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His beard was short and curly, trimmed after the fashion of
the warriors of old Rome; and, from under his fierce, fuzzy, grey
eyebrows, a pair of sentinel eyes, that were keen, clear, and bold as an
eagle's, looked out with a watchful steadiness--steadiness that like the
sharp edge of a diamond, seemed warranted to cut through the brittle
glass of a lie. Judging by his outward appearance, his age might have
been guessed at as between fifty-eight and sixty, but he was, in truth,
seventy-two, and more strong, active, and daring than many another man
whose years are not counted past the thirties. He was curiously attired,
after something of the fashion of the Highlander, and something yet more
of the ancient Greek, in a tunic, vest, and loose jacket all made of
reindeer skin, thickly embroidered with curious designs worked in coarse
thread and colored beads; while thrown carelessly over his shoulders and
knotted at his waist, was a broad scarf of white woollen stuff, or
_wadmel_, very soft-looking and warm.


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