But suddenly he stopped short, and his eyes sank
before the other, who had laid a hand upon his knee.
"But don't, Egyptian, don't! Don't have aught to do with me. I'm only a
drunken swine. I kept sober four years, as she knows--as the Angel down
yonder in the Red Mansion knows; but the day you came, going out to meet
you, I got drunk--blind drunk. I had only been pretending all the time. I
was being coaxed along--made believe I was a real man, I suppose. But I
wasn't. I was a pillar of sand. When pressure came I just broke
down--broke down, Egyptian. Don't be surprised if you hear me grunt. It's
my natural speech. I'm a hog, a drink-swilling hog. I wasn't decent
enough to stay sober till you had said 'Good day,' and 'How goes it,
Soolsby?' I tried it on; it was no good. I began to live like a man, but
I've slipped back into the ditch. You didn't know that, did you?"
David let him have his say, and then in a low voice said: "Yes, I knew
thee had been drinking, Soolsby." He started. "She told you--Kate
Heaver--"
"She did not tell me.
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