d the defiance which it had so long given to
the inroads of time.

As a whole and in detail, this old man was a self-worshipper. Like all
idolaters he was blind to the defects of his earthly god, and if a gleam
of unpleasant self knowledge would occasionally force itself upon his
notice, the conviction only rendered him more urgent to extort homage
from others.

The room in which this old man sat, was a library fitted up expressly
for himself. It was one of his peculiarities that his sources of
enjoyment must be exclusive, in order to be valuable. He would not
willingly have shared a single tint of that beautiful sunset with
another, unless satisfied that the admiration thus excited would give
zest to his own pleasurable sensations.

Thus, with the selfishness of an epicure and the tastes of a savant, he
surrounded himself with the most luxurious elegance. The book-cases of
carved ebony that run along two sides of the apartment, were filled with
rare books, accumulated during his travels, some of them worth their
weight in gold. Doors of plate glass protected their antique and often
gorgeous bindings, and medallions of rare bronzes were inlaid in the
rich carvings of the cornices.

Over the mantle-piece of Egyptian marble, carved to a miracle of art,
hung an original by Guido, one of those ethereal pictures in which the
figures seem to float through the glowing atmosphere, borne onward only
by a gushing sense of their own happiness.

The French windows opposite were filled, like the book-cases, with
plate-glass pure and limpid as water, and two bronze Bacchantes, thrown
into attitudes of riotous enjoyment, held back voluminous folds of
crimson brocade that enriched the light which fell through them. A
variety of chairs stood about, carved like the book-cases, cushioned
with crimson leather and embossed with gold. The ebony desk upon which
the old man's elbow rested, as he looked forth upon the river, was
scattered over with books and surmounted by a writing apparatus of
malachite, whose mate could hardly have been found out of the imperial
_salons_ of Russia.

Everything was in keeping, the luxurious room and the old man whose
presence completed it. If the two persons we have just described seemed
imposing in their moral grandeur, while they sat thoughtfully watching
the sunset, this man with his keen, black eyes, his beard flowing
downward in white waves from the chin and upper lip, which was curved
exactly in