He was of a stature much above my
own, yet so gross in shape and immense of head he seemed at first
almost dwarfish. He came to a stand twenty paces or so from me, on the
ridge of a gentle inclination, and gazed down on me with wild, bright
eyes. Even at this distance I could perceive the almost colourless
lustre of his eyes beneath his thick locks of yellow hair. When he had
taken his fill of me, he lifted his head again and cried out to me a
few words of what certainly might be English, but was neither
intelligible nor reassuring.
I stood my ground and stared him in the face, till I could see nothing
but wind-blown yellow, and strange, brutal eyes. Then he advanced a
little nearer. Whereupon I also raised my hand with a gesture like
his own, and demanded loudly where I was, what was this place, and who
was he. His very ears pricked forward, he listened so intently. He
came nearer yet, then stayed, tossed his head into the air, whirled
the long leather thong he carried above his head, and, signing to me
to follow, set off with so swift and easy a stride as would soon have
carried him out of sight, had he not turned and perceived how slowly I
could follow him.
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