of a flash of lightning, and in the
next moment it was revealed to him that the woman was real; that she was
coming towards him; that she was his wife! He put his feet down to the
ground quickly, but made no other movement. His eyes opened wide. He was
so amazed that for a time he absolutely forgot his own existence. The
only idea in his head was: Why on earth did she come here?

Joanna was coming up the courtyard with eager, hurried steps. She
carried in her arms the child, wrapped up in one of Almayer's white
blankets that she had snatched off the bed at the last moment, before
leaving the house. She seemed to be dazed by the sun in her eyes;
bewildered by her strange surroundings. She moved on, looking quickly
right and left in impatient expectation of seeing her husband at any
moment. Then, approaching the tree, she perceived suddenly a kind of a
dried-up, yellow corpse, sitting very stiff on a bench in the shade and
looking at her with big eyes that were alive. That was her husband.

She stopped dead short. They stared at one another in profound
stillness, with astounded eyes, with eyes maddened by the memories
of things far off that seemed lost in the lapse of time. Their looks
crossed, passed each other, and appeared to dart at them through
fantastic distances, to come straight from the incredible.

Looking at him steadily she came nearer, and deposited the blanket with
the child in it on the bench. Little Louis, after howling with terror in
the darkness of the river most of the night, now slept soundly and did
not wake. Willems' eyes followed his wife, his head turning slowly after
her. He accepted her presence there with a tired acquiescence in its
fabulous improbability. Anything might happen. What did she come for?
She was part of the general scheme of his misfortune. He half expected
that she would rush at him, pull his hair, and scratch his face. Why
not? Anything might happen! In an exaggerated sense of his great bodily
weakness he felt somewhat apprehensive of possible assault. At any rate,
she would scream at him. He knew her of old. She could screech. He had
thought that he was rid of her for ever. She came now probably to see
the end. . . .

Suddenly she turned, and embracing him slid gently to the ground.

This startled him. With her forehead on his knees she sobbed
noiselessly. He looked down dismally at the top of her head. What was
she up to? He had not the strength to move--to get away. He hea