Far Eastern Adventure

whether to try out the new cosmetics he had treated himself to in
the airport, when he heard someone screaming in the hallway
outside his room and the sounds of a struggle. Without really
thinking of the consequences he snatched up his robe and ran to
look out the peephole in his door. Through the fish-eye lens he
could just see a man standing over the figure of a woman, yelling
at her abusively. When he saw the man raise a stick to begin
beating her, he instinctively threw open his door and yelled in
his most authoritative voice “Hey, you! Stop that immediately or
I’ll call the police and have you arrested.”
At the sound of his voice the man turned with fear in his
eyes and beat a hasty retreat down the hall and into an elevator.
The woman sprawled on the floor seemed dazed, but not badly hurt,
so he tried helping her to her feet. When her legs sagged beneath
her he half dragged and half carried her to his room and helped
her to lie down for a few minutes on his bed. He started to call
a doctor, but she pleaded with him in a husky voice, not to
bother, that she would be all right in a few moments. She just
needed time to catch her breath. He gave in grudgingly to her
entreaties and sat down in the armchair next to the bed.
He glanced at his guest curiously to gain any clues as to
her identity. She seemed in her mid-twenties and was dressed in
a red silk dress which just covered her knees. The stockings on
her legs barely covered the rapidly swelling bruises from what
looked like were repeated kicks to her shins. One of her long
red fingernails was chipped and another broken from her struggle.
Her shoulder length hair was in disarray, though it appeared to
have been carefully arranged earlier in the evening. Her finely
carved face seemed to have escaped any damage for the moment, and
her carefully applied make-up was hardly even smudged. He
watched her fast breathing begin to slow down as she regained her