Then a mighty chatter of compliments broke forth, and Storri swelled with the savage glory of his achievement.
Richard, the somber, who did not like noise, shrugged his shoulders.
Storri, by the fireplace, caught the shrug and found it offensive.

He made towards Richard, and offered the right hand, his white teeth gleaming in a sinister way through the fastnesses of his beard.
"Will you try grips with me ?" cried Storri loudly.

"Will you shake hands Russian fashion ?" "No," retorted Richard, all ice and unconcern.

"I will not shake your hand Russian fashion." Storri broke into an evil grin that made him look like a black panther.
"Some day you must put your fingers into that trap," said he, opening and closing his broad hand.
Richard making no return, Storri and the others went back to their decanters.
Richard might have said, and would have believed, that he did not like Storri because of a Siberian rudeness and want of breeding.

It is to be thought, however, that his antipathy arose rather from having heard the day before Storri's name coupled with that of Dorothy Harley.