was aroused. Probably it
was that idea that suggested a fantastic connection between what he had
heard at the flat and the hospital and what he saw now. Half derisively
he recalled that Oriental women went veiled--customarily secreted their
faces behind white veils.

He had intended entering all these shops and houses in search of a
witness of the attack on Brown. He determined now to proceed rather more
warily. Suppose Brown spying, or about to spy, had been assaulted in one
of these basements--for instance, in the Oriental shop which had
straightway aroused his interest?

He crossed the street and darted quickly down the steps from one side,
so that he was sure he had taken by surprise whoever was in the place.
What he saw was sufficient proof of his success, and his special
detective sense was immediately impressed by much that was ominous in
the shadowed room. The echoes of such an attack as Brown had suffered
could have been easily smothered here.

Rugs were draped against the walls or flung at haphazard on the floor.
Carved tables supported lacquer work. From a glass case jewelry gleamed
with a dull beauty. But it was on the rear of the shop that Garth's eyes
rested, while a cold fear grasped him.

A long, low divan sprawled there against a tapestry hanging of a
colorful and grotesque design. On this divan, seated cross-legged, was
the figure of a man, at first quite motionless, like an image in a
somber and guarded temple. He wore a fez, set formally on his head. One
hand clasped the sinuous stem of a water pipe.

The round, flaccid, repulsive face defied classification. Garth could
not be sure whether it was Egyptian, Turkish, Arabian, or Semitic. He
only knew that it was evil and accustomed to perfect control, for he
suspected that his rapid entrance had made the concealment of the fez
and the alteration of that ritual attitude impossible. In a
matter-of-fact tone Garth spoke of examining the rugs and antiques.

The figure did not stir. The sallow face remained as if carved. The only
motion in the room was a lazy curling from the water pipe of white smoke
which faded in the darkened, perfumed air. Then the curtain moved
stealthily at one end, disclosing a dark face of a Levantine cast. This
man came through, carefully replacing the curtain behind him, stroked
his bony hands, and demanded Garth's desires. The immobility of the
cross-legged creature ceased. The stem of the water pipe as he raised it
to his