“Mighty nice looking fellow,” was the reply. “Shows breeding and culture all the way through, just like a thoroughbred horse shows what he’s got in him. His face is as white as a woman’s and his eyes are as clear as a girl’s!
“He neither drinks nor smokes, and he is about the best play actor you ever saw on the stage. Put a river man’s rig on him and he looks like a river man.
“Dress him up like a preacher, and you’d think he had the bible by heart. He’s been in our schoolhouse many a time on his trips here, showing the boys and girls how to conduct a commencement exhibition. Oh, he’s mighty popular all along the river!”
Another nudge and whisper from Jule.
“Blonde or black?” the boy suggested.
“I think I know the man,” Clay went on, following the lead again. “He has very black eyes, hasn’t he? And a nose with a little hump on it, and a wide, straight mouth and thin lips.”
“No, sir. No, sir,” was the reply. “He’s got light hair and blue eyes, and a straight nose, and a mouth that isn’t wide nor straight. Mighty handsome man, is Lawyer Martin. We all like him up here!”
“And you will lose your farm if this charter is found and sustained?” asked Clay. “You and many of your neighbors?”
“That’s what they say,” replied the other, “though, of course, it will depend upon what young Fontenelle says about it.”
“The courts might not sustain the charter,” suggested Clay.