He was full of animal exuberance, and his eyes, a trifle faded, it must be admitted, were still keenly alive and observant.

He was big of bone, florid of skin, and his hair--what remained of it--was wiry and bleached.

His clothes, possibly cut from an old measure, hung loosely about the girth--a sign that time had taken its tithe.

For thirty-five years he had served his country by cunning speeches and bursts of fine oratory; he had wandered over the globe, lulling suspicions here and arousing them there, a prince of the art of diplomacy.
He had not been sent here to watch this kingdom.

He was touching a deeper undercurrent, which began at St.Petersburg and moved toward Central Asia, Turkey and India, sullenly and irresistibly.