"Well, I don't know," said the doctor; "some people change very much, from boys to middle-aged manhood, others alter but little."
"I have no doubt that I could tell in a moment, if this person is William Stanley or an impostor," said Mrs. Lawson. "Think how much we were together, as children; for ten years of his life, he was half the time at our house. I am sure if this sailor were William Stanley, he would have come to see some of us, long since."
"Did he visit you when he was last at Greatwood?"
"No, he did not come at that time; but I saw him very often in the village, and riding about."
"Do you remember his stuttering at all?"
"No; I never heard him that I know of; I don't believe he ever stuttered."
"He did stutter once in a while, Sophia, when he was in a passion."
"I never heard him."
"Young Stanley had one good quality, Mr. Hazlehurst, with all his faults; he spoke the truth—you could believe what he said."
"My good brother, you are mistaken there, I can assure you. Time and again have I known him tell falsehoods when he got into a scrape; many is the time he has coaxed and teased, till he got us children into mischief—he was a great tease, you know—"