sly from his hiding-place
and looked after him. Out of a dark porch, ten paces along Bond Street,
appeared a burly figure to fall into step a few yards behind Gray. The
little man licked his lips appreciatively and returned to the doorway
below the premises of Kazmah.

Reaching Piccadilly, Gray stood for a time on the corner, indifferent
to the jostling of passers-by. Finally he crossed, walked along to
the Prince's Restaurant, and entered the lobby. He glanced at his
wrist-watch. It registered the hour of seven-twenty-five.

He cancelled his order for a table and was standing staring moodily
towards the entrance when the doors swung open and a man entered who
stepped straight up to him, hand extended, and:

"Glad to see you, Gray," he said. "What's the trouble?"

Quentin Gray stared as if incredulous at the speaker, and it was with an
unmistakable note of welcome in his voice that he replied:

"Seton! Seton Pasha!"

The frown disappeared from Gray's forehead, and he gripped the other's
hand in hearty greeting. But:

"Stick to plain Seton!" said the new-comer, glancing rapidly about him.
"Ottoman titles are not fashionable."

The speaker was a man of arresting personality. Above medium height,
well but leanly built, the face of Seton "Pasha" was burned to a deeper
shade than England's wintry sun is capable of producing. He wore a
close-trimmed beard and moustache, and the bronze on his cheeks enhanced
the brightness of his grey eyes and rendered very noticeable a slight
frosting of the dark hair above his temples. He had the indescribable
air of a "sure" man, a sound man to have beside one in a tight place;
and looking into the rather grim face, Quentin Gray felt suddenly
ashamed of himself. From Seton Pasha he knew that he could keep nothing
back. He knew that presently he should find himself telling this quiet,
brown-skinned man the whole story of his humiliation--and he knew that
Seton would not spare his feelings.

"My dear fellow," he said, "you must pardon me if I sometimes fail to
respect your wishes in this matter. When I left the East the name of
Seton Pasha was on everybody's tongue. But are you alone?"

"I am. I only arrived in London tonight and in England this morning."

"Were you thinking of dining here?"

"No; I saw you through the doorway as I was passing. But this will do
as well as another place. I gather that you are disengaged. Perhaps you
will dine with me?"

"Splendid!" cried Gray.