Anything
approaching the change that came over his features I have never
seen before, and
hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It
was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression
of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror -- of an intense
and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of
desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete
knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision -- he
cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: "The horror!
The horror!"
I blew the candle out and left the cabin. The pil- grims were dining
in the mess-room, and I took my place opposite the manager, who lifted
his eyes to give me a questioning glance, which I successfully ignored.
He leaned back, serene, with that peculiar smile of his sealing the
unexpressed depths of his meanness. A continuous shower of small flies
streamed upon the lamp, upon the cloth, upon our hands and faces. Suddenly
the managers boy put his insolent black head in the doorway, and said
in a tone of scathing contempt:
" Mistah Kurtz -- he dead."
