platform, came a girl
of about nineteen summers, the companion of Hafrydda. Branwen was a
complete contrast to her friend in complexion. She was the daughter of
a famous northern chief, and was quite as beautiful as the princess,
while her jet-black eyes and curly brown hair gave more of force and
character to features which were delicately moulded.

There was reason for poor Branwen's desire to escape observation, for
the proud Gunrig was paying her attentions which were far too pointed
and familiar in one who was about to marry the king's daughter. Indeed,
it was whispered that he had changed his mind since he had seen Branwen,
and would have even resigned the princess in her favour, if he had dared
to offer such an affront to the king.

Hudibras himself was the last to ascend the platform. He was a
fine-looking, portly man, with a great shock of black hair, a long
beard, and limbs so well proportioned that he did not seem taller than
other men until he stood beside them. He was a worthy sire of such a
son as Bladud, though three inches shorter.

There was a sort of barbaric splendour in the costumes of both men and
women, combined with some degree of graceful simplicity. The king was
clothed in a softly-dressed deer-skin jacket, over which he wore a
wolf-skin with the hair outside. A tunic of purple cotton, brought by
Phoenician ships from the far East, covered him as far down as the
knees, which were bare, while his lower limbs were swathed in strips of
scarlet cloth. Leather sandals, resembling those made by Bladud while
in Gaul, protected his feet. No crown or other token of royalty rested
on his brow, but over his dark and grizzled locks he wore a species of
leather skull-cap which, being exceeding tough, served the purpose of a
helmet. On his breast was a profusion of ornaments in the form of beads
and bosses of gold and tin, the former of which had been brought from
the East, the latter from the mines of his native land. A bronze sword
with an ivory sheath, inlaid with gold, hung at his left side, and a
knife of the same material at his right. Altogether King Hudibras,
being broad and strong in proportion to his height, presented a very
regal appearance indeed, and bore himself with becoming dignity. He had
married the daughter of a Norse Jarl; and his two children, Bladud and
Hafrydda, had taken after their gentle mother in complexion and
disposition, though they were not altogether destitute of