"Although, as you know, I do not approve of that barbarous custom, you were in the right, and I cannot offer any opposition to it."
"He, too, made no objection; on the contrary, he derided us; in a word, he rendered us so mad with him, that I gave the order for the punishment. At the moment that he was about to die, a man, or rather a demon, appeared all at once, rushed among us, and careless as it seemed of the risk he ran, unfastened the prisoner."
"Hum! he was a brave man, do you know?"
"Yes, but his daring action would have cost him dear; when suddenly, at a signal from myself, all my warriors fell at his feet, with marks of the most profound respect."
"Oh! what are you telling me now?"
"The strictest truth: on looking this man in the face, I perceived on his face two extraordinary signs."
"What?"
"A scar over the right eyebrow, and a black mark under the eye, on the same side of the face."
"That is strange," the old man muttered, pensively.
"But what is still more so, this man exactly resembles the portrait which you drew, and which is in that book."