needed by a soldier--and he did not forget the main item: he ran and
fetched a bottle of liquor. Then he went home.

And there, in the presence of his neighbors, of whom I had the
privilege of being one, he drank a glassful to "long life," and
offered another to Rebekah, his good wife.

"Drink, madam," said he, merrily. At this Rebekah turned up her
nose, as if ready to blurt out with "How often have you seen me
drink liquor?"

Indeed, it was an affront which she would not have passed over in
silence at any other time, but she had no heart for an open quarrel
just then, when about to part with her son, and was satisfied with a
silent refusal.

"Woman," said Samuel, angrily, "take it, and do as you are told!"
But Rebekah was not impressed by his angry tone, for in fact Samuel
was an easy "lord and master." As to his loudness, it was but part
of an old habit of his, dating from the days of his own military
service, to bully his inferiors and to let those above him in
authority bully him.

"So are they all of his kind," she would often explain to her
neighbors. "They just fuss, to blow off their tempers, and
then--one may sit on them."

Rebekah persisted in her refusal, and Samuel began in a softer tone:

"But why does it worry you so much? Woman, woman, it is not to