Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character - through the instrumentality of the Fiend
Intemperance - had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse.
Suddenly a corner was turned, a blaze of light burst upon our sight, and we stood before one of the huge suburban temples of
Intemperance - one of the palaces of the fiend, Gin.
Raffles proved more unmanageable than he had shown himself to be in his former appearances, his chronic state of mental restlessness, the growing effect of habitual
intemperance, quickly shaking off every impression from what was said to him.
It was a bookmark of perforated cardboard, with a gorgeous red and yellow worsted goblet worked on it, and below, in green letters, the solemn warning, "Touch Not The Cup." As Peter was not addicted to habits of
intemperance, not even to looking on dandelion wine when it was pale yellow, we did not exactly see why Felicity should have selected such a device.