"No man but the servants, no woman but the mother of him who is the master, has even set foot within the Tents of Purple and of Gold; no one but the master has set foot in the tent which stands between them, the Tent of Death."
"And in them—if I come, what—what should I find?"
"No harm shall befall thee, no smirching of thy fair name. The master alone shall greet thee, and when thou hast found that for which thou searchest, then shalt thou return, if so thou wilt."
"And peace—rest I think I mean—is it in your Tents of Purple and
Gold?"
"Peace is to be found within the Temple of Anubis, who is the god of
Death, and there only."
The girl shivered and lifted her head, as from some part of the hotel there drifted the wonderful desert love-song which begins:
"My love for thee is as the sun at noon——"
Then she looked at the man whose face she had not plainly seen in the passing of the hour.
"How am I to believe you? Will you give me a sign, something, anything, so that I shall know that if I ever want to visit the wonderful tents I shall find them?"
She only spoke to gain time.