"The stillness was oppressive. I went back to my boat, made some coffee
over a spirit-lamp, devoured a few biscuits, and stretched myself aft, to
smoke and gaze at the stars. The earth was a mere shadow, formless and
silent, and empty, till a bullock turned up from somewhere, quite shadowy
too. He came smartly to the very edge of the bank as though he meant to
step on board, stretched his muzzle right over my boat, blew heavily
once, and walked off contemptuously into the darkness from which he had
come. I had not expected a call from a bullock, though a moment's
thought would have shown me that there must be lots of cattle and sheep
on that marsh. Then everything became still as before. I might have
imagined myself arrived on a desert island. In fact, as I reclined
smoking a sense of absolute loneliness grew on me. And just as it had
become intense, very abruptly and without any preliminary sound I heard
firm, quick footsteps on the little wharf. Somebody coming along the
cart-track had just stepped at a swinging gait on to the planks. That
somebody could only have been Mr. Powell. Suddenly he stopped short,
having made out that there were two masts alongside the bank where he had
left only one. Then he came on silent on the grass. When I spoke to him
he was astonished.
"Who would have thought of seeing you here!" he exclaimed, after
returning my good evening.
"I told him I had run in for company. It was rigorously true."
"You knew I was here?" he exclaimed.
"Of course," I said. "I tell you I came in for company."
"He is a really good fellow," went on Marlow. "And his capacity for
astonishment is quickly exhausted, it seems. It was in the most matter-
of-fact manner that he said, 'Come on board of me, then; I have here
enough supper for two.' He was holding a bulky parcel in the crook of
his arm. I did not wait to be asked twice, as you may guess. His cutter
has a very neat little cabin, quite big enough for two men not only to
sleep but to sit and smoke in. We left the scuttle wide open, of course.
As to his provisions for supper, they were not of a luxurious kind. He
complained that the shops in the village were miserable. There was a big
village within a mile and a half. It struck me he had been very long
doing his shopping; but naturally I made no remark. I didn't want to
talk at all except for the purpose of setting him going."