All the fire went from his eyes, all the agitation from his face.

It was like looking at an open box full of interesting things, and then--bang! someone slaps down the lid, and you are staring at a flat piece of wood.

It was as if--as if--well, I can't find a better comparison." "It was as if a European suddenly changed before your eyes into an Oriental." Dewes was not pleased with Ralston's success in supplying the simile he could not hit upon himself.
"That's a little fanciful," he said grudgingly; and then recognised frankly the justness of its application.

"Yet it's true--a European changing into an Oriental! Yes, it just looked like that." "It may actually have been that," said the official quietly.

And he added: "I met Shere Ali last year at Lahore on his way north to Chiltistan.