Brown and Jim face off on opposites sides of a creek. When Jim asks why Brown and his men have come there, Brown answers they are hungry, then throws the same question back at Jim. He is scornful of Jim’s seeming responsibility in this environment and asks what Jim gets for being there. Jim asks what Brown has done to end up here, but Brown again turns the question on Jim and asks if they have met to tell the stories of their lives. If so, he asks that Jim begin. When Brown relates all this to Marlow, he revels in how he presumably got under Jim’s skin.

Marlow describes Brown as a man with a gift for finding the weakest spots in his victims. As such, he portrays himself to Jim as a man simply caught by circumstances. He makes Jim wince when he asks if, in saving oneself in the dark, one really cares how many others go down. Jim takes pity on Brown and offers to let him go free if he will lay down his arms and promise to leave the coast. Brown is unwilling to give up his arms, so Jim tells him Brown will either have a clear road or a clear fight.