und his original
impression confirmed. In other times, perhaps, she might have destroyed
the peace of male admirers, but she could now continue her hostile and
distant attitude with impunity. The captain was not at all affected by
it.

She must have been over forty. Her excessive flesh still had a certain
freshness, the result of hygienic care and gymnastic exercise. On the
other hand, her white complexion showed underneath it a yellowish
subcutaneous, granular condition that looked as though made up of
particles of bran. Upon her ancient switch, reddish in tone, were piled
artificial curls hiding bald spots and gray hairs. Her green pupils,
when freed from their near-sighted glasses, had the tranquil opacity of
ox-eyes; but the minute these gold-mounted crystals were placed between
her and the outer world, the two glaucous drops took on a sharpness
which fairly perforated persons and objects. At other times they
appeared a glacial and haughty void, like the circle that a sword
traces.

The young woman was less intractable. She appeared to be smiling out of
the corners of her eyes, while her back was half turned to Ferragut,
acknowledging his mute and scrutinizing admiration. She had her hair
loosely arranged like a woman who is not afraid of naturalness in her
coiffure, and lets her waving locks peep out under her hat in all their
original willfulness.

She was a dainty ash-blonde with a high color in striking contrast to
her general delicacy of tone. Her great, almond-shaped, black eyes
appeared like those of an Oriental dancer, and were yet further
prolonged by skillful retouching of shadows that augmented the
seductive contrast with her dull gold hair.

The whiteness of her skin became very evident when her arm showed
outside her sleeve and at the opening of her low-necked dress. But this
whiteness was now temporarily effaced by a ruddy mask. Her vigorous
beauty had been fearlessly exposed to the sun and the breath of the
sea, and a scarlet triangle emphasized the sweet curve of her bosom,
accentuating the low cut of her gown. Upon her sunburned throat a
necklace of pearls hung in moonlight drops. Further up, in a face
tanned by the inclemency of the weather, the mouth parted its two
scarlet, bow-shaped lips with an audacious and serene smile, showing
the reflection of her strong and handsome teeth.

Ferragut reviewed his past without finding a single woman that could be
exactly compared with her. The distant