As he went in she crossed her arms on her breast, bowed her head with its golden-colored silk turban, and vanished noiselessly.

She only spoke Hindustani, and always greeted Wilhelm in this expressive manner.
The drawing-room, in which Wilhelm walked restlessly up and down, was full of Indian things; oriental carpets on the floor, low divans along the walls covered with gold embroidery and heaped with cushions, rocking-chairs in the corners, punkahs hanging from the ceilings--no heavy European furniture anywhere, but here and there a little toy-like table or stool made of sandalwood or ebony, inlaid with silver or mother-o'-pearl.

Everything smelled strangely of sandalwood and camphor and unknown spices, everything seemed to spring and shake under a heavy European foot, everything had such an unaccustomed look, that one felt as if one were in a foreign land, where Western prejudices and standpoints were unknown and inadmissible.

These surroundings spoke to Wilhelm dumbly yet intelligibly, and he felt their persuasive power almost immediately.

He had recovered his equanimity when, a quarter of an hour later, Schrotter came in.
"What a pleasant surprise!" he cried from the doorway.