An active man, with the look, at first sight, of the mate of a ship, he stood gently stamping the snow off his boots on the door mat, laughing in a low tone, as if he was very much pleased to see the worthy Mrs. Falkoner, and was enjoying her stare of astonishment to the full.
"Dear bless me, John, is it really you?" said Mrs. Falkoner, almost running to meet him. "Whatever wind has blown you here?"
"No wind at all, Mary; nought but the snow," he said, laughing: but correcting himself, he added, "Ah, well, there was a wind, after all, for we're fairly drifted up a few miles t'other side of the Junction; and so I got leave to run over and see you: not often I get the chance--is it, now?"
All this time he had been taking off his outer coat; and when he was fairly in the room, Archy found he was a young man, certainly not more than thirty. He had crisp black hair, a bold, manly face, very red with exposure to the weather, and at the same time expressive of great determination of character. But one peculiarity about his face was, that though so young, his forehead was not only scarred and lined, but round his eyes and about his mouth it was puckered and wrinkled to a most extraordinary degree. Archy felt a great curiosity about him, but was not long left in doubt, for Mrs. Falkoner took care to make her visitor known to the young gentleman as her youngest half brother and an engine-driver on the main line.
A remarkably quiet man did John Stocks seem in regard to general conversation; he said very little about the weather, and less about things going on in the great world, and anything he did say on these topics had almost to be coaxed out of him. However, he evidently took great delight in giving all the family news, even to the most minute particular.
"Of course you've heard," he said, warming one hand at the fire, "that Bob's come home from America. Then that old Thompson has given up the shop."
"Yes; so I heard," said Mrs. Falkoner, pouring out another cup of tea, not appearing to take very great interest in them. "No accidents on your line lately, I hope."
"Not much," was the answer, and he again went back to the family news. "Jenny's got a baby," he said, suddenly, with great glee, as if this piece of news was far before any other.