d of it showed how much darker the room had been
growing. It increased, too, the curious effect of his eyes. They looked
like two empty holes in a mask.

"Eh, too bad!" sighed the visitor at last. "You disappoint me. Do you
know? You are, of course, much younger than I; but you made me hope that
you were perhaps--how shall I put it?--a spirit of the first class. I
hoped that without padding, without rancor, like true philosophers, we
might exchange our points of view. However--Since it suits you to stand
on your dignity, I must say that I am very distinctly attending to my
business. And I am obliged to add that it does not help my business, Mr.
Matthews, to have you sitting so mysteriously in Dizful--and refusing to
call on me, but occasionally calling on nomad chiefs. I confess that you
don't look to me like a spy. Spies are generally older men than you,
more cooked, as Gaston would say, more fluent in languages. It does not
seem to me, either, that even an English spy would go about his affairs
quite as you have done. Still, I regret to have to repeat that I dislike
your idea of a lark. And not only because you upset nomad chiefs. You
upset other people as well. You might even end up by upsetting
yourself."

"Who the devil are you?" demanded Matthews, hotly. "The Emperor of
Elam?"

"Ha! I see you are acquainted with the excellent Adolf Ganz!" laughed
Magin. "No," he went on in another tone. "His viceroy, perhaps. But as I
was saying, it does not suit me to have you stopping here. I can see,
however, that you have reason to be surprised, possibly annoyed, at my
telling you so. I am willing to be reasonable about it. How much do you
want--for the expenses of your going away?"

Matthews could hardly believe his ears. He got up in turn.

"What in hell do you mean by that?"

"I am sorry, Mr. Matthews," answered the other, slowly, "that my
knowledge of your language does not permit me to make myself clear to
you. Perhaps you will understand me better if I quote from yourself. I
got here first. Did you ever put your foot into this country until two
weeks ago? Did your countrymen ever trouble themselves about it, even
after Layard showed them the way? No! They expressly left it outside of
their famous 'sphere,' in that famous neutral zone. And all these
centuries it has been lying here in the sun, asleep, forgotten,
deserted, lost, given over to nomads and to lions--until I came. I am
the first European since Alexander