very well know. In nine cases out of ten--or, I might say, in
ninety-nine cases in a hundred--to taste again is to fall. It is
like cutting the chain that holds a wild beast. The bound but not
dead appetite springs into full vigor again, and surprised
resolution is beaten down and conquered. To invite such a man to, an
entertainment where wines and liquors are freely dispensed is to put
a human soul in peril."

"Mr. Birtwell may not have known anything about him," replied Dr.
Angier.

"All very true. But there is one thing he did know."

"What?"

"That he could not invite a company of three hundred men and women
to his house, though he selected them from the most refined and
intelligent circles in our city, and give them intoxicating drinks
as freely as he did last night, without serious harm. In such
accompany there will be some, like Mr. Ridley, to whom the cup of
wine offered in hospitality will be a cup of cursing. Good
resolutions will be snapped like thread in a candle-flame, and men
who came sober will go away, as from any other drinking-saloon,
drunk, as he went out last night."

"Drinking-saloon! You surprise me, doctor."

"I feel bitter this morning; and when the bitterness prevails, I am
apt to call things by strong names. Yes, I say drinking-saloon,
Doctor Angier. What matters it in the dispensation whether you give