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slowly along Willems' body.
"I am come," began Willems.
"So I see," interrupted Almayer. "You might have spared me this treat
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without making me unhappy. You have been away five weeks, if I am not
mistaken. I got on very well without youand now you are here you are not
pretty to look at."
"Let me speak, will you!" exclaimed Willems.
"Don't shout like this. Do you think yourself in the forest with your . . .
your friends? This is a civilized man's house. A white man's.
Understand?"
"I am come," began Willems again; "I am come for your good and mine."
"You look as if you had come for a good feed," chimed in the irrepressible
Almayer, while Willems waved his hand in a discouraged gesture. "Don't they
give you enough to eat," went on Almayer, in a tone of easy banter,
"thosewhat am I to call themthose new relations of yours? That old blind
scoundrel must be delighted with your company. You know, he was the
greatest thief and murderer of those seas. Say! do you exchange
confidences? Tell me, Willems, did you kill somebody in Macassar or did you
only steal something?"
"It is not true!" exclaimed Willems, hotly. "I only borrowed. . . . They
all lied! I . . ."
"Shsh!" hissed Almayer, warningly, with a look at the sleeping child. "So
you did steal," he went on, with repressed exultation. "I thought there was
something of the kind. And now, here, you steal again."
For the first time Willems raised his eyes to Almayer's face.
"Oh, I don't mean from me. I haven't missed anything," said Almayer, with
mocking haste. "But that girl.
Hey! You stole her. You did not pay the old fellow. She is no good to him
now, is she?"
"Stop that. Almayer!"
An Outcast of the Islands
PART II
37
Something in Willems' tone caused Almayer to pause. He looked narrowly at
the man before him, and could not help being shocked at his appearance.
"Almayer," went on Willems, "listen to me. If you are a human being you
will. I suffer horriblyand for your sake."
Almayer lifted his eyebrows. "Indeed! How? But you are raving," he added,
negligently.
"Ah! You don't know," whispered Willems. "She is gone. Gone," he repeated,
with tears in his voice, "gone two days ago."
"No!" exclaimed the surprised Almayer. "Gone! I haven't heard that news
yet." He burst into a subdued laugh. "How funny! Had enough of you
already? You know it's not flattering for you, my superior countryman."
Willemsas if not hearing himleaned against one of the columns of the roof and
looked over the river.
"At first," he whispered, dreamily, "my life was like a vision of heavenor
hell; I didn't know which. Since she went I know what perdition means; what
darkness is. I know what it is to be torn to pieces alive. That's how I
feel."
"You may come and live with me again," said Almayer, coldly. "After all,
Lingardwhom I call my father and respect as suchleft you under my care. You
pleased yourself by going away. Very good. Now you want to come back. Be
it so. I am no friend of yours. I act for Captain Lingard."
"Come back?" repeated Willems, passionately. "Come back to you and abandon
her? Do you think I am mad?
Without her! Man! what are you made of? To think that she moves, lives,
breathes out of my sight. I am jealous of the wind that fans her, of the
air she breathes, of the earth that receives the caress of her foot, of the
sun that looks at her now while I . . . I haven't seen her for two daystwo
days."
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The intensity of Willems' feeling moved Almayer somewhat, but he affected to
yawn elaborately
"You do bore me," he muttered. "Why don't you go after her instead of coming
here?"
"Why indeed?"
"Don't you know where she is? She can't be very far. No native craft has
left this river for the last fortnight."
"No! not very farand I will tell you where she is. She is in Lakamba's
campong." And Willems fixed his eyes steadily on Almayer's face.
"Phew! Patalolo never sent to let me know. Strange," said Almayer,
thoughtfully. "Are you afraid of that lot?" he added, after a short pause.
"Iafraid!"
"Then is it the care of your dignity which prevents you from following her
there, my highminded friend?"
asked Almayer, with mock solicitude. "How noble of you!"
There was a short silence; then Willems said, quietly, "You are a fool. I
should like to kick you."
"No fear," answered Almayer, carelessly; "you are too weak for that. You
look starved."
An Outcast of the Islands
PART II
38
"I don't think I have eaten anything for the last two days; perhaps moreI
don't remember. It does not matter. I am full of live embers," said
Willems, gloomily. "Look!" and he bared an arm covered with fresh scars.
"I have been biting myself to forget in that pain the fire that hurts me
there!" He struck his breast violently with his fist, reeled under his own
blow, fell into a chair that stood near and closed his eyes slowly.
"Disgusting exhibition," said Almayer, loftily. "What could father ever see
in you? You are as estimable as a heap of garbage."
"You talk like that! You, who sold your soul for a few guilders," muttered
Willems, wearily, without opening his eyes.
"Not so few," said Almayer, with instinctive readiness, and stopped confused
for a moment. He recovered himself quickly, however, and went on: "But
youyou have thrown yours away for nothing; flung it under the feet of a
damned savage woman who has made you already the thing you are, and will kill
you very soon, one way or another, with her love or with her hate. You spoke
just now about guilders. You meant Lingard's money, I suppose. Well,
whatever I have sold, and for whatever price, I never meant youyou of all
peopleto spoil my bargain. I feel pretty safe though. Even father, even
Captain Lingard, would not touch you now with a pair of tongs; not with a
tenfoot pole. . . ."
He spoke excitedly, all in one breath, and, ceasing suddenly, glared at
Willems and breathed hard through his nose in sulky resentment. Willems
looked at him steadily for a moment, then got up.
"Almayer," he said resolutely, "I want to become a trader in this place."
Almayer shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes. And you shall set me up. I want a house and trade goodsperhaps a
little money. I ask you for it."
"Anything else you want? Perhaps this coat?" and here Almayer unbuttoned his
jacket"or my houseor my boots?"
"After all it's natural," went on Willems, without paying any attention to
Almayer"it's natural that she should expect the advantages which . . . and
then I could shut up that old wretch and then . . ."
He paused, his face brightened with the soft light of dreamy enthusiasm, and
he turned his eyes upwards.
With his gaunt figure and dilapidated appearance he looked like some ascetic
dweller in a wilderness, finding the reward of a selfdenying life in a
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vision of dazzling glory. He went on in an impassioned murmur
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