Complete Works of Joseph Conrad (Illustrated) (804 page)

“Davidson submitted.  The only one of the men to move was Bamtz, who made as if to get up but dropped back in his chair again.  Davidson in passing heard him mutter confusedly something that sounded like ‘poor little beggar.’

“The child, lying very flushed in a miserable cot knocked up out of gin-cases, stared at Davidson with wide, drowsy eyes.  It was a bad bout of fever clearly.  But while Davidson was promising to go on board and fetch some medicines, and generally trying to say reassuring things, he could not help being struck by the extraordinary manner of the woman standing by his side.  Gazing with despairing expression down at the cot, she would suddenly throw a quick, startled glance at Davidson and then towards the other room.

“‘Yes, my poor girl,’ he whispered, interpreting her distraction in his own way, though he had nothing precise in his mind.  ‘I’m afraid this bodes no good to you.  How is it they are here?’

“She seized his forearm and breathed out forcibly: ‘No good to me!  Oh, no!  But what about you!  They are after the dollars you have on board.’

“Davidson let out an astonished ‘How do they know there are any dollars?’

“She clapped her hands lightly, in distress.  ‘So it’s true!  You have them on board?  Then look out for yourself.’

“They stood gazing down at the boy in the cot, aware that they might be observed from the other room.

“‘We must get him to perspire as soon as possible,’ said Davidson in his ordinary voice.  ‘You’ll have to give him hot drink of some kind.  I will go on board and bring you a spirit-kettle amongst other things.’  And he added under his breath: ‘Do they actually mean murder?’

“She made no sign, she had returned to her desolate contemplation of the boy.  Davidson thought she had not heard him even, when with an unchanged expression she spoke under her breath.

“‘The Frenchman would, in a minute.  The others shirk it — unless you resist.  He’s a devil.  He keeps them going.  Without him they would have done nothing but talk.  I’ve got chummy with him. What can you do when you are with a man like the fellow I am with now.  Bamtz is terrified of them, and they know it.  He’s in it from funk.  Oh, Davy! take your ship away — quick!’

“‘Too late,’ said Davidson.  ‘She’s on the mud already.’

“If the kid hadn’t been in this state I would have run off with him — to you — into the woods — anywhere.  Oh, Davy! will he die?’ she cried aloud suddenly.

“Davidson met three men in the doorway.  They made way for him without actually daring to face his glance.  But Bamtz was the only one who looked down with an air of guilt.  The big Frenchman had remained lolling in his chair; he kept his stumps in his pockets and addressed Davidson.

“‘Isn’t it unfortunate about that child!  The distress of that woman there upsets me, but I am of no use in the world.  I couldn’t smooth the sick pillow of my dearest friend.  I have no hands.  Would you mind sticking one of those cigarettes there into the mouth of a poor, harmless cripple?  My nerves want soothing — upon my honour, they do.’

“Davidson complied with his naturally kind smile.  As his outward placidity becomes only more pronounced, if possible, the more reason there is for excitement; and as Davidson’s eyes, when his wits are hard at work, get very still and as if sleepy, the huge Frenchman might have been justified in concluding that the man there was a mere sheep — a sheep ready for slaughter.  With a ‘merci bien’ he uplifted his huge carcase to reach the light of the candle with his cigarette, and Davidson left the house.

“Going down to the ship and returning, he had time to consider his position.  At first he was inclined to believe that these men (Niclaus — the white Nakhoda — was the only one he knew by sight before, besides Bamtz) were not of the stamp to proceed to extremities.  This was partly the reason why he never attempted to take any measures on board.  His pacific Kalashes were not to be thought of as against white men.  His wretched engineer would have had a fit from fright at the mere idea of any sort of combat.  Davidson knew that he would have to depend on himself in this affair if it ever came off.

“Davidson underestimated naturally the driving power of the Frenchman’s character and the force of the actuating motive.  To that man so hopelessly crippled these dollars were an enormous opportunity.  With his share of the robbery he would open another shop in Vladivostok, Haïphong, Manila — somewhere far away.

“Neither did it occur to Davidson, who is a man of courage, if ever there was one, that his psychology was not known to the world at large, and that to this particular lot of ruffians, who judged him by his appearance, he appeared an unsuspicious, inoffensive, soft creature, as he passed again through the room, his hands full of various objects and parcels destined for the sick boy.

