But the door proved to be only partly opened, and Soames knocked
deferentially. No response came to his knocking, and he so greatly
ventured as to push the door fully open.
The cave of the golden dragon was empty. Half frightfully, Soames
glanced about the singular apartment, in amid the mountainous cushions
of the leewans, behind the pedestal of the dragon; to the right and to
the left of the doorway wherein he stood.
There was no one there; but the door on the right--the door inlaid with
ebony and green stone, which he had never yet seen open was open now,
widely opened. He glided across the floor, his wet boots creaking
unmusically, and peeped through. He saw a matting-lined corridor
identical with that known as Block A. The door of one apartment, that on
the extreme left, was opened. Sickly fumes were wafted out to him, and
these mingled with the incense-like odor which characterized the temple
of the dragon.
A moment he stood so, then started back, appalled.
An outcry--the outcry of a woman, of a woman whose very soul is
assailed--split the stillness. Not from the passageway before him, but
from somewhere behind him--from the direction of Block A--it came.
"For God's sake--oh! for God's sake, have mercy! Let me go!..
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