He was afraid.

He took the man by the shoulder and shook him.

"Are you asleep ?" he said, with his voice jumping, and again, "Are you asleep ?" A conviction took possession of his mind that this man was dead.

He became active and noisy, strode across the room, blundering against the table as he did so, and rang the bell.
"Please bring a light at once," he said in the passage.

"There is something wrong with my friend." He returned to the motionless seated figure, grasped the shoulder, shook it, shouted.