sir. The horses are all ready."

And Zoega proceeded to strike the tent and pack the animals, muttering
to himself and shaking his head gravely, as if he thought the
Californians were a very peculiar race of men, to say the least of
them.

Another cup of tea and a few biscuits served to brace us up for the
journey, and we mounted our horses and turned their heads homeward.
Brusa was so delighted at the idea of being _en route_ once more that
he signalized our departure by giving chase to a flock of sheep, which
he dispersed in a most miraculous manner, and then, of course,
received the customary punishment.

CHAPTER LI.

THE ENGLISH SPORTS IN TROUBLE.

Our ride back to Thingvalla was over the same trail which we had
traveled on the preceding day, with the exception of a short cut to
the right of the Tintron rock. We made very good speed, and reached
the Parsonage early in the afternoon.

During our absence a young Englishman had arrived from the North,
where he had been living for a year. I found him in the travelers'
room, surrounded by a confused medley of boxes, bags, books, and
Icelandic curiosities, which he was endeavoring to reduce to some kind
of order. Had I not been told he was an Englishman I should never have
suspected it, either from his appearance or manner. When I entered the
room he stood up and looked at me, and I must say, without intending
him the slightest disrespect, that he was the most extraordinary
looking man I ever saw in all my life, not excepting a tattooed
African chief that I once met at Zanzibar. Whether he was young or old
it was impossible to say--he might be twenty-five or just as likely
fifty. Dirty and discolored with travel, his face was generally dark,
though it was somewhat relieved by spots of yellow. His features were
regular, and of almost feminine softness; his eyes were dark brown;
and his hair, which was nearly black, hung down over his shoulders in
lank straight locks, sunburnt or frostbitten at the ends. On his head
he wore a tall, conical green wool hat, with a broad brim, and a brown
band tied in a true lover's knot at one side. The remainder of his
costume consisted of a black cloth roundabout, threadbare and dirty; a
pair of black casimere pantaloons, very tight about the legs and burst
open in several places; and a pair of moccasins on his feet, adorned
with beads and patches of red flannel. If he wore a shirt it was not
conspicuous for whiteness, for