchi sat thinking deeply, sighing from time to time, +and slapping himself over his naked torso incessantly +in a vain endeavour to keep off an occasional and +wandering mosquito that, rising as high as the plat- +form above the swarms of the riverside, would settle +with a ping of triumph on the unexpected victim. + + +50 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +The moon, pursuing her silent and toilsome path, +attained her highest elevation, and chasing the shadow +of the roof-eaves from Lakamba's face, seemed to hang +arrested over their heads. Babalatchi revived the fire +and woke up his companion, who sat up yawning and +shivering discontentedly. + Babalatchi spoke again in a voice which was like +the murmur of a brook that runs over the stones: +low, monotonous, persistent; irresistible in its power +to wear out and to destroy the hardest obstacles. +Lakamba listened, silent but interested. They were +Malay adventurers; ambitious men of that place and +time; the Bohemians of their race. In the early days +of the settlement, before the ruler Patalolo had shaken +off his allegiance to the Sultan of Koti, Lakamba ap- +peared in the river with two small trading vessels. +He was disappointed to find already some semblance of +organization amongst the settlers of various races who +recognized the unobtrusive sway of old Patalolo, and +he was not politic enough to conceal his disappoint- +ment. He declared himself to be a man from the east, +from those parts where no white man ruled, and to +be of an oppressed race, but of a princely family. And +truly enough he had all the gifts of an exiled prince. +He was discontented, ungrateful, turbulent; a man full +of envy and ready for intrigue, with brave words and +empty promises for ever on his lips. He was obstinate, +but his will was made up of short impulses that never +lasted long enough to carry him to the goal of his ambi- +tion. Received coldly by the suspicious Patalolo, he +persisted--permission or no permission--in clearing the +ground on a good spot some fourteen miles down the +river from Sambir, and built himself a house there, which +he fortified by a high palisade. As he had many fol- +lowers and seemed very reckless, the old Rajah did not + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 51 + +think it prudent at the time to interfere with him by +force. Once settled, he began to intrigue. The quarrel +of Patalolo with the Sultan of Koti was of his fomenting, +but failed to produce the result he expected because +the Sultan could not back him up effectively at such +a great distance. Disappointed in that scheme, he +promptly organized an outbreak of the Bugis settlers, +and besieged the old Rajah in his stockade with much +noisy valour and a fair chance of success; but Lingard +then appeared on the scene with the armed brig, and +the old seaman's hairy forefinger, shaken menacingly +in his face, quelled his martial ardour. No man cared +to encounter the Rajah Laut, and Lakamba, with +momentary resignation, subsided into a half-cultivator, +half-trader, and nursed in his fortified house his wrath +and his ambition, keeping it for use on a more pro- +pitious occasion. Still faithful to his character of a +prince-pretender, he would not recognize the con- +stituted authorities, answering sulkily the Rajah's +messenger, who claimed the tribute for the cultivated +fields, that the Rajah had better come and take it +himself. By Lingard's advice he was left alone, not- +withstanding his rebellious mood; and for many days +he lived undisturbed amongst his wives and retainers, +cherishing that persistent and causeless hope of better +times, the possession of which seems to be the universal +privilege of exiled greatness. + But the passing days brought no change. The hope +grew faint and the hot ambition burnt itself out, +leaving only a feeble and expiring spark amongst a +heap of dull and tepid ashes of indolent acquiescence +with the decrees of Fate, till Babalatchi fanned it again +into a bright flame. Babalatchi had blundered upon +the river while in search of a safe refuge for his dis- +reputable head. He was a vagabond of the seas, a + + +52 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +true Orang-Laut, living by rapine and plunder of coasts +and ships in his prosperous days; earning his living by +honest and irksome toil when the days of adversity +were upon him. So, although at times leading the +Sulu rovers, he had also served as Serang of country +ships, and in that wise had visited the distant seas, +beheld the glories of Bombay, the might of the Mascati +Sultan; had even struggled in a pious throng for the +privilege of touching with his lips the Sacred Stone of +the Holy City. He gathered experience and wisdom +in many lands, and after attaching himself to Omar el +Badavi, he affected great piety (as became a pilgrim), +although unable to read the inspired words of the +Prophet. He was brave and bloodthirsty without any +affection, and he hated the white men who interfered +with the manly pursuits of throat-cutting, kidnapping, +slave-dealing, and fire-raising, that were the only pos- +sible occupation for a true man of the sea. He found +favour in the eyes of his chief, the fearless Omar el +Badavi, the leader of Brunei rovers, whom he followed +with unquestioning loyalty through the long years +of successful depredation. And when that long career +of murder, robbery and violence received its first +serious check at the hands of white men, he stood faith- +fully by his chief, looked steadily at the bursting shells, +was undismayed by the flames of the burning strong- +hold, by the death of his companions, by the shrieks of +their women, the wailing of their children; by the sud- +den ruin and destruction of all that he deemed indis- +pensable to a happy and glorious existence. The beaten +ground between the houses was slippery with blood, +and the dark mangroves of the muddy creeks were full +of sighs of the dying men who were stricken down before +they could see their enemy. They died helplessly, for +into the tangled forest there was no escape, and their + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 53 + +swift praus, in which they had so often scoured the +coast and the seas, now wedged together in the narrow +creek, were burning fiercely. Babalatchi, with the +clear perception of the coming end, devoted all his +energies to saving if it was but only one of them. +He succeeded in time. When the end came in the +explosion of the stored powder-barrels, he was ready +to look for his chief. He found him half dead and +totally blinded, with nobody near him but his daughter +Aissa:--the sons had fallen earlier in the day, as +became men of their courage. Helped by the girl +with the steadfast heart, Babalatchi carried Omar on +board the light prau and succeeded in escaping, but +with very few companions only. As they hauled their +craft into the network of dark and silent creeks, they +could hear the cheering of the crews of the man-of- +war's boats dashing to the attack of the rover's village. +Aissa, sitting on the high after-deck, her father's +blackened and bleeding head in her lap, looked up with +fearless eyes at Babalatchi. "They shall find only +smoke, blood and dead men, and women mad with fear +there, but nothing else living," she said, mournfully. +Babalatchi, pressing with his right hand the deep gash +on his shoulder, answered sadly: "They are very strong. +When we fight with them we can only die. Yet," he +added, menacingly--"some of us still live! Some of +us still live!" + For a short time he dreamed of vengeance, but his +dream was dispelled by the cold reception of the Sultan +of Sulu, with whom they sought refuge at first and who +gave them only a contemptuous and grudging hospi- +tality. While Omar, nursed by Aissa, was recovering +from his wounds, Babalatchi attended industriously +before the exalted Presence that had extended to them +the hand of Protection. For all that, when Babalatchi + + +54 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +spoke into the Sultan's ear certain proposals of a great +and profitable raid, that was to sweep the islands from +Ternate to Acheen, the Sultan was very angry. "I +know you, you men from the west," he exclaimed, +angrily. "Your words are poison in a Ruler's ears. +Your talk is of fire and murder and booty--but on our +heads falls the vengeance of the blood you drink. +Begone!" + There was nothing to be done. Times were changed. +So changed that, when a Spanish frigate appeared +before the island and a demand was sent to the Sultan +to deliver Omar and his companions, Babalatchi was not +surprised to hear that they were going to be made the +victims of political expediency. But from that sane +appreciation of danger to tame submission was a very +long step. And then began Omar's second flight. It +began arms in hand, for the little band had to fight in +the night on the beach for the possession of the small +canoes in which those that survived got away at last. +The story of that escape lives in the hearts of brave +men even to this day. They talk of Babalatchi and of +the strong woman who carried her blind father through +the surf under the fire of the warship from the north. +The companions of that piratical and son-less AEneas +are dead now, but their ghosts wander over the waters +and the islands at night--after the manner of ghosts +--and haunt the fires by which sit armed men, as is +meet for the spirits of fearless warriors who died in +battle. There they may hear the story of their own +deeds, of their own courage, suffering and death, on +the lips of living men. That story is told in many +places. On the cool mats in breezy verandahs of +Rajahs' houses it is alluded to disdainfully by impassive +statesmen, but amongst armed men that throng the +courtyards it is a tale which stills the murmur of + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 55 + +voices and the tinkle of anklets; arrests the passage +of the siri-vessel, and fixes the eyes in absorbed gaze. +They talk of the fight, of the fearless woman, of the +wise man; of long suffering on the thirsty sea in leaky +canoes; of those who died. . . . Many died. A +few survived. The chief, the woman, and another one +who became great. + There was no hint of incipient greatness in Baba- +latchi's unostentatious arrival in Sambir. He came +with Omar and Aissa in a small prau loaded with green +cocoanuts, and claimed the ownership of both vessel +and cargo. How it came to pass that Babalatchi, +fleeing for his life in a small canoe, managed to end his +hazardous journey in a vessel full of a valuable com- +modity, is one of those secrets of the sea that baffle +the most searching inquiry. In truth nobody inquired +much. There were rumours of a missing trading prau +belonging to Menado, but they were vague and re- +mained mysterious. Babalatchi told a story which-- +it must be said in justice to Patalolo's knowledge of the +world--was not believed. When the Rajah ventured +to state his doubts, Babalatchi asked him in tones of +calm remonstrance whether he could reasonably suppose +that two oldish men--who had only one eye amongst +them--and a young woman were likely to gain posses- +sion of anything whatever by violence? Charity was a +virtue recommended by the Prophet. There were +charitable people, and their hand was open to the de- +serving. Patalolo wagged his aged head doubtingly, +and Babalatchi withdrew with a shocked mien and put +himself forthwith under Lakamba's protection. The +two men who completed the prau's crew followed him +into that magnate's campong. The blind Omar, with +Aissa, remained under the care of the Rajah, and the +Rajah confiscated the cargo. The prau hauled up on + + +56 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +the mud-bank, at the junction of the two branches of the +Pantai, rotted in the rain, warped in the sun, fell to +pieces and gradually vanished into the smoke of house- +hold fires of the settlement. Only a forgotten plank +and a rib or two, sticking neglected in the shiny ooze +for a long time, served to remind Babalatchi during +many months that he was a stranger in the land. + Otherwise, he felt perfectly at home in Lakamba's +establishment, where his peculiar position and influence +were quickly recognized and soon submitted to even +by the women. He had all a true vagabond's plia- +bility to circumstances and adaptiveness to momentary +surroundings. In his readiness to learn from experi- +ence that contempt for early principles so necessary +to a true statesman, he equalled the most successful +politicians of any age; and he had enough persuasiveness +and firmness of purpose to acquire a complete mastery +over Lakamba's vacillating mind--where there was +nothing stable but an all-pervading discontent. He +kept the discontent alive, he rekindled the expiring +ambition, he moderated the poor exile's not unnatural +impatience to attain a high and lucrative position. He +--the man of violence--deprecated the use of force, +for he had a clear comprehension of the difficult situa- +tion. From the same cause, he--the hater of white +men--would to some extent admit the eventual ex- +pediency of Dutch protection. But nothing should be +done in a hurry. Whatever his master Lakamba might +think, there was no use in poisoning old Patalolo, he +maintained. It could be done, of course; but what +then? As long as Lingard's influence was paramount-- +as long as Almayer, Lingard's representative, was the +only great trader of the settlement, it was not worth +Lakamba's while--even if it had been possible--to grasp +the rule of the young state. Killing Almayer and Lin- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 57 + +gard was so difficult and so risky that it might be dis- +missed as impracticable. What was wanted was an +alliance; somebody to set up against the white men's +influence--and somebody who, while favourable to La- +kamba, would at the same time be a person of a good +standing with the Dutch authorities. A rich and con- +sidered trader was wanted. Such a person once firmly +established in Sambir would help them to oust the old +Rajah, to remove him from power or from life if there +was no other way. Then it would be time to apply to +the Orang Blanda for a flag; for a recognition of their +meritorious services; for that protection which would +make them safe for ever! The word of a rich and +loyal trader would mean something with the Ruler +down in Batavia. The first thing to do was to find +such an ally and to induce him to settle in Sambir. +A white trader would not do. A white man would +not fall in with their ideas--would not be trustworthy. +The man they wanted should be rich, unscrupulous, +have many followers, and be a well-known personality +in the islands. Such a man might be found amongst +the Arab traders. Lingard's jealousy, said Babalatchi, +kept all the traders out of the river. Some were afraid, +and some did not know how to get there; others ig- +nored the very existence of Sambir; a good many did +not think it worth their while to run the risk of Lin- +gard's enmity for the doubtful advantage of trade +with a comparatively unknown settlement. The great +majority were undesirable or untrustworthy. And +Babalatchi mentioned regretfully the men he had +known in his young days: wealthy, resolute, courageous, +reckless, ready for any enterprise! But why lament +the past and speak about the dead? There is one man +--living--great--not far off . . . + Such was Babalatchi's line of policy laid before his + + +58 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +ambitious protector. Lakamba assented, his only ob- +jection being that it was very slow work. In his +extreme desire to grasp dollars and power, the unintel- +lectual exile was ready to throw himself into the arms +of any wandering cut-throat whose help could be +secured, and Babalatchi experienced great difficulty in +restraining him from unconsidered violence. It would +not do to let it be seen that they had any hand in +introducing a new element into the social and political +life of Sambir. There was always a possibility of +failure, and in that case Lingard's vengeance would be +swift and certain. No risk should be run. They must +wait. + Meantime he pervaded the settlement, squatting in +the course of each day by many household fires, testing +the public temper and public opinion--and always +talking about his impending departure. At night he +would often take Lakamba's smallest canoe and depart +silently to pay mysterious visits to his old chief on the +other side of the river. Omar lived in odour of sanc- +tity under the wing of Patalolo. Between the bamboo +fence, enclosing the houses of the Rajah, and the wild +forest, there was a banana plantation, and on its +further edge stood two little houses built on low piles +under a few precious fruit trees that grew on the banks +of a clear brook, which, bubbling up behind the house, +ran in its short and rapid course down to the big river. +Along the brook a narrow path led through the dense +second growth of a neglected clearing to the banana +plantation and to the houses in it which the Rajah had +given for residence to Omar. The Rajah was greatly +impressed by Omar's ostentatious piety, by his oracular +wisdom, by his many misfortunes, by the solemn +fortitude with which he bore his affliction. Often the +old ruler of Sambir would visit informally the blind + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 59 + +Arab and listen gravely to his talk during the hot hours +of an afternoon. In the night, Babalatchi would call +and interrupt Omar's repose, unrebuked. Aissa, stand- +ing silently at the door of one of the huts, could see the +two old friends as they sat very still by the fire in the +middle of the beaten ground between the two houses, +talking in an indistinct murmur far into the night. She +could not hear their words, but she watched the two +formless shadows curiously. Finally Babalatchi would +rise and, taking her father by the wrist, would lead him +back to the house, arrange his mats for him, and go out +quietly. Instead of going away, Babalatchi, uncon- +scious of Aissa's eyes, often sat again by the fire, in a +long and deep meditation. Aissa looked with respect +on that wise and brave man--she was accustomed to +see at her father's side as long as she could remember +--sitting alone and thoughtful in the silent night by +the dying fire, his body motionless and his mind wan- +dering in the land of memories, or--who knows?-- +perhaps groping for a road in the waste spaces of the +uncertain future. + Babalatchi noted the arrival of Willems with alarm +at this new accession to the white men's strength. +Afterwards he changed his opinion. He met Willems +one night on the path leading to Omar's house, and +noticed later on, with only a moderate surprise, that +the blind Arab did not seem to be aware of the new +white man's visits to the neighbourhood of his dwell- +ing. Once, coming unexpectedly in the daytime, +Babalatchi fancied he could see the gleam of a white +jacket in the bushes on the other side of the brook. +That day he watched Aissa pensively as she moved +about preparing the evening rice; but after awhile he +went hurriedly away before sunset, refusing Omar's +hospitable invitation, in the name of Allah, to share + + +60 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +their meal. That same evening he startled Lakamba by +announcing that the time had come at last to make +the first move in their long-deferred game. Lakamba +asked excitedly for explanation. Babalatchi shook +his head and pointed to the flitting shadows of moving +women and to the vague forms of men sitting by the +evening fires in the courtyard. Not a word would he +speak here, he declared. But when the whole house- +hold was reposing, Babalatchi and Lakamba passed +silent amongst sleeping groups to the riverside, and, +taking a canoe, paddled off stealthily on their way to +the dilapidated guard-hut in the old rice-clearing. +There they were safe from all eyes and ears, and +could account, if need be, for their excursion by the +wish to kill a deer, the spot being well known as the +drinking-place of all kinds of game. In the seclu- +sion of its quiet solitude Babalatchi explained his +plan to the attentive Lakamba. His idea was to +make use of Willems for the destruction of Lingard's +influence. + "I know the white men, Tuan," he said, in con- +clusion. "In many lands have I seen them; always +the slaves of their desires, always ready to give up +their strength and their reason into the hands of some +woman. The fate of the Believers is written by the +hand of the Mighty One, but they who worship many +gods are thrown into the world with smooth foreheads, +for any woman's hand to mark their destruction there. +Let one white man destroy another. The will of the +Most High is that they should be fools. They know +how to keep faith with their enemies, but towards each +other they know only deception. Hai! I have seen! +I have seen!" + He stretched himself full length before the fire, and +closed his eye in real or simulated sleep. Lakamba, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 61 + +not quite convinced, sat for a long time with his gaze +riveted on the dull embers. As the night advanced, +a slight white mist rose from the river, and the declining +moon, bowed over the tops of the forest, seemed to seek +the repose of the earth, like a wayward and wandering +lover who returns at last to lay his tired and silent head +on his beloved's breast. + + + CHAPTER SIX + + "LEND me your gun, Almayer," said Willems, across +the table on which a smoky lamp shone redly above the +disorder of a finished meal. "I have a mind to go and +look for a deer when the moon rises to-night." + Almayer, sitting sidewise to the table, his elbow +pushed amongst the dirty plates, his chin on his breast +and his legs stretched stiffly out, kept his eyes steadily +on the toes of his grass slippers and laughed abruptly. + "You might say yes or no instead of making that +unpleasant noise," remarked Willems, with calm irrita- +tion. + "If I believed one word of what you say, I would," +answered Almayer without changing his attitude and +speaking slowly, with pauses, as if dropping his words +on the floor. "As it is--what's the use? You know +where the gun is; you may take it or leave it. Gun. +Deer. Bosh! Hunt deer! Pah! It's a . . . ga- +zelle you are after, my honoured guest. You want gold +anklets and silk sarongs for that game--my mighty +hunter. And you won't get those for the asking, I +promise you. All day amongst the natives. A fine +help you are to me." + "You shouldn't drink so much, Almayer," said +Willems, disguising his fury under an affected drawl. +"You have no head. Never had, as far as I can +remember, in the old days in Macassar. You drink +too much." + "I drink my own," retorted Almayer, lifting his +head quickly and darting an angry glance at Willems. + +62 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 63 + + Those two specimens of the superior race glared at +each other savagely for a minute, then turned away +their heads at the same moment as if by previous +arrangement, and both got up. Almayer kicked off his +slippers and scrambled into his hammock, which hung +between two wooden columns of the verandah so as +to catch every rare breeze of the dry season, and +Willems, after standing irresolutely by the table for +a short time, walked without a word down the steps +of the house and over the courtyard towards the little +wooden jetty, where several small canoes and a couple +of big white whale-boats were made fast, tugging at +their short painters and bumping together in the +swift current of the river. He jumped into the smallest +canoe, balancing himself clumsily, slipped the rattan +painter, and gave an unnecessary and violent shove, +which nearly sent him headlong overboard. By the +time he regained his balance the canoe had drifted +some fifty yards down the river. He knelt in the bot- +tom of his little craft and fought the current with long +sweeps of the paddle. Almayer sat up in his hammock, +grasping his feet and peering over the river with parted +lips till he made out the shadowy form of man and canoe +as they struggled past the jetty again. + "I thought you would go," he shouted. "Won't +you take the gun? Hey?" he yelled, straining his +voice. Then he fell back in his hammock and laughed +to himself feebly till he fell asleep. On the river, Wil- +lems, his eyes fixed intently ahead, swept his paddle +right and left, unheeding the words that reached him +faintly. + It was now three months since Lingard had landed +Willems in Sambir and had departed hurriedly, leaving +him in Almayer's care. The two white men did not +get on well together. Almayer, remembering the time + + +64 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +when they both served Hudig, and when the superior +Willems treated him with offensive condescension, felt +a great dislike towards his guest. He was also jealous of +Lingard's favour. Almayer had married a Malay girl +whom the old seaman had adopted in one of his accesses +of unreasoning benevolence, and as the marriage was not +a happy one from a domestic point of view, he looked to +Lingard's fortune for compensation in his matrimonial +unhappiness. The appearance of that man, who seemed +to have a claim of some sort upon Lingard, filled him +with considerable uneasiness, the more so because the +old seaman did not choose to acquaint the husband of +his adopted daughter with Willems' history, or to +confide to him his intentions as to that individual's +future fate. Suspicious from the first, Almayer dis- +couraged Willems' attempts to help him in his trading, +and then when Willems drew back, he made, with +characteristic perverseness, a grievance of his uncon- +cern. From cold civility in their relations, the two men +drifted into silent hostility, then into outspoken +enmity, and both wished ardently for Lingard's return +and the end of a situation that grew more intolerable +from day to day. The time dragged slowly. Willems +watched the succeeding sunrises wondering dismally +whether before the evening some change would occur +in the deadly dullness of his life. He missed the com- +mercial activity of that existence which seemed to him +far off, irreparably lost, buried out of sight under the +ruins of his past success--now gone from him beyond +the possibility of redemption. He mooned disconso- +lately about Almayer's courtyard, watching from afar, +with uninterested eyes, the up-country canoes dis- +charging guttah or rattans, and loading rice or European +goods on the little wharf of Lingard & Co. Big as was +the extent of ground owned by Almayer, Willems yet felt + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 65 + +that there was not enough room for him inside those +neat fences. The man who, during long years, became +accustomed to think of himself as indispensable to +others, felt a bitter and savage rage at the cruel con- +sciousness of his superfluity, of his uselessness; at the +cold hostility visible in every look of the only white man +in this barbarous corner of the world. He gnashed his +teeth when he thought of the wasted days, of the life +thrown away in the unwilling company of that peevish +and suspicious fool. He heard the reproach of his idle- +ness in the murmurs of the river, in the unceasing whis- +per of the great forests. Round him everything stirred, +moved, swept by in a rush; the earth under his feet +and the heavens above his head. The very savages +around him strove, struggled, fought, worked--if only +to prolong a miserable existence; but they lived, they +lived! And it was only himself that seemed to be left +outside the scheme of creation in a hopeless immobility +filled with tormenting anger and with ever-stinging +regret. + He took to wandering about the settlement. The +afterwards flourishing Sambir was born in a swamp +and passed its youth in malodorous mud. The houses +crowded the bank, and, as if to get away from the +unhealthy shore, stepped boldly into the river, shoot- +ing over it in a close row of bamboo platforms elevated +on high piles, amongst which the current below spoke +in a soft and unceasing plaint of murmuring eddies. +There was only one path in the whole town and it ran +at the back of the houses along the succession of +blackened circular patches that marked the place of +the household fires. On the other side the virgin +forest bordered the path, coming close to it, as if to +provoke impudently any passer-by to the solution of +the gloomy problem of its depths. Nobody would + + +66 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +accept the deceptive challenge. There were only a +few feeble attempts at a clearing here and there, but +the ground was low and the river, retiring after its +yearly floods, left on each a gradually diminishing +mudhole, where the imported buffaloes of the Bugis +settlers wallowed happily during the heat of the day. +When Willems walked on the path, the indolent men +stretched on the shady side of the houses looked at +him with calm curiosity, the women busy round the +cooking fires would send after him wondering and timid +glances, while the children would only look once, and +then run away yelling with fright at the horrible appear- +ance of the man with a red and white face. These +manifestations of childish disgust and fear stung Wil- +lems with a sense of absurd humiliation; he sought in +his walks the comparative solitude of the rudimentary +clearings, but the very buffaloes snorted with alarm at +his sight, scrambled lumberingly out of the cool mud +and stared wildly in a compact herd at him as he tried +to slink unperceived along the edge of the forest. One +day, at some unguarded and sudden movement of his, +the whole herd stampeded down the path, scattered the +fires, sent the women flying with shrill cries, and left +behind a track of smashed pots, trampled rice, over- +turned children, and a crowd of angry men brandishing +sticks in loud-voiced pursuit. The innocent cause of +that disturbance ran shamefacedly the gauntlet of +black looks and unfriendly remarks, and hastily sought +refuge in Almayer's campong. After that he left the +settlement alone. + Later, when the enforced confinement grew irksome, +Willems took one of Almayer's many canoes and crossed +the main branch of the Pantai in search of some soli- +tary spot where he could hide his discouragement and +his weariness. He skirted in his little craft the wall of + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 67 + +tangled verdure, keeping in the dead water close to the +bank where the spreading nipa palms nodded their +broad leaves over his head as if in contemptuous pity +of the wandering outcast. Here and there he could see +the beginnings of chopped-out pathways, and, with the +fixed idea of getting out of sight of the busy river, he +would land and follow the narrow and winding path, +only to find that it led nowhere, ending abruptly in the +discouragement of thorny thickets. He would go back +slowly, with a bitter sense of unreasonable disappoint- +ment and sadness; oppressed by the hot smell of earth, +dampness, and decay in that forest which seemed to +push him mercilessly back into the glittering sunshine +of the river. And he would recommence paddling with +tired arms to seek another opening, to find another +deception. + As he paddled up to the point where the Rajah's +stockade came down to the river, the nipas were left +behind rattling their leaves over the brown water, +and the big trees would appear on the bank, tall, +strong, indifferent in the immense solidity of their life, +which endures for ages, to that short and fleeting life +in the heart of the man who crept painfully amongst +their shadows in search of a refuge from the unceasing +reproach of his thoughts. Amongst their smooth trunks +a clear brook meandered for a time in twining lacets +before it made up its mind to take a leap into the hurry- +ing river, over the edge of the steep bank. There was +also a pathway there and it seemed frequented. Wil- +lems landed, and following the capricious promise of the +track soon found himself in a comparatively clear space, +where the confused tracery of sunlight fell through the +branches and the foliage overhead, and lay on the +stream that shone in an easy curve like a bright sword- +blade dropped amongst the long and feathery grass. + + +68 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +Further on, the path continued, narrowed again in the +thick undergrowth. At the end of the first turning +Willems saw a flash of white and colour, a gleam of gold +like a sun-ray lost in shadow, and a vision of blackness +darker than the deepest shade of the forest. He stop- +ped, surprised, and fancied he had heard light footsteps +--growing lighter--ceasing. He looked around. The +grass on the bank of the stream trembled and a tremu- +lous path of its shivering, silver-grey tops ran from the +water to the beginning of the thicket. And yet there +was not a breath of wind. Somebody kind passed there. +He looked pensive while the tremor died out in a quick +tremble under his eyes; and the grass stood high, un- +stirring, with drooping heads in the warm and motion- +less air. + He hurried on, driven by a suddenly awakened curi- +osity, and entered the narrow way between the bushes. +At the next turn of the path he caught again the +glimpse of coloured stuff and of a woman's black hair +before him. He hastened his pace and came in full +view of the object of his pursuit. The woman, who +was carrying two bamboo vessels full of water, heard +his footsteps, stopped, and putting the bamboos down +half turned to look back. Willems also stood still for +a minute, then walked steadily on with a firm tread, +while the woman moved aside to let him pass. He +kept his eyes fixed straight before him, yet almost +unconsciously he took in every detail of the tall and +graceful figure. As he approached her the woman +tossed her head slightly back, and with a free gesture +of her strong, round arm, caught up the mass of loose +black hair and brought it over her shoulder and across +the lower part of her face. The next moment he was +passing her close, walking rigidly, like a man in a trance. +He heard her rapid breathing and he felt the touch of a + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 69 + +look darted at him from half-open eyes. It touched +his brain and his heart together. It seemed to him to +be something loud and stirring like a shout, silent and +penetrating like an inspiration. The momentum of +his motion carried him past her, but an invisible force +made up of surprise and curiosity and desire spun him +round as soon as he had passed. + She had taken up her burden already, with the in- +tention of pursuing her path. His sudden movement +arrested her at the first step, and again she stood +straight, slim, expectant, with a readiness to dart away +suggested in the light immobility of her pose. High +above, the branches of the trees met in a transparent +shimmer of waving green mist, through which the +rain of yellow rays descended upon her head, streamed +in glints down her black tresses, shone with the changing +glow of liquid metal on her face, and lost itself in vanish- +ing sparks in the sombre depths of her eyes that, wide +open now, with enlarged pupils, looked steadily at the +man in her path. And Willems stared at her, charmed +with a charm that carries with it a sense of irreparable +loss, tingling with that feeling which begins like a caress +and ends in a blow, in that sudden hurt of a new emo- +tion making its way into a human heart, with the +brusque stirring of sleeping sensations awakening sud- +denly to the rush of new hopes, new fears, new desires +--and to the flight of one's old self. + She moved a step forward and again halted. A +breath of wind that came through the trees, but in +Willems' fancy seemed to be driven by her moving +figure, rippled in a hot wave round his body and +scorched his face in a burning touch. He drew it in +with a long breath, the last long breath of a soldier +before the rush of battle, of a lover before he takes in +his arms the adored woman; the breath that gives + + +70 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +courage to confront the menace of death or the storm +of passion. + Who was she? Where did she come from? Wonder- +ingly he took his eyes off her face to look round at the +serried trees of the forest that stood big and still and +straight, as if watching him and her breathlessly. He +had been baffled, repelled, almost frightened by the +intensity of that tropical life which wants the sunshine +but works in gloom; which seems to be all grace of +colour and form, all brilliance, all smiles, but is only +the blossoming of the dead; whose mystery holds the +promise of joy and beauty, yet contains nothing but +poison and decay. He had been frightened by the +vague perception of danger before, but now, as he +looked at that life again, his eyes seemed able to pierce +the fantastic veil of creepers and leaves, to look past +the solid trunks, to see through the forbidding gloom-- +and the mystery was disclosed--enchanting, subduing, +beautiful. He looked at the woman. Through the +checkered light between them she appeared to him with +the impalpable distinctness of a dream. The very +spirit of that land of mysterious forests, standing before +him like an apparition behind a transparent veil--a +veil woven of sunbeams and shadows. + She had approached him still nearer. He felt a +strange impatience within him at her advance. Con- +fused thoughts rushed through his head, disordered, +shapeless, stunning. Then he heard his own voice +asking-- + "Who are you?" + "I am the daughter of the blind Omar," she answered, +in a low but steady tone. "And you," she went on, a +little louder, "you are the white trader--the great man +of this place." + "Yes," said Willems, holding her eyes with his in a + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 71 + +sense of extreme effort, "Yes, I am white." Then +he added, feeling as if he spoke about some other man, +"But I am the outcast of my people." + She listened to him gravely. Through the mesh of +scattered hair her face looked like the face of a golden +statue with living eyes. The heavy eyelids dropped +slightly, and from between the long eyelashes she sent +out a sidelong look: hard, keen, and narrow, like the +gleam of sharp steel. Her lips were firm and composed +in a graceful curve, but the distended nostrils, the up- +ward poise of the half-averted head, gave to her whole +person the expression of a wild and resentful defiance. + A shadow passed over Willems' face. He put his +hand over his lips as if to keep back the words that +wanted to come out in a surge of impulsive necessity, +the outcome of dominant thought that rushes from +the heart to the brain and must be spoken in the face +of doubt, of danger, of fear, of destruction itself. + "You are beautiful," he whispered. + She looked at him again with a glance that running +in one quick flash of her eyes over his sunburnt fea- +tures, his broad shoulders, his straight, tall, motion- +less figure, rested at last on the ground at his feet. +Then she smiled. In the sombre beauty of her face +that smile was like the first ray of light on a stormy +daybreak that darts evanescent and pale through the +gloomy clouds: the forerunner of sunrise and of thunder. + + + CHAPTER SEVEN + + THERE are in our lives short periods which hold no +place in memory but only as the recollection of a +feeling. There is no remembrance of gesture, of action, +of any outward manifestation of life; those are lost in +the unearthly brilliance or in the unearthly gloom of +such moments. We are absorbed in the contemplation +of that something, within our bodies, which rejoices or +suffers while the body goes on breathing, instinctively +runs away or, not less instinctively, fights--perhaps dies. +But death in such a moment is the privilege of the for- +tunate, it is a high and rare favour, a supreme grace. + Willems never remembered how and when he parted +from Aissa. He caught himself drinking the muddy +water out of the hollow of his hand, while his canoe was +drifting in mid-stream past the last houses of Sambir. +With his returning wits came the fear of something un- +known that had taken possession of his heart, of some- +thing inarticulate and masterful which could not speak +and would be obeyed. His first impulse was that of +revolt. He would never go back there. Never! He +looked round slowly at the brilliance of things in the +deadly sunshine and took up his paddle! How changed +everything seemed! The river was broader, the sky +was higher. How fast the canoe flew under the strokes +of his paddle! Since when had he acquired the strength +of two men or more? He looked up and down the reach +at the forests of the bank with a confused notion that +with one sweep of his hand he could tumble all these +trees into the stream. His face felt burning. He + +72 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 73 + +drank again, and shuddered with a depraved sense of +pleasure at the after-taste of slime in the water. + It was late when he reached Almayer's house, but +he crossed the dark and uneven courtyard, walking +lightly in the radiance of some light of his own, invisible +to other eyes. His host's sulky greeting jarred him +like a sudden fall down a great height. He took +his place at the table opposite Almayer and tried to +speak cheerfully to his gloomy companion, but when +the meal was ended and they sat smoking in silence +he felt an abrupt discouragement, a lassitude in all his +limbs, a sense of immense sadness as after some great +and irreparable loss. The darkness of the night entered +his heart, bringing with it doubt and hesitation and dull +anger with himself and all the world. He had an im- +pulse to shout horrible curses, to quarrel with Almayer, +to do something violent. Quite without any immediate +provocation he thought he would like to assault the +wretched, sulky beast. He glanced at him ferociously +from under his eyebrows. The unconscious Almayer +smoked thoughtfully, planning to-morrow's work prob- +ably. The man's composure seemed to Willems an un- +pardonable insult. Why didn't that idiot talk to-night +when he wanted him to? . . . on other nights he +was ready enough to chatter. And such dull nonsense +too! And Willems, trying hard to repress his own +senseless rage, looked fixedly through the thick tobacco- +smoke at the stained tablecloth. + They retired early, as usual, but in the middle of the +night Willems leaped out of his hammock with a stifled +execration and ran down the steps into the courtyard. +The two night watchmen, who sat by a little fire talking +together in a monotonous undertone, lifted their heads +to look wonderingly at the discomposed features of the +white man as he crossed the circle of light thrown out + +74 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +by their fire. He disappeared in the darkness and then +came back again, passing them close, but with no sign +of consciousness of their presence on his face. Back- +wards and forwards he paced, muttering to himself, and +the two Malays, after a short consultation in whispers +left the fire quietly, not thinking it safe to remain in the +vicinity of a white man who behaved in such a strange +manner. They retired round the corner of the godown +and watched Willems curiously through the night, till +the short daybreak was followed by the sudden blaze +of the rising sun, and Almayer's establishment woke up +to life and work. + As soon as he could get away unnoticed in the bustle +of the busy riverside, Willems crossed the river on his +way to the place where he had met Aissa. He threw +himself down in the grass by the side of the brook and +listened for the sound of her footsteps. The brilliant +light of day fell through the irregular opening in the +high branches of the trees and streamed down, softened, +amongst the shadows of big trunks. Here and there a +narrow sunbeam touched the rugged bark of a tree with +a golden splash, sparkled on the leaping water of the +brook, or rested on a leaf that stood out, shimmering +and distinct, on the monotonous background of sombre +green tints. The clear gap of blue above his head was +crossed by the quick flight of white rice-birds whose +wings flashed in the sunlight, while through it the heat +poured down from the sky, clung about the steaming +earth, rolled among the trees, and wrapped up Willems +in the soft and odorous folds of air heavy with the faint +scent of blossoms and with the acrid smell of decaying +life. And in that atmosphere of Nature's workshop +Willems felt soothed and lulled into forgetfulness of his +past, into indifference as to his future. The recollec- +tions of his triumphs, of his wrongs and of his ambition + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 75 + +vanished in that warmth, which seemed to melt all +regrets, all hope, all anger, all strength out of his heart. +And he lay there, dreamily contented, in the tepid and +perfumed shelter, thinking of Aissa's eyes; recalling the +sound of her voice, the quiver of her lips--her frowns +and her smile. + She came, of course. To her he was something new, +unknown and strange. He was bigger, stronger than +any man she had seen before, and altogether different +from all those she knew. He was of the victorious race. +With a vivid remembrance of the great catastrophe of +her life he appeared to her with all the fascination of a +great and dangerous thing; of a terror vanquished, sur- +mounted, made a plaything of. They spoke with just +such a deep voice--those victorious men; they looked +with just such hard blue eyes at their enemies. And +she made that voice speak softly to her, those eyes look +tenderly at her face! He was indeed a man. She +could not understand all he told her of his life, but the +fragments she understood she made up for herself into a +story of a man great amongst his own people, valorous +and unfortunate; an undaunted fugitive dreaming of +vengeance against his enemies. He had all the at- +tractiveness of the vague and the unknown--of the +unforeseen and of the sudden; of a being strong, danger- +ous, alive, and human, ready to be enslaved. + She felt that he was ready. She felt it with the +unerring intuition of a primitive woman confronted by +a simple impulse. Day after day, when they met and +she stood a little way off, listening to his words, holding +him with her look, the undefined terror of the new con- +quest became faint and blurred like the memory of a +dream, and the certitude grew distinct, and convincing, +and visible to the eyes like some material thing in full +sunlight. It was a deep joy, a great pride, a tangible + +76 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +sweetness that seemed to leave the taste of honey on her +lips. He lay stretched at her feet without moving, for +he knew from experience how a slight movement of his +could frighten her away in those first days of their inter- +course. He lay very quiet, with all the ardour of his +desire ringing in his voice and shining in his eyes, whilst +his body was still, like death itself. And he looked at +her, standing above him, her head lost in the shadow of +broad and graceful leaves that touched her cheek; while +the slender spikes of pale green orchids streamed down +from amongst the boughs and mingled with the black +hair that framed her face, as if all those plants claimed +her for their own--the animated and brilliant flower of +all that exuberant life which, born in gloom, struggles +for ever towards the sunshine. + Every day she came a little nearer. He watched her +slow progress--the gradual taming of that woman by +the words of his love. It was the monotonous song of +praise and desire that, commencing at creation, wraps +up the world like an atmosphere and shall end only in +the end of all things--when there are no lips to sing and +no ears to hear. He told her that she was beautiful +and desirable, and he repeated it again and again; for +when he told her that, he had said all there was within +him--he had expressed his only thought, his only feel- +ing. And he watched the startled look of wonder and +mistrust vanish from her face with the passing days, +her eyes soften, the smile dwell longer and longer on her +lips; a smile as of one charmed by a delightful dream; +with the slight exaltation of intoxicating triumph lurk- +tng in its dawning tenderness. + And while she was near there was nothing in the +whole world--for that idle man--but her look and her +smile. Nothing in the past, nothing in the future; +and in the present only the luminous fact of her exis- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 77 + +tence. But in the sudden darkness of her going he +would be left weak and helpless, as though despoiled +violently of all that was himself. He who had lived +all his life with no preoccupation but that of his own +career, contemptuously indifferent to all feminine in- +fluence, full of scorn for men that would submit to it, +if ever so little; he, so strong, so superior even in his +errors, realized at last that his very individuality was +snatched from within himself by the hand of a woman. +Where was the assurance and pride of his cleverness; +the belief in success, the anger of failure, the wish to +retrieve his fortune, the certitude of his ability to +accomplish it yet? Gone. All gone. All that had +been a man within him was gone, and there remained +only the trouble of his heart--that heart which had +become a contemptible thing; which could be fluttered +by a look or a smile, tormented by a word, soothed by +a promise. + When the longed-for day came at last, when she +sank on the grass by his side and with a quick gesture +took his hand in hers, he sat up suddenly with the +movement and look of a man awakened by the crash +of his own falling house. All his blood, all his sensa- +tion, all his life seemed to rush into that hand leaving +him without strength, in a cold shiver, in the sudden +clamminess and collapse as of a deadly gun-shot wound. +He flung her hand away brutally, like something +burning, and sat motionless, his head fallen forward, +staring on the ground and catching his breath in +painful gasps. His impulse of fear and apparent horror +did not dismay her in the least. Her face was grave +and her eyes looked seriously at him. Her fingers +touched the hair of his temple, ran in a light caress +down his cheek, twisted gently the end of his long +moustache: and while he sat in the tremor of that + +78 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +contact she ran off with startling fleetness and dis- +appeared in a peal of clear laughter, in the stir of grass, +in the nod of young twigs growing over the path; leav- +ing behind only a vanishing trail of motion and sound. + He scrambled to his feet slowly and painfully, like +a man with a burden on his shoulders, and walked +towards the riverside. He hugged to his breast the +recollection of his fear and of his delight, but told +himself seriously over and over again that this must +be the end of that adventure. After shoving off his +canoe into the stream he lifted his eyes to the bank +and gazed at it long and steadily, as if taking his last +look at a place of charming memories. He marched +up to Almayer's house with the concentrated expres- +sion and the determined step of a man who had just +taken a momentous resolution. His face was set and +rigid, his gestures and movements were guarded and +slow. He was keeping a tight hand on himself. A +very tight hand. He had a vivid illusion--as vivid as +reality almost--of being in charge of a slippery prisoner. +He sat opposite Almayer during that dinner--which +was their last meal together--with a perfectly calm face +and within him a growing terror of escape from his own +self. Now and then he would grasp the edge of the +table and set his teeth hard in a sudden wave of acute +despair, like one who, falling down a smooth and rapid +declivity that ends in a precipice, digs his finger nails +into the yielding surface and feels himself slipping +helplessly to inevitable destruction. + Then, abruptly, came a relaxation of his muscles, +the giving way of his will. Something seemed to +snap in his head, and that wish, that idea kept back +during all those hours, darted into his brain with the +heat and noise of a conflagration. He must see her! +See her at once! Go now! To-night! He had the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 79 + +raging regret of the lost hour, of every passing moment. +There was no thought of resistance now. Yet with +the instinctive fear of the irrevocable, with the innate +falseness of the human heart, he wanted to keep open +the way of retreat. He had never absented himself +during the night. What did Almayer know? What +would Almayer think? Better ask him for the gun. +A moonlight night. . . . Look for deer. . . . A +colourable pretext. He would lie to Almayer. What did +it matter! He lied to himself every minute of his life. +And for what? For a woman. And such. . . . + Almayer's answer showed him that deception was +useless. Everything gets to be known, even in this +place. Well, he did not care. Cared for nothing but +for the lost seconds. What if he should suddenly die. +Die before he saw her. Before he could . . . + As, with the sound of Almayer's laughter in his +ears, he urged his canoe in a slanting course across the +rapid current, he tried to tell himself that he could +return at any moment. He would just go and look at +the place where they used to meet, at the tree under +which he lay when she took his hand, at the spot +where she sat by his side. Just go there and then +return--nothing more; but when his little skiff touched +the bank he leaped out, forgetting the painter, and the +canoe hung for a moment amongst the bushes and then +swung out of sight before he had time to dash into the +water and secure it. He was thunderstruck at first. +Now he could not go back unless he called up the Rajah's +people to get a boat and rowers--and the way to Pata- +lolo's campong led past Aissa's house! + He went up the path with the eager eyes and reluctant +steps of a man pursuing a phantom, and when he found +himself at a place where a narrow track branched off +to the left towards Omar's clearing he stood still, with a + +80 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +look of strained attention on his face as if listening to a +far-off voice--the voice of his fate. It was a sound +inarticulate but full of meaning; and following it there +came a rending and tearing within his breast. He +twisted his fingers together, and the joints of his hands +and arms cracked. On his forehead the perspiration +stood out in small pearly drops. He looked round +wildly. Above the shapeless darkness of the forest +undergrowth rose the treetops with their high boughs +and leaves standing out black on the pale sky--like +fragments of night floating on moonbeams. Under his +feet warm steam rose from the heated earth. Round +him there was a great silence. + He was looking round for help. This silence, this +immobility of his surroundings seemed to him a cold +rebuke, a stern refusal, a cruel unconcern. There +was no safety outside of himself--and in himself there +was no refuge; there was only the image of that woman. +He had a sudden moment of lucidity--of that cruel +lucidity that comes once in life to the most benighted. +He seemed to see what went on within him, and was +horrified at the strange sight. He, a white man whose +worst fault till then had been a little want of judgment +and too much confidence in the rectitude of his kind! +That woman was a complete savage, and . . . He +tried to tell himself that the thing was of no consequence. +It was a vain effort. The novelty of the sensations he +had never experienced before in the slightest degree, yet +had despised on hearsay from his safe position of a +civilized man, destroyed his courage. He was dis- +appointed with himself. He seemed to be surrendering +to a wild creature the unstained purity of his life, of +his race, of his civilization. He had a notion of being +lost amongst shapeless things that were dangerous and +ghastly. He struggled with the sense of certain defeat + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 81 + +--lost his footing--fell back into the darkness. With a +faint cry and an upward throw of his arms he gave up as +a tired swimmer gives up: because the swamped craft +is gone from under his feet; because the night is dark +and the shore is far--because death is better than strife. + +[page intentionally blank] + + PART II + +[page intentionally blank] + + + CHAPTER ONE + + THE light and heat fell upon the settlement, the +clearings, and the river as if flung down by an angry +hand. The land lay silent, still, and brilliant under +the avalanche of burning rays that had destroyed all +sound and all motion, had buried all shadows, had +choked every breath. No living thing dared to affront +the serenity of this cloudless sky, dared to revolt +against the oppression of this glorious and cruel sun- +shine. Strength and resolution, body and mind alike +were helpless, and tried to hide before the rush of the +fire from heaven. Only the frail butterflies, the fear- +less children of the sun, the capricious tyrants of the +flowers, fluttered audaciously in the open, and their +minute shadows hovered in swarms over the drooping +blossoms, ran lightly on the withering grass, or glided +on tbe dry and cracked earth. No voice was heard in +this hot noontide but the faint murmur of the river that +hurried on in swirls and eddies, its sparkling wavelets +chasing each other in their joyous course to the shel- +tering depths, to the cool refuge of the sea. + Almayer had dismissed his workmen for the midday +rest, and, his little daughter on his shoulder, ran +quickly across the courtyard, making for the shade of +the verandah of his house. He laid the sleepy child +on the seat of the big rocking-chair, on a pillow which +he took out of his own hammock, and stood for a while +looking down at her with tender and pensive eyes. +The child, tired and hot, moved uneasily, sighed, and +looked up at him with the veiled look of sleepy fatigue. + +85 + + +86 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +He picked up from the floor a broken palm-leaf fan, +and began fanning gently the flushed little face. Her +eyelids fluttered and Almayer smiled. A responsive +smile brightened for a second her heavy eyes, broke +with a dimple the soft outline of her cheek; then the +eyelids dropped suddenly, she drew a long breath +through the parted lips--and was in a deep sleep before +the fleeting smile could vanish from her face. + Almayer moved lightly off, took one of the wooden +armchairs, and placing it close to the balustrade of the +verandah sat down with a sigh of relief. He spread +his elbows on the top rail and resting his chin on his +clasped hands looked absently at the river, at the dance +of sunlight on the flowing water. Gradually the forest +of the further bank became smaller, as if sinking below +the level of the river. The outlines wavered, grew +thin, dissolved in the air. Before his eyes there was +now only a space of undulating blue--one big, empty +sky growing dark at times. . . . Where was the +sunshine? . . . He felt soothed and happy, as if +some gentle and invisible hand had removed from his +soul the burden of his body. In another second he +seemed to float out into a cool brightness where there +was no such thing as memory or pain. Delicious. His +eyes closed--opened--closed again. + "Almayer!" + With a sudden jerk of his whole body he sat up, +grasping the front rail with both his hands, and blinked +stupidly. + "What? What's that?" he muttered, looking round +vaguely. + "Here! Down here, Almayer." + Half rising in his chair, Almayer looked over the +rail at the foot of the verandah, and fell back with a +low whistle of astonishment. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 87 + + "A ghost, by heavens!" he exclaimed softly to him- +self. + "Will you listen to me?" went on the husky voice +from the courtyard. "May I come up, Almayer?" + Almayer stood up and leaned over the rail. + "Don't you dare," he said, in a voice subdued but +distinct. "Don't you dare! The child sleeps here. +And I don't want to hear you--or speak to you either." + "You must listen to me! It's something important." + "Not to me, surely." + "Yes! To you. Very important." + "You were always a humbug," said Almayer, after +a short silence, in an indulgent tone. "Always! I +remember the old days. Some fellows used to say +there was no one like you for smartness--but you never +took me in. Not quite. I never quite believed in you, +Mr. Willems." + "I admit your superior intelligence," retorted Wil- +lems, with scornful impatience, from below. "Listen- +ing to me would be a further proof of it. You will be +sorry if you don't." + "Oh, you funny fellow!" said Almayer, banteringly. +"Well, come up. Don't make a noise, but come up. +You'll catch a sunstroke down there and die on my +doorstep perhaps. I don't want any tragedy here. +Come on!" + Before he finished speaking Willems' head appeared +above the level of the floor, then his shoulders rose +gradually and he stood at last before Almayer--a +masquerading spectre of the once so very confidential +clerk of the richest merchant in the islands. His +jacket was soiled and torn; below the waist he was +clothed in a worn-out and faded sarong. He flung off +his hat, uncovering his long, tangled hair that stuck +in wisps on his perspiring forehead and straggled over + + +88 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +his eyes, which glittered deep down in the sockets +like the last sparks amongst the black embers of a +burnt-out fire. An unclean beard grew out of the +caverns of his sunburnt cheeks. The hand he put +out towards Almayer was very unsteady. The once +firm mouth had the tell-tale droop of mental suffer- +ing and physical exhaustion. He was barefooted. +Almayer surveyed him with leisurely composure. + "Well!" he said at last, without taking the extended +hand which dropped slowly along Willems' body. + "I am come," began Willems. + "So I see," interrupted Almayer. "You might +have spared me this treat without making me unhappy. +You have been away five weeks, if I am not mistaken. +I got on very well without you--and now you are here +you are not pretty to look at." + "Let me speak, will you!" exclaimed Willems. + "Don't shout like this. Do you think yourself in the +forest with your . . . your friends? This is a civil- +ized man's house. A white man's. Understand?" + "I am come," began Willems again; "I am come +for your good and mine." + "You look as if you had come for a good feed," +chimed in the irrepressible Almayer, while Willems +waved his hand in a discouraged gesture. "Don't +they give you enough to eat," went on Almayer, in +a tone of easy banter, "those--what am I to call them +--those new relations of yours? That old blind scoun- +drel must be delighted with your company. You know, +he was the greatest thief and murderer of those seas. +Say! do you exchange confidences? Tell me, Willems, +did you kill somebody in Macassar or did you only steal +something?" + "It is not true!" exclaimed Willems, hotly. "I +only borrowed. . . . They all lied! I . . ." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 89 + + "Sh-sh!" hissed Almayer, warningly, with a look +at the sleeping child. "So you did steal," he went on, +with repressed exultation. "I thought there was +something of the kind. And now, here, you steal +again." + For the first time Willems raised his eyes to Almayer's +face. + "Oh, I don't mean from me. I haven't missed any- +thing," said Almayer, with mocking haste. "But that +girl. Hey! You stole her. You did not pay the old +fellow. She is no good to him now, is she?" + "Stop that. Almayer!" + Something in Willems' tone caused Almayer to +pause. He looked narrowly at the man before him, +and could not help being shocked at his appearance. + "Almayer," went on Willems, "listen to me. If +you are a human being you will. I suffer horribly-- +and for your sake." + Almayer lifted his eyebrows. "Indeed! How? But +you are raving," he added, negligently. + "Ah! You don't know," whispered Willems. "She +is gone. Gone," he repeated, with tears in his voice, +"gone two days ago." + "No!" exclaimed the surprised Almayer. "Gone! +I haven't heard that news yet." He burst into a sub- +dued laugh. "How funny! Had enough of you +already? You know it's not flattering for you, my +superior countryman." + Willems--as if not hearing him--leaned against +one of the columns of the roof and looked over the +river. "At first," he whispered, dreamily, "my life +was like a vision of heaven--or hell; I didn't know +which. Since she went I know what perdition means; +what darkness is. I know what it is to be torn to +pieces alive. That's how I feel." + + +90 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "You may come and live with me again," said +Almayer, coldly. "After all, Lingard--whom I call +my father and respect as such--left you under my +care. You pleased yourself by going away. Very +good. Now you want to come back. Be it so. I +am no friend of yours. I act for Captain Lingard." + "Come back?" repeated Willems, passionately. +"Come back to you and abandon her? Do you think +I am mad? Without her! Man! what are you +made of? To think that she moves, lives, breathes out +of my sight. I am jealous of the wind that fans her, of +the air she breathes, of the earth that receives the caress +of her foot, of the sun that looks at her now while I +. . . I haven't seen her for two days--two days." + The intensity of Willems' feeling moved Almayer +somewhat, but he affected to yawn elaborately + "You do bore me," he muttered. "Why don't you +go after her instead of coming here?" + "Why indeed?" + "Don't you know where she is? She can't be very +far. No native craft has left this river for the last +fortnight." + "No! not very far--and I will tell you where she is. +She is in Lakamba's campong." And Willems fixed +his eyes steadily on Almayer's face. + "Phew! Patalolo never sent to let me know. +Strange," said Almayer, thoughtfully. "Are you +afraid of that lot?" he added, after a short pause. + "I--afraid!" + "Then is it the care of your dignity which pre- +vents you from following her there, my high-minded +friend?" asked Almayer, with mock solicitude. "How +noble of you!" + There was a short silence; then Willems said, quietly, +"You are a fool. I should like to kick you." