Men who have a taste for wine will get it, if not in one place then in another; if not in a gentleman's dining-room, then in a drinking-saloon, or somewhere else." The glow faded from Mrs.Birtwell's face and the light went out of her eyes.

Her voice was husky and choking as she replied: "One fact does not invalidate another.

Because men who have acquired a taste for wine will have it whether we provide it for them or not, it is no reason why we should set it before the young whose appetites are yet unvitiated and lure them to excesses.

It does not make a free indulgence in wine and brandy any the more excusable because men overeat themselves." "But," broke in Mr.Birtwell, with the manner of one who gave an unanswerable reason, "if we exclude wine that men may not hurt themselves by over-indulgence, why not exclude the oysters and terrapin?
If we set up for reformers and philanthropists, why not cover the whole ground ?" "Oysters and terrapin," replied Mrs.Birtwell, in a voice out of which she could hardly keep the contempt she felt for her husband's weak rejoinder, "don't confuse the head, dethrone the reason, brutalize, debase and ruin men in soul and body as do wine and brandy.

The difference lies there, and all men see and feel it, make what excuses they will for self-indulgence and deference to custom.