outward bearing,--though a physiognomist judging him from the
expression of his countenance would at once have given him all the
worst vices of a reckless voluptuary and utterly selfish
sensualist. His straight, low brows indicated brute force rather
than intellect,--his eyes, full, dark, and brilliant, had in them
a suggestion of something sinister and cruel, despite their fine
clearness and lustre, while the heavy lines of his mouth, only
partly concealed by a short, thick black beard, plainly betokened
that the monarch's tendencies were by no means toward the strict
and narrow paths of virtue.

Nevertheless he was a splendid specimen of the human animal at its
best physical development, and his attire, which was a mixture of
the civilized and savage, suited him as it certainly would not
have suited any less stalwart frame. His tunic was of the deepest
purple broidered with gold,--his vest of pale amber silk was
thrown open so as to display to the greatest advantage his broad
muscular chest and throat glittering all over with gems,--and he
wore, flung loosely across his left shoulder, a superb leopard
skin, just kept in place by a clasp of diamonds. His feet were
shod with gold-colored sandals,--his arms were bare and lavishly
decked with jewelled armlets,--his rough, dark hair was tossed
carelessly about his brow, whereon a circlet of gold studded with
large rubies glittered in the light,--from his belt hung a great
sheathed sword, together with all manner of hunting implements,--
and beside him, on a velvet-covered stand, lay a short sceptre,
having at its tip one huge egg-shaped pearl set in sapphires.

Noting the grand poise of his figure, and the statuesque grace of
his attitude, a strange, hazy, far-off memory began to urge itself