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 91 + + "No fear," answered Almayer, carelessly; "you are +too weak for that. You look starved." + "I don't think I have eaten anything for the last +two days; perhaps more--I don't remember. It does +not matter. I am full of live embers," said Willems, +gloomily. "Look!" and he bared an arm covered +with fresh scars. "I have been biting myself to forget +in that pain the fire that hurts me there!" He struck +his breast violently with his fist, reeled under his own +blow, fell into a chair that stood near and closed his +eyes slowly. + "Disgusting exhibition," said Almayer, loftily. +"What could father ever see in you? You are as +estimable as a heap of garbage." + "You talk like that! You, who sold your soul for +a few guilders," muttered Willems, wearily, without +opening his eyes. + "Not so few," said Almayer, with instinctive readi- +ness, and stopped confused for a moment. He re- +covered himself quickly, however, and went on: "But +you--you have thrown yours away for nothing; flung +it under the feet of a damned savage woman who has +made you already the thing you are, and will kill you +very soon, one way or another, with her love or with +her hate. You spoke just now about guilders. You +meant Lingard's money, I suppose. Well, whatever +I have sold, and for whatever price, I never meant you +--you of all people--to spoil my bargain. I feel pretty +safe though. Even father, even Captain Lingard, +would not touch you now with a pair of tongs; not with +a ten-foot pole. . . ." + He spoke excitedly, all in one breath, and, ceasing +suddenly, glared at Willems and breathed hard through +his nose in sulky resentment. Willems looked at him +steadily for a moment, then got up. + + +92 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Almayer," he said resolutely, "I want to become a +trader in this place." + Almayer shrugged his shoulders. + "Yes. And you shall set me up. I want a house and +trade goods--perhaps a little money. I ask you for it." + "Anything else you want? Perhaps this coat?" +and here Almayer unbuttoned his jacket--"or my house +--or my boots?" + "After all it's natural," went on Willems, without +paying any attention to Almayer--"it's natural that +she should expect the advantages which . . . and +then I could shut up that old wretch and then . . ." + He paused, his face brightened with the soft light +of dreamy enthusiasm, and he turned his eyes upwards. +With his gaunt figure and dilapidated appearance he +looked like some ascetic dweller in a wilderness, finding +the reward of a self-denying life in a vision of dazzling +glory. He went on in an impassioned murmur-- + "And then I would have her all to myself away +from her people--all to myself--under my own influence +--to fashion--to mould--to adore--to soften--to . . . +Oh! Delight! And then--then go away to some +distant place where, far from all she knew, I would be +all the world to her! All the world to her!" + His face changed suddenly. His eyes wandered for +awhile and then became steady all at once. + "I would repay every cent, of course," he said, in a +business-like tone, with something of his old assurance, +of his old belief in himself, in it. "Every cent. I +need not interfere with your business. I shall cut out +the small native traders. I have ideas--but never +mind that now. And Captain Lingard would approve, +I feel sure. After all it's a loan, and I shall be at hand. +Safe thing for you." + "Ah! Captain Lingard would approve! He would + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 93 + +app . . ." Almayer choked. The notion of Lin- +gard doing something for Willems enraged him. His +face was purple. He spluttered insulting words. Wil- +lems looked at him coolly. + "I assure you, Almayer," he said, gently, "that I +have good grounds for my demand." + "Your cursed impudence!" + "Believe me, Almayer, your position here is not so +safe as you may think. An unscrupulous rival here +would destroy your trade in a year. It would be ruin. +Now Lingard's long absence gives courage to certain +individuals. You know?--I have heard much lately. +They made proposals to me . . . You are very +much alone here. Even Patalolo . . ." + "Damn Patalolo! I am master in this place." + "But, Almayer, don't you see . . ." + "Yes, I see. I see a mysterious ass," interrupted +Almayer, violently. "What is the meaning of your +veiled threats? Don't you think I know something +also? They have been intriguing for years--and +nothing has happened. The Arabs have been hanging +about outside this river for years--and I am still the +only trader here; the master here. Do you bring me a +declaration of war? Then it's from yourself only. I +know all my other enemies. I ought to knock you on +the head. You are not worth powder and shot though. +You ought to be destroyed with a stick--like a snake." + Almayer's voice woke up the little girl, who sat up +on the pillow with a sharp cry. He rushed over to +the chair, caught up the child in his arms, walked back +blindly, stumbled against Willems' hat which lay on +the floor, and kicked it furiously down the steps. + "Clear out of this! Clear out!" he shouted. + Willems made an attempt to speak, but Almayer +howled him down. + + +94 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Take yourself off! Don't you see you frighten the +child--you scarecrow! No, no! dear," he went on to +his little daughter, soothingly, while Willems walked +down the steps slowly. "No. Don't cry. See! Bad +man going away. Look! He is afraid of your papa. +Nasty, bad man. Never come back again. He shall +live in the woods and never come near my little girl. +If he comes papa will kill him--so!" He struck his +fist on the rail of the balustrade to show how he would +kill Willems, and, perching the consoled child on his +shoulder held her with one hand, while he pointed +toward the retreating figure of his visitor. + "Look how he runs away, dearest," he said, coax- +ingly. "Isn't he funny. Call 'pig' after him, dearest. +Call after him." + The seriousness of her face vanished into dimples. +Under the long eyelashes, glistening with recent tears, +her big eyes sparkled and danced with fun. She took +firm hold of Almayer's hair with one hand, while she +waved the other joyously and called out with all her +might, in a clear note, soft and distinct like the pipe +of a bird:-- + "Pig! Pig! Pig!" + + + + CHAPTER TWO + + A SIGH under the flaming blue, a shiver of the sleeping +sea, a cool breath as if a door had been swung upon +the frozen spaces of the universe, and with a stir of +leaves, with the nod of boughs, with the tremble of +slender branches the sea breeze struck the coast, rushed +up the river, swept round the broad reaches, and +travelled on in a soft ripple of darkening water, in +the whisper of branches, in the rustle of leaves of the +awakened forests. It fanned in Lakamba's campong +the dull red of expiring embers into a pale brilliance; +and, under its touch, the slender, upright spirals of +smoke that rose from every glowing heap swayed, +wavered, and eddying down filled the twilight of +clustered shade trees with the aromatic scent of the +burning wood. The men who had been dozing in +the shade during the hot hours of the afternoon woke +up, and the silence of the big courtyard was broken +by the hesitating murmur of yet sleepy voices, by +coughs and yawns, with now and then a burst of laugh- +ter, a loud hail, a name or a joke sent out in a soft +drawl. Small groups squatted round the little fires, +and the monotonous undertone of talk filled the en- +closure; the talk of barbarians, persistent, steady, +repeating itself in the soft syllables, in musical tones +of the never-ending discourses of those men of the +forests and the sea, who can talk most of the day and +all the night; who never exhaust a subject, never +seem able to thresh a matter out; to whom that talk +is poetry and painting and music, all art, all history; + + +95 + + +96 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +their only accomplishment, their only superiority, their +only amusement. The talk of camp fires, which speaks +of bravery and cunning, of strange events and of far +countries, of the news of yesterday and the news of +to-morrow. The talk about the dead and the living-- +about those who fought and those who loved. + Lakamba came out on the platform before his own +house and sat down--perspiring, half asleep, and sulky +--in a wooden armchair under the shade of the over- +hanging eaves. Through the darkness of the doorway +he could hear the soft warbling of his womenkind, busy +round the looms where they were weaving the checkered +pattern of his gala sarongs. Right and left of him on +the flexible bamboo floor those of his followers to whom +their distinguished birth, long devotion, or faithful +service had given the privilege of using the chief's +house, were sleeping on mats or just sat up rubbing +their eyes: while the more wakeful had mustered enough +energy to draw a chessboard with red clay on a fine +mat and were now meditating silently over their moves. +Above the prostrate forms of the players, who lay face +downward supported on elbow, the soles of their feet +waving irresolutely about, in the absorbed meditation +of the game, there towered here and there the straight +figure of an attentive spectator looking down with +dispassionate but profound interest. On the edge of +the platform a row of high-heeled leather sandals stood +ranged carefully in a level line, and against the rough +wooden rail leaned the slender shafts of the spears +belonging to these gentlemen, the broad blades of +dulled steel looking very black in the reddening light +of approaching sunset. + A boy of about twelve--the personal attendant of +Lakamba--squatted at his master's feet and held up +towards him a silver siri box. Slowly Lakamba took + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 97 + +the box, opened it, and tearing off a piece of green +leaf deposited in it a pinch of lime, a morsel of gambier, +a small bit of areca nut, and wrapped up the whole +with a dexterous twist. He paused, morsel in hand, +seemed to miss something, turned his head from side to +side, slowly, like a man with a stiff neck, and ejacu- +lated in an ill-humoured bass-- + "Babalatchi!" + The players glanced up quickly, and looked down +again directly. Those men who were standing stirred +uneasily as if prodded by the sound of the chief's voice. +The one nearest to Lakamba repeated the call, after a +while, over the rail into the courtyard. There was a +movement of upturned faces below by the fires, and +the cry trailed over the enclosure in sing-song tones. +The thumping of wooden pestles husking the evening +rice stopped for a moment and Babalatchi's name rang +afresh shrilly on women's lips in various keys. A +voice far off shouted something--another, nearer, +repeated it; there was a short hubbub which died out +with extreme suddenness. The first crier turned to +Lakamba, saying indolently-- + "He is with the blind Omar." + Lakamba's lips moved inaudibly. The man who +had just spoken was again deeply absorbed in the +game going on at his feet; and the chief--as if he had +forgotten all about it already--sat with a stolid face +amongst his silent followers, leaning back squarely in +his chair, his hands on the arms of his seat, his knees +apart, his big blood-shot eyes blinking solemnly, as if +dazzled by the noble vacuity of his thoughts. + Babalatchi had gone to see old Omar late in the +afternoon. The delicate manipulation of the ancient +pirate's susceptibilities, the skilful management of +Aissa's violent impulses engrossed him to the exclusion + + +98 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +of every other business--interfered with his regular +attendance upon his chief and protector--even dis- +turbed his sleep for the last three nights. That day +when he left his own bamboo hut--which stood amongst +others in Lakamba's campong--his heart was heavy +with anxiety and with doubt as to the success of his +intrigue. He walked slowly, with his usual air of +detachment from his surroundings, as if unaware +that many sleepy eyes watched from all parts of the +courtyard his progress towards a small gate at its upper +end. That gate gave access to a separate enclosure +in which a rather large house, built of planks, had +been prepared by Lakamba's orders for the reception +of Omar and Aissa. It was a superior kind of habita- +tion which Lakamba intended for the dwelling of his +chief adviser--whose abilities were worth that honour, +he thought. But after the consultation in the deserted +clearing--when Babalatchi had disclosed his plan-- +they both had agreed that the new house should be +used at first to shelter Omar and Aissa after they had +been persuaded to leave the Rajah's place, or had been +kidnapped from there--as the case might be. Babalat- +chi did not mind in the least the putting off of his own +occupation of the house of honour, because it had many +advantages for the quiet working out of his plans. It +had a certain seclusion, having an enclosure of its own, +and that enclosure communicated also with Lakamba's +private courtyard at the back of his residence--a place +set apart for the female household of the chief. The +only communication with the river was through the +great front courtyard always full of armed men and +watchful eyes. Behind the whole group of buildings +there stretched the level ground of rice-clearings, which +in their turn were closed in by the wall of untouched +forests with undergrowth so thick and tangled that + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 99 + +nothing but a bullet--and that fired at pretty close +range--could penetrate any distance there. + Babalatchi slipped quietly through the little gate +and, closing it, tied up carefully the rattan fastenings. +Before the house there was a square space of ground, +beaten hard into the level smoothness of asphalte. +A big buttressed tree, a giant left there on purpose +during the process of clearing the land, roofed in the +clear space with a high canopy of gnarled boughs and +thick, sombre leaves. To the right--and some small +distance away from the large house--a little hut of +reeds, covered with mats, had been put up for the special +convenience of Omar, who, being blind and infirm, +had some difficulty in ascending the steep plankway +that led to the more substantial dwelling, which was +built on low posts and had an uncovered verandah. +Close by the trunk of the tree, and facing the doorway +of the hut, the household fire glowed in a small handful +of embers in the midst of a large circle of white ashes. +An old woman--some humble relation of one of La- +kamba's wives, who had been ordered to attend on +Aissa--was squatting over the fire and lifted up her +bleared eyes to gaze at Babalatchi in an uninterested +manner, as he advanced rapidly across the courtyard. + Babalatchi took in the courtyard with a keen glance +of his solitary eye, and without looking down at the +old woman muttered a question. Silently, the woman +stretched a tremulous and emaciated arm towards the +hut. Babalatchi made a few steps towards the door- +way, but stopped outside in the sunlight. + "O! Tuan Omar, Omar besar! It is I--Baba- +latchi!" + Within the hut there was a feeble groan, a fit of +coughing and an indistinct murmur in the broken +tones of a vague plaint. Encouraged evidently by those + + +100 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +signs of dismal life within, Babalatchi entered the hut, +and after some time came out leading with rigid care- +fulness the blind Omar, who followed with both his +hands on his guide's shoulders. There was a rude +seat under the tree, and there Babalatchi led his old +chief, who sat down with a sigh of relief and leaned +wearily against the rugged trunk. The rays of the +setting sun, darting under the spreading branches, +rested on the white-robed figure sitting with head +thrown back in stiff dignity, on the thin hands moving +uneasily, and on the stolid face with its eyelids dropped +over the destroyed eyeballs; a face set into the immo- +bility of a plaster cast yellowed by age. + "Is the sun near its setting?" asked Omar, in a dull +voice. + "Very near," answered Babalatchi. + "Where am I? Why have I been taken away from +the place which I knew--where I, blind, could move +without fear? It is like black night to those who see. +And the sun is near its setting--and I have not heard +the sound of her footsteps since the morning! Twice +a strange hand has given me my food to-day. Why? +Why? Where is she?" + "She is near," said Babalatchi. + "And he?" went on Omar, with sudden eagerness, +and a drop in his voice. "Where is he? Not here. +Not here!" he repeated, turning his head from side to +side as if in deliberate attempt to see. + "No! He is not here now," said Babalatchi, sooth- +ingly. Then, after a pause, he added very low, "But +he shall soon return." + "Return! O crafty one! Will he return? I have +cursed him three times," exclaimed Omar, with weak +violence. + "He is--no doubt--accursed," assented Babalatchi, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 101 + +in a conciliating manner--"and yet he will be here +before very long--I know!" + "You are crafty and faithless. I have made you +great. You were dirt under my feet--less than dirt," +said Omar, with tremulous energy. + "I have fought by your side many times," said +Babalatchi, calmly. + "Why did he come?" went on Omar. "Did you +send him? Why did he come to defile the air I breathe +--to mock at my fate--to poison her mind and steal +her body? She has grown hard of heart to me. Hard +and merciless and stealthy like rocks that tear a ship's +life out under the smooth sea." He drew a long breath, +struggled with his anger, then broke down suddenly. +"I have been hungry," he continued, in a whimpering +tone--"often I have been very hungry--and cold-- +and neglected--and nobody near me. She has often +forgotten me--and my sons are dead, and that man is an +infidel and a dog. Why did he come? Did you show +him the way?" + "He found the way himself, O Leader of the +brave," said Babalatchi, sadly. "I only saw a way +for their destruction and our own greatness. And if +I saw aright, then you shall never suffer from hunger +any more. There shall be peace for us, and glory and +riches." + "And I shall die to-morrow," murmured Omar, +bitterly. + "Who knows? Those things have been written since +the beginning of the world," whispered Babalatchi, +thoughtfully. + "Do not let him come back," exclaimed Omar. + "Neither can he escape his fate," went on Baba- +latchi. "He shall come back, and the power of men +we always hated, you and I, shall crumble into dust + + +102 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +in our hand." Then he added with enthusiasm, "They +shall fight amongst themselves and perish both." + "And you shall see all this, while, I . . ." + "True!" murmured Babalatchi, regretfully. "To +you life is darkness." + "No! Flame!" exclaimed the old Arab, half rising, +then falling back in his seat. "The flame of that last +day! I see it yet--the last thing I saw! And I hear +the noise of the rent earth--when they all died. And I +live to be the plaything of a crafty one," he added, with +inconsequential peevishness. + "You are my master still," said Babalatchi, humbly. +"You are very wise--and in your wisdom you shall +speak to Syed Abdulla when he comes here--you shall +speak to him as I advised, I, your servant, the man +who fought at your right hand for many years. I +have heard by a messenger that the Syed Abdulla +is coming to-night, perhaps late; for those things must +be done secretly, lest the white man, the trader up +the river, should know of them. But he will be here. +There has been a surat delivered to Lakamba. In it, +Syed Abdulla says he will leave his ship, which is +anchored outside the river, at the hour of noon to-day. +He will be here before daylight if Allah wills." + He spoke with his eye fixed on the ground, and did +not become aware of Aissa's presence till he lifted his +head when he ceased speaking. She had approached +so quietly that even Omar did not hear her footsteps, +and she stood now looking at them with troubled +eyes and parted lips, as if she was going to speak; but +at Babalatchi's entreating gesture she remained silent. +Omar sat absorbed in thought. + "Ay wa! Even so!" he said at last, in a weak voice. +"I am to speak your wisdom, O Babalatchi! Tell him +to trust the white man! I do not understand. I am + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 103 + +old and blind and weak. I do not understand. I am +very cold," he continued, in a lower tone, moving his +shoulders uneasily. He ceased, then went on rambling +in a faint whisper. "They are the sons of witches, +and their father is Satan the stoned. Sons of witches. +Sons of witches." After a short silence he asked sud- +denly, in a firmer voice--"How many white men are +there here, O crafty one?" + "There are two here. Two white men to fight one +another," answered Babalatchi, with alacrity. + "And how many will be left then? How many? +Tell me, you who are wise." + "The downfall of an enemy is the consolation of the +unfortunate," said Babalatchi, sententiously. "They +are on every sea; only the wisdom of the Most High +knows their number--but you shall know that some of +them suffer." + "Tell me, Babalatchi, will they die? Will they both +die?" asked Omar, in sudden agitation. + Aissa made a movement. Babalatchi held up a +warning hand. + "They shall, surely, die," he said steadily, looking +at the girl with unflinching eye. + "Ay wa! But die soon! So that I can pass my hand +over their faces when Allah has made them stiff." + "If such is their fate and yours," answered Baba- +latchi, without hesitation. "God is great!" + A violent fit of coughing doubled Omar up, and he +rocked himself to and fro, vvheezing and moaning in turns, +while Babalatchi and the girl looked at him in silence. +Then he leaned back against the tree, exhausted. + "I am alone, I am alone," he wailed feebly, groping +vaguely about with his trembling hands. "Is there +anybody near me? Is there anybody? I am afraid of +this strange place." + + +104 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "I am by your side, O Leader of the brave," said +Babalatchi, touching his shoulder lightly. "Always +by your side as in the days when we both were young: +as in the time when we both went with arms in our +hands." + "Has there been such a time, Babalatchi?" said +Omar, wildly; "I have forgotten. And now when I +die there will be no man, no fearless man to speak +of his father's bravery. There was a woman! A +woman! And she has forsaken me for an infidel dog. +The hand of the Compassionate is heavy on my head! +Oh, my calamity! Oh, my shame!" + He calmed down after a while, and asked quietly-- +"Is the sun set, Babalatchi?" + "It is now as low as the highest tree I can see from +here," answered Babalatchi. + "It is the time of prayer," said Omar, attempting +to get up. + Dutifully Babalatchi helped his old chief to rise, and +they walked slowly towards the hut. Omar waited +outside, while Babalatchi went in and came out directly, +dragging after him the old Arab's praying carpet. +Out of a brass vessel he poured the water of ablution +on Omar's outstretched hands, and eased him carefully +down into a kneeling posture, for the venerable robber +was far too infirm to be able to stand. Then as Omar +droned out the first words and made his first bow +towards the Holy City, Babalatchi stepped noiselessly +towards Aissa, who did not move all the time. + Aissa looked steadily at the one-eyed sage, who was +approaching her slowly and with a great show of defer- +ence. For a moment they stood facing each other in +silence. Babalatchi appeared embarrassed. With a +sudden and quick gesture she caught hold of his arm, +and with the other hand pointed towards the sinking + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 105 + +red disc that glowed, rayless, through the floating mists +of the evening. + "The third sunset! The last! And he is not here," +she whispered; "what have you done, man without +faith? What have you done?" + "Indeed I have kept my word," murmured Baba- +latchi, earnestly. "This morning Bulangi went with +a canoe to look for him. He is a strange man, but our +friend, and shall keep close to him and watch him +without ostentation. And at the third hour of the +day I have sent another canoe with four rowers. In- +deed, the man you long for, O daughter of Omar! +may come when he likes." + "But he is not here! I waited for him yesterday. +To-day! To-morrow I shall go." + "Not alive!" muttered Babalatchi to himself. +"And do you doubt your power," he went on in a +louder tone--"you that to him are more beautiful +than an houri of the seventh Heaven? He is your slave." + "A slave does run away sometimes," she said, gloom- +ily, "and then the master must go and seek him +out." + "And do you want to live and die a beggar?" asked +Babalatchi, impatiently. + "I care not," she exclaimed, wringing her hands; +and the black pupils of her wide-open eyes darted +wildly here and there like petrels before the storm. + "Sh! Sh!" hissed Babalatchi, with a glance towards +Omar. "Do you think, O girl! that he himself would +live like a beggar, even with you?" + "He is great," she said, ardently. "He despises you +all! He despises you all! He is indeed a man!" + "You know that best," muttered Babalatchi, with +a fugitive smile--"but remember, woman with the +strong heart, that to hold him now you must be to + + +106 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +him like the great sea to thirsty men--a never-ceasing +torment, and a madness." + He ceased and they stood in silence, both looking on +the ground, and for a time nothing was heard above +the crackling of the fire but the intoning of Omar +glorifying the God--his God, and the Faith--his faith. +Then Babalatchi cocked his head on one side and ap- +peared to listen intently to the hum of voices in the +big courtyard. The dull noise swelled into distinct +shouts, then into a great tumult of voices, dying away, +recommencing, growing louder, to cease again abruptly; +and in those short pauses the shrill vociferations of +women rushed up, as if released, towards the quiet +heaven. Aissa and Babalatchi started, but the latter +gripped in his turn the girl's arm and restrained her +with a strong grasp. + "Wait," he whispered. + The little door in the heavy stockade which sepa- +rated Lakamba's private ground from Omar's enclosure +swung back quickly, and the noble exile appeared with +disturbed mien and a naked short sword in his hand. +His turban was half unrolled, and the end trailed on +the ground behind him. His jacket was open. He +breathed thickly for a moment before he spoke. + "He came in Bulangi's boat," he said, "and walked +quietly till he was in my presence, when the senseless +fury of white men caused him to rush upon me. I +have been in great danger," went on the ambitious +nobleman in an aggrieved tone. "Do you hear that, +Babalatchi? That eater of swine aimed a blow at my +face with his unclean fist. He tried to rush amongst +my household. Six men are holding him now." + A fresh outburst of yells stopped Lakamba's dis- +course. Angry voices shouted: "Hold him. Beat him +down. Strike at his head." Then the clamour ceased + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 107 + +with sudden completeness, as if strangled by a mighty +hand, and after a second of surprising silence the voice +of Willems was heard alone, howling maledictions in +Malay, in Dutch, and in English. + "Listen," said Lakamba, speaking with unsteady +lips, "he blasphemes his God. His speech is like the +raving of a mad dog. Can we hold him for ever? He +must be killed!" + "Fool!" muttered Babalatchi, looking up at Aissa, +who stood with set teeth, with gleaming eyes and +distended nostrils, yet obedient to the touch of his +restraining hand. "It is the third day, and I have +kept my promise," he said to her, speaking very low. +"Remember," he added warningly--"like the sea to +the thirsty! And now," he said aloud, releasing her +and stepping back, "go, fearless daughter, go!" + Like an arrow, rapid and silent she flew down the +enclosure, and disappeared through the gate of the +courtyard. Lakamba and Babalatchi looked after her. +They heard the renewed tumult, the girl's clear voice +calling out, "Let him go!" Then after a pause in +the din no longer than half the human breath the +name of Aissa rang in a shout loud, discordant, and +piercing, which sent through them an involuntary +shudder. Old Omar collapsed on his carpet and +moaned feebly; Lakamba stared with gloomy con- +tempt in the direction of the inhuman sound; but +Babalatchi, forcing a smile, pushed his distinguished +protector through the narrow gate in the stockade, +followed him, and closed it quickly. + The old woman, who had been most of the time +kneeling by the fire, now rose, glanced round fear- +fully and crouched hiding behind the tree. The +gate of the great courtyard flew open with a great +clatter before a frantic kick, and Willems darted in + + +108 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +carrying Aissa in his arms. He rushed up the enclosure +like a tornado, pressing the girl to his breast, her arms +round his neck, her head hanging back over his arm, +her eyes closed and her long hair nearly touching the +ground. They appeared for a second in the glare of +the fire, then, with immense strides, he dashed up the +planks and disappeared with his burden in the doorway +of the big house. + Inside and outside the enclosure there was silence. +Omar lay supporting himself on his elbow, his terrified +face with its closed eyes giving him the appearance of +a man tormented by a nightmare. + "What is it? Help! Help me to rise!" he called +out faintly. + The old hag, still crouching in the shadow, stared +with bleared eyes at the doorway of the big house, and +took no notice of his call. He listened for a while, +then his arm gave way, and, with a deep sigh of dis- +couragement, he let himself fall on the carpet. + The boughs of the tree nodded and trembled in the +unsteady currents of the light wind. A leaf fluttered +down slowly from some high branch and rested on the +ground, immobile, as if resting for ever, in the glow of +the fire; but soon it stirred, then soared suddenly, and +flew, spinning and turning before the breath of the +perfumed breeze, driven helplessly into the dark night +that had closed over the land. + + + + CHAPTER THREE + + FOR upwards of forty years Abdulla had walked in +the way of his Lord. Son of the rich Syed Selim bin +Sali, the great Mohammedan trader of the Straits, he +went forth at the age of seventeen on his first com- +mercial expedition, as his father's representative on +board a pilgrim ship chartered by the wealthy Arab +to convey a crowd of pious Malays to the Holy Shrine. +That was in the days when steam was not in those +seas--or, at least, not so much as now. The voyage +was long, and the young man's eyes were opened to +the wonders of many lands. Allah had made it his +fate to become a pilgrim very early in life. This was +a great favour of Heaven, and it could not have been +bestowed upon a man who prized it more, or who made +himself more worthy of it by the unswerving piety of +his heart and by the religious solemnity of his demean- +our. Later on it became clear that the book of his +destiny contained the programme of a wandering life. +He visited Bombay and Calcutta, looked in at the +Persian Gulf, beheld in due course the high and barren +coasts of the Gulf of Suez, and this was the limit of his +wanderings westward. He was then twenty-seven, +and the writing on his forehead decreed that the time +had come for him to return to the Straits and take from +his dying father's hands the many threads of a business +that was spread over all the Archipelago: from Sumatra +to New Guinea, from Batavia to Palawan. Very soon +his ability, his will--strong to obstinacy--his wisdom +beyond his years, caused him to be recognized as the + +109 + + +110 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +head of a family whose members and connections were +found in every part of those seas. An uncle here--a +brother there; a father-in-law in Batavia, another in +Palembang; husbands of numerous sisters; cousins in- +numerable scattered north, south, east, and west--in +every place where there was trade: the great family lay +like a network over the islands. They lent money to +princes, influenced the council-rooms, faced--if need +be--with peaceful intrepidity the white rulers who +held the land and the sea under the edge of sharp +swords; and they all paid great deference to Abdulla, +listened to his advice, entered into his plans--because +he was wise, pious, and fortunate. + He bore himself with the humility becoming a Be- +liever, who never forgets, even for one moment of +his waking life, that he is the servant of the Most +High. He was largely charitable because the chari- +table man is the friend of Allah, and when he walked +out of his house--built of stone, just outside the town +of Penang--on his way to his godowns in the port, +he had often to snatch his hand away sharply from +under the lips of men of his race and creed; and often +he had to murmur deprecating words, or even to rebuke +with severity those who attempted to touch his knees +with their finger-tips in gratitude or supplication. He +was very handsome, and carried his small head high +with meek gravity. His lofty brow, straight nose, +narrow, dark face with its chiselled delicacy of feature, +gave him an aristocratic appearance which proclaimed +his pure descent. His beard was trimmed close and to +a rounded point. His large brown eyes looked out +steadily with a sweetness that was belied by the expres- +sion of his thin-lipped mouth. His aspect was serene. +He had a belief in his own prosperity which nothing +could shake. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 111 + + Restless, like all his people, he very seldom dwelt for +many days together in his splendid house in Penang. +Owner of ships, he was often on board one or another of +them, traversing in all directions the field of his opera- +tions. In every port he had a household--his own or +that of a relation--to hail his advent with demonstra- +tive joy. In every port there were rich and influential +men eager to see him, there was business to talk over, +there were important letters to read: an immense cor- +respondence, enclosed in silk envelopes--a correspon- +dence which had nothing to do with the infidels of +colonial post-offices, but came into his hands by devious, +yet safe, ways. It was left for him by taciturn nak- +hodas of native trading craft, or was delivered with pro- +found salaams by travel-stained and weary men who +would withdraw from his presence calling upon Allah +to bless the generous giver of splendid rewards. And +the news was always good, and all his attempts always +succeeded, and in his ears there rang always a chorus of +admiration, of gratitude, of humble entreaties. + A fortunate man. And his felicity was so complete +that the good genii, who ordered the stars at his birth, +had not neglected--by a refinement of benevolence +strange in such primitive beings--to provide him with +a desire difficult to attain, and with an enemy hard to +overcome. The envy of Lingard's political and com- +mercial successes, and the wish to get the best of him +in every way, became Abdulla's mania, the paramount +interest of his life, the salt of his existence. + For the last few months he had been receiving mys- +terious messages from Sambir urging him to deci- +sive action. He had found the river a couple of years +ago, and had been anchored more than once off that +estuary where the, till then, rapid Pantai, spreading +slowly over the lowlands, seems to hesitate, before it + + +112 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +flows gently through twenty outlets; over a maze of +mudflats, sandbanks and reefs, into the expectant sea. +He had never attempted the entrance, however, be- +cause men of his race, although brave and adventurous +travellers, lack the true seamanlike instincts, and he +was afraid of getting wrecked. He could not bear the +idea of the Rajah Laut being able to boast that Abdulla +bin Selim, like other and lesser men, had also come to +grief when trying to wrest his secret from him. Mean- +time he returned encouraging answers to his unknown +friends in Sambir, and waited for his opportunity in the +calm certitude of ultimate triumph. + Such was the man whom Lakamba and Babalatchi +expected to see for the first time on the night of Wil- +lems' return to Aissa. Babalatchi, who had been tor- +mented for three days by the fear of having over- +reached himself in his little plot, now, feeling sure of +his white man, felt lighthearted and happy as he super- +intended the preparations in the courtyard for Abdulla's +reception. Half-way between Lakamba's house and +the river a pile of dry wood was made ready for the +torch that would set fire to it at the moment of Abdulla's +landing. Between this and the house again there was, +ranged in a semicircle, a set of low bamboo frames, +and on those were piled all the carpets and cushions of +Lakamba's household. It had been decided that the +reception was to take place in the open air, and that it +should be made impressive by the great number of +Lakamba's retainers, who, clad in clean white, with +their red sarongs gathered round their waists, chopper +at side and lance in hand, were moving about the com- +pound or, gathering into small knots, discussed eagerly +the coming ceremony. + Two little fires burned brightly on the water's edge +on each side of the landing place. A small heap of + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 113 + +damar-gum torches lay by each, and between them +Babalatchi strolled backwards and forwards, stopping +often with his face to the river and his head on one side, +listening to the sounds that came from the darkness +over the water. There was no moon and the night was +very clear overhead, but, after the afternoon breeze +had expired in fitful puffs, the vapours hung thickening +over the glancing surface of the Pantai and clung to the +shore, hiding from view the middle of the stream. + A cry in the mist--then another--and, before Baba- +latchi could answer, two little canoes dashed up to the +landing-place, and two of the principal citizens of +Sambir, Daoud Sahamin and Hamet Bahassoen, who +had been confidentially invited to meet Abdulla, +landed quickly and after greeting Babalatchi walked +up the dark courtyard towards the house. The little +stir caused by their arrival soon subsided, and another +silent hour dragged its slow length while Babalatchi +tramped up and down between the fires, his face grow- +ing more anxious with every passing moment. + At last there was heard a loud hail from down the +river. At a call from Babalatchi men ran down to +the riverside and, snatching the torches, thrust them +into the fires, then waved them above their heads till +they burst into a flame. The smoke ascended in +thick, wispy streams, and hung in a ruddy cloud above +the glare that lit up the courtyard and flashed over the +water, showing three long canoes manned by many +paddlers lying a little off; the men in them lifting +their paddles on high and dipping them down together, +in an easy stroke that kept the small flotilla motion- +less in the strong current, exactly abreast of the landing- +place. A man stood up in the largest craft and called +out-- + "Syed Abdulla bin Selim is here!" + + +114 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + Babalatchi answered aloud in a formal tone-- + "Allah gladdens our hearts! Come to the land!" + Abdulla landed first, steadying himself by the help +of Babalatchi's extended hand. In the short moment +of his passing from the boat to the shore they exchanged +sharp glances and a few rapid words. + "Who are you?" + "Babalatchi. The friend of Omar. The protected +of Lakamba." + "You wrote?" + "My words were written, O Giver of alms!" + And then Abdulla walked with composed face be- +tween the two lines of men holding torches, and met +Lakamba in front of the big fire that was crackling +itself up into a great blaze. For a moment they stood +with clasped hands invoking peace upon each other's +head, then Lakamba, still holding his honoured guest +by the hand, led him round the fire to the prepared +seats. Babalatchi followed close behind his protector. +Abdulla was accompanied by two Arabs. He, like his +companions, was dressed in a white robe of starched +muslin, which fell in stiff folds straight from the neck. +It was buttoned from the throat halfway down with a +close row of very small gold buttons; round the tight +sleeves there was a narrow braid of gold lace. On his +shaven head he wore a small skull-cap of plaited grass. +He was shod in patent leather slippers over his naked +feet. A rosary of heavy wooden beads hung by a round +turn from his right wrist. He sat down slowly in the +place of honour, and, dropping his slippers, tucked up +his legs under him decorously. + The improvised divan was arranged in a wide semi- +circle, of which the point most distant from the fire +--some ten yards--was also the nearest to Lakamba's +dwelling. As soon as the principal personages were + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 115 + +seated, the verandah of the house was filled silently by +the muffled-up forms of Lakamba's female belong- +ings. They crowded close to the rail and looked +down, whispering faintly. Below, the formal ex- +change of compliments went on for some time be- +tween Lakamba and Abdulla, who sat side by side. +Babalatchi squatted humbly at his protector's feet, +with nothing but a thin mat between himself and the +hard ground. + Then there was a pause. Abdulla glanced round in +an expectant manner, and after a while Babalatchi, who +had been sitting very still in a pensive attitude, seemed +to rouse himself with an effort, and began to speak in +gentle and persuasive tones. He described in flowing +sentences the first beginnings of Sambir, the dispute +of the present ruler, Patalolo, with the Sultan of Koti, +the consequent troubles ending with the rising of +Bugis settlers under the leadership of Lakamba. At +different points of the narrative he would turn for +confirmation to Sahamin and Bahassoen, who sat lis- +tening eagerly and assented together with a "Betul! +Betul! Right! Right!" ejaculated in a fervent under- +tone. + Warming up with his subject as the narrative pro- +ceeded, Babalatchi went on to relate the facts con- +nected with Lingard's action at the critical period of +those internal dissensions. He spoke in a restrained +voice still, but with a growing energy of indignation. +What was he, that man of fierce aspect, to keep all +the world away from them? Was he a government? +Who made him ruler? He took possession of Pata- +lolo's mind and made his heart hard; he put severe +words into his mouth and caused his hand to strike +right and left. That unbeliever kept the Faithful +panting under the weight of his senseless oppression. + + +116 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +They had to trade with him--accept such goods as +he would give--such credit as he would accord. And +he exacted payment every year . . . + "Very true!" exclaimed Sahamin and Bahassoen +together. + Babalatchi glanced at them approvingly and turned +to Abdulla. + "Listen to those men, O Protector of the oppressed!" +he exclaimed. "What could we do? A man must +trade. There was nobody else." + Sahamin got up, staff in hand, and spoke to Abdulla +with ponderous courtesy, emphasizing his words by the +solemn flourishes of his right arm. + "It is so. We are weary of paying our debts to +that white man here, who is the son of the Rajah Laut. +That white man--may the grave of his mother be +defiled!--is not content to hold us all in his hand with a +cruel grasp. He seeks to cause our very death. He +trades with the Dyaks of the forest, who are no better +than monkeys. He buys from them guttah and rat- +tans--while we starve. Only two days ago I went to +him and said, 'Tuan Almayer'--even so; we must speak +politely to that friend of Satan--'Tuan Almayer, I have +such and such goods to sell. Will you buy?' And he +spoke thus--because those white men have no under- +standing of any courtesy--he spoke to me as if I was a +slave: 'Daoud, you are a lucky man'--remark, O First +amongst the Believers! that by those words he could +have brought misfortune on my head--'you are a lucky +man to have anything in these hard times. Bring your +goods quickly, and I shall receive them in payment of +what you owe me from last year.' And he laughed, +and struck me on the shoulder with his open hand. +May Jehannum be his lot!" + "We will fight him," said young Bahassoen, crisply. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 117 + +"We shall fight if there is help and a leader. Tuan +Abdulla, will you come among us?" + Abdulla did not answer at once. His lips moved in +an inaudible whisper and the beads passed through his +fingers with a dry click. All waited in respectful +silence. "I shall come if my ship can enter this river," +said Abdulla at last, in a solemn tone. + "It can, Tuan," exclaimed Babalatchi. "There is +a white man here who . . ." + "I want to see Omar el Badavi and that white man +you wrote about," interrupted Abdulla. + Babalatchi got on his feet quickly, and there was a +general move. The women on the verandah hurried +indoors, and from the crowd that had kept discreetly +in distant parts of the courtyard a couple of men ran +with armfuls of dry fuel, which they cast upon the +fire. One of them, at a sign from Babalatchi, ap- +proached and, after getting his orders, went towards +the little gate and entered Omar's enclosure. While +waiting for his return, Lakamba, Abdulla, and Baba- +latchi talked together in low tones. Sahamin sat by +himself chewing betel-nut sleepily with a slight and +indolent motion of his heavy jaw. Bahassoen, his +hand on the hilt of his short sword, strutted back- +wards and forwards in the full light of the fire, looking +very warlike and reckless; the envy and admi- +ration of Lakamba's retainers, who stood in groups +or flitted about noiselessly in the shadows of the +courtyard. + The messenger who had been sent to Omar came +back and stood at a distance, waiting till somebody +noticed him. Babalatchi beckoned him close. + "What are his words?" asked Babalatchi. + "He says that Syed Abdulla is welcome now," an- +swered the man. + + +118 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + Lakamba was speaking low to Abdulla, who listened +to him with deep interest. + ". . . We could have eighty men if there was +need," he was saying--"eighty men in fourteen canoes. +The only thing we want is gunpowder . . ." + "Hai! there will be no fighting," broke in Baba- +latchi. "The fear of your name will be enough and the +terror of your coming." + "There may be powder too," muttered Abdulla +with great nonchalance, "if only the ship enters the +river safely." + "If the heart is stout the ship will be safe," said +Babalatchi. "We will go now and see Omar el Badavi +and the white man I have here." + Lakamba's dull eyes became animated suddenly. + "Take care, Tuan Abdulla," he said, "take care. +The behaviour of that unclean white madman is furious +in the extreme. He offered to strike . . ." + "On my head, you are safe, O Giver of alms!" inter- +rupted Babalatchi. + Abdulla looked from one to the other, and the faintest +flicker of a passing smile disturbed for a moment his +grave composure. He turned to Babalatchi, and said +with decision-- + "Let us go." + "This way, O Uplifter of our hearts!" rattled on +Babalatchi, with fussy deference. "Only a very few +paces and you shall behold Omar the brave, and a +white man of great strength and cunning. This way." + He made a sign for Lakamba to remain behind, +and with respectful touches on the elbow steered Ab- +dulla towards the gate at the upper end of the court- +yard. As they walked on slowly, followed by the two +Arabs, he kept on talking in a rapid undertone to the +great man, who never looked at him once, although + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 119 + +appearing to listen with flattering attention. When +near the gate Babalatchi moved forward and stopped, +facing Abdulla, with his hand on the fastenings. + "You shall see them both," he said. "All my +words about them are true. When I saw him enslaved +by the one of whom I spoke, I knew he would be soft +in my hand like the mud of the river. At first he an- +swered my talk with bad words of his own language, +after the manner of white men. Afterwards, when +listening to the voice he loved, he hesitated. He hesi- +tated for many days--too many. I, knowing him well, +made Omar withdraw here with his . . . house- +hold. Then this red-faced man raged for three days +like a black panther that is hungry. And this evening, +this very evening, he came. I have him here. He is +in the grasp of one with a merciless heart. I have him +here," ended Babalatchi, exultingly tapping the up- +right of the gate with his hand. + "That is good," murmured Abdulla. + "And he shall guide your ship and lead in the fight-- +if fight there be," went on Babalatchi. "If there is any +killing--let him be the slayer. You should give him +arms--a short gun that fires many times." + "Yes, by Allah!" assented Abdulla, with slow +thoughtfulness. + "And you will have to open your hand, O First +amongst the generous!" continued Babalatchi. "You +will have to satisfy the rapacity of a white man, and +also of one who is not a man, and therefore greedy of +ornaments." + "They shall be satisfied," said Abdulla; "but . . ." +He hesitated, looking down on the ground and +stroking his beard, while Babalatchi waited, anxious, +with parted lips. After a short time he spoke again +jerkily in an indistinct whisper, so that Babalatchi had + + +120 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +to turn his head to catch the words. "Yes. But +Omar is the son of my father's uncle . . . and all +belonging to him are of the Faith . . . while that +man is an unbeliever. It is most unseemly . . . +very unseemly. He cannot live under my shadow. +Not that dog. Penitence! I take refuge with my +God," he mumbled rapidly. "How can he live under +my eyes with that woman, who is of the Faith? Scan- +dal! O abomination!" + He finished with a rush and drew a long breath, +then added dubiously-- + "And when that man has done all we want, what +is to be done with him?" + They stood close together, meditative and silent, +their eyes roaming idly over the courtyard. The big +bonfire burned brightly, and a wavering splash of +light lay on the dark earth at their feet, while the lazy +smoke wreathed itself slowly in gleaming coils amongst +the black boughs of the trees. They could see La- +kamba, who had returned to his place, sitting hunched +up spiritlessly on the cushions, and Sahamin, who had +got on his feet again and appeared to be talking to him +with dignified animation. Men in twos or threes came +out of the shadows into the light, strolling slowly, and +passed again into the shadows, their faces turned to each +other, their arms moving in restrained gestures. Bahas- +soen, his head proudly thrown back, his ornaments, +embroideries, and sword-hilt flashing in the light, circled +steadily round the fire like a planet round the sun. A +cool whiff of damp air came from the darkness of the +riverside; it made Abdulla and Babalatchi shiver, and +woke them up from their abstraction. + "Open the gate and go first," said Abdulla; "there +is no danger?" + "On my life, no!" answered Babalatchi, lifting the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 121 + +rattan ring. "He is all peace and content, like a thirsty +man who has drunk water after many days." + He swung the gate wide, made a few paces into the +gloom of the enclosure, and retraced his steps suddenly. + "He may be made useful in many ways," he whis- +pered to Abdulla, who had stopped short, seeing him +come back. + "O Sin! O Temptation!" sighed out Abdulla, +faintly. "Our refuge is with the Most High. Can +I feed this infidel for ever and for ever?" he added, +impatiently. + "No," breathed out Babalatchi. "No! Not for +ever. Only while he serves your designs, O Dispenser +of Allah's gifts! When the time comes--and your +order . . ." + He sidled close to Abdulla, and brushed with a +delicate touch the hand that hung down listlessly, +holding the prayer-beads. + "I am your slave and your offering," he murmured, +in a distinct and polite tone, into Abdulla's ear. "When +your wisdom speaks, there may be found a little poison +that will not lie. Who knows?" + + + CHAPTER FOUR + + BABALATCHI saw Abdulla pass through the low and +narrow entrance into the darkness of Omar's hut; +heard them exchange the usual greetings and the +distinguished visitor's grave voice asking: "There is +no misfortune--please God--but the sight?" and then, +becoming aware of the disapproving looks of the two +Arabs who had accompanied Abdulla, he followed their +example and fell back out of earshot. He did it unwill- +ingly, although he did not ignore that what was going +to happen in there was now absolutely beyond his con- +trol. He roamed irresolutely about for awhile, and at +last wandered with careless steps towards the fire, +which had been moved, from under the tree, close to the +hut and a little to windward of its entrance. He +squatted on his heels and began playing pensively with +live embers, as was his habit when engrossed in thought, +withdrawing his hand sharply and shaking it above his +head when he burnt his fingers in a fit of deeper abstrac- +tion. Sitting there he could hear the murmur of the +talk inside the hut, and he could distinguish the voices +but not the words. Abdulla spoke in deep tones, and +now and then this flowing monotone was interrupted +by a querulous exclamation, a weak moan or a plaintive +quaver of the old man. Yes. It was annoying not +to be able to make out what they were saying, thought +Babalatchi, as he sat gazing fixedly at the unsteady +glow of the fire. But it will be right. All will be right. +Abdulla inspired him with confidence. He came up +fully to his expectation. From the very first moment + +122 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 123 + +when he set his eye on him he felt sure that this man-- +whom he had known by reputation only--was very reso- +lute. Perhaps too resolute. Perhaps he would want to +grasp too much later on. A shadow flitted over Baba- +latchi's face. On the eve of the accomplishment of +his desires he felt the bitter taste of that drop of doubt +which is mixed with the sweetness of every success. + When, hearing footsteps on the verandah of the big +house, he lifted his head, the shadow had passed away +and on his face there was an expression of watchful +alertness. Willems was coming down the plankway, +into the courtyard. The light within trickled through +the cracks of the badly joined walls of the house, and +in the illuminated doorway appeared the moving form +of Aissa. She also passed into the night outside and +disappeared from view. Babalatchi wondered where +she had got to, and for the moment forgot the approach +of Willems. The voice of the white man speaking +roughly above his head made him jump to his feet as +if impelled upwards by a powerful spring. + "Where's Abdulla?" + Babalatchi waved his hand towards the hut and stood +listening intently. The voices within had ceased, then +recommenced again. He shot an oblique glance at +Willems, whose indistinct form towered above the glow +of dying embers. + "Make up this fire," said Willems, abruptly. "I +want to see your face." + With obliging alacrity Babalatchi put some dry +brushwood on the coals from a handy pile, keeping +all the time a watchful eye on Willems. When he +straightened himself up his hand wandered almost +involuntarily towards his left side to feel the handle of +a kriss amongst the folds of his sarong, but he tried to +look unconcerned under the angry stare. + + +124 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "You are in good health, please God?" he mur- +mured. + "Yes!" answered Willems, with an unexpected loud- +ness that caused Babalatchi to start nervously. "Yes! +. . . Health! . . . You . . ." + He made a long stride and dropped both his hands on +the Malay's shoulders. In the powerful grip Babalat- +chi swayed to and fro limply, but his face was as peaceful +as when he sat--a little while ago--dreaming by the +fire. With a final vicious jerk Willems let go suddenly, +and turning away on his heel stretched his hands over +the fire. Babalatchi stumbled backwards, recovered +himself, and wriggled his shoulders laboriously. + "Tse! Tse! Tse!" he clicked, deprecatingly. After +a short silence he went on with accentuated admiration: +"What a man it is! What a strong man! A man like +that"--he concluded, in a tone of meditative wonder-- +"a man like that could upset mountains--mountains!" + He gazed hopefully for a while at Willems' broad +shoulders, and continued, addressing the inimical back, +in a low and persuasive voice-- + "But why be angry with me? With me who think +only of your good? Did I not give her refuge, in my +own house? Yes, Tuan! This is my own house. I +will let you have it without any recompense because +she must have a shelter. Therefore you and she shall +live here. Who can know a woman's mind? And +such a woman! If she wanted to go away from that +other place, who am I--to say no! I am Omar's +servant. I said: 'Gladden my heart by taking my +house.' Did I say right?" + "I'll tell you something," said Willems, without +changing his position; "if she takes a fancy to go away +from this place it is you who shall suffer. I will wring +your neck." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 125 + + "When the heart is full of love there is no room in it +for justice," recommenced Babalatchi, with unmoved +and persistent softness. "Why slay me? You know, +Tuan, what she wants. A splendid destiny is her desire +--as of all women. You have been wronged and cast +out by your people. She knows that. But you are +brave, you are strong--you are a man; and, Tuan-- +I am older than you--you are in her hand. Such +is the fate of strong men. And she is of noble birth +and cannot live like a slave. You know her--and you +are in her hand. You are like a snared bird, because +of your strength. And--remember I am a man that +has seen much--submit, Tuan! Submit! . . . Or +else . . ." + He drawled out the last words in a hesitating manner +and broke off his sentence. Still stretching his hands +in turns towards the blaze and without moving his +head, Willems gave a short, lugubrious laugh, and +asked-- + "Or else what?" + "She may go away again. Who knows?" finished +Babalatchi, in a gentle and insinuating tone. + This time Willems spun round sharply. Babalatchi +stepped back. + "If she does it will be the worse for you," said Wil- +lems, in a menacing voice. "It will be your doing, +and I . . ." + Babalatchi spoke, from beyond the circle of light, +with calm disdain. + "Hai--ya! I have heard before. If she goes-- +then I die. Good! Will that bring her back do you +think--Tuan? If it is my doing it shall be well done, +O white man! and--who knows--you will have to +live without her." + Willems gasped and started back like a confident + + +126 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +wayfarer who, pursuing a path he thinks safe, should +see just in time a bottomless chasm under his feet. +Babalatchi came into the light and approached Willems +sideways, with his head thrown back and a little on +one side so as to bring his only eye to bear full on the +countenance of the tall white man. + "You threaten me," said Willems, indistinctly. + "I, Tuan!" exclaimed Babalatchi, with a slight +suspicion of irony in the affected surprise of his tone. +"I, Tuan? Who spoke of death? Was it I? No! +I spoke of life only. Only of life. Of a long life for a +lonely man!" + They stood with the fire between them, both silent, +both aware, each in his own way, of the importance of +the passing minutes. Babalatchi's fatalism gave him +only an insignificant relief in his suspense, because no +fatalism can kill the thought of the future, the desire +of success, the pain of waiting for the disclosure of the +immutable decrees of Heaven. Fatalism is born of the +fear of failure, for we all believe that we carry success +in our own hands, and we suspect that our hands are +weak. Babalatchi looked at Willems and congratu- +lated himself upon his ability to manage that white man. +There was a pilot for Abdulla--a victim to appease +Lingard's anger in case of any mishap. He would take +good care to put him forward in everything. In any +case let the white men fight it out amongst themselves. +They were fools. He hated them--the strong fools-- +and knew that for his righteous wisdom was reserved the +safe triumph. + Willems measured dismally the depth of his degrada- +tion. He--a white man, the admired of white men, +was held by those miserable savages whose tool he was +about to become. He felt for them all the hate of his +race, of his morality, of his intelligence. He looked + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 127 + +upon himself with dismay and pity. She had him. He +had heard of such things. He had heard of women +who . . . He would never believe such stories. +. . . Yet they were true. But his own captivity +seemed more complete, terrible, and final--without the +hope of any redemption. He wondered at the wicked- +ness of Providence that had made him what he was; +that, worse still, permitted such a creature as Almayer +to live. He had done his duty by going to him. Why +did he not understand? All men were fools. He gave +him his chance. The fellow did not see it. It was +hard, very hard on himself--Willems. He wanted to +take her from amongst her own people. That's why +he had condescended to go to Almayer. He examined +himself. With a sinking heart he thought that really +he could not--somehow--live without her. It was +terrible and sweet. He remembered the first days. +Her appearance, her face, her smile, her eyes, her +words. A savage woman! Yet he perceived that he +could think of nothing else but of the three days of their +separation, of the few hours since their reunion. Very +well. If he could not take her away, then he would go +to her. . . . He had, for a moment, a wicked +pleasure in the thought that what he had done could +not be undone. He had given himself up. He felt +proud of it. He was ready to face anything, do any- +thing. He cared for nothing, for nobody. He thought +himself very fearless, but as a matter of fact he was +only drunk; drunk with the poison of passionate mem- +ories. + He stretched his hands over the fire, looked round +and called out-- + "Aissa!" + She must have been near, for she appeared at once +within the light of the fire. The upper part of her + + +128 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +body was wrapped up in the thick folds of a head +covering which was pulled down over her brow, and +one end of it thrown across from shoulder to shoulder +hid the lower part of her face. Only her eyes were +visible--sombre and gleaming like a starry night. + Willems, looking at this strange, muffled figure, felt +exasperated, amazed and helpless. The ex-confiden- +tial clerk of the rich Hudig would hug to his breast +settled conceptions of respectable conduct. He sought +refuge within his ideas of propriety from the dismal +mangroves, from the darkness of the forests and of the +heathen souls of the savages that were his masters. +She looked like an animated package of cheap cotton +goods! It made him furious. She had disguised +herself so because a man of her race was near! He +told her not to do it, and she did not obey. Would +his ideas ever change so as to agree with her own no- +tions of what was becoming, proper and respectable? +He was really afraid they would, in time. It seemed to +him awful. She would never change! This manifesta- +tion of her sense of proprieties was another sign of their +hopeless diversity; something like another step down- +wards for him. She was too different from him. He +was so civilized! It struck him suddenly that they +had nothing in common--not a thought, not a feeling; +he could not make clear to her the simplest motive of +any act of his . . . and he could not live without +her. + The courageous man who stood facing Babalatchi +gasped unexpectedly with a gasp that was half a groan. +This little matter of her veiling herself against his wish +acted upon him like a disclosure of some great disaster. +It increased his contempt for himself as the slave of a +passion he had always derided, as the man unable to +assert his will. This will, all his sensations, his per- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 129 + +sonality--all this seemed to be lost in the abominable +desire, in the priceless promise of that woman. He was +not, of course, able to discern clearly the causes of his +misery; but there are none so ignorant as not to know +suffering, none so simple as not to feel and suffer from +the shock of warring impulses. The ignorant must feel +and suffer from their complexity as well as the wisest; +but to them the pain of struggle and defeat appears +strange, mysterious, remediable and unjust. He stood +watching her, watching himself. He tingled with rage +from head to foot, as if he had been struck in the face. +Suddenly he laughed; but his laugh was like a distorted +echo of some insincere mirth very far away. + From the other side of the fire Babalatchi spoke +hurriedly-- + "Here is Tuan Abdulla." + + + + CHAPTER FIVE + + DIRECTLY on stepping outside Omar's hut Abdulla +caught sight of Willems. He expected, of course, to +see a white man, but not that white man, whom he +knew so well. Everybody who traded in the islands, +and who had any dealings with Hudig, knew Willems. +For the last two years of his stay in Macassar the con- +fidential clerk had been managing all the local trade of +the house under a very slight supervision only on the +part of the master. So everybody knew Willems, +Abdulla amongst others--but he was ignorant of Wil- +lems' disgrace. As a matter of fact the thing had been +kept very quiet--so quiet that a good many people in +Macassar were expecting Willems' return there, sup- +posing him to be absent on some confidential mission. +Abdulla, in his surprise, hesitated on the threshold. +He had prepared himself to see some seaman--some +old officer of Lingard's; a common man--perhaps diffi- +cult to deal with, but still no match for him. Instead, he +saw himself confronted by an individual whose reputa- +tion for sagacity in business was well known to +him. How did he get here, and why? Abdulla, re- +covering from his surprise, advanced in a digni- +fied manner towards the fire, keeping his eyes fixed +steadily on Willems. When within two paces from +Willems he stopped and lifted his right hand in grave +salutation. Willems nodded slightly and spoke after +a while. + "We know each other, Tuan Abdulla," he said, with +an assumption of easy indifference. + +130 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 131 + + "We have traded together," answered Abdulla, +solemnly, "but it was far from here." + "And we may trade here also," said Willems. + "The place does not matter. It is the open mind +and the true heart that are required in business." + "Very true. My heart is as open as my mind. I +will tell you why I am here." + "What need is there? In leaving home one learns +life. You travel. Travelling is victory! You shall +return with much wisdom." + "I shall never return," interrupted Willems. "I +have done with my people. I am a man without +brothers. Injustice destroys fidelity." + Abdulla expressed his surprise by elevating his +eyebrows. At the same time he made a vague gesture +with his arm that could be taken as an equivalent of +an approving and conciliating "just so!" + Till then the Arab had not taken any notice of +Aissa, who stood by the fire, but now she spoke in +the interval of silence following Willems' declaration. +In a voice that was much deadened by her wrappings +she addressed Abdulla in a few words of greeting, calling +him a kinsman. Abdulla glanced at her swiftly for a +second, and then, with perfect good breeding, fixed his +eyes on the ground. She put out towards him her hand, +covered with a corner of her face-veil, and he took it, +pressed it twice, and dropping it turned towards Willems. +She looked at the two men searchingly, then backed +away and seemed to melt suddenly into the night. + "I know what you came for, Tuan Abdulla," said +Willems; "I have been told by that man there." He +nodded towards Babalatchi, then went on slowly, "It +will be a difficult thing." + "Allah makes everything easy," interjected Baba- +latchi, piously, from a distance. + + +132 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + The two men turned quickly and stood looking at +him thoughtfully, as if in deep consideration of the +truth of that proposition. Under their sustained gaze +Babalatchi experienced an unwonted feeling of shy- +ness, and dared not approach nearer. At last Willems +moved slightly, Abdulla followed readily, and they +both walked down the courtyard, their voices dying +away in the darkness. Soon they were heard return- +ing, and the voices grew distinct as their forms came +out of the gloom. By the fire they wheeled again, and +Babalatchi caught a few words. Willems was saying-- + "I have been at sea with him many years when +young. I have used my knowledge to observe the way +into the river when coming in, this time." + Abdulla assented in general terms + "In the variety of knowledge there is safety," he +said; and then they passed out of earshot. + Babalatchi ran to the tree and took up his position +in the solid blackness under its branches, leaning +against the trunk. There he was about midway be- +tween the fire and the other limit of the two men's +walk. They passed him close. Abdulla slim, very +straight, his head high, and his hands hanging before +him and twisting mechanically the string of beads; +Willems tall, broad, looking bigger and stronger in +contrast to the slight white figure by the side of which +he strolled carelessly, taking one step to the other's +two; his big arms in constant motion as he gesticulated +vehemently, bending forward to look Abdulla in the +face. + They passed and repassed close to Babalatchi some +half a dozen times, and, whenever they were between +him and the fire, he could see them plain enough. +Sometimes they would stop short, Willems speaking +emphatically, Abdulla listening with rigid attention. