I think they would have killed me at once if I
had made the slightest show of violence; but they gave me no impression
of their being likely to hurt me so long as I was quiet. I am not much
given to liking anybody at first sight, but these people impressed me
much more favourably than I should have thought possible, so that I could
not fear them as I scanned their faces one after another. They were all
powerful men. I might have been a match for any one of them singly, for
I have been told that I have more to glory in the flesh than in any other
respect, being over six feet and proportionately strong; but any two
could have soon mastered me, even were I not so bereft of energy by my
recent adventures. My colour seemed to surprise them most, for I have
light hair, blue eyes, and a fresh complexion. They could not understand
how these things could be; my clothes also seemed quite beyond them.
Their eyes kept wandering all over me, and the more they looked the less
they seemed able to make me out.
At last I raised myself upon my feet, and leaning upon my stick, I spoke
whatever came into my head to the man who seemed foremost among them. I
spoke in English, though I was very sure that he would not understand.
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