A stamping of feet in the Widow Peasley's vestibule awoke in him that sense of the ridiculous which was never far from the surface, and he made his way thither in mingled amusement and pain. What happened there is of interest, but may be briefly chronicled. Austen was surprised, on entering, to find Mrs. Peasley's parlour filled with men; and a single glance at their faces in the lamplight assured him that they were of a type which he understood--countrymen of that rugged New England stock to which he himself belonged, whose sons for generations had made lawyers and statesmen and soldiers for the State and nation. Some were talking in low voices, and others sat silent on the chairs and sofa, not awkwardly or uncomfortably, but with a characteristic self-possession and repose. Mr. Redbrook, towering in front of the stove, came forward.
“Here you be,” he said, taking Austen's hand warmly and a little ceremoniously; “I asked 'em here to meet ye.”
“Wanted they should know you,” said Mr. Redbrook.
“They've all heard of you and what you did for Zeb.”
Austen flushed. He was aware that he was undergoing a cool and critical examination by those present, and that they were men who used all their faculties in making up their minds.
“I'm very glad to meet any friends of yours, Mr. Redbrook,” he said. “What I did for Meader isn't worth mentioning. It was an absolutely simple case.”
“Twahn't so much what ye did as how ye did it,” said Mr. Redbrook. “It's kind of rare in these days,” he added, with the manner of commenting to himself on the circumstance, “to find a young lawyer with brains that won't sell 'em to the railrud. That's what appeals to me, and to some other folks I know--especially when we take into account the situation you was in and the chances you had.”
Austen's silence under this compliment seemed to create an indefinable though favourable impression, and the member from Mercer permitted himself to smile.
“These men are all friends of mine, and members of the House,” he said, “and there's more would have come if they'd had a longer notice. Allow me to make you acquainted with Mr. Widgeon of Hull.”
“We kind of wanted to look you over,” said Mr. Widgeon, suiting the action to the word. “That's natural ain't it?”