The deaf and dumb man had received his instructions by means of a couple of quick signs, and not a whisper had betrayed the measures taken.

Kafka struggled desperately, for he was within three feet of the door and still believed an escape possible.

He tried to strike behind him with his sharp blade of which a single touch would have severed muscle and sinew like silk threads, but the bear-like embrace seemed to confine his whole body, his arms and even his wrists.

Then he felt himself turned round and the Individual pushed him towards the middle of the hall.

The Wanderer was advancing quickly, and Keyork Arabian, who had again fallen behind, peered at Kafka from behind his tall companion with a grotesque expression in which bodily fear and a desire to laugh at the captive were strongly intermingled.
"It is of no use to resist," said the Wanderer quietly.