of
Herculean strength; his face was burned by the sun and showed no trace
of age; his close-trimmed beard and heavy moustache gave his
countenance a martial aspect, and the Roman nose and coal black, bushy
eyebrows added to his features an imperious look, though the
melancholy curve of the lips and the delicate oval of the blue eyes
lent a certain poetic expression to his knightly countenance. A round
cap with an eagle's feather covered his short hair; he wore a plain,
shaggy coat unfastened, beneath which showed a white dolman of
deerskin ornamented with silver; at his side hung a broad sword in
ivory sheath, and from his studded girdle of red shone the pearl
handle of a Turkish dagger. Next him rode a young knight and a
youthful Amazon; the knight could count scarcely twenty years and the
lady looked still younger. Two people better suited to each other
could not be found. The young man had pale, gentle features and rich
chestnut hair curling on his shoulders; a small moustache barely
covered his upper lip, his blue eyes wore a constant smile of
carelessness, if not frivolity, and had not the strong sinews of his
arm shown under his close-fitting sleeves one would have taken him for
only a fanciful boy; on his head he wore a marten cap with a heron's
feather and his garments were of silk; from his shoulder hung a
magnificent tiger skin, its claws serving for buckles joined by a
sapphire clasp. He rode a coal-black Turkish horse with housings
embroidered in gold, some woman's delicate handiwork.

The Amazon, to whom the youth seemed to be whispering many a sweet
word, formed a complete contrast to him; she had an earnest, fearless,
lively countenance; her eyes were brighter than garnets; she loved to
curl her lip and draw down her fine, thick eyebrows, giving to her
face an expression of pride, then when she glanced up again and parted
her lips with a spirited smile, you might see a heroine indeed. Her
dark braids hung over her shoulders half their length and then were
looped back under her cap of ermine with its waving plume. She wore a
silk riding habit fitting closely to her slender figure and falling in
heavy folds over the flanks of her Arab horse. Figure and face called
for homage rather than love; no smile played over these features, her
great, dark, fathomless eyes rested many a time upon the youth as he
bent toward her, shedding a rare charm, a fulness of love, a nobler,
higher longing which means more than l