"'I assured him that my services were at his disposal, and
blankly declined to accept so large a fee. He thereupon explained
that the circumstances were peculiar. His friend belonged to a
religious cult of an extremely high order. He would lose caste if
it became known that he had been attended by a Christian surgeon;
therefore my visit must be a secret one.
"'It made no difference,' I replied. 'I quite understood; and he
might rely upon my discretion.
"'Accordingly I was driven in a car which was waiting to some
house upon the outskirts of the city and conducted to a room
where the patient had been carried. I saw him to be a singularly
handsome young man, apparently about twenty-three years of age.
His features were flawless, and he possessed light ivory skin and
wavy jet-black hair. His eyes, which were very dark and
almond-shaped, had a strange and arresting beauty. But there was
something effeminate about him which repelled me, I cannot say in
what way; nor did I approve of the presence of many bowls of
hyacinths in the room.
"'However, I performed the operation, which, although slight,
demanded some skill, and with the nature of which I will not
trouble you. Intense anxiety was manifested by the young man's
attendants, and one of these, a strikingly beautiful woman,
insisted on remaining while the operation was performed.
"'She seemed more especially to concern herself with preserving
intact a lock of the young man's jet-black hair, which was
brushed in rather an odd manner across his ivory forehead.
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