He had shown that letter, and his manner indicated the most intense and overpowering anxiety.
Banks was surprised, and he ordered that the stranger be shown in at once.

A tall man, wrapped in a long coat of yellow oilcloth, dripping rain, was brought into the room.

He held a faded blue cap in his hand, and the general noticed that the hand was sinewy and powerful.

The front of the coat was open a little at the top, disclosing a dingy blue coat.
His high boots were spattered to the tops with mud.
There was something in the man's stern demeanor and his intense, burning gaze that daunted Banks, who was a brave man himself.

Moreover, the general was but half dressed and had risen from a warm couch, while the man before him had come in on the storm, evidently from some great danger, and his demeanor showed that he was ready for other and instant dangers.