At eleven o’clock the family went to
bed,and by half-past all the lights were
out. Some time after, Mr Otis woke up
because of a noise outside his room. It
sounded like the clank of metal. He got
up at once, stuck a match and looked at
the time. It was exactly one o’clock.
Mr Otis was quite calm.
The strange noise continued, and with it
he heard the sound of footsteps
He put on his slippers, took a small
bottle out of his dressing case and
opened the door. Right in front of him he
saw an old man. He looked terrible. His
eyes were red. His hair was long and
grey. His clothes were old-fashioned and
dirty
and there were handcuffs and rusty chains
on his wrists and ankles
“My dear sir,” said M Otis, “those chains
need oiling. Here take this small bottle of
lubricant.
I will leave it here for you and I will give you
more if you need it.” With these words the
ambassador put the bottle down on a
marble table, and went back to bed,
closing the door the door behind him.