Later, in the course of its development,
if the attack is acute, comes the forced speech from lips now scarcely
opened--forced speech recognizable by its various degrees of
imbecility. The man, for instance, who asks you if you have been to
a theatre lately when you have just deftly foisted upon the company
the latest joke you heard in a musical comedy, has reached that stage
of the disease when retirement is the only cure. Like quinine in fever
districts, there is one drug which may ward off the icy fingers of
the complaint--champagne--but it should be administered at frequent
intervals.
From such a malady as this, Devenish was not only immune, but he
carried with him that lightness of spirit which may go far to relieve
others of their suffering. Add to this a face well-featured, a figure
well-planned with all the alertness of an athlete, an immaculate
taste in dress, and you have the type which the 'Varsity mould offers
yearly to the ephemeral needs of her country. The impression remains,
stamped upon the man until he is well-nigh forty. He knows how to
get drunk in the most gentlemanly way and his judgment about women
is sometimes very shrewd. A knowledge of the classics is of service
to him if he does nothing.
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