She did
not quite like his moustache, and thought that he would have
looked better cleanshaven. Nevertheless, he was a well-set-up
fellow, and her manner evidenced approval.
"Yes," he replied, smiling genially. "I have a small commission
to execute, and I am told that you can help me."
The girl paused for a moment, and then:
"Yes, very likely," she said, speaking good English but with an
odd intonation. "It is not jade? We have very little jade."
"No, no. I wanted an enamelled casket."
"What kind?"
"Cloisonne."
"Cloisonne? Yes, we have several."
She pressed a bell, and, glancing up at the boy who had stood
throughout the interview at the visitor's elbow, addressed him
rapidly in Chinese. He nodded his head and led the way through a
second doorway. Closing this, he opened a third and ushered Mr.
Hampden into a room which nearly caused the latter to gasp with
astonishment.
One who had blundered from Whitechapel into the Khan Khalil, who
had been transported upon a magic carpet from a tube station to
the Taj Mahal, or dropped suddenly upon Lebanon hills to find
himself looking down upon the pearly domes and jewelled gardens
of Damascus, could not well have been more surprised.
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