It was a thick and heavy rope,
with a noose at its end, so heavy that none would have believed that one
mortal could handle it. Yet it shot from him till it stood out stiff as
an iron bar. Yes, and the noose fell over one of the stone posts on the
quay, and caught there. Now the rope grew straighter still, stretching
and groaning like a thing in pain as it took the weight of the great,
drifting ship. She stayed; she swung round slowly and ranged herself
broadside on against the quay as a berthed ship does. Then down the
ladder on her side came the Man. Deliberately he set his white-sandalled
feet upon the quay, advanced a few paces into the full light of the
bright moon and stood still as though to suffer himself to be seen of
every eye.
Truly he was worth the seeing. Hugh noted his garments first, and
particularly the head-dress, which caught his glance and held it, for
never had he known such a one before. It was a cap fitting tight to the
skull, only running across the crown of it was a stiff raised ridge, of
leather perhaps, jagged and pointed something like the comb of a cock.
This comb, of brilliant red, was surmounted at its highest point by a
ball of black of the size of a small apple. The cap itself was yellow,
except its lowest band, which stood out from it and was also black. In
the centre of this band upon the forehead glowed a stone like a ruby.
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