He apparently employed his whole efficient and enterprising mind on the incident of the bird.
"The wings aren't broken," he said presently, lifting his head, "but it is weak from hunger and exhaustion," and he rang the bell for Abijah.
"Rice and water and a warm basket," he ordered when the old negro appeared.

"You had better keep it in the house until it recovers." Then dismissing the subject, he turned back to Stephen.
"Well, I am glad to see you, Mr.Culpeper," he said.

"You had a hard beginning, but, as they used to tell me when I was a kid, a hard beginning makes a good ending." For the first time a smile softened his face, and the roving blue gleam danced blithely in his eyes.

A moment before the young man had thought the Governor's face harsh and ugly.

Now he remembered that the Judge had said "the man was not half bad to look at if you caught him smiling." Yes, he had a charm of his own, and that charm had swept him forward over every obstacle to the place he had reached.