He could not make out who the man might be, but he felt uneasy at the steady advance of the tall figure walking on the path with a heavy tread, and hailed it with a command to stop.

The man stopped at some little distance, and Dain expected him to speak, but all he could hear was his deep breathing.

Through a break in the flying clouds a sudden and fleeting brightness descended upon the clearing.

Before the darkness closed in again, Dain saw a hand holding some glittering object extended towards him, heard Nina's cry of "Father!" and in an instant the girl was between him and Almayer's revolver.

Nina's loud cry woke up the echoes of the sleeping woods, and the three stood still as if waiting for the return of silence before they would give expression to their various feelings.