His real being became gradually subsumed within a prankish contrivance of his own design, and thereafter it was nearly impossible to know what he really thought. He became more and more fond of not answering questions, or answering them with a sentiment opposite his real one--trusting at first, I suppose, that his hearer would apprehend the nature of this prank, and share the joke, but soon enough forswearing even that faith, and trusting himself more and more to answering with falsehood, or distortion, or some bombastic claim all irrespective of truth or the way things stood in the common perception. As he became a more daring liar, his need for props and supports and safety nets withdrew, until he became quite happy to launch off into an open environment of prevarication without the least fear for his safety.