It was Aziz--the brother of Karamaneh!
Never could the entrance of a figure upon the stage of a drama have
been more dramatic than the coming of Aziz upon this night of all
nights. I seized the outstretched hand and drew him forward, then
reclosed the door and stood before him a moment in doubt.
A vaguely troubled look momentarily crossed the handsome face; with
the Oriental's unerring instinct, he had detected the reserve of my
greeting. Yet, when I thought of the treachery of Karamaneh, when I
remembered how she, whom we had befriended, whom we had rescued from
the house of Fu-Manchu, now had turned like the beautiful viper that
she was to strike at the hand that caressed her; when I thought how
to-night we were set upon raiding the place where the evil Chinese
doctor lurked in hiding, were set upon the arrest of that malignant
genius and of all his creatures, Karamaneh amongst them, is it strange
that I hesitated? Yet, again, when I thought of my last meeting with
her, and of how, twice, she had risked her life to save me....
So, avoiding the gaze of the lad, I took his arm, and in silence we
two ascended the stairs and entered my study ... where Nayland Smith
stood bolt upright beside the table, his steely eyes fixed upon the
face of the new arrival.
No look of recognition crossed the bronzed features, and Aziz, who had
started forward with outstretched hands, fell back a step and looked
pathetically from me to Nayland Smith, and from the grim Commissioner
back again to me.
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