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 133 + +then, when the other had ceased, bending his head +slightly as if consenting to some demand, or admitting +some statement. Now and then Babalatchi caught a +word here and there, a fragment of a sentence, a loud +exclamation. Impelled by curiosity he crept to the +very edge of the black shadow under the tree. They +were nearing him, and he heard Willems say-- + "You will pay that money as soon as I come on +board. That I must have." + He could not catch Abdulla's reply. When they +went past again, Willems was saying-- + "My life is in your hand anyway. The boat that +brings me on board your ship shall take the money to +Omar. You must have it ready in a sealed bag." + Again they were out of hearing, but instead of +coming back they stopped by the fire facing each other. +Willems moved his arm, shook his hand on high talking +all the time, then brought it down jerkily--stamped his +foot. A short period of immobility ensued. Babalat- +chi, gazing intently, saw Abdulla's lips move almost +imperceptibly. Suddenly Willems seized the Arab's +passive hand and shook it. Babalatchi drew the long +breath of relieved suspense. The conference was over. +All well, apparently. + He ventured now to approach the two men, who +saw him and waited in silence. Willems had retired +within himself already, and wore a look of grim in- +difference. Abdulla moved away a step or two. Baba- +latchi looked at him inquisitively. + "I go now," said Abdulla, "and shall wait for you +outside the river, Tuan Willems, till the second sun- +set. You have only one word, I know." + "Only one word," repeated Willems. + Abdulla and Babalatchi walked together down the +enclosure, leaving the white man alone by the fire. + + +134 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +The two Arabs who had come with Abdulla preceded +them and passed at once through the little gate into +the light and the murmur of voices of the principal +courtyard, but Babalatchi and Abdulla stopped on this +side of it. Abdulla said-- + "It is well. We have spoken of many things. He +consents." + "When?" asked Babalatchi, eagerly. + "On the second day from this. I have promised +every thing. I mean to keep much." + "Your hand is always open, O Most Generous +amongst Believers! You will not forget your servant +who called you here. Have I not spoken the truth? +She has made roast meat of his heart." + With a horizontal sweep of his arm Abdulla seemed +to push away that last statement, and said slowly, +with much meaning-- + "He must be perfectly safe; do you understand? +Perfectly safe--as if he was amongst his own people-- +till . . ." + "Till when?" whispered Babalatchi. + "Till I speak," said Abdulla. "As to Omar." He +hesitated for a moment, then went on very low: "He +is very old." + "Hai-ya! Old and sick," murmured Babalatchi, +with sudden melancholy. + "He wanted me to kill that white man. He begged +me to have him killed at once," said Abdulla, con- +temptuously, moving again towards the gate. + "He is impatient, like those who feel death near +them," exclaimed Babalatchi, apologetically. + "Omar shall dwell with me," went on Abdulla, +"when . . . But no matter. Remember! The +white man must be safe." + He lives in your shadow," answered Babalatchi, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 135 + +solemnly. "It is enough!" He touched his fore- +head and fell back to let Abdulla go first. + And now they are back in the courtyard where- +from, at their appearance, listlessness vanishes, and all +the faces become alert and interested once more. La- +kamba approaches his guest, but looks at Babalatchi, +who reassures him by a confident nod. Lakamba +clumsily attempts a smile, and looking, with natural +and ineradicable sulkiness, from under his eyebrows +at the man whom he wants to honour, asks whether +he would condescend to visit the place of sitting down +and take food. Or perhaps he would prefer to give +himself up to repose? The house is his, and what is in +it, and those many men that stand afar watching the +interview are his. Syed Abdulla presses his host's hand +to his breast, and informs him in a confidential murmur +that his habits are ascetic and his temperament inclines +to melancholy. No rest; no food; no use whatever for +those many men who are his. Syed Abdulla is im- +patient to be gone. Lakamba is sorrowful but polite, +in his hesitating, gloomy way. Tuan Abdulla must +have fresh boatmen, and many, to shorten the dark and +fatiguing road. Hai-ya! There! Boats! + By the riverside indistinct forms leap into a noisy +and disorderly activity. There are cries, orders, banter, +abuse. Torches blaze sending out much more smoke +than light, and in their red glare Babalatchi comes up +to say that the boats are ready. + Through that lurid glare Syed Abdulla, in his long +white gown, seems to glide fantastically, like a dignified +apparition attended by two inferior shades, and stands +for a moment at the landing-place to take leave of his +host and ally--whom he loves. Syed Abdulla says so +distinctly before embarking, and takes his seat in the +middle of the canoe under a small canopy of blue calico + + +136 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +stretched on four sticks. Before and behind Syed +Abdulla, the men squatting by the gunwales hold high +the blades of their paddles in readiness for a dip, all +together. Ready? Not yet. Hold on all! Syed +Abdulla speaks again, while Lakamba and Babalatchi +stand close on the bank to hear his words. His words +are encouraging. Before the sun rises for the second +time they shall meet, and Syed Abdulla's ship shall +float on the waters of this river--at last! Lakamba and +Babalatchi have no doubt--if Allah wills. They are +in the hands of the Compassionate. No doubt. And so +is Syed Abdulla, the great trader who does not know +what the word failure means; and so is the white man +--the smartest business man in the islands--who is lying +now by Omar's fire with his head on Aissa's lap, while +Syed Abdulla flies down the muddy river with current +and paddles between the sombre walls of the sleeping +forest; on his way to the clear and open sea where the +<i>Lord of the Isles</I> (formerly of Greenock, but con- +demned, sold, and registered now as of Penang) waits +for its owner, and swings erratically at anchor in the +currents of the capricious tide, under the crumbling +red cliffs of Tanjong Mirrah. + + For some time Lakamba, Sahamin, and Bahassoen +looked silently into the humid darkness which had +swallowed the big canoe that carried Abdulla and his +unvarying good fortune. Then the two guests broke +into a talk expressive of their joyful anticipations. +The venerable Sahamin, as became his advanced age, +found his delight in speculation as to the activities of a +rather remote future. He would buy praus, he would +send expeditions up the river, he would enlarge his +trade, and, backed by Abdulla's capital, he would grow +rich in a very few years. Very few. Meantime it + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 137 + +would be a good thing to interview Almayer to-morrow +and, profiting by the last day of the hated man's pros- +perity, obtain some goods from him on credit. Saha- +min thought it could be done by skilful wheedling. +After all, that son of Satan was a fool, and the thing +was worth doing, because the coming revolution would +wipe all debts out. Sahamin did not mind imparting +that idea to his companions, with much senile chuckling, +while they strolled together from the riverside towards +the residence. The bull-necked Lakamba, listening +with pouted lips without the sign of a smile, without a +gleam in his dull, bloodshot eyes, shuffled slowly across +the courtyard between his two guests. But suddenly +Bahassoen broke in upon the old man's prattle with +the generous enthusiasm of his youth. . . . Trad- +ing was very good. But was the change that would +make them happy effected yet? The white man should +be despoiled with a strong hand! . . . He grew +excited, spoke very loud, and his further discourse, +delivered with his hand on the hilt of his sword, dealt +incoherently with the honourable topics of throat- +cutting, fire-raising, and with the far-famed valour of +his ancestors. + Babalatchi remained behind, alone with the great- +ness of his conceptions. The sagacious statesman of +Sambir sent a scornful glance after his noble pro- +tector and his noble protector's friends, and then stood +meditating about that future which to the others seemed +so assured. Not so to Babalatchi, who paid the penalty +of his wisdom by a vague sense of insecurity that kept +sleep at arm's length from his tired body. When he +thought at last of leaving the waterside, it was only to +strike a path for himself and to creep along the fences, +avoiding the middle of the courtyard where small +fires glimmered and winked as though the sinister + + +138 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +darkness there had reflected the stars of the serene +heaven. He slunk past the wicket-gate of Omar's +enclosure, and crept on patiently along the light bamboo +palisade till he was stopped by the angle where it +joined the heavy stockade of Lakamba's private +ground. Standing there, he could look over the fence +and see Omar's hut and the fire before its door. He +could also see the shadow of two human beings sitting +between him and the red glow. A man and a woman. +The sight seemed to inspire the careworn sage with a +frivolous desire to sing. It could hardly be called a +song; it was more in the nature of a recitative without +any rhythm, delivered rapidly but distinctly in a croak- +ing and unsteady voice; and if Babalatchi considered it +a song, then it was a song with a purpose and, perhaps +for that reason, artistically defective. It had all the +imperfections of unskilful improvisation and its subject +was gruesome. It told a tale of shipwreck and of thirst, +and of one brother killing another for the sake of a +gourd of water. A repulsive story which might have +had a purpose but possessed no moral whatever. Yet +it must have pleased Babalatchi for he repeated it +twice, the second time even in louder tones than at +first, causing a disturbance amongst the white rice- +birds and the wild fruit-pigeons which roosted on the +boughs of the big tree growing in Omar's compound. +There was in the thick foliage above the singer's head +a confused beating of wings, sleepy remarks in bird- +language, a sharp stir of leaves. The forms by the fire +moved; the shadow of the woman altered its shape, +and Babalatchi's song was cut short abruptly by a fit +of soft and persistent coughing. He did not try to +resume his efforts after that interruption, but went away +stealthily to seek--if not sleep--then, at least, repose. + + + + CHAPTER SIX + + AS SOON as Abdulla and his companions had left the +enclosure, Aissa approached Willems and stood by his +side. He took no notice of her expectant attitude till +she touched him gently, when he turned furiously +upon her and, tearing off her face-veil, trampled upon +it as though it had been a mortal enemy. She looked +at him with the faint smile of patient curiosity, with +the puzzled interest of ignorance watching the running +of a complicated piece of machinery. After he had +exhausted his rage, he stood again severe and unbend- +ing looking down at the fire, but the touch of her fingers +at the nape of his neck effaced instantly the hard lines +round his mouth; his eyes wavered uneasily; his lips +trembled slightly. Starting with the unresisting rapid- +ity of a particle of iron--which, quiescent one moment, +leaps in the next to a powerful magnet--he moved for- +ward, caught her in his arms and pressed her violently to +his breast. He released her as suddenly, and she stum- +bled a little, stepped back, breathed quickly through her +parted lips, and said in a tone of pleased reproof-- + "O Fool-man! And if you had killed me in your +strong arms what would you have done?" + "You want to live . . . and to run away from +me again," he said gently. "Tell me--do you?" + She moved towards him with very short steps, her +head a little on one side, hands on hips, with a slight +balancing of her body: an approach more tantalizing +than an escape. He looked on, eager--charmed. She +spoke jestingly. + +139 + + +140 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "What am I to say to a man who has been away +three days from me? Three!" she repeated, holding +up playfully three fingers before Willems' eyes. He +snatched at the hand, but she was on her guard and +whisked it behind her back. + "No!" she said. "I cannot be caught. But I +will come. I am coming myself because I like. Do +not move. Do not touch me with your mighty hands, +O child!" + As she spoke she made a step nearer, then another. +Willems did not stir. Pressing against him she stood +on tiptoe to look into his eyes, and her own seemed to +grow bigger, glistening and tender, appealing and +promising. With that look she drew the man's soul +away from him through his immobile pupils, and from +Willems' features the spark of reason vanished under +her gaze and was replaced by an appearance of physical +well-being, an ecstasy of the senses which had taken +possession of his rigid body; an ecstasy that drove out +regrets, hesitation and doubt, and proclaimed its ter- +rible work by an appalling aspect of idiotic beatitude. +He never stirred a limb, hardly breathed, but stood in +stiff immobility, absorbing the delight of her close con- +tact by every pore. + "Closer! Closer!" he murmured. + Slowly she raised her arms, put them over his shoul- +ders, and clasping her hands at the back of his neck, +swung off the full length of her arms. Her head fell +back, the eyelids dropped slightly, and her thick hair +hung straight down: a mass of ebony touched by the +red gleams of the fire. He stood unyielding under the +strain, as solid and motionless as one of the big trees +of the surrounding forests; and his eyes looked at the +modelling of her chin, at the outline of her neck, at the +swelling lines of her bosom, with the famished and con- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 141 + +centrated expression of a starving man looking at food. +She drew herself up to him and rubbed her head against +his cheek slowly and gently. He sighed. She, with +her hands still on his shoulders, glanced up at the placid +stars and said-- + "The night is half gone. We shall finish it by this +fire. By this fire you shall tell me all: your words and +Syed Abdulla's words; and listening to you I shall for- +get the three days--because I am good. Tell me--am +I good?" + He said "Yes" dreamily, and she ran off towards +the big house. + When she came back, balancing a roll of fine mats +on her head, he had replenished the fire and was ready +to help her in arranging a couch on the side of it nearest +to the hut. She sank down with a quick but gracefully +controlled movement, and he threw himself full length +with impatient haste, as if he wished to forestall some- +body. She took his head on her knees, and when he +felt her hands touching his face, her fingers playing with +his hair, he had an expression of being taken possession +of; he experienced a sense of peace, of rest, of happiness, +and of soothing delight. His hands strayed upwards +about her neck, and he drew her down so as to have her +face above his. Then he whispered--"I wish I could +die like this--now!" She looked at him with her big +sombre eyes, in which there was no responsive light. +His thought was so remote from her understanding that +she let the words pass by unnoticed, like the breath of +the wind, like the flight of a cloud. Woman though she +was, she could not comprehend, in her simplicity, the +tremendous compliment of that speech, that whisper +of deadly happiness, so sincere, so spontaneous, coming +so straight from the heart--like every corruption. It +was the voice of madness, of a delirious peace, of happi- + + +142 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +ness that is infamous, cowardly, and so exquisite that +the debased mind refuses to contemplate its termina- +tion: for to the victims of such happiness the moment +of its ceasing is the beginning afresh of that torture +which is its price. + With her brows slightly knitted in the determined +preoccupation of her own desires, she said-- + "Now tell me all. All the words spoken between +you and Syed Abdulla." + Tell what? What words? Her voice recalled back +the consciousness that had departed under her touch, +and he became aware of the passing minutes every one +of which was like a reproach; of those minutes that fall- +ing, slow, reluctant, irresistible into the past, marked +his footsteps on the way to perdition. Not that he had +any conviction about it, any notion of the possible end- +ing on that painful road. It was an indistinct feeling, +a threat of suffering like the confused warning of coming +disease, an inarticulate monition of evil made up of fear +and pleasure, of resignation and of revolt. He was +ashamed of his state of mind. After all, what was he +afraid of? Were those scruples? Why that hesitation +to think, to speak of what he intended doing? Scruples +were for imbeciles. His clear duty was to make himself +happy. Did he ever take an oath of fidelity to Lin- +gard? No. Well then--he would not let any interest +of that old fool stand between Willems and Willems' +happiness. Happiness? Was he not, perchance, on a +false track? Happiness meant money. Much money. +At least he had always thought so till he had experienced +those new sensations which . . . + Aissa's question, repeated impatiently, interrupted +his musings, and looking up at her face shining above +him in the dim light of the fire he stretched his limbs +luxuriously and obedient to her desire, he spoke slowly + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 143 + +and hardly above his breath. She, with her head close +to his lips, listened absorbed, interested, in attentive +immobility. The many noises of the great courtyard +were hushed up gradually by the sleep that stilled all +voices and closed all eyes. Then somebody droned +out a song with a nasal drawl at the end of every verse. +He stirred. She put her hand suddenly on his lips and +sat upright. There was a feeble coughing, a rustle of +leaves, and then a complete silence took possession of +the land; a silence cold, mournful, profound; more like +death than peace; more hard to bear than the fiercest +tumult. As soon as she removed her hand he hastened +to speak, so insupportable to him was that stillness +perfect and absolute in which his thoughts seemed to +ring with the loudness of shouts. + "Who was there making that noise?" he asked. + "I do not know. He is gone now," she answered, +hastily. "Tell me, you will not return to your people; +not without me. Not with me. Do you promise?" + "I have promised already. I have no people of my +own. Have I not told you, that you are everybody to +me?" + "Ah, yes," she said, slowly, "but I like to hear you +say that again--every day, and every night, whenever +I ask; and never to be angry because I ask. I am afraid +of white women who are shameless and have fierce eyes." + She scanned his features close for a moment and added: + "Are they very beautiful? They must be." + "I do not know," he whispered, thoughtfully. "And +if I ever did know, looking at you I have forgotten." + "Forgotten! And for three days and two nights you +have forgotten me also! Why? Why were you angry +with me when I spoke at first of Tuan Abdulla, in the +days when we lived beside the brook? You remembered +somebody then. Somebody in the land whence you + + +144 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +come. Your tongue is false. You are white indeed, +and your heart is full of deception. I know it. And +yet I cannot help believing you when you talk of your +love for me. But I am afraid!" + He felt flattered and annoyed by her vehemence, +and said-- + "Well, I am with you now. I did come back. And +it was you that went away." + "When you have helped Abdulla against the Rajah +Laut, who is the first of white men, I shall not be afraid +any more," she whispered. + "You must believe what I say when I tell you that +there never was another woman; that there is nothing +for me to regret, and nothing but my enemies to re- +member." + "Where do you come from?" she said, impulsive +and inconsequent, in a passionate whisper. "What +is that land beyond the great sea from which you come? +A land of lies and of evil from which nothing but mis- +fortune ever comes to us--who are not white. Did you +not at first ask me to go there with you? That is why +I went away." + "I shall never ask you again." + "And there is no woman waiting for you there?" + "No!" said Willems, firmly. + She bent over him. Her lips hovered above his face +and her long hair brushed his cheeks. + "You taught me the love of your people which is +of the Devil," she murmured, and bending still lower, +she said faintly, "Like this?" + "Yes, like this!" he answered very low, in a voice +that trembled slightly with eagerness; and she pressed +suddenly her lips to his while he closed his eyes in an +ecstasy of delight. + There was a long interval of silence. She stroked + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 145 + +his head with gentle touches, and he lay dreamily, +perfectly happy but for the annoyance of an indistinct +vision of a well-known figure; a man going away from +him and diminishing in a long perspective of fantastic +trees, whose every leaf was an eye looking after that +man, who walked away growing smaller, but never +getting out of sight for all his steady progress. He felt +a desire to see him vanish, a hurried impatience of his +disappearance, and he watched for it with a careful +and irksome effort. There was something familiar +about that figure. Why! Himself! He gave a sud- +den start and opened his eyes, quivering with the emo- +tion of that quick return from so far, of finding himself +back by the fire with the rapidity of a flash of lightning. +It had been half a dream; he had slumbered in her arms +for a few seconds. Only the beginning of a dream-- +nothing more. But it was some time before he re- +covered from the shock of seeing himself go away so +deliberately, so definitely, so unguardedly; and going +away--where? Now, if he had not woke up in time he +would never have come back again from there; from +whatever place he was going to. He felt indignant. +It was like an evasion, like a prisoner breaking his +parole--that thing slinking off stealthily while he slept. +He was very indignant, and was also astonished at the +absurdity of his own emotions. + She felt him tremble, and murmuring tender words, +pressed his head to her breast. Again he felt very +peaceful with a peace that was as complete as the +silence round them. He muttered-- + "You are tired, Aissa." + She answered so low that it was like a sigh shaped +into faint words. + "I shall watch your sleep, O child!" + He lay very quiet, and listened to the beating of her + + + +146 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +heart. That sound, light, rapid, persistent, and steady; +her very life beating against his cheek, gave him a clear +perception of secure ownership, strengthened his belief +in his possession of that human being, was like an as- +surance of the vague felicity of the future. There were +no regrets, no doubts, no hesitation now. Had there +ever been? All that seemed far away, ages ago--as +unreal and pale as the fading memory of some delirium. +All the anguish, suffering, strife of the past days; the +humiliation and anger of his downfall; all that was an +infamous nightmare, a thing born in sleep to be for- +gotten and leave no trace--and true life was this: this +dreamy immobility with his head against her heart +that beat so steadily. + He was broad awake now, with that tingling wake- +fulness of the tired body which succeeds to the few +refreshing seconds of irresistible sleep, and his wide- +open eyes looked absently at the doorway of Omar's +hut. The reed walls glistened in the light of the fire, +the smoke of which, thin and blue, drifted slanting in +a succession of rings and spirals across the doorway, +whose empty blackness seemed to him impenetrable +and enigmatical like a curtain hiding vast spaces full +of unexpected surprises. This was only his fancy, +but it was absorbing enough to make him accept the +sudden appearance of a head, coming out of the gloom, +as part of his idle fantasy or as the beginning of another +short dream, of another vagary of his overtired brain. +A face with drooping eyelids, old, thin, and yellow, +above the scattered white of a long beard that touched +the earth. A head without a body, only a foot above +the ground, turning slightly from side to side on the +edge of the circle of light as if to catch the radiating +heat of the fire on either cheek in succession. He +watched it in passive amazement, growing distinct, as + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 147 + +if coming nearer to him, and the confused outlines of +a body crawling on all fours came out, creeping inch +by inch towards the fire, with a silent and all but +imperceptible movement. He was astounded at the +appearance of that blind head dragging that crippled +body behind, without a sound, without a change in +the composure of the sightless face, which was plain +one second, blurred the next in the play of the light +that drew it to itself steadily. A mute face with a kriss +between its lips. This was no dream. Omar's face. +But why? What was he after? + He was too indolent in the happy languor of the +moment to answer the question. It darted through +his brain and passed out, leaving him free to listen +again to the beating of her heart; to that precious and +delicate sound which filled the quiet immensity of the +night. Glancing upwards he saw the motionless head +of the woman looking down at him in a tender gleam +of liquid white between the long eyelashes, whose +shadow rested on the soft curve of her cheek; and +under the caress of that look, the uneasy wonder and +the obscure fear of that apparition, crouching and +creeping in turns towards the fire that was its guide, +were lost--were drowned in the quietude of all his +senses, as pain is drowned in the flood of drowsy serenity +that follows upon a dose of opium. + He altered the position of his head by ever so little, +and now could see easily that apparition which he had +seen a minute before and had nearly forgotten already. +It had moved closer, gliding and noiseless like the +shadow of some nightmare, and now it was there, +very near, motionless and still as if listening; one hand +and one knee advanced; the neck stretched out and +the head turned full towards the fire. He could see +the emaciated face, the skin shiny over the prominent + + +148 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +bones, the black shadows of the hollow temples and +sunken cheeks, and the two patches of blackness over +the eyes, over those eyes that were dead and could not +see. What was the impulse which drove out this +blind cripple into the night to creep and crawl towards +that fire? He looked at him, fascinated, but the face, +with its shifting lights and shadows, let out nothing, +closed and impenetrable like a walled door. + Omar raised himself to a kneeling posture and sank +on his heels, with his hands hanging down before him. +Willems, looking out of his dreamy numbness, could +see plainly the kriss between the thin lips, a bar across +the face; the handle on one side where the polished +wood caught a red gleam from the fire and the thin +line of the blade running to a dull black point on the +other. He felt an inward shock, which left his body +passive in Aissa's embrace, but filled his breast with a +tumult of powerless fear; and he perceived suddenly +that it was his own death that was groping towards +him; that it was the hate of himself and the hate of +her love for him which drove this helpless wreck of a +once brilliant and resolute pirate, to attempt a des- +perate deed that would be the glorious and supreme +consolation of an unhappy old age. And while he +looked, paralyzed with dread, at the father who had +resumed his cautious advance--blind like fate, per- +sistent like destiny--he listened with greedy eagerness +to the heart of the daughter beating light, rapid, and +steady against his head. + He was in the grip of horrible fear; of a fear whose +cold hand robs its victim of all will and of all power; +of all wish to escape, to resist, or to move; which +destroys hope and despair alike, and holds the empty +and useless carcass as if in a vise under the coming +stroke. It was not the fear of death--he had faced + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 149 + +danger before--it was not even the fear of that par- +ticular form of death. It was not the fear of the end, +for he knew that the end would not come then. A +movement, a leap, a shout would save him from the +feeble hand of the blind old man, from that hand that +even now was, with cautious sweeps along the ground, +feeling for his body in the darkness. It was the un- +reasoning fear of this glimpse into the unknown things, +into those motives, impulses, desires he had ignored, +but that had lived in the breasts of despised men, close +by his side, and were revealed to him for a second, +to be hidden again behind the black mists of doubt +and deception. It was not death that frightened him: +it was the horror of bewildered life where he could +understand nothing and nobody round him; where +he could guide, control, comprehend nothing and no +one--not even himself. + He felt a touch on his side. That contact, lighter +than the caress of a mother's hand on the cheek of a +sleeping child, had for him the force of a crushing +blow. Omar had crept close, and now, kneeling above +him, held the kriss in one hand while the other skimmed +over his jacket up towards his breast in gentle touches; +but the blind face, still turned to the heat of the fire, +was set and immovable in its aspect of stony indif- +ference to things it could not hope to see. With an +effort Willems took his eyes off the deathlike mask +and turned them up to Aissa's head. She sat motion- +less as if she had been part of the sleeping earth, then +suddenly he saw her big sombre eyes open out wide in a +piercing stare and felt the convulsive pressure of her +hands pinning his arms along his body. A second +dragged itself out, slow and bitter, like a day of mourn- +ing; a second full of regret and grief for that faith in her +which took its flight from the shattered rums of his + + +150 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +trust. She was holding him! She too! He felt her +heart give a great leap, his head slipped down on her +knees, he closed his eyes and there was nothing. Noth- +ing! It was as if she had died; as though her heart had +leaped out into the night, abandoning him, defenceless +and alone, in an empty world. + His head struck the ground heavily as she flung him +aside in her sudden rush. He lay as if stunned, face +up and, daring not move, did not see the struggle, +but heard the piercing shriek of mad fear, her low +angry words; another shriek dying out in a moan. +When he got up at last he looked at Aissa kneeling +over her father, he saw her bent back in the effort +of holding him down, Omar's contorted limbs, a hand +thrown up above her head and her quick movement +grasping the wrist. He made an impulsive step for- +ward, but she turned a wild face to him and called +out over her shoulder-- + "Keep back! Do not come near! Do not. . . ." + And he stopped short, his arms hanging lifelessly +by his side, as if those words had changed him into +stone. She was afraid of his possible violence, but in +the unsettling of all his convictions he was struck +with the frightful thought that she preferred to kill +her father all by herself; and the last stage of their +struggle, at which he looked as though a red fog had +filled his eyes, loomed up with an unnatural ferocity, +with a sinister meaning; like something monstrous +and depraved, forcing its complicity upon him under +the cover of that awful night. He was horrified and +grateful; drawn irresistibly to her--and ready to run +away. He could not move at first--then he did not +want to stir. He wanted to see what would happen. +He saw her lift, with a tremendous effort, the appar- +ently lifeless body into the hut, and remained stand- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 151 + +ing, after they disappeared, with the vivid image in +his eyes of that head swaying on her shoulder, the +lower jaw hanging down, collapsed, passive, meaning- +less, like the head of a corpse. + Then after a while he heard her voice speaking +inside, harshly, with an agitated abruptness of tone; +and in answer there were groans and broken murmurs +of exhaustion. She spoke louder. He heard her saying +violently--"No! No! Never!" + And again a plaintive murmur of entreaty as of some +one begging for a supreme favour, with a last breath. +Then she said-- + "Never! I would sooner strike it into my own +heart." + She came out, stood panting for a short moment +in the doorway, and then stepped into the firelight. +Behind her, through the darkness came the sound of +words calling the vengeance of heaven on her head, +rising higher, shrill, strained, repeating the curse over +and over again--till the voice cracked in a passionate +shriek that died out into hoarse muttering ending with +a deep and prolonged sigh. She stood facing Willems, +one hand behind her back, the other raised in a gesture +compelling attention, and she listened in that attitude +till all was still inside the hut. Then she made another +step forward and her hand dropped slowly. + "Nothing but misfortune," she whispered, absently, +to herself. "Nothing but misfortune to us who are +not white." The anger and excitement died out of +her face, and she looked straight at Willems with an +intense and mournful gaze. + He recovered his senses and his power of speech +with a sudden start. + "Aissa," he exclaimed, and the words broke out +through his lips with hurried nervousness. "Aissa! + + +152 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +How can I live here? Trust me. Believe in me. Let +us go away from here. Go very far away! Very far; +you and I!" + He did not stop to ask himself whether he could +escape, and how, and where. He was carried away +by the flood of hate, disgust, and contempt of a white +man for that blood which is not his blood, for that +race which is not his race; for the brown skins; for +the hearts false like the sea, blacker than night. This +feeling of repulsion overmastered his reason in a clear +conviction of the impossibility for him to live with +her people. He urged her passionately to fly with +him because out of all that abhorred crowd he wanted +this one woman, but wanted her away from them, +away from that race of slaves and cut-throats from +which she sprang. He wanted her for himself--far +from everybody, in some safe and dumb solitude. And +as he spoke his anger and contempt rose, his hate be- +came almost fear; and his desire of her grew immense, +burning, illogical and merciless; crying to him through +all his senses; louder than his hate, stronger than his +fear, deeper than his contempt--irresistible and certain +like death itself. + Standing at a little distance, just within the light-- +but on the threshold of that darkness from which she +had come--she listened, one hand still behind her +back, the other arm stretched out with the hand half +open as if to catch the fleeting words that rang around +her, passionate, menacing, imploring, but all tinged +with the anguish of his suffering, all hurried by the +impatience that gnawed his breast. And while she +listened she felt a slowing down of her heart-beats +as the meaning of his appeal grew clearer before her +indignant eyes, as she saw with rage and pain the +edifice of her love, her own work, crumble slowly to + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 153 + +pieces, destroyed by that man's fears, by that man's +falseness. Her memory recalled the days by the +brook when she had listened to other words--to other +thoughts--to promises and to pleadings for other +things, which came from that man's lips at the bidding +of her look or her smile, at the nod of her head, at the +whisper of her lips. Was there then in his heart some- +thing else than her image, other desires than the desires +of her love, other fears than the fear of losing her? How +could that be? Had she grown ugly or old in a mo- +ment? She was appalled, surprised and angry with the +anger of unexpected humiliation; and her eyes looked +fixedly, sombre and steady, at that man born in the land +of violence and of evil wherefrom nothing but mis- +fortune comes to those who are not white. Instead +of thinking of her caresses, instead of forgetting all +the world in her embrace, he was thinking yet of +his people; of that people that steals every land, mas- +ters every sea, that knows no mercy and no truth-- +knows nothing but its own strength. O man of strong +arm and of false heart! Go with him to a far country, +be lost in the throng of cold eyes and false hearts-- +lose him there! Never! He was mad--mad with fear; +but he should not escape her! She would keep him here +a slave and a master; here where he was alone with her; +where he must live for her--or die. She had a right to +his love which was of her making, to the love that was +in him now, while he spoke those words without sense. +She must put between him and other white men a +barrier of hate. He must not only stay, but he must +also keep his promise to Abdulla, the fulfilment of +which would make her safe. + "Aissa, let us go! With you by my side I would +attack them with my naked hands. Or no! To- +morrow we shall be outside, on board Abdulla's ship. + + +154 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +You shall come with me and then I could . . . If +the ship went ashore by some chance, then we could +steal a canoe and escape in the confusion. . . . +You are not afraid of the sea . . . of the sea that +would give me freedom . . ." + He was approaching her gradually with extended +arms, while he pleaded ardently in incoherent words +that ran over and tripped each other in the extreme +eagerness of his speech. She stepped back, keeping +her distance, her eyes on his face, watching on it the +play of his doubts and of his hopes with a piercing +gaze, that seemed to search out the innermost recesses +of his thought; and it was as if she had drawn slowly +the darkness round her, wrapping herself in its un- +dulating folds that made her indistinct and vague. +He followed her step by step till at last they both +stopped, facing each other under the big tree of the +enclosure. The solitary exile of the forests, great, +motionless and solemn in his abandonment, left alone +by the life of ages that had been pushed away from +him by those pigmies that crept at his foot, towered +high and straight above their heads. He seemed to +look on, dispassionate and imposing, in his lonely +greatness, spreading his branches wide in a gesture +of lofty protection, as if to hide them in the sombre +shelter of innumerable leaves; as if moved by the +disdainful compassion of the strong, by the scornful +pity of an aged giant, to screen this struggle of two +human hearts from the cold scrutiny of glittering +stars. + The last cry of his appeal to her mercy rose loud, +vibrated under the sombre canopy, darted among the +boughs startling the white birds that slept wing to +wing--and died without an echo, strangled in the +dense mass of unstirring leaves. He could not see + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 155 + +her face, but he heard her sighs and the distracted +murmur of indistinct words. Then, as he listened +holding his breath, she exclaimed suddenly-- + "Have you heard him? He has cursed me because +I love you. You brought me suffering and strife-- +and his curse. And now you want to take me far +away where I would lose you, lose my life; because +your love is my life now. What else is there? Do +not move," she cried violently, as he stirred a little-- +"do not speak! Take this! Sleep in peace!" + He saw a shadowy movement of her arm. Some- +thing whizzed past and struck the ground behind +him, close to the fire. Instinctively he turned round +to look at it. A kriss without its sheath lay by the +embers; a sinuous dark object, looking like something +that had been alive and was now crushed, dead and +very inoffensive; a black wavy outline very distinct +and still in the dull red glow. Without thinking +he moved to pick it up, stooping with the sad and +humble movement of a beggar gathering the alms flung +into the dust of the roadside. Was this the answer +to his pleading, to the hot and living words that came +from his heart? Was this the answer thrown at him +like an insult, that thing made of wood and iron, in- +significant and venomous, fragile and deadly? He held +it by the blade and looked at the handle stupidly for a +moment before he let it fall again at his feet; and when +he turned round he faced only the night:--the night +immense, profound and quiet; a sea of darkness in +which she had disappeared without leaving a trace. + He moved forward with uncertain steps, putting out +both his hands before him with the anguish of a man +blinded suddenly. + "Aissa!" he cried--"come to me at once." + He peered and listened, but saw nothing, heard + + +156 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +nothing. After a while the solid blackness seemed to +wave before his eyes like a curtain disclosing move- +ments but hiding forms, and he heard light and hurried +footsteps, then the short clatter of the gate leading +to Lakamba's private enclosure. He sprang forward +and brought up against the rough timber in time to +hear the words, "Quick! Quick!" and the sound of +the wooden bar dropped on the other side, securing the +gate. With his arms thrown up, the palms against the +paling, he slid down in a heap on the ground. + "Aissa," he said, pleadingly, pressing his lips to a +chink between the stakes. "Aissa, do you hear me? +Come back! I will do what you want, give you all +you desire--if I have to set the whole Sambir on fire +and put that fire out with blood. Only come back. +Now! At once! Are you there? Do you hear me? +Aissa!" + On the other side there were startled whispers of +feminine voices; a frightened little laugh suddenly +interrupted; some woman's admiring murmur--"This +is brave talk!" Then after a short silence Aissa cried-- + "Sleep in peace--for the time of your going is near. +Now I am afraid of you. Afraid of your fear. When +you return with Tuan Abdulla you shall be great. +You will find me here. And there will be nothing but +love. Nothing else!--Always!--Till we die!" + He listened to the shuffle of footsteps going away, +and staggered to his feet, mute with the excess of his +passionate anger against that being so savage and so +charming; loathing her, himself, everybody he had +ever known; the earth, the sky, the very air he drew +into his oppressed chest; loathing it because it made him +live, loathing her because she made him suffer. But +he could not leave that gate through which she had +passed. He wandered a little way off, then swerved + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 157 + +round, came back and fell down again by the stockade +only to rise suddenly in another attempt to break away +from the spell that held him, that brought him back +there, dumb, obedient and furious. And under the im- +mobilized gesture of lofty protection in the branches +outspread wide above his head, under the high branches +where white birds slept wing to wing in the shelter of +countless leaves, he tossed like a grain of dust in a whirl- +wind--sinking and rising--round and round--always +near that gate. All through the languid stillness of +that night he fought with the impalpable; he fought +with the shadows, with the darkness, with the silence. +He fought without a sound, striking futile blows, dash- +ing from side to side; obstinate, hopeless, and always +beaten back; like a man bewitched within the invisible +sweep of a magic circle. + +[page intentionally blank] + + PART III + +[page intentionally blank] + + + + CHAPTER ONE + + "YES! Cat, dog, anything that can scratch or bite; +as long as it is harmful enough and mangy enough. +A sick tiger would make you happy--of all things. +A half-dead tiger that you could weep over and palm +upon some poor devil in your power, to tend and +nurse for you. Never mind the consequences--to the +poor devil. Let him be mangled or eaten up, of course! +You haven't any pity to spare for the victims of your +infernal charity. Not you! Your tender heart bleeds +only for what is poisonous and deadly. I curse the +day when you set your benevolent eyes on him. I +curse it . . ." + "Now then! Now then!" growled Lingard in his +moustache. Almayer, who had talked himself up to +the choking point, drew a long breath and went on-- + "Yes! It has been always so. Always. As far +back as I can remember. Don't you recollect? What +about that half-starved dog you brought on board in +Bankok in your arms. In your arms by . . . ! +It went mad next day and bit the serang. You don't +mean to say you have forgotten? The best serang +you ever had! You said so yourself while you were +helping us to lash him down to the chain-cable, just +before he died in his fits. Now, didn't you? Two +wives and ever so many children the man left. That +was your doing. . . . And when you went out of +your way and risked your ship to rescue some China- +men from a water-logged junk in Formosa Straits, +that was also a clever piece of business. Wasn't it? + +161 + + +162 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +Those damned Chinamen rose on you before forty- +eight hours. They were cut-throats, those poor +fishermen. You knew they were cut-throats before +you made up your mind to run down on a lee shore in +a gale of wind to save them. A mad trick! If they +hadn't been scoundrels--hopeless scoundrels--you +would not have put your ship in jeopardy for them, +I know. You would not have risked the lives of your +crew--that crew you loved so--and your own life. +Wasn't that foolish! And, besides, you were not +honest. Suppose you had been drowned? I would +have been in a pretty mess then, left alone here with +that adopted daughter of yours. Your duty was to +myself first. I married that girl because you promised +to make my fortune. You know you did! And then +three months afterwards you go and do that mad +trick--for a lot of Chinamen too. Chinamen! You +have no morality. I might have been ruined for +the sake of those murderous scoundrels that, after +all, had to be driven overboard after killing ever so +many of your crew--of your beloved crew! Do you +call that honest?" + "Well, well!" muttered Lingard, chewing nervously +the stump of his cheroot that had gone out and looking +at Almayer--who stamped wildly about the verandah +--much as a shepherd might look at a pet sheep in his +obedient flock turning unexpectedly upon him in en- +raged revolt. He seemed disconcerted, contemptu- +ously angry yet somewhat amused; and also a little +hurt as if at some bitter jest at his own expense. A1- +mayer stopped suddenly, and crossing his arms on +his breast, bent his body forward and went on speaking. + "I might have been left then in an awkward hole-- +all on account of your absurd disregard for your safety +--yet I bore no grudge. I knew your weaknesses. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 163 + +But now--when I think of it! Now we are ruined. +Ruined! Ruined! My poor little Nina. Ruined!" + He slapped his thighs smartly, walked with small +steps this way and that, seized a chair, planted it with +a bang before Lingard, and sat down staring at the +old seaman with haggard eyes. Lingard, returning +his stare steadily, dived slowly into various pockets, +fished out at last a box of matches and proceeded to +light his cheroot carefully, rolling it round and round +between his lips, without taking his gaze for a moment +off the distressed Almayer. Then from behind a cloud +of tobacco smoke he said calmly-- + "If you had been in trouble as often as I have, my +boy, you wouldn't carry on so. I have been ruined +more than once. Well, here I am." + "Yes, here you are," interrupted Almayer. "Much +good it is to me. Had you been here a month ago it +would have been of some use. But now! . . You +might as well be a thousand miles off." + "You scold like a drunken fish-wife," said Lingard, +serenely. He got up and moved slowly to the front +rail of the verandah. The floor shook and the whole +house vibrated under his heavy step. For a moment +he stood with his back to Almayer, looking out on the +river and forest of the east bank, then turned round +and gazed mildly down upon him. + "It's very lonely this morning here. Hey?" he said. + Almayer lifted up his head. + "Ah! you notice it--don't you? I should think +it is lonely! Yes, Captain Lingard, your day is over +in Sambir. Only a month ago this verandah would +have been full of people coming to greet you. Fellows +would be coming up those steps grinning and salaam- +ing--to you and to me. But our day is over. And +not by my fault either. You can't say that. It's all + +164 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +the doing of that pet rascal of yours. Ah! He is +a beauty! You should have seen him leading that +hellish crowd. You would have been proud of your +old favourite." + "Smart fellow that," muttered Lingard, thought- +fully. Almayer jumped up with a shriek. + "And that's all you have to say! Smart fellow! +O Lord!" + "Don't make a show of yourself. Sit down. Let's +talk quietly. I want to know all about it. So he led?" + "He was the soul of the whole thing. He piloted +Abdulla's ship in. He ordered everything and every- +body," said Almayer, who sat down again, with a +resigned air. + "When did it happen--exactly?" + "On the sixteenth I heard the first rumours of +Abdulla's ship being in the river; a thing I refused to +believe at first. Next day I could not doubt any more. +There was a great council held openly in Lakamba's +place where almost everybody in Sambir attended. +On the eighteenth the <i>Lord of the Isles</I> was anchored in +Sambir reach, abreast of my house. Let's see. Six +weeks to-day, exactly." + "And all that happened like this? All of a sudden. +You never heard anything--no warning. Nothing. +Never had an idea that something was up? Come, +Almayer!" + "Heard! Yes, I used to hear something every day. +Mostly lies. Is there anything else in Sambir?" + "You might not have believed them," observed +Lingard. "In fact you ought not to have believed +everything that was told to you, as if you had been a +green hand on his first voyage." + Almayer moved in his chair uneasily. + "That scoundrel came here one day," he said. "He + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 165 + +had been away from the house for a couple of months +living with that woman. I only heard about him now +and then from Patalolo's people when they came over. +Well one day, about noon, he appeared in this court- +yard, as if he had been jerked up from hell-where he +belongs." + Lingard took his cheroot out, and, with his mouth +full of white smoke that oozed out through his parted +lips, listened, attentive. After a short pause Almayer +went on, looking at the floor moodily-- + "I must say he looked awful. Had a bad bout of +the ague probably. The left shore is very unhealthy. +Strange that only the breadth of the river . . ." + He dropped off into deep thoughtfulness as if he had +forgotten his grievances in a bitter meditation upon +the unsanitary condition of the virgin forests on the +left bank. Lingard took this opportunity to expel +the smoke in a mighty expiration and threw the stump +of his cheroot over his shoulder. + "Go on," he said, after a while. "He came to see +you . . ." + "But it wasn't unhealthy enough to finish him, worse +luck!" went on Almayer, rousing himself, "and, as I +said, he turned up here with his brazen impudence. He +bullied me, he threatened vaguely. He wanted to scare +me, to blackmail me. Me! And, by heaven--he said +you would approve. You! Can you conceive such +impudence? I couldn't exactly make out what he was +driving at. Had I known, I would have approved him. +Yes! With a bang on the head. But how could I +guess that he knew enough to pilot a ship through the +entrance you always said was so difficult. And, after +all, that was the only danger. I could deal with any- +body here--but when Abdulla came. . . . That +barque of his is armed. He carries twelve brass six- + + +166 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +pounders, and about thirty men. Desperate beggars. +Sumatra men, from Deli and Acheen. Fight all day +and ask for more in the evening. That kind." + "I know, I know," said Lingard, impatiently. + "Of course, then, they were cheeky as much as you +please after he anchored abreast of our jetty. Willems +brought her up himself in the best berth. I could see +him from this verandah standing forward, together with +the half-caste master. And that woman was there too. +Close to him. I heard they took her on board off La- +kamba's place. Willems said he would not go higher +without her. Stormed and raged. Frightened them, +I believe. Abdulla had to interfere. She came off +alone in a canoe, and no sooner on deck than she fell +at his feet before all hands, embraced his knees, wept, +raved, begged his pardon. Why? I wonder. Every- +body in Sambir is talking of it. They never heard tell +or saw anything like it. I have all this from Ali, who +goes about in the settlement and brings me the news. +I had better know what is going on--hadn't I? From +what I can make out, they--he and that woman--are +looked upon as something mysterious--beyond compre- +hension. Some think them mad. They live alone +with an old woman in a house outside Lakamba's cam- +pong and are greatly respected--or feared, I should say +rather. At least, he is. He is very violent. She knows +nobody, sees nobody, will speak to nobody but him. +Never leaves him for a moment. It's the talk of the +place. There are other rumours. From what I hear I +suspect that Lakamba and Abdulla are tired of him. +There's also talk of him going away in the <i>Lord of the +Isles</I>--when she leaves here for the southward--as a +kind of Abdulla's agent. At any rate, he must take the +ship out. The half-caste is not equal to it as yet." + Lingard, who had listened absorbed till then, began + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 167 + +now to walk with measured steps. Almayer ceased +talking and followed him with his eyes as he paced +up and down with a quarter-deck swing, tormenting +and twisting his long white beard, his face perplexed +and thoughtful. + "So he came to you first of all, did he?" asked Lin- +gard, without stopping. + "Yes. I told you so. He did come. Came to +extort money, goods--I don't know what else. Wanted +to set up as a trader--the swine! I kicked his hat into +the courtyard, and he went after it, and that was the +last of him till he showed up with Abdulla. How could +I know that he could do harm in that way? Or in any +way at that! Any local rising I could put down easy +with my own men and with Patalolo's help." + "Oh! yes. Patalolo. No good. Eh? Did you try +him at all?" + "Didn't I!" exclaimed Almayer. "I went to see +him myself on the twelfth. That was four days before +Abdulla entered the river. In fact, same day Willems +tried to get at me. I did feel a little uneasy then. + Patalolo assured me that there was no human being that +did not love me in Sambir. Looked as wise as an owl. +Told me not to listen to the lies of wicked people from +down the river. He was alluding to that man Bulangi, +who lives up the sea reach, and who had sent me word +that a strange ship was anchored outside--which, of +course, I repeated to Patalolo. He would not believe. +Kept on mumbling 'No! No! No!' like an old parrot, +his head all of a tremble, all beslobbered with betel-nut +juice. I thought there was something queer about him. +Seemed so restless, and as if in a hurry to get rid of me. +Well. Next day that one-eyed malefactor who lives +with Lakamba--what's his name--Babalatchi, put in +an appearance here! Came about mid-day, casually + + +168 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +like, and stood there on this verandah chatting about +one thing and another. Asking when I expected you, +and so on. Then, incidentally, he mentioned that they +--his master and himself--were very much bothered +by a ferocious white man--my friend--who was hang- +ing about that woman--Omar's daughter. Asked my +advice. Very deferential and proper. I told him the +white man was not my friend, and that they had better +kick him out. Whereupon he went away salaaming, +and protesting his friendship and his master's goodwill. +Of course I know now the infernal nigger came to spy +and to talk over some of my men. Anyway, eight were +missing at the evening muster. Then I took alarm. +Did not dare to leave my house unguarded. You know +what my wife is, don't you? And I did not care to take +the child with me--it being late--so I sent a message to +Patalolo to say that we ought to consult; that there +were rumours and uneasiness in the settlement. Do +you know what answer I got?" + Lingard stopped short in his walk before Almayer, +who went on, after an impressive pause, with growing +animation. + "All brought it: 'The Rajah sends a friend's greeting, +and does not understand the message.' That was all. +Not a word more could Ali get out of him. I could see +that Ali was pretty well scared. He hung about, ar- +ranging my hammock--one thing and another. Then +just before going away he mentioned that the water- +gate of the Rajah's place was heavily barred, but that +he could see only very few men about the courtyard. +Finally he said, 'There is darkness in our Rajah's house, +but no sleep. Only darkness and fear and the wailing +of women.' Cheerful, wasn't it? It made me feel +cold down my back somehow. After Ali slipped away I +stood here--by this table, and listened to the shouting + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 169 + +and drumming in the settlement. Racket enough for +twenty weddings. It was a little past midnight then." + Again Almayer stopped in his narrative with an +abrupt shutting of lips, as if he had said all that there +was to tell, and Lingard stood staring at him, pensive +and silent. A big bluebottle fly flew in recklessly +into the cool verandah, and darted with loud buzzing +between the two men. Lingard struck at it with his +hat. The fly swerved, and Almayer dodged his head +out of the way. Then Lingard aimed another inef- +fectual blow; Almayer jumped up and waved his arms +about. The fly buzzed desperately, and the vibration +of minute wings sounded in the peace of the early morn- +ing like a far-off string orchestra accompanying the +hollow, determined stamping of the two men, who, with +heads thrown back and arms gyrating on high, or again +bending low with infuriated lunges, were intent upon +killing the intruder. But suddenly the buzz died out in +a thin thrill away in the open space of the courtyard, +leaving Lingard and Almayer standing face to face in the +fresh silence of the young day, looking very puzzled and +idle, their arms hanging uselessly by their sides--like +men disheartened by some portentous failure. + "Look at that!" muttered Lingard. "Got away +after all." + "Nuisance," said Almayer in the same tone. "River- +side is overrun with them. This house is badly placed +. . . mosquitos . . . and these big flies . . . +. last week stung Nina . . . been ill four days +. . . poor child. . . . I wonder what such +damned things are made for!" + + + + CHAPTER TWO + + AFTER a long silence, during which Almayer had +moved towards the table and sat down, his head be- +tween his hands, staring straight before him, Lin- +gard, who had recommenced walking, cleared his throat +and said-- + "What was it you were saying?" + "Ah! Yes! You should have seen this settlement +that night. I don't think anybody went to bed. I +walked down to the point, and could see them. They +had a big bonfire in the palm grove, and the talk went +on there till the morning. When I came back here +and sat in the dark verandah in this quiet house I felt +so frightfully lonely that I stole in and took the child out +of her cot and brought her here into my hammock. If +it hadn't been for her I am sure I would have gone mad; +I felt so utterly alone and helpless. Remember, I +hadn't heard from you for four months. Didn't know +whether you were alive or dead. Patalolo would have +nothing to do with me. My own men were deserting +me like rats do a sinking hulk. That was a black night +for me, Captain Lingard. A black night as I sat here +not knowing what would happen next. They were so +excited and rowdy that I really feared they would +come and burn the house over my head. I went and +brought my revolver. Laid it loaded on the table. +There were such awful yells now and then. Luckily +the child slept through it, and seeing her so pretty +and peaceful steadied me somehow. Couldn't believe +there was any violence in this world, looking at her + +170 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 171 + +lying so quiet and so unconscious of what went on. +But it was very hard. Everything was at an end. +You must understand that on that night there was no +government in Sambir. Nothing to restrain those +fellows. Patalolo had collapsed. I was abandoned by +my own people, and all that lot could vent their spite +on me if they wanted. They know no gratitude. +How many times haven't I saved this settlement from +starvation? Absolute starvation. Only three months +ago I distributed again a lot of rice on credit. There +was nothing to eat in this infernal place. They came +begging on their knees. There isn't a man in Sambir, +big or little, who is not in debt to Lingard & Co. Not +one. You ought to be satisfied. You always said that +was the right policy for us. Well, I carried it out. Ah! +Captain Lingard, a policy like that should be backed by +loaded rifles . . ." + "You had them!" exclaimed Lingard in the midst +of his promenade, that went on more rapid as Almayer +talked: the headlong tramp of a man hurrying on to do +something violent. The verandah was full of dust, +oppressive and choking, which rose under the old sea- +man's feet, and made Almayer cough again and +again. + "Yes, I had! Twenty. And not a finger to pull a +trigger. It's easy to talk," he spluttered, his face very +red. + Lingard dropped into a chair, and leaned back with +one hand stretched out at length upon the table, the +other thrown over the back of his seat. The dust +settled, and the sun surging above the forest flooded +the verandah with a clear light. Almayer got up and +busied himself in lowering the split rattan screens that +hung between the columns of the verandah. + "Phew!" said Lingard, "it will be a hot day. That's + + +172 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +right, my boy. Keep the sun out. We don't want to +be roasted alive here." + Almayer came back, sat down, and spoke very +calmly-- + "In the morning I went across to see Patalolo. I +took the child with me, of course. I found the water- +gate barred, and had to walk round through the bushes. +Patalolo received me lying on the floor, in the dark, +all the shutters closed. I could get nothing out of +him but lamentations and groans. He said you must +be dead. That Lakamba was coming now with Ab- +dulla's guns to kill everybody. Said he did not mind +being killed, as he was an old man, but that the wish of +his heart was to make a pilgrimage. He was tired of +men's ingratitude--he had no heirs--he wanted to go +to Mecca and die there. He would ask Abdulla to let +him go. Then he abused Lakamba--between sobs-- +and you, a little. You prevented him from asking for a +flag that would have been respected--he was right there +--and now when his enemies were strong he was weak, +and you were not there to help him. When I tried to +put some heart into him, telling him he had four big guns +--you know the brass six-pounders you left here last +year--and that I would get powder, and that, perhaps, +together we could make head against Lakamba, he +simply howled at me. No matter which way he turned +--he shrieked--the white men would be the death of +him, while he wanted only to be a pilgrim and be at +peace. My belief is," added Almayer, after a short +pause, and fixing a dull stare upon Lingard, "that the +old fool saw this thing coming for a long time, and was +not only too frightened to do anything himself, but +actually too scared to let you or me know of his sus- +picions. Another of your particular pets! Well! You +have a lucky hand, I must say!" