Page:Rowland--In the shadow.djvu/67

 caught the bits in his champing jaws and shook them savagely.

Dessalines was the statue of a Numidian king; the great, dominant face, muscular of jaw, haughty, prideful, seemed to proclaim the leader by divine right, the monarch of a virile race, and, as in his charger, the contour of the head, the clear velvet smoothness of the ebony skin indicated the pureness of the savage strain. Whatever he might lack, a glance proved the Haytian to be no mongrel; one would affirm that no vagrant corpuscle of alien blood had found its way into his veins.

He drew nearer slowly, and Virginia could see from the expression of the mobile face that the spirit of strife had entered him; his attitude showed a fierce exultation in his perfect mastery; the great shoulders thrown squarely back, one saw the swell of the pectoral muscles beneath the light coat; the hand, closed on all four reins, seemed to contain the power to tear the horse's jaw bodily from its sockets.

The gravel hissed beneath the twitching hoofs as Dessalines reined in before the door. Virginia heard a plunging step in the hall; Giles's clear voice rang out cheerily.

"Hello, Aristide! Glad to see you." Virginia, watching, saw again the vivid flash of strong white teeth as Dessalines swung his great frame to the ground as lightly as a panther. He was dressed in orthodox riding costume; the boots were of heavier leather than usual and a trifle loose about the legs, which were small in proportion to the bulk of the man; this seeming lack of proportion was augmented by the lack of calf muscle, the bulk of muscle being upon the outer side of the heavy bone, thus 57