By rearranging the other
rugs and by bringing one from the alcove she restored the room to
order so no outward indication of the tragedy so recently enacted
there was apparent.
These things attended to, and the hangings draped once more about
the couch that they might hide the gruesome thing beneath, the girl
once more threw her arms about the Englishman's neck and dragged him
toward the soft and luxurious pillows above the dead man. Acutely
conscious of the horror of his position, filled with loathing,
disgust, and an outraged sense of decency, Smith-Oldwick was also
acutely alive to the demands of self-preservation. He felt that
he was warranted in buying his life at almost any price; but there
was a point at which his finer nature rebelled.
It was at this juncture that a loud knock sounded upon the door of
the outer room. Springing from the couch, the girl seized the man
by the arm and dragged him after her to the wall close by the head
of the couch. Here she drew back one of the hangings, revealing a
little niche behind, into which she shoved the Englishman and dropped
the hangings before him, effectually hiding him from observation
from the rooms beyond.
He heard her cross the alcove to the door of the outer room, and
heard the bolt withdrawn followed by the voice of a man mingled
with that of the girl.
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