various causes. He had, as he informed me proudly, managed to nurse Kurtz through two illnesses (he alluded to it as you would to some risky feat), but as a rule Kurtz wandered alone, far in the depths of the forest. 'Very often coming to this station, I had to wait days and days before he would turn up,” he said. 'Ah, it was worth waiting for! — sometimes.” 'What was he doing? exploring or what?” I asked. 'Oh, yes, of course'; he had discovered lots of villages, a lake, too — he did not know exactly in what direction; it was dangerous to inquire too much — but mostly his expeditions had been for ivory.

'But he had no goods to trade with by that time,” I objected. 'There's a good lot of cartridges left even yet,” he answered, looking away. 'To speak plainly, he