I'll tell ye a' aboot it," pleaded Thomas,
than who no man could better recognize good sense.
But the Cosmo Cupples who thus attracted the confidence of Thomas Crann
was a very different man from the Cosmo Cupples whom first Alec Forbes
went to the garret to see at his landlady's suggestion. All the
flabbiness had passed from his face, and his eyes shone clearer than
ever from a clear complexion. His mouth still gave a first impression
of unsteadiness; no longer, however, from the formlessness of the loose
lips, but from the continual flickering of a nascent smile that rippled
their outline with long wavy motions of evanescent humour. His dress
was still careless, but no longer neglected, and his hand was as steady
as a rifleman's.
Nor had he found it so hard to conquer his fearful habit as even he had
expected; for with every week passed in bitter abstinence, some new
well would break from the rich soil of his intellect, and irrigate with
its sweet waters the parched border land between his physical and
psychical being. And when he had once again betaken himself to the
forsaken pen, there was little reason to fear a relapse or doubt a
final victory.
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