Indeed he talked very little even
with those who knew him best, and strangers had no chance at all with
him. There was something respectful in the hush of conversation whenever
he approached a group of people who were talking loudly or laughing. I
never met him walking over the rocks, or knew of his going out on the
water either for sailing or fishing. One foggy evening when some of us
were playing a game of writing verses in the hotel parlor, one of the
ladies seeing Whittier alone, in a corner of the room, boldly invited
him to join us, which he did with a very pleasant alacrity. It was
noticed however that his compositions were not any better or even so
good as those of the others, and we suspected that he took pains not to
excel the rest of the company.
Yet he could talk in a vigorous manner when the right occasion presented
itself. There was a certain Colonel Greene who frequented Appledore in
those years: a high-minded socialistic thinker, who had resigned a
commission in the United States Army, during the war with the Florida
Indians, on account of the government's breach of faith with Osceola. He
was a born controversialist and always ready to discuss any subject in
politics, religion or philosophy. John Weiss was not far behind him in
this line, and delighted to set him going for the benefit of those who
liked to hear. No sea air was sufficiently narcotic to dull the edge of
Colonel Greene's argument.
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