Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Chapter 2 Page 27

this intruder,” exclaimed the manager, looking back malevolently at the place we had left. 'He must be English,” I said. 'It will not save him from getting into trouble if he is not careful,” muttered the manager darkly. I observed with assumed innocence that no man was safe from trouble in this world.

“The current was more rapid now, the steamer seemed at her last gasp, the stern-wheel flopped languidly, and I caught myself listening on tiptoe for the next beat of the boat, for in sober truth I expected the wretched thing to give up every moment.

It was like watching the last flickers of a life. But still we crawled. Sometimes I would pick out a tree a little way ahead to measure our progress towards Kurtz by, but I lost it invariably before we got abreast.