"You're not what you were
when you joined us five years ago." A sneer came to his lips. "What a
high and mighty chap you've come to be. No wonder you won't shake
hands with a jail-bird."
"Stop talking, Tom Braddock," said Ruby, a gleam of anxiety in her
eyes. "Here's what's left of the lamb and here's--"
"Wait a minute, Ruby," said he. With his elbows on the edge of the
table and his chin in his broad, sinewy hands he leaned forward and
spoke again to David. "I've been out three weeks. I was up there for
two years and a half. I'm just telling you this so's you'll know why
I've changed. The whiskey's all out of me. There never will be any
more inside of me, do you understand that? Ten years ago I was a man--
wasn't I, Joey? I was a dog when you knew me, Jenison. Now, I'm a man
again. See these hands? Well, they've been doing honest work, even if
it was in a convict barrel factory. I'm ten times stronger than I was
before. There isn't a soft muscle in my body. What you miss is the
fat--the whiskey fat. I'm gray-headed, but who wouldn't be? But that
is not what I'm trying to get at. I saw Dick Cronk this morning.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415