Presently Willie fell behind his comrades, in passing a group of pedestrians, and he purposely remained behind, even dropping back several yards, as though he had no connection with Roy and the purser. They were deep in an argument and for some time did not notice that Willie was not abreast of them. Willie took advantage of this opportunity to observe what was passing. He saw that he himself attracted no attention whatever, but that at shop after shop, on the approach of Roy and the purser, there was a flutter of skirts and a woman scurried into the shop. But Willie could see nothing in the shops that explained it. After a while he came to the conclusion that it must be his friends’ uniforms that caused the commotion. He was a bit puzzled about that, but when he recalled that he had heard how badly some of these foreigners had fared at the hands of American immigration officials, he thought he understood it. The women, he thought, must have some fear of ship’s officers. Willie was just stepping forward to speak to his friends about it, when he heard the purser say, “Here we are. Where’s Willie?” “Right here,” called Willie. “This is the place where we eat,” said the purser, and the three entered a dingy old house that had become an Armenian restaurant. Willie entirely forgot about the incident he had observed, for the restaurant was unlike any place in which he had ever been. It was on the second floor of one of the old houses with which the street was filled. The brick wall on the street side had largely been removed, and great glass windows put in, making the place light and pleasant. The room was not large. It was furnished with small, round tables. On the walls were various printed cards and placques, but Willie could read none of them. He judged that they were printed in Turkish characters. There were a few tapestries hung about, but otherwise little attempt had been made at ornamentation. Willie’s attention was instantly riveted by the men in the place. Slight of build, dressed in dark clothes, and displaying considerable jewelry, with swarthy skins, black hair, and piercing eyes, they sat indolently in groups, conversing in their native tongue. All of them were smoking, mostly cigarettes; but two of the groups were gathered about Turkish hookahs, from which all of those in the groups were smoking.