 A tall, thin man, with a serious face partially obscured by a grizzled beard and spectacles, he is a rather stern housemaster, and even sterner stepfather.A benevolent-looking man, with a pair of mild blue eyes behind his spectacles and a straggling grey beard, Mr Waller is head of the Cash Department at the New Asiatic Bank.A keen socialist and teetotaler, he lives in one of a row of semi-detached villas to the north of Clapham Common, where he is in the habit of making highly energetic speeches on Sundays.