But when the carriages stopped in front of the verandah, every one instantly quitted this favourite sun-lit resting place and rushed down to meet them--host, guests, heydukes, and dogs.
The first to reach the carriage door was a peculiar looking man, a more repulsively mutilated creature it was impossible to imagine.

He might have been fifty, but it was difficult to read his age from his face.

His features were scarred with ancient scars and a piece of his mouth was missing--and perhaps a tooth or two as well, if one could have seen through his thick grizzled moustache.

An eye was missing on the same side, and half his face was tattooed with little black points as if from an exploded musket.

His nose was bent sideways and quite flattened at the top, doubtless owing to a heavy fall.