His step was springy, and his head, poised on a massive neck, was well set, with the chin raised.

He was a man, evidently, who had always looked the world straight in the face.

His eyes had a yellowish tinge, and in their colour and their calm they reminded Venning somehow of a lion, an impression heightened by the tawny hue of a long beard.
The next day, the references having been satisfactorily followed up, the contract was entered upon, and the two boys paid over the sum of Pounds 50 each to David Hume, who in his turn agreed to let them share in any profits which the expedition might make, from any source whatever.
"Profits, Mr.Hume ?" they asked.
"Profits from hunting, from trading, or from discovery.

I don't say that we shall make anything.

The chances are, of course, that we may lose all before we are a month out, but it is always well to be business-like.