With this strange new sensation of power pulsing within me, I was suddenly seized with a hot qualm of indignation against those white-robed priests, who had so lately been subjecting my sacred person to a series of manipulations and tortures, and had even more than once dared to thrust my awakening dignity back to the dull chambers of sleep. I quite forgot (though of a truth only for one brief instant) that after all I in my newly acquired pride of strength and intellect was but the creature of these flamens, a mere Frankenstein evoked from a semi-defunct, middle-aged, useless inhabitant of the Earth, who in his agony of failure had voluntarily committed an act of self-effacement. Nevertheless, I turned almost fiercely on my companions, and with an angry wave of my hand bade them turn aside their prying eyes, whilst I completed the act of drying my skin. They obeyed without protest, and a few minutes later one of the priests, still keeping his face averted, handed me a curious garment which it took me some little time to adjust to my person. It was a thin white woollen article of undress, which completely covered my body, inclusive of arms and legs, like the _chiton_ of the ancient Greeks. Its feet moreover were distinguished by a contrivance for keeping the great toes free, in the event of wearing sandals, so I presumed. When I had at length fitted my form into this enveloping garment, whose texture felt deliciously light and warm, the priests once more turned towards me and helped me to don the remaining portions of my attire. These consisted of a pair of buskins of soft dark blue leather that reached half-way to the knee, a tunic of blue cloth with a golden belt, and a flowing cloak of the same rich shade of blue, lined with pale blue silk, that was fastened over the breast with a golden clasp set with a splendid sapphire. Finally I was invited to seat myself in a low chair, whereupon one of the priests proceeded to comb out my hair with a large golden comb. From a burnished metal mirror that was held before me I now realised, to my astonishment, that my hair was of such an inordinate length that some weeks must have elapsed for its growth; it had moreover been bleached, for it was of a pale yellow shade and had a strange silky texture. On the other hand, I may state here that all the hair on the lower portion of my face had been eradicated, nor have I yet had any occasion to use a razor. As a finishing touch, a fillet of blue and gold was bound round my luxuriant locks, much in the manner one sees depicted on the royal heads of antiquity in coins and medals.