such times he resembled an old parrot expectant of sugar.

His linen had always been snowy white, but beyond this he had
taken no special pains with his toilet; but now he strutted about
in a Tussore silk coat, which he had bought in Algiers, but had at
once put aside because it was too tight--he looked like a clipt
box hedge in it.

Now, who was this lion-tamer of twenty-one, who, without in the
least wishing to do so, unconsciously even (she was the quietest
of the party), had made the monarch of the forest crouch at her
feet and gaze at her in abject humility?

Look at her, as she sits there, with her loose shining hair of the
prettiest shade of dark red; look at her broad forehead and
prominent nose, but more than all at those large wondering eyes;
look at her throat and neck, her tall slight figure; notice
especially the Renaissance dress which she wears, its style and
colour, and your curiosity will still remain unsatisfied, for she
has an individuality all her own.

Kristen Ravn had lost her mother at her birth and her father when
she was five years old. The latter left her a handsome fortune,
with the express condition that the investments should not be
changed, and that the income should be for her own use whether she
married or not. He hoped by this means to form her character. She
was brought up by three different members of her wide-branching
family, a family which might more properly be termed a clan,
although they had no common characteristics beyond a desire to go
their own way.