Yet to win would make the next conflict easier, and he had resources that he tried to marshal against the enemy.
The rough work on the track had given him confidence.

He had always had physical courage and muscular strength, and it was something to feel he could hold his own with his comrades at a strenuous task.

Moreover, his saving Festing from the river had restored his self-respect.

But he had stronger allies, and his face got hot as he thought of the two women who had fought for him when he had scarcely tried to help himself.
Sadie had given up her ambitions and was content to live at the lonely farm because she thought it best for him.

He remembered the bitter disappointments he had brought her and how he had found her sitting, depressed and tired, at his neglected work when he came home from some fresh extravagance.