ary wealth, a historic name inscribed in the "Peerage and
Baronetage"--a book second only to the Bible in England--and a beauty
against which nothing could be urged, save that it was too great for a
man. His clear-cut and cold features seemed to be a wax copy of the head
of Meleager or Antinoues; his brilliant complexion seemed to be the
result of rouge and powder, and his somewhat reddish hair curled
naturally as accurately as an expert hairdresser or clever valet could
have made it curl. On the other hand, the firm glance of his steel-blue
eyes and the slightly sneering expression of his lower lip corrected
whatever there might be of effeminate in his general appearance.

As a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the young nobleman indulged
occasionally in a cruise on his swift yacht _Puck_, built of teak,
fitted like a boudoir, and manned by a small crew of picked seamen. In
the course of the preceding year he had visited Iceland; in the present
year he was visiting Egypt, and his yacht awaited him in the roads of
Alexandria. He had with him a scholar, a physician, a naturalist, an
artist, and a photographer, in order that his trip might not be
unfruitful. He was himself highly educated, and his society successes
had not made him forget his triumphs at Cambridge University. He was
dressed with that accuracy and careful neatness characteristic of the
English, who traverse the desert sands in the same costume which they
would wear when walking on the pier at Ramsgate or on the pavements of
the West End. A coat, vest, and trousers of white duck, intended to
repel the sun's rays, composed his costume, which was completed by a
narrow blue necktie with white spots, and an extremely fine Panama hat
with a veil.

Rumphius, the Egyptologist, preserved even in this hot climate the
traditional black coat of the scholar with its loose skirts, its curled
up collar, its worn buttons, some of which had freed themselves of their
silk covering. His black trousers shone in places and showed the warp.
Near the right knee an attentive observer might have remarked upon the
greyish ground of the stuff a systematic series of lines of richer tone
which proved that he was in the habit of wiping his pen upon this
portion of his clothes. His muslin cravat, rolled in the shape of a
cord, hung loosely around his neck, on which stood out strongly the
Adam's apple. Though he was dressed with scientific carelessness,
Rumphius was not any the handso