Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com
him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think
it had whispered to him things about himself which he did
not know, things of which he had no conception till he
took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had
proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him
because he was hollow at the core.... I put down the glass,
and the head that had appeared near enough to be spoken
to seemed at once to have leaped away from me into inac-
cessible distance.
‘The admirer of Mr. Kurtz was a bit crestfallen. In a hur-
ried, indistinct voice he began to assure me he had not
dared to take these—say, symbols—down. He was not
afraid of the natives; they would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave
the word. His ascendancy was extraordinary. The camps of
these people surrounded the place, and the chiefs came ev-
ery day to see him. They would crawl.... ‘I don’t want to
know anything of the ceremonies used when approaching
Mr. Kurtz,’ I shouted. Curious, this feeling that came over
me that such details would be more intolerable than those
heads drying on the stakes under Mr. Kurtz’s windows. Af-
ter all, that was only a savage sight, while I seemed at one
bound to have been transported into some lightless region
of subtle horrors, where pure, uncomplicated savagery was
a positive relief, being something that had a right to exist—
obviously—in the sunshine. The young man looked at me
with surprise. I suppose it did not occur to him that Mr.
Kurtz was no idol of mine. He forgot I hadn’t heard any of
these splendid monologues on, what was it? on love, justice,
conduct of life—or what not. If it had come to crawling be-