Almayer's Folly: A Story of an Eastern River

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leasant realities of the present hour. An unpleasant voice too. He had heard it for many ye

na. He absorbed himself in his dream of wealth and power away from this coast where he had dwelt for so many years, forgetting the bitterness of toil and strife in the vision of a great and splendid reward. They would live in Europe, he and his daughter. They would be rich and respected. Nobody would think of her mixed blood in the presence of her great beauty and of his immense wealth. Witnessing her triumphs he would grow young again, he would forget the twenty-five years of heart-breaking struggle on this coast where he felt like a prisoner. All this was nearly within his reach. Let only

s a long, denuded branch, like a hand lifted in mute appeal to heaven against the river's brutal and unnecessary violence. Almayer's interest in the fate of that tree increased rapidly. He leaned over to see if it would clear the low point below. It did; then he drew back, thinking that now its course was free down to the

godowns of old Hudig. It was an important epoch in his life, the beginning of a new existence for him. His father, a subordinate official employed in the Botanical Gardens of Buitenzorg, was no doubt delighted to place his son in such a firm. The young man himself too was nothing loth to leave the poisonous shores

r pocket, speaking English well, and strong in arithmetic

after the glare of the streets; the little railed-off spaces amongst piles of merchandise where the Chinese clerks, neat, cool, and sad-eyed, wrote rapidly and in silence amidst the din of the working gangs rolling casks or shifting cases to a muttered song, ending with a desperate yell. At the upper end, facing the great door,

e door would fly open disclosing to the outer world, through the bluish haze of tobacco smoke, a long table loaded with bottles of various shapes and tall water-pitchers, rattan easy-chairs occupied by noisy men in sprawling attitudes, while the Master would put his head through and, holding by the handle, would grunt confidentially to Vinck; perhaps send an order thundering down the warehouse, or spy a hesitating stranger and greet him with a frien

ess, not disinclined for a brush with the pirates that were to be found on many a coast as yet, making money fast, they used to have a general "rendezvous" in the bay for purposes of trade and dissipation. The Dutch merchants called those men English pedlars; some of the

long contest, he boarded the craft, driving the crew overboard. This girl, it was generally known, Lingard had adopted, was having her educated in some convent in Java, and spoke of her as "my daughter." He had sworn a mighty oath to marry her to a white man before he went home and to leave her all his money. "A

d by any amount of liquor. Many tried to follow him and find that land of plenty for gutta-percha and rattans, pearl shells and birds' nests, wax and gum-dammar, but the little Flash could outsail every craft in those seas. A few of them came to grief on hidden sandbanks and coral reefs, losing their all and barely escaping with life from the cruel grip of this sunny and smiling sea; others got discouraged; and for many years the green and peaceful-looking islands guarding the entrances to the promised land kept their secret with all the merciless serenity of tropical nature. And so Lingard came and went on his secret or open expeditions, becoming a hero in Almayer's eyes by the boldness and enormous profits of his ventures, s

xhalations of the islands, shoved the brig gently along under the peaceful and sparkling sky, did the old seaman open his heart to his entranced listener. He spoke of his past life, of escaped dangers, of big profits in his trade, of new combinations that were in the future to bring profits bigger still. Often he had mentioned his daughter, the girl found in the pirate prau, speaking of her with a strange assumption of fatherly tenderness. "She must be a big girl now," he used to say. "It's nigh unto four years since I have seen her! Damme, Almayer, if I don't think we will run into Sourabaya this trip." And after such a declaration he always dived into his cabin muttering to himself, "Something must be done-must be done." More than once he would astonish Almayer by walking up to him rapidly, clearing his throat with a powerful "H

rchandise (old Lingard would not live for ever), and, crowning all, in the far future gleamed like a fairy palace the big mansion in Amsterdam, that earthly paradise of his dreams, where, made king amongst men by old Lingard's money, he would pass the evening of his days in inexpressible splendour. As to the other side of the picture-the companionship for life of a Malay girl, that legacy of a boatful of pirates-there was o

d confronted the anxi

thing you wish,

amme, though, if I didn't think you were going to refuse. Mind you, Kaspa

nt sleeping coast, the smooth black surface of the sea with a great bar of gold laid on it by the rising moon. He remembered it all, and he remembered his feelings of mad exultat

