Warburton was trying to smile, but each glance he took at the other's face made his lips less inclined to relax from a certain severity rarely seen in them; and Franks succeeded but ill in his attempt to lounge familiarly, with careless casting of the eye this way and that.

It was he who broke silence.
"I've found a new drink--gin and laudanum.

First rate for the nerves." "Ah!" replied Warburton gravely.

"My latest tipple is oil of vitriol with a dash of strychnine.

Splendid pick-me-up." Franks laughed loudly, but unmirthfully.
"No, but I'm quite serious," he continued.