下载辰思小说免费APP
Iasked。“Well，Icouldn’tfightthewholepopulation，andIwasn’tcomingtothemasifIwereafraidofmylife，“hesaid，withjustafainthintofhisstubbornsulkinessintheglancehegaveme。Irefrainedfrompointingouttohimthattheycouldnothaveknownthechamberswereactuallyempty。
Hehadtosatisfyhimselfinhisownway……“Anyhowitwasn’t，“herepeated，good-humouredly，“andsoIjuststoodstillandaskedthemwhatwasthematter。Thatseemedtostrikethemdumb。Isawsomeofthesethievesgoingoffwithmybox。Thatlong-leggedoldscoundrelKassim(I’llshowhimtoyouto-morrow)ranoutfussingtomeabouttheRajahwantingtoseeme。Isaid，`Allright’；I，too，wantedtoseetheRajah，andIsimplywalkedinthroughthegateand——and——hereIam。“Helaughed，andthenwithunexpectedemphasis，“Anddoyouknowwhat’sthebestinit？“heasked。
“I’lltellyou。It’stheknowledgethathadIbeenwipedoutitisthisplacethatwouldhavebeentheloser。“
`HespokethustomebeforehishouseonthateveningI’vementioned——afterwehadwatchedthemoonfloatawayabovethechasmbetweenthehillslikeanascendingspiritoutofagrave；itssheendescended，coldandpale，liketheghostofdeadsunlight。Thereissomethinghauntinginthelightofthemoon；ithasallthedispassionatenessofadisembodiedsoul，andsomethingofitsinconceivablemystery。Itistooursunshine，which——saywhatyoulike——isallwehavetoliveby，whattheechoistothesound：
misleadingandconfusingwhetherthenotebemockingorsad。Itrobsallformsofmatter——which，afterall，isourdomain——oftheirsubstance，andgivesasinisterrealitytoshadowsalone。Andtheshadowswereveryrealaroundus，butJimbymysidelookedverystalwart，asthoughnothing——noteventheoccultpowerofmoonlight——couldrobhimofhisrealityinmyeyes。Perhaps，indeed，nothingcouldtouchhimsincehehadsurvivedtheassaultofthedarkpowers。Allwassilent，allwasstill；evenontheriverthemoonbeamssleptasonapool。Itwasthemomentofhighwater，amomentofimmobilitythataccentuatedtheutterisolationofthislostcorneroftheearth。Thehousescrowdingalongthewideshiningsweepwithoutrippleorglitter，steppingintothewaterinalineofjostling，vague，grey，silveryformsmingledwithblackmassesofshadow，werelikeaspectralherdofshapelesscreaturespressingforwardtodrinkinaspectralandlifelessstream。Hereandtherearedgleamtwinkledwithinthebamboowalls，warm，likealivingspark，significantofhumanaffections，ofshelter，ofrepose。
`Heconfessedtomethatheoftenwatchedthesetinywarmgleamsgooutonebyone，thathelovedtoseepeoplegotosleepunderhiseyes，confidentinthesecurityofto-morrow。“Peacefulhere，eh？“heasked。
Hewasnoteloquent，buttherewasadeepmeaninginthewordsthatfollowed。
“Lookatthesehouses；there’snotonewhereIamnottrusted。Jove!I
toldyouIwouldhangon。Askanyman，woman，orchild……“Hepaused。
“Well，Iamallrightanyhow。“
`Iobservedquicklythathehadfoundthatoutintheend。Ihadbeensureofit，Iadded。Heshookhishead。“Wereyou？“Hepressedmyarmlightlyabovetheelbow。“Well，then——youwereright。“
`Therewaselationandpride，therewasawealmost，inthatlowexclamation。
“Jove!“hecried，“onlythinkwhatitistome。’Againhepressedmyarm。
“AndyouaskedmewhetherIthoughtofleaving。GoodGod!I!Wanttoleave!
EspeciallynowafterwhatyoutoldmeofMr。Stein’s……Leave!Why!
That’swhatIwasafraidof。Itwouldhavebeen——itwouldhavebeenharderthandying。No——onmyword。Don’tlaugh。Imustfeel——everyday，everytimeIopenmyeyes——thatIamtrusted——thatnobodyhasaright——don’tyouknow？Leave!Forwhere？Whatfor？Togetwhat？’
`Ihadtoldhim(indeeditwasthemainobjectofmyvisit)thatitwasStein’sintentiontopresenthimatoncewiththehouseandthestockoftradinggoods，oncertaineasyconditionswhichwouldmakethetransactionperfectlyregularandvalid。Hebegantosnortandplungeatfirst。“Confoundyourdelicacy!“Ishouted。“Itisn’tSteinatall。It’sgivingyouwhatyouhadmadeforyourself。AndinanycasekeepyourremarksforM’Neil——whenyoumeethimintheotherworld。Ihopeitwon’thappensoon……“Hehadtogiveintomyarguments，becauseallhisconquests，thetrust，thefame，thefriendships，thelove——allthesethingsthatmadehimmasterhadmadehimacaptive，too。Helookedwithanowner’seyeat
