Dune Some phrases I don't understand

Well, I have not read the book, but here is what I get: Bright light shining from the side showed that there was dried mud on the metal steps, like someone with muddy feet had passed through some time before. 2. This is talking about the girl or woman, I am going to guess the first part talked about how she looked and then as she is growing up some people can see that she looks more like her father, who might have been a little bit "tough". 3. A counter can be an offer in response to someone else's offer, and it sounds as if one was made that was slightly deceptive or a cheat, but the person being spoken to was willing to listen to it. I hope other people may help you. I can see that there is a lot of idiomatic language to take in.

The first two are very 'photograhic' descriptions. It's almost as if the author is showing you a photograph. In the first, he is talking about 'harsh sidelighting' meaning strong light coming from the side. 'Harsh' is a word photographers use to mean very high contrast lighting. The second decribes the girl's face and how one can see the likeness of her father in her still young features. The third one I don't understand (mainly because I am not familiar with the word 'slip-tip' but I think that @GardenGerty has explained it satisfactorily.