Ned's gaze traveled to him and he was certainly a striking figure.

He was over six feet in height, with large blue eyes and fair hair.

His expression was singularly gentle and mild, but his appearance nevertheless, both face and figure, indicated unusual strength.

Obed had not noticed him before, but now he exclaimed joyfully: "Why, it's Colonel Jim Bowie! Jim, it's me, Obed White! Shake hands!" "So it is you, Obed," said the redoubtable Bowie, "and here we shake." The hands of the two met in a powerful clasp.

Then they all dismounted and another man, short and thick, shook Obed by the hand and called him by his first name.