The Escape by W. Somerset Maugham. Short summary

5 seconds

The narrator arrives on the island of Borneo and temporarily lodges at the residence of the district manager. Before going to bed, the host tells the guest a gruesome story about a Dutchman who has been living there, and the guest’s sleep is lost.

1 minute

The author watches from the lower deck of the ship as his belongings are loaded into the boat. He descends the gangway and takes an empty seat. The boat was to sail three miles to shore. The narrator was on his way to a village. He intended to stop at the county manager’s residence. He even had a letter of introduction to the owner of the house in his pocket.

The boat sailed ashore, and the author emerged at the northern tip of the island of Borneo. He was to remain on the island until another vessel arrived to take him to port.

The owner of the hut turned out to be very hospitable. They talked and drank a lot. After dinner the narrator said he was very tired and wanted to go to bed, but the master obviously wanted to chat and decided to look into his room to make sure everything was all right there.

When they entered the room the steward told him that a Dutchman had stayed here before. After the author had listened to the long, gruesome story, he did not want to sleep in that room.