'Meantime Tamb' Itam had reached the end of his journey. The fog had delayed him a little, but he had paddled steadily6, keeping in touch with the south bank. By-and-by daylight came like a glow in a ground glass globe. The shores made on each side of the river a dark smudge, in which one could detect hints of columnar forms and shadows of twisted branches high up. The mist was still thick on the water, but a good watch was being kept, for as Iamb' Itam approached the camp the figures of two men emerged out of the white vapour, and voices spoke to him boisterously7. He answered, and presently a canoe lay alongside, and he exchanged news with the paddlers. All was well. The trouble was over. Then the men in the canoe let go their grip on the side of his dug-out and incontinently fell out of sight. He pursued his way till he heard voices coming to him quietly over the water, and saw, under the now lifting, swirling8 mist, the glow of many little fires burning on a sandy stretch, backed by lofty thin timber and bushes. There again a look-out was kept, for he was challenged. He shouted his name as the two last sweeps of his paddle ran his canoe up on the strand9. It was a big camp. Men crouched10 in many little knots under a subdued11 murmur12 of early morning talk. Many thin threads of smoke curled slowly on the white mist. Little shelters, elevated above the ground, had been built for the chiefs. Muskets13 were stacked in small pyramids, and long spears were stuck singly into the sand near the fires.
'Tamb' Itam, assuming an air of importance, demanded to be led to Dain Waris. He found the friend of his white lord lying on a raised couch made of bamboo, and sheltered by a sort of shed of sticks covered with mats. Dain Waris was awake, and a bright fire was burning before his sleeping-place, which resembled a rude shrine14. The only son of nakhoda Doramin answered his greeting kindly15. Tamb' Itam began by handing him the ring which vouched16 for the truth of the messenger's words. Dain Waris, reclining on his elbow, bade him speak and tell all the news. Beginning with the consecrated17 formula, "The news is good," Tamb' Itam delivered Jim's own words. The white men, deputing with the consent of all the chiefs, were to be allowed to pass down the river. In unswer to a question or two Tamb' Itam then reported the proceedings18 of the last council. Dain Waris listened attentively19 to the end, toying with the ring which ultimately he slipped on the forefinger20 of his right hand. After hearing all he had to say he dismissed Tamb' Itam to have food and rest. Orders for the return in the afternoon were given immediately. Afterwards Dain Waris lay down again, openeyed, while his personal attendants were preparing his food at the fire, by which Tamb' Itam also sat talking to the men who lounged up to hear the latest intelligence from the town. The sun was eating up the mist. A good watch was kept upon the reach of the main stream where the boat of the whites was expected to appear every moment.
'It was then that Brown took his revenge upon the world which, after twenty years of contemptuous and reckless bullying21, refused him the tribute of a common robber's success. It was an act of cold-blooded ferocity, and it consoled him on his deathbed like a memory of an indomitable defiance22. Stealthily he landed his men on the other side of the island opposite to the Bugis camp, and led them across. After a short but quite silent scuffle, Cornelius, who had tried to slink away at the moment of landing, resigned himself to show the way where the undergrowth was most sparse23. Brown held both his skinny hands together behind his back in the grip of one vast fist, and now and then impelled24 him forward with a fierce push. Cornelius remained as mute as a fish, abject25 but faithful to his purpose, whose accomplishment26 loomed27 before him dimly. At the edge of the patch of forest Brown's men spread themselves out in cover and waited. The camp was plain from end to end before their eyes, and no one looked their way. Nobody even dreamed that the white men could have any knowledge of the narrow channel at the back of the island. When he judged the moment come, Brown yelled, "Let them have it," and fourteen shots rang out like one.
