, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of
their surroundings. The courage, the composure, the confidence; the
emotions and principles; every great and every insignificant thought
belongs not to the individual but to the crowd: to the crowd that
believes blindly in the irresistible force of its institutions and
of its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion. But
the contact with pure unmitigated savagery, with primitive nature and
primitive man, brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart. To the
sentiment of being alone of one's kind, to the clear perception of the
loneliness of one's thoughts, of one's sensations--to the negation
of the habitual, which is safe, there is added the affirmation of
the unusual, which is dangerous; a suggestion of things vague,
uncontrollable, and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion excites the
imagination and tries the civilized nerves of the foolish and the wise
alike.

Kayerts and Carlier walked arm in arm, drawing close to one another
as children do in the dark; and they had the same, not altogether
unpleasant, sense of danger which one half suspects to be imaginary.
They chatted persistently in familiar tones. "Our station is prettily
situated," said one. The other assented with enthusiasm, enlarging
volubly on the beauties of the situation. Then they passed near the
grave. "Poor devil!" said Kayerts. "He died of fever, didn't he?"
muttered Carlier, stopping short. "Why," retorted Kayerts, with
indignation, "I've been told that the fellow exposed himself recklessly
to the sun. The climate here, everybody says, is not at all worse than
at home, as long as you keep out of the sun. Do you hear that, Carlier?
I am chief here, and my orders are that you should not expose yourself
to the sun!" He assumed his superiority jocularly, but his meaning
was serious. The idea that he would, perhaps, have to bury Carlier and
remain alone, gave him an inward shiver. He felt suddenly that this
Carlier was more precious to him here, in the centre of Africa, than a
brother could be anywhere else. Carlier, entering into the spirit of the
thing, made a military salute and answered in a brisk tone, "Your
orders shall be attended to, chief!" Then he burst out laughing, slapped
Kayerts on the back and shouted, "We shall let life run easily here!
Just sit still and gather in the ivory those savages will bring. This
country has its good points, after all!" They both laug