I felt no more inclined than he did for the din and racket and lights of the public dining-room.

So I followed his example and had something in my own apartment.

Then I settled myself to a hookah, resolved not to take advantage of Isaacs' invitation until near the time when he expected Ram Lal.

I felt the need of an hour's solitude to collect my thoughts and to think over the events of the last twenty-four hours.

I recognised that I was fast becoming very intimate with Isaacs, and I wanted to think about him and excogitate the problem of his life; but when I tried to revolve the situation logically, and deliver to myself a verdict, I found myself carried off at a tangent by the wonderful pictures that passed before my eyes.