The Jake I looked upon after that was not the Jake I had known for the past few months.

He sat staring in front of him for a little while, then he exclaimed huskily, almost hungrily:

"Say, fellows! Give us some more. It tastes pretty good to me."

"Thought he would come to it," shouted the black-haired man triumphantly. "We ain't refusin' no booze to-night. Fetch a cup o' rye for Jake."

One of the others brought it, and it was held to the old man's lips. He let it over his throat almost at a single gulp.

"More,—more!"

More was brought, and again he drank.

Three times Jake emptied that brimming cup of raw spirits.

I shivered with abhorrence at the sight.

"More?" queried the big man.