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 173 + + Lingard struck a sudden blow on the table with his +clenched hand. There was a sharp crack of splitting +wood. Almayer started up violently, then fell back in +his chair and looked at the table. + "There!" he said, moodily, "you don't know your +own strength. This table is completely ruined. The +only table I had been able to save from my wife. By +and by I will have to eat squatting on the floor like a +native." + Lingard laughed heartily. "Well then, don't nag +at me like a woman at a drunken husband!" He +became very serious after awhile, and added, "If it +hadn't been for the loss of the <i>Flash</I> I would have been +here three months ago, and all would have been well. +No use crying over that. Don't you be uneasy, Kas- +par. We will have everything ship-shape here in a +very short time." + "What? You don't mean to expel Abdulla out of +here by force! I tell you, you can't." + "Not I!" exclaimed Lingard. "That's all over, +I am afraid. Great pity. They will suffer for it. He +will squeeze them. Great pity. Damn it! I feel +so sorry for them if I had the <i>Flash</I> here I would try +force. Eh! Why not? However, the poor <i>Flash</I> is +gone, and there is an end of it. Poor old hooker. Hey, +Almayer? You made a voyage or two with me. Was- +n't she a sweet craft? Could make her do anything but +talk. She was better than a wife to me. Never +scolded. Hey? . . . And to think that it should +come to this. That I should leave her poor old bones +sticking on a reef as though I had been a damned fool of +a southern-going man who must have half a mile of +water under his keel to be safe! Well! well! It's only +those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose. +But it's hard. Hard." + + + +174 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + He nodded sadly, with his eyes on the ground. Al- +mayer looked at him with growing indignation. + "Upon my word, you are heartless," he burst out; +"perfectly heartless--and selfish. It does not seem to +strike you--in all that--that in losing your ship--by +your recklessness, I am sure--you ruin me--us, and +my little Nina. What's going to become of me and +of her? That's what I want to know. You brought +me here, made me your partner, and now, when every- +thing is gone to the devil--through your fault, mind +you--you talk about your ship . . . ship! You +can get another. But here. This trade. That's +gone now, thanks to Willems. . . . Your dear +Willems!" + "Never you mind about Willems. I will look after +him," said Lingard, severely. "And as to the trade +. . . I will make your fortune yet, my boy. Never +fear. Have you got any cargo for the schooner that +brought me here?" + "The shed is full of rattans," answered Almayer, +"and I have about eighty tons of guttah in the well. +The last lot I ever will have, no doubt," he added, +bitterly. + "So, after all, there was no robbery. You've lost +nothing actually. Well, then, you must . . . +Hallo! What's the matter! . . . Here! . . ." + "Robbery! No!" screamed Almayer, throwing up +his hands. + He fell back in the chair and his face became purple. +A little white foam appeared on his lips and trickled +down his chin, while he lay back, showing the whites of +his upturned eyes. When he came to himself he saw +Lingard standing over him, with an empty water- +chatty in his hand. + "You had a fit of some kind," said the old seaman + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 175 + +with much concern. "What is it? You did give me a +fright. So very sudden." + Almayer, his hair all wet and stuck to his head, as +if he had been diving, sat up and gasped. + "Outrage! A fiendish outrage. I . . ." + Lingard put the chatty on the table and looked at +him in attentive silence. Almayer passed his hand +over his forehead and went on in an unsteady tone: + "When I remember that, I lose all control," he said. +"I told you he anchored Abdulla's ship abreast our jetty, +but over to the other shore, near the Rajah's place. +The ship was surrounded with boats. From here it +looked as if she had been landed on a raft. Every dug- +out in Sambir was there. Through my glass I could +distinguish the faces of people on the poop--Abdulla, +Willems, Lakamba--everybody. That old cringing +scoundrel Sahamin was there. I could see quite plain. +There seemed to be much talk and discussion. Finally +I saw a ship's boat lowered. Some Arab got into her, +and the boat went towards Patalolo's landing-place. +It seems they had been refused admittance--so they +say. I think myself that the water-gate was not un- +barred quick enough to please the exalted messenger. +At any rate I saw the boat come back almost directly. +I was looking on, rather interested, when I saw Willems +and some more go forward--very busy about some- +thing there. That woman was also amongst them. +Ah, that woman . . ." + Almayer choked, and seemed on the point of having +a relapse, but by a violent effort regained a comparative +composure. + "All of a sudden," he continued--"bang! They +fired a shot into Patalolo's gate, and before I had time +to catch my breath--I was startled, you may believe +--they sent another and burst the gate open. Where- + + +176 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +upon, I suppose, they thought they had done enough +for a while, and probably felt hungry, for a feast began +aft. Abdulla sat amongst them like an idol, cross- +legged, his hands on his lap. He's too great altogether +to eat when others do, but he presided, you see. Wil- +lems kept on dodging about forward, aloof from the +crowd, and looking at my house through the ship's +long glass. I could not resist it. I shook my fist at +him." + "Just so," said Lingard, gravely. "That was the +thing to do, of course. If you can't fight a man the +best thing is to exasperate him." + Almayer waved his hand in a superior manner, and +continued, unmoved: + "You may say what you like. You can't realize +my feelings. He saw me, and, with his eye still at +the small end of the glass, lifted his arm as if answer- +ing a hail. I thought my turn to be shot at would +come next after Patalolo, so I ran up the Union Jack +to the flagstaff in the yard. I had no other protection. +There were only three men besides Ali that stuck to me +--three cripples, for that matter, too sick to get away. +I would have fought singlehanded, I think, I was that +angry, but there was the child. What to do with her? +Couldn't send her up the river with the mother. You +know I can't trust my wife. I decided to keep very +quiet, but to let nobody land on our shore. Private +property, that; under a deed from Patalolo. I was +within my right--wasn't I? The morning was very +quiet. After they had a feed on board the barque with +Abdulla most of them went home; only the big people +remained. Towards three o'clock Sahamin crossed +alone in a small canoe. I went down on our wharf with +my gun to speak to him, but didn't let him land. The +old hypocrite said Abdulla sent greetings and wished to + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 177 + +talk with me on business; would I come on board? +I said no; I would not. Told him that Abdulla may +write and I would answer, but no interview, neither +on board his ship nor on shore. I also said that if +anybody attempted to land within my fences I would +shoot--no matter whom. On that he lifted his hands +to heaven, scandalized, and then paddled away pretty +smartly--to report, I suppose. An hour or so after- +wards I saw Willems land a boat party at the Rajah's. +It was very quiet. Not a shot was fired, and there +was hardly any shouting. They tumbled those brass +guns you presented to Patalolo last year down the +bank into the river. It's deep there close to. The +channel runs that way, you know. About five, Wil- +lems went back on board, and I saw him join Abdulla +by the wheel aft. He talked a lot, swinging his arms +about--seemed to explain things--pointed at my house, +then down the reach. Finally, just before sunset, they +hove upon the cable and dredged the ship down nearly +half a mile to the junction of the two branches of the +river--where she is now, as you might have seen." + Lingard nodded. + "That evening, after dark--I was informed-- +Abdulla landed for the first time in Sambir. He +was entertained in Sahamin's house. I sent Ali to +the settlement for news. He returned about nine, +and reported that Patalolo was sitting on Abdulla's +left hand before Sahamin's fire. There was a great +council. Ali seemed to think that Patalolo was a +prisoner, but he was wrong there. They did the +trick very neatly. Before midnight everything was +arranged as I can make out. Patalolo went back to +his demolished stockade, escorted by a dozen boats +with torches. It appears he begged Abdulla to let +him have a passage in the <i>Lord of the Isles</I> to Penang. + + +178 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +From there he would go to Mecca. The firing busi- +ness was alluded to as a mistake. No doubt it was in +a sense. Patalolo never meant resisting. So he is +going as soon as the ship is ready for sea. He went +on board next day with three women and half a dozen +fellows as old as himself. By Abdulla's orders he was +received with a salute of seven guns, and he has been +living on board ever since-five weeks. I doubt +whether he will leave the river alive. At any rate +he won't live to reach Penang. Lakamba took over +all his goods, and gave him a draft on Abdulla's house +payable in Penang. He is bound to die before he gets +there. Don't you see?" + He sat silent for a while in dejected meditation, then +went on: + "Of course there were several rows during the night. +Various fellows took the opportunity of the unsettled +state of affairs to pay off old scores and settle old +grudges. I passed the night in that chair there, dozing +uneasily. Now and then there would be a great tumult +and yelling which would make me sit up, revolver in +hand. However, nobody was killed. A few broken +heads--that's all. Early in the morning Willems +caused them to make a fresh move which I must say +surprised me not a little. As soon as there was daylight +they busied themselves in setting up a flag-pole on the +space at the other end of the settlement, where Abdulla +is having his houses built now. Shortly after sunrise +there was a great gathering at the flag-pole. All went +there. Willems was standing leaning against the mast, +one arm over that woman's shoulders. They had +brought an armchair for Patalolo, and Lakamba stood +on the right hand of the old man, who made a speech. +Everybody in Sambir was there: women, slaves, children +--everybody! Then Patalolo spoke. He said that by + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 179 + +the mercy of the Most High he was going on a pilgrim- +age. The dearest wish of his heart was to be accom- +plished. Then, turning to Lakamba, he begged him to +rule justly during his--Patalolo's--absence. There was +a bit of play-acting there. Lakamba said he was un- +worthy of the honourable burden, and Patalolo insisted. +Poor old fool! It must have been bitter to him. They +made him actually entreat that scoundrel. Fancy a +man compelled to beg of a robber to despoil him! +But the old Rajah was so frightened. Anyway, he did +it, and Lakamba accepted at last. Then Willems made +a speech to the crowd. Said that on his way to the west +the Rajah--he meant Patalolo--would see the Great +White Ruler in Batavia and obtain his protection for +Sambir. Meantime, he went on, I, an Orang Blanda +and your friend, hoist the flag under the shadow of +which there is safety. With that he ran up a Dutch +flag to the mast-head. It was made hurriedly, during +the night, of cotton stuffs, and, being heavy, hung down +the mast, while the crowd stared. Ali told me there +was a great sigh of surprise, but not a word was spoken +till Lakamba advanced and proclaimed in a loud voice +that during all that day every one passing by the +flagstaff must uncover his head and salaam before the +emblem." + "But, hang it all!" exclaimed Lingard--"Abdulla is +British!" + "Abdulla wasn't there at all--did not go on shore +that day. Yet Ali, who has his wits about him, no- +ticed that the space where the crowd stood was under +the guns of the <i>Lord of the Isles</I>. They had put a coir +warp ashore, and gave the barque a cant in the current, +so as to bring the broadside to bear on the flagstaff. +Clever! Eh? But nobody dreamt of resistance. When +they recovered from the surprise there was a little quiet + + +180 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +jeering; and Bahassoen abused Lakamba violently till +one of Lakamba's men hit him on the head with a staff. +Frightful crack, I am told. Then they left off jeering. +Meantime Patalolo went away, and Lakamba sat in the +chair at the foot of the flagstaff, while the crowd surged +around, as if they could not make up their minds to go. +Suddenly there was a great noise behind Lakamba's +chair. It was that woman, who went for Willems. Ali +says she was like a wild beast, but he twisted her wrist +and made her grovel in the dust. Nobody knows +exactly what it was about. Some say it was about that +flag. He carried her off, flung her into a canoe, and +went on board Abdulla's ship. After that Sahamin +was the first to salaam to the flag. Others followed +suit. Before noon everything was quiet in the settle- +ment, and Ali came back and told me all this." + Almayer drew a long breath. Lingard stretched out +his legs. + "Go on!" he said. + Almayer seemed to struggle with himself. At last +he spluttered out: + "The hardest is to tell yet. The most unheard-of +thing! An outrage! A fiendish outrage!" + + + + CHAPTER THREE + + "WELL! Let's know all about it. I can't imagine + . . ." began Lingard, after waiting for some time +in silence. + "Can't imagine! I should think you couldn't," +interrupted Almayer. "Why! . . . You just lis- +ten. When Ali came back I felt a little easier in my +mind. There was then some semblance of order in +Sambir. I had the Jack up since the morning and +began to feel safer. Some of my men turned up in the +afternoon. I did not ask any questions; set them to +work as if nothing had happened. Towards the even- +ing--it might have been five or half-past--I was on our +jetty with the child when I heard shouts at the far-off +end of the settlement. At first I didn't take much +notice. By and by Ali came to me and says, 'Master, +give me the child, there is much trouble in the settle- +ment.' So I gave him Nina and went in, took my re- +volver, and passed through the house into the back +courtyard. As I came down the steps I saw all the +serving girls clear out from the cooking shed, and I +heard a big crowd howling on the other side of the dry +ditch which is the limit of our ground. Could not see +them on account of the fringe of bushes along the ditch, +but I knew that crowd was angry and after somebody. +As I stood wondering, that Jim-Eng--you know the +Chinaman who settled here a couple of years ago?" + "He was my passenger; I brought him here," ex- +claimed Lingard. "A first-class Chinaman that." + "Did you? I had forgotten. Well, that Jim-Eng, + +181 + + +182 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +he burst through the bush and fell into my arms, so to +speak. He told me, panting, that they were after him +because he wouldn't take off his hat to the flag. He was +not so much scared, but he was very angry and indig- +nant. Of course he had to run for it; there were some +fifty men after him--Lakamba's friends--but he was +full of fight. Said he was an Englishman, and would +not take off his hat to any flag but English. I tried to +soothe him while the crowd was shouting on the other +side of the ditch. I told him he must take one of my +canoes and cross the river. Stop on the other side for a +couple of days. He wouldn't. Not he. He was +English, and he would fight the whole lot. Says he: +'They are only black fellows. We white men,' meaning +me and himself, 'can fight everybody in Sambir.' He +was mad with passion. The crowd quieted a little, and +I thought I could shelter Jim-Eng without much risk, +when all of a sudden I heard Willems' voice. He +shouted to me in English: 'Let four men enter your +compound to get that Chinaman!' I said nothing. +Told Jim-Eng to keep quiet too. Then after a while +Willems shouts again: 'Don't resist, Almayer. I give +you good advice. I am keeping this crowd back. +Don't resist them!' That beggar's voice enraged me; +I could not help it. I cried to him: 'You are a liar!' +and just then Jim-Eng, who had flung off his jacket and +had tucked up his trousers ready for a fight; just then +that fellow he snatches the revolver out of my hand and +lets fly at them through the bush. There was a sharp +cry--he must have hit somebody--and a great yell, +and before I could wink twice they were over the ditch +and through the bush and on top of us! Simply rolled +over us! There wasn't the slightest chance to resist. +I was trampled under foot, Jim-Eng got a dozen gashes +about his body, and we were carried halfway up the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 183 + +yard in the first rush. My eyes and mouth were full +of dust; I was on my back with three or four fellows +sitting on me. I could hear Jim-Eng trying to shout +not very far from me. Now and then they would +throttle him and he would gurgle. I could hardly +breathe myself with two heavy fellows on my chest. +Willems came up running and ordered them to raise me +up, but to keep good hold. They led me into the +verandah. I looked round, but did not see either Ali +or the child. Felt easier. Struggled a little. . . . +Oh, my God!" + Almayer's face was distorted with a passing spasm +of rage. Lingard moved in his chair slightly. Al- +mayer went on after a short pause: + "They held me, shouting threats in my face. Wil- +lems took down my hammock and threw it to them. He +pulled out the drawer of this table, and found there a +palm and needle and some sail-twine. We were making +awnings for your brig, as you had asked me last voyage +before you left. He knew, of course, where to look for +what he wanted. By his orders they laid me out on +the floor, wrapped me in my hammock, and he started +to stitch me in, as if I had been a corpse, beginning at +the feet. While he worked he laughed wickedly. I +called him all the names I could think of. He told +them to put their dirty paws over my mouth and nose. +I was nearly choked. Whenever I moved they punched +me in the ribs. He went on taking fresh needlefuls as he +wanted them, and working steadily. Sewed me up to +my throat. Then he rose, saying, 'That will do; let +go.' That woman had been standing by; they must +have been reconciled. She clapped her hands. I lay +on the floor like a bale of goods while he stared at me, +and the woman shrieked with delight. Like a bale of +goods! There was a grin on every face, and the ve- + + +184 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +randah was full of them. I wished myself dead--'pon +my word, Captain Lingard, I did! I do now whenever +I think of it!" + Lingard's face expressed sympathetic indignation. +Almayer dropped his head upon his arms on the table, +and spoke in that position in an indistinct and muffled +voice, without looking up. + "Finally, by his directions, they flung me into the +big rocking-chair. I was sewed in so tight that I was +stiff like a piece of wood. He was giving orders in a +very loud voice, and that man Babalatchi saw that they +were executed. They obeyed him implicitly. Mean- +time I lay there in the chair like a log, and that woman +capered before me and made faces; snapped her fingers +before my nose. Women are bad!--ain't they? I +never saw her before, as far as I know. Never done +anything to her. Yet she was perfectly fiendish. +Can you understand it? Now and then she would +leave me alone to hang round his neck for awhile, +and then she would return before my chair and begin +her exercises again. He looked on, indulgent. The +perspiration ran down my face, got into my eyes--my +arms were sewn in. I was blinded half the time; at +times I could see better. She drags him before my +chair. 'I am like white women,' she says, her arms +round his neck. You should have seen the faces of +the fellows in the verandah! They were scandalized +and ashamed of themselves to see her behaviour. +Suddenly she asks him, alluding to me: 'When are you +going to kill him?' Imagine how I felt. I must have +swooned; I don't remember exactly. I fancy there was +a row; he was angry. When I got my wits again he was +sitting close to me, and she was gone. I understood +he sent her to my wife, who was hiding in the back room +and never came out during this affair. Willems says + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 185 + +to me--I fancy I can hear his voice, hoarse and dull-- +he says to me: 'Not a hair of your head shall be touched.' +I made no sound. Then he goes on: 'Please remark that +the flag you have hoisted--which, by the by, is not yours +--has been respected. Tell Captain Lingard so when +you do see him. But,' he says, 'you first fired at the +crowd.' 'You are a liar, you blackguard!' I shouted. +He winced, I am sure. It hurt him to see I was not +frightened. 'Anyways,' he says, 'a shot had been fired +out of your compound and a man was hit. Still, all +your property shall be respected on account of the +Union Jack. Moreover, I have no quarrel with Cap- +tain Lingard, who is the senior partner in this business. +As to you,' he continued, 'you will not forget this day-- +not if you live to be a hundred years old--or I don't +know your nature. You will keep the bitter taste of +this humiliation to the last day of your life, and so your +kindness to me shall be repaid. I shall remove all the +powder you have. This coast is under the protection +of the Netherlands, and you have no right to have any +powder. There are the Governor's Orders in Council +to that effect, and you know it. Tell me where the key +of the small storehouse is?' I said not a word, and he +waited a little, then rose, saying: 'It's your own fault +if there is any damage done.' He ordered Babalatchi +to have the lock of the office-room forced, and went in-- +rummaged amongst my drawers--could not find the +key. Then that woman Aissa asked my wife, and she +gave them the key. After awhile they tumbled every +barrel into the river. Eighty-three hundredweight! +He superintended himself, and saw every barrel roll +into the water. There were mutterings. Babalatchi +was angry and tried to expostulate, but he gave him a +good shaking. I must say he was perfectly fearless +with those fellows. Then he came back to the veran- + + +186 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +dah, sat down by me again, and says: 'We found your +man Ali with your little daughter hiding in the bushes +up the river. We brought them in. They are perfectly +safe, of course. Let me congratulate you, Almayer, +upon the cleverness of your child. She recognized me +at once, and cried "pig" as naturally as you would your- +self. Circumstances alter feelings. You should have +seen how frightened your man Ali was. Clapped his +hands over her mouth. I think you spoil her, Almayer. +But I am not angry. Really, you look so ridiculous in +this chair that I can't feel angry.' I made a frantic +effort to burst out of my hammock to get at that scoun- +drel's throat, but I only fell off and upset the chair over +myself. He laughed and said only: 'I leave you half of +your revolver cartridges and take half myself; they will +fit mine. We are both white men, and should back +each other up. I may want them.' I shouted at him +from under the chair: 'You are a thief,' but he never +looked, and went away, one hand round that woman's +waist, the other on Babalatchi's shoulder, to whom he +was talking--laying down the law about something or +other. In less than five minutes there was nobody +inside our fences. After awhile Ali came to look for +me and cut me free. I haven't seen Willems since-- +nor anybody else for that matter. I have been left +alone. I offered sixty dollars to the man who had +been wounded, which were accepted. They released +Jim-Eng the next day, when the flag had been hauled +down. He sent six cases of opium to me for safe +keeping but has not left his house. I think he is safe +enough now. Everything is very quiet." + Towards the end of his narrative Almayer lifted his +head off the table, and now sat back in his chair and +stared at the bamboo rafters of the roof above him. +Lingard lolled in his seat with his legs stretched out. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 187 + +In the peaceful gloom of the verandah, with its lowered +screens, they heard faint noises from the world outside +in the blazing sunshine: a hail on the river, the answer +from the shore, the creak of a pulley; sounds short, inter- +rupted, as if lost suddenly in the brilliance of noonday. +Lingard got up slowly, walked to the front rail, and +holding one of the screens aside, looked out in silence. +Over the water and the empty courtyard came a distinct +voice from a small schooner anchored abreast of the +Lingard jetty. + "Serang! Take a pull at the main peak halyards. +This gaff is down on the boom.'' + There was a shrill pipe dying in long-drawn cadence, +the song of the men swinging on the rope. The voice +said sharply: "That will do!" Another voice--the +serang's probably--shouted: "Ikat!" and as Lingard +dropped the blind and turned away all was silent again, +as if there had been nothing on the other side of the +swaying screen; nothing but the light, brilliant, crude, +heavy, lying on a dead land like a pall of fire. Lingard +sat down again, facing Almayer, his elbow on the table, +in a thoughtful attitude. + "Nice little schooner," muttered Almayer, wearily. +"Did you buy her?" + "No," answered Lingard. "After I lost the <i>Flash</I> we +got to Palembang in our boats. I chartered her there, +for six months. From young Ford, you know. Belongs +to him. He wanted a spell ashore, so I took charge my- +self. Of course all Ford's people on board. Strangers +to me. I had to go to Singapore about the insurance; +then I went to Macassar, of course. Had long pas- +sages. No wind. It was like a curse on me. I had lots +of trouble with old Hudig. That delayed me much." + "Ah! Hudig! Why with Hudig?" asked Almayer, +in a perfunctory manner. + + +188 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Oh! about a . . . a woman," mumbled Lin- +gard. + Almayer looked at him with languid surprise. The +old seaman had twisted his white beard into a point, +and now was busy giving his moustaches a fierce curl. +His little red eyes--those eyes that had smarted under +the salt sprays of every sea, that had looked unwinking +to windward in the gales of all latitudes--now glared +at Almayer from behind the lowered eyebrows like a +pair of frightened wild beasts crouching in a bush. + "Extraordinary! So like you! What can you have +to do with Hudig's women? The old sinner!" said Al- +mayer, negligently. + "What are you talking about! Wife of a friend of +. . . I mean of a man I know . . ." + "Still, I don't see . . ." interjected Almayer care- +lessly. + "Of a man you know too. Well. Very well." + "I knew so many men before you made me bury +myself in this hole!" growled Almayer, unamiably. +"If she had anything to do with Hudig--that wife-- +then she can't be up to much. I would be sorry for +the man," added Almayer, brightening up with the +recollection of the scandalous tittle-tattle of the past, +when he was a young man in the second capital of +the Islands--and so well informed, so well informed. +He laughed. Lingard's frown deepened. + "Don't talk foolish! It's Willems' wife." + Almayer grasped the sides of his seat, his eyes and +mouth opened wide. + "What? Why!" he exclaimed, bewildered. + "Willems'--wife," repeated Lingard distinctly. +"You ain't deaf, are you? The wife of Willems. +Just so. As to why! There was a promise. And I +did not know what had happened here." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 189 + + "What is it. You've been giving her money, I bet," +cried Almayer. + "Well, no!" said Lingard, deliberately. "Although +I suppose I shall have to . . ." + Almayer groaned. + "The fact is," went on Lingard, speaking slowly +and steadily, "the fact is that I have . . . I have +brought her here. Here. To Sambir." + "In heaven's name! why?" shouted Almayer, jump- +ing up. The chair tilted and fell slowly over. He +raised his clasped hands above his head and brought +them down jerkily, separating his fingers with an effort, +as if tearing them apart. Lingard nodded, quickly, +several times. + "I have. Awkward. Hey?" he said, with a puzzled +look upwards. + "Upon my word," said Almayer, tearfully. "I +can't understand you at all. What will you do next! +Willems' wife!" + "Wife and child. Small boy, you know. They are +on board the schooner." + Almayer looked at Lingard with sudden suspicion, +then turning away busied himself in picking up the +chair, sat down in it turning his back upon the old sea- +man, and tried to whistle, but gave it up directly. Lin- +gard went on-- + "Fact is, the fellow got into trouble with Hudig. +Worked upon my feelings. I promised to arrange +matters. I did. With much trouble. Hudig was +angry with her for wishing to join her husband. Un- +principled old fellow. You know she is his daughter. +Well, I said I would see her through it all right; help +Willems to a fresh start and so on. I spoke to Craig in +Palembang. He is getting on in years, and wanted a +manager or partner. I promised to guarantee Willems' + + +190 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +good behaviour. We settled all that. Craig is an old +crony of mine. Been shipmates in the forties. He's +waiting for him now. A pretty mess! What do you +think?" + Almayer shrugged his shoulders. + "That woman broke with Hudig on my assurance +that all would be well," went on Lingard, with grow- +ing dismay. "She did. Proper thing, of course. +Wife, husband . . . together . . . as it should be +. . . Smart fellow . . . Impossible scoundrel +. . . Jolly old go! Oh! damn!" + Almayer laughed spitefully. + "How delighted he will be," he said, softly. "You +will make two people happy. Two at least!" He +laughed again, while Lingard looked at his shaking +shoulders in consternation. + "I am jammed on a lee shore this time, if ever I +was," muttered Lingard. + "Send her back quick," suggested Almayer, stifling +another laugh. + "What are you sniggering at?" growled Lingard, +angrily. "I'll work it out all clear yet. Meantime +you must receive her into this house." + "My house!" cried Almayer, turning round. + "It's mine too--a little isn't it?" said Lingard. +"Don't argue," he shouted, as Almayer opened his +mouth. "Obey orders and hold your tongue!" + "Oh! If you take it in that tone!" mumbled Al- +mayer, sulkily, with a gesture of assent. + "You are so aggravating too, my boy," said the old +seaman, with unexpected placidity "You must give +me time to turn round. I can't keep her on board all +the time. I must tell her something. Say, for instance, +that he is gone up the river. Expected back every +day. That's it. D'ye hear? You must put her on + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 191 + +that tack and dodge her along easy, while I take the +kinks out of the situation. By God!" he exclaimed, +mournfully, after a short pause, "life is foul! Foul like +a lee forebrace on a dirty night. And yet. And yet. +One must see it clear for running before going below-- +for good. Now you attend to what I said," he added, +sharply, "if you don't want to quarrel with me, my +boy." + "I don't want to quarrel with you," murmured +Almayer with unwilling deference. "Only I wish I +could understand you. I know you are my best +friend, Captain Lingard; only, upon my word, I can't +make you out sometimes! I wish I could . . ." + Lingard burst into a loud laugh which ended shortly +in a deep sigh. He closed his eyes, tilting his head over +the back of his armchair; and on his face, baked by the +unclouded suns of many hard years, there appeared for +a moment a weariness and a look of age which startled +Almayer, like an unexpected disclosure of evil. + "I am done up," said Lingard, gently. "Perfectly +done up. All night on deck getting that schooner up +the river. Then talking with you. Seems to me I +could go to sleep on a clothes-line. I should like to eat +something though. Just see about that, Kaspar." + Almayer clapped his hands, and receiving no response +was going to call, when in the central passage of the +house, behind the red curtain of the doorway opening +upon the verandah, they heard a child's imperious voice +speaking shrilly. + "Take me up at once. I want to be carried into the +verandah. I shall be very angry. Take me up." + A man's voice answered, subdued, in humble re- +monstrance. The faces of Almayer and Lingard bright- +ened at once. The old seaman called out-- + "Bring the child. Lekas!" + + +192 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "You will see how she has grown," exclaimed Al- +mayer, in a jubilant tone. + Through the curtained doorway Ali appeared with +little Nina Almayer in his arms. The child had one +arm round his neck, and with the other she hugged a +ripe pumelo nearly as big as her own head. Her little +pink, sleeveless robe had half slipped off her shoulders, +but the long black hair, that framed her olive face, +in which the big black eyes looked out in childish +solemnity, fell in luxuriant profusion over her shoulders, +all round her and over Ali's arms, like a close-meshed +and delicate net of silken threads. Lingard got up +to meet Ali, and as soon as she caught sight of the +old seaman she dropped the fruit and put out both +her hands with a cry of delight. He took her from +the Malay, and she laid hold of his moustaches with +an affectionate goodwill that brought unaccustomed +tears into his little red eyes. + "Not so hard, little one, not so hard," he mur- +mured, pressing with an enormous hand, that covered +it entirely, the child's head to his face. + "Pick up my pumelo, O Rajah of the sea!" she said, +speaking in a high-pitched, clear voice with great +volubility. "There, under the table. I want it quick! +Quick! You have been away fighting with many men. +Ali says so. You are a mighty fighter. Ali says so. +On the great sea far away, away, away." + She waved her hand, staring with dreamy vacancy, +while Lingard looked at her, and squatting down +groped under the table after the pumelo. + "Where does she get those notions?" said Lingard, +getting up cautiously, to Almayer, who had been giving +orders to Ali. + "She is always with the men. Many a time I've +found her with her fingers in their rice dish, of an + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 193 + +evening. She does not care for her mother though-- +I am glad to say. How pretty she is--and so sharp. +My very image!" + Lingard had put the child on the table, and both men +stood looking at her with radiant faces. + "A perfect little woman," whispered Lingard. "Yes, +my dear boy, we shall make her somebody. You'll +see!" + "Very little chance of that now," remarked Almayer, +sadly. + "You do not know!" exclaimed Lingard, taking up +the child again, and beginning to walk up and down the +verandah. "I have my plans. I have--listen." + And he began to explain to the interested Almayer +his plans for the future. He would interview Abdulla +and Lakamba. There must be some understanding +with those fellows now they had the upper hand. +Here he interrupted himself to swear freely, while the +child, who had been diligently fumbling about his neck, +had found his whistle and blew a loud blast now and +then close to his ear--which made him wince and +laugh as he put her hands down, scolding her lovingly. +Yes--that would be easily settled. He was a man to +be reckoned with yet. Nobody knew that better than +Almayer. Very well. Then he must patiently try and +keep some little trade together. It would be all right. +But the great thing--and here Lingard spoke lower, +bringing himself to a sudden standstill before the en- +tranced Almayer--the great thing would be the gold +hunt up the river. He--Lingard--would devote him- +self to it. He had been in the interior before. There +were immense deposits of alluvial gold there. Fabulous. +He felt sure. Had seen places. Dangerous work? Of +course! But what a reward! He would explore--and +find. Not a shadow of doubt. Hang the danger! + + +194 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +They would first get as much as they could for them- +selves. Keep the thing quiet. Then after a time form +a Company. In Batavia or in England. Yes, in +England. Much better. Splendid! Why, of course. +And that baby would be the richest woman in the +world. He--Lingard--would not, perhaps, see it-- +although he felt good for many years yet--but Almayer +would. Here was something to live for yet! Hey? + But the richest woman in the world had been for the +last five minutes shouting shrilly--"Rajah Laut! +Rajah Laut! Hai! Give ear!" while the old +seaman had been speaking louder, unconsciously, to +make his deep bass heard above the impatient clamour. +He stopped now and said tenderly-- + "What is it, little woman?" + "I am not a little woman. I am a white child. +Anak Putih. A white child; and the white men are +my brothers. Father says so. And Ali says so too. +Ali knows as much as father. Everything." + Almayer almost danced with paternal delight. + "I taught her. I taught her," he repeated, laughing +with tears in his eyes. "Isn't she sharp?" + "I am the slave of the white child," said Lingard, +with playful solemnity. "What is the order?" + "I want a house," she warbled, with great eager- +ness. "I want a house, and another house on the +roof, and another on the roof--high. High! Like +the places where they dwell--my brothers--in the +land where the sun sleeps." + "To the westward," explained Almayer, under his +breath. "She remembers everything. She wants you +to build a house of cards. You did, last time you were +here." + Lingard sat down with the child on his knees, and +Almayer pulled out violently one drawer after another, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 195 + +looking for the cards, as if the fate of the world de- +pended upon his haste. He produced a dirty double +pack which was only used during Lingard's visit to +Sambir, when he would sometimes play--of an evening +--with Almayer, a game which he called Chinese +bezique. It bored Almayer, but the old seaman de- +lighted in it, considering it a remarkable product of +Chinese genius--a race for which he had an unac- +countable liking and admiration. + "Now we will get on, my little pearl," he said, +putting together with extreme precaution two cards +that looked absurdly flimsy between his big fingers. +Little Nina watched him with intense seriousness as +he went on erecting the ground floor, while he con- +tinued to speak to Almayer with his head over his +shoulder so as not to endanger the structure with +his breath. + "I know what I am talking about. . . . Been in +California in forty-nine. . . . Not that I made +much . . . then in Victoria in the early days. +. . . I know all about it. Trust me. Moreover a +blind man could . . . Be quiet, little sister, or you +will knock this affair down. . . . My hand pretty +steady yet! Hey, Kaspar? . . . Now, delight of +my heart, we shall put a third house on the top of these +two . . . keep very quiet. . . . As I was +saying, you got only to stoop and gather handfuls of +gold . . . dust . . . there. Now here we +are. Three houses on top of one another. Grand!" + He leaned back in his chair, one hand on the child's +head, which he smoothed mechanically, and gesticu- +lated with the other, speaking to Almayer. + "Once on the spot, there would be only the trouble +to pick up the stuff. Then we shall all go to Europe. +The child must be educated. We shall be rich. Rich + + +196 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +is no name for it. Down in Devonshire where I +belong, there was a fellow who built a house near +Teignmouth which had as many windows as a three- +decker has ports. Made all his money somewhere out +here in the good old days. People around said he had +been a pirate. We boys--I was a boy in a Brixham +trawler then--certainly believed that. He went +about in a bath-chair in his grounds. Had a glass +eye . . ." + "Higher, Higher!" called out Nina, pulling the +old seaman's beard. + "You do worry me--don't you?" said Lingard, +gently, giving her a tender kiss. "What? One +more house on top of all these? Well! I will try." + The child watched him breathlessly. When the +difficult feat was accomplished she clapped her hands, +looked on steadily, and after a while gave a great sigh +of content. + "Oh! Look out!" shouted Almayer. + The structure collapsed suddenly before the child's +light breath. Lingard looked discomposed for a +moment. Almayer laughed, but the little girl began +to cry. + "Take her," said the old seaman, abruptly. Then, +after Almayer went away with the crying child, he +remained sitting by the table, looking gloomily at the +heap of cards. + "Damn this Willems," he muttered to himself. +"But I will do it yet!" + He got up, and with an angry push of his hand swept +the cards off the table. Then he fell back in his chair. + "Tired as a dog," he sighed out, closing his eyes. + + + + CHAPTER FOUR + + CONSCIOUSLY or unconsciously, men are proud of +their firmness, steadfastness of purpose, directness of +aim. They go straight towards their desire, to the +accomplishment of virtue--sometimes of crime--in an +uplifting persuasion of their firmness. They walk +the road of life, the road fenced in by their tastes, +prejudices, disdains or enthusiasms, generally honest, +invariably stupid, and are proud of never losing their +way. If they do stop, it is to look for a moment over +the hedges that make them safe, to look at the misty +valleys, at the distant peaks, at cliffs and morasses, at +the dark forests and the hazy plains where other human +beings grope their days painfully away, stumbling over +the bones of the wise, over the unburied remains of their +predecessors who died alone, in gloom or in sunshine, +halfway from anywhere. The man of purpose does +not understand, and goes on, full of contempt. He +never loses his way. He knows where he is going +and what he wants. Travelling on, he achieves great +length without any breadth, and battered, besmirched, +and weary, he touches the goal at last; he grasps the +reward of his perseverance, of his virtue, of his healthy +optimism: an untruthful tombstone over a dark and +soon forgotten grave. + Lingard had never hesitated in his life. Why +should he? He had been a most successful trader, +and a man lucky in his fights, skilful in navigation, +undeniably first in seamanship in those seas. He +knew it. Had he not heard the voice of common + +197 + + +198 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +consent? The voice of the world that respected him +so much; the whole world to him--for to us the limits +of the universe are strictly defined by those we know. +There is nothing for us outside the babble of praise +and blame on familiar lips, and beyond our last ac- +quaintance there lies only a vast chaos; a chaos of +laughter and tears which concerns us not; laughter +and tears unpleasant, wicked, morbid, contemptible-- +because heard imperfectly by ears rebellious to strange +sounds. To Lingard--simple himself--all things +were simple. He seldom read. Books were not +much in his way, and he had to work hard navigating, +trading, and also, in obedience to his benevolent +instincts, shaping stray lives he found here and there +under his busy hand. He remembered the Sunday- +school teachings of his native village and the dis- +courses of the black-coated gentleman connected with +the Mission to Fishermen and Seamen, whose yawl- +rigged boat darting through rain-squalls amongst the +coasters wind-bound in Falmouth Bay, was part of +those precious pictures of his youthful days that +lingered in his memory. "As clever a sky-pilot as +you could wish to see," he would say with conviction, +"and the best man to handle a boat in any weather I +ever did meet!" Such were the agencies that had +roughly shaped his young soul before he went away to +see the world in a southern-going ship--before he +went, ignorant and happy, heavy of hand, pure in +heart, profane in speech, to give himself up to the +great sea that took his life and gave him his fortune. +When thinking of his rise in the world--commander +of ships, then shipowner, then a man of much capital, +respected wherever he went, Lingard in a word, the +Rajah Laut--he was amazed and awed by his fate, +that seemed to his ill-informed mind the most won- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 199 + +drous known in the annals of men. His experience +appeared to him immense and conclusive, teaching +him the lesson of the simplicity of life. In life--as in +seamanship--there were only two ways of doing a +thing: the right way and the wrong way. Common +sense and experience taught a man the way that was +right. The other was for lubbers and fools, and led, +in seamanship, to loss of spars and sails or shipwreck; +in life, to loss of money and consideration, or to an +unlucky knock on the head. He did not consider it +his duty to be angry with rascals. He was only angry +with things he could not understand, but for the +weaknesses of humanity he could find a contemptuous +tolerance. It being manifest that he was wise and +lucky--otherwise how could he have been as successful +in life as he had been?--he had an inclination to set +right the lives of other people, just as he could hardly +refrain--in defiance of nautical etiquette--from in- +terfering with his chief officer when the crew was sending +up a new topmast, or generally when busy about, what +he called, "a heavy job." He was meddlesome with +perfect modesty; if he knew a thing or two there was +no merit in it. "Hard knocks taught me wisdom, my +boy," he used to say, "and you had better take the +advice of a man who has been a fool in his time. Have +another." And "my boy" as a rule took the cool +drink, the advice, and the consequent help which Lin- +gard felt himself bound in honour to give, so as to back +up his opinion like an honest man. Captain Tom went +sailing from island to island, appearing unexpectedly +in various localities, beaming, noisy, anecdotal, com- +mendatory or comminatory, but always welcome. + It was only since his return to Sambir that the old +seaman had for the first time known doubt and un- +happiness, The loss of the <i>Flash</i>--planted firmly + + +200 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +and for ever on a ledge of rock at the north end of +Gaspar Straits in the uncertain light of a cloudy morn- +ing--shook him considerably; and the amazing news +which he heard on his arrival in Sambir were not made +to soothe his feelings. A good many years ago-- +prompted by his love of adventure--he, with infinite +trouble, had found out and surveyed--for his own +benefit only--the entrances to that river, where, +he had heard through native report, a new settlement +of Malays was forming. No doubt he thought at the +time mostly of personal gain; but, received with hearty +friendliness by Patalolo, he soon came to like the ruler +and the people, offered his counsel and his help, and-- +knowing nothing of Arcadia--he dreamed of Arcadian +happiness for that little corner of the world which he +loved to think all his own. His deep-seated and +immovable conviction that only he--he, Lingard-- +knew what was good for them was characteristic of him. +and, after all, not so very far wrong. He would make +them happy whether or no, he said, and he meant it. +His trade brought prosperity to the young state, and +the fear of his heavy hand secured its internal peace for +many years. + He looked proudly upon his work. With every +passing year he loved more the land, the people, the +muddy river that, if he could help it, would carry no +other craft but the <i>Flash</i> on its unclean and friendly +surface. As he slowly warped his vessel up-stream he +would scan with knowing looks the riverside clearings, +and pronounce solemn judgment upon the prospects of +the season's rice-crop. He knew every settler on the +banks between the sea and Sambir; he knew their +wives, their children; he knew every individual of +the multi-coloured groups that, standing on the flimsy +platforms of tiny reed dwellings built over the water, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 201 + +waved their hands and shouted shrilly: "O! Kapal +layer! Hai!" while the <i>Flash</i> swept slowly through +the populated reach, to enter the lonely stretches of +sparkling brown water bordered by the dense and +silent forest, whose big trees nodded their outspread +boughs gently in the faint, warm breeze--as if in sign +of tender but melancholy welcome. He loved it all: +the landscape of brown golds and brilliant emeralds +under the dome of hot sapphire; the whispering big +trees; the loquacious nipa-palms that rattled their +leaves volubly in the night breeze, as if in haste to +tell him all the secrets of the great forest behind them. +He loved the heavy scents of blossoms and black earth, +that breath of life and of death which lingered over +his brig in the damp air of tepid and peaceful nights. +He loved the narrow and sombre creeks, strangers to +sunshine: black, smooth, tortuous--like byways of +despair. He liked even the troops of sorrowful-faced +monkeys that profaned the quiet spots with capricious +gambols and insane gestures of inhuman madness. +He loved everything there, animated or inanimated; +the very mud of the riverside; the very alligators, +enormous and stolid, basking on it with impertinent +unconcern. Their size was a source of pride to him. +"Immense fellows! Make two of them Palembang +reptiles! I tell you, old man!" he would shout, poking +some crony of his playfully in the ribs: "I tell you, +big as you are, they could swallow you in one gulp, +hat, boots and all! Magnificent beggars! Wouldn't +you like to see them? Wouldn't you! Ha! ha! +ha!" His thunderous laughter filled the verandah, +rolled over the hotel garden, overflowed into the +street, paralyzing for a short moment the noiseless traffic +of bare brown feet; and its loud reverberations would +even startle the landlord's tame bird--a shame- + + +202 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +less mynah--into a momentary propriety of behaviour +under the nearest chair. In the big billiard-room +perspiring men in thin cotton singlets would stop the +game, listen, cue in hand, for a while through the +open windows, then nod their moist faces at each +other sagaciously and whisper: "The old fellow is +talking about his river." + His river! The whispers of curious men, the mystery +of the thing, were to Lingard a source of never-ending +delight. The common talk of ignorance exaggerated +the profits of his queer monopoly, and, although +strictly truthful in general, he liked, on that matter, to +mislead speculation still further by boasts full of cold +raillery. His river! By it he was not only rich--he +was interesting. This secret of his which made him +different to the other traders of those seas gave inti- +mate satisfaction to that desire for singularity which +he shared with the rest of mankind, without being +aware of its presence within his breast. It was the +greater part of his happiness, but he only knew it +after its loss, so unforeseen, so sudden and so cruel. + After his conversation with Almayer he went on +board the schooner, sent Joanna on shore, and shut +himself up in his cabin, feeling very unwell. He +made the most of his indisposition to Almayer, who +came to visit him twice a day. It was an excuse for +doing nothing just yet. He wanted to think. He +was very angry. Angry with himself, with Willems. +Angry at what Willems had done--and also angry at +what he had left undone. The scoundrel was not +complete. The conception was perfect, but the execu- +tion, unaccountably, fell short. Why? He ought to +have cut Almayer's throat and burnt the place to +ashes--then cleared out. Got out of his way; of him, +Lingard! Yet he didn't. Was it impudence, con- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 203 + +tempt--or what? He felt hurt at the implied dis- +respect of his power, and the incomplete rascality +of the proceeding disturbed him exceedingly. There +was something short, something wanting, something +that would have given him a free hand in the work of +retribution. The obvious, the right thing to do, was +to shoot Willems. Yet how could he? Had the +fellow resisted, showed fight, or ran away; had he +shown any consciousness of harm done, it would have +been more possible, more natural. But no! The +fellow actually had sent him a message. Wanted to +see him. What for? The thing could not be +explained. An unexampled, cold-blooded treachery, +awful, incomprehensible. Why did he do it? Why? +Why? The old seaman in the stuffy solitude of his +little cabin on board the schooner groaned out many +times that question, striking with an open palm his +perplexed forehead. + During his four days of seclusion he had received +two messages from the outer world; from that world +of Sambir which had, so suddenly and so finally, +slipped from his grasp. One, a few words from Willems +written on a torn-out page of a small notebook; the +other, a communication from Abdulla caligraphed +carefully on a large sheet of flimsy paper and delivered +to him in a green silk wrapper. The first he could not +understand. It said: "Come and see me. I am not +afraid. Are you? W." He tore it up angrily, but +before the small bits of dirty paper had the time to +flutter down and settle on the floor, the anger was gone +and was replaced by a sentiment that induced him to +go on his knees, pick up the fragments of the torn +message, piece it together on the top of his chronometer +box, and contemplate it long and thoughtfully, as if he +had hoped to read the answer of the horrible riddle in + + +204 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +the very form of the letters that went to make up that +fresh insult. Abdulla's letter he read carefully and +rammed it into his pocket, also with anger, but with +anger that ended in a half-resigned, half-amused smile. +He would never give in as long as there was a chance. +"It's generally the safest way to stick to the ship as +long as she will swim," was one of his favourite sayings: +"The safest and the right way. To abandon a craft +because it leaks is easy--but poor work. Poor work!" +Yet he was intelligent enough to know when he was +beaten, and to accept the situation like a man, without +repining. When Almayer came on board that after- +noon he handed him the letter without comment. + Almayer read it, returned it in silence, and leaning +over the taffrail (the two men were on deck) looked +down for some time at the play of the eddies round +the schooner's rudder. At last he said without looking +up-- + "That's a decent enough letter. Abdulla gives him +up to you. I told you they were getting sick of him. +What are you going to do?" + Lingard cleared his throat, shuffled his feet, opened +his mouth with great determination, but said nothing +for a while. At last he murmured-- + "I'll be hanged if I know--just yet." + "I wish you would do something soon . . ." + "What's the hurry?" interrupted Lingard. "He +can't get away. As it stands he is at my mercy, as far +as I can see." + "Yes," said Almayer, reflectively--"and very little +mercy he deserves too. Abdulla's meaning--as I can +make it out amongst all those compliments--is: 'Get +rid for me of that white man--and we shall live in peace +and share the trade."' + "You believe that?" asked Lingard, contemptuously. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 205 + + "Not altogether," answered Almayer. "No doubt +we will share the trade for a time--till he can grab the +lot. Well, what are you going to do?" + He looked up as he spoke and was surprised to see +Lingard's discomposed face. + "You ain't well. Pain anywhere?" he asked, with +real solicitude. + "I have been queer--you know--these last few days, +but no pain." He struck his broad chest several +times, cleared his throat with a powerful "Hem!" +and repeated: "No. No pain. Good for a few +years yet. But I am bothered with all this, I can tell +you!" + "You must take care of yourself," said Almayer. +Then after a pause he added: "You will see Abdulla. +Won't you?" + "I don't know. Not yet. There's plenty of time," +said Lingard, impatiently. + "I wish you would do something," urged Almayer, +moodily. "You know, that woman is a perfect +nuisance to me. She and her brat! Yelps all day. +And the children don't get on together. Yesterday +the little devil wanted to fight with my Nina. +Scratched her face, too. A perfect savage! Like his +honourable papa. Yes, really. She worries about her +husband, and whimpers from morning to night. When +she isn't weeping she is furious with me. Yesterday +she tormented me to tell her when he would be back +and cried because he was engaged in such dangerous +work. I said something about it being all right--no +necessity to make a fool of herself, when she turned upon +me like a wild cat. Called me a brute, selfish, heartless; +raved about her beloved Peter risking his life for my +benefit, while I did not care. Said I took advantage of +his generous good-nature to get him to do dangerous + + +206 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +work--my work. That he was worth twenty of +the likes of me. That she would tell you--open +your eyes as to the kind of man I was, and so on. +That's what I've got to put up with for your sake. +You really might consider me a little. I haven't +robbed anybody," went on Almayer, with an attempt +at bitter irony--"or sold my best friend, but still +you ought to have some pity on me. It's like living +in a hot fever. She is out of her wits. You make +my house a refuge for scoundrels and lunatics. It +isn't fair. 'Pon my word it isn't! When she is +in her tantrums she is ridiculously ugly and screeches +so--it sets my teeth on edge. Thank God! my +wife got a fit of the sulks and cleared out of the house. +Lives in a riverside hut since that affair--you know. +But this Willems' wife by herself is almost more than I +can bear. And I ask myself why should I? You +are exacting and no mistake. This morning I thought +she was going to claw me. Only think! She wanted +to go prancing about the settlement. She might have +heard something there, so I told her she mustn't. It +wasn't safe outside our fences, I said. Thereupon she +rushes at me with her ten nails up to my eyes. 'You +miserable man,' she yells, 'even this place is not safe, +and you've sent him up this awful river where he may +lose his head. If he dies before forgiving me, Heaven +will punish you for your crime . . .' My crime! I +ask myself sometimes whether I am dreaming! It will +make me ill, all this. I've lost my appetite already." + He flung his hat on deck and laid hold of his hair +despairingly. Lingard looked at him with concern. + "What did she mean by it?" he muttered, thought- +fully. + "Mean! She is crazy, I tell you--and I will be, very +soon, if this lasts!" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 207 + + "Just a little patience, Kaspar," pleaded Lingard. +"A day or so more." + Relieved or tired by his violent outburst, Almayer +calmed down, picked up his hat and, leaning against +the bulwark, commenced to fan himself with it. + "Days do pass," he said, resignedly--"but that +kind of thing makes a man old before his time. What +is there to think about?