As he thus spoke, Theos was able to observe him more attentively; indeed it seemed as though a sudden and impressive pause had occurred in the action of a drama in order to allow him as spectator, to thoroughly master the meaning of one special scene.  Therefore he took the opportunity offered, and, looking full at Zephoranim, thought he had never beheld so magnificent a man.  Of stately height and herculean build, he was most truly royal in outward bearing,—­though a physiognomist judging him from the expression of his countenance would at once have given him all the worst vices of a reckless voluptuary and utterly selfish sensualist.  His straight, low brows indicated brute force rather than intellect,—­his eyes, full, dark, and brilliant, had in them a suggestion of something sinister and cruel, despite their fine clearness and lustre, while the heavy lines of his mouth, only partly concealed by a short, thick black beard, plainly betokened that the monarch’s tendencies were by no means toward the strict and narrow paths of virtue.

Nevertheless he was a splendid specimen of the human animal at its best physical development, and his attire, which was a mixture of the civilized and savage, suited him as it certainly would not have suited any less stalwart frame.  His tunic was of the deepest purple broidered with gold,—­his vest of pale amber silk was thrown open so as to display to the greatest advantage his broad muscular chest and throat glittering all over with gems,—­and he wore, flung loosely across his left shoulder, a superb leopard skin, just kept in place by a clasp of diamonds.  His feet were shod with gold-colored sandals,—­his arms were bare and lavishly decked with jewelled armlets,—­his rough, dark hair was tossed carelessly about his brow, whereon a circlet of gold studded with large rubies glittered in the light,—­from his belt hung a great sheathed sword, together with all manner of hunting implements,—­ and beside him, on a velvet-covered stand, lay a short sceptre, having at its tip one huge egg-shaped pearl set in sapphires.

Noting the grand poise of his figure, and the statuesque grace of his attitude, a strange, hazy, far-off memory began to urge itself on Theos’s mind,—­a memory that with every second grew more painfully distinct, ...  He had seen Zephoranim before!  Where, he could not tell,—­but he was as positive of it as that he himself lived! ... and this inward conviction was accompanied by a certain undefinable dread,—­a vague terror and foreboding, though he knew no actual cause for fear.