He was very tall and very strongly made, though clumsy in figure and swarthy in face.

He had the look almost of a foreigner, Tom thought, with black eyes that twinkled with an evil and sinister expression, and never showed more than as a slit between half-shut lids.

He was marked with smallpox, and had taken no pains, today at any rate, to disguise the ravages of that malady.

He walked a little in advance of his companions, and when he got near to Lord Claud he stopped and made a sweeping bow, his eyes the while scanning Tom's face and figure most closely.
"This is not the gentleman who waited on me," he said in a rasping voice.
"No; that gentleman is laid up in his bed, and cannot keep his appointment; but this one will do the business equally well.
"Mr.Tufton of Gablehurst; let me present him to you, Sir James." The swarthy man looked Tom over from head to foot with an insolent stare.
"A fine young cub," he said at length, "and well grown for his years.

One of the gang, I suppose ?" and there was an ugly sneer upon his thick lips.
Tom looked at Lord Claud, wondering what the meaning of those words could be; but the quiet face looked as if carved in marble, save only that the eyes glowed like fire in their sockets.
He signed to Tom to produce the rapiers; and the second man came forward and examined and tested them, selecting that which his principal should use.