"It's very easy to talk in that way; but if Archie were your son,
you'd not be very long in choosing between death and a glass or two
of wine more than he had strength to carry."

"If he were my son," replied the doctor's wife, "I would do all in
my power to keep him away from entertainments where liquor is served
in such profusion. The danger is too great."

"He would have to take his chances with the rest," replied the
doctor. "All that we could possibly do would be to teach him
moderation and self-denial."

"If there is little moderation and self-denial among the full-grown
men and women who are met on these occasions, what can be expected
from lads and young men?"

The doctor shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply.

"We cannot shut our eyes to the fact," continued his wife, "that
this free dispensation of wine to old and young is an evil of great
magnitude, and that it is doing a vast amount of harm."

The doctor still kept silent. He was not in a mood for discussing
this or any other social question. His mind was going in another
direction, and his thoughts were troubling him. Dr. Hillhouse was a
surgeon of great experience, and known throughout the country for
his successful operations in some of the most difficult and
dangerous cases with which the profession has to deal. On this
particular day, at twelve o'clock, he had to perform an operation of
the most delicate nature, involving the life or death of a patient.