“All the four were sitting again round the table.  Bamtz not having the pluck to open his mouth, it was Niclaus who, as a collective voice, called out to him thickly to come out soon and join in a drink.

“‘I think I’ll have to stay some little time in there, to help her look after the boy,’ Davidson answered without stopping.

“This was a good thing to say to allay a possible suspicion.  And, as it was, Davidson felt he must not stay very long.

“He sat down on an old empty nail-keg near the improvised cot and looked at the child; while Laughing Anne, moving to and fro, preparing the hot drink, giving it to the boy in spoonfuls, or stopping to gaze motionless at the flushed face, whispered disjointed bits of information.  She had succeeded in making friends with that French devil.  Davy would understand that she knew how to make herself pleasant to a man.

“And Davidson nodded without looking at her.

“The big beast had got to be quite confidential with her.  She held his cards for him when they were having a game.  Bamtz!  Oh!  Bamtz in his funk was only too glad to see the Frenchman humoured.  And the Frenchman had come to believe that she was a woman who didn’t care what she did.  That’s how it came about they got to talk before her openly.  For a long time she could not make out what game they were up to.  The new arrivals, not expecting to find a woman with Bamtz, had been very startled and annoyed at first, she explained.

“She busied herself in attending to the boy; and nobody looking into that room would have seen anything suspicious in those two people exchanging murmurs by the sick-bedside.

“‘But now they think I am a better man than Bamtz ever was,’ she said with a faint laugh.

“The child moaned.  She went down on her knees, and, bending low, contemplated him mournfully.  Then raising her head, she asked Davidson whether he thought the child would get better.  Davidson was sure of it.  She murmured sadly: ‘Poor kid.  There’s nothing in life for such as he.  Not a dog’s chance.  But I couldn’t let him go, Davy!  I couldn’t.’

“Davidson felt a profound pity for the child.  She laid her hand on his knee and whispered an earnest warning against the Frenchman.  Davy must never let him come to close quarters.  Naturally Davidson wanted to know the reason, for a man without hands did not strike him as very formidable under any circumstances.

“‘Mind you don’t let him — that’s all,’ she insisted anxiously, hesitated, and then confessed that the Frenchman had got her away from the others that afternoon and had ordered her to tie a seven-pound iron weight (out of the set of weights Bamtz used in business) to his right stump.  She had to do it for him.  She had been afraid of his savage temper.  Bamtz was such a craven, and neither of the other men would have cared what happened to her.  The Frenchman, however, with many awful threats had warned her not to let the others know what she had done for him.  Afterwards he had been trying to cajole her.  He had promised her that if she stood by him faithfully in this business he would take her with him to Haïphong or some other place.  A poor cripple needed somebody to take care of him — always.

“Davidson asked her again if they really meant mischief.  It was, he told me, the hardest thing to believe he had run up against, as yet, in his life.  Anne nodded.  The Frenchman’s heart was set on this robbery.  Davy might expect them, about midnight, creeping on board his ship, to steal anyhow — to murder, perhaps.  Her voice sounded weary, and her eyes remained fastened on her child.

“And still Davidson could not accept it somehow; his contempt for these men was too great.

“‘Look here, Davy,’ she said.  ‘I’ll go outside with them when they start, and it will be hard luck if I don’t find something to laugh at.  They are used to that from me.  Laugh or cry — what’s the odds.  You will be able to hear me on board on this quiet night.  Dark it is too.  Oh! it’s dark, Davy! — it’s dark!’

“‘Don’t you run any risks,’ said Davidson.  Presently he called her attention to the boy, who, less flushed now, had dropped into a sound sleep.  ‘Look.  He’ll be all right.’

“She made as if to snatch the child up to her breast, but restrained herself.  Davidson prepared to go.  She whispered hurriedly:

“‘Mind, Davy!  I’ve told them that you generally sleep aft in the hammock under the awning over the cabin.  They have been asking me about your ways and about your ship, too.  I told them all I knew.  I had to keep in with them.  And Bamtz would have told them if I hadn’t — you understand?’

“He made a friendly sign and went out.  The men about the table (except Bamtz) looked at him.  This time it was Fector who spoke.  ‘Won’t you join us in a quiet game, Captain?’

