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 taciturn,
Almayer started to climb on board, and I went down from the bridge to
meet him on the after-deck.
"Would you mind telling the captain that I want to see him very
particularly?" he asked me, in a low tone, letting his eyes stray all
over the place.
"Very well. I will go and see."
With the door of his cabin wide open, Captain C----, just back from
the bath-room, big and broad-chested, was brushing his thick, damp,
iron-gray hair with two large brushes.
"Mr. Almayer told me he wanted to see you very particularly, sir."
Saying these words, I smiled. I don't know why I smiled, except that it
seemed absolutely impossible to mention Almayer's name without a smile
of a sort.
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