h's compound called fitfully into view the ragged trunks of the surrounding trees, putting a stain of glowing red half-way across the river where the drifting logs were hurrying towards the sea through the impenetrable gloom. He had a hazy recollection of

nd where the stones, decaying planks, and half-sawn beams were piled up in inextricable confusion. As he turned towards the house where he lived-"my old house" he called it-his ear detected the splash of paddles away in the darkness of the river. He stood still in the path, attentive and surprised at anybody being on the ri

eering into the solid blackness. "What are they u

was very

an!" haile

k, and the sharp sound of the paddles falling into the canoe rang in the quiet night. They were holding on to the

" said Almaye

voice

aking to a friend. T

eart gave a

I have been waiting for you every day and

back here," said the other, almost violentl

ily. "But you are too far here. Drop down to the jetty and let y

answer to tha

uneasily. "There is nothing

s on her," said Dain, with a gloomy tone in his voi

ere are all your men? The

ow's sun shall see me in your house, and th

y? What do you wa

lk like friends. I mus

on me now, when all is ready?" as

I must see Lakamba first

e grasp of the bowman, sprung back with a swish, scattering a sho

pposite shore, disclosing the outline of two men bending to their work, and a third figure in the stern flouris

r. He could see the torches being snatched out of the burning pile, and rendering visible for a moment the gate in the stockade round

land where he stood he could see both branches of the river. The main branch of the Pantai was lost in complete darkness, for the fire at the Rajah's had gone out altogether; but up the Sambir reach his eye could follow the long line of Malay houses crowding the bank, with here and there a dim light twinkling through bamboo walls, or a smoky torch burning on the platforms built out over the river. Further away, where the island ended in a low cliff, rose a dark mass of b

e steps of hi

."-were still legible on the dusty door, which looked as if it had not been opened for a very long time. Close to the other side wall stood a bent-wood rocking-chair, and by the table and about the verandah four wooden armchairs straggled forlornly, as if ashamed of their shabby surroundings. A heap of common mats lay in one corner, with an old hammock slung diagonally above. In the other corner, his head wrapped in a piece of red calico, huddled into a shapeless heap, slept a Malay, one of Almayer's domestic slaves-"my own people," he used to call them. A numerous and representative assembly of moths were holding high revels round the lamp to the spirited music of swarming mosquitoes. Und

in the corner moved uneasily, muttering indistinct words. There was a slight rustle

gry. Is everybody as

turned towards the outer darkness, through which her dreamy eyes seemed to see some entrancing picture, wore a look of impatient expectancy. She was tall for a half-caste, with the correct profile of the father, modified and strengthened by the squareness of the lower part of the face inherited from her maternal ancestors-the Sulu pirates. Her firm mouth, with the lips slightly parted and disclosing a gleam of white teeth, put a vague suggestion of ferocity into the impatient expression of her features. And yet her da

fter a few mouthfuls he paused, spoon in

pass about half an ho

, and moving away from the light

he said

Lakamba. I know it, for he told me so. I spoke to him, but h

another spoon

oad, and it leads us away from this miserable swamp. We shall so

ooking fixedly before him as if co

. Live rich and respected far from here, and forget t

er and passed his hand c

, "but I must own that this Dain is a perfect

here, father?" inquired

er to-morrow," said Almayer, joyously. "We must

liked to recall the time when she was litt

," she sai

I myself have not been to Europe, but I have heard my mother talk so often tha

g at that enchanting vision. After a while he shook

, "we shall see who will have the

he river and r

od-night, little girl," he whispered, tenderly kissing her cheek. "You do not s

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 d

s hammock now, al

, drowsily. "This place is full of

he upper reach of the river whipped into white foam by the wind, and the black clouds torn into fantastic shapes trailing low over the swaying trees. Round her all was as yet stillness and peace, but she could hear afar off the roar of the wind, the hiss of heavy rain, the wash of the waves on the tormented river. It came nearer and nearer, with loud thunder-claps and long flashes of v

ke of his hopes, his misfortunes, his friends, and his enemies; and the daughter stood motionl