The drink demon seized upon them.

Of course there was a public-house at both ends of the court.

There they fled, one and all, for shelter, and warmth, and society, and forgetfulness.

And they came out in deeper debt, with inflamed senses and burning brains, and an unsatisfied craving for drink they would do anything to satiate.

And in a few months the father was in prison, the wife dying, the son a criminal, and the daughters on the street.