“I am instructed to furnish you lodgings for the night. Follow as I lead.”
His voice was clear and distinct, his tone arbitrary, as if he anticipated no opposition and would brook none. Yet the words seemed fair enough, and in return Paul merely bowed his assent.
We were conducted to the building from whence the soldiers had issued, the men forming a hollow square and escorting us while we marched in the center. It looked to me very like a capture, but Paul whispered to us in English not to resent anything at the present time.
Through the doors we were ushered into a big dark hall, where we stood until suddenly a light flashed ahead of us and its rays disclosed surroundings of a most magnificent character.
“Come!” commanded the officer, leading the way up the hall. We obeyed, turned a bend in a corridor and found ourselves in a room about twenty feet square.
“In the morning,” said the young Tcha, tersely, “I will again come to you.”
He saluted once more, backed through the door and closed it behind him. We heard a metallic sound, as if a heavy bar had fallen into place.
“Prisoners, sure enough!” exclaimed Archie.
“Never mind,” said Paul. “Isn’t it a gorgeous prison?”
It was, indeed. The walls and floor were of polished marble, but the former were draped with splendid hangings and the latter spread with thick, soft rugs. Couches covered with downy cushions—enough for us all—stood here and there, and these were made of a metal that Allerton declared to be solid gold. Save for an ornamental table of similar material these couches were the only furniture of the room. In the center of the ceiling glowed a curious flat-shaped electric lamp that lighted the place fully, but without any disagreeable glare. I saw no way to shut it off, but Joe discovered in a corner a cord which, when gently pulled, drew a mask over the lamp and darkened the room. We afterward discovered that this room was really plain and unprepossessing when compared to even the humbler dwellings of this magnificent city, but at the moment of our introduction to it we regarded its splendor with awe.