--I can't imagine! Abdulla +says plainly that if you undertake to pilot his ship out +and instruct the half-caste, he will drop Willems like +a hot potato and be your friend ever after. I believe +him perfectly, as to Willems. It's so natural. As to +being your friend it's a lie of course, but we need not +bother about that just yet. You just say yes to Ab- +dulla, and then whatever happens to Willems will be +nobody's business." + He interrupted himself and remained silent for a +while, glaring about with set teeth and dilated nostrils. + "You leave it to me. I'll see to it that something +happens to him," he said at last, with calm ferocity. +Lingard smiled faintly. + "The fellow isn't worth a shot. Not the trouble +of it," he whispered, as if to himself. Almayer fired +up suddenly. + "That's what you think," he cried. "You haven't +been sewn up in your hammock to be made a laughing- +stock of before a parcel of savages. Why! I daren't +look anybody here in the face while that scoundrel is +alive. I will . . . I will settle him." + "I don't think you will," growled Lingard. + "Do you think I am afraid of him?" + "Bless you! no!" said Lingard with alacrity. +"Afraid! Not you. I know you. I don't doubt +your courage. It's your head, my boy, your head +that I . . ." + + +208 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "That's it," said the aggrieved Almayer. "Go +on. Why don't you call me a fool at once?" + "Because I don't want to," burst out Lingard, +with nervous irritability. "If I wanted to call you +a fool, I would do so without asking your leave." +He began to walk athwart the narrow quarter-deck, +kicking ropes' ends out of his way and growling to +himself: "Delicate gentleman . . . what next? +. . . I've done man's work before you could toddle. +Understand . . . say what I like." + "Well! well!" said Almayer, with affected resignation. +"There's no talking to you these last few days." He +put on his hat, strolled to the gangway and stopped, +one foot on the little inside ladder, as if hesitating, +came back and planted himself in Lingard's way, +compelling him to stand still and listen. + "Of course you will do what you like. You never +take advice--I know that; but let me tell you that +it wouldn't be honest to let that fellow get away +from here. If you do nothing, that scoundrel will +leave in Abdulla's ship for sure. Abdulla will make +use of him to hurt you and others elsewhere. Willems +knows too much about your affairs. He will cause you +lots of trouble. You mark my words. Lots of trouble. +To you--and to others perhaps. Think of that, +Captain Lingard. That's all I've got to say. Now +I must go back on shore. There's lots of work. We +will begin loading this schooner to-morrow morning, +first thing. All the bundles are ready. If you should +want me for anything, hoist some kind of flag on the +mainmast. At night two shots will fetch me." Then +he added, in a friendly tone, "Won't you come and dine +in the house to-night? It can't be good for you to stew +on board like that, day after day." + Lingard did not answer. The image evoked by + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 209 + +Almayer; the picture of Willems ranging over the +islands and disturbing the harmony of the universe +by robbery, treachery, and violence, held him silent, +entranced--painfully spellbound. Almayer, after wait- +ing for a little while, moved reluctantly towards the +gangway, lingered there, then sighed and got over the +side, going down step by step. His head disappeared +slowly below the rail. Lingard, who had been staring +at him absently, started suddenly, ran to the side, and +looking over, called out-- + "Hey! Kaspar! Hold on a bit!" + Almayer signed to his boatmen to cease paddling, +and turned his head towards the schooner. The +boat drifted back slowly abreast of Lingard, nearly +alongside. + "Look here," said Lingard, looking down--"I +want a good canoe with four men to-day." + "Do you want it now?" asked Almayer. + "No! Catch this rope. Oh, you clumsy devil! +. . . No, Kaspar," went on Lingard, after the bow- +man had got hold of the end of the brace he had thrown +down into the canoe--"No, Kaspar. The sun is too +much for me. And it would be better to keep my affairs +quiet, too. Send the canoe--four good paddlers, +mind, and your canvas chair for me to sit in. Send it +about sunset. D'ye hear?" + "All right, father," said Almayer, cheerfully--"I +will send Ali for a steersman, and the best men I've +got. Anything else?" + "No, my lad. Only don't let them be late." + "I suppose it's no use asking you where you are +going," said Almayer, tentatively. "Because if it is +to see Abdulla, I . . ." + "I am not going to see Abdulla. Not to-day. Now +be off with you." + + +210 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + He watched the canoe dart away shorewards, waved +his hand in response to Almayer's nod, and walked +to the taffrail smoothing out Abdulla's letter, which +he had pulled out of his pocket. He read it over +carefully, crumpled it up slowly, smiling the while +and closing his fingers firmly over the crackling paper +as though he had hold there of Abdulla's throat. Half- +way to his pocket he changed his mind, and flinging +the ball overboard looked at it thoughtfully as it spun +round in the eddies for a moment, before the current +bore it away down-stream, towards the sea. + + + + PART IV + +[page intentionally blank] + + + CHAPTER ONE + + THE night was very dark. For the first time in +many months the East Coast slept unseen by the stars +under a veil of motionless cloud that, driven before +the first breath of the rainy monsoon, had drifted +slowly from the eastward all the afternoon; pursuing +the declining sun with its masses of black and grey +that seemed to chase the light with wicked intent, +and with an ominous and gloomy steadiness, as though +conscious of the message of violence and turmoil they +carried. At the sun's disappearance below the western +horizon, the immense cloud, in quickened motion, +grappled with the glow of retreating light, and rolling +down to the clear and jagged outline of the distant +mountains, hung arrested above the steaming forests; +hanging low, silent and menacing over the unstirring +tree-tops; withholding the blessing of rain, nursing +the wrath of its thunder; undecided--as if brooding +over its own power for good or for evil. + Babalatchi, coming out of the red and smoky light +of his little bamboo house, glanced upwards, drew in +a long breath of the warm and stagnant air, and stood +for a moment with his good eye closed tightly, as if +intimidated by the unwonted and deep silence of +Lakamba's courtyard. When he opened his eye he +had recovered his sight so far, that he could dis- +tinguish the various degrees of formless blackness +which marked the places of trees, of abandoned houses, +of riverside bushes, on the dark background of the +night. The careworn sage walked cautiously down + +213 + + +214 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +the deserted courtyard to the waterside, and stood +on the bank listening to the voice of the invisible +river that flowed at his feet; listening to the soft +whispers, to the deep murmurs, to the sudden gurgles +and the short hisses of the swift current racing along +the bank through the hot darkness. + He stood with his face turned to the river, and it +seemed to him that he could breathe easier with the +knowledge of the clear vast space before him; then, +after a while he leaned heavily forward on his staff, +his chin fell on his breast, and a deep sigh was his +answer to the selfish discourse of the river that hurried +on unceasing and fast, regardless of joy or sorrow, of +suffering and of strife, of failures and triumphs that +lived on its banks. The brown water was there, +ready to carry friends or enemies, to nurse love or hate +on its submissive and heartless bosom, to help or to +hinder, to save life or give death; the great and rapid +river: a deliverance, a prison, a refuge or a grave. + Perchance such thoughts as these caused Babalatchi +to send another mournful sigh into the trailing mists +of the unconcerned Pantai. The barbarous politician +had forgotten the recent success of his plottings in the +melancholy contemplation of a sorrow that made the +night blacker, the clammy heat more oppressive, the +still air more heavy, the dumb solitude more signifi- +cant of torment than of peace. He had spent the night +before by the side of the dying Omar, and now, after +twenty-four hours, his memory persisted in returning +to that low and sombre reed hut from which the fierce +spirit of the incomparably accomplished pirate took its +flight, to learn too late, in a worse world, the error of its +earthly ways. The mind of the savage statesman, +chastened by bereavement, felt for a moment the weight +of his loneliness with keen perception worthy even of a + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 215 + +sensibility exasperated by all the refinements of tender +sentiment that a glorious civilization brings in its train, +among other blessings and virtues, into this excellent +world. For the space of about thirty seconds, a half- +naked, betel-chewing pessimist stood upon the bank of +the tropical river, on the edge of the still and immense +forests; a man angry, powerless, empty-handed, with +a cry of bitter discontent ready on his lips; a cry +that, had it come out, would have rung through the +virgin solitudes of the woods, as true, as great, as pro- +found, as any philosophical shriek that ever came +from the depths of an easy-chair to disturb the impure +wilderness of chimneys and roofs. + For half a minute and no more did Babalatchi face +the gods in the sublime privilege of his revolt, and +then the one-eyed puller of wires became himself +again, full of care and wisdom and far-reaching plans, +and a victim to the tormenting superstitions of his +race. The night, no matter how quiet, is never per- +fectly silent to attentive ears, and now Babalatchi +fancied he could detect in it other noises than those +caused by the ripples and eddies of the river. He +turned his head sharply to the right and to the left in +succession, and then spun round quickly in a startled +and watchful manner, as if he had expected to see the +blind ghost of his departed leader wandering in the +obscurity of the empty courtyard behind his back. +Nothing there. Yet he had heard a noise; a strange +noise! No doubt a ghostly voice of a complaining +and angry spirit. He listened. Not a sound. Re- +assured, Babalatchi made a few paces towards his +house, when a very human noise, that of hoarse cough- +ing, reached him from the river. He stopped, listened +attentively, but now without any sign of emotion, and +moving briskly back to the waterside stood expectant + + +216 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +with parted lips, trying to pierce with his eye the waver- +ing curtain of mist that hung low over the water. +He could see nothing, yet some people in a canoe must +have been very near, for he heard words spoken in an +ordinary tone. + "Do you think this is the place, Ali? I can see +nothing." + "It must be near here, Tuan," answered another +voice. "Shall we try the bank?" + "No! . . . Let drift a little. If you go poking +into the bank in the dark you might stove the canoe +on some log. We must be careful. . . . Let drift! +Let drift! . . . This does seem to be a clearing of +some sort. We may see a light by and by from some +house or other. In Lakamba's campong there are +many houses? Hey?" + "A great number, Tuan . . . I do not see any +light." + "Nor I," grumbled the first voice again, this time +nearly abreast of the silent Babalatchi who looked +uneasily towards his own house, the doorway of which +glowed with the dim light of a torch burning within. +The house stood end on to the river, and its doorway +faced down-stream, so Babalatchi reasoned rapidly +that the strangers on the river could not see the light +from the position their boat was in at the moment. +He could not make up his mind to call out to them, +and while he hesitated he heard the voices again, but +now some way below the landing-place where he stood. + "Nothing. This cannot be it. Let them give +way, Ali! Dayong there!" + That order was followed by the splash of paddles, +then a sudden cry-- + "I see a light. I see it! Now I know where to +land, Tuan." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 217 + + There was more splashing as the canoe was paddled +sharply round and came back up-stream close to the +bank. + "Call out," said very near a deep voice, which +Babalatchi felt sure must belong to a white man. +"Call out--and somebody may come with a torch. +I can't see anything." + The loud hail that succeeded these words was +emitted nearly under the silent listener's nose. Baba- +latchi, to preserve appearances, ran with long but noise- +less strides halfway up the courtyard, and only then +shouted in answer and kept on shouting as he walked +slowly back again towards the river bank. He saw +there an indistinct shape of a boat, not quite along- +side the landing-place. + "Who speaks on the river?" asked Babalatchi, +throwing a tone of surprise into his question. + "A white man," answered Lingard from the canoe. +"Is there not one torch in rich Lakamba's campong +to light a guest on his landing?" + "There are no torches and no men. I am alone +here," said Babalatchi, with some hesitation. + "Alone!" exclaimed Lingard. "Who are you?" + "Only a servant of Lakamba. But land, Tuan +Putih, and see my face. Here is my hand. No! +Here! . . . By your mercy. . . . Ada! . . . +Now you are safe." + "And you are alone here?" said Lingard, moving +with precaution a few steps into the courtyard. "How +dark it is," he muttered to himself--"one would think +the world had been painted black." + "Yes. Alone. What more did you say, Tuan? +I did not understand your talk." + "It is nothing. I expected to find here . . . +But where are they all?" + + +218 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "What matters where they are?" said Babalatchi, +gloomily. "Have you come to see my people? The +last departed on a long journey--and I am alone. To- +morrow I go too." + "I came to see a white man," said Lingard, walking +on slowly. "He is not gone, is he?" + "No!" answered Babalatchi, at his elbow. "A +man with a red skin and hard eyes," he went on, +musingly, "whose hand is strong, and whose heart +is foolish and weak. A white man indeed . . . +But still a man." + They were now at the foot of the short ladder which +led to the split-bamboo platform surrounding Baba- +latchi's habitation. The faint light from the door- +way fell down upon the two men's faces as they stood +looking at each other curiously. + "Is he there?" asked Lingard, in a low voice, with +a wave of his hand upwards. + Babalatchi, staring hard at his long-expected visitor, +did not answer at once. + "No, not there," he said at last, placing his foot +on the lowest rung and looking back. "Not there, +Tuan--yet not very far. Will you sit down in my +dwelling? There may be rice and fish and clear +water--not from the river, but from a spring . . ." + "I am not hungry," interrupted Lingard, curtly, +and I did not come here to sit in your dwelling. +Lead me to the white man who expects me. I have +no time to lose." + "The night is long, Tuan," went on Babalatchi, +softly, "and there are other nights and other days. +Long. Very long . . . How much time it takes +for a man to die! O Rajah Laut!" + Lingard started. + "You know me!" he exclaimed. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 219 + + "Ay--wa! I have seen your face and felt your +hand before--many years ago," said Babalatchi, +holding on halfway up the ladder, and bending down +from above to peer into Lingard's upturned face. +"You do not remember--but I have not forgotten. +There are many men like me: there is only one Rajah +Laut." + He climbed with sudden agility the last few steps, +and stood on the platform waving his hand invitingly +to Lingard, who followed after a short moment of +indecision. + The elastic bamboo floor of the hut bent under the +heavy weight of the old seaman, who, standing within +the threshold, tried to look into the smoky gloom of +the low dwelling. Under the torch, thrust into the +cleft of a stick, fastened at a right angle to the middle +stay of the ridge pole, lay a red patch of light, showing +a few shabby mats and a corner of a big wooden chest +the rest of which was lost in shadow. In the obscurity +of the more remote parts of the house a lance-head, a +brass tray hung on the wall, the long barrel of a gun +leaning against the chest, caught the stray rays of the +smoky illumination in trembling gleams that wavered, +disappeared, reappeared, went out, came back--as if +engaged in a doubtful struggle with the darkness that, +lying in wait in distant corners, seemed to dart out +viciously towards its feeble enemy. The vast space +under the high pitch of the roof was filled with a thick +cloud of smoke, whose under-side--level like a ceiling-- +reflected the light of the swaying dull flame, while at +the top it oozed out through the imperfect thatch of +dried palm leaves. An indescribable and complicated +smell, made up of the exhalation of damp earth below, +of the taint of dried fish and of the effluvia of rotting +vegetable matter, pervaded the place and caused Lin- + + +220 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +gard to sniff strongly as he strode over, sat on the +chest, and, leaning his elbows on his knees, took his +head between his hands and stared at the doorway +thoughtfully. + Babalatchi moved about in the shadows, whispering +to an indistinct form or two that flitted about at the +far end of the hut. Without stirring Lingard glanced +sideways, and caught sight of muffled-up human shapes +that hovered for a moment near the edge of light and +retreated suddenly back into the darkness. Babalatchi +approached, and sat at Lingard's feet on a rolled-up +bundle of mats. + "Will you eat rice and drink sagueir?" he said. "I +have waked up my household." + "My friend," said Lingard, without looking at him, +"when I come to see Lakamba, or any of Lakamba's +servants, I am never hungry and never thirsty. Tau! +Savee! Never! Do you think I am devoid of reason? +That there is nothing there?" + He sat up, and, fixing abruptly his eyes on Baba- +latchi, tapped his own forehead significantly. + "Tse! Tse! Tse! How can you talk like that, +Tuan!" exclaimed Babalatchi, in a horrified tone. + "I talk as I think. I have lived many years," +said Lingard, stretching his arm negligently to take +up the gun, which he began to examine knowingly, +cocking it, and easing down the hammer several times. +"This is good. Mataram make. Old, too," he went on. + "Hai!" broke in Babalatchi, eagerly. "I got it +when I was young. He was an Aru trader, a man +with a big stomach and a loud voice, and brave--very +brave. When we came up with his prau in the grey +morning, he stood aft shouting to his men and fired +this gun at us once. Only once!" . . . He +paused, laughed softly, and went on in a low, dreamy + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 221 + +voice. "In the grey morning we came up: forty +silent men in a swift Sulu prau; and when the sun was +so high"--here he held up his hands about three feet +apart--"when the sun was only so high, Tuan, our +work was done--and there was a feast ready for the +fishes of the sea." + "Aye! aye!" muttered Lingard, nodding his head +slowly. "I see. You should not let it get rusty like +this," he added. + He let the gun fall between his knees, and moving +back on his seat, leaned his head against the wall of +the hut, crossing his arms on his breast. + "A good gun," went on Babalatchi. "Carry far +and true. Better than this--there." + With the tips of his fingers he touched gently the +butt of a revolver peeping out of the right pocket of +Lingard's white jacket. + "Take your hand off that," said Lingard sharply, but +in a good-humoured tone and without making the +slightest movement. + Babalatchi smiled and hitched his seat a little +further off. + For some time they sat in silence. Lingard, with +his head tilted back, looked downwards with lowered +eyelids at Babalatchi, who was tracing invisible lines +with his finger on the mat between his feet. Outside, +they could hear Ali and the other boatmen chattering +and laughing round the fire they had lighted in the big +and deserted courtyard. + "Well, what about that white man?" said Lingard, +quietly. + It seemed as if Babalatchi had not heard the ques- +tion. He went on tracing elaborate patterns on the +floor for a good while. Lingard waited motionless. +At last the Malay lifted his head. + + +222 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Hai! The white man. I know!" he murmured +absently. "This white man or another. . . . +Tuan," he said aloud with unexpected animation, +"you are a man of the sea?" + "You know me. Why ask?" said Lingard, in a +low tone. + "Yes. A man of the sea--even as we are. A +true Orang Laut," went on Babalatchi, thoughtfully, +"not like the rest of the white men." + "I am like other whites, and do not wish to speak +many words when the truth is short. I came here to +see the white man that helped Lakamba against Pata- +lolo, who is my friend. Show me where that white +man lives; I want him to hear my talk." + "Talk only? Tuan! Why hurry? The night is +long and death is swift--as you ought to know; you +who have dealt it to so many of my people. Many +years ago I have faced you, arms in hand. Do you +not remember? It was in Carimata--far from here." + I cannot remember every vagabond that came in +my way," protested Lingard, seriously. + "Hai! Hai!" continued Babalatchi, unmoved and +dreamy. "Many years ago. Then all this"--and +looking up suddenly at Lingard's beard, he flourished +his fingers below his own beardless chin--"then all +this was like gold in sunlight, now it is like the foam +of an angry sea." + "Maybe, maybe," said Lingard, patiently, paying +the involuntary tribute of a faint sigh to the memories +of the past evoked by Babalatchi's words. + He had been living with Malays so long and so +close that the extreme deliberation and deviousness of +their mental proceedings had ceased to irritate him +much. To-night, perhaps, he was less prone to im- +patience than ever. He was disposed, if not to listen + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 223 + +to Babalatchi, then to let him talk. It was evident +to him that the man had something to say, and he +hoped that from the talk a ray of light would shoot +through the thick blackness of inexplicable treachery, +to show him clearly--if only for a second--the man +upon whom he would have to execute the verdict of +justice. Justice only! Nothing was further from his +thoughts than such an useless thing as revenge. Jus- +tice only. It was his duty that justice should be done +--and by his own hand. He did not like to think how. +To him, as to Babalatchi, it seemed that the night would +be long enough for the work he had to do. But he +did not define to himself the nature of the work, and he +sat very still, and willingly dilatory, under the fearsome +oppression of his call. What was the good to think +about it? It was inevitable, and its time was near. +Yet he could not command his memories that came +crowding round him in that evil-smelling hut, while +Babalatchi talked on in a flowing monotone, nothing of +him moving but the lips, in the artificially inanimated +face. Lingard, like an anchored ship that had broken +her sheer, darted about here and there on the rapid tide +of his recollections. The subdued sound of soft words +rang around him, but his thoughts were lost, now in the +contemplation of the past sweetness and strife of Cari- +mata days, now in the uneasy wonder at the failure +of his judgment; at the fatal blindness of accident that +had caused him, many years ago, to rescue a half- +starved runaway from a Dutch ship in Samarang roads. +How he had liked the man: his assurance, his push, +his desire to get on, his conceited good-humour and +his selfish eloquence. He had liked his very faults-- +those faults that had so many, to him, sympathetic +sides. And he had always dealt fairly by him from the +very beginning; and he would deal fairly by him now + + +224 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +--to the very end. This last thought darkened Lin- +gard's features with a responsive and menacing frown. +The doer of justice sat with compressed lips and a heavy +heart, while in the calm darkness outside the silent +world seemed to be waiting breathlessly for that justice +he held in his hand--in his strong hand:--ready to +strike--reluctant to move. + + + + CHAPTER TWO + + BABALATCHI ceased speaking. Lingard shifted his +feet a little, uncrossed his arms, and shook his head +slowly. The narrative of the events in Sambir, +related from the point of view of the astute statesman, +the sense of which had been caught here and there +by his inattentive ears, had been yet like a thread to +guide him out of the sombre labyrinth of his thoughts; +and now he had come to the end of it, out of the tangled +past into the pressing necessities of the present. With +the palms of his hands on his knees, his elbows squared +out, he looked down on Babalatchi who sat in a stiff +attitude, inexpressive and mute as a talking doll the +mechanism of which had at length run down. + "You people did all this," said Lingard at last, +"and you will be sorry for it before the dry wind +begins to blow again. Abdulla's voice will bring the +Dutch rule here." + Babalatchi waved his hand towards the dark door- +way. + "There are forests there. Lakamba rules the land +now. Tell me, Tuan, do you think the big trees +know the name of the ruler? No. They are born, +they grow, they live and they die--yet know not, feel +not. It is their land." + "Even a big tree may be killed by a small axe," +said Lingard, drily. "And, remember, my one-eyed +friend, that axes are made by white hands. You will +soon find that out, since you have hoisted the flag of +the Dutch." + +225 + + +226 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Ay--wa!" said Babalatchi, slowly. "It is written +that the earth belongs to those who have fair skins +and hard but foolish hearts. The farther away is the +master, the easier it is for the slave, Tuan! You were +too near. Your voice rang in our ears always. Now +it is not going to be so. The great Rajah in Batavia is +strong, but he may be deceived. He must speak very +loud to be heard here. But if we have need to +shout, then he must hear the many voices that call for +protection. He is but a white man." + "If I ever spoke to Patalolo, like an elder brother, +it was for your good--for the good of all," said Lingard +with great earnestness. + "This is a white man's talk," exclaimed Babalatchi, +with bitter exultation. "I know you. That is how +you all talk while you load your guns and sharpen +your swords; and when you are ready, then to those +who are weak you say: 'Obey me and be happy, or +die! You are strange, you white men. You think +it is only your wisdom and your virtue and your +happiness that are true. You are stronger than the +wild beasts, but not so wise. A black tiger knows +when he is not hungry--you do not. He knows the +difference between himself and those that can speak; +you do not understand the difference between your- +selves and us--who are men. You are wise and great +--and you shall always be fools." + He threw up both his hands, stirring the sleeping +cloud of smoke that hung above his head, and brought +the open palms on the flimsy floor on each side of his +outstretched legs. The whole hut shook. Lingard +looked at the excited statesman curiously. + "Apa! Apa! What's the matter?" he murmured, +soothingly. "Whom did I kill here? Where are my +guns? What have I done? What have I eaten up?" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 227 + + Babalatchi calmed down, and spoke with studied +courtesy. + "You, Tuan, are of the sea, and more like what +we are. Therefore I speak to you all the words that +are in my heart. . . . Only once has the sea been +stronger than the Rajah of the sea." + "You know it; do you?" said Lingard, with pained +sharpness. + "Hai! We have heard about your ship--and some +rejoiced. Not I. Amongst the whites, who are +devils, you are a man." + "Trima kassi! I give you thanks," said Lingard, +gravely. + Babalatchi looked down with a bashful smile, but +his face became saddened directly, and when he spoke +again it was in a mournful tone. + "Had you come a day sooner, Tuan, you would +have seen an enemy die. You would have seen him +die poor, blind, unhappy--with no son to dig his grave +and speak of his wisdom and courage. Yes; you would +have seen the man that fought you in Carimata many +years ago, die alone--but for one friend. A great sight +to you." + "Not to me," answered Lingard. "I did not even +remember him till you spoke his name just now. You +do not understand us. We fight, we vanquish--and +we forget." + "True, true," said Babalatchi, with polite irony; +"you whites are so great that you disdain to remember +your enemies. No! No!" he went on, in the same +tone, "you have so much mercy for us, that there is +no room for any remembrance. Oh, you are great and +good! But it is in my mind that amongst yourselves +you know how to remember. Is it not so, Tuan?" + Lingard said nothing. His shoulders moved im- + + +228 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +perceptibly. He laid his gun across his knees and +stared at the flint lock absently. + "Yes," went on Babalatchi, falling again into a +mournful mood, "yes, he died in darkness. I sat by +his side and held his hand, but he could not see the +face of him who watched the faint breath on his lips. +She, whom he had cursed because of the white man, +was there too, and wept with covered face. The +white man walked about the courtyard making many +noises. Now and then he would come to the door- +way and glare at us who mourned. He stared with +wicked eyes, and then I was glad that he who was +dying was blind. This is true talk. I was glad; for +a white man's eyes are not good to see when the devil +that lives within is looking out through them." + "Devil! Hey?" said Lingard, half aloud to him- +self, as if struck with the obviousness of some novel +idea. Babalatchi went on: + "At the first hour of the morning he sat up--he so +weak--and said plainly some words that were not +meant for human ears. I held his hand tightly, but it +was time for the leader of brave men to go amongst +the Faithful who are happy. They of my household +brought a white sheet, and I began to dig a grave in +the hut in which he died. She mourned aloud. The +white man came to the doorway and shouted. He +was angry. Angry with her because she beat her breast, +and tore her hair, and mourned with shrill cries as +a woman should. Do you understand what I say, +Tuan? That white man came inside the hut with +great fury, and took her by the shoulder, and dragged +her out. Yes, Tuan. I saw Omar dead, and I saw +her at the feet of that white dog who has deceived me. +I saw his face grey, like the cold mist of the morning; +I saw his pale eyes looking down at Omar's daughter + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 229 + +beating her head on the ground at his feet. At the +feet of him who is Abdulla's slave. Yes, he lives by +Abdulla's will. That is why I held my hand while I +saw all this. I held my hand because we are now +under the flag of the Orang Blanda, and Abdulla can +speak into the ears of the great. We must not have +any trouble with white men. Abdulla has spoken-- +and I must obey." + "That's it, is it?" growled Lingard in his moustache. +Then in Malay, "It seems that you are angry, O +Babalatchi!" + "No; I am not angry, Tuan," answered Babalatchi, +descending from the insecure heights of his indigna- +tion into the insincere depths of safe humility. "I +am not angry. What am I to be angry? I am only +an Orang Laut, and I have fled before your people +many times. Servant of this one--protected of an- +other; I have given my counsel here and there for a +handful of rice. What am I, to be angry with a white +man? What is anger without the power to strike? But +you whites have taken all: the land, the sea, and the +power to strike! And there is nothing left for us in +the islands but your white men's justice; your great +justice that knows not anger." + He got up and stood for a moment in the doorway, +sniffing the hot air of the courtyard, then turned back +and leaned against the stay of the ridge pole, facing +Lingard who kept his seat on the chest. The torch, +consumed nearly to the end, burned noisily. Small +explosions took place in the heart of the flame, driving +through its smoky blaze strings of hard, round puffs +of white smoke, no bigger than peas, which rolled out +of doors in the faint draught that came from invisible +cracks of the bamboo walls. The pungent taint of +unclean things below and about the hut grew heavier, + + +230 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +weighing down Lingard's resolution and his thoughts +in an irresistible numbness of the brain. He thought +drowsily of himself and of that man who wanted to +see him--who waited to see him. Who waited! Night +and day. Waited. . . . A spiteful but vaporous +idea floated through his brain that such waiting could +not be very pleasant to the fellow. Well, let him +wait. He would see him soon enough. And for how +long? Five seconds--five minutes--say nothing--say +something. What? No! Just give him time to take +one good look, and then . . . + Suddenly Babalatchi began to speak in a soft voice. +Lingard blinked, cleared his throat--sat up straight. + "You know all now, Tuan. Lakamba dwells in +the stockaded house of Patalolo; Abdulla has begun +to build godowns of plank and stone; and now that +Omar is dead, I myself shall depart from this place and +live with Lakamba and speak in his ear. I have served +many. The best of them all sleeps in the ground in a +white sheet, with nothing to mark his grave but the +ashes of the hut in which he died. Yes, Tuan! the white +man destroyed it himself. With a blazing brand in his +hand he strode around, shouting to me to come out-- +shouting to me, who was throwing earth on the body of a +great leader. Yes; swearing to me by the name of +your God and ours that he would burn me and her in +there if we did not make haste. . . . Hai! The +white men are very masterful and wise. I dragged her +out quickly!" + "Oh, damn it!" exclaimed Lingard--then went on +in Malay, speaking earnestly. "Listen. That man +is not like other white men. You know he is not. He +is not a man at all. He is . . . I don't know." + Babalatchi lifted his hand deprecatingly. His eye +twinkled, and his red-stained big lips, parted by an + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 231 + +expressionless grin, uncovered a stumpy row of black +teeth filed evenly to the gums. + "Hai! Hai! Not like you. Not like you," he +said, increasing the softness of his tones as he neared +the object uppermost in his mind during that much- +desired interview. "Not like you, Tuan, who are like +ourselves, only wiser and stronger. Yet he, also, is +full of great cunning, and speaks of you without any +respect, after the manner of white men when they talk +of one another." + Lingard leaped in his seat as if he had been prodded. + "He speaks! What does he say?" he shouted. + "Nay, Tuan," protested the composed Babalatchi; +"what matters his talk if he is not a man? I am +nothing before you--why should I repeat words of +one white man about another? He did boast to Ab- +dulla of having learned much from your wisdom in +years past. Other words I have forgotten. Indeed, +Tuan, I have . . ." + Lingard cut short Babalatchi's protestations by a +contemptuous wave of the hand and reseated himself +with dignity. + "I shall go," said Babalatchi, "and the white man +will remain here, alone with the spirit of the dead and +with her who has been the delight of his heart. He, +being white, cannot hear the voice of those that died. +. . . Tell me, Tuan," he went on, looking at Lingard +with curiosity--"tell me, Tuan, do you white people +ever hear the voices of the invisible ones?" + "We do not," answered Lingard, "because those +that we cannot see do not speak." + "Never speak! And never complain with sounds +that are not words?" exclaimed Babalatchi, doubtingly. +"It may be so--or your ears are dull. We Malays +hear many sounds near the places where men are + + +232 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +buried. To-night I heard . . . Yes, even I have +heard. . . . I do not want to hear any more," he +added, nervously. "Perhaps I was wrong when I +. . . There are things I regret. The trouble was +heavy in his heart when he died. Sometimes I think I +was wrong . . . but I do not want to hear the +complaint of invisible lips. Therefore I go, Tuan. Let +the unquiet spirit speak to his enemy the white man +who knows not fear, or love, or mercy--knows nothing +but contempt and violence. I have been wrong! I +have! Hai! Hai!" + He stood for awhile with his elbow in the palm of +his left hand, the fingers of the other over his lips +as if to stifle the expression of inconvenient remorse; +then, after glancing at the torch, burnt out nearly to its +end, he moved towards the wall by the chest, fumbled +about there and suddenly flung open a large shutter of +attaps woven in a light framework of sticks. Lingard +swung his legs quickly round the corner of his seat. + "Hallo!" he said, surprised. + The cloud of smoke stirred, and a slow wisp curled +out through the new opening. The torch flickered, +hissed, and went out, the glowing end falling on the +mat, whence Babalatchi snatched it up and tossed it +outside through the open square. It described a +vanishing curve of red light, and lay below, shining +feebly in the vast darkness. Babalatchi remained +with his arm stretched out into the empty night. + "There," he said, "you can see the white man's +courtyard, Tuan, and his house." + "I can see nothing," answered Lingard, putting +his head through the shutter-hole. "It's too dark." + "Wait, Tuan," urged Babalatchi. "You have been +looking long at the burning torch. You will soon see. +Mind the gun, Tuan. It is loaded." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 233 + + "There is no flint in it. You could not find a fire- +stone for a hundred miles round this spot," said Lin- +gard, testily. "Foolish thing to load that gun." + "I have a stone. I had it from a man wise and pious +that lives in Menang Kabau. A very pious man--very +good fire. He spoke words over that stone that make +its sparks good. And the gun is good--carries straight +and far. Would carry from here to the door of the +white man's house, I believe, Tuan." + "Tida apa. Never mind your gun," muttered Lin- +gard, peering into the formless darkness. "Is that +the house--that black thing over there?" he asked. + "Yes," answered Babalatchi; "that is his house. +He lives there by the will of Abdulla, and shall live +there till . . . From where you stand, Tuan, you +can look over the fence and across the courtyard straight +at the door--at the door from which he comes out every +morning, looking like a man that had seen Jehannum +in his sleep." + Lingard drew his head in. Babalatchi touched his +shoulder with a groping hand. + "Wait a little, Tuan. Sit still. The morning is not +far off now--a morning without sun after a night with- +out stars. But there will be light enough to see the +man who said not many days ago that he alone has +made you less than a child in Sambir." + He felt a slight tremor under his hand, but took it +off directly and began feeling all over the lid of the +chest, behind Lingard's back, for the gun. + "What are you at?" said Lingard, impatiently. +"You do worry about that rotten gun. You had better +get a light." + "A light! I tell you, Tuan, that the light of heaven +is very near," said Babalatchi, who had now obtained +possession of the object of his solicitude, and grasping + + +234 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +it strongly by its long barrel, grounded the stock at his +feet. + "Perhaps it is near," said Lingard, leaning both his +elbows on the lower cross-piece of the primitive window +and looking out. "It is very black outside yet," he +remarked carelessly. + Babalatchi fidgeted about. + "It is not good for you to sit where you may be seen," +he muttered. + "Why not?" asked Lingard. + "The white man sleeps, it is true," explained Baba- +latchi, softly; "yet he may come out early, and he has +arms." + "Ah! he has arms?" said Lingard. + "Yes; a short gun that fires many times--like yours +here. Abdulla had to give it to him." + Lingard heard Babalatchi's words, but made no +movement. To the old adventurer the idea that fire +arms could be dangerous in other hands than his own +did not occur readily, and certainly not in connection +with Willems. He was so busy with the thoughts about +what he considered his own sacred duty, that he could +not give any consideration to the probable actions of +the man of whom he thought--as one may think of an +executed criminal--with wondering indignation tem- +pered by scornful pity. While he sat staring into the +darkness, that every minute grew thinner before his +pensive eyes, like a dispersing mist, Willems appeared +to him as a figure belonging already wholly to the past +--a figure that could come in no way into his life again. +He had made up his mind, and the thing was as well as +done. In his weary thoughts he had closed this fatal, +inexplicable, and horrible episode in his life. The +worst had happened. The coming days would see the +retribution. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 235 + + He had removed an enemy once or twice before, out +of his path; he had paid off some very heavy scores a +good many times. Captain Tom had been a good +friend to many: but it was generally understood, from +Honolulu round about to Diego Suarez, that Captain +Tom's enmity was rather more than any man single- +handed could easily manage. He would not, as he +said often, hurt a fly as long as the fly left him alone; +yet a man does not live for years beyond the pale of +civilized laws without evolving for himself some queer +notions of justice. Nobody of those he knew had +ever cared to point out to him the errors of his con- +ceptions. It was not worth anybody's while to run +counter to Lingard's ideas of the fitness of things-- +that fact was acquired to the floating wisdom of the +South Seas, of the Eastern Archipelago, and was +nowhere better understood than in out-of-the-way +nooks of the world; in those nooks which he filled, +unresisted and masterful, with the echoes of his noisy +presence. There is not much use in arguing with a +man who boasts of never having regretted a single +action of his life, whose answer to a mild criticism is +a good-natured shout--"You know nothing about it. +I would do it again. Yes, sir!" His associates and +his acquaintances accepted him, his opinions, his +actions like things preordained and unchangeable; +looked upon his many-sided manifestations with passive +wonder not unmixed with that admiration which is only +the rightful due of a successful man. But nobody had +ever seen him in the mood he was in now. Nobody +had seen Lingard doubtful and giving way to doubt, +unable to make up his mind and unwilling to act; Lin- +gard timid and hesitating one minute, angry yet inactive +the next; Lingard puzzled in a word, because confronted +with a situation that discomposed him by its unpro- + + +236 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +voked malevolence, by its ghastly injustice, that to his +rough but unsophisticated palate tasted distinctly of +sulphurous fumes from the deepest hell. + The smooth darkness filling the shutter-hole grew +paler and became blotchy with ill-defined shapes, as if +a new universe was being evolved out of sombre chaos. +Then outlines came out, defining forms without any +details, indicating here a tree, there a bush; a black belt +of forest far off; the straight lines of a house, the ridge +of a high roof near by. Inside the hut, Babalatchi, who +lately had been only a persuasive voice, became a hu- +man shape leaning its chin imprudently on the muzzle +of a gun and rolling an uneasy eye over the reappearing +world. The day came rapidly, dismal and oppressed +by the fog of the river and by the heavy vapours of the +sky--a day without colour and without sunshine: in- +complete, disappointing, and sad. + Babalatchi twitched gently Lingard's sleeve, and +when the old seaman had lifted up his head interroga- +tively, he stretched out an arm and a pointing forefinger +towards Willems' house, now plainly visible to the right +and beyond the big tree of the courtyard. + "Look, Tuan!" he said. "He lives there. That is +the door--his door. Through it he will appear soon, +with his hair in disorder and his mouth full of curses. +That is so. He is a white man, and never satisfied. +It is in my mind he is angry even in his sleep. A dan- +gerous man. As Tuan may observe," he went on, +obsequiously, "his door faces this opening, where you +condescend to sit, which is concealed from all eyes. +Faces it--straight--and not far. Observe, Tuan, not +at all far." + "Yes, yes; I can see. I shall see him when he +wakes." + "No doubt, Tuan. When he wakes. . . . If + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 237 + +you remain here he can not see you. I shall withdraw +quickly and prepare my canoe myself. I am only a +poor man, and must go to Sambir to greet Lakamba +when he opens his eyes. I must bow before Abdulla +who has strength--even more strength than you. Now +if you remain here, you shall easily behold the man who +boasted to Abdulla that he had been your friend, even +while he prepared to fight those who called you pro- +tector. Yes, he plotted with Abdulla for that cursed +flag. Lakamba was blind then, and I was deceived. +But you, Tuan! Remember, he deceived you more. +Of that he boasted before all men." + He leaned the gun quietly against the wall close to +the window, and said softly: "Shall I go now, Tuan? +Be careful of the gun. I have put the fire-stone in. +The fire-stone of the wise man, which never fails." + Lingard's eyes were fastened on the distant door- +way. Across his line of sight, in the grey emptiness +of the courtyard, a big fruit-pigeon flapped languidly +towards the forests with a loud booming cry, like the +note of a deep gong: a brilliant bird looking in the gloom +of threatening day as black as a crow. A serried flock +of white rice birds rose above the trees with a faint +scream, and hovered, swaying in a disordered mass +that suddenly scattered in all directions, as if burst +asunder by a silent explosion. Behind his back Lin- +gard heard a shuffle of feet--women leaving the hut. +In the other courtyard a voice was heard complaining +of cold, and coming very feeble, but exceedingly dis- +tinct, out of the vast silence of the abandoned houses +and clearings. Babalatchi coughed discreetly. From +under the house the thumping of wooden pestles husk- +ing the rice started with unexpected abruptness. The +weak but clear voice in the yard again urged, "Blow +up the embers, O brother!" Another voice answered, + + +238 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +drawling in modulated, thin sing-song, "Do it yourself, +O shivering pig!" and the drawl of the last words stopped +short, as if the man had fallen into a deep hole. Baba- +latchi coughed again a little impatiently, and said in a +confidential tone-- + "Do you think it is time for me to go, Tuan? Will +you take care of my gun, Tuan? I am a man that +knows how to obey; even obey Abdulla, who has de- +ceived me. Nevertheless this gun carries far and true +--if you would want to know, Tuan. And I have put +in a double measure of powder, and three slugs. Yes, +Tuan. Now--perhaps--I go." + When Babalatchi commenced speaking, Lingard +turned slowly round and gazed upon him with the dull +and unwilling look of a sick man waking to another +day of suffering. As the astute statesman proceeded, +Lingard's eyebrows came close, his eyes became ani- +mated, and a big vein stood out on his forehead, ac- +centuating a lowering frown. When speaking his last +words Babalatchi faltered, then stopped, confused, +before the steady gaze of the old seaman. + Lingard rose. His face cleared, and he looked down +at the anxious Babalatchi with sudden benevolence. + "So! That's what you were after," he said, laying +a heavy hand on Babalatchi's yielding shoulder. "You +thought I came here to murder him. Hey? Speak! +You faithful dog of an Arab trader!" + "And what else, Tuan?" shrieked Babalatchi, exas- +perated into sincerity. "What else, Tuan! Remem- +ber what he has done; he poisoned our ears with his talk +about you. You are a man. If you did not come to +kill, Tuan, then either I am a fool or . . ." He +paused, struck his naked breast with his open palm, and +finished in a discouraged whisper--"or, Tuan, you are." + Lingard looked down at him with scornful serenity. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 239 + +After his long and painful gropings amongst the ob- +scure abominations of Willems' conduct, the logical +if tortuous evolutions of Babalatchi's diplomatic mind +were to him welcome as daylight. There was some- +thing at last he could understand--the clear effect of a +simple cause. He felt indulgent towards the disap- +pointed sage. + "So you are angry with your friend, O one-eyed +one!" he said slowly, nodding his fierce countenance +close to Babalatchi's discomfited face. "It seems to +me that you must have had much to do with what +happened in Sambir lately. Hey? You son of a +burnt father." + "May I perish under your hand, O Rajah of the +sea, if my words are not true!" said Babalatchi, with +reckless excitement. "You are here in the midst of +your enemies. He the greatest. Abdulla would do +nothing without him, and I could do nothing without +Abdulla. Strike me--so that you strike all!" + "Who are you," exclaimed Lingard contemptuously +--"who are you to dare call yourself my enemy! Dirt! +Nothing! Go out first," he went on severely. "Lakas! +quick. March out!" + He pushed Babalatchi through the doorway and +followed him down the short ladder into the court- +yard. The boatmen squatting over the fire turned +their slow eyes with apparent difficulty towards the +two men; then, unconcerned, huddled close together +again, stretching forlornly their hands over the embers. +The women stopped in their work and with uplifted +pestles flashed quick and curious glances from the +gloom under the house. + "Is that the way?" asked Lingard with a nod towards +the little wicket-gate of Willems' enclosure. + "If you seek death, that is surely the way," an- + + +240 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +swered Babalatchi in a dispassionate voice, as if he had +exhausted all the emotions. "He lives there: he who +destroyed your friends; who hastened Omar's death; +who plotted with Abdulla first against you, then against +me. I have been like a child. O shame! . . . But +go, Tuan. Go there." + "I go where I like," said Lingard, emphatically, +"and you may go to the devil; I do not want you +any more. The islands of these seas shall sink before +I, Rajah Laut, serve the will of any of your people. +Tau? But I tell you this: I do not care what you +do with him after to-day. And I say that because I +am merciful." + "Tida! I do nothing," said Babalatchi, shaking his +head with bitter apathy. "I am in Abdulla's hand +and care not, even as you do. No! no!" he added, +turning away, "I have learned much wisdom this +morning. There are no men anywhere. You whites +are cruel to your friends and merciful to your enemies +--which is the work of fools." + He went away towards the riverside, and, without +once looking back, disappeared in the low bank of mist +that lay over the water and the shore. Lingard fol- +lowed him with his eyes thoughtfully. After awhile +he roused himself and called out to his boatmen-- + "Hai--ya there! After you have eaten rice, wait +for me with your paddles in your hands. You hear?" + "Ada, Tuan!" answered Ali through the smoke of +the morning fire that was spreading itself, low and +gentle, over the courtyard--"we hear!" + Lingard opened slowly the little wicket-gate, made +a few steps into the empty enclosure, and stopped. He +had felt about his head the short breath of a puff of wind +that passed him, made every leaf of the big tree shiver-- +and died out in a hardly perceptible tremor of branches + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 241 + +and twigs. Instinctively he glanced upwards with a +seaman's impulse. Above him, under the grey motion- +less waste of a stormy sky, drifted low black vapours, +in stretching bars, in shapeless patches, in sinuous wisps +and tormented spirals. Over the courtyard and the +house floated a round, sombre, and lingering cloud, +dragging behind a tail of tangled and filmy streamers +--like the dishevelled hair of a mourning woman. + + + + CHAPTER THREE + + "BEWARE!" + The tremulous effort and the broken, inadequate +tone of the faint cry, surprised Lingard more than +the unexpected suddenness of the warning conveyed, +he did not know by whom and to whom. Besides him- +self there was no one in the courtyard as far as he could +see. The cry was not renewed, and his watchful eyes, +scanning warily the misty solitude of Willems' enclosure, +were met everywhere only by the stolid impassiveness of +inanimate things: the big sombre-looking tree, the shut- +up, sightless house, the glistening bamboo fences, the +damp and drooping bushes further off--all these things, +that condemned to look for ever at the incomprehensible +afflictions or joys of mankind, assert in their aspect of +cold unconcern the high dignity of lifeless matter that +surrounds, incurious and unmoved, the restless myster- +ies of the ever-changing, of the never-ending life. + Lingard, stepping aside, put the trunk of the tree +between himself and the house, then, moving cau- +tiously round one of the projecting buttresses, had to +tread short in order to avoid scattering a small heap of +black embers upon which he came unexpectedly on +the other side. A thin, wizened, little old woman, +who, standing behind the tree, had been looking at +the house, turned towards him with a start, gazed +with faded, expressionless eyes at the intruder, then +made a limping attempt to get away. She seemed, +however, to realize directly the hopelessness or the +difficulty of the undertaking, stopped, hesitated, tot- + +242 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 243 + +tered back slowly; then, after blinking dully, fell sud- +denly on her knees amongst the white ashes, and, bend- +ing over the heap of smouldering coals, distended her +sunken cheeks in a steady effort to blow up the hidden +sparks into a useful blaze. Lingard looked down on +her, but she seemed to have made up her mind that +there was not enough life left in her lean body for any- +thing else than the discharge of the simple domestic +duty, and, apparently, she begrudged him the least +moment of attention. After waiting for awhile, Lin- +gard asked-- + "Why did you call, O daughter?" + "I saw you enter," she croaked feebly, still grovel- +ling with her face near the ashes and without looking +up, "and I called--the cry of warning. It was her +order. Her order," she repeated, with a moaning sigh. + "And did she hear?" pursued Lingard, with gentle +composure. + Her projecting shoulder-blades moved uneasily under +the thin stuff of the tight body jacket. She scrambled +up with difficulty to her feet, and hobbled away, mut- +tering peevishly to herself, towards a pile of dry brush- +wood heaped up against the fence. + Lingard, looking idly after her, heard the rattle of +loose planks that led from the ground to the door of +the house. He moved his head beyond the shelter of +the tree and saw Aissa coming down the inclined way +into the courtyard. After making a few hurried paces +towards the tree, she stopped with one foot advanced +in an appearance of sudden terror, and her eyes glanced +wildly right and left. Her head was uncovered. A +blue cloth wrapped her from her head to foot in close +slanting folds, with one end thrown over her shoulder. +A tress of her black hair strayed across her bosom. Her +bare arms pressed down close to her body, with hands + + +244 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +open and outstretched fingers; her slightly elevated +shoulders and the backward inclination of her torso gave +her the aspect of one defiant yet shrinking from a com- +ing blow. She had closed the door of the house behind +her; and as she stood solitary in the unnatural and +threatening twilight of the murky day, with every- +thing unchanged around her, she appeared to Lin- +gard as if she had been made there, on the spot, +out of the black vapours of the sky and of the sinister +gleams of feeble sunshine that struggled, through the +thickening clouds, into the colourless desolation of the +world. + After a short but attentive glance towards the shut- +up house, Lingard stepped out from behind the tree +and advanced slowly towards her. The sudden fixity +of her--till then--restless eyes and a slight twitch of +her hands were the only signs she gave at first of having +seen him. She made a long stride forward, and putting +herself right in his path, stretched her arms across; +her black eyes opened wide, her lips parted as if in an +uncertain attempt to speak--but no sound came out to +break the significant silence of their meeting. Lingard +stopped and looked at her with stern curiosity. After +a while he said composedly-- + "Let me pass. I came here to talk to a man. Does +he hide? Has he sent you?" + She made a step nearer, her arms fell by her side, +then she put them straight out nearly touching Lin- +gard's breast. + "He knows not fear," she said, speaking low, with +a forward throw of her head, in a voice trembling but +distinct. "It is my own fear that has sent me here. +He sleeps." + "He has slept long enough," said Lingard, in meas- +ured tones. "I am come--and now is the time of his + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 245 + +waking. Go and tell him this--or else my own voice +will call him up. A voice he knows well." + He put her hands down firmly and again made as if +to pass by her. + "Do not!" she exclaimed, and fell at his feet as if +she had been cut down by a scythe. The unexpected +suddenness of her movement startled Lingard, who +stepped back. + "What's this?" he exclaimed in a wondering whisper +--then added in a tone of sharp command: "Stand up!" + She rose at once and stood looking at him, timorous +and fearless; yet with a fire of recklessness burning in +her eyes that made clear her resolve to pursue her pur- +pose even to the death. Lingard went on in a severe +voice-- + "Go out of my path. You are Omar's daughter, +and you ought to know that when men meet in daylight +women must be silent and abide their fate." + "Women!" she retorted, with subdued vehemence. +"Yes, I am a woman! Your eyes see that, O Rajah +Laut, but can you see my life? I also have heard--O +man of many fights--I also have heard the voice of fire- +arms; I also have felt the rain of young twigs and of +leaves cut up by bullets fall down about my head; I also +know how to look in silence at angry faces and at strong +hands raised high grasping sharp steel. I also saw men +fall dead around me without a cry of fear and of mourn- +ing; and I have watched the sleep of weary fugitives, +and looked at night shadows full of menace and death +with eyes that knew nothing but watchfulness. And," +she went on, with a mournful drop in her voice, "I have +faced the heartless sea, held on my lap the heads of +those who died raving from thirst, and from their cold +hands took the paddle and worked so that those with +me did not know that one man more was dead. I did + + +246 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +all this. What more have you done? That was my +life. What has been yours?" + The matter and the manner of her speech held Lin- +gard motionless, attentive and approving against his +will. She ceased speaking, and from her staring black +eyes with a narrow border of white above and below, a +double ray of her very soul streamed out in a fierce +desire to light up the most obscure designs of his heart. +After a long silence, which served to emphasize the +meaning of her words, she added in the whisper of bitter +regret-- + "And I have knelt at your feet! And I am afraid!" + "You," said Lingard deliberately, and returning her +look with an interested gaze, "you are a woman whose +heart, I believe, is great enough to fill a man's breast: +but still you are a woman, and to you, I, Rajah Laut, +have nothing lo say." + She listened bending her head in a movement of +forced attention; and his voice sounded to her un- +expected, far off, with the distant and unearthly ring +of voices that we hear in dreams, saying faintly things +startling, cruel or absurd, to which there is no possible +reply. To her he had nothing to say! She wrung +her hands, glanced over the courtyard with that eager +and distracted look that sees nothing, then looked up +at the hopeless sky of livid grey and drifting black; +at the unquiet mourning of the hot and brilliant heaven +that had seen the beginning of her love, that had heard +his entreaties and her answers, that had seen his desire +and her fear; that had seen her joy, her surrender--and +his defeat. Lingard moved a little, and this slight stir +near her precipitated her disordered and shapeless +thoughts into hurried words. + "Wait!" she exclaimed in a stifled voice, and went +on disconnectedly and rapidly--"Stay. I have heard. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 247 + +Men often spoke by the fires . . . men of my peo- +ple. And they said of you--the first on the sea--they +said that to men's cries you were deaf in battle, but after +. . . No! even while you fought, your ears were +open to the voice of children and women. They said +. . . that. Now I, a woman, I . . ." + She broke off suddenly and stood before him with +dropped eyelids and parted lips, so still now that she +seemed to have been changed into a breathless, an +unhearing, an unseeing figure, without knowledge of +fear or hope, of anger or despair. In the astounding +repose that came on her face, nothing moved but the +delicate nostrils that expanded and collapsed quickly, +flutteringly, in interrupted beats, like the wings of a +snared bird. + "I am white," said Lingard, proudly, looking at her +with a steady gaze where simple curiosity was giving +way to a pitying annoyance, "and men you have +heard, spoke only what is true over the evening fires. +My ears are open to your prayer. But listen to me +before you speak. For yourself you need not be afraid. +You can come even now with me and you shall find +refuge in the household of Syed Abdulla--who is of your +own faith. And this also you must know: nothing that +you may say will change my purpose towards the man +who is sleeping--or hiding--in that house." + Again she gave him the look that was like a stab, +not of anger but of desire; of the intense, over-powering +desire to see in, to see through, to understand every- +thing: every thought, emotion, purpose; every impulse, +every hesitation inside that man; inside that white-clad +foreign being who looked at her, who spoke to her, who +breathed before her like any other man, but bigger, red- +faced, white-haired and mysterious. It was the future +clothed in flesh; the to-morrow; the day after; all the + + +248 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +days, all the years of her life standing there before her +alive and secret, with all their good or evil shut up within +the breast of that man; of that man who could be per- +suaded, cajoled, entreated, perhaps touched, worried; +frightened--who knows?--if only first he could be +understood! She had seen a long time ago whither +events were tending. She had noted the contemptuous +yet menacing coldness of Abdulla; she had heard-- +alarmed yet unbelieving--Babalatchi's gloomy hints, +covert allusions and veiled suggestions to abandon the +useless white man whose fate would be the price of the +peace secured by the wise and good who had no need of +him any more. And he--himself! She clung to him. +There was nobody else. Nothing else. She would try +to cling to him always--all the life! And yet he was +far from her. Further every day. Every day he +seemed more distant, and she followed him patiently, +hopefully, blindly, but steadily, through all the devious +wanderings of his mind. She followed as well as she +could. Yet at times--very often lately--she had felt +lost like one strayed in the thickets of tangled under- +growth of a great forest. To her the ex-clerk of old +Hudig appeared as remote, as brilliant, as terrible, as +necessary, as the sun that gives life to these lands: the +sun of unclouded skies that dazzles and withers; the sun +beneficent and wicked--the giver of light, perfume, +and pestilence. She had watched him--watched him +close; fascinated by love, fascinated by danger. He +was alone now--but for her; and she saw--she thought +she saw--that he was like a man afraid of something. +Was it possible? He afraid? Of what? Was it of +that old white man who was coming--who had come? +Possibly. She had heard of that man ever since she +could remember. The bravest were afraid of him! +And now what was in the mind of this old, old man who + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 249 + +looked so strong? What was he going to do with the +light of her life? Put it out? Take it away? Take it +away for ever!--for ever!--and leave her in darkness:-- +not in the stirring, whispering, expectant night in which +the hushed world awaits the return of sunshine; but in +the night without end, the night of the grave, where +nothing breathes, nothing moves, nothing thinks-- +the last darkness of cold and silence without hope of +another sunrise. + She cried--"Your purpose! You know nothing. I +must . . ." + He interrupted--unreasonably excited, as if she had, by +her look, inoculated him with some of her own distress. + "I know enough." + She approached, and stood facing him at arm's +length, with both her hands on his shoulders; and he, +surprised by that audacity, closed and opened his +eyes two or three times, aware of some emotion arising +within him, from her words, her tone, her contact; an +emotion unknown, singular, penetrating and sad--at +the close sight of that strange woman, of that being +savage and tender, strong and delicate, fearful and +resolute, that had got entangled so fatally between their +two lives--his own and that other white man's, the +abominable scoundrel. + "How can you know?" she went on, in a persuasive +tone that seemed to flow out of her very heart--"how +can you know? I live with him all the days. All the +nights. I look at him; I see his every breath, every +glance of his eye, every movement of his lips. I see +nothing else! What else is there? And even I do not +understand. I do not understand him!--Him!