Hussein keeps the Styx Bathhouse in the Undercity. He is a hirsute fellow, his head a mass of thick black ringlets, and he engages his patrons with a professional address, discoursing upon the workings of the bath-house as a place got up for the gathering of rumour and the striking of bargains. He invites his visitors to relate their own experience, and shows a lively curiosity as to the bath-houses above and how they are conducted.
The hamam, he explains — the bath-house — serves as a place for men to mingle and to trade in intelligence, much after the fashion of a tea-house. The open talk is carried on in the main hall, whilst the private conversations retire to secluded chambers, so that the casual visit and the graver piece of business may each be accommodated as the parties require.