ter's pressure, dropped to his feet, and, quite sure
that the time was now past to ask polite questions, Peter brought down
the butt of the revolver with a smart slap where the long black pigtail
joined a fat little head. With a throaty gurgle his victim joined the
shadows of the floor.

A soft, white hand was laid upon Peter's right arm, and he found
himself glaring into the blanched face of the girl Naradia. Her small
fingers hardened upon the flesh of his hand, and he was aware that she
was staring imploringly across his shoulder.

Peter spun about and for the first time was aware of the presence of
the indolent figure in the doorway. The glow of a cigarette was at the
man's lips, but the darkness prevented scrutiny.

The rapid procession of mysterious events had unnerved Peter. The
silent and indolent presence of the stranger in the doorway put the
spark to his long-withheld indignation. He lifted the revolver's nose
menacingly.

The cigarette glowed a bright red, as if in amazement.

"You," he snapped, "whoever you are--pick this man up. Carry him into
my room. And you," he added sharply to the girl, "follow him!"

The cigarette fell to the planks, and the tall man put his heel upon
it. The careless movement gave Peter his first glimpse of the man's
profile. The man smiled faintly. He took the unconscious assailant of
Naradia by the heels and dragged him into Peter's room.

CHAPTER X

A match hissed; the flame of the lamp rose up slowly.

With a flutter of skirts the girl followed, her head inclined, as
though she was humiliated or greatly embarrassed. She went to the
couch and faced him, while an attempt at calmness and a determined fear
struggled to control her expression. Her attire was negligee, of pink
Japanese silk, open at the throat, and revealing a neck and shoulders
as white and smooth as bleached ivory.

Peter closed the door and shot the bolt.

The man who smiled so confidently had rolled the knife carrier with his
face to the wall. Then he crossed to the couch and took a stand beside
the girl, seemingly at ease under Peter's sharp and thorough inspection.

As Peter examined the slender, colorless face he imagined for an
instant that the man, also, was Eurasian. But that impression he
quickly realized was incorrect. The man simply was of a high order of
Chinese intelligence, with smooth, dusky skin, thin, stubborn lips, a
straight forehead, and eyes which were dark, wa