He could not speak to his companions in a gentlemanly manner, as they had been accustomed to be addressed.

He was course, rude, and vulgar; and the members, who had received him among them in the best spirit possible, began to feel some repugnance towards him.
But what could be expected of him in so short a time?
They had no reason to believe that a boy who had always been a desperado would suddenly become a gentle and kind-hearted person.

His nature wanted refining, and such a work could not be done in a moment.

These reflections came to Frank's relief, when he had become well-nigh discouraged at the idea of reforming Tim--discouraged more by thinking of the vast chasm that yawned between what he was and what he ought to be.

Like the pendulum in the story, he was crowding the work of months and years into a single instant.