When the alien attendant had departed, he began to curse London.

It was a hole for sick dogs, not for sound men.

He loathed its abominable suffocation.
"Then why the deuce do you stay in it ?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't do anything else." This gave me an opening to satisfy my curiosity.
"I understood you could have gone to Persia." He frowned and tugged his red beard.

"How did you know that ?" "Arbuthnot--" I began.
"Arbuthnot ?" he boomed angrily.