Elinor Wyllys Volume Ii Part 35

"Not particularly active, but a stout, healthy lad."

"Disposed to be tall?"

"Tallish; the last time he was here, he must have measured about five feet ten."

"Oh, more than that," interposed Mrs. Lawson; "he was taller than our eldest brother, I know--full six feet one, I should say."

"No, no, Sophia; certainly not more than five feet nine or ten.

Remember, you were a little thing yourself at the time."

"Do you remember the colour of his eyes, Mrs. Lawson?"

"Yes, perfectly; they were blue."

"Brown, I should say," added the doctor.

"No, John, you are quite mistaken; his eyes were blue, Mr.

Hazlehurst--very dark blue."

"I could have taken my oath they were brown," said the doctor.

Hazlehurst looked from one to the other in doubt.

"You were away from home, doctor, more than I was, and probably do not remember William's face as distinctly as I do. I am quite confident his eyes were a clear, deep blue."

"Well, I should have called them a light brown."

"Were they large?" asked Harry.

"Of a common size, I think," said the brother.

"Remarkably small, I should say," added the sister.

"What colour was his hair?" asked Harry, giving up the eyes.

"Black," said the doctor.

"Not black, John--dark perhaps, but more of an auburn, like his father's portrait," said Mrs. Lawson.

"Why, that is black, certainly."

"Oh, no; auburn--a rich, dark auburn."

"There is a greyish cast in that portrait, I think," said Harry.

"Grey, oh, no; Mr. Stanley's hair was in perfect colour when he died; I remember him distinctly, seeing him as often as I did,"

said the lady. "The hair of the Stanley family is generally auburn," she added.

"What do you call auburn?" said the doctor.

"A dark, rich brown, like William Stanley's."

"Now I call Mr. Robert Hazlehurst's hair auburn."

"My brother's hair! Why that is sometimes p.r.o.nounced sandy, and even red, occasionally," said Harry.

"Not red; Lawson's hair is red."

"Mr. Lawson's hair is more of a flaxen shade," said the wife, a little quickly.

Despairing of settling the particular shade of the hair, Harry then inquired if there was any strongly marked peculiarity of face or person about William Stanley?

Here both agreed that they had never remarked anything of the kind; it appeared that the young man was made more like the rest of the world, than became the hero of such a singular career.

"Do you think you should know him, if you were to see him again, after such a long interval?"

"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 pa.s.sion."

"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 a.s.sure you. Time and again have I known him tell falsehoods when he got into a sc.r.a.pe; many is the time he has coaxed and teased, till he got us children into mischief--he was a great tease, you know--"

"Not more so than most boys," interposed the doctor.

"And after he had got us into trouble, I remember perfectly, that he would not acknowledge it was his fault. Oh, no; you could not by any means depend upon what he said."

"Was he much of a talker?"

"No, rather silent."

"Quite silent:" both brother and sister were in unison here, at last.

"He was good-looking, you think, Mrs. Lawson?"

"Oh, yes, good-looking, certainly," replied the lady.