of a man of high
and assured position who possessed a profound faith in himself.

He bowed to Earle with a gesture of restrained humility which contrasted
oddly with the hauteur of his expression, and striding up to the
American, laid his two thin, talon-like hands upon the other's
shoulders, and turned him round until Earle fully faced the light.
Then, bending forward, he intently scrutinised the queer jewel, or
talisman, which Earle now wore fully exposed to view. And as he did so,
the expression of almost defiant pride which his features had worn upon
his entrance, gradually relaxed until it vanished and gave place to one
of humble conviction. Then, laying the extremities of his fingers to
his forehead, he bowed very low and backing away from Earle, gradually
bowing himself out of the chamber.

Meanwhile, the other man, Kedah, had stood, a profoundly interested and
impressed spectator of the short scene. He, too, was an elderly man,
short, rather inclined to be stout, and bald-headed save for two thick
tufts of white hair that sprouted over his ears. He was attired very
much like Earle, except that the garniture of his robe was emerald
green, instead of turquoise blue; also, instead of a turban, he usually
wore a small, close-fitting skull cap of green silk, which he had
removed upon entering the apartment. In one hand he carried, as well as
his skull cap, a rather clumsy-looking umbrella of green silk, modelled
somewhat after the pattern of the Japanese article, while the other hand
grasped a roll of what looked like thin parchment.

Upon the departure of Zorah, Kedah laid aside his umbrella and skull cap
and, respectfully motioning the two white men to be seated, drew forward
a small table, upon which he unrolled the parchment, revealing the fact
that its inner surface was covered with small but beautifully executed
drawings of a multitude of objects, such as men, women, boys, girls,
infants, horses, cattle, sheep, etc. To several of these he pointed in
turn, giving each its proper designation in the Uluan tongue, making his
pupils--for such they were--repeat the words several times after him
until they had caught the correct accent. Then, after he had named some
twenty objects, he harked back to the beginning again, pointing to each
object and then, by expressive motions of his hands and bushy eyebrows,
requiring them to repeat as many of the names as they could remember.
In this fashion they proceeded f