WINTER SPORTS--THE DOCTOR'S VISITS--PREPARATIONS FOR NEW
YEAR'S DAY--A DISCUSSION.
Winter had fairly set in. The December winds had for several weeks,
blown upon the "Father of Waters," and he slept like a huge giant, all
unmindful of the western breezes which came to fetter and play their
pranks upon him. Many wild revelries did those winged sprites hold
upon his grim visage, and many a day did the pleasure loving
inhabitants of the lively village of Pendleton go forth and join the
grand revel. On such occasions the newly made playground resounded
with merry shouts and tinkling bells, for there skating and
sleigh-riding and other winter sports were brought to perfection.
Our young friends of the "Bay State" were quite at home amid such
scenes, and nearly every day, might be seen dashing up before their
hotel, a fanciful little sleigh drawn by a fine spirited grey, who
chafed and stamped, and shook his necklace of silver bells, as if to
signal the fair lady, whose coming he so impatiently waited. His
temper, however, was seldom severely tested, for it was Dr. Goodrich
who sported this elegant little establishment, and Louise Sherman well
knew at what hour of the day to be in readiness for a ride.
Occasionally the duties of his profession detained the doctor beyond
his usual time, and then came Louise's turn to feel the least bit in
the world uneasy and anxious. But one day there was a delay of the
kind which passed apparently unheeded by her. She had as usual
brought out her little fur cap with its red ribbon ties and deposited
it with her gloves upon the table, and having arranged her mantle near
the fire, and put her overshoes in a warm place upon the hearth, she
seated herself by the window, just opposite her mother who has taking
her afternoon nap in an easy chair. Here she sat for some time
anxiously watching the sleeper, and evidently waiting for her to
awaken. At length Mrs. Sherman opened her eyes, and, as she caught
Louise's eager glance gave a little start. "Hasn't the doctor come
yet?" she asked.
"No mother, but I'm all ready, and I'm glad you are awake, for I
wanted to tell you before I left, that Edward had ordered wine for New
Year's, and he said if it came while he was out, he wished it put in
his private room."
"Wine for New Year's! exclaimed Mrs. Sherman in unfeigned
astonishment.
"Why yes, mother, Edward says our friends will expect it of us."
"I cannot consent to it," said Mrs. Sherman decidedly, "we shall have
a plentiful supply of refreshments, and, Louise, I'm surprised that
you should, in the remotest manner, give your sanction to your
brother's foolish proposal."
"But, mother, said Louise, eagerly, "Edward says that it is pure
domestic wine, and I don't see what harm that can do."
"It was pure domestic wine that made Noah drunk, my dear."
"O dear," said Louise rather impatiently, "I wish old Noah had never
got drunk, if"--
Just then she happened to glance out of the window, and saw the doctor
drive up, and consequently her frowns and Noah's sins were burried in
oblivion, and a smile and a blush bloomed upon their tomb.
Louise had just done tying on her cap when the doctor appeared at the
door, and, while he was exchanging civilities with her mother, she
slipped out and ran to her brother whom she saw coming in the
passage.
"We can't have it Ned," she whispered, "mother has set her foot down."
"Yes?"
"Yes Ned, she has."
Edward frowned slightly, but said nothing, for by that time, the
doctor was hastening his sister away and his mother was gently calling
him.
"Edward."
"Yes mother," and, entering her room, he threw himself carelessly into
the seat which Louise had vacated.
For a few moments both were silent, and as the son looked into the
mother's face, he plainly saw that she was filled with grief and
anxiety; and his heart smote him for he really loved and revered his
mother; but he resolved to appear as if he had observed nothing amiss,
and, taking his hat to leave, he said quite cheerfully, "well mother
what are your commands?"
"Edward I have a request to make of you," replied Mrs. Sherman with
some feeling in her tone.
"Speak, mother dear," said he, falling pleasantly into his seat.
"It is my request, Edward, that you do not provide wine, or any other
stimulant for our New Year's entertainment."
"What, not coffee, mother?" said Edward laughingly.
"You know very well what I mean," said Mrs. Sherman with a faint
smile.
"Of course it shall be as you wish," said he more seriously, "but
really, mother, I think you are too strict. I am afraid our friends
will have a mean opinion of our hospitality."
"They will, of course, understand that we are principled against the
use of intoxicating drinks.
"As a beverage," chimed in Edward with a touch of irony in his tone.
Mrs. Sherman looked hurt, and Edward repented again. "Mother," said
he, "forgive me, I did not intend to wound you. Let us drop a subject
upon which we cannot agree.