--My +life! Him who to me is so great that his presence hides +the earth and the water from my sight!" + Lingard stood straight, with his hands deep in the + + +250 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +pockets of his jacket. His eyes winked quickly, be- +cause she spoke very close to his face. She disturbed +him and he had a sense of the efforts he was making to +get hold of her meaning, while all the time he could not +help telling himself that all this was of no use. + She added after a pause--"There has been a time +when I could understand him. When I knew what +was in his mind better than he knew it himself. When +I felt him. When I held him. . . . And now he has +escaped." + "Escaped? What? Gone away!" shouted Lingard. + "Escaped from me," she said; "left me alone. Alone. +And I am ever near him. Yet alone." + Her hands slipped slowly off Lingard's shoulders +and her arms fell by her side, listless, discouraged, as +if to her--to her, the savage, violent, and ignorant +creature--had been revealed clearly in that moment +the tremendous fact of our isolation, of the loneliness +impenetrable and transparent, elusive and everlasting; +of the indestructible loneliness that surrounds, en- +velopes, clothes every human soul from the cradle to +the grave, and, perhaps, beyond. + "Aye! Very well! I understand. His face is +turned away from you," said Lingard. "Now, what +do you want?" + "I want . . . I have looked--for help . . . +everywhere . . . against men. . . . All men +. . . I do not know. First they came, the invisible +whites, and dealt death from afar . . . then he +came. He came to me who was alone and sad. He +came; angry with his brothers; great amongst his own +people; angry with those I have not seen: with the +people where men have no mercy and women have no +shame. He was of them, and great amongst them. +For he was great?" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 251 + + Lingard shook his head slightly. She frowned at +him, and went on in disordered haste-- + "Listen. I saw him. I have lived by the side of +brave men . . . of chiefs. When he came I was +the daughter of a beggar--of a blind man without +strength and hope. He spoke to me as if I had been +brighter than the sunshine--more delightful than the +cool water of the brook by which we met--more . . ." +Her anxious eyes saw some shade of expression pass +on her listener's face that made her hold her breath +for a second, and then explode into pained fury so +violent that it drove Lingard back a pace, like an +unexpected blast of wind. He lifted both his hands, +incongruously paternal in his venerable aspect, bewil- +dered and soothing, while she stretched her neck for- +ward and shouted at him. + "I tell you I was all that to him. I know it! I +saw it! . . . There are times when even you white +men speak the truth. I saw his eyes. I felt his eyes, +I tell you! I saw him tremble when I came near-- +when I spoke--when I touched him. Look at me! You +have been young. Look at me. Look, Rajah Laut!" + She stared at Lingard with provoking fixity, then, +turning her head quickly, she sent over her shoulder +a glance, full of humble fear, at the house that stood +high behind her back--dark, closed, rickety and silent +on its crooked posts. + Lingard's eyes followed her look, and remained +gazing expectantly at the house. After a minute or +so he muttered, glancing at her suspiciously-- + "If he has not heard your voice now, then he must +be far away--or dead." + "He is there," she whispered, a little calmed but still +anxious--"he is there. For three days he waited. +Waited for you night and day. And I waited with + + +252 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +him. I waited, watching his face, his eyes, his lips; +listening to his words.--To the words I could not +understand.--To the words he spoke in daylight; to +the words he spoke at night in his short sleep. I +listened. He spoke to himself walking up and down +here--by the river; by the bushes. And I followed. +I wanted to know--and I could not! He was tor- +mented by things that made him speak in the words +of his own people. Speak to himself--not to me. +Not to me! What was he saying? What was he +going to do? Was he afraid of you?--Of death? What +was in his heart? . . . Fear? . . . Or anger? +. . . what desire? . . . what sadness? He +spoke; spoke; many words. All the time! And I could +not know! I wanted to speak to him. He was deaf +to me. I followed him everywhere, watching for +some word I could understand; but his mind was in +the land of his people--away from me. When I +touched him he was angry--so!" + She imitated the movement of some one shaking off +roughly an importunate hand, and looked at Lingard +with tearful and unsteady eyes. + After a short interval of laboured panting, as if she +had been out of breath with running or fighting, she +looked down and went on-- + "Day after day, night after night, I lived watching +him--seeing nothing. And my heart was heavy-- +heavy with the presence of death that dwelt amongst +us. I could not believe. I thought he was afraid. +Afraid of you! Then I, myself, knew fear. . . . +Tell me, Rajah Laut, do you know the fear without +voice--the fear of silence--the fear that comes when +there is no one near--when there is no battle, no cries, +no angry faces or armed hands anywhere? . . . +The fear from which there is no escape!" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 253 + + She paused, fastened her eyes again on the puzzled +Lingard, and hurried on in a tone of despair-- + "And I knew then he would not fight you! Before +--many days ago--I went away twice to make him obey +my desire; to make him strike at his own people so that +he could be mine--mine! O calamity! His hand was +false as your white hearts. It struck forward, pushed +by my desire--by his desire of me. . . . It struck +that strong hand, and--O shame!--it killed nobody! +Its fierce and lying blow woke up hate without any fear. +Round me all was lies. His strength was a lie. My own +people lied to me and to him. And to meet you--you, +the great!--he had no one but me? But me with my +rage, my pain, my weakness. Only me! And to me he +would not even speak. The fool!" + She came up close to Lingard, with the wild and +stealthy aspect of a lunatic longing to whisper out an +insane secret--one of those misshapen, heart-rending, +and ludicrous secrets; one of those thoughts that, like +monsters--cruel, fantastic, and mournful, wander about +terrible and unceasing in the night of madness. Lin- +gard looked at her, astounded but unflinching. She +spoke in his face, very low. + "He is all! Everything. He is my breath, my +light, my heart. . . . Go away. . . . Forget +him. . . . He has no courage and no wisdom any +more . . . and I have lost my power. . . . +Go away and forget. There are other enemies. . . . +Leave him to me. He had been a man once. . . . +You are too great. Nobody can withstand you. . . . +I tried. . . . I know now. . . . I cry for +mercy. Leave him to me and go away." + The fragments of her supplicating sentences were as +if tossed on the crest of her sobs. Lingard, outwardly +impassive, with his eyes fixed on the house, experienced + + +254 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +that feeling of condemnation, deep-seated, persuasive, +and masterful; that illogical impulse of disapproval +which is half disgust, half vague fear, and that wakes +up in our hearts in the presence of anything new or +unusual, of anything that is not run into the mould of +our own conscience; the accursed feeling made up of +disdain, of anger, and of the sense of superior virtue +that leaves us deaf, blind, contemptuous and stupid +before anything which is not like ourselves. + He answered, not looking at her at first, but speaking +towards the house that fascinated him-- + "<i>I</i> go away! He wanted me to come--he himself +did! . . . <i>You</i> must go away. You do not know +what you are asking for. Listen. Go to your own +people. Leave him. He is . . ." + He paused, looked down at her with his steady +eyes; hesitated, as if seeking an adequate expression; +then snapped his fingers, and said-- + "Finish." + She stepped back, her eyes on the ground, and +pressed her temples with both her hands, which she +raised to her head in a slow and ample movement full +of unconscious tragedy. The tone of her words was +gentle and vibrating, like a loud meditation. She +said-- + "Tell the brook not to run to the river; tell the river +not to run to the sea. Speak loud. Speak angrily. +Maybe they will obey you. But it is in my mind that +the brook will not care. The brook that springs out of +the hillside and runs to the great river. He would not +care for your words: he that cares not for the very moun- +tain that gave him life; he that tears the earth from +which he springs. Tears it, eats it, destroys it--to +hurry faster to the river--to the river in which he is lost +for ever. . . . O Rajah Laut! I do not care." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 255 + + She drew close again to Lingard, approaching slowly, +reluctantly, as if pushed by an invisible hand, and added +in words that seemed to be torn out of her-- + "I cared not for my own father. For him that died. +I would have rather . . . You do not know what +I have done . . . I . . ." + "You shall have his life," said Lingard, hastily. + They stood together, crossing their glances; she +suddenly appeased, and Lingard thoughtful and uneasy +under a vague sense of defeat. And yet there was no +defeat. He never intended to kill the fellow--not +after the first moment of anger, a long time ago. The +days of bitter wonder had killed anger; had left only a +bitter indignation and a bitter wish for complete jus- +tice. He felt discontented and surprised. Unex- +pectedly he had come upon a human being--a woman +at that--who had made him disclose his will before its +time. She should have his life. But she must be told, +she must know, that for such men as Willems there was +no favour and no grace. + "Understand," he said slowly, "that I leave him his +life not in mercy but in punishment." + She started, watched every word on his lips, and +after he finished speaking she remained still and mute +in astonished immobility. A single big drop of rain, +a drop enormous, pellucid and heavy--like a super- +human tear coming straight and rapid from above, +tearing its way through the sombre sky--struck loudly +the dry ground between them in a starred splash. She +wrung her hands in the bewilderment of the new and +incomprehensible fear. The anguish of her whisper +was more piercing than the shrillest cry. + "What punishment! Will you take him away then? +Away from me? Listen to what I have done. . . . +It is I who . . ." + + +256 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Ah!" exclaimed Lingard, who had been looking +at the house. + "Don't you believe her, Captain Lingard," shouted +Willems from the doorway, where he appeared with +swollen eyelids and bared breast. He stood for a +while, his hands grasping the lintels on each side of +the door, and writhed about, glaring wildly, as if he +had been crucified there. Then he made a sudden +rush head foremost down the plankway that responded +with hollow, short noises to every footstep. + She heard him. A slight thrill passed on her face +and the words that were on her lips fell back unspoken +into her benighted heart; fell back amongst the mud, +the stones--and the flowers, that are at the bottom of +every heart. + + + CHAPTER FOUR + + WHEN he felt the solid ground of the courtyard under +his feet, Willems pulled himself up in his headlong +rush and moved forward with a moderate gait. He +paced stiffly, looking with extreme exactitude at Lin- +gard's face; looking neither to the right nor to the +left but at the face only, as if there was nothing in the +world but those features familiar and dreaded; that +white-haired, rough and severe head upon which he +gazed in a fixed effort of his eyes, like a man trying to +read small print at the full range of human vision. As +soon as Willems' feet had left the planks, the silence +which had been lifted up by the jerky rattle of his +footsteps fell down again upon the courtyard; the +silence of the cloudy sky and of the windless air, the +sullen silence of the earth oppressed by the aspect of +coming turmoil, the silence of the world collecting its +faculties to withstand the storm. + Through this silence Willems pushed his way, and +stopped about six feet from Lingard. He stopped +simply because he could go no further. He had started +from the door with the reckless purpose of clapping the +old fellow on the shoulder. He had no idea that the +man would turn out to be so tall, so big and so unap- +proachable. It seemed to him that he had never, never +in his life, seen Lingard. + He tried to say-- + "Do not believe . . ." + A fit of coughing checked his sentence in a faint +splutter. Directly afterwards he swallowed--as it + +257 + + +258 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +were--a couple of pebbles, throwing his chin up in the +act; and Lingard, who looked at him narrowly, saw a +bone, sharp and triangular like the head of a snake, dart +up and down twice under the skin of his throat. Then +that, too, did not move. Nothing moved. + "Well," said Lingard, and with that word he came +unexpectedly to the end of his speech. His hand in +his pocket closed firmly round the butt of his revolver +bulging his jacket on the hip, and he thought how soon +and how quickly he could terminate his quarrel with +that man who had been so anxious to deliver himself +into his hands--and how inadequate would be that +ending! He could not bear the idea of that man +escaping from him by going out of life; escaping from +fear, from doubt, from remorse into the peaceful certi- +tude of death. He held him now. And he was not +going to let him go--to let him disappear for ever in +the faint blue smoke of a pistol shot. His anger grew +within him. He felt a touch as of a burning hand on his +heart. Not on the flesh of his breast, but a touch on his +heart itself, on the palpitating and untiring particle of +matter that responds to every emotion of the soul; that +leaps with joy, with terror, or with anger. + He drew a long breath. He could see before him +the bare chest of the man expanding and collapsing +under the wide-open jacket. He glanced aside, and +saw the bosom of the woman near him rise and fall +in quick respirations that moved slightly up and down +her hand, which was pressed to her breast with all the +fingers spread out and a little curved, as if grasping +something too big for its span. And nearly a minute +passed. One of those minutes when the voice is si- +lenced, while the thoughts flutter in the head, like cap- +tive birds inside a cage, in rushes desperate, exhausting +and vain. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 259 + + During that minute of silence Lingard's anger kept +rising, immense and towering, such as a crested wave +running over the troubled shallows of the sands. Its +roar filled his cars; a roar so powerful and distract- +ing that, it seemed to him, his head must burst directly +with the expanding volume of that sound. He looked +at that man. That infamous figure upright on its feet, +still, rigid, with stony eyes, as if its rotten soul had +departed that moment and the carcass hadn't had the +time yet to topple over. For the fraction of a second he +had the illusion and the fear of the scoundrel having +died there before the enraged glance of his eyes. Wil- +lems' eyelids fluttered, and the unconscious and passing +tremor in that stiffly erect body exasperated Lingard +like a fresh outrage. The fellow dared to stir! Dared +to wink, to breathe, to exist; here, right before his eyes! +His grip on the revolver relaxed gradually. As the +transport of his rage increased, so also his contempt for +the instruments that pierce or stab, that interpose +themselves between the hand and the object of hate. +He wanted another kind of satisfaction. Naked hands, +by heaven! No firearms. Hands that could take him +by the throat, beat down his defence, batter his face into +shapeless flesh; hands that could feel all the despera- +tion of his resistance and overpower it in the violent +delight of a contact lingering and furious, intimate and +brutal. + He let go the revolver altogether, stood hesitating, +then throwing his hands out, strode forward--and +everything passed from his sight. He could not see +the man, the woman, the earth, the sky--saw nothing, +as if in that one stride he had left the visible world +behind to step into a black and deserted space. He +heard screams round him in that obscurity, screams +like the melancholy and pitiful cries of sea-birds that + + +260 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +dwell on the lonely reefs of great oceans. Then sud- +denly a face appeared within a few inches of his own. +His face. He felt something in his left hand. His +throat . . . Ah! the thing like a snake's head that +darts up and down . . . He squeezed hard. He +was back in the world. He could see the quick beating +of eyelids over a pair of eyes that were all whites, the +grin of a drawn-up lip, a row of teeth gleaming through +the drooping hair of a moustache . . . Strong +white teeth. Knock them down his lying throat . . . +He drew back his right hand, the fist up to the shoulder, +knuckles out. From under his feet rose the screams of +sea-birds. Thousands of them. Something held his +legs . . . What the devil . . . He delivered +his blow straight from the shoulder, felt the jar right up +his arm, and realized suddenly that he was striking +something passive and unresisting. His heart sank +within him with disappointment, with rage, with +mortification. He pushed with his left arm, opening +the hand with haste, as if he had just perceived that he +got hold by accident of something repulsive--and he +watched with stupefied eyes Willems tottering back- +wards in groping strides, the white sleeve of his jacket +across his face. He watched his distance from that man +increase, while he remained motionless, without being +able to account to himself for the fact that so much +empty space had come in between them. It should +have been the other way. They ought to have been +very close, and . . . Ah! He wouldn't fight, he +wouldn't resist, he wouldn't defend himself! A cur! +Evidently a cur! . . . He was amazed and ag- +grieved--profoundly--bitterly--with the immense and +blank desolation of a small child robbed of a toy. He +shouted--unbelieving: + "Will you be a cheat to the end?" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 261 + + He waited for some answer. He waited anxiously +with an impatience that seemed to lift him off his feet. +He waited for some word, some sign; for some threaten- +ing stir. Nothing! Only two unwinking eyes glit- +tered intently at him above the white sleeve. He saw +the raised arm detach itself from the face and sink along +the body. A white clad arm, with a big stain on the +white sleeve. A red stain. There was a cut on the +cheek. It bled. The nose bled too. The blood ran +down, made one moustache look like a dark rag stuck +over the lip, and went on in a wet streak down the clip- +ped beard on one side of the chin. A drop of blood +hung on the end of some hairs that were glued together; +it hung for a while and took a leap down on the ground. +Many more followed, leaping one after another in close +file. One alighted on the breast and glided down in- +stantly with devious vivacity, like a small insect run- +ning away; it left a narrow dark track on the white +skin. He looked at it, looked at the tiny and active +drops, looked at what he had done, with obscure satis- +faction, with anger, with regret. This wasn't much +like an act of justice. He had a desire to go up nearer +to the man, to hear him speak, to hear him say some- +thing atrocious and wicked that would justify the vio- +lence of the blow. He made an attempt to move, and +became aware of a close embrace round both his legs, +just above the ankles. Instinctively, he kicked out +with his foot, broke through the close bond and felt at +once the clasp transferred to his other leg; the clasp +warm, desperate and soft, of human arms. He looked +down bewildered. He saw the body of the woman +stretched at length, flattened on the ground like a dark +blue rag. She trailed face downwards, clinging to his +leg with both arms in a tenacious hug. He saw the top +of her head, the long black hair streaming over his foot, + + +262 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +all over the beaten earth, around his boot. He couldn't +see his foot for it. He heard the short and repeated +moaning of her breath. He imagined the invisible face +close to his heel. With one kick into that face he could +free himself. He dared not stir, and shouted down-- + "Let go! Let go! Let go!" + The only result of his shouting was a tightening of +the pressure of her arms. With a tremendous effort +he tried to bring his right foot up to his left, and suc- +ceeded partly. He heard distinctly the rub of her body +on the ground as he jerked her along. He tried to +disengage himself by drawing up his foot. He stamped. +He heard a voice saying sharply-- + "Steady, Captain Lingard, steady!" + His eyes flew back to Willems at the sound of that +voice, and, in the quick awakening of sleeping memories, +Lingard stood suddenly still, appeased by the clear ring +of familiar words. Appeased as in days of old, when +they were trading together, when Willems was his +trusted and helpful companion in out-of-the-way and +dangerous places; when that fellow, who could keep his +temper so much better than he could himself, had spared +him many a difficulty, had saved him from many an act +of hasty violence by the timely and good-humoured +warning, whispered or shouted, "Steady, Captain Lin- +gard, steady." A smart fellow. He had brought him +up. The smartest fellow in the islands. If he had +only stayed with him, then all this . . . He called +out to Willems-- + "Tell her to let me go or . . ." + He heard Willems shouting something, waited for +awhile, then glanced vaguely down and saw the woman +still stretched out perfectly mute and unstirring, with +her head at his feet. He felt a nervous impatience +that, somehow, resembled fear. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 263 + + "Tell her to let go, to go away, Willems, I tell you. +I've had enough of this," he cried. + "All right, Captain Lingard," answered the calm +voice of Willems, "she has let go. Take your foot +off her hair; she can't get up." + Lingard leaped aside, clean away, and spun round +quickly. He saw her sit up and cover her face with +both hands, then he turned slowly on his heel and +looked at the man. Willems held himself very straight, +but was unsteady on his feet, and moved about nearly +on the same spot, like a tipsy man attempting to pre- +serve his balance. After gazing at him for a while, +Lingard called, rancorous and irritable-- + "What have you got to say for yourself?" + Willems began to walk towards him. He walked +slowly, reeling a little before he took each step, and +Lingard saw him put his hand to his face, then look +at it holding it up to his eyes, as if he had there, con- +cealed in the hollow of the palm, some small object +which he wanted to examine secretly. Suddenly he +drew it, with a brusque movement, down the front of his +jacket and left a long smudge. + "That's a fine thing to do," said Willems. + He stood in front of Lingard, one of his eyes sunk +deep in the increasing swelling of his cheek, still re- +peating mechanically the movement of feeling his +damaged face; and every time he did this he pressed +the palm to some clean spot on his jacket, covering the +white cotton with bloody imprints as of some deformed +and monstrous hand. Lingard said nothing, looking +on. At last Willems left off staunching the blood and +stood, his arms hanging by his side, with his face stiff +and distorted under the patches of coagulated blood; +and he seemed as though he had been set up there for a +warning: an incomprehensible figure marked all over + + +264 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +with some awful and symbolic signs of deadly import. +Speaking with difficulty, he repeated in a reproachful +tone-- + "That was a fine thing to do." + "After all," answered Lingard, bitterly, "I had too +good an opinion of you." + "And I of you. Don't you see that I could have had +that fool over there killed and the whole thing burnt to +the ground, swept off the face of the earth. You would- +n't have found as much as a heap of ashes had I liked. +I could have done all that. And I wouldn't." + "You--could--not. You dared not. You scoun- +drel!" cried Lingard. + "What's the use of calling me names?" + "True," retorted Lingard--"there's no name bad +enough for you." + There was a short interval of silence. At the sound +of their rapidly exchanged words, Aissa had got up +from the ground where she had been sitting, in a +sorrowful and dejected pose, and approached the two +men. She stood on one side and looked on eagerly, in a +desperate effort of her brain, with the quick and dis- +tracted eyes of a person trying for her life to penetrate +the meaning of sentences uttered in a foreign tongue: +the meaning portentous and fateful that lurks in the +sounds of mysterious words; in the sounds surprising, +unknown and strange. + Willems let the last speech of Lingard pass by; +seemed by a slight movement of his hand to help it +on its way to join the other shadows of the past. Then +he said-- + "You have struck me; you have insulted me . . ." + "Insulted you!" interrupted Lingard, passionately. +"Who--what can insult you . . . you . . ." + He choked, advanced a step. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 265 + + "Steady! steady!" said Willems calmly. "I tell +you I sha'n't fight. Is it clear enough to you that I +sha'n't? I--shall--not--lift--a--finger." + As he spoke, slowly punctuating each word with a +slight jerk of his head, he stared at Lingard, his right +eye open and big, the left small and nearly closed by +the swelling of one half of his face, that appeared all +drawn out on one side like faces seen in a concave +glass. And they stood exactly opposite each other: +one tall, slight and disfigured; the other tall, heavy +and severe. + Willems went on-- + "If I had wanted to hurt you--if I had wanted to +destroy you, it was easy. I stood in the doorway long +enough to pull a trigger--and you know I shoot +straight." + "You would have missed," said Lingard, with as- +surance. "There is, under heaven, such a thing as +justice." + The sound of that word on his own lips made him +pause, confused, like an unexpected and unanswerable +rebuke. The anger of his outraged pride, the anger +of his outraged heart, had gone out in the blow; and +there remained nothing but the sense of some immense +infamy--of something vague, disgusting and terrible, +which seemed to surround him on all sides, hover +about him with shadowy and stealthy movements, like +a band of assassins in the darkness of vast and unsafe +places. Was there, under heaven, such a thing as jus- +tice? He looked at the man before him with such +an intensity of prolonged glance that he seemed to see +right through him, that at last he saw but a floating +and unsteady mist in human shape. Would it blow +away before the first breath of the breeze and leave +nothing behind? + + +266 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + The sound of Willems' voice made him start violently. +Willems was saying-- + "I have always led a virtuous life; you know I have. +You always praised me for my steadiness; you know +you have. You know also I never stole--if that's what +you're thinking of. I borrowed. You know how much +I repaid. It was an error of judgment. But then +consider my position there. I had been a little unlucky +in my private affairs, and had debts. Could I let myself +go under before the eyes of all those men who envied +me? But that's all over. It was an error of judgment. +I've paid for it. An error of judgment." + Lingard, astounded into perfect stillness, looked +down. He looked down at Willems' bare feet. Then, +as the other had paused, he repeated in a blank tone-- + "An error of judgment . . ." + "Yes," drawled out Willems, thoughtfully, and went +on with increasing animation: "As I said, I have always +led a virtuous life. More so than Hudig--than you. +Yes, than you. I drank a little, I played cards a little. +Who doesn't? But I had principles from a boy. Yes, +principles. Business is business, and I never was an +ass. I never respected fools. They had to suffer for +their folly when they dealt with me. The evil was in +them, not in me. But as to principles, it's another mat- +ter. I kept clear of women. It's forbidden--I had no +time--and I despised them. Now I hate them!" + He put his tongue out a little; a tongue whose pink +and moist end ran here and there, like something +independently alive, under his swollen and blackened +lip; he touched with the tips of his fingers the cut +on his cheek, felt all round it with precaution: and +the unharmed side of his face appeared for a moment +to be preoccupied and uneasy about the state of that +other side which was so very sore and stiff. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 267 + + He recommenced speaking, and his voice vibrated +as though with repressed emotion of some kind. + "You ask my wife, when you see her in Macassar, +whether I have no reason to hate her. She was no- +body, and I made her Mrs. Willems. A half-caste +girl! You ask her how she showed her gratitude to +me. You ask . . . Never mind that. Well, you +came and dumped me here like a load of rubbish; +dumped me here and left me with nothing to do-- +nothing good to remember--and damn little to hope +for. You left me here at the mercy of that fool, Al- +mayer, who suspected me of something. Of what? +Devil only knows. But he suspected and hated me +from the first; I suppose because you befriended me. +Oh! I could read him like a book. He isn't very deep, +your Sambir partner, Captain Lingard, but he knows +how to be disagreeable. Months passed. I thought +I would die of sheer weariness, of my thoughts, of my +regrets And then . . ." + He made a quick step nearer to Lingard, and as if +moved by the same thought, by the same instinct, +by the impulse of his will, Aissa also stepped nearer +to them. They stood in a close group, and the two +men could feel the calm air between their faces stirred +by the light breath of the anxious woman who en- +veloped them both in the uncomprehending, in the +despairing and wondering glances of her wild and +mournful eyes. + + + + CHAPTER FIVE + + WILLEMS turned a little from her and spoke lower. + "Look at that," he said, with an almost imper- +ceptible movement of his head towards the woman to +whom he was presenting his shoulder. "Look at that! +Don't believe her! What has she been saying to you? +What? I have been asleep. Had to sleep at last. +I've been waiting for you three days and nights. I had +to sleep some time. Hadn't I? I told her to remain +awake and watch for you, and call me at once. She +did watch. You can't believe her. You can't believe +any woman. Who can tell what's inside their heads? +No one. You can know nothing. The only thing you +can know is that it isn't anything like what comes +through their lips. They live by the side of you. +They seem to hate you, or they seem to love you; +they caress or torment you; they throw you over or stick +to you closer than your skin for some inscrutable and +awful reason of their own--which you can never know! +Look at her--and look at me. At me!--her infernal +work. What has she been saying?" + His voice had sunk to a whisper. Lingard listened +with great attention, holding his chin in his hand, +which grasped a great handful of his white beard. +His elbow was in the palm of his other hand, and +his eyes were still fixed on the ground. He murmured, +without looking up-- + "She begged me for your life--if you want to know +--as if the thing were worth giving or taking!" + "And for three days she begged me to take yours," + +268 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 269 + +said Willems quickly. "For three days she wouldn't +give me any peace. She was never still. She planned +ambushes. She has been looking for places all over +here where I could hide and drop you with a safe shot +as you walked up. It's true. I give you my word." + "Your word," muttered Lingard, contemptuously. + Willems took no notice. + "Ah! She is a ferocious creature," he went on. +"You don't know . . . I wanted to pass the time +--to do something--to have something to think about +--to forget my troubles till you came back. And . . . +look at her . . . she took me as if I did not belong +to myself. She did. I did not know there was some- +thing in me she could get hold of. She, a savage. +I, a civilized European, and clever! She that knew +no more than a wild animal! Well, she found out +something in me. She found it out, and I was lost. +I knew it. She tormented me. I was ready to do +anything. I resisted--but I was ready. I knew that +too. That frightened me more than anything; more +than my own sufferings; and that was frightful enough, +I assure you." + Lingard listened, fascinated and amazed like a child +listening to a fairy tale, and, when Willems stopped for +breath, he shuffled his feet a little. + "What does he say?" cried out Aissa, suddenly. + The two men looked at her quickly, and then looked +at one another. + Willems began again, speaking hurriedly-- + "I tried to do something. Take her away from +those people. I went to Almayer; the biggest blind +fool that you ever . . . Then Abdulla came--and +she went away. She took away with her something of +me which I had to get back. I had to do it. As far +as you are concerned, the change here had to happen + + +270 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +sooner or later; you couldn't be master here for ever. +It isn't what I have done that torments me. It is the +why. It's the madness that drove me to it. It's that +thing that came over me. That may come again, +some day." + "It will do no harm to anybody then, I promise +you," said Lingard, significantly. + Willems looked at him for a second with a blank +stare, then went on-- + "I fought against her. She goaded me to violence +and to murder. Nobody knows why. She pushed +me to it persistently, desperately, all the time. For- +tunately Abdulla had sense. I don't know what I +wouldn't have done. She held me then. Held me +like a nightmare that is terrible and sweet. By and +by it was another life. I woke up. I found myself +beside an animal as full of harm as a wild cat. You +don't know through what I have passed. Her father +tried to kill me--and she very nearly killed him. I +believe she would have stuck at nothing. I don't +know which was more terrible! She would have stuck +at nothing to defend her own. And when I think +that it was me--me--Willems . . . I hate her. +To-morrow she may want my life. How can I know +what's in her? She may want to kill me next!" + He paused in great trepidation, then added in a +scared tone-- + "I don't want to die here." + "Don't you?" said Lingard, thoughtfully. + Willems turned towards Aissa and pointed at her +with a bony forefinger. + "Look at her! Always there. Always near. Al- +ways watching, watching . . . for something. +Look at her eyes. Ain't they big? Don't they stare? +You wouldn't think she can shut them like human + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 271 + +beings do. I don't believe she ever does. I go to sleep, +if I can, under their stare, and when I wake up I see +them fixed on me and moving no more than the eyes of +a corpse. While I am still they are still. By God--she +can't move them till I stir, and then they follow me like +a pair of jailers. They watch me; when I stop they +seem to wait patient and glistening till I am off my guard +--for to do something. To do something horrible. +Look at them! You can see nothing in them. They +are big, menacing--and empty. The eyes of a savage; +of a damned mongrel, half-Arab, half-Malay. They +hurt me! I am white! I swear to you I can't stand +this! Take me away. I am white! All white!" + He shouted towards the sombre heaven, proclaiming +desperately under the frown of thickening clouds the +fact of his pure and superior descent. He shouted, +his head thrown up, his arms swinging about wildly; +lean, ragged, disfigured; a tall madman making a +great disturbance about something invisible; a being +absurd, repulsive, pathetic, and droll. Lingard, who +was looking down as if absorbed in deep thought, +gave him a quick glance from under his eyebrows: +Aissa stood with clasped hands. At the other end of +the courtyard the old woman, like a vague and decrepit +apparition, rose noiselessly to look, then sank down +again with a stealthy movement and crouched low over +the small glow of the fire. Willems' voice filled the +enclosure, rising louder with every word, and then, sud- +denly, at its very loudest, stopped short--like water +stops running from an over-turned vessel. As soon as +it had ceased the thunder seemed to take up the burden +in a low growl coming from the inland hills. The noise +approached in confused mutterings which kept on in- +creasing, swelling into a roar that came nearer, rushed +down the river, passed close in a tearing crash--and + + +272 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +instantly sounded faint, dying away in monotonous +and dull repetitions amongst the endless sinuosities of +the lower reaches. Over the great forests, over all the +innumerable people of unstirring trees--over all that +living people immense, motionless, and mute--the +silence, that had rushed in on the track of the passing +tumult, remained suspended as deep and complete as +if it had never been disturbed from the beginning of +remote ages. Then, through it, after a time, came to +Lingard's ears the voice of the running river: a voice +low, discreet, and sad, like the persistent and gentle +voices that speak of the past in the silence of dreams. + He felt a great emptiness in his heart. It seemed +to him that there was within his breast a great space +without any light, where his thoughts wandered for- +lornly, unable to escape, unable to rest, unable to die, +to vanish--and to relieve him from the fearful oppres- +sion of their existence. Speech, action, anger, for- +giveness, all appeared to him alike useless and vain, +appeared to him unsatisfactory, not worth the effort +of hand or brain that was needed to give them effect. +He could not see why he should not remain standing +there, without ever doing anything, to the end of +time. He felt something, something like a heavy +chain, that held him there. This wouldn't do. He +backed away a little from Willems and Aissa, leaving +them close together, then stopped and looked at both. +The man and the woman appeared to him much further +than they really were. He had made only about three +steps backward, but he believed for a moment that an- +other step would take him out of earshot for ever. They +appeared to him slightly under life size, and with a great +cleanness of outlines, like figures carved with great pre- +cision of detail and highly finished by a skilful hand. He +pulled himself together. The strong consciousness of his + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 273 + +own personality came back to him. He had a notion +of surveying them from a great and inaccessible height. + He said slowly: "You have been possessed of a devil." + "Yes," answered Willems gloomily, and looking at +Aissa. "Isn't it pretty?" + "I've heard this kind of talk before," said Lingard, +in a scornful tone; then paused, and went on steadily +after a while: "I regret nothing. I picked you up by +the waterside, like a starving cat--by God. I regret +nothing; nothing that I have done. Abdulla--twenty +others--no doubt Hudig himself, were after me. That's +business--for them. But that you should . . . +Money belongs to him who picks it up and is strong +enough to keep it--but this thing was different. It was +part of my life. . . . I am an old fool." + He was. The breath of his words, of the very +words he spoke, fanned the spark of divine folly in his +breast, the spark that made him--the hard-headed, +heavy-handed adventurer--stand out from the crowd, +from the sordid, from the joyous, unscrupulous, and +noisy crowd of men that were so much like himself. + Willems said hurriedly: "It wasn't me. The evil +was not in me, Captain Lingard." + "And where else confound you! Where else?" +interrupted Lingard, raising his voice. "Did you +ever see me cheat and lie and steal? Tell me that. +Did you? Hey? I wonder where in perdition you +came from when I found you under my feet. . . . +No matter. You will do no more harm." + Willems moved nearer, gazing upon him anxiously. +Lingard went on with distinct deliberation-- + "What did you expect when you asked me to see +you? What? You know me. I am Lingard. You +lived with me. You've heard men speak. You knew +what you had done. Well! What did you expect?" + + +274 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "How can I know?" groaned Willems, wringing his +hands; "I was alone in that infernal savage crowd. +I was delivered into their hands. After the thing was +done, I felt so lost and weak that I would have called +the devil himself to my aid if it had been any good--if +he hadn't put in all his work already. In the whole +world there was only one man that had ever cared for +me. Only one white man. You! Hate is better than +being alone! Death is better! I expected . . . +anything. Something to expect. Something to take +me out of this. Out of her sight!" + He laughed. His laugh seemed to be torn out from +him against his will, seemed to be brought violently on +the surface from under his bitterness, his self-contempt, +from under his despairing wonder at his own nature. + "When I think that when I first knew her it seemed +to me that my whole life wouldn't be enough to . . . +And now when I look at her! She did it all. I must +have been mad. I was mad. Every time I look at her +I remember my madness. It frightens me. . . . +And when I think that of all my life, of all my past, of +all my future, of my intelligence, of my work, there is +nothing left but she, the cause of my ruin, and you whom +I have mortally offended . . ." + He hid his face for a moment in his hands, and when +he took them away he had lost the appearance of com- +parative calm and gave way to a wild distress. + "Captain Lingard . . . anything . . . a +deserted island . . . anywhere . . . I prom- +ise . . ." + "Shut up!" shouted Lingard, roughly. + He became dumb, suddenly, completely. + The wan light of the clouded morning retired slowly +from the courtyard, from the clearings, from the river, +as if it had gone unwillingly to hide in the enigmatical + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 275 + +solitudes of the gloomy and silent forests. The clouds +over their heads thickened into a low vault of uniform +blackness. The air was still and inexpressibly oppres- +sive. Lingard unbuttoned his jacket, flung it wide open +and, inclining his body sideways a little, wiped his fore- +head with his hand, which he jerked sharply afterwards. +Then he looked at Willems and said-- + "No promise of yours is any good to me. I am +going to take your conduct into my own hands. Pay +attention to what I am going to say. You are my +prisoner." + Willems' head moved imperceptibly; then he became +rigid and still. He seemed not to breathe. + "You shall stay here," continued Lingard, with +sombre deliberation. "You are not fit to go amongst +people. Who could suspect, who could guess, who +could imagine what's in you? I couldn't! You are +my mistake. I shall hide you here. If I let you out +you would go amongst unsuspecting men, and lie, +and steal, and cheat for a little money or for some +woman. I don't care about shooting you. It would +be the safest way though. But I won't. Do not +expect me to forgive you. To forgive one must have +been angry and become contemptuous, and there is +nothing in me now--no anger, no contempt, no disap- +pointment. To me you are not Willems, the man I +befriended and helped through thick and thin, and +thought much of . . . You are not a human being +that may be destroyed or forgiven. You are a bitter +thought, a something without a body and that must be +hidden . . . You are my shame." + He ceased and looked slowly round. How dark it +was! It seemed to him that the light was dying pre- +maturely out of the world and that the air was already +dead. + + +276 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Of course," he went on, "I shall see to it that you +don't starve." + "You don't mean to say that I must live here, Cap- +tain Lingard?" said Willems, in a kind of mechanical +voice without any inflections. + "Did you ever hear me say something I did not +mean?" asked Lingard. "You said you didn't want +to die here--well, you must live . . . Unless you +change your mind," he added, as if in involuntary +afterthought. + He looked at Willems narrowly, then shook his +head. + "You are alone," he went on. "Nothing can help +you. Nobody will. You are neither white nor brown. +You have no colour as you have no heart. Your ac- +complices have abandoned you to me because I am still +somebody to be reckoned with. You are alone but for +that woman there. You say you did this for her. +Well, you have her." + Willems mumbled something, and then suddenly +caught his hair with both his hands and remained +standing so. Aissa, who had been looking at him, +turned to Lingard. + "What did you say, Rajah Laut?" she cried. + There was a slight stir amongst the filmy threads +of her disordered hair, the bushes by the river sides +trembled, the big tree nodded precipitately over them +with an abrupt rustle, as if waking with a start from +a troubled sleep--and the breath of hot breeze passed, +light, rapid, and scorching, under the clouds that +whirled round, unbroken but undulating, like a rest- +less phantom of a sombre sea. + Lingard looked at her pityingly before he said-- + "I have told him that he must live here all his life +. . . and with you." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 277 + + The sun seemed to have gone out at last like a +flickering light away up beyond the clouds, and in the +stifling gloom of the courtyard the three figures stood +colourless and shadowy, as if surrounded by a black +and superheated mist. Aissa looked at Willems, who +remained still, as though he had been changed into +stone in the very act of tearing his hair. Then she +turned her head towards Lingard and shouted-- + "You lie! You lie! . . . White man. Like +you all do. You . . . whom Abdulla made small. +You lie!" + Her words rang out shrill and venomous with her +secret scorn, with her overpowering desire to wound +regardless of consequences; in her woman's reckless +desire to cause suffering at any cost, to cause it by the +sound of her own voice--by her own voice, that would +carry the poison of her thought into the hated heart. + Willems let his hands fall, and began to mumble +again. Lingard turned his ear towards him instinc- +tively, caught something that sounded like "Very +well"--then some more mumbling--then a sigh. + "As far as the rest of the world is concerned," said +Lingard, after waiting for awhile in an attentive at- +titude, "your life is finished. Nobody will be able to +throw any of your villainies in my teeth; nobody will be +able to point at you and say, 'Here goes a scoundrel +of Lingard's up-bringing.' You are buried here." + "And you think that I will stay . . . that I will +submit?" exclaimed Willems, as if he had suddenly +recovered the power of speech. + "You needn't stay here--on this spot," said Lingard, +drily. "There are the forests--and here is the river. +You may swim. Fifteen miles up, or forty down. At +one end you will meet Almayer, at the other the sea. +Take your choice." + + +278 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +He burst into a short, joyless laugh, then added with +severe gravity-- + "There is also another way." + "If you want to drive my soul into damnation by +trying to drive me to suicide you will not succeed," +said Willems in wild excitement. "I will live. I +shall repent. I may escape. . . . Take that +woman away--she is sin." + A hooked dart of fire tore in two the darkness of +the distant horizon and lit up the gloom of the earth +with a dazzling and ghastly flame. Then the thunder +was heard far away, like an incredibly enormous voice +muttering menaces. + Lingard said-- + "I don't care what happens, but I may tell you +that without that woman your life is not worth much +--not twopence. There is a fellow here who . . . +and Abdulla himself wouldn't stand on any ceremony. +Think of that! And then she won't go." + He began, even while he spoke, to walk slowly down +towards the little gate. He didn't look, but he felt as +sure that Willems was following him as if he had been +leading him by a string. Directly he had passed +through the wicket-gate into the big courtyard he heard +a voice, behind his back, saying-- + "I think she was right. I ought to have shot you. +I couldn't have been worse off." + "Time yet," answered Lingard, without stopping or +looking back. "But, you see, you can't. There is not +even that in you." + "Don't provoke me, Captain Lingard," cried Wil- +lems. + Lingard turned round sharply. Willems and Aissa +stopped. Another forked flash of lightning split up the +clouds overhead, and threw upon their faces a sudden + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 279 + +burst of light--a blaze violent, sinister and fleeting; +and in the same instant they were deafened by a near, +single crash of thunder, which was followed by a +rushing noise, like a frightened sigh of the startled +earth. + "Provoke you!" said the old adventurer, as soon as +he could make himself heard. "Provoke you! Hey! +What's there in you to provoke? What do I care?" + "It is easy to speak like that when you know that +in the whole world--in the whole world--I have no +friend," said Willems. + "Whose fault?" said Lingard, sharply. + Their voices, after the deep and tremendous noise, +sounded to them very unsatisfactory--thin and frail, +like the voices of pigmies--and they became suddenly +silent, as if on that account. From up the courtyard +Lingard's boatmen came down and passed them, keep- +ing step in a single file, their paddles on shoulder, and +holding their heads straight with their eyes fixed on +the river. Ali, who was walking last, stopped before +Lingard, very stiff and upright. He said-- + "That one-eyed Babalatchi is gone, with all his +women. He took everything. All the pots and boxes. +Big. Heavy. Three boxes." + He grinned as if the thing had been amusing, then +added with an appearance of anxious concern, "Rain +coming." + "We return," said Lingard. "Make ready." + "Aye, aye, sir!" ejaculated Ali with precision, and +moved on. He had been quartermaster with Lingard +before making up his mind to stay in Sambir as Al- +mayer's head man. He strutted towards the landing- +place thinking proudly that he was not like those other +ignorant boatmen, and knew how to answer properly +the very greatest of white captains. + + +280 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "You have misunderstood me from the first, Captain +Lingard," said Willems. + "Have I? It's all right, as long as there is no mis- +take about my meaning," answered Lingard, strolling +slowly to the landing-place. Willems followed him, and +Aissa followed Willems. + Two hands were extended to help Lingard in embark- +ing. He stepped cautiously and heavily into the long +and narrow canoe, and sat in the canvas folding-chair +that had been placed in the middle. He leaned back +and turned his head to the two figures that stood on the +bank a little above him. Aissa's eyes were fastened on +his face in a visible impatience to see him gone. Wil- +lems' look went straight above the canoe, straight at the +forest on the other side of the river. + "All right, Ali," said Lingard, in a low voice. + A slight stir animated the faces, and a faint murmur +ran along the line of paddlers. The foremost man +pushed with the point of his paddle, canted the fore +end out of the dead water into the current; and the +canoe fell rapidly off before the rush of brown water, +the stern rubbing gently against the low bank. + "We shall meet again, Captain Lingard!" cried +Willems, in an unsteady voice. + "Never!" said Lingard, turning half round in his +chair to look at Willems. His fierce red eyes glittered +remorselessly over the high back of his seat. + "Must cross the river. Water less quick over there," +said Ali. + He pushed in his turn now with all his strength, +throwing his body recklessly right out over the stern. +Then he recovered himself just in time into the squat- +ting attitude of a monkey perched on a high shelf, and +shouted: "Dayong!" + The paddles struck the water together. The canoe + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 281 + +darted forward and went on steadily crossing the river +with a sideways motion made up of its own speed and +the downward drift of the current. + Lingard watched the shore astern. The woman +shook her hand at him, and then squatted at the feet +of the man who stood motionless. After a while she got +up and stood beside him, reaching up to his head--and +Lingard saw then that she had wetted some part of her +covering and was trying to wash the dried blood off +the man's immovable face, which did not seem to know +anything about it. Lingard turned away and threw +himself back in his chair, stretching his legs out with a +sigh of fatigue. His head fell forward; and under his +red face the white beard lay fan-like on his breast, the +ends of fine long hairs all astir in the faint draught made +by the rapid motion of the craft that carried him away +from his prisoner--from the only thing in his life he +wished to hide. + In its course across the river the canoe came into +the line of Willems' sight and his eyes caught the +image, followed it eagerly as it glided, small but dis- +tinct, on the dark background of the forest. He could +see plainly the figure of the man sitting in the middle. +All his life he had felt that man behind his back, a reas- +suring presence ready with help, with commendation, +with advice; friendly in reproof, enthusiastic in appro- +bation; a man inspiring confidence by his strength, by +his fearlessness, by the very weakness of his simple +heart. And now that man was going away. He must +call him back. + He shouted, and his words, which he wanted to +throw across the river, seemed to fall helplessly at his +feet. Aissa put her hand on his arm in a restraining +attempt, but he shook it off. He wanted to call back +his very life that was going away from him. He shouted + + +282 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +again--and this time he did not even hear himself. No +use. He would never return. And he stood in sullen +silence looking at the white figure over there, lying back +in the chair in the middle of the boat; a figure that struck +him suddenly as very terrible, heartless and astonishing, +with its unnatural appearance of running over the water +in an attitude of languid repose. + For a time nothing on earth stirred, seemingly, but +the canoe, which glided up-stream with a motion so +even and smooth that it did not convey any sense of +movement. Overhead, the massed clouds appeared +solid and steady as if held there in a powerful grip, but +on their uneven surface there was a continuous and +trembling glimmer, a faint reflection of the distant +lightning from the thunderstorm that had broken al- +ready on the coast and was working its way up the river +with low and angry growls. Willems looked on, as +motionless as everything round him and above him. +Only his eyes seemed to live, as they followed the canoe +on its course that carried it away from him, steadily, +unhesitatingly, finally, as if it were going, not up the +great river into the momentous excitement of Sambir, +but straight into the past, into the past crowded yet +empty, like an old cemetery full of neglected graves, +where lie dead hopes that never return. + From time to time he felt on his face the passing, +warm touch of an immense breath coming from beyond +the forest, like the short panting of an oppressed world. +Then the heavy air round him was pierced by a sharp +gust of wind, bringing with it the fresh, damp feel of the +falling rain; and all the innumerable tree-tops of the +forests swayed to the left and sprang back again in a +tumultuous balancing of nodding branches and shudder- +ing leaves. A light frown ran over the river, the clouds +stirred slowly, changing their aspect but not their place, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 283 + +as if they had turned ponderously over; and when the +sudden movement had died out in a quickened tremor +of the slenderest twigs, there was a short period of for- +midable immobility above and below, during which the +voice of the thunder was heard, speaking in a sustained, +emphatic and vibrating roll, with violent louder bursts +of crashing sound, like a wrathful and threatening dis- +course of an angry god. For a moment it died out, and +then another gust of wind passed, driving before it a +white mist which filled the space with a cloud of water- +dust that hid suddenly from Willems the canoe, the +forests, the river itself; that woke him up from his +numbness in a forlorn shiver, that made him look round +despairingly to see nothing but the whirling drift of rain +spray before the freshening breeze, while through it +the heavy big drops fell about him with sonorous +and rapid beats upon the dry earth. He made a few +hurried steps up the courtyard and was arrested by an +immense sheet of water that fell all at once on him, fell +sudden and overwhelming from the clouds, cutting +his respiration, streaming over his head, clinging to him, +running down his body, off his arms, off his legs. He +stood gasping while the water beat him in a vertical +downpour, drove on him slanting in squalls, and he +felt the drops striking him from above, from every- +where; drops thick, pressed and dashing at him as if +flung from all sides by a mob of infuriated hands. From +under his feet a great vapour of broken water floated up, +he felt the ground become soft--melt under him--and +saw the water spring out from the dry earth to meet +the water that fell from the sombre heaven. An insane +dread took possession of him, the dread of all that water +around him, of the water that ran down the courtyard +towards him, of the water that pressed him on every +side, of the slanting water that drove across his face in + + +284 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +wavering sheets which gleamed pale red with the flicker +of lightning streaming through them, as if fire and water +were falling together, monstrously mixed, upon the +stunned earth. + He wanted to run away, but when he moved it was +to slide about painfully and slowly upon that earth +which had become mud so suddenly under his feet. He +fought his way up the courtyard like a man pushing +through a crowd, his head down, one shoulder forward, +stopping often, and sometimes carried back a pace or +two in the rush of water which his heart was not stout +enough to face. Aissa followed him step by step, +stopping when he stopped, recoiling with him, moving +forward with him in his toilsome way up the slippery +declivity of the courtyard, of that courtyard, from which +everything seemed to have been swept away by the +first rush of the mighty downpour. They could see +nothing. The tree, the bushes, the house, and the +fences--all had disappeared in the thickness of the fall- +ing rain. Their hair stuck, streaming, to their heads; +their clothing clung to them, beaten close to their bodies; +water ran off them, off their heads over their shoulders. +They moved, patient, upright, slow and dark, in the +gleam clear or fiery of the falling drops, under the roll +of unceasing thunder, like two wandering ghosts of the +drowned that, condemned to haunt the water for ever, +had come up from the river to look at the world under a +deluge. + On the left the tree seemed to step out to meet +them, appearing vaguely, high, motionless and patient; +with a rustling plaint of its innumerable leaves through +which every drop of water tore its separate way with +cruel haste. And then, to the right, the house surged +up in the mist, very black, and clamorous with the +quick patter of rain on its high-pitched roof above the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 285 + +steady splash of the water running off the eaves. +Down the plankway leading to the door flowed a +thin and pellucid stream, and when Willems began +his ascent it broke over his foot as if he were going +up a steep ravine in the bed of a rapid and shallow +torrent. Behind his heels two streaming smudges of +mud stained for an instant the purity of the rushing +water, and then he splashed his way up with a spurt +and stood on the bamboo platform before the open +door under the shelter of the overhanging eaves-- +under shelter at last! + A low moan ending in a broken and plaintive mutter +arrested Willems on the threshold. He peered round +in the half-light under the roof and saw the old woman +crouching close to the wall in a shapeless heap, and +while he looked he felt a touch of two arms on his +shoulders. Aissa! He had forgotten her. He turned, +and she clasped him round the neck instantly, pressing +close to him as if afraid of violence or escape. He +stiffened himself in repulsion, in horror, in the myster- +ious revolt of his heart; while she clung to him--clung +to him as if he were a refuge from misery, from storm, +from weariness, from fear, from despair; and it was on +the part of that being an embrace terrible, enraged and +mournful, in which all her strength went out to make +him captive, to hold him for ever. + He said nothing. He looked into her eyes while he +struggled with her fingers about the nape of his neck, +and suddenly he tore her hands apart, holding her arms +up in a strong grip of her wrists, and bending his swol- +len face close over hers, he said-- + "It is all your doing. You . . ." + She did not understand him--not a word. He +spoke in the language of his people--of his people that +know no mercy and no shame. And he was angry. + + +286 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +Alas! he was always angry now, and always speaking +words that she could not understand. She stood in +silence, looking at him through her patient eyes, while +he shook her arms a little and then flung them down. + "Don't follow me!" he shouted. "I want to be alone +--I mean to be left alone!" + He went in, leaving the door open. + She did not move. What need to understand the +words when they are spoken in such a voice? In that +voice which did not seem to be his voice--his voice +when he spoke by the brook, when he was never angry +and always smiling! Her eyes were fixed upon the +dark doorway, but her hands strayed mechanically +upwards; she took up all her hair, and, inclining her +head slightly over her shoulder, wrung out the long +black tresses, twisting them persistently, while she stood, +sad and absorbed, like one listening to an inward voice-- +the voice of bitter, of unavailing regret. The thunder +had ceased, the wind had died out, and the rain fell +perpendicular and steady through a great pale clearness +--the light of remote sun coming victorious from +amongst the dissolving blackness of the clouds. She +stood near the doorway. He was there--alone in the +gloom of the dwelling. He was there. He spoke not. +What was in his mind now? What fear? What de- +sire? Not the desire of her as in the days when he used +to smile . . . How could she know? . . . + A sigh coming from the bottom of her heart, flew +out into the world through her parted lips. A sigh +faint, profound, and broken; a sigh full of pain and fear, +like the sigh of those who are about to face the unknown: +to face it in loneliness, in doubt, and without hope. +She let go her hair, that fell scattered over her shoulders +like a funeral veil, and she sank down suddenly by the +door. Her hands clasped her ankles; she rested her + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 287 + +head on her drawn-up knees, and remained still, very +still, under the streaming mourning of her hair. She +was thinking of him; of the days by the brook; she was +thinking of all that had been their love--and she sat +in the abandoned posture of those who sit weeping by +the dead, of those who watch and mourn over a corpse. + +[page intentionally blank] + + PART V + +[page intentionally blank] + + + + CHAPTER ONE + + ALMAYER propped, alone on the verandah of his house, +with both his elbows on the table, and holding his +head between his hands, stared before him, away over +the stretch of sprouting young grass in his courtyard, +and over the short jetty with its cluster of small canoes, +amongst which his big whale-boat floated high, like +a white mother of all that dark and aquatic brood. +He stared on the river, past the schooner anchored in +mid-stream, past the forests of the left bank; he stared +through and past the illusion of the material world. + The sun was sinking. Under the sky was stretched +a network of white threads, a network fine and close- +meshed, where here and there were caught thicker +white vapours of globular shape; and to the eastward, +above the ragged barrier of the forests, surged the +summits of a chain of great clouds, growing bigger +slowly, in imperceptible motion, as if careful not to dis- +turb the glowing stillness of the earth and of the sky. +Abreast of the house the river was empty but for the +motionless schooner. Higher up, a solitary log came +out from the bend above and went on drifting slowly +down the straight reach: a dead and wandering tree +going out to its grave in the sea, between two ranks of +trees motionless and living. + And Almayer sat, his face in his hands, looking on +and hating all this: the muddy river; the faded blue +of the sky; the black log passing by on its first and +last voyage; the green sea of leaves--the sea that +glowed shimmered, and stirred above the uniform and + +291 + + +292 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +impenetrable gloom of the forests--the joyous sea of +living green powdered with the brilliant dust of oblique +sunrays. He hated all this; he begrudged every day +--every minute--of his life spent amongst all these +things; he begrudged it bitterly, angrily, with enraged +and immense regret, like a miser compelled to give up +some of his treasure to a near relation. And yet all +this was very precious to him. It was the present +sign of a splendid future. + He pushed the table away impatiently, got up, +made a few steps aimlessly, then stood by the balus- +trade and again looked at the river--at that river +which would have been the instrument for the making +of his fortune if . . . if . . . + "What an abominable brute!" he said. + He was alone, but he spoke aloud, as one is apt to +do under the impulse of a strong, of an overmastering +thought. + "What a brute!" he muttered again. + The river was dark now, and the schooner lay on +it, a black, a lonely, and a graceful form, with the +slender masts darting upwards from it in two frail +and raking lines. The shadows of the evening crept +up the trees, crept up from bough to bough, till at +last the long sunbeams coursing from the western +horizon skimmed lightly over the topmost branches, +then flew upwards amongst the piled-up clouds, giving +them a sombre and fiery aspect in the last flush of +light. And suddenly the light disappeared as if lost in +the immensity of the great, blue, and empty hollow +overhead. The sun had set: and the forests became +a straight wall of formless blackness. Above them, on +the edge of lingering clouds, a single star glimmered +fitfully, obscured now and then by the rapid flight of +high and invisible vapours. