We sat in most wonderful leather chairs, and drinks were ordered.

Never had I heard such an ordering of liqueurs and of highballs of particular brands of Scotch.

I didn't know what a liqueur or a highball was, and I didn't know that "Scotch" meant whisky.

I knew only poor men's drinks, the drinks of the frontier and of sailor-town--cheap beer and cheaper whisky that was just called whisky and nothing else.

I was embarrassed to make a choice, and the steward nearly collapsed when I ordered claret as an after-dinner drink..