g back, wondering, and, as the time passed, growing uneasy.

"He did not fall into the river?--say, thou blind watcher!" Ali was
growling in a bullying tone, to the other man. "He told me to fetch
Mahmat, and when I came back swiftly I found him not in the house. There
is that Sirani woman there, so that Mahmat cannot steal anything, but it
is in my mind, the night will be half gone before I rest."

He shouted--

"Master! O master! O mast . . ."

"What are you making that noise for?" said Almayer, with severity,
stepping out close to them.

The two Malays leaped away from each other in their surprise.

"You may go. I don't want you any more tonight, Ali," went on Almayer.
"Is Mahmat there?"

"Unless the ill-behaved savage got tired of waiting. Those men know
not politeness. They should not be spoken to by white men," said Ali,
resentfully.

Almayer went towards the house, leaving his servants to wonder where he
had sprung from so unexpectedly. The watchman hinted obscurely at powers
of invisibility possessed by the master, who often at night . . . Ali
interrupted him with great scorn. Not every white man has the power.
Now, the Rajah Laut could make himself invisible. Also, he could be
in two places at once, as everybody knew; except he--the useless
watchman--who knew no more about white men than a wild pig! Ya-wa!

And Ali strolled towards his hut, yawning loudly.

As Almayer ascended the steps he heard the noise of a door flung to,
and when he entered the verandah he saw only Mahmat there, close to the
doorway of the passage. Mahmat seemed to be caught in the very act of
slinking away, and Almayer noticed that with satisfaction. Seeing the
white man, the Malay gave up his attempt and leaned against the wall. He
was a short, thick, broad-shouldered man with very dark skin and a wide,
stained, bright-red mouth that uncovered, when he spoke, a close row
of black and glistening teeth. His eyes were big, prominent, dreamy and
restless. He said sulkily, looking all over the place from under his
eyebrows--

"White Tuan, you are great and strong--and I a poor man. Tell me what is
your will, and let me go in the name of God. It is late."

Almayer examined the man thoughtfully. How could he find out whether
. . . He had it! Lately he had employed that man and his two brothers as
extra boatmen to carry stores, provisions, and new axes to a camp of
rattan cutters some distance up the river. A three days' expedition.