He liked being made responsible. He liked the utter trust which this
girl placed in him. He liked the feeling of danger. The whole episode
and its uncanny romance caught hold of him. It was not every day that in
the middle of civilization the chance came to do something which smacked
of mediævalism--which had in it something of the high adventure of
Ivanhoe.
He said: "Get away quick and put your clothes on. Don't pack
anything--just dress. There won't be any one in the roulette room until
after twelve. Go in there and hide behind the curtains and wait for me.
Quick, now!"
Once more the girl flung her arms about him and put her lips to his
mouth.
For several minutes Graham remained alone in the alcove, with his blood
running swiftly through his veins--his brain hard at work. The woman on
the dais was still singing. In the vague, uncertain light he could see
the Papowsky curled up on a divan near by, smoking a cigarette. Other
people had come in and made groups among the foolish rockery. Then he
got up quietly, went out into the passage and looked about. He had never
before explored the place, he only knew the studio and the roulette
room. It dawned upon him that this apartment was just beneath the roof
of the building. Somewhere or other there was likely to be an outlet to
the fire-escape. That was the idea. He had it. The girl had said that it
would be impossible to take her away by the main door. Those Japanese
servants were evidently watch-dogs. Even as he stood there, wondering,
he saw that he was eyed by a small, square-shouldered Japanese whose
head seemed to be too large for his body and whose oily deferential grin
was not to be trusted. He lit a cigarette, and putting on what he
considered to be an air of extreme nonchalance, strolled along until he
came to the roulette room. No one was there. The candelabra were only
partially alight. He darted quickly to the window and flung it up. The
iron steps of the fire-escape ran past it to the roof. "Fine!" he said
to himself. "Now I know what to do."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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