Mr. Jelnik touched a bell near the door, and a tall, copper-colored
man in spotless white appeared. At the merest gesture of an uplifted
finger the copper-colored one bowed, vanished, and returned ten
minutes later with a tiny cup of black coffee and a couple of thin
wafers.
"I shall have to insist upon the coffee; and I advise the wafers,"
said Mr. Jelnik, pleasantly. So I drank the coffee, nibbled the
wafers, and felt better.
The copper-colored man, standing still as a statue, waited until I
had finished, took the cup, bowed, and disappeared. He was a stately
impressive person, rather like a shah in disguise. Mr. Jelnik
addressed him as "Daoud."
I had risen. I was trying to straighten my sadly flattened brown
hat, and to smooth my frock, stained with damp earth, and water. A
quick step sounded on the porch, somebody knocked, and without
waiting for an answer, opened the door, impatiently, and strode into
the room. With a fold of my disheveled frock in my hand, I looked up
and met the angry and astonished eyes of The Author.
CHAPTER XII
MAN PROPOSES
The Author closed the door and leaned against it. His piercing
glance jumped from Nicholas Jelnik's face to mine, with a prolonged
and savage scrutiny.
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