for an
ornate inlaid table upon which stood the tray and incense-burner, and
a long, low-cushioned seat placed immediately beneath a hanging lamp
burning dimly in a globular green shade, it was devoid of decoration.
The walls were draped with green curtains, so that except for the
presence of the painted door, the four sides of the apartment appeared
to be uniform.

Having conducted Mrs. Irvin to the seat, the Egyptian bowed and retired
again through the doorway by which they had entered. The visitor found
herself alone.

She moved nervously, staring across at the blank wall before her. With
her little satin shoe she tapped the carpet, biting her under lip and
seeming to be listening. Nothing stirred. Not even an echo of busy Bond
Street penetrated to the place. Mrs. Irvin unfastened her cloak and
allowed it to fall back upon the settee. Her bare shoulders looked waxen
and unnatural in the weird light which shone down upon them. She was
breathing rapidly.

The minutes passed by in unbroken silence. So still was the room that
Mrs. Irvin could hear the faint crackling sound made by the burning
charcoal in the brass vessel near her. Wisps of blue-grey smoke arose
through the perforated lid and she began to watch them fascinatedly,
so lithe they seemed, like wraiths of serpents creeping up the green
draperies.

So she was seated, her foot still restlessly tapping, but her gaze
arrested by the hypnotic movements of the smoke, when at last a sound
from the outer world, penetrated to the room. A church clock struck the
hour of seven, its clangor intruding upon the silence only as a muffled
boom. Almost coincident with the last stroke came the sweeter note of a
silver gong from somewhere close at hand.

Mrs. Irvin started, and her eyes turned instantly in the direction
of the greenly draped wall before her. Her pupils had grown suddenly
dilated, and she clenched her hands tightly.

The light above her head went out.

Now that the moment was come to which she had looked forward with
mingled hope and terror, long pent-up emotion threatened to overcome
her, and she trembled wildly.

Out of the darkness dawned a vague light and in it a shape seemed to
take form. As the light increased the effect was as though part of the
wall had become transparent so as to reveal the interior of an inner
room where a figure was seated in a massive ebony chair. The figure was
that of an oriental, richly robed and wearing a white turban.