And then, after being taken out of his case, he will be put under guard at the next station, and it will be useless for Mademoiselle Zinca Klork to expect him in the capital of the Chinese Empire! Yes! It would be better for me to relieve his anxiety this very night.
That is impossible, for the train will soon stop at Gheok Tepe, and then at Askhabad which it will leave in the first hour of daylight.

I can no longer trust to Popof's going to sleep.
I am absorbed in these reflections, when the locomotive stops in Gheok Tepe station at one o'clock in the morning.

None of my companions have left their beds.
I get out on to the platform and prowl around the van.

It would be too risky to try and get inside.

I should have been glad to visit the town, but the darkness prevents me from seeing anything.