that
touched and subdued his feelings; for he well understood that, in a
certain sense, she was merely acting.

But few words passed between them during the brief morning meal. As the
hour was later than usual, Wilkinson found it necessary to hurry off to
his place of business; so, rising before his wife left the table, he
kissed her pale lips, and, without venturing to make a remark, left the
room.

The door had scarcely closed upon him, ere a tear stole out from the
sad eyes of Mrs. Wilkinson. A few moments she sat in statue-like
stillness, then there was a quick glancing of her eye upwards, while
the motion of her lips showed that she asked strength for herself, or
protection for one whom she loved better than herself.

It was a regular custom with Wilkinson to stop at a drinking-house on
his way to his store, and get a glass of brandy. This was an afternoon
as well as a morning custom, which had been continued so long that it
was now a habit. Yet he was not aware of this fact, and, if he had
thought about the custom, would have regarded it as one easily
abandoned. He had a glimpse of his error on the present occasion.

To do a thing by habit is to do it without reflection; and herein lies
the dangerous power of habit; for, when we act from confirmed habit, it
is without thought as to the good or evil to result from our action.
Thus had Wilkinson been acting for months as regards his regular glass
of brandy in the morning and afternoon, while passing from his dwelling
to his store. Not until now was he in the least conscious that habit
was gaining an undue power over him.

As the eyes of Wilkinson rested upon the form of a certain elegant
coloured glass lamp standing in front of a well-known drinking-house,
he was conscious of a desire for his accustomed draught of brandy and
water; but, at the same instant, there came a remembrance of the
painful occurrences of the evening previous, and he said to
himself--"One such lesson ought to make me hate brandy, and every thing
else that can rob me of a true regard for the happiness of Mary."

Yet, even as he said this, habit, disturbed in the stronghold of its
power, aroused itself, and furnished him with an argument that
instantly broke down his forming resolution. This argument was his loss
of rest, the consequent debility arising therefrom, and the actual need
of his system for something stimulating, in order to enable him to
enter properly upon the business of th