The meat
Giorgio stuck upon a skewer in gobbets like cats-meat and cooked
before the fire. For drink there was coffee and raw spirits.
Against the wall in one corner was a slab of wood rather like the
draining board in a scullery, and on this the guests were expected
to sleep. The horses and the rest of the party camped loosely about
the adjacent corner after a bitter dispute upon some unknown point
between the horse owner and the custodian.
Amanda and Benham were already rolled up on their slanting board
like a couple of chrysalids when other company began to arrive
through the open door out of the moonlight, drawn thither by the
report of a travelling Englishwoman.
They were sturdy men in light coloured garments adorned
ostentatiously with weapons, they moved mysteriously about in the
firelit darknesses and conversed in undertones with Giorgio.
Giorgio seemed to have considerable powers of exposition and a gift
for social organization. Presently he came to Benham and explained
that raki was available and that hospitality would do no harm;
Benham and Amanda sat up and various romantic figures with splendid
moustaches came forward and shook hands with him, modestly ignoring
Amanda.
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