g shadows darkened the clearing. He could not make out who the man
might be, but he felt uneasy at the steady advance of the tall figure
walking on the path with a heavy tread, and hailed it with a command to
stop. The man stopped at some little distance, and Dain expected him to
speak, but all he could hear was his deep breathing. Through a break in
the flying clouds a sudden and fleeting brightness descended upon the
clearing. Before the darkness closed in again, Dain saw a hand holding
some glittering object extended towards him, heard Nina's cry of
"Father!" and in an instant the girl was between him and Almayer's
revolver. Nina's loud cry woke up the echoes of the sleeping woods, and
the three stood still as if waiting for the return of silence before they
would give expression to their various feelings. At the appearance of
Nina, Almayer's arm fell by his side, and he made a step forward. Dain
pushed the girl gently aside.

"Am I a wild beast that you should try to kill me suddenly and in the
dark, Tuan Almayer?" said Dain, breaking the strained silence. "Throw
some brushwood on the fire," he went on, speaking to Nina, "while I watch
my white friend, lest harm should come to you or to me, O delight of my
heart!"

Almayer ground his teeth and raised his arm again. With a quick bound
Dain was at his side: there was a short scuffle, during which one chamber
of the revolver went off harmlessly, then the weapon, wrenched out of
Almayer's hand, whirled through the air and fell in the bushes. The two
men stood close together, breathing hard. The replenished fire threw out
an unsteady circle of light and shone on the terrified face of Nina, who
looked at them with outstretched hands.

"Dain!" she cried out warningly, "Dain!"

He waved his hand towards her in a reassuring gesture, and, turning to
Almayer, said with great courtesy--

"Now we may talk, Tuan. It is easy to send out death, but can your
wisdom recall the life? She might have been harmed," he continued,
indicating Nina. "Your hand shook much; for myself I was not afraid."

"Nina!" exclaimed Almayer, "come to me at once. What is this sudden
madness? What bewitched you? Come to your father, and together we shall
try to forget this horrible nightmare!"

He opened his arms with the certitude of clasping her to his breast in
another second. She did not move. As it dawned upon him that she did
not mean to obey he felt a deadly cold creep into