Instead of coat
and waistcoat, he wore a garment something like a fisherman's
guernsey, and over this a coarse short cloak, picturesque in
appearance as it was buffeted by the wind. His trousers were of
moleskin; his boots reached almost to his knees; for head-covering
he had the cheapest kind of undyed felt, its form exactly that of
the old petasus. To say that his aspect was Venerable would serve to
present him in a measure, yet would not be wholly accurate, for
there was too much of past struggle and present anxiety in his
countenance to permit full expression of the natural dignity of the
features. It was a fine face and might have been distinctly noble,
but circumstances had marred the purpose of Nature; you perceived
that his cares had too often been of the kind which are created by
ignoble necessities, such as leave to most men of his standing a
bare humanity of visage. He had long thin white hair; his beard was
short and merely grizzled. In his left hand he carried a bundle,
which probably contained clothing.
The burial-ground by which he had paused was as little restful to
the eye as are most of those discoverable in the byways of London.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25