lligently enough, but when the pony's
hoofs touched the wharf he gave way all at once to a most foolish
optimism. Without pausing, without thinking, almost without looking, he
disengaged the hook suddenly from the sling, and the cargo-chain, after
hitting the pony's quarters, swung back against the ship's side with
a noisy, rattling slap. I suppose I must have blinked. I know I missed
something, because the next thing I saw was Almayer lying flat on his
back on the jetty. He was alone.

Astonishment deprived me of speech long enough to give Almayer time to
pick himself up in a leisurely and painful manner. The kalashes lining
the rail had all their mouths open. The mist flew in the light breeze,
and it had come over quite thick enough to hide the shore completely.

"How on earth did you manage to let him get away?" I asked scandalised.

Almayer looked into the smarting palm of his right hand, but did not
answer my inquiry.

"Where do you think he will get to?" I cried. "Are there any fences
anywhere in this fog? Can he bolt into the forest? What's to be done
now?"

Almayer shrugged his shoulders.

"Some of my men are sure to be about. They will get hold of him sooner
or later."

"Sooner or later! That's all very fine, but what about my canvas
sling--he's carried it off. I want it now, at once, to land two Celebes
cows."

Since Dongola we had on board a pair of the pretty little island cattle
in addition to the pony. Tied up on the other side of the fore deck they
had been whisking their tails into the other door of the galley. These
cows were not for Almayer, however; they were invoiced to Abdullah bin
Selim, his enemy. Almayer's disregard of my requisites was complete.

"If I were you I would try to find out where he's gone," I insisted.
"Hadn't you better call your men together or something? He will throw
himself down and cut his knees. He may even break a leg, you know."

But Almayer, plunged in abstracted thought, did not seem to want that
pony any more. Amazed at this sudden indifference I turned all hands out
on shore to hunt for him on my own account, or, at any rate, to hunt
for the canvas sling which he had round his body. The whole crew of
the steamer, with the exception of firemen and engineers, rushed up the
jetty past the thoughtful Almayer and vanished from my sight. The white
fog swallowed them up; and again there was a deep silence that seemed to
extend for miles up and down the stream. Still