defeated was loud in his praise of the ~Courier~; with its editor he
had come to be on terms of intimate friendship. Earwaker was well
acquainted with journalistic life in the provinces. He sprang from a
humble family living at Kingsmill, had studied at Whitelaw College,
and was now but nine-and-twenty: the style of his 'leaders' seemed
to mark him for a wider sphere of work. It was decided to invite him
to London, and the young man readily accepted Mr. Runcorn's
proposals. A few months later he exchanged temporary lodgings for
chambers in Staple Inn, where he surrounded himself with plain
furniture and many books.

In personal appearance he had changed a good deal since that
prize-day at Whitelaw when his success as versifier and essayist
foretold a literary career. His figure was no longer ungainly; the
big head seemed to fit better upon the narrow shoulders. He neither
walked with extravagant paces, nor waved his arms like a windmill. A
sufficiency of good food, and the habit of intercourse with active
men; had given him an every-day aspect; perhaps the sole peculiarity
he retained from student times was his hollow chuckle of mirth, a
laugh which struggled vainly for enlargement. He dressed with
conventional decency, even submitting to the chimney-pot hat. His
features betrayed connection with a physically coarse stock; but to
converse with him was to discover the man of original vigour and
wide intellectual scope. With ordinary companions, it was a rare
thing for him to speak of his professional interests. But for his
position on ~The Weekly Post~ it would not have been easy to surmise
how he stood with regard to politics, and he appeared to lean as
often towards the conservative as to the revolutionary view of
abstract questions.