What he saw made him suck in his breath sharply and sent his heart hammering hard and fast.
A dozen men were in the room--men whose faces, despite an inartistic attempt to appear Oriental, he recognized at a glance and knew better than he knew his own.

About them lay discarded portions of Cingalese attire, thrown off because of the heat, and waiting to be resumed at any moment.

The air was thick with tobacco smoke and rank with spirituous odours.

Sprawled figures were everywhere, and on a sort of couch against the opposite wall, a cigarette between her fingers, a glass of absinthe at her elbow, her laughter and badinage ringing out as loudly as any, lay the lissom figure of Margot! But even as Cleek looked in upon it the picture changed.

Swift, sharp, and sudden came the rattle of flying feet on the outer stairs.