The south breeze brought no other sound, the palace stretched on either side of him dark and still, a sweet heavy fragrance from a frangipanni-tree in the garden floated up, and that was all.

Sunni looked across the river, and saw that a group of palms on the other side was beginning to stand distinctly against the sky.

Then he remembered that he must make haste.
The first thing he did was to unwind his long turban from his neck, and cut it in two.

Two-thirds he twisted round his waist, the other he made fast to one of the little red stone pillars of the balcony.

It hung straight and black down into the shadows of the pipal-tree.