Ivanovitch stared at me for a moment. “Well,” he remarked, after the pause, “I will arrange to have you shown to your room to dress for the banquet. After that, perhaps we shall see each other and I can help you choose further. But if not, you only have to make your wishes known to your companion. When you are dressed, the attendant will conduct you to the banquet hall. Look around you and choose your partner for dinner without hesitation. Whoever you select, you will find her an agreeable companion.” The cold-blooded wickedness and cruelty underlying the man’s whole attitude made my gorge rise, and it was all I could do to keep from taking him by the throat and squeezing the life out of him. But there was too much at stake for any such move as yet, and I simply nodded. “How delightful!” Ivanovitch turned away with a little smile and pressed a button on the wall. A door opened at once and a young Chinese boy entered and bowed. “This gentleman will go to the banquet,” said Ivanovitch. “Take him to his apartment and assist him to dress.” Then he turned to me. “Well, farewell for the present, Mr. Clayton,” he said. “Enjoy yourself. But then, I am sure you are doing that already!” And with this parting shot he waved his hand, opened another door and disappeared. I turned and stared at the young Chinaman. “You please to stlep this way, sar?” he inquired at once, moving toward the door through which he had come. Now mostly all Chinamen look alike to me. But this boy’s face seemed vaguely familiar. I looked him over closely, and suddenly I recalled the evening after my visit to the Chief and a little dinner in a Chinese restaurant on 39th Street with Moore. Either this was the boy who had served us that night, or Chinamen were more alike even than I had supposed. Had they been watching us, then, from the very first? For a moment a sense of complete helplessness swept over me. What was the use of fighting against such an organization? Then I shook it off savagely and nodded to the Chinese boy to proceed. He led me through a short corridor, decorated in the same blue and gold. We came out into a huge hall, vaulted, beautifully carpeted and lined with life-sized and beautiful, if somewhat daring, paintings. There were handsome lounges and chairs also, and a big oak refectory table in the middle. The vaulted ceiling was a mass of delicately carved and intricate woodwork. The effect was bizarre and sensuous to a degree. Between the paintings on the walls there were many doors. My guide made for one of these and threw it open with a bow. “Your room, sar. Please to enter.”