not come here
to-night. Will come to-morrow, he said."

He swallowed another spoonful, then said--

"I am almost happy to-night, Nina. I can see the end of a long road, and
it leads us away from this miserable swamp. We shall soon get away from
here, I and you, my dear little girl, and then--"

He rose from the table and stood looking fixedly before him as if
contemplating some enchanting vision.

"And then," he went on, "we shall be happy, you and I. Live rich and
respected far from here, and forget this life, and all this struggle, and
all this misery!"

He approached his daughter and passed his hand caressingly over her hair.

"It is bad to have to trust a Malay," he said, "but I must own that this
Dain is a perfect gentleman--a perfect gentleman," he repeated.

"Did you ask him to come here, father?" inquired Nina, not looking at
him.

"Well, of course. We shall start on the day after to-morrow," said
Almayer, joyously. "We must not lose any time. Are you glad, little
girl?"

She was nearly as tall as himself, but he liked to recall the time when
she was little and they were all in all to each other.

"I am glad," she said, very low.

"Of course," said Almayer, vivaciously, "you cannot imagine what is
before you. I myself have not been to Europe, but I have heard my mother
talk so often that I seem to know all about it. We shall live a--a
glorious life. You shall see."

Again he stood silent by his daughter's side looking at that enchanting
vision. After a while he shook his clenched hand towards the sleeping
settlement.

"Ah! my friend Abdulla," he cried, "we shall see who will have the best
of it after all these years!"

He looked up the river and remarked calmly:

"Another thunderstorm. Well! No thunder will keep me awake to-night, I
know! Good-night, little girl," he whispered, tenderly kissing her
cheek. "You do not seem to be very happy to-night, but to-morrow you
will show a brighter face. Eh?"

Nina had listened to her father with her face unmoved, with her
half-closed eyes still gazing into the night now made more intense by a
heavy thunder-cloud that had crept down from the hills blotting out the
stars, merging sky, forest, and river into one mass of almost palpable
blackness. The faint breeze had died out, but the distant rumble of
thunder and pale flashes of lightning gave warning of the approaching
storm. With a sigh the girl turned towards the table.

Almayer w