"But, Edward, I cannot bear that we should differ. I have always
endeavored to instil correct principles into the minds of my children,
and now, just as they are on the threshold of what might be a useful
life, I find the tares which an enemy had sown beginning to spring up.
"But mother, you know I do not approve of indulging to excess any more
than you do. It is only the total abstinence principles to which I
object, and even Louise says she can see no harm in an occasional
social glass."
"Does Miss DeWolf say the same," said Mrs. Sherman fixing her eyes on
Edward.
"I do not know, I am sure," replied Edward nervously twirling his hat,
"I have never had any conversation with her on the subject."
"Miss DeWolf is orthodox, I am prepared to testify," exclaimed Louise,
tripping into the room, and, before any question could be put as to
the cause of her sudden return, she gratuitously gave the information.
"A man had a fit or something," she said, "and I must forsooth, lose
my ride, for the doctor's motto is business before pleasure; a very
good motto when I am not concerned, but if the man could only have
been taken an hour or two later, it would have been a great
accommodation. However," and she glanced archly at her brother, "I
should then have lost the opportunity of eavesdropping, and
consequently of giving in my testimony in favor of my future
sister-in-law."
"Thank you, I suppose you obtained your information of my future
brother-in-law."
"No matter how I got it, but I'm fully prepared to prove that the
young lady's principles are severely 'touch not, taste not, handle
not.' We have a great work before us, Ned, for they will not easily be
persuaded to our opinions I can assure you."
"I do not wish to influence my friends to think just as I do," said
Edward, proudly.
"Well, somehow you have managed to make me think as you do, for you
know I was once as strict as mother."
"I hope you have not changed your views on my account, Louise."
"No, not exactly, Ned, yet, I must confess, your arguments have had
great weight with me."
"I would advise you to reconsider, and think independently," said
Edward rather sharply.
Louise was silent, and Mrs. Sherman now seized the opportunity to
change the topic to one more intimately connected with their future
plans and prospects. In this the attention of the trio was absorbed
until towards evening, when they were interrupted by the doctor's well
known knock.
The doctor looked pale and worn, and, as he seated himself, Edward
remarked, "you look tired doctor."
"Yes, I _am_ tired," replied the doctor, "I am tired of the world, or
rather I am tired of the way we are living in it. I have had an
aggravated case of delirium tremens on my hands this afternoon, and I
wish every liquor seller in Pendleton could have looked in upon that
distressed family. A young and interesting wife, and several small
children were compelled to witness a scene of suffering, the horrors
of which were truly appalling."
"It is strange," said Edward, "that men will make such beasts of
themselves."
"It is strange," said the doctor, "that if men have no hearts of pity,
that we can not have laws to prevent the sale of the poison."
"But, doctor, men are not compelled to buy it."
"But, Sherman, men _will_ buy it, and will drink it, the proof of
which is before us every day we live. These temperance societies are
no doubt most of them useful to society, but they do not deal the
death-blow to the monster. Nothing but the law can do that. I know
your opinion, Sherman, but in the name of humanity, what are we to
do?"
"Why, doctor, we shall have to let men kill themselves if they will be
so foolish. We cannot forbid the sale of pistols, because men often
use them for purposes of committing suicide; and, even to suppose that
a man is quite certain when he sells a deadly weapon to another, that
he will use it for the purpose of self distruction, I hold that he has
the legal right to sell it; that he has no moral right I readily
admit."
"I do not understand law, Sherman; _perhaps_ our constitution is so
framed that the people have not the power to say whether or not, our
nation shall become a nation of drunkards; perhaps the thousands of
intelligent men, who, heart-sick as I am this day in view of the
dreadful consequences accruing from the sale of intoxicating drinks,
have ignorantly petitioned their state legislature for a prohibitory
law, which they had no power to enact; perhaps those judges are
correct who have said their state can not have a law that would
restore peace and happiness to thousands of families, whose sorrow it
is too harrowing to think upon. I say, _perhaps_, for, I cannot but
hope that judges who are equally intelligent and who have told us
differently may not be mistaken. One thing is certain, the hand of the
liquor dealer must be stayed, or in every house there will be one
dead."
"Public opinion might do much towards accomplishing the desired
object," suggested Mrs. Sherman."
"True enough, Mrs. Sherman, said the doctor, "but public opinion must
have its naps, and at best it is seldom half awake and it requires an
immoderate amount of force to bring the sleepy thing to the right
standpoint."
"Well, doctor, I am willing to use my little strength in the cause,
although I regret to say that my efforts as far as my family are
concerned have proved entirely fruitless."
The doctor turned a surprised look towards Louise, whose face was
instantly suffused with blushes.