Do all my quill-driving for me." Hudig consented.

Almayer, with youth's natural craving for change, was nothing loth, and packing his few belongings, started in the _Flash_ on one of those long cruises when the old seaman was wont to visit almost every island in the archipelago.

Months slipped by, and Lingard's friendship seemed to increase.

Often pacing the deck with Almayer, when the faint night breeze, heavy with aromatic exhalations of the islands, shoved the brig gently along under the peaceful and sparkling sky, did the old seaman open his heart to his entranced listener.

He spoke of his past life, of escaped dangers, of big profits in his trade, of new combinations that were in the future to bring profits bigger still.