“Davidson said that now the child was better he thought he would go on board and turn in.  Fector was the only one of the four whom he had, so to speak, never seen, for he had had a good look at the Frenchman already.  He observed Fector’s muddy eyes, his mean, bitter mouth.  Davidson’s contempt for those men rose in his gorge, while his placid smile, his gentle tones and general air of innocence put heart into them.  They exchanged meaning glances.

“‘We shall be sitting late over the cards,’ Fector said in his harsh, low voice.

“‘Don’t make more noise than you can help.’

“‘Oh! we are a quiet lot.  And if the invalid shouldn’t be so well, she will be sure to send one of us down to call you, so that you may play the doctor again.  So don’t shoot at sight.’

“‘He isn’t a shooting man,’ struck in Niclaus.

“‘I never shoot before making sure there’s a reason for it — at any rate,’ said Davidson.

“Bamtz let out a sickly snigger.  The Frenchman alone got up to make a bow to Davidson’s careless nod.  His stumps were stuck immovably in his pockets.  Davidson understood now the reason.

“He went down to the ship.  His wits were working actively, and he was thoroughly angry.  He smiled, he says (it must have been the first grim smile of his life), at the thought of the seven-pound weight lashed to the end of the Frenchman’s stump.  The ruffian had taken that precaution in case of a quarrel that might arise over the division of the spoil.  A man with an unsuspected power to deal killing blows could take his own part in a sudden scrimmage round a heap of money, even against adversaries armed with revolvers, especially if he himself started the row.

“‘He’s ready to face any of his friends with that thing.  But he will have no use for it.  There will be no occasion to quarrel about these dollars here,’ thought Davidson, getting on board quietly.  He never paused to look if there was anybody about the decks.  As a matter of fact, most of his crew were on shore, and the rest slept, stowed away in dark corners.

“He had his plan, and he went to work methodically.

“He fetched a lot of clothing from below and disposed it in his hammock in such a way as to distend it to the shape of a human body; then he threw over all the light cotton sheet he used to draw over himself when sleeping on deck.  Having done this, he loaded his two revolvers and clambered into one of the boats the Sissie carried right aft, swung out on their davits.  Then he waited.

“And again the doubt of such a thing happening to him crept into his mind.  He was almost ashamed of this ridiculous vigil in a boat.  He became bored.  And then he became drowsy.  The stillness of the black universe wearied him.  There was not even the lapping of the water to keep him company, for the tide was out and the Sissie was lying on soft mud.  Suddenly in the breathless, soundless, hot night an argus pheasant screamed in the woods across the stream.  Davidson started violently, all his senses on the alert at once.

“The candle was still burning in the house.  Everything was quiet again, but Davidson felt drowsy no longer.  An uneasy premonition of evil oppressed him.

“‘Surely I am not afraid,’ he argued with himself.

“The silence was like a seal on his ears, and his nervous inward impatience grew intolerable.  He commanded himself to keep still.  But all the same he was just going to jump out of the boat when a faint ripple on the immensity of silence, a mere tremor in the air, the ghost of a silvery laugh, reached his ears.

“Illusion!

“He kept very still.  He had no difficulty now in emulating the stillness of the mouse — a grimly determined mouse.  But he could not shake off that premonition of evil unrelated to the mere danger of the situation.  Nothing happened.  It had been an illusion!

“A curiosity came to him to learn how they would go to work.  He wondered and wondered, till the whole thing seemed more absurd than ever.

“He had left the hanging lamp in the cabin burning as usual.  It was part of his plan that everything should be as usual.  Suddenly in the dim glow of the skylight panes a bulky shadow came up the ladder without a sound, made two steps towards the hammock (it hung right over the skylight), and stood motionless.  The Frenchman!

“The minutes began to slip away.  Davidson guessed that the Frenchman’s part (the poor cripple) was to watch his (Davidson’s) slumbers while the others were no doubt in the cabin busy forcing off the lazarette hatch.

“What was the course they meant to pursue once they got hold of the silver (there were ten cases, and each could be carried easily by two men) nobody can tell now.  But so far, Davidson was right.  They were in the cabin.  He expected to hear the sounds of breaking-in every moment.  But the fact was that one of them (perhaps Fector, who had stolen papers out of desks in his time) knew how to pick a lock, and apparently was provided with the tools.  Thus while Davidson expected every moment to hear them begin down there, they had the bar off already and two cases actually up in the cabin out of the lazarette.