John walked down the stairs to the Khedival Salon. As he entered the room, he saw some familiar faces, to whom he gave a nod of recognition or greeted as he passed. He found an open table and sat down. One of the waiters appeared at his side, requesting his order. As the waiter left, John carefully packed his pipe and lit it. As the smoke curled past his eyes, he saw Henri walking purposefully across the room. As the disheveled man sat down, the aroma of stale smoke and cheap whiskey wafted across the table and assaulted John's nose. “Don't you ever bathe, Henri?” John asked. “That's a fine howdy-do, boss,” came the aggrieved reply. “After all I've done for you, too.” John smiled at the waiter as he set his coffee down. Henri, never one to pass up an opportunity for a drink, told the waiter to bring him a whiskey. As the hotel's servant left, Henri looked at John. “Did you get my letters?” “Yes, thank you. It was a rather curious matter, was it not? LeBlanc had a lot of enemies from the war. It was unfortunate for him that they all caught up with him at the same time. Did they ever find who it was who had poisoned him? No? Curious. Well, that is all in the past now, I suppose. “So, anything of interest going on, Henri?” Their conversation swung from the past to the present. Henri, ever full of the most juicy tidbits of gossip, brought the dapper James up to date with events at the hotel. Time passed and the afternoon sun began to drop. John's eyes were attracted to the door of the salon where he saw the hotel's manager, Kadira, standing. Her eyes looking around, searching. She saw Henri sitting with John. “Henri!” Her well-modulated voice carried across the room. “May I see you for a moment, please?” Henri, gazing at the beautiful woman in open admiration, never-the-less gave a sigh of long suffering patience. “I'll see you around, James,” he said as he stood, swallowing the last of his whiskey before joining Kadira. John, too, stood and walked out of the salon. He turned down a corridor and approached a man sitting outside a closed door. The man, looking up as he drew near, smiled widely as he recognized John. “Welcome back, sir! We have missed you. I hope all went well with you on your trip?” “Well enough, Muhammed, thank you.” Muhammed opened the door and waved John inside. John stood a moment on the threshold, gazing into the room. It was just a s he remembered. People were reading thick tomes filled with history or poring over ancient maps. Quiet discussions were going on in various parts of the opulent room, its walls lined with hundreds of books. One of the room's occupants looked up and saw John standing there. He quickly stood and came to meet him with outstretched hand. “John! It is good to see you again! Come, we have much to discuss.” John smiled. Yes, adventure was just around the corner. Where would it take him next?