against Leh Shin, the Chinaman. From the
point of view of Shiraz the man was quite justified in killing Absalom,
since "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," appeared fair and
reasonable to his mind. The Burman had overreached Leh Shin, and now Leh
Shin had begun the cycle again, and had smitten at the curio dealer
through the curio dealer's boy, for whom he appeared to have a
fanatical affection. According to Shiraz, the house in Paradise Street
stood a good chance of being burned to the ground. If this "accident"
happened, Shiraz would know exactly whose hand it was that lighted the
match. It was all part of an organized scheme, and though he did not
know how Coryndon would bring the facts home, fitting each man with his
share, like a second skin to his body, he felt satisfied that he had
provided the lump of clay for the skilled potter to mould into shape.

He took off his turban, and lay down on his carpet. The day was still
hot, and the drowsy afternoon outside his closed windows blinked and
stared through the hours, the glare intensifying the shadows under the
trees and along the Colonnade. The soda-water and lemonade sellers in
their small booths drove a roaring trade as they packed the
aquamarine-green bottles in blocks of dirty ice to keep the frizzling
drink cool; and the cawing of marauding crows and the cackle of fowl
blended with the shouting of drivers and sellers of wares, who heeded
not the staring heat of the sun.

After the emotion of telling his tale, Leh Shin slept in his own small
box of darkness, and, in the rich curio shop in Paradise Street, Mhtoon
Pah leaned on an embroidered pillow with closed eyes. The stream of life
flowed slowly and softly through the hours when only the poor have need
to work; soft as the current of a full tide that slides between wide
banks, and soft as sleep, or fate, or the destiny which no man can hope
to escape.

XX

CRAVEN JOICEY, THE BANKER, IS FACED BY A MAN WITH A WHIP IN HIS HAND,
AND CORYNDON FINDS A CLUE

It is a matter of universal belief that a woman's most alluring quality
is her mystery, and Coryndon, no lover of women, was absorbed in the
study of mystery without a woman.

He had eliminated the woman.

In his mind he cast Mrs. Wilder upon one side, as March throws February
to the fag end of winter, and rushes on to meet the primrose girl
bringing spring in her wake. He had dealt simultaneously with Mrs.
Wilder's little part in the dra