It did not cheer or fortify him with false courage and recklessness; it simply enveloped him in a mist of unreality.

A shudder rippled across his shoulders.

He hated the taste of it.

The first peg was torture.

But for all that, it offered relief; his brain, stupefied by the fumes, grew dull, and conscience lost its edge to bite.
He wiped the sweat from his chin and forehead.