He who had looked like a lion when we first encountered him seemed now to be a meek and rather weak old man--much weaker in fact than could be accounted for by the red ring that my noose had made on his neck.
"Is King at liberty ?" I demanded.
"And what do you call liberty ?" he asked me blandly, as if he were really curious to know my opinion on that subject.
"Can he come and go without molestation ?" "If he cares to run that risk, and is not caught.

Try not to become impatient with me! Anger is impotence! Explanations that do not explain are part and parcel of all religions and most sciences; therefore why lose your temper?
Your friend is free to come and go, but must take his chance of being caught.

He pursues investigations." "Where ?" "Where else than in this palace?
Listen!" Among all the phenomena of nature there is none more difficult to explain than sound.

Hitherto in that teak-lined room we had seemed shut off from the rest of the world completely, for the door and walls were so thick and the floor so solid that sound-waves seemed unable to penetrate.

Yet now a noise rather like sandpaper being chafed together began to assert itself so distinctly as to seem almost to have its origin in the room.