"
"Has it happened before?"
"Yes; at Mrs. Gleason's, only last week. He was loud and boisterous
in the supper-room--so much so that I heard a lady speak of his
conduct as disgraceful."
"That will never do," exclaimed Mr. Birtwell, betraying much
excitement. "He will have to change all this or give up Blanche. I
don't care what his family is if he isn't all right himself."
"It is easier to get into trouble than out of it," was replied.
"Things have gone too far between them."
"I don't believe it. Blanche will never throw herself away on a man
of bad habits."
"No; I do not think she will. But there may be, in her view, a very
great distance between an occasional glass of wine too much at an
evening party and confirmed bad habits. We must not hope to make her
see with our eyes, nor to take our judgment of a case in which her
heart is concerned. Love is full of excuses and full of faith. If
Ellis Whitford should, unhappily, be overcome by this accursed
appetite for drink which is destroying so many of our most promising
young men, there is trouble ahead for her and for us."
"Something must be done about it. We cannot let this thing go on,"
said Mr. Birtwell, in a kind of helpless passion. "A drunkard is a
beast. Our Blanche tied to a beast! Ugh! Ellis must be talked to. I
shall see him myself. If he gets offended, I cannot help it. There's
too much at stake--too much, too much!"
"Talking never does much in these cases," returned Mrs.
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