Diary of a Drug Fiend

158 The Diary of a Drug Fiend sincerity. I crushed down the realisation with furious anger. “T encourage you to take drugs,” he went on, “exactly as I encourage you to fly. Drugs claim to be every man’s master. ‘Is it such terrible odds— - The heir of ages of wonder, The crown of earth for an hour, The master of tide and thunder _ Against the juice of a flower ? Ay! in the roar and the rattle Of all the armies of sin, This is the only battle He never was known to win.’ You children are the flower of the new generation. You have got to fear nothing. You have got to conquer everything. You have got to learn to make use of drugs as your ancestors learnt to make use of lightning. You have got to stop at the word of command, and go on at the word of command according to circum- stances.” He paused. The dire need of the drug kept Peter alert. He followed the argument with intense activity. “Quite,” he agreed, ‘‘ and just at the moment, the word of command is ‘go on.’”’ The face of King Lamus flowered into a smile of intense amusement; and the girl at the desk shook her thin body as if she were being deliciously tickled. Intuition told me why. They had heard the argument before. a “Very cleverly put, Sir Peter. It would look well in a broad frame, very plain, of dark mahogany, over the mantelpiece, perhaps.” For some reason or other, the conversation was pulling us together. Though we had had no dope, we both felt very much better. Cockie fired his big gun.