noticed that his whole body quivered under its influence, and once
when the smaller of the players made an injudicious move a look flew
into his face that was full of such malignant intensity that I'll own I
was influenced by it. What effect it would have had upon the innocent
cause of it all, had he seen it, I should have been sorry to conjecture.

Just as my lunch made its appearance the game reached a conclusion, and
the taller of the two players, having made a remark in German, rose to
leave. It was evident that the smaller man had won, and in an excess of
pride, to which I gathered his nature was not altogether a stranger, he
looked round the room as if in defiance.

Doing so, his eyes met those of the man in the corner. I glanced from
one to the other, but my gaze rested longest on the face of the smaller
man. So fascinated did he seem to be by the other's stare that his eyes
became set and stony. It was just as if he were being mesmerized. The
person he looked at rose, approached him, sat down at the table and
began to arrange the men on the board. Then he looked up again.

"May I have the pleasure of giving you a game?" he asked in excellent
English, bowing slightly as he spoke, and moving a pawn with his long
white fingers.

The little man found voice enough to murmur an appropriate reply, and
they began their game, while I turned to my lunch. But, in spite of
myself, I found my eyes continually reverting to what was happening at
the other table. And, indeed, it was a curious sight I saw there. The
tall man had thrown himself into the business of the game, heart and
soul. He half sat, half crouched over the board, reminding me of a hawk
hovering over a poultry yard.

His eyes were riveted first on the men before him and then on his
opponent--his long fingers twitched and twined over each move, and
seemed as if they would never release their hold. Not once did he speak,
but his attitude was more expressive than any words.

The effect on the little man, his companion, was overwhelming. He was
quite unable to do anything, but sat huddled up in his chair as if
terrified by his demoniacal companion. The result even a child might
have foreseen. The tall man won, and the little man, only too glad to
have come out of the ordeal with a whole skin, seized his hat and, with
a half-uttered apology, darted from the room.

For a moment or two his extraordinary opponent sat playing with the
chessmen. Then he looked ac