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 293 + + Almayer fought with the uneasiness within his +breast. He heard Ali, who moved behind him prepar- +ing his evening meal, and he listened with strange +attention to the sounds the man made--to the short, +dry bang of the plate put upon the table, to the clink +of glass and the metallic rattle of knife and fork. The +man went away. Now he was coming back. He +would speak directly; and Almayer, notwithstanding +the absorbing gravity of his thoughts, listened for the +sound of expected words. He heard them, spoken in +English with painstaking distinctness. + "Ready, sir!" + "All right," said Almayer, curtly. He did not move. +He remained pensive, with his back to the table upon +which stood the lighted lamp brought by Ali. He +was thinking: Where was Lingard now? Halfway +down the river probably, in Abdulla's ship. He would +be back in about three days--perhaps less. And then? +Then the schooner would have to be got out of the river, +and when that craft was gone they--he and Lingard-- +would remain here; alone with the constant thought +of that other man, that other man living near them! +What an extraordinary idea to keep him there for ever. +For ever! What did that mean--for ever? Perhaps +a year, perhaps ten years. Preposterous! Keep him +there ten years--or may be twenty! The fellow was +capable of living more than twenty years. And for all +that time he would have to be watched, fed, looked after. +There was nobody but Lingard to have such notions. +Twenty years! Why, no! In less than ten years +their fortune would be made and they would leave +this place, first for Batavia--yes, Batavia--and then +for Europe. England, no doubt. Lingard would +want to go to England. And would they leave that +man here? How would that fellow look in ten years? + + +294 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +Very old probably. Well, devil take him. Nina +would be fifteen. She would be rich and very pretty +and he himself would not be so old then. . . ." + Almayer smiled into the night. + . . . Yes, rich! Why! Of course! Captain +Lingard was a resourceful man, and he had plenty of +money even now. They were rich already; but not +enough. Decidedly not enough. Money brings +money. That gold business was good. Famous! +Captain Lingard was a remarkable man. He said the +gold was there--and it was there. Lingard knew what +he was talking about. But he had queer ideas. For +instance, about Willems. Now what did he want to +keep him alive for? Why? + "That scoundrel," muttered Almayer again. + "Makan Tuan!" ejaculated Ali suddenly, very loud +in a pressing tone. + Almayer walked to the table, sat down, and his +anxious visage dropped from above into the light +thrown down by the lamp-shade. He helped himself +absently, and began to eat in great mouthfuls. + . . . Undoubtedly, Lingard was the man to stick +to! The man undismayed, masterful and ready. How +quickly he had planned a new future when Willems' +treachery destroyed their established position in +Sambir! And the position even now was not so bad. +What an immense prestige that Lingard had with all +those people--Arabs, Malays and all. Ah, it was good +to be able to call a man like that father. Fine! Won- +der how much money really the old fellow had. People +talked--they exaggerated surely, but if he had only +half of what they said . . . + He drank, throwing his head up, and fell to again. + . . . Now, if that Willems had known how to play +his cards well, had he stuck to the old fellow he would + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 295 + +have been in his position, he would be now married +to Lingard's adopted daughter with his future assured +--splendid . . . + "The beast!" growled Almayer, between two mouth- +fuls. + Ali stood rigidly straight with an uninterested face, +his gaze lost in the night which pressed round the +small circle of light that shone on the table, on the +glass, on the bottle, and on Almayer's head as he +leaned over his plate moving his jaws. + . . . A famous man Lingard--yet you never knew +what he would do next. It was notorious that he had +shot a white man once for less than Willems had done. +For less? . . . Why, for nothing, so to speak! It +was not even his own quarrel. It was about some +Malay returning from pilgrimage with wife and children. +Kidnapped, or robbed, or something. A stupid story-- +an old story. And now he goes to see that Willems +and--nothing. Comes back talking big about his +prisoner; but after all he said very little. What did +that Willems tell him? What passed between them? +The old fellow must have had something in his mind +when he let that scoundrel off. And Joanna! She +would get round the old fellow. Sure. Then he would +forgive perhaps. Impossible. But at any rate he +would waste a lot of money on them. The old man +was tenacious in his hates, but also in his affections. +He had known that beast Willems from a boy. They +would make it up in a year or so. Everything is +possible: why did he not rush off at first and kill the +brute? That would have been more like Lingard. . . . + Almayer laid down his spoon suddenly, and pushing +his plate away, threw himself back in the chair. + . . . Unsafe. Decidedly unsafe. He had no +mind to share Lingard's money with anybody. Lin- + + +296 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +gard's money was Nina's money in a sense. And if +Willems managed to become friendly with the old +man it would be dangerous for him--Almayer. Such +an unscrupulous scoundrel! He would oust him from his +position. He would lie and slander. Everything would +be lost. Lost. Poor Nina. What would become of her? +Poor child. For her sake he must remove that Wil- +lems. Must. But how? Lingard wanted to be obeyed. +Impossible to kill Willems. Lingard might be angry. +Incredible, but so it was. He might . . . + A wave of heat passed through Almayer's body, +flushed his face, and broke out of him in copious +perspiration. He wriggled in his chair, and pressed +his hands together under the table. What an awful +prospect! He fancied he could see Lingard and +Willems reconciled and going away arm-in-arm, leaving +him alone in this God-forsaken hole--in Sambir--in +this deadly swamp! And all his sacrifices, the sacrifice +of his independence, of his best years, his surrender to +Lingard's fancies and caprices, would go for nothing! +Horrible! Then he thought of his little daughter--his +daughter!--and the ghastliness of his supposition over- +powered him. He had a deep emotion, a sudden emo- +tion that made him feel quite faint at the idea of that +young life spoiled before it had fairly begun. His dear +child's life! Lying back in his chair he covered his +face with both his hands. + Ali glanced down at him and said, unconcernedly-- +"Master finish?" + Almayer was lost in the immensity of his com- +miseration for himself, for his daughter, who was-- +perhaps--not going to be the richest woman in the +world--notwithstanding Lingard's promises. He did +not understand the other's question, and muttered +through his fingers in a doleful tone-- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 297 + + "What did you say? What? Finish what?" + "Clear up meza," explained Ali. + "Clear up!" burst out Almayer, with incompre- +hensible exasperation. "Devil take you and the table. +Stupid! Chatterer! Chelakka! Get out!" + He leaned forward, glaring at his head man, then +sank back in his seat with his arms hanging straight +down on each side of the chair. And he sat motion- +less in a meditation so concentrated and so absorbing, +with all his power of thought so deep within himself, +that all expression disappeared from his face in an +aspect of staring vacancy. + Ali was clearing the table. He dropped negligently +the tumbler into the greasy dish, flung there the spoon +and fork, then slipped in the plate with a push amongst +the remnants of food. He took up the dish, tucked +up the bottle under his armpit, and went off. + "My hammock!" shouted Almayer after him. + "Ada! I come soon," answered Ali from the door- +way in an offended tone, looking back over his shoulder. +. . . How could he clear the table and hang the +hammock at the same time. Ya-wa! Those white +men were all alike. Wanted everything done at once. +Like children . . . + The indistinct murmur of his criticism went away, +faded and died out together with the soft footfall of his +bare feet in the dark passage. + For some time Almayer did not move. His thoughts +were busy at work shaping a momentous resolution, +and in the perfect silence of the house he believed that +he could hear the noise of the operation as if the work +had been done with a hammer. He certainly felt a +thumping of strokes, faint, profound, and startling, +somewhere low down in his breast; and he was aware +of a sound of dull knocking, abrupt and rapid, in his + + +298 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +ears. Now and then he held his breath, unconsciously, +too long, and had to relieve himself by a deep expiration +that whistled dully through his pursed lips. The +lamp standing on the far side of the table threw a +section of a lighted circle on the floor, where his out- +stretched legs stuck out from under the table with feet +rigid and turned up like the feet of a corpse; and his +set face with fixed eyes would have been also like the +face of the dead, but for its vacant yet conscious aspect; +the hard, the stupid, the stony aspect of one not dead, +but only buried under the dust, ashes, and corruption +of personal thoughts, of base fears, of selfish desires. + "I will do it!" + Not till he heard his own voice did he know that +he had spoken. It startled him. He stood up. The +knuckles of his hand, somewhat behind him, were +resting on the edge of the table as he remained still +with one foot advanced, his lips a little open, and +thought: It would not do to fool about with Lingard. +But I must risk it. It's the only way I can see. I must +tell her. She has some little sense. I wish they were +a thousand miles off already. A hundred thousand +miles. I do. And if it fails. And she blabs out then +to Lingard? She seemed a fool. No; probably they +will get away. And if they did, would Lingard be- +lieve me? Yes. I never lied to him. He would +believe. I don't know . . . Perhaps he won't. +. . . "I must do it. Must!" he argued aloud to +himself. + For a long time he stood still, looking before him +with an intense gaze, a gaze rapt and immobile, that +seemed to watch the minute quivering of a delicate +balance, coming to a rest. + To the left of him, in the whitewashed wall of +the house that formed the back of the verandah, there + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 299 + +was a closed door. Black letters were painted on it +proclaiming the fact that behind that door there was +the office of Lingard & Co. The interior had been +furnished by Lingard when he had built the house +for his adopted daughter and her husband, and it had +been furnished with reckless prodigality. There was +an office desk, a revolving chair, bookshelves, a safe: +all to humour the weakness of Almayer, who thought +all those paraphernalia necessary to successful trading. +Lingard had laughed, but had taken immense trouble +to get the things. It pleased him to make his <i>protege</I>, +his adopted son-in-law, happy. It had been the +sensation of Sambir some five years ago. While +the things were being landed, the whole settlement +literally lived on the river bank in front of the Rajah +Laut's house, to look, to wonder, to admire. . . . +What a big meza, with many boxes fitted all over it +and under it! What did the white man do with +such a table? And look, look, O Brothers! There +is a green square box, with a gold plate on it, a box +so heavy that those twenty men cannot drag it +up the bank. Let us go, brothers, and help pull +at the ropes, and perchance we may see what's inside. +Treasure, no doubt. Gold is heavy and hard to +hold, O Brothers! Let us go and earn a recom- +pense from the fierce Rajah of the Sea who shouts over +there, with a red face. See! There is a man carrying +a pile of books from the boat! What a number of +books. What were they for? . . . And an old in- +valided jurumudi, who had travelled over many seas +and had heard holy men speak in far-off countries, +explained to a small knot of unsophisticated citizens +of Sambir that those books were books of magic-- +of magic that guides the white men's ships over the +seas, that gives them their wicked wisdom and their + + +300 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +strength; of magic that makes them great, powerful, +and irresistible while they live, and--praise be to +Allah!--the victims of Satan, the slaves of Jehannum +when they die. + And when he saw the room furnished, Almayer +had felt proud. In his exultation of an empty-headed +quill-driver, he thought himself, by the virtue of that +furniture, at the head of a serious business. He had +sold himself to Lingard for these things--married the +Malay girl of his adoption for the reward of these things +and of the great wealth that must necessarily follow +upon conscientious book-keeping. He found out very +soon that trade in Sambir meant something entirely +different. He could not guide Patalolo, control the +irrepressible old Sahamin, or restrain the youthful +vagaries of the fierce Bahassoen with pen, ink, and +paper. He found no successful magic in the blank +pages of his ledgers; and gradually he lost his old point +of view in the saner appreciation of his situation. The +room known as the office became neglected then like a +temple of an exploded superstition. At first, when his +wife reverted to her original savagery, Almayer, now +and again, had sought refuge from her there; but after +their child began to speak, to know him, he became +braver, for he found courage and consolation in his +unreasoning and fierce affection for his daughter--in +the impenetrable mantle of selfishness he wrapped +round both their lives: round himself, and that young +life that was also his. + When Lingard ordered him to receive Joanna into +his house, he had a truckle bed put into the office-- +the only room he could spare. The big office desk +was pushed on one side, and Joanna came with her +little shabby trunk and with her child and took pos- +session in her dreamy, slack, half-asleep way; took + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 301 + +possession of the dust, dirt, and squalor, where she +appeared naturally at home, where she dragged a +melancholy and dull existence; an existence made up of +sad remorse and frightened hope, amongst the hopeless +disorder--the senseless and vain decay of all these +emblems of civilized commerce. Bits of white stuff; +rags yellow, pink, blue: rags limp, brilliant and soiled, +trailed on the floor, lay on the desk amongst the sombre +covers of books soiled, grimy, but stiff-backed, in virtue, +perhaps, of their European origin. The biggest set of +bookshelves was partly hidden by a petticoat, the waist- +band of which was caught upon the back of a slender +book pulled a little out of the row so as to make an +improvised clothespeg. The folding canvas bedstead +stood nearly in the middle of the room, stood anyhow, +parallel to no wall, as if it had been, in the process of +transportation to some remote place, dropped casually +there by tired bearers. And on the tumbled blankets +that lay in a disordered heap on its edge, Joanna sat +almost all day with her stockingless feet upon one of +the bed pillows that were somehow always kicking +about the floor. She sat there, vaguely tormented at +times by the thought of her absent husband, but most +of the time thinking tearfully of nothing at all, looking +with swimming eyes at her little son--at the big- +headed, pasty-faced, and sickly Louis Willems--who +rolled a glass inkstand, solid with dried ink, about the +floor, and tottered after it with the portentous gravity +of demeanour and absolute absorption by the business +in hand that characterize the pursuits of early child- +hood. Through the half-open shutter a ray of sunlight, +a ray merciless and crude, came into the room, beat +in the early morning upon the safe in the far-off corner, +then, travelling against the sun, cut at midday the big +desk in two with its solid and clean-edged brilliance; + + +302 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +with its hot brilliance in which a swarm of flies hovered +in dancing flight over some dirty plate forgotten there +amongst yellow papers for many a day. And towards +the evening the cynical ray seemed to cling to the +ragged petticoat, lingered on it with wicked enjoyment +of that misery it had exposed all day; lingered on the +corner of the dusty bookshelf, in a red glow intense and +mocking, till it was suddenly snatched by the setting +sun out of the way of the coming night. And the +night entered the room. The night abrupt, impene- +trable and all-filling with its flood of darkness; the night +cool and merciful; the blind night that saw nothing, but +could hear the fretful whimpering of the child, the +creak of the bedstead, Joanna's deep sighs as she turned +over, sleepless, in the confused conviction of her wicked- +ness, thinking of that man masterful, fair-headed, and +strong--a man hard perhaps, but her husband; her +clever and handsome husband to whom she had acted so +cruelly on the advice of bad people, if her own people; +and of her poor, dear, deceived mother. + To Almayer, Joanna's presence was a constant +worry, a worry unobtrusive yet intolerable; a constant, +but mostly mute, warning of possible danger. In +view of the absurd softness of Lingard's heart, every +one in whom Lingard manifested the slightest interest +was to Almayer a natural enemy. He was quite +alive to that feeling, and in the intimacy of the secret +intercourse with his inner self had often congratu- +lated himself upon his own wide-awake comprehension +of his position. In that way, and impelled by that +motive, Almayer had hated many and various persons +at various times. But he never had hated and feared +anybody so much as he did hate and fear Willems. +Even after Willems' treachery, which seemed to re- +move him beyond the pale of all human sympathy, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 303 + +Almayer mistrusted the situation and groaned in +spirit every time he caught sight of Joanna. + He saw her very seldom in the daytime. But in +the short and opal-tinted twilights, or in the azure +dusk of starry evenings, he often saw, before he slept, +the slender and tall figure trailing to and fro the rag- +ged tail of its white gown over the dried mud of the +riverside in front of the house. Once or twice when +he sat late on the verandah, with his feet upon the +deal table on a level with the lamp, reading the seven +months' old copy of the <i>North China Herald</i>, brought +by Lingard, he heard the stairs creak, and, looking +round the paper, he saw her frail and meagre form rise +step by step and toil across the verandah, carrying with +difficulty the big, fat child, whose head, lying on the +mother's bony shoulder, seemed of the same size as +Joanna's own. Several times she had assailed him +with tearful clamour or mad entreaties: asking about +her husband, wanting to know where he was, when he +would be back; and ending every such outburst with +despairing and incoherent self-reproaches that were +absolutely incomprehensible to Almayer. On one or +two occasions she had overwhelmed her host with +vituperative abuse, making him responsible for her +husband's absence. Those scenes, begun without +any warning, ended abruptly in a sobbing flight and a +bang of the door; stirred the house with a sudden, a +fierce, and an evanescent disturbance; like those inex- +plicable whirlwinds that rise, run, and vanish without +apparent cause upon the sun-scorched dead level of +arid and lamentable plains. + But to-night the house was quiet, deadly quiet, +while Almayer stood still, watching that delicate bal- +ance where he was weighing all his chances: Joan- +na's intelligence, Lingard's credulity, Willems' reckless + + +304 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +audacity, desire to escape, readiness to seize an un- +expected opportunity. He weighed, anxious and atten- +tive, his fears and his desires against the tremendous +risk of a quarrel with Lingard. . . . Yes. Lin- +gard would be angry. Lingard might suspect him +of some connivance in his prisoner's escape--but +surely he would not quarrel with him--Almayer-- +about those people once they were gone--gone to the +devil in their own way. And then he had hold of +Lingard through the little girl. Good. What an +annoyance! A prisoner! As if one could keep him +in there. He was bound to get away some time or +other. Of course. A situation like that can't last. +Anybody could see that. Lingard's eccentricity passed +all bounds. You may kill a man, but you mustn't +torture him. It was almost criminal. It caused +worry, trouble, and unpleasantness. . . . Almayer +for a moment felt very angry with Lingard. He made +him responsible for the anguish he suffered from, for +the anguish of doubt and fear; for compelling him-- +the practical and innocent Almayer--to such painful +efforts of mind in order to find out some issue for absurd +situations created by the unreasonable sentimentality +of Lingard's unpractical impulses. + "Now if the fellow were dead it would be all right," +said Almayer to the verandah. + He stirred a little, and scratching his nose thought- +fully, revelled in a short flight of fancy, showing him +his own image crouching in a big boat, that floated +arrested--say fifty yards off--abreast of Willems' +landing-place. In the bottom of the boat there was +a gun. A loaded gun. One of the boatmen would +shout, and Willems would answer--from the bushes. +The rascal would be suspicious. Of course. Then +the man would wave a piece of paper urging Willems + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 305 + +to come to the landing-place and receive an important +message. "From the Rajah Laut" the man would +yell as the boat edged in-shore, and that would fetch +Willems out. Wouldn't it? Rather! And Almayer +saw himself jumping up at the right moment, taking +aim, pulling the trigger--and Willems tumbling over, +his head in the water--the swine! + He seemed to hear the report of the shot. It made +him thrill from head to foot where he stood. . . . +How simple! . . . Unfortunate . . . Lingard +. . . He sighed, shook his head. Pity. Couldn't +be done. And couldn't leave him there either! Sup- +pose the Arabs were to get hold of him again--for in- +stance to lead an expedition up the river! Goodness +only knows what harm would come of it. . . . + The balance was at rest now and inclining to the +side of immediate action. Almayer walked to the +door, walked up very close to it, knocked loudly, and +turned his head away, looking frightened for a moment +at what he had done. After waiting for a while he put +his ear against the panel and listened. Nothing. He +composed his features into an agreeable expression +while he stood listening and thinking to himself: I +hear her. Crying. Eh? I believe she has lost the +little wits she had and is crying night and day since I +began to prepare her for the news of her husband's +death--as Lingard told me. I wonder what she thinks. +It's just like father to make me invent all these stories +for nothing at all. Out of kindness. Kindness! +Damn! . . . She isn't deaf, surely. + He knocked again, then said in a friendly tone, grin- +ning benevolently at the closed door-- + "It's me, Mrs. Willems. I want to speak to you. +I have . . . have . . . important news. . . ." + "What is it?" + + +306 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "News," repeated Almayer, distinctly. "News +about your husband. Your husband! . . . Damn +him!" he added, under his breath. + He heard a stumbling rush inside. Things were +overturned. Joanna's agitated voice cried-- + "News! What? What? I am coming out." + "No," shouted Almayer. "Put on some clothes, +Mrs. Willems, and let me in. It's . . . very con- +fidential. You have a candle, haven't you?" + She was knocking herself about blindly amongst +the furniture in that room. The candlestick was upset. +Matches were struck ineffectually. The matchbox fell. +He heard her drop on her knees and grope over the floor +while she kept on moaning in maddened distraction. + "Oh, my God! News! Yes . . . yes. . . . +Ah! where . . . where . . . candle. Oh, my +God! . . . I can't find . . . Don't go away, +for the love of Heaven . . ." + "I don't want to go away," said Almayer, im- +patiently, through the keyhole; "but look sharp. +It's confi . . . it's pressing." + He stamped his foot lightly, waiting with his hand +on the door-handle. He thought anxiously: The +woman's a perfect idiot. Why should I go away? +She will be off her head. She will never catch my +meaning. She's too stupid. + She was moving now inside the room hurriedly and +in silence. He waited. There was a moment of +perfect stillness in there, and then she spoke in an +exhausted voice, in words that were shaped out of an +expiring sigh--out of a sigh light and profound, like +words breathed out by a woman before going off into +a dead faint-- + "Come in." + He pushed the door. Ali, coming through the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 307 + +passage with an armful of pillows and blankets pressed +to his breast high up under his chin, caught sight of +his master before the door closed behind him. He +was so astonished that he dropped his bundle and +stood staring at the door for a long time. He heard +the voice of his master talking. Talking to that +Sirani woman! Who was she? He had never thought +about that really. He speculated for a while hazily +upon things in general. She was a Sirani woman-- +and ugly. He made a disdainful grimace, picked up +the bedding, and went about his work, slinging the +hammock between two uprights of the verandah. . . . +Those things did not concern him. She was ugly, and +brought here by the Rajah Laut, and his master spoke +to her in the night. Very well. He, Ali, had his work +to do. Sling the hammock--go round and see that +the watchmen were awake--take a look at the moorings +of the boats, at the padlock of the big storehouse--then +go to sleep. To sleep! He shivered pleasantly. He +leaned with both arms over his master's hammock and +fell into a light doze. + A scream, unexpected, piercing--a scream begin- +ning at once in the highest pitch of a woman's voice +and then cut short, so short that it suggested the swift +work of death--caused Ali to jump on one side away +from the hammock, and the silence that succeeded +seemed to him as startling as the awful shriek. He +was thunderstruck with surprise. Almayer came out +of the office, leaving the door ajar, passed close to his +servant without taking any notice, and made straight +for the water-chatty hung on a nail in a draughty +place. He took it down and came back, missing the +petrified Ali by an inch. He moved with long strides, +yet, notwithstanding his haste, stopped short before +the door, and, throwing his head back, poured a thin + + +309 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +stream of water down his throat. While he came +and went, while he stopped to drink, while he did all +this, there came steadily from the dark room the +sound of feeble and persistent crying, the crying of +a sleepy and frightened child. After he had drunk, +Almayer went in, closing the door carefully. + Ali did not budge. That Sirani woman shrieked! +He felt an immense curiosity very unusual to his +stolid disposition. He could not take his eyes off the +door. Was she dead in there? How interesting and +funny! He stood with open mouth till he heard +again the rattle of the door-handle. Master coming +out. He pivoted on his heels with great rapidity and +made believe to be absorbed in the contemplation of +the night outside. He heard Almayer moving about +behind his back. Chairs were displaced. His master +sat down. + "Ali," said Almayer. + His face was gloomy and thoughtful. He looked +at his head man, who had approached the table, then +he pulled out his watch. It was going. Whenever +Lingard was in Sambir Almayer's watch was going. +He would set it by the cabin clock, telling himself +every time that he must really keep that watch going +for the future. And every time, when Lingard went +away, he would let it run down and would measure +his weariness by sunrises and sunsets in an apathetic +indifference to mere hours; to hours only; to hours +that had no importance in Sambir life, in the tired +stagnation of empty days; when nothing mattered to +him but the quality of guttah and the size of rattans; +where there were no small hopes to be watched for; +where to him there was nothing interesting, nothing +supportable, nothing desirable to expect; nothing bit- +ter but the slowness of the passing days; nothing + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 309 + +sweet but the hope, the distant and glorious hope-- +the hope wearying, aching and precious, of getting +away. + He looked at the watch. Half-past eight. Ali +waited stolidly. + "Go to the settlement," said Almayer, "and tell +Mahmat Banjer to come and speak to me to-night." + Ali went off muttering. He did not like his errand. +Banjer and his two brothers were Bajow vagabonds +who had appeared lately in Sambir and had been allowed +to take possession of a tumbledown abandoned hut, +on three posts, belonging to Lingard & Co., and stand- +ing just outside their fence. Ali disapproved of the +favour shown to those strangers. Any kind of dwelling +was valuable in Sambir at that time, and if master did +not want that old rotten house he might have given it +to him, Ali, who was his servant, instead of bestowing it +upon those bad men. Everybody knew they were +bad. It was well known that they had stolen a boat +from Hinopari, who was very aged and feeble and had +no sons; and that afterwards, by the truculent reckless- +ness of their demeanour, they had frightened the poor +old man into holding his tongue about it. Yet every- +body knew of it. It was one of the tolerated scandals +of Sambir, disapproved and accepted, a manifestation +of that base acquiescence in success, of that inexpressed +and cowardly toleration of strength, that exists, in- +famous and irremediable, at the bottom of all hearts, +in all societies; whenever men congregate; in bigger +and more virtuous places than Sambir, and in Sambir +also, where, as in other places, one man could steal a +boat with impunity while another would have no right +to look at a paddle. + Almayer, leaning back in his chair, meditated. The +more he thought, the more he felt convinced that + + +310 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +Banjer and his brothers were exactly the men he +wanted. Those fellows were sea gipsies, and could +disappear without attracting notice; and if they +returned, nobody--and Lingard least of all--would +dream of seeking information from them. More- +over, they had no personal interest of any kind in +Sambir affairs--had taken no sides--would know +nothing anyway. + He called in a strong voice: "Mrs. Willems!" + She came out quickly, almost startling him, so +much did she appear as though she had surged up +through the floor, on the other side of the table. The +lamp was between them, and Almayer moved it aside, +looking up at her from his chair. She was crying. +She was crying gently, silently, in a ceaseless welling +up of tears that did not fall in drops, but seemed to +overflow in a clear sheet from under her eyelids-- +seemed to flow at once all over her face, her cheeks, +and over her chin that glistened with moisture in the +light. Her breast and her shoulders were shaken +repeatedly by a convulsive and noiseless catching in +her breath, and after every spasmodic sob her sorrow- +ful little head, tied up in a red kerchief, trembled +on her long neck, round which her bony hand gathered +and clasped the disarranged dress. + "Compose yourself, Mrs. Willems," said Almayer. + She emitted an inarticulate sound that seemed to be +a faint, a very far off, a hardly audible cry of mortal +distress. Then the tears went on flowing in profound +stillness. + "You must understand that I have told you all this +because I am your friend--real friend," said Almayer, +after looking at her for some time with visible dissatis- +faction. "You, his wife, ought to know the danger he is +in. Captain Lingard is a terrible man, you know." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 311 + + She blubbered out, sniffing and sobbing together. + "Do you . . . you . . . speak . . . the +. . . the truth now?" + "Upon my word of honour. On the head of my +child," protested Almayer. "I had to deceive you till +now because of Captain Lingard. But I couldn't +bear it. Think only what a risk I run in telling you +--if ever Lingard was to know! Why should I do it? +Pure friendship. Dear Peter was my colleague in +Macassar for years, you know." + "What shall I do . . . what shall I do!" she +exclaimed, faintly, looking around on every side as if +she could not make up her mind which way to rush +off. + "You must help him to clear out, now Lingard is +away. He offended Lingard, and that's no joke. +Lingard said he would kill him. He will do it, too," +said Almayer, earnestly. + She wrung her hands. "Oh! the wicked man. +The wicked, wicked man!" she moaned, swaying her +body from side to side. + "Yes. Yes! He is terrible," assented Almayer. +"You must not lose any time. I say! Do you under- +stand me, Mrs. Willems? Think of your husband. +Of your poor husband. How happy he will be. You +will bring him his life--actually his life. Think of him." + She ceased her swaying movement, and now, with +her head sunk between her shoulders, she hugged +herself with both her arms; and she stared at Almayer +with wild eyes, while her teeth chattered, rattling +violently and uninterruptedly, with a very loud sound, +in the deep peace of the house. + "Oh! Mother of God!" she wailed. "I am a +miserable woman. Will he forgive me? The poor, +innocent man. Will he forgive me? Oh, Mr. Almayer, + + +312 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +he is so severe. Oh! help me. . . . I dare not. +. . . You don't know what I've done to him. +. . . I daren't! . . . I can't! . . . God +help me!" + The last words came in a despairing cry. Had she +been flayed alive she could not have sent to heaven a +more terrible, a more heartrending and anguished plaint. + "Sh! Sh!" hissed Almayer, jumping up. "You +will wake up everybody with your shouting." + She kept on sobbing then without any noise, and +Almayer stared at her in boundless astonishment. +The idea that, maybe, he had done wrong by con- +fiding in her, upset him so much that for a moment +he could not find a connected thought in his head. + At last he said: "I swear to you that your husband +is in such a position that he would welcome the devil +. . . listen well to me . . . the devil himself +if the devil came to him in a canoe. Unless I am much +mistaken,'' he added, under his breath. Then again, +loudly: "If you have any little difference to make up +with him, I assure you--I swear to you--this is your +time!" + The ardently persuasive tone of his words--he +thought--would have carried irresistible conviction +to a graven image. He noticed with satisfaction that +Joanna seemed to have got some inkling of his mean- +ing. He continued, speaking slowly-- + "Look here, Mrs. Willems. I can't do anything. +Daren't. But I will tell you what I will do. There +will come here in about ten minutes a Bugis man-- +you know the language; you are from Macassar. He +has a large canoe; he can take you there. To the +new Rajah's clearing, tell him. They are three broth- +ers, ready for anything if you pay them . . . you +have some money. Haven't you?" + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 313 + + She stood--perhaps listening--but giving no sign +of intelligence, and stared at the floor in sudden im- +mobility, as if the horror of the situation, the over- +whelming sense of her own wickedness and of her +husband's great danger, had stunned her brain, her +heart, her will--had left her no faculty but that of +breathing and of keeping on her feet. Almayer swore +to himself with much mental profanity that he had +never seen a more useless, a more stupid being. + "D'ye hear me?" he said, raising his voice. "Do try +to understand. Have you any money? Money. Dollars. +Guilders. Money! What's the matter with you?" + Without raising her eyes she said, in a voice that +sounded weak and undecided as if she had been making +a desperate effort of memory-- + "The house has been sold. Mr. Hudig was angry." + Almayer gripped the edge of the table with all his +strength. He resisted manfully an almost uncontrol- +lable impulse to fly at her and box her ears. + "It was sold for money, I suppose," he said with +studied and incisive calmness. "Have you got it? +Who has got it?" + She looked up at him, raising her swollen eyelids +with a great effort, in a sorrowful expression of her +drooping mouth, of her whole besmudged and tear- +stained face. She whispered resignedly-- + "Leonard had some. He wanted to get married. +And uncle Antonio; he sat at the door and would +not go away. And Aghostina--she is so poor . . . +and so many, many children--little children. And +Luiz the engineer. He never said a word against +my husband. Also our cousin Maria. She came +and shouted, and my head was so bad, and my heart +was worse. Then cousin Salvator and old Daniel da +Souza, who . . ." + + +314 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + Almayer had listened to her speechless with rage. +He thought: I must give money now to that idiot. +Must! Must get her out of the way now before +Lingard is back. He made two attempts to speak +before he managed to burst out-- + "I don't want to know their blasted names! Tell +me, did all those infernal people leave you anything? +To you! That's what I want to know!" + "I have two hundred and fifteen dollars," said +Joanna, in a frightened tone. + Almayer breathed freely. He spoke with great +friendliness-- + "That will do. It isn't much, but it will do. Now +when the man comes I will be out of the way. You +speak to him. Give him some money; only a little, +mind! And promise more. Then when you get there +you will be guided by your husband, of course. And +don't forget to tell him that Captain Lingard is at the +mouth of the river--the northern entrance. You will +remember. Won't you? The northern branch. Lin- +gard is--death." + Joanna shivered. Almayer went on rapidly-- + "I would have given you money if you had wanted +it. 'Pon my word! Tell your husband I've sent +you to him. And tell him not to lose any time. And +also say to him from me that we shall meet--some day. +That I could not die happy unless I met him once more. +Only once. I love him, you know. I prove it. Tre- +mendous risk to me--this business is!" + Joanna snatched his hand and before he knew what +she would be at, pressed it to her lips. + "Mrs. Willems! Don't. What are you . . ." +cried the abashed Almayer, tearing his hand away. + "Oh, you are good!" she cried, with sudden exalta- +tion, "You are noble . . . I shall pray every + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 315 + +day . . . to all the saints . . . I +shall . . ." + "Never mind . . . never mind!" stammered +out Almayer, confusedly, without knowing very well +what he was saying. "Only look out for Lingard. +. . . I am happy to be able . . . in your sad +situation . . . believe me. . . . " + They stood with the table between them, Joanna +looking down, and her face, in the half-light above +the lamp, appeared like a soiled carving of old ivory-- +a carving, with accentuated anxious hollows, of old, +very old ivory. Almayer looked at her, mistrustful, +hopeful. He was saying to himself: How frail she +is! I could upset her by blowing at her. She seems +to have got some idea of what must be done, but will +she have the strength to carry it through? I must +trust to luck now! + Somewhere far in the back courtyard Ali's voice +rang suddenly in angry remonstrance-- + "Why did you shut the gate, O father of all mis- +chief? You a watchman! You are only a wild man. +Did I not tell you I was coming back? You . . ." + "I am off, Mrs. Willems," exclaimed Almayer. +"That man is here--with my servant. Be calm. Try +to . . ." + He heard the footsteps of the two men in the pas- +age, and without finishing his sentence ran rapidly +down the steps towards the riverside. + + + + CHAPTER TWO + + FOR the next half-hour Almayer, who wanted to give +Joanna plenty of time, stumbled amongst the lumber +in distant parts of his enclosure, sneaked along the +fences; or held his breath, flattened against grass +walls behind various outhouses: all this to escape Ali's +inconveniently zealous search for his master. He +heard him talk with the head watchman--sometimes +quite close to him in the darkness--then moving off, +coming back, wondering, and, as the time passed, +growing uneasy. + "He did not fall into the river?--say, thou blind +watcher!" Ali was growling in a bullying tone, to the +other man. "He told me to fetch Mahmat, and when +I came back swiftly I found him not in the house. +There is that Sirani woman there, so that Mahmat +cannot steal anything, but it is in my mind, the night +will be half gone before I rest." + He shouted-- + "Master! O master! O mast . . ." + "What are you making that noise for?" said Almayer, +with severity, stepping out close to them. + The two Malays leaped away from each other in +their surprise. + "You may go. I don't want you any more to- +night, Ali," went on Almayer. "Is Mahmat there?" + "Unless the ill-behaved savage got tired of waiting. +Those men know not politeness. They should not +be spoken to by white men," said Ali, resentfully. + Almayer went towards the house, leaving his ser- + +316 + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 317 + +vants to wonder where he had sprung from so unex- +pectedly. The watchman hinted obscurely at powers +of invisibility possessed by the master, who often at +night . . . Ali interrupted him with great scorn. +Not every white man has the power. Now, the Rajah +Laut could make himself invisible. Also, he could +be in two places at once, as everybody knew; except +he--the useless watchman--who knew no more about +white men than a wild pig! Ya-wa! + And Ali strolled towards his hut, yawning loudly. + As Almayer ascended the steps he heard the noise +of a door flung to, and when he entered the verandah +he saw only Mahmat there, close to the doorway +of the passage. Mahmat seemed to be caught in +the very act of slinking away, and Almayer noticed +that with satisfaction. Seeing the white man, the +Malay gave up his attempt and leaned against the +wall. He was a short, thick, broad-shouldered man +with very dark skin and a wide, stained, bright-red +mouth that uncovered, when he spoke, a close row of +black and glistening teeth. His eyes were big, promi- +nent, dreamy and restless. He said sulkily, looking +all over the place from under his eyebrows-- + "White Tuan, you are great and strong--and I +a poor man. Tell me what is your will, and let me +go in the name of God. It is late." + Almayer examined the man thoughtfully. How +could he find out whether . . . He had it! Lately +he had employed that man and his two brothers as +extra boatmen to carry stores, provisions, and new +axes to a camp of rattan cutters some distance up the +river. A three days' expedition. He would test him +now in that way. He said negligently-- + "I want you to start at once for the camp, with +surat for the Kavitan. One dollar a day." + + + +318 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + The man appeared plunged in dull hesitation, but +Almayer, who knew his Malays, felt pretty sure from +his aspect that nothing would induce the fellow to go. +He urged-- + "It is important--and if you are swift I shall give +two dollars for the last day." + "No, Tuan. We do not go," said the man, in a +hoarse whisper. + "Why?" + "We start on another journey." + "Where?" + "To a place we know of," said Mahmat, a little +louder, in a stubborn manner, and looking at the +floor. + Almayer experienced a feeling of immense joy. He +said, with affected annoyance-- + "You men live in my house and it is as if it were +your own. I may want my house soon." + Mahmat looked up. + "We are men of the sea and care not for a roof +when we have a canoe that will hold three, and a +paddle apiece. The sea is our house. Peace be with +you, Tuan." + He turned and went away rapidly, and Almayer +heard him directly afterwards in the courtyard calling +to the watchman to open the gate. Mahmat passed +through the gate in silence, but before the bar had +been put up behind him he had made up his mind +that if the white man ever wanted to eject him from +his hut, he would burn it and also as many of the +white man's other buildings as he could safely get at. +And he began to call his brothers before he was +inside the dilapidated dwelling. + "All's well!" muttered Almayer to himself, taking +some loose Java tobacco from a drawer in the table. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 319 + +"Now if anything comes out I am clear. I asked +the man to go up the river. I urged him. He will +say so himself. Good." + He began to charge the china bowl of his pipe, a +pipe with a long cherry stem and a curved mouth- +piece, pressing the tobacco down with his thumb and +thinking: No. I sha'n't see her again. Don't want +to. I will give her a good start, then go in chase-- +and send an express boat after father. Yes! that's it. + He approached the door of the office and said, hold- +ing his pipe away from his lips-- + "Good luck to you, Mrs. Willems. Don't lose +any time. You may get along by the bushes; the +fence there is out of repair. Don't lose time. Don't +forget that it is a matter of . . . life and death. +And don't forget that I know nothing. I trust you." + He heard inside a noise as of a chest-lid falling +down. She made a few steps. Then a sigh, pro- +found and long, and some faint words which he did +not catch. He moved away from the door on tiptoe, +kicked off his slippers in a corner of the verandah, +then entered the passage puffing at his pipe; entered +cautiously in a gentle creaking of planks and turned +into a curtained entrance to the left. There was a +big room. On the floor a small binnacle lamp--that +had found its way to the house years ago from the +lumber-room of the <i>Flash</i>--did duty for a night- +light. It glimmered very small and dull in the great +darkness. Almayer walked to it, and picking it up +revived the flame by pulling the wick with his fingers, +which he shook directly after with a grimace of pain. +Sleeping shapes, covered--head and all--with white +sheets, lay about on the mats on the floor. In the +middle of the room a small cot, under a square white +mosquito net, stood--the only piece of furniture be- + + +320 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +tween the four walls--looking like an altar of trans- +parent marble in a gloomy temple. A woman, half- +lying on the floor with her head dropped on her arms, +which were crossed on the foot of the cot, woke up as +Almayer strode over her outstretched legs. She sat +up without a word, leaning forward, and, clasping her +knees, stared down with sad eyes, full of sleep. + Almayer, the smoky light in one hand, his pipe in +the other, stood before the curtained cot looking at +his daughter--at his little Nina--at that part of him- +self, at that small and unconscious particle of humanity +that seemed to him to contain all his soul. And it +was as if he had been bathed in a bright and warm +wave of tenderness, in a tenderness greater than the +world, more precious than life; the only thing real, +living, sweet, tangible, beautiful and safe amongst the +elusive, the distorted and menacing shadows of exist- +ence. On his face, lit up indistinctly by the short +yellow flame of the lamp, came a look of rapt atten- +tion while he looked into her future. And he could +see things there! Things charming and splendid +passing before him in a magic unrolling of resplendent +pictures; pictures of events brilliant, happy, inexpres- +sibly glorious, that would make up her life. He would +do it! He would do it. He would! He would-- +for that child! And as he stood in the still night, +lost in his enchanting and gorgeous dreams, while the +ascending, thin thread of tobacco smoke spread into a +faint bluish cloud above his head, he appeared strangely +impressive and ecstatic: like a devout and mystic +worshipper, adoring, transported and mute; burning +incense before a shrine, a diaphanous shrine of a child- +idol with closed eyes; before a pure and vaporous +shrine of a small god--fragile, powerless, unconscious +and sleeping. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 321 + + When Ali, roused by loud and repeated shouting of +his name, stumbled outside the door of his hut, he saw +a narrow streak of trembling gold above the forests +and a pale sky with faded stars overhead: signs of the +coming day. His master stood before the door waving +a piece of paper in his hand and shouting excitedly-- +"Quick, Ali! Quick!" When he saw his servant +he rushed forward, and pressing the paper on him +objurgated him, in tones which induced Ali to think +that something awful had happened, to hurry up and +get the whale-boat ready to go immediately--at once, +at once--after Captain Lingard. Ali remonstrated, +agitated also, having caught the infection of distracted +haste. + "If must go quick, better canoe. Whale-boat no +can catch, same as small canoe." + "No, no! Whale-boat! whale-boat! You dolt! you +wretch!" howled Almayer, with all the appearance of +having gone mad. "Call the men! Get along with it. +Fly!" + And Ali rushed about the courtyard kicking the +doors of huts open to put his head in and yell fright- +fully inside; and as he dashed from hovel to hovel, +men shivering and sleepy were coming out, looking +after him stupidly, while they scratched their ribs +with bewildered apathy. It was hard work to put +them in motion. They wanted time to stretch them- +selves and to shiver a little. Some wanted food. +One said he was sick. Nobody knew where the rudder +was. Ali darted here and there, ordering, abusing, +pushing one, then another, and stopping in his exertions +at times to wring his hands hastily and groan, because +the whale-boat was much slower than the worst canoe +and his master would not listen to his protestations. + Almayer saw the boat go off at last, pulled anyhow + + +322 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +by men that were cold, hungry, and sulky; and he +remained on the jetty watching it down the reach. +It was broad day then, and the sky was perfectly +cloudless. Almayer went up to the house for a mo- +ment. His household was all astir and wondering +at the strange disappearance of the Sirani woman, +who had taken her child and had left her luggage. +Almayer spoke to no one, got his revolver, and went +down to the river again. He jumped into a small +canoe and paddled himself towards the schooner. He +worked very leisurely, but as soon as he was nearly +alongside he began to hail the silent craft with the +tone and appearance of a man in a tremendous hurry. + "Schooner ahoy! schooner ahoy!" he shouted. + A row of blank faces popped up above the bulwark. +After a while a man with a woolly head of hair said-- + "Sir!" + "The mate! the mate! Call him, steward!" said +Almayer, excitedly, making a frantic grab at a rope +thrown down to him by somebody. + In less than a minute the mate put his head over. +He asked, surprised-- + "What can I do for you, Mr. Almayer?" + "Let me have the gig at once, Mr. Swan--at once. +I ask in Captain Lingard's name. I must have it. +Matter of life and death." + The mate was impressed by Almayer's agitation + "You shall have it, sir. . . . Man the gig there! +Bear a hand, serang! . . . It's hanging astern, +Mr. Almayer," he said, looking down again. "Get +into it, sir. The men are coming down by the painter." + By the time Almayer had clambered over into the +stern sheets, four calashes were in the boat and the +oars were being passed over the taffrail. The mate +was looking on. Suddenly he said-- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 323 + + "Is it dangerous work? Do you want any help? +I would come . . ." + "Yes, yes!" cried Almayer. "Come along. Don't +lose a moment. Go and get your revolver. Hurry +up! hurry up!" + Yet, notwithstanding his feverish anxiety to be off, +he lolled back very quiet and unconcerned till the mate +got in and, passing over the thwarts, sat down by his +side. Then he seemed to wake up, and called out-- + "Let go--let go the painter!" + "Let go the painter--the painter!" yelled the bow- +man, jerking at it. + People on board also shouted "Let go!" to one +another, till it occurred at last to somebody to cast off +the rope; and the boat drifted rapidly away from the +schooner in the sudden silencing of all voices. + Almayer steered. The mate sat by his side, pushing +the cartridges into the chambers of his revolver. +When the weapon was loaded he asked-- + "What is it? Are you after somebody?" + "Yes," said Almayer, curtly, with his eyes fixed +ahead on the river. "We must catch a dangerous +man." + "I like a bit of a chase myself," declared the mate, +and then, discouraged by Almayer's aspect of severe +thoughtfulness, said nothing more. + Nearly an hour passed. The calashes stretched +forward head first and lay back with their faces to the +sky, alternately, in a regular swing that sent the boat +flying through the water; and the two sitters, very up- +right in the stern sheets, swayed rhythmically a little +at every stroke of the long oars plied vigorously. + The mate observed: "The tide is with us." + "The current always runs down in this river," said +Almayer. + + +324 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Yes--I know," retorted the other; "but it runs +faster on the ebb. Look by the land at the way we +get over the ground! A five-knot current here, I +should say." + "H'm!" growled Almayer. Then suddenly: +"There is a passage between two islands that will +save us four miles. But at low water the two islands, +in the dry season, are like one with only a mud ditch +between them. Still, it's worth trying." + "Ticklish job that, on a falling tide," said the mate, +coolly. "You know best whether there's time to get +through." + "I will try," said Almayer, watching the shore +intently. "Look out now!" + He tugged hard at the starboard yoke-line. + "Lay in your oars!" shouted the mate. + The boat swept round and shot through the narrow +opening of a creek that broadened out before the +craft had time to lose its way. + "Out oars! . . . Just room enough," muttered +the mate. + It was a sombre creek of black water speckled with +the gold of scattered sunlight falling through the boughs +that met overhead in a soaring, restless arc full of +gentle whispers passing, tremulous, aloft amongst the +thick leaves. The creepers climbed up the trunks of +serried trees that leaned over, looking insecure and +undermined by floods which had eaten away the earth +from under their roots. And the pungent, acrid smell +of rotting leaves, of flowers, of blossoms and plants +dying in that poisonous and cruel gloom, where they +pined for sunshine in vain, seemed to lay heavy, to +press upon the shiny and stagnant water in its tortuous +windings amongst the everlasting and invincible shad- +ows. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 325 + + Almayer looked anxious. He steered badly. Several +times the blades of the oars got foul of the bushes on +one side or the other, checking the way of the gig. +During one of those occurrences, while they were +getting clear, one of the calashes said something to +the others in a rapid whisper. They looked down at +the water. So did the mate. + "Hallo!" he exclaimed. "Eh, Mr. Almayer! Look! +The water is running out. See there! We will be +caught." + "Back! back! We must go back!" cried Almayer. + "Perhaps better go on." + "No; back! back!" + He pulled at the steering line, and ran the nose of +the boat into the bank. Time was lost again in getting +clear. + "Give way, men! give way!" urged the mate, +anxiously. + The men pulled with set lips and dilated nostrils, +breathing hard. + "Too late," said the mate, suddenly. "The oars +touch the bottom already. We are done." + The boat stuck. The men laid in the oars, and +sat, panting, with crossed arms. + "Yes, we are caught," said Almayer, composedly. +"That is unlucky!" + The water was falling round the boat. The mate +watched the patches of mud coming to the surface. +Then in a moment he laughed, and pointing his finger +at the creek-- + "Look!" he said; "the blamed river is running away +from us. Here's the last drop of water clearing out +round that bend." + Almayer lifted his head. The water was gone, and +he looked only at a curved track of mud--of mud + + +326 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +soft and black, hiding fever, rottenness, and evil under +its level and glazed surface. + "We are in for it till the evening," he said, with +cheerful resignation. "I did my best. Couldn't help +it." + "We must sleep the day away," said the mate. +"There's nothing to eat," he added, gloomily. + Almayer stretched himself in the stern sheets. The +Malays curled down between thwarts. + "Well, I'm jiggered!" said the mate, starting up +after a long pause. "I was in a devil of a hurry to +go and pass the day stuck in the mud. Here's a +holiday for you! Well! well!" + They slept or sat unmoving and patient. As the +sun mounted higher the breeze died out, and perfect +stillness reigned in the empty creek. A troop of +long-nosed monkeys appeared, and crowding on the +outer boughs, contemplated the boat and the motion- +less men in it with grave and sorrowful intensity, +disturbed now and then by irrational outbreaks of +mad gesticulation. A little bird with sapphire breast +balanced a slender twig across a slanting beam of +light, and flashed in it to and fro like a gem dropped +from the sky. His minute round eye stared at the +strange and tranquil creatures in the boat. After a +while he sent out a thin twitter that sounded imper- +tinent and funny in the solemn silence of the great +wilderness; in the great silence full of struggle and +death. + + + + CHAPTER THREE + + ON LINGARD'S departure solitude and silence closed +round Willems; the cruel solitude of one abandoned +by men; the reproachful silence which surrounds an +outcast ejected by his kind, the silence unbroken by +the slightest whisper of hope; an immense and im- +penetrable silence that swallows up without echo the +murmur of regret and the cry of revolt. The bitter +peace of the abandoned clearings entered his heart, in +which nothing could live now but the memory and +hate of his past. Not remorse. In the breast of a +man possessed by the masterful consciousness of his +individuality with its desires and its rights; by the +immovable conviction of his own importance, of an +importance so indisputable and final that it clothes all +his wishes, endeavours, and mistakes with the dignity +of unavoidable fate, there could be no place for such a +feeling as that of remorse. + The days passed. They passed unnoticed, unseen, +in the rapid blaze of glaring sunrises, in the short +glow of tender sunsets, in the crushing oppression +of high noons without a cloud. How many days? +Two--three--or more? He did not know. To +him, since Lingard had gone, the time seemed to +roll on in profound darkness. All was night within +him. All was gone from his sight. He walked +about blindly in the deserted courtyards, amongst the +empty houses that, perched high on their posts, looked +down inimically on him, a white stranger, a man +from other lands; seemed to look hostile and mute + +327 + + +328 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +out of all the memories of native life that lingered +between their decaying walls. His wandering feet +stumbled against the blackened brands of extinct fires, +kicking up a light black dust of cold ashes that flew +in drifting clouds and settled to leeward on the fresh +grass sprouting from the hard ground, between the +shade trees. He moved on, and on; ceaseless, unresting, +in widening circles, in zigzagging paths that led to no +issue; he struggled on wearily with a set, distressed +face behind which, in his tired brain, seethed his +thoughts: restless, sombre, tangled, chilling, horrible +and venomous, like a nestful of snakes. + From afar, the bleared eyes of the old serving woman, +the sombre gaze of Aissa followed the gaunt and totter- +ing figure in its unceasing prowl along the fences, be- +tween the houses, amongst the wild luxuriance of river- +side thickets. Those three human beings abandoned +by all were like shipwrecked people left on an insecure +and slippery ledge by the retiring tide of an angry sea-- +listening to its distant roar, living anguished between +the menace of its return and the hopeless horror of their +solitude--in the midst of a tempest of passion, of re- +gret, of disgust, of despair. The breath of the storm +had cast two of them there, robbed of everything-- +even of resignation. The third, the decrepit witness +of their struggle and their torture, accepted her own +dull conception of facts; of strength and youth gone; +of her useless old age; of her last servitude; of being +thrown away by her chief, by her nearest, to use up the +last and worthless remnant of flickering life between +those two incomprehensible and sombre outcasts: a +shrivelled, an unmoved, a passive companion of their +disaster. + To the river Willems turned his eyes like a captive +that looks fixedly at the door of his cell. If there was + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 329 + +any hope in the world it would come from the river, by +the river. For hours together he would stand in sun- +light while the sea breeze sweeping over the lonely +reach fluttered his ragged garments; the keen salt +breeze that made him shiver now and then under the +flood of intense heat. He looked at the brown and +sparkling solitude of the flowing water, of the water +flowing ceaseless and free in a soft, cool murmur of +ripples at his feet. The world seemed to end there. +The forests of the other bank appeared unattainable, +enigmatical, for ever beyond reach like the stars of +heaven--and as indifferent. Above and below, the +forests on his side of the river came down to the water +in a serried multitude of tall, immense trees towering +in a great spread of twisted boughs above the thick +undergrowth; great, solid trees, looking sombre, severe, +and malevolently stolid, like a giant crowd of pitiless +enemies pressing round silently to witness his slow +agony. He was alone, small, crushed. He thought of +escape--of something to be done. What? A raft! +He imagined himself working at it, feverishly, desper- +ately; cutting down trees, fastening the logs together +and then drifting down with the current, down to the +sea into the straits. There were ships there--ships, +help, white men. Men like himself. Good men who +would rescue him, take him away, take him far away +where there was trade, and houses, and other men that +could understand him exactly, appreciate his capabili- +ties; where there was proper food, and money; where +there were beds, knives, forks, carriages, brass bands, +cool drinks, churches with well-dressed people praying in +them. He would pray also. The superior land of +refined delights where he could sit on a chair, eat his +tiffin off a white tablecloth, nod to fellows--good +fellows; he would be popular; always was--where + + +330 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +he could be virtuous, correct, do business, draw a +salary, smoke cigars, buy things in shops--have boots +. . . be happy, free, become rich. O God! What +was wanted? Cut down a few trees. No! One would +do. They used to make canoes by burning out a tree +trunk, he had heard. Yes! One would do. One tree +to cut down . . . He rushed forward, and sud- +denly stood still as if rooted in the ground. He had a +pocket-knife. + And he would throw himself down on the ground +by the riverside. He was tired, exhausted; as if that +raft had been made, the voyage accomplished, the +fortune attained. A glaze came over his staring eyes, +over his eyes that gazed hopelessly at the rising river +where big logs and uprooted trees drifted in the shine +of mid-stream: a long procession of black and ragged +specks. He could swim out and drift away on one of +these trees. Anything to escape! Anything! Any +risk! He could fasten himself up between the dead +branches. He was torn by desire, by fear; his heart +was wrung by the faltering of his courage. He turned +over, face downwards, his head on his arms. He had +a terrible vision of shadowless horizons where the blue +sky and the blue sea met; or a circular and blazing +emptiness where a dead tree and a dead man drifted +together, endlessly, up and down, upon the brilliant +undulations of the straits. No ships there. Only +death. And the river led to it. + He sat up with a profound groan. + Yes, death. Why should he die? No! Better +solitude, better hopeless waiting, alone. Alone. No! +he was not alone, he saw death looking at him from +everywhere; from the bushes, from the clouds--he +heard her speaking to him in the murmur of the river, +filling the space, touching his heart, his brain with a + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 331 + +cold hand. He could see and think of nothing else. +He saw it--the sure death--everywhere. He saw it +so close that he was always on the point of throwing +out his arms to keep it off. It poisoned all he saw, all +he did; the miserable food he ate, the muddy water +he drank; it gave a frightful aspect to sunrises and +sunsets, to the brightness of hot noon, to the cooling +shadows of the evenings. He saw the horrible form +among the big trees, in the network of creepers in +the fantastic outlines of leaves, of the great indented +leaves that seemed to be so many enormous hands +with big broad palms, with stiff fingers outspread to +lay hold of him; hands gently stirring, or hands ar- +rested in a frightful immobility, with a stillness atten- +tive and watching for the opportunity to take him, +to enlace him, to strangle him, to hold him till he died; +hands that would hold him dead, that would never +let go, that would cling to his body for ever till it +perished--disappeared in their frantic and tenacious +grasp. + And yet the world was full of life. All the things, +all the men he knew, existed, moved, breathed; and +he saw them in a long perspective, far off, diminished, +distinct, desirable, unattainable, precious . . . lost +for ever. Round him, ceaselessly, there went on with- +out a sound the mad turmoil of tropical life. After he +had died all this would remain! He wanted to clasp, +to embrace solid things; he had an immense craving +for sensations; for touching, pressing, seeing, handling, +holding on, to all these things. All this would re- +main--remain for years, for ages, for ever. After +he had miserably died there, all this would remain, +would live, would exist in joyous sunlight, would +breathe in the coolness of serene nights. What for, +then? He would be dead. He would be stretched + + +332 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +upon the warm moisture of the ground, feeling nothing, +seeing nothing, knowing nothing; he would lie stiff, +passive, rotting slowly; while over him, under him, +through him--unopposed, busy, hurried--the endless +and minute throngs of insects, little shining monsters +of repulsive shapes, with horns, with claws, with pin- +cers, would swarm in streams, in rushes, in eager strug- +gle for his body; would swarm countless, persistent, +ferocious and greedy--till there would remain nothing +but the white gleam of bleaching bones in the long +grass; in the long grass that would shoot its feathery +heads between the bare and polished ribs. There would +be that only left of him; nobody would miss him; no one +would remember him. + Nonsense! It could not be. There were ways +out of this. Somebody would turn up. Some human +beings would come. He would speak, entreat--use +force to extort help from them. He felt strong; he was +very strong. He would . . . The discouragement, +the conviction of the futility of his hopes would return +in an acute sensation of pain in his heart. He would +begin again his aimless wanderings. He tramped till +he was ready to drop, without being able to calm by +bodily fatigue the trouble of his soul. There was no +rest, no peace within the cleared grounds of his prison. +There was no relief but in the black release of sleep, +of sleep without memory and without dreams; in +the sleep coming brutal and heavy, like the lead that +kills. To forget in annihilating sleep; to tumble head- +long, as if stunned, out of daylight into the night of +oblivion, was for him the only, the rare respite from this +existence which he lacked the courage to endure--or to +end. + He lived, he struggled with the inarticulate delirium +of his thoughts under the eyes of the silent Aissa. