me of chess by the light of a cargo
lantern. Karain did not appear. Next day we were busy unloading, and
heard that the Rajah was unwell. The expected invitation to visit him
ashore did not come. We sent friendly messages, but, fearing to intrude
upon some secret council, remained on board. Early on the third day we
had landed all the powder and rifles, and also a six-pounder brass gun
with its carriage which we had subscribed together for a present for our
friend. The afternoon was sultry. Ragged edges of black clouds peeped
over the hills, and invisible thunderstorms circled outside, growling
like wild beasts. We got the schooner ready for sea, intending to leave
next morning at daylight. All day a merciless sun blazed down into the
bay, fierce and pale, as if at white heat. Nothing moved on the land.
The beach was empty, the villages seemed deserted; the trees far off
stood in unstirring clumps, as if painted; the white smoke of some
invisible bush-fire spread itself low over the shores of the bay like
a settling fog. Late in the day three of Karain's chief men, dressed in
their best and armed to the teeth, came off in a canoe, bringing a case
of dollars. They were gloomy and languid, and told us they had not seen
their Rajah for five days. No one had seen him! We settled all accounts,
and after shaking hands in turn and in profound silence, they descended
one after another into their boat, and were paddled to the shore,
sitting close together, clad in vivid colours, with hanging heads: the
gold embroideries of their jackets flashed dazzlingly as they went
away gliding on the smooth water, and not one of them looked back once.
Before sunset the growling clouds carried with a rush the ridge of
hills, and came tumbling down the inner slopes. Everything disappeared;
black whirling vapours filled the bay, and in the midst of them the
schooner swung here and there in the shifting gusts of wind. A single
clap of thunder detonated in the hollow with a violence that seemed
capable of bursting into small pieces the ring of high land, and a warm
deluge descended. The wind died out. We panted in the close cabin; our
faces streamed; the bay outside hissed as if boiling; the water fell in
perpendicular shafts as heavy as lead; it swished about the deck, poured
off the spars, gurgled, sobbed, splashed, murmured in the blind night.
Our lamp burned low. Hollis, stripped to the waist, lay stretched out on
the lockers, with closed eyes