'Tamb' Itam told me the surprise was so great that, except for those who fell dead or wounded, not a soul of them moved for quite an appreciable28 time after the first discharge. Then a man screamed, and after that scream a great yell of amazement29 and fear went up from all the throats. A blind panic drove these men in a surging swaying mob to and fro along the shore like a herd30 of cattle afraid of the water. Some few jumped into the river then, but most of them did so only after the last discharge. Three times Brown's men fired into the ruck, Brown, the only one in view, cursing and yelling, "Aim low! aim low!"
'Tamb' Itam says that, as for him, he understood at the first volley what had happened. Though untouched he fell down and lay as if dead, but with his eyes open. At the sound of the first shots Dain Waris, reclining on the couch, jumped up and ran out upon the open shore, just in time to receive a bullet in his forehead at the second discharge. Tamb' Itam saw him fling his arms wide open before he fell. Then, he says, a great fear came upon him -- not before. The white men retired31 as they had come -- unseen.
'Thus Brown balanced his account with the evil fortune. Notice that even in this awful outbreak there is a superiority as of a man who carries right -- the abstract thing -- within the envelope of his common desires. It was not a vulgar and treacherous32 massacre33; it was a lesson, a retribution -- a demonstration34 of some obscure and awful attribute of our nature which, I am afraid, is not so very far under the surface as we like to think.
'Afterwards the whites depart unseen by Tamb' Itam, and seem to vanish from before men's eyes altogether; and the schooner35, too, vanishes after the manner of stolen goods. But a story is told of a white long-boat picked up a month later in the Indian Ocean by a cargo36 steamer. Two parched37, yellow, glassy-eyed, whispering skeletons in her recognised the authority of a third, who declared that his name was Brown. His schooner, he reported, bound south with a cargo of Java sugar, had sprung a bad leak and sank under his feet. He and his companions were the survivors38 of a crew of six. The two died on board the steamer which rescued them. Brown lived to be seen by me, and I can testify that he had played his part to the last.
'It seems, however, that in going away they had neglected to cast off Cornelius's canoe. Cornelius himself Brown had let go at the beginning of the shooting, with a kick for a parting benediction39. Tamb' Itam, after arising from amongst the dead, saw the Nazarene running up and down the shore amongst the corpses40 and the expiring fires. He uttered little cries. Suddenly he rushed to the water, and made frantic41 efforts to get one of the Bugis boats into the water. "Afterwards, till he had seen me," related Tamb' Itam, "he stood looking at the heavy canoe and scratching his head." "What became of him?" I asked. Tamb' Itam, staring hard at me, made an expressive42 gesture with his right arm. "Twice I struck, Tuan," he said. "When he beheld43 me approaching he cast himself violently on the ground and made a great outcry, kicking. He screeched44 like a frightened hen till he felt the point; then he was still, und lay staring at me while his life went out of his eyes."
'This done, Tamb' Itam did not tarry. He understood the importance of being the first with the awful news at the fort. There were, of course, many survivors of Dain Waris's party; but in the extremity45 of panic some had swum across the river, others had bolted into the bush. The fact is that they did not know really who struck that blow -- whether more white robbers were not coming, whether they had not already got hold of the whole land. They imagined themselves to be the victims of a vast treachery, and utterly46 doomed47 to destruction. It is said that some small parties did not come in till three days afterwards. However, a few tried to make their way back to Patusan at once, and one of the canoes that were patrolling the river that morning was in sight of the camp at the very moment of the attack. It is true that at first the men in her leaped overboard and swam to the opposite bank, but afterwards they returned to their boat and started fearfully up-stream. Of these Tamb' Itam had an hour's advance.'
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1
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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2
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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4
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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5
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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6
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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7
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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8
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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9
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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10
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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12
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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13
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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14
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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15
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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16
vouched
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| v.保证( vouch的过去式和过去分词 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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17
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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18
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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20
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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22
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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23
sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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24
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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27
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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28
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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30
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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31
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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32
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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33
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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34
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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35
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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36
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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37
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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38
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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39
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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40
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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41
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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42
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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43
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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44
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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45
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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46
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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47
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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