sleep again--curse him. The light
is out, and I nearly ran foul of the end of this damned jetty. This is
the third time he plays me this trick. Now, I ask you, can anybody stand
this kind of thing? It's enough to drive a man out of his mind. I'll
report him.... I'll get the Assistant Resident to give him the
sack, by... See--there's no light. It's out, isn't it? I take you to
witness the light's out. There should be a light, you know. A red light
on the--'

"'There was a light,' I said, mildly.

"'But it's out, man! What's the use of talking like this? You can see
for yourself it's out--don't you? If you had to take a valuable steamer
along this God-forsaken coast you would want a light too. I'll kick him
from end to end of his miserable wharf. You'll see if I don't. I will--'

"'So I may tell my captain you'll take us?' I broke in.

"'Yes, I'll take you. Good night,' he said, brusquely.

"I pulled back, made fast again to the jetty, and then went to sleep
at last. I had faced the silence of the East. I had heard some of its
languages. But when I opened my eyes again the silence was as complete
as though it had never been broken. I was lying in a flood of light, and
the sky had never looked so far, so high, before. I opened my eyes and
lay without moving.

"And then I saw the men of the East--they were looking at me. The whole
length of the jetty was full of people. I saw brown, bronze, yellow
faces, the black eyes, the glitter, the colour of an Eastern crowd.
And all these beings stared without a murmur, without a sigh, without
a movement. They stared down at the boats, at the sleeping men who at
night had come to them from the sea. Nothing moved. The fronds of palms
stood still against the sky. Not a branch stirred along the shore,
and the brown roofs of hidden houses peeped through the green foliage,
through the big leaves that hung shining and still like leaves forged
of heavy metal. This was the East of the ancient navigators, so old, so
mysterious, resplendent and somber, living and unchanged, full of
danger and promise. And these were the men. I sat up suddenly. A wave
of movement passed through the crowd from end to end, passed along
the heads, swayed the bodies, ran along the jetty like a ripple on the
water, like a breath of wind on a field--and all was still again. I see
it now--the wide sweep of the bay, the glittering sands, the wealth of
green infinite and varied, the sea blue like the sea of a dream