There was an exclamation, a sound of footsteps upon the stair, and at last the bolt of the door was shot and the door opened. Zubeydeh stood, a lantern in her hand, scrutinizing him.
He spoke in German at once. "I come upon an urgent matter," he said coolly. "Upon a matter very important to the owner of this house----"
He smiled. "For the present that need not matter."
Zubeydeh blocked the door more formidably with her body.
"No one enters this house in the Effendi's absence."
"I do not desire to enter the house. I merely wish to talk with Yeva, here----"
"That is not possible." The woman moved back and made a motion to close the door, but Renwick took a pace forward and blocked her effort with his foot.
Something in the tone of his voice arrested her, and the hand which held the door relaxed. She regarded Renwick with a new curiosity. Her eyes narrowed as she peered into his face. She had seen someone who looked like this tall beggar, but where----?
"Who are you?" she asked again, this time with a note of anxiety, scarcely concealed.
Renwick smiled, but he had not yet removed his foot from the sill of the door.
"No--and yet----" She paused in bewilderment, and Renwick quickly followed his advantage.
"I am one who can save this house from a danger."
"I have but to speak yonder," and he gestured eloquently toward the city below them, "and the danger will fall." He leaned forward, whispering tensely, "The secret police of the Austrian government wish to know more about the death of Nicholas Szarvas and----"
Zubeydeh dropped the handle of the door and seized Renwick's arm, while her narrow eyes glittered terrified close to his own.
"It is merely that I did not die," he said coolly.
"I am the man in the armor, Zubeydeh," he said solemnly.
She started back from him in affright, her hands before her eyes.
"Allah!" she whispered, and then leaned forward again touching his arm lightly, imploringly, while she looked past him into the dark recesses of the garden.
"Then they are there--the police are coming----?"
"No. I mean you no harm. Do you understand? I have said nothing--nor shall I speak unless----" he paused significantly.
"Unless you refuse to permit me to speak with Yeva. That is all. Listen, Zubeydeh; since that night I have been in the hospital. They would keep me here a prisoner. I have escaped--in this disguise. I make a bargain with you. You help me--I will be silent. If you refuse, I shall tell the police."