For a time the shaggy man gazed upon all this luxury with silent
amazement. Then he decided, being wise in his way, to take advantage
of his good fortune. He removed his shaggy boots and his shaggy
clothing, and bathed in the pool with rare enjoyment. After he had
dried himself with the soft towels he went into the dressing-room and
took fresh linen from the drawers and put it on, finding that
everything fitted him exactly. He examined the contents of the
closets and selected an elegant suit of clothing. Strangely enough,
everything about it was shaggy, although so new and beautiful, and he
sighed with contentment to realize that he could now be finely dressed
and still be the shaggy man. His coat was of rose-colored velvet,
trimmed with shags and bobtails, with buttons of blood-red rubies and
golden shags around the edges. His vest was a shaggy satin of a
delicate cream color, and his knee-breeches of rose velvet trimmed
like the coat. Shaggy creamy stockings of silk, and shaggy slippers of
rose leather with ruby buckles, completed his costume, and when he was
thus attired the shaggy man looked at himself in a long mirror with
great admiration. On a table he found a mother-of-pearl chest
decorated with delicate silver vines and flowers of clustered rubies,
and on the cover was a silver plate engraved with these words:
THE SHAGGY MAN:
HIS BOX OF ORNAMENTS
The chest was not locked, so he opened it and was almost dazzled by
the brilliance of the rich jewels it contained.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137