This is Wednesday morning?"

"Wednesday morning, sir; yes."

"Of course--it is Wednesday. You said your name was?"

"Lucas, sir," reiterated Soames, and, crossing the fantastic apartment,
he entered the bathroom beyond.

This contained the most modern appointments and was on an altogether
more luxurious scale than that attached to his own quarters. He noted,
without drawing any deduction from the circumstance, that the fittings
were of American manufacture. Here, as in the outer room, there was no
window; an electric light hung from the center of the ceiling. Soames
busied himself in filling the bath, and laying out the towels upon the
rack.

"Fairly warm, sir?" he asked.

"Not too warm, thank you," replied the other, now stumbling out of bed
and falling into the armchair--"not too warm."

"If you will take your bath, sir," said Soames, returning to the outer
room, "I will brush your clothes and be ready to shave you."

"Yes, yes," said the man, rubbing his hands over his face wearily. "You
are new here?"

Soames, who was becoming used to answering this question, answered it
once more without irritation.

"Yes, sir, will you take your bath now? It is nearly full, I think."

The man stood up unsteadily and passed into the bathroom, closing the
door behind him. Soames, seeking to forget his surroundings, took out
from a small hand-bag which he found beneath the bed, a razor-case and a
shaving stick. The clothes-brush he had discovered in the bathroom;
and now he set to work to brush the creased garments stacked in the
armchair. He noted that they were of excellent make, and that the linen
was of the highest quality. He was thus employed when the outer door
silently opened and the face of Said looked in.

"Gazm," said the Oriental; and he placed inside, upon the carpet, a pair
of highly polished boots.

The door was reclosed.

Soames had all the garments in readiness by the time that the man
emerged from the bathroom, looking slightly less ill, and not quite so
pallid. He wore a yellow silk kimono; and, with greater composure than
he had yet revealed, he seated himself in the armchair that Soames might
shave him.

This operation Soames accomplished, and the subject, having partially
dressed, returned to the bathroom to brush his hair. When his toilet was
practically completed:

"Shall I pack the rest of the things in the bag, sir?" asked Soames.

The man nodded affirmatively.

Five minutes later he