It was twenty minutes before we two were summoned into his private room, where he sat behind the desk exactly as we had left him the other morning.

He looked as if he had not moved meanwhile.

Everything was exactly in its place-- even the vase, covering the white spot on the varnish.

There was the same arrangement of too many flowers, in a vase too small to hold them.
"Allow me to present Sheikh Abdul Ali of Damascus," said Grim.
The Administrator bowed rather elaborately, perhaps to hide the twinkle in his eyes.

He didn't scowl.