gers with, and afterwards repeated several
times over again in his efforts to appear at ease. The agitation of
their host did not escape the officer's eyes, and the chief confided to
his subordinate, in a low voice, his doubts as to Almayer's sobriety. The
young sub-lieutenant laughed and expressed in a whisper the hope that the
white man was not intoxicated enough to neglect the offer of some
refreshments. "He does not seem very dangerous," he added, as they
followed Almayer up the steps of the verandah.

"No, he seems more of a fool than a knave; I have heard of him," returned
the senior.

They sat around the table. Almayer with shaking hands made gin
cocktails, offered them all round, and drank himself, with every gulp
feeling stronger, steadier, and better able to face all the difficulties
of his position. Ignorant of the fate of the brig he did not suspect the
real object of the officer's visit. He had a general notion that
something must have leaked out about the gunpowder trade, but apprehended
nothing beyond some temporary inconveniences. After emptying his glass
he began to chat easily, lying back in his chair with one of his legs
thrown negligently over the arm. The lieutenant astride on his chair, a
glowing cheroot in the corner of his mouth, listened with a sly smile
from behind the thick volumes of smoke that escaped from his compressed
lips. The young sub-lieutenant, leaning with both elbows on the table,
his head between his hands, looked on sleepily in the torpor induced by
fatigue and the gin. Almayer talked on--

"It is a great pleasure to see white faces here. I have lived here many
years in great solitude. The Malays, you understand, are not company for
a white man; moreover they are not friendly; they do not understand our
ways. Great rascals they are. I believe I am the only white man on the
east coast that is a settled resident. We get visitors from Macassar or
Singapore sometimes--traders, agents, or explorers, but they are rare.
There was a scientific explorer here a year or more ago. He lived in my
house: drank from morning to night. He lived joyously for a few months,
and when the liquor he brought with him was gone he returned to Batavia
with a report on the mineral wealth of the interior. Ha, ha, ha! Good,
is it not?"

He ceased abruptly and looked at his guests with a meaningless stare.
While they laughed he was reciting to himself the old story: "Dain dead,
all my pl