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 333 + +She shared his torment in the poignant wonder, in the +acute longing, in the despairing inability to under- +stand the cause of his anger and of his repulsion; the +hate of his looks; the mystery of his silence; the men- +ace of his rare words--of those words in the speech +of white people that were thrown at her with rage, +with contempt, with the evident desire to hurt her; +to hurt her who had given herself, her life--all she had +to give--to that white man; to hurt her who had wanted +to show him the way to true greatness, who had tried +to help him, in her woman's dream of everlasting, en- +during, unchangeable affection. From the short con- +tact with the whites in the crashing collapse of her old +life, there remained with her the imposing idea of ir- +resistible power and of ruthless strength. She had +found a man of their race--and with all their qualities. +All whites are alike. But this man's heart was full of +anger against his own people, full of anger existing there +by the side of his desire of her. And to her it had been +an intoxication of hope for great things born in the +proud and tender consciousness of her influence. She +had heard the passing whisper of wonder and fear in the +presence of his hesitation, of his resistance, of his com- +promises; and yet with a woman's belief in the durable +steadfastness of hearts, in the irresistible charm of her +own personality, she had pushed him forward, trusting +the future, blindly, hopefully; sure to attain by his side +the ardent desire of her life, if she could only push him +far beyond the possibility of retreat. She did not know, +and could not conceive, anything of his--so exalted-- +ideals. She thought the man a warrior and a chief, +ready for battle, violence, and treachery to his own +people--for her. What more natural? Was he not a +great, strong man? Those two, surrounded each by +the impenetrable wall of their aspirations, were hope- + + +334 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +lessly alone, out of sight, out of earshot of each other; +each the centre of dissimilar and distant horizons; +standing each on a different earth, under a different +sky. She remembered his words, his eyes, his trembling +lips, his outstretched hands; she remembered the great, +the immeasurable sweetness of her surrender, that +beginning of her power which was to last until death. +He remembered the quaysides and the warehouses; +the excitement of a life in a whirl of silver coins; the +glorious uncertainty of a money hunt; his numerous +successes, the lost possibilities of wealth and consequent +glory. She, a woman, was the victim of her heart, +of her woman's belief that there is nothing in the world +but love--the everlasting thing. He was the victim +of his strange principles, of his continence, of his blind +belief in himself, of his solemn veneration for the voice +of his boundless ignorance. + In a moment of his idleness, of suspense, of dis- +couragement, she had come--that creature--and by +the touch of her hand had destroyed his future, his +dignity of a clever and civilized man; had awakened +in his breast the infamous thing which had driven him +to what he had done, and to end miserably in the +wilderness and be forgotten, or else remembered with +hate or contempt. He dared not look at her, because +now whenever he looked at her his thought seemed to +touch crime, like an outstretched hand. She could +only look at him--and at nothing else. What else +was there? She followed him with a timorous gaze, +with a gaze for ever expecting, patient, and entreating. +And in her eyes there was the wonder and desolation +of an animal that knows only suffering, of the incom- +plete soul that knows pain but knows not hope; that +can find no refuge from the facts of life in the illusory +conviction of its dignity, of an exalted destiny beyond; + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 335 + +in the heavenly consolation of a belief in the momen- +tous origin of its hate. + For the first three days after Lingard went away +he would not even speak to her. She preferred his +silence to the sound of hated and incomprehensible +words he had been lately addressing to her with a +wild violence of manner, passing at once into complete +apathy. And during these three days he hardly ever +left the river, as if on that muddy bank he had felt +himself nearer to his freedom. He would stay late; +he would stay till sunset; he would look at the glow +of gold passing away amongst sombre clouds in a +bright red flush, like a splash of warm blood. It +seemed to him ominous and ghastly with a foreboding +of violent death that beckoned him from everywhere +--even from the sky. + One evening he remained by the riverside long +after sunset, regardless of the night mist that had +closed round him, had wrapped him up and clung to +him like a wet winding-sheet. A slight shiver recalled +him to his senses, and he walked up the courtyard +towards his house. Aissa rose from before the fire, that +glimmered red through its own smoke, which hung +thickening under the boughs of the big tree. She ap- +proached him from the side as he neared the plankway +of the house. He saw her stop to let him begin his +ascent. In the darkness her figure was like the shadow +of a woman with clasped hands put out beseechingly. +He stopped--could not help glancing at her. In all +the sombre gracefulness of the straight figure, her +limbs, features--all was indistinct and vague but the +gleam of her eyes in the faint starlight. He turned +his head away and moved on. He could feel her foot- +steps behind him on the bending planks, but he walked +up without turning his head. He knew what she + + +336 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +wanted. She wanted to come in there. He shuddered +at the thought of what might happen in the impene- +trable darkness of that house if they were to find them- +selves alone--even for a moment. He stopped in the +doorway, and heard her say-- + "Let me come in. Why this anger? Why this +silence? . . . Let me watch . . by your side. +. . . Have I not watched faithfully? Did harm +ever come to you when you closed your eyes while I +was by? . . . I have waited . . . I have +waited for your smile, for your words . . . I can +wait no more. . . . Look at me . . . speak to +me. Is there a bad spirit in you? A bad spirit that +has eaten up your courage and your love? Let me +touch you. Forget all . . . All. Forget the +wicked hearts, the angry faces . . . and remember +only the day I came to you . . . to you! O my +heart! O my life!" + The pleading sadness of her appeal filled the space +with the tremor of her low tones, that carried tenderness +and tears into the great peace of the sleeping world. +All around them the forests, the clearings, the river, +covered by the silent veil of night, seemed to wake up +and listen to her words in attentive stillness. After +the sound of her voice had died out in a stifled sigh they +appeared to listen yet; and nothing stirred among the +shapeless shadows but the innumerable fireflies that +twinkled in changing clusters, in gliding pairs, in wan- +dering and solitary points--like the glimmering drift +of scattered star-dust. + Willems turned round slowly, reluctantly, as if com- +pelled by main force. Her face was hidden in her +hands, and he looked above her bent head, into the +sombre brilliance of the night. It was one of those +nights that give the impression of extreme vastness, + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 337 + +when the sky seems higher, when the passing puffs of +tepid breeze seem to bring with them faint whispers +from beyond the stars. The air was full of sweet +scent, of the scent charming, penetrating. and violent +like the impulse of love. He looked into that great +dark place odorous with the breath of life, with the +mystery of existence, renewed, fecund, indestructible; +and he felt afraid of his solitude, of the solitude of his +body, of the loneliness of his soul in the presence of +this unconscious and ardent struggle, of this lofty +indifference, of this merciless and mysterious purpose, +perpetuating strife and death through the march of +ages. For the second time in his life he felt, in a +sudden sense of his significance, the need to send a +cry for help into the wilderness, and for the second +time he realized the hopelessness of its unconcern. +He could shout for help on every side--and nobody +would answer. He could stretch out his hands, he +could call for aid, for support, for sympathy, for relief +--and nobody would come. Nobody. There was no +one there--but that woman. + His heart was moved, softened with pity at his own +abandonment. His anger against her, against her +who was the cause of all his misfortunes, vanished +before his extreme need for some kind of consolation. +Perhaps--if he must resign himself to his fate--she +might help him to forget. To forget! For a moment, +in an access of despair so profound that it seemed +like the beginning of peace, he planned the deliberate +descent from his pedestal, the throwing away of his +superiority, of all his hopes, of old ambitions, of the +ungrateful civilization. For a moment, forgetfulness +in her arms seemed possible; and lured by that pos- +sibility the semblance of renewed desire possessed +his breast in a burst of reckless contempt for every- + + +338 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +thing outside himself--in a savage disdain of Earth +and of Heaven. He said to himself that he would +not repent. The punishment for his only sin was too +heavy. There was no mercy under Heaven. He did +not want any. He thought, desperately, that if he +could find with her again the madness of the past, +the strange delirium that had changed him, that had +worked his undoing, he would be ready to pay for it +with an eternity of perdition. He was intoxicated +by the subtle perfumes of the night; he was carried +away by the suggestive stir of the warm breeze; he +was possessed by the exaltation of the solitude, of +the silence, of his memories, in the presence of that +figure offering herself in a submissive and pa- +tient devotion; coming to him in the name of the +past, in the name of those days when he could see +nothing, think of nothing, desire nothing--but her +embrace. + He took her suddenly in his arms, and she clasped +her hands round his neck with a low cry of joy and +surprise. He took her in his arms and waited for the +transport, for the madness, for the sensations remem- +bered and lost; and while she sobbed gently on his +breast he held her and felt cold, sick, tired, exasperated +with his failure--and ended by cursing himself. She +clung to him trembling with the intensity of her hap- +piness and her love. He heard her whispering--her +face hidden on his shoulder--of past sorrow, of coming +joy that would last for ever; of her unshaken belief +in his love. She had always believed. Always! Even +while his face was turned away from her in the dark +days while his mind was wandering in his own land, +amongst his own people. But it would never wander +away from her any more, now it had come back. He +would forget the cold faces and the hard hearts of the + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 339 + +cruel people. What was there to remember? Nothing? +Was it not so? . . . + He listened hopelessly to the faint murmur. He +stood still and rigid, pressing her mechanically to his +breast while he thought that there was nothing for +him in the world. He was robbed of everything; +robbed of his passion, of his liberty, of forgetfulness, +of consolation. She, wild with delight, whispered on +rapidly, of love, of light, of peace, of long years. . . . +He looked drearily above her head down into the +deeper gloom of the courtyard. And, all at once, it +seemed to him that he was peering into a sombre +hollow, into a deep black hole full of decay and of +whitened bones; into an immense and inevitable +grave full of corruption where sooner or later he must, +unavoidably, fall. + In the morning he came out early, and stood for a +time in the doorway, listening to the light breathing +behind him--in the house. She slept. He had not +closed his eyes through all that night. He stood +swaying--then leaned against the lintel of the door. +He was exhausted, done up; fancied himself hardly +alive. He had a disgusted horror of himself that, as +he looked at the level sea of mist at his feet, faded +quickly into dull indifference. It was like a sudden +and final decrepitude of his senses, of his body, of his +thoughts. Standing on the high platform, he looked +over the expanse of low night fog above which, here +and there, stood out the feathery heads of tall bamboo +clumps and the round tops of single trees, resembling +small islets emerging black and solid from a ghostly +and impalpable sea. Upon the faintly luminous back- +ground of the eastern sky, the sombre line of the great +forests bounded that smooth sea of white vapours with +an appearance of a fantastic and unattainable shore. + + +340 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +He looked without seeing anything--thinking of him- +self. Before his eyes the light of the rising sun burst +above the forest with the suddenness of an explosion. +He saw nothing. Then, after a time, he murmured with +conviction--speaking half aloud to himself in the shock +of the penetrating thought: + "I am a lost man." + He shook his hand above his head in a gesture care- +less and tragic, then walked down into the mist that +closed above him in shining undulations under the +first breath of the morning breeze. + + + + CHAPTER FOUR + + WILLEMS moved languidly towards the river, then +retraced his steps to the tree and let himself fall on +the seat under its shade. On the other side of the +immense trunk he could hear the old woman moving +about, sighing loudly, muttering to herself, snapping +dry sticks, blowing up the fire. After a while a whiff +of smoke drifted round to where he sat. It made him +feel hungry, and that feeling was like a new indignity +added to an intolerable load of humiliations. He felt +inclined to cry. He felt very weak. He held up his +arm before his eyes and watched for a little while the +trembling of the lean limb. Skin and bone, by God! +How thin he was! . . . He had suffered from fever +a good deal, and now he thought with tearful dismay +that Lingard, although he had sent him food--and +what food, great Lord: a little rice and dried fish; quite +unfit for a white man--had not sent him any medicine. +Did the old savage think that he was like the wild beasts +that are never ill? He wanted quinine. + He leaned the back of his head against the tree and +closed his eyes. He thought feebly that if he could +get hold of Lingard he would like to flay him alive; +but it was only a blurred, a short and a passing thought. +His imagination, exhausted by the repeated delineations +of his own fate, had not enough strength left to grip +the idea of revenge. He was not indignant and rebel- +lious. He was cowed. He was cowed by the immense +cataclysm of his disaster. Like most men, he had car- +ried solemnly within his breast the whole universe, and + +341 + + +342 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +the approaching end of all things in the destruction of +his own personality filled him with paralyzing awe. +Everything was toppling over. He blinked his eyes +quickly, and it seemed to him that the very sunshine of +the morning disclosed in its brightness a suggestion of +some hidden and sinister meaning. In his unreason- +ing fear he tried to hide within himself. He drew his +feet up, his head sank between his shoulders, his arms +hugged his sides. Under the high and enormous tree +soaring superbly out of the mist in a vigorous spread of +lofty boughs, with a restless and eager flutter of its in- +numerable leaves in the clear sunshine, he remained +motionless, huddled up on his seat: terrified and still. + Willems' gaze roamed over the ground, and then +he watched with idiotic fixity half a dozen black ants +entering courageously a tuft of long grass which, to +them, must have appeared a dark and a dangerous +jungle. Suddenly he thought: There must be some- +thing dead in there. Some dead insect. Death every- +where! He closed his eyes again in an access of trem- +bling pain. Death everywhere--wherever one looks. +He did not want to see the ants. He did not want to +see anybody or anything. He sat in the darkness of his +own making, reflecting bitterly that there was no peace +for him. He heard voices now. . . . Illusion! +Misery! Torment! Who would come? Who would +speak to him? What business had he to hear voices? +. . . yet he heard them faintly, from the river. +Faintly, as if shouted far off over there, came the words +"We come back soon." . . . Delirium and mock- +ery! Who would come back? Nobody ever comes +back! Fever comes back. He had it on him this +morning. That was it. . . . He heard unex- +pectedly the old woman muttering something near by. +She had come round to his side of the tree. He opened + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 343 + +his eyes and saw her bent back before him. She stood, +with her hand shading her eyes, looking towards the +landing-place. Then she glided away. She had seen +--and now she was going back to her cooking; a woman +incurious; expecting nothing; without fear and without +hope. + She had gone back behind the tree, and now Willems +could see a human figure on the path to the landing- +place. It appeared to him to be a woman, in a red +gown, holding some heavy bundle in her arms; it was an +apparition unexpected, familiar and odd. He cursed +through his teeth . . . It had wanted only this! +See things like that in broad daylight! He was very +bad--very bad. . . . He was horribly scared at +this awful symptom of the desperate state of his health. + This scare lasted for the space of a flash of lightning, +and in the next moment it was revealed to him that +the woman was real; that she was coming towards +him; that she was his wife! He put his feet down +to the ground quickly, but made no other movement. +His eyes opened wide. He was so amazed that for a +time he absolutely forgot his own existence. The only +idea in his head was: Why on earth did she come here? + Joanna was coming up the courtyard with eager, +hurried steps. She carried in her arms the child, +wrapped up in one of Almayer's white blankets that +she had snatched off the bed at the last moment, before +leaving the house. She seemed to be dazed by the +sun in her eyes; bewildered by her strange surround- +ings. She moved on, looking quickly right and left +in impatient expectation of seeing her husband at any +moment. Then, approaching the tree, she perceived +suddenly a kind of a dried-up, yellow corpse, sitting +very stiff on a bench in the shade and looking at her +with big eyes that were alive. That was her husband. + + +344 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + She stopped dead short. They stared at one another +in profound stillness, with astounded eyes, with eyes +maddened by the memories of things far off that seemed +lost in the lapse of time. Their looks crossed, passed +each other, and appeared to dart at them through fan- +tastic distances, to come straight from the incred- +ible. + Looking at him steadily she came nearer, and de- +posited the blanket with the child in it on the bench. +Little Louis, after howling with terror in the darkness +of the river most of the night, now slept soundly and did +not wake. Willems' eyes followed his wife, his head +turning slowly after her. He accepted her presence +there with a tired acquiescence in its fabulous improba- +bility. Anything might happen. What did she come +for? She was part of the general scheme of his misfor- +tune. He half expected that she would rush at him, +pull his hair, and scratch his face. Why not? Any- +thing might happen! In an exaggerated sense of his +great bodily weakness he felt somewhat apprehensive +of possible assault. At any rate, she would scream at +him. He knew her of old. She could screech. He had +thought that he was rid of her for ever. She came now +probably to see the end. . . . + Suddenly she turned, and embracing him slid gently +to the ground. This startled him. With her fore- +head on his knees she sobbed noiselessly. He looked +down dismally at the top of her head. What was she +up to? He had not the strength to move--to get +away. He heard her whispering something, and bent +over to listen. He caught the word "Forgive." + That was what she came for! All that way. Women +are queer. Forgive. Not he! . . . All at once +this thought darted through his brain: How did she +come? In a boat. Boat! boat! + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 345 + + He shouted "Boat!" and jumped up, knocking her +over. Before she had time to pick herself up he +pounced upon her and was dragging her up by the +shoulders. No sooner had she regained her feet than +she clasped him tightly round the neck, covering his +face, his eyes, his mouth, his nose with desperate +kisses. He dodged his head about, shaking her arms, +trying to keep her off, to speak, to ask her. . . . She +came in a boat, boat, boat! . . . They struggled +and swung round, tramping in a semicircle. He blurted +out, "Leave off. Listen," while he tore at her hands. +This meeting of lawful love and sincere joy resembled +fight. Louis Willems slept peacefully under his blan- +ket. + At last Willems managed to free himself, and held +her off, pressing her arms down. He looked at her. +He had half a suspicion that he was dreaming. Her +lips trembled; her eyes wandered unsteadily, always +coming back to his face. He saw her the same as +ever, in his presence. She appeared startled, tremulous, +ready to cry. She did not inspire him with confidence. +He shouted-- + "How did you come?" + She answered in hurried words, looking at him +intently-- + "In a big canoe with three men. I know every- +thing. Lingard's away. I come to save you. I +know. . . . Almayer told me." + "Canoe!--Almayer--Lies. Told you--You!" stam- +mered Willems in a distracted manner. "Why you?-- +Told what?" + Words failed him. He stared at his wife, thinking +with fear that she--stupid woman--had been made a +tool in some plan of treachery . . . in some deadly +plot. + + +346 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + She began to cry-- + "Don't look at me like that, Peter. What have +I done? I come to beg--to beg--forgiveness. . . . +Save--Lingard--danger." + He trembled with impatience, with hope, with fear. +She looked at him and sobbed out in a fresh outburst +of grief-- + "Oh! Peter. What's the matter?--Are you ill? +. . . Oh! you look so ill . . ." + He shook her violently into a terrified and wonder- +ing silence. + "How dare you!--I am well--perfectly well. . . . +Where's that boat? Will you tell me where that boat +is--at last? The boat, I say . . . You! . . ." + "You hurt me," she moaned. + He let her go, and, mastering her terror, she stood +quivering and looking at him with strange intensity. +Then she made a movement forward, but he lifted his +finger, and she restrained herself with a long sigh. +He calmed down suddenly and surveyed her with cold +criticism, with the same appearance as when, in the +old days, he used to find fault with the household +expenses. She found a kind of fearful delight in this +abrupt return into the past, into her old subjec- +tion. + He stood outwardly collected now, and listened to +her disconnected story. Her words seemed to fall +round him with the distracting clatter of stunning +hail. He caught the meaning here and there, and +straightway would lose himself in a tremendous effort +to shape out some intelligible theory of events. There +was a boat. A boat. A big boat that could take him +to sea if necessary. That much was clear. She +brought it. Why did Almayer lie to her so? Was +it a plan to decoy him into some ambush? Better + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 347 + +that than hopeless solitude. She had money. The +men were ready to go anywhere . . . she said. + He interrupted her-- + "Where are they now?" + "They are coming directly," she answered, tearfully. +"Directly. There are some fishing stakes near here +--they said. They are coming directly." + Again she was talking and sobbing together. She +wanted to be forgiven. Forgiven? What for? Ah! +the scene in Macassar. As if he had time to think +of that! What did he care what she had done months +ago? He seemed to struggle in the toils of compli- +cated dreams where everything was impossible, yet a +matter of course, where the past took the aspects of +the future and the present lay heavy on his heart-- +seemed to take him by the throat like the hand of an +enemy. And while she begged, entreated, kissed his +hands, wept on his shoulder, adjured him in the name +of God, to forgive, to forget, to speak the word for +which she longed, to look at his boy, to believe in her +sorrow and in her devotion--his eyes, in the fascinated +immobility of shining pupils, looked far away, far +beyond her, beyond the river, beyond this land, through +days, weeks, months; looked into liberty, into the +future, into his triumph . . . into the great pos- +sibility of a startling revenge. + He felt a sudden desire to dance and shout. He +shouted-- + "After all, we shall meet again, Captain Lingard." + "Oh, no! No!" she cried, joining her hands. + He looked at her with surprise. He had forgotten +she was there till the break of her cry in the mo- +notonous tones of her prayer recalled him into that +courtyard from the glorious turmoil of his dreams. +It was very strange to see her there--near him. He + + +348 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +felt almost affectionate towards her. After all, she +came just in time. Then he thought: That other one. +I must get away without a scene. Who knows; she +may be dangerous! . . . And all at once he felt +he hated Aissa with an immense hatred that seemed to +choke him. He said to his wife-- + "Wait a moment." + She, obedient, seemed to gulp down some words +which wanted to come out. He muttered: "Stay here," +and disappeared round the tree. + The water in the iron pan on the cooking fire boiled +furiously, belching out volumes of white steam that +mixed with the thin black thread of smoke. The old +woman appeared to him through this as if in a fog, +squatting on her heels, impassive and weird. + Willems came up near and asked, "Where is she?" + The woman did not even lift her head, but answered +at once, readily, as though she had expected the ques- +tion for a long time. + "While you were asleep under the tree, before the +strange canoe came, she went out of the house. I saw +her look at you and pass on with a great light in her +eyes. A great light. And she went towards the place +where our master Lakamba had his fruit trees. When +we were many here. Many, many. Men with arms +by their side. Many . . . men. And talk . . . +and songs . . . " + She went on like that, raving gently to herself for +a long time after Willems had left her. + Willems went back to his wife. He came up close +to her and found he had nothing to say. Now all his +faculties were concentrated upon his wish to avoid +Aissa. She might stay all the morning in that grove. +Why did those rascally boatmen go? He had a physical +repugnance to set eyes on her. And somewhere, at + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 349 + +the very bottom of his heart, there was a fear of her. +Why? What could she do? Nothing on earth could +stop him now. He felt strong, reckless, pitiless, and +superior to everything. He wanted to preserve before +his wife the lofty purity of his character. He thought: +She does not know. Almayer held his tongue about +Aissa. But if she finds out, I am lost. If it hadn't +been for the boy I would . . . free of both of +them. . . . The idea darted through his head. +Not he! Married. . . . Swore solemnly. No +. . . sacred tie. . . . Looking on his wife, he +felt for the first time in his life something approaching +remorse. Remorse, arising from his conception of the +awful nature of an oath before the altar. . . . She +mustn't find out. . . . Oh, for that boat! He +must run in and get his revolver. Couldn't think of +trusting himself unarmed with those Bajow fellows. +Get it now while she is away. Oh, for that boat! . . . +He dared not go to the river and hail. He thought: +She might hear me. . . . I'll go and get . . . +cartridges . . . then will be all ready . . . +nothing else. No. + And while he stood meditating profoundly before +he could make up his mind to run to the house, Joanna +pleaded, holding to his arm--pleaded despairingly, +broken-hearted, hopeless whenever she glanced up at +his face, which to her seemed to wear the aspect of +unforgiving rectitude, of virtuous severity, of merciless +justice. And she pleaded humbly--abashed before +him, before the unmoved appearance of the man she +had wronged in defiance of human and divine laws. +He heard not a word of what she said till she raised her +voice in a final appeal-- + ". . . Don't you see I loved you always? They +told me horrible things about you. . . . My own + + +350 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +mother! They told me--you have been--you have +been unfaithful to me, and I . . ." + "It's a damned lie!" shouted Willems, waking up +for a moment into righteous indignation. + "I know! I know--Be generous.--Think of my +misery since you went away--Oh! I could have torn +my tongue out. . . . I will never believe any- +body--Look at the boy--Be merciful--I could never +rest till I found you. . . . Say--a word--one +word. . ." + "What the devil do you want?" exclaimed Willems, +looking towards the river. "Where's that damned +boat? Why did you let them go away? You stupid!" + "Oh, Peter!--I know that in your heart you have +forgiven me--You are so generous--I want to hear you +say so. . . . Tell me--do you?" + "Yes! yes!" said Willems, impatiently. "I for- +give you. Don't be a fool." + "Don't go away. Don't leave me alone here. Where +is the danger? I am so frightened. . . . Are you +alone here? Sure? . . . Let us go away!" + "That's sense," said Willems, still looking anxiously +towards the river. + She sobbed gently, leaning on his arm. + "Let me go," he said. + He had seen above the steep bank the heads of three +men glide along smoothly. Then, where the shore +shelved down to the landing-place, appeared a big +canoe which came slowly to land. + "Here they are," he went on, briskly. "I must get +my revolver." + He made a few hurried paces towards the house, +but seemed to catch sight of something, turned short +round and came back to his wife. She stared at him, +alarmed by the sudden change in his face. He ap- + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 351 + +peared much discomposed. He stammered a little as +he began to speak. + "Take the child. Walk down to the boat and tell +them to drop it out of sight, quick, behind the bushes. +Do you hear? Quick! I will come to you there +directly. Hurry up!" + "Peter! What is it? I won't leave you. There is +some danger in this horrible place." + "Will you do what I tell you?" said Willems, in an +irritable whisper. + "No! no! no! I won't leave you. I will not lose +you again. Tell me, what is it?" + From beyond the house came a faint voice singing. +Willems shook his wife by the shoulder. + "Do what I tell you! Run at once!" + She gripped his arm and clung to him desperately. +He looked up to heaven as if taking it to witness of +that woman's infernal folly. The song grew louder, +then ceased suddenly, and Aissa appeared in sight, +walking slowly, her hands full of flowers. + She had turned the corner of the house, coming +out into the full sunshine, and the light seemed to +leap upon her in a stream brilliant, tender, and caress- +ing, as if attracted by the radiant happiness of her face. +She had dressed herself for a festive day, for the memor- +able day of his return to her, of his return to an affec- +tion that would last for ever. The rays of the morning +sun were caught by the oval clasp of the embroidered +belt that held the silk sarong round her waist. The +dazzling white stuff of her body jacket was crossed +by a bar of yellow and silver of her scarf, and in the +black hair twisted high on her small head shone the +round balls of gold pins amongst crimson blossoms and +white star-shaped flowers, with which she had crowned +herself to charm his eyes; those eyes that were hence- + + +352 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +forth to see nothing in the world but her own resplen- +dent image. And she moved slowly, bending her face +over the mass of pure white champakas and jasmine +pressed to her breast, in a dreamy intoxication of sweet +scents and of sweeter hopes. + She did not seem to see anything, stopped for a +moment at the foot of the plankway leading to the +house, then, leaving her high-heeled wooden sandals +there, ascended the planks in a light run; straight, +graceful, flexible, and noiseless, as if she had soared up +to the door on invisible wings. Willems pushed his +wife roughly behind the tree, and made up his mind +quickly for a rush to the house, to grab his revolver +and . . . Thoughts, doubts, expedients seemed to +boil in his brain. He had a flashing vision of deliver- +ing a stunning blow, of tying up that flower bedecked +woman in the dark house--a vision of things done +swiftly with enraged haste--to save his prestige, his +superiority--something of immense importance. . . . +He had not made two steps when Joanna bounded +after him, caught the back of his ragged jacket, tore +out a big piece, and instantly hooked herself with +both hands to the collar, nearly dragging him down on +his back. Although taken by surprise, he managed +to keep his feet. From behind she panted into his +ear-- + "That woman! Who's that woman? Ah! that's +what those boatmen were talking about. I heard +them . . . heard them . . . heard . . . in the night. +They spoke about some woman. I dared not under- +stand. I would not ask . . . listen . . . be- +lieve! How could I? Then it's true. No. Say no. +. . . Who's that woman?" + He swayed, tugging forward. She jerked at him +till the button gave way, and then he slipped half out + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 353 + +of his jacket and, turning round, remained strangely +motionless. His heart seemed to beat in his throat. +He choked--tried to speak--could not find any words. +He thought with fury: I will kill both of them. + For a second nothing moved about the courtyard in +the great vivid clearness of the day. Only down by +the landing-place a waringan-tree, all in a blaze of +clustering red berries, seemed alive with the stir of +little birds that filled with the feverish flutter of their +feathers the tangle of overloaded branches. Suddenly +the variegated flock rose spinning in a soft whirr and +dispersed, slashing the sunlit haze with the sharp +outlines of stiffened wings. Mahmat and one of his +brothers appeared coming up from the landing-place, +their lances in their hands, to look for their passengers. + Aissa coming now empty-handed out of the house, +caught sight of the two armed men. In her surprise +she emitted a faint cry, vanished back and in a flash +reappeared in the doorway with Willems' revolver in +her hand. To her the presence of any man there +could only have an ominous meaning. There was +nothing in the outer world but enemies. She and the +man she loved were alone, with nothing round them +but menacing dangers. She did not mind that, for if +death came, no matter from what hand, they would +die together. + Her resolute eyes took in the courtyard in a circular +glance. She noticed that the two strangers had ceased +to advance and now were standing close together +leaning on the polished shafts of their weapons. The +next moment she saw Willems, with his back towards +her, apparently struggling under the tree with some +one. She saw nothing distinctly, and, unhesitating, +flew down the plankway calling out: "I come!" + He heard her cry, and with an unexpected rush + + +354 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +drove his wife backwards to the seat. She fell on it; +he jerked himself altogether out of his jacket, and she +covered her face with the soiled rags. He put his lips +close to her, asking-- + "For the last time, will you take the child and go?" + She groaned behind the unclean ruins of his upper +garment. She mumbled something. He bent lower +to hear. She was saying-- + "I won't. Order that woman away. I can't look +at her!" + "You fool!" + He seemed to spit the words at her, then, making +up his mind, spun round to face Aissa. She was coming +towards them slowly now, with a look of unbounded +amazement on her face. Then she stopped and stared +at him--who stood there, stripped to the waist, bare- +headed and sombre. + Some way off, Mahmat and his brother exchanged +rapid words in calm undertones. . . . This was the +strong daughter of the holy man who had died. The +white man is very tall. There would be three women +and the child to take in the boat, besides that white +man who had the money. . . . The brother went +away back to the boat, and Mahmat remained looking +on. He stood like a sentinel, the leaf-shaped blade +of his lance glinting above his head. + Willems spoke suddenly. + "Give me this," he said, stretching his hand towards +the revolver. + Aissa stepped back. Her lips trembled. She said +very low: "Your people?" + He nodded slightly. She shook her head thought- +fully, and a few delicate petals of the flowers dying in her +hair fell like big drops of crimson and white at her feet. + "Did you know?" she whispered. + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 355 + + "No!" said Willems. "They sent for me." + "Tell them to depart. They are accursed. What is +there between them and you--and you who carry my +life in your heart!" + Willems said nothing. He stood before her looking +down on the ground and repeating to himself: I must +get that revolver away from her, at once, at once. +I can't think of trusting myself with those men without +firearms. I must have it. + She asked, after gazing in silence at Joanna, who was +sobbing gently-- + "Who is she?" + "My wife," answered Willems, without looking up. +"My wife according to our white law, which comes +from God!" + "Your law! Your God!" murmured Aissa, con- +temptuously. + "Give me this revolver," said Willems, in a per- +emptory tone. He felt an unwillingness to close with +her, to get it by force. + She took no notice and went on-- + "Your law . . . or your lies? What am I to +believe? I came--I ran to defend you when I saw +the strange men. You lied to me with your lips, with +your eyes. You crooked heart! . . . Ah!" she +added, after an abrupt pause. "She is the first! Am +I then to be a slave?" + "You may be what you like," said Willems, brutally. +"I am going." + Her gaze was fastened on the blanket under which +she had detected a slight movement. She made a long +stride towards it. Willems turned half round. His +legs seemed to him to be made of lead. He felt faint +and so weak that, for a moment, the fear of dying +there where he stood, before he could escape from sin + + +356 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +and disaster, passed through his mind in a wave of +despair. + She lifted up one corner of the blanket, and when +she saw the sleeping child a sudden quick shudder +shook her as though she had seen something inex- +pressibly horrible. She looked at Louis Willems with +eyes fixed in an unbelieving and terrified stare. Then +her fingers opened slowly, and a shadow seemed to +settle on her face as if something obscure and fatal +had come between her and the sunshine. She stood +looking down, absorbed, as though she had watched at +the bottom of a gloomy abyss the mournful procession +of her thoughts. + Willems did not move. All his faculties were con- +centrated upon the idea of his release. And it was +only then that the assurance of it came to him with such +force that he seemed to hear a loud voice shouting in +the heavens that all was over, that in another five, ten +minutes, he would step into another existence; that all +this, the woman, the madness, the sin, the regrets, all +would go, rush into the past, disappear, become as dust, +as smoke, as drifting clouds--as nothing! Yes! All +would vanish in the unappeasable past which would +swallow up all--even the very memory of his temptation +and of his downfall. Nothing mattered. He cared for +nothing. He had forgotten Aissa, his wife, Lingard, +Hudig--everybody, in the rapid vision of his hopeful +future. + After a while he heard Aissa saying-- + "A child! A child! What have I done to be made +to devour this sorrow and this grief? And while your +man-child and the mother lived you told me there was +nothing for you to remember in the land from which +you came! And I thought you could be mine. I +thought that I would . . ." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 357 + + Her voice ceased in a broken murmur, and with it, +in her heart, seemed to die the greater and most precious +hope of her new life. She had hoped that in the future +the frail arms of a child would bind their two lives to- +gether in a bond which nothing on earth could break, +a bond of affection, of gratitude, of tender respect. +She the first--the only one! But in the instant she +saw the son of that other woman she felt herself re- +moved into the cold, the darkness, the silence of a +solitude impenetrable and immense--very far from him, +beyond the possibility of any hope, into an infinity of +wrongs without any redress. + She strode nearer to Joanna. She felt towards that +woman anger, envy, jealousy. Before her she felt +humiliated and enraged. She seized the hanging sleeve +of the jacket in which Joanna was hiding her face and +tore it out of her hands, exclaiming loudly-- + "Let me see the face of her before whom I am only +a servant and a slave. Ya-wa! I see you!" + Her unexpected shout seemed to fill the sunlit space +of cleared grounds, rise high and run on far into the +land over the unstirring tree-tops of the forests. She +stood in sudden stillness, looking at Joanna with sur- +prised contempt. + "A Sirani woman!" she said, slowly, in a tone of +wonder. + Joanna rushed at Willems--clung to him, shriek- +ing: "Defend me, Peter! Defend me from that +woman!" + "Be quiet. There is no danger," muttered Wil- +lems, thickly. + Aissa looked at them with scorn. "God is great! +I sit in the dust at your feet," she exclaimed jeeringly, +joining her hands above her head in a gesture of mock +humility. "Before you I am as nothing." She turned + + +358 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +to Willems fiercely, opening her arms wide. "What +have you made of me?" she cried, "you lying child +of an accursed mother! What have you made of me? +The slave of a slave. Don't speak! Your words are +worse than the poison of snakes. A Sirani woman. +A woman of a people despised by all." + She pointed her finger at Joanna, stepped back, and +began to laugh. + "Make her stop, Peter!" screamed Joanna. "That +heathen woman. Heathen! Heathen! Beat her, +Peter." + Willems caught sight of the revolver which Aissa +had laid on the seat near the child. He spoke in Dutch +to his wife, without moving his head. + "Snatch the boy--and my revolver there. See. +Run to the boat. I will keep her back. Now's the +time." + Aissa came nearer. She stared at Joanna, while +between the short gusts of broken laughter she raved, +fumbling distractedly at the buckle of her belt. + "To her! To her--the mother of him who will +speak of your wisdom, of your courage. All to her. +I have nothing. Nothing. Take, take." + She tore the belt off and threw it at Joanna's feet. +She flung down with haste the armlets, the gold pins, +the flowers; and the long hair, released, fell scattered +over her shoulders, framing in its blackness the wild +exaltation of her face. + "Drive her off, Peter. Drive off the heathen savage," +persisted Joanna. She seemed to have lost her head +altogether. She stamped, clinging to Willems' arm +with both her hands. + "Look," cried Aissa. "Look at the mother of +your son! She is afraid. Why does she not go from +before my face? Look at her. She is ugly." + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 359 + + Joanna seemed to understand the scornful tone of +the words. As Aissa stepped back again nearer to +the tree she let go her husband's arm, rushed at her +madly, slapped her face, then, swerving round, darted +at the child who, unnoticed, had been wailing for +some time, and, snatching him up, flew down to the +waterside, sending shriek after shriek in an access of +insane terror. + Willems made for the revolver. Aissa passed swiftly, +giving him an unexpected push that sent him stag- +gering away from the tree. She caught up the weapon, +put it behind her back, and cried-- + "You shall not have it. Go after her. Go to meet +danger. . . . Go to meet death. . . . Go un- +armed. . . . Go with empty hands and sweet +words . . . as you came to me. . . . Go help- +less and lie to the forests, to the sea . . . to the +death that waits for you. . . ." + She ceased as if strangled. She saw in the horror +of the passing seconds the half-naked, wild-looking +man before her; she heard the faint shrillness of Joan- +na's insane shrieks for help somewhere down by the +riverside. The sunlight streamed on her, on him, on +the mute land, on the murmuring river--the gentle +brilliance of a serene morning that, to her, seemed +traversed by ghastly flashes of uncertain darkness. +Hate filled the world, filled the space between them +--the hate of race, the hate of hopeless diversity, the +hate of blood; the hate against the man born in the +land of lies and of evil from which nothing but misfor- +tune comes to those who are not white. And as she +stood, maddened, she heard a whisper near her, the +whisper of the dead Omar's voice saying in her ear: +"Kill! Kill!" + She cried, seeing him move-- + + +360 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + + "Do not come near me . . . or you die now! +Go while I remember yet . . . remember. . . ." + Willems pulled himself together for a struggle. He +dared not go unarmed. He made a long stride, and +saw her raise the revolver. He noticed that she had +not cocked it, and said to himself that, even if she did +fire, she would surely miss. Go too high; it was a +stiff trigger. He made a step nearer--saw the long +barrel moving unsteadily at the end of her extended +arm. He thought: This is my time . . . He bent +his knees slightly, throwing his body forward, and took +off with a long bound for a tearing rush. + He saw a burst of red flame before his eyes, and +was deafened by a report that seemed to him louder +than a clap of thunder. Something stopped him +short, and he stood aspiring in his nostrils the acrid +smell of the blue smoke that drifted from before his +eyes like an immense cloud. . . . Missed, by +Heaven! . . . Thought so! . . . And he saw +her very far off, throwing her arms up, while the re- +volver, very small, lay on the ground between them. +. . . Missed! . . . He would go and pick it +up now. Never before did he understand, as in that +second, the joy, the triumphant delight of sunshine and +of life. His mouth was full of something salt and warm. +He tried to cough; spat out. . . . Who shrieks: +In the name of God, he dies!--he dies!--Who dies?-- +Must pick up--Night!--What? . . . Night al- +ready. . . . + + * * * * * + + Many years afterwards Almayer was telling the +story of the great revolution in Sambir to a chance +visitor from Europe. He was a Roumanian, half + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 361 + +naturalist, half orchid-hunter for commercial purposes, +who used to declare to everybody, in the first five +minutes of acquaintance, his intention of writing a +scientific book about tropical countries. On his way +to the interior he had quartered himself upon Almayer. +He was a man of some education, but he drank his +gin neat, or only, at most, would squeeze the juice of +half a small lime into the raw spirit. He said it was +good for his health, and, with that medicine before +him, he would describe to the surprised Almayer the +wonders of European capitals; while Almayer, in ex- +change, bored him by expounding, with gusto, his +unfavourable opinions of Sambir's social and political +life. They talked far into the night, across the deal +table on the verandah, while, between them, clear- +winged, small, and flabby insects, dissatisfied with +moonlight, streamed in and perished in thousands +round the smoky light of the evil-smelling lamp. + Almayer, his face flushed, was saying-- + "Of course, I did not see that. I told you I was +stuck in the creek on account of father's--Captain +Lingard's--susceptible temper. I am sure I did it all +for the best in trying to facilitate the fellow's escape; +but Captain Lingard was that kind of man--you know +--one couldn't argue with. Just before sunset the +water was high enough, and we got out of the creek. +We got to Lakamba's clearing about dark. All very +quiet; I thought they were gone, of course, and felt +very glad. We walked up the courtyard--saw a big +heap of something lying in the middle. Out of that +she rose and rushed at us. By God. . . . You +know those stories of faithful dogs watching their mas- +ters' corpses . . . don't let anybody approach +. . . got to beat them off--and all that. . . . +Well, 'pon my word we had to beat her off. Had to! + + +362 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +She was like a fury. Wouldn't let us touch him. +Dead--of course. Should think so. Shot through the +lung, on the left side, rather high up, and at pretty close +quarters too, for the two holes were small. Bullet +came out through the shoulder-blade. After we had +overpowered her--you can't imagine how strong that +woman was; it took three of us--we got the body into +the boat and shoved off. We thought she had fainted +then, but she got up and rushed into the water after us. +Well, I let her clamber in. What could I do? The +river's full of alligators. I will never forget that pull +up-stream in the night as long as I live. She sat in the +bottom of the boat, holding his head in her lap, and now +and again wiping his face with her hair. There was a +lot of blood dried about his mouth and chin. And for +all the six hours of that journey she kept on whispering +tenderly to that corpse! . . . I had the mate of +the schooner with me. The man said afterwards that +he wouldn't go through it again--not for a handful of +diamonds. And I believed him--I did. It makes me +shiver. Do you think he heard? No! I mean some- +body--something--heard? . . ." + "I am a materialist," declared the man of science, +tilting the bottle shakily over the emptied glass. + Almayer shook his head and went on-- + "Nobody saw how it really happened but that man +Mahmat. He always said that he was no further off +from them than two lengths of his lance. It appears +the two women rowed each other while that Willems +stood between them. Then Mahmat says that when +Joanna struck her and ran off, the other two seemed +to become suddenly mad together. They rushed here +and there. Mahmat says--those were his very words: +'I saw her standing holding the pistol that fires many +times and pointing it all over the campong. I was + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 363 + +afraid--lest she might shoot me, and jumped on one +side. Then I saw the white man coming at her swiftly. +He came like our master the tiger when he rushes out +of the jungle at the spears held by men. She did not +take aim. The barrel of her weapon went like this-- +from side to side, but in her eyes I could see suddenly a +great fear. There was only one shot. She shrieked while +the white man stood blinking his eyes and very straight, +till you could count slowly one, two, three; then he +coughed and fell on his face. The daughter of Omar +shrieked without drawing breath, till he fell. I went +away then and left silence behind me. These things +did not concern me, and in my boat there was that +other woman who had promised me money. We left +directly, paying no attention to her cries. We are only +poor men--and had but a small reward for our trouble!' +That's what Mahmat said. Never varied. You ask +him yourself. He's the man you hired the boats from, +for your journey up the river." + "The most rapacious thief I ever met!" exclaimed +the traveller, thickly. + "Ah! He is a respectable man. His two brothers +got themselves speared--served them right. They +went in for robbing Dyak graves. Gold ornaments in +them you know. Serve them right. But he kept +respectable and got on. Aye! Everybody got on-- +but I. And all through that scoundrel who brought the +Arabs here." + "De mortuis nil ni . . . num," muttered Al- +mayer's guest. + "I wish you would speak English instead of jab- +bering in your own language, which no one can under- +stand," said Almayer, sulkily. + "Don't be angry," hiccoughed the other. "It's +Latin, and it's wisdom. It means: Don't waste your + + +364 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +breath in abusing shadows. No offence there. I like +you. You have a quarrel with Providence--so have +I. I was meant to be a professor, while--look." + His head nodded. He sat grasping the glass. Al- +mayer walked up and down, then stopped suddenly. + "Yes, they all got on but I. Why? I am better +than any of them. Lakamba calls himself a Sultan, +and when I go to see him on business sends that one- +eyed fiend of his--Babalatchi--to tell me that the +ruler is asleep; and shall sleep for a long time. And +that Babalatchi! He is the Shahbandar of the State +--if you please. Oh Lord! Shahbandar! The pig! +A vagabond I wouldn't let come up these steps when +he first came here. . . . Look at Abdulla now. +He lives here because--he says--here he is away from +white men. But he has hundreds of thousands. Has +a house in Penang. Ships. What did he not have +when he stole my trade from me! He knocked every- +thing here into a cocked hat, drove father to gold- +hunting--then to Europe, where he disappeared. +Fancy a man like Captain Lingard disappearing as +though he had been a common coolie. Friends of +mine wrote to London asking about him. Nobody +ever heard of him there! Fancy! Never heard of +Captain Lingard!" + The learned gatherer of orchids lifted his head. + "He was a sen--sentimen--tal old buc--buccaneer," +he stammered out, "I like him. I'm sent--tal myself." + He winked slowly at Almayer, who laughed. + "Yes! I told you about that gravestone. Yes! +Another hundred and twenty dollars thrown away. +Wish I had them now. He would do it. And the +inscription. Ha! ha! ha! 'Peter Willems, Delivered +by the Mercy of God from his Enemy.' What enemy +--unless Captain Lingard himself? And then it has + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 365 + +no sense. He was a great man--father was--but +strange in many ways. . . . You haven't seen the +grave? On the top of that hill, there, on the other +side of the river. I must show you. We will go +there." + "Not I!" said the other. "No interest--in the +sun--too tiring. . . . Unless you carry me there." + As a matter of fact he was carried there a few months +afterwards, and his was the second white man's grave +in Sambir; but at present he was alive if rather drunk. +He asked abruptly-- + "And the woman?" + "Oh! Lingard, of course, kept her and her ugly +brat in Macassar. Sinful waste of money--that! +Devil only knows what became of them since father +went home. I had my daughter to look after. I shall +give you a word to Mrs. Vinck in Singapore when you +go back. You shall see my Nina there. Lucky man. +She is beautiful, and I hear so accomplished, so . . ." + "I have heard already twenty . . . a hundred times +about your daughter. What ab--about--that--that +other one, Ai--ssa?" + "She! Oh! we kept her here. She was mad for +a long time in a quiet sort of way. Father thought a +lot of her. He gave her a house to live in, in my +campong. She wandered about, speaking to nobody +unless she caught sight of Abdulla, when she would +have a fit of fury, and shriek and curse like anything. +Very often she would disappear--and then we all had +to turn out and hunt for her, because father would +worry till she was brought back. Found her in all +kinds of places. Once in the abandoned campong of +Lakamba. Sometimes simply wandering in the bush. +She had one favourite spot we always made for at first. +It was ten to one on finding her there--a kind of a + + +366 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +grassy glade on the banks of a small brook. Why she + preferred that place, I can't imagine! And such a +job to get her away from there. Had to drag her +away by main force. Then, as the time passed, she +became quieter and more settled, like. Still, all my +people feared her greatly. It was my Nina that +tamed her. You see the child was naturally fearless +and used to have her own way, so she would go to her +and pull at her sarong, and order her about, as she did +everybody. Finally she, I verily believe, came to +love the child. Nothing could resist that little one-- +you know. She made a capital nurse. Once when +the little devil ran away from me and fell into the +river off the end of the jetty, she jumped in and pulled +her out in no time. I very nearly died of fright. +Now of course she lives with my serving girls, but does +what she likes. As long as I have a handful of rice or a +piece of cotton in the store she sha'n't want for anything. +You have seen her. She brought in the dinner with +Ali." + "What! That doubled-up crone?" + "Ah!" said Almayer. "They age quickly here. +And long foggy nights spent in the bush will soon +break the strongest backs--as you will find out yourself +soon." + "Dis . . . disgusting," growled the traveller. + He dozed off. Almayer stood by the balustrade +looking out at the bluish sheen of the moonlit night. +The forests, unchanged and sombre, seemed to hang +over the water, listening to the unceasing whisper of +the great river; and above their dark wall the hill on +which Lingard had buried the body of his late prisoner +rose in a black, rounded mass, upon the silver paleness +of the sky. Almayer looked for a long time at the +clean-cut outline of the summit, as if trying to make + + +AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS 367 + +out through darkness and distance the shape of that +expensive tombstone. When he turned round at last +he saw his guest sleeping, his arms on the table, his +head on his arms. + "Now, look here!" he shouted, slapping the table +with the palm of his hand. + The naturalist woke up, and sat all in a heap, staring +owlishly. + "Here!" went on Almayer, speaking very loud +and thumping the table, "I want to know. You, +who say you have read all the books, just tell me . . . +why such infernal things are ever allowed. Here I am! +Done harm to nobody, lived an honest life . . . +and a scoundrel like that is born in Rotterdam or some +such place at the other end of the world somewhere, +travels out here, robs his employer, runs away from his +wife, and ruins me and my Nina--he ruined me, I +tell you--and gets himself shot at last by a poor miser- +able savage, that knows nothing at all about him really. +Where's the sense of all this? Where's your Provi- +dence? Where's the good for anybody in all this? +The world's a swindle! A swindle! Why should I +suffer? What have I done to be treated so?" + He howled out his string of questions, and sud- +denly became silent. The man who ought to have +been a professor made a tremendous effort to articulate +distinctly-- + "My dear fellow, don't--don't you see that the ba- +bare fac--the fact of your existence is off--offensive. +. . . I--I like you--like . . ." + He fell forward on the table, and ended his remarks +by an unexpected and prolonged snore. + Almayer shrugged his shoulders and walked back to +the balustrade. He drank his own trade gin very +seldom, but when he did, a ridiculously small quantity + + +368 AN OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS + +of the stuff could induce him to assume a rebellious +attitude towards the scheme of the universe. And +now, throwing his body over the rail, he shouted im- +pudently into the night, turning his face towards +that far-off and invisible slab of imported granite upon +which Lingard had thought fit to record God's mercy +and Willems' escape. + "Father was wrong--wrong!" he yelled. "I want +you to smart for it. You must smart for it! Where +are you, Willems? Hey? . . . Hey? . . . +Where there is no mercy for you--I hope!" + "Hope," repeated in a whispering echo the startled +forests, the river and the hills; and Almayer, who +stood waiting, with a smile of tipsy attention on his +lips, heard no other answer. + + THE END + + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Outcast of the Islands + |