“In the top drawer of my bureau,” she said, and might have added: “such as they are”; but even her sense of humour could not rise equal to the occasion. The man muttered some words in a language which she could not understand; but she gathered that he was addressing the second man in the room, for two there were undoubtedly. Then with a sickening sense of danger she realised that the language was Chinese. She heard the soft “hush” of the drawer as it opened, she saw the flash of light as the men swept it over her belongings. Then the man at the drawer spoke over his shoulder. There was a quick exchange of words, then: “Get up!” said the man by her side shortly. There was nothing to do but obey. She rose from her bed and stood on the floor shaking in every limb. She was thankful for the darkness which perhaps hid the full extent of her danger. “You have a bracelet somewhere,” said the man who had spoken first. “It was given to you by young De Costa. Where is it now?” The girl made no reply. She was dismayed when she realised that Talham’s deception had been discovered, and she felt herself a guilty party to the deception. “I have not got it,” she said. “Who has?” The voice was sharp and authoritative. “Captain Talham has it,” she said, before she realised that she was betraying the strange man. He was nothing to her, yet even in the moment of her peril, she understood that perhaps she might be endangering him, and was sorry she had spoken. There was a little silence, then: “Put on your clothes!” said the man. “Why?” she asked startled. “Don’t argue. You can dress in the dark. Put on your clothes. If you can’t I’ll turn on the light.” She groped for her clothes, thankful to dress in the dark, and the man walked over to the door. “Remember,” he said as his vice-like grip released her arm, “any attempt to raise an alarm will result in your immediate death; there are no men in this house as I know. Captain Talham, on whom you may unreasonably depend, is quite unconscious of your present predicament. I am going to take you away from here, and I swear to you that you shall not be harmed. Are you going to take my word?” “There is no alternative,” answered the girl. With trembling hands she drew on her clothes. That she should be dressing herself in the presence of two Chinamen--for a Chinaman the first speaker was, in spite of his perfect English--did not strike her at the moment as being so much a subject for dismay, as to what would happen after she had dressed. There was a heavy cloak hanging in the wardrobe of the room. She drew this on over her other things, and, twisting her hair into a knot at the top of her head, fixed a hat over what she knew was a most appalling untidiness. “It may not be necessary,” said the man, “to tell you that any cry will bring your mother and the maid--in which case I shall destroy not only you, but the people you alarm.” He guided her past her mother’s door, down the stairs and into the street.