Not a bad man as men go, but he would sell whisky and gin.

Over here men drink because they are lonely; and when they drink too hard and too long, they wind up on the beach." The spinsters stared at her blankly.
Ruth went on to explain.

"When a man reaches the lowest scale through drink, we call him a beachcomber.

I suppose the phrase--the word--originally meant a man who searched for food on the beach.
The poor things! Oh, it was quite dreadful.

It is queer, but men of education and good birth fall swiftest and lowest." She sent a covert glance toward the young man.