As I flung
open the door, which the lawyer had closed, I must confess to being very
considerably startled; for though the reflection of the open door was
plain enough in the mirror, my own reflection was replaced by that of a
Chinaman. After a momentary pause of astonishment, I entered the closet
and walked towards the mirror; and simultaneously the figure of the
Chinaman entered and walked towards me. I had advanced more than halfway
down the closet when suddenly the mirror darkened; there was a whirling
flash, the Chinaman vanished in an instant, and, as I reached the glass,
my own reflection faced me.
I turned back into the room pretty completely enlightened, and looked at
Calverley with a new-born distaste. He still sat facing the bewildered
lawyer, one moment sobbing convulsively, the next yelping with hysteric
laughter. He was not an agreeable spectacle, and when, a few moments
later, Thorndyke entered the room, and halted by the door with a stare
of disgust, I was moved to join him. But at this juncture a man pushed
past Thorndyke, and, striding up to Calverley, shook him roughly by the
arm.
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