The Princess Thora

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1904 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII THE NARRATIVE OF THE PRINCESS BEFORE Sir Thule de Brie had been with us three weeks, he was regarded with esteem and admiration by every man in the expedition. Indeed, at a first glance, no one could help admiring so splendid a figure of a man. I have seen giants before; huge, hulking lumps of fat, or thin drawn laths of skin and bone, but I have never seen such a man as this. He was six feet six and a half in height, and as beautifully moulded as the statue of a Greek god. Every limb was perfect in proportion and symmetry, every muscle was hard as steel, and showed clear cut under his smooth white skin. For the first two or three days he held himself aloof from the men, and it did not seem as though he was likely to become popular with them; but one day he expressed a desire to join them in their daily sports and exercises, and he gave us some measure or his enormous strength. He threw a sixteen pound shot twenty-two feet further than Captain Bulmer, reputed to be the strongest man in all our expedition; and bent a crowbar in his hands as though it were a piece of wire. Then, to give us some idea of his own warlike accomplishments, he shot an arrow clean through half an inch of steel at a distance of three hundred yards, and cut an iron belaying pin in half with a single stroke of the long two-handed sword he carried among his baggage, and with no more effort than if he had been lopping off a twig with a bill hook. And from that day forward the men worshipped him as a hero, and were never tired of watching the evidences of his physical prowess. And during those three weeks I had considerably added to my knowledge of his language, and found myself able to converse with some freedom, and understand nearly everything that he said. And from knowing...