The gossips, marvelling much what this might mean,

Whispered that they at midnight had been seen

Far from the village wrapped in secret talk.

They seemed in truth an ill-assorted brace,

But Nature oft in Siamese bond unites,

By some strange tie, the farthest opposites.

Gray Cloud was oily, plausible, and vain,

A conjurer with subtle scheming brain;

Too corpulent and clumsy for the chase,

His lodge was still provided with the best,