Page:Frank Owen - The Actress.djvu/69

Rh on rafters, as they do, to the mercy of thousands of carnivorous vultures."

"Yet your method is just as cruel," interposed Sorcha. "You place your dead in the ground, to be slowly eaten by worms. The Parsees place theirs on rafters, to be pecked by birds. The end is quicker, but the result is the same in either case."

"I believe there is truth in what you say," commented the American, "but what difference how the body is consumed? After the soul has left it, 'tis as useless as so much clay."

Menehem made no rejoinder, and Anniston, nothing loth, resumed his eating and, likewise, his study of the room. The walls were hung with old tapestries and there were numerous pieces of Persian and Caucasian armour scattered here and there. The floor was covered with tiger skins and Daghistan rugs of rare beauty. Everything was soft colored and the harmonious blending of the different shades gave a resting, dreamy appearance to the room.

Soon the meal was ended and Menehem ordered kalyans to be brought. As he did so, Berenice excused herself and glided softly from the room. When the dishes had been removed and the tobacco lighted, he began, "Now is the time for the two of us to become acquainted. If we are to be friends, we must know each other better than we do at present. I will start by telling you, as Mochanda did, that you were foolish to come to Constantine."

"Why?" puffed Anniston laconically.

"It is dangerous."