This superintendent was a slim creature of thirty-five, with a sandy goatee and short sandy hair; he wore a stiff standing-collar whose upper edge almost reached his ears and whose sharp points curved forward abreast the corners of his mouth--a fence that compelled a straight lookout ahead, and a turning of the whole body when a side view was required; his chin was propped on a spreading cravat which was as broad and as long as a bank-note, and had fringed ends; his boot toes were turned sharply up, in the fashion of the day, like sleigh-runners--an effect patiently and laboriously produced by the young men by sitting with their toes pressed against a wall for hours together.
A gallér természetesen merev testtartásra kényszerítette, egész testét el kellett fordítania, valahányszor jobbra vagy balra akart nézni. Álla alatt hatalmas, lepedő nagyságú rojtos nyakkendő díszlett, cipőorra az akkori divat szerint büszkén felkunkorodott, mint a szántalp vége - ez a divat az akkori fiatalembereknek komoly munkát jelentett, sokszor órák hosszat türelmesen üldögéltek a fal mellett, és cipőjük orrát keményen a falhoz szorították.