He had made himself believe that he was going to get well, which was really more than half the battle, if he had been aware of it.

And the thought which stimulated him more than any other was this imagining what his father would look like when he saw that he had a son who was as straight and strong as other fathers' sons.

One of his darkest miseries in the unhealthy morbid past days had been his hatred of being a sickly weak-backed boy whose father was afraid to look at him.
"He'll be obliged to believe them," he said.
"One of the things I am going to do, after the Magic works and before I begin to make scientific discoveries, is to be an athlete." "We shall have thee takin' to boxin' in a week or so," said Ben Weatherstaff.

"Tha'lt end wi' winnin' th' Belt an' bein' champion prize-fighter of all England." Colin fixed his eyes on him sternly.
"Weatherstaff," he said, "that is disrespectful.

You must not take liberties because you are in the secret.