His shriveled old hands were folded and on the finger of one of them Pierre noticed a large cast iron ring with a seal representing a death's head.
The stranger sat without stirring, either resting or, as it seemed to Pierre, sunk in profound and calm meditation.
His servant was also a yellow, wrinkled old man, without beard or mustache, evidently not because he was shaven but because they had never grown.
This active old servant was unpacking the traveler's canteen and preparing tea.