ecame intemperate, and at the end of his second term had fallen so low
that his party abandoned him and sent another in his place. After that
he reformed and came to this city, bringing his family with him. He had
two children, a boy and a girl. His wife was a cultivated and very
superior woman. Here he commenced the practice of law, and soon by his
talents and devotion to business acquired a good practice and regained
the social position he had lost.

"'Unhappily, his return to society was his return to the sphere of
danger. If invited to dine with a respectable citizen, he had to
encounter temptation in one of its most enticing forms. Good wine was
poured for him, and both appetite and pride urged him to accept the
fatal proffer. If he went to a public or private entertainment, the
same perils compassed him about. From all these he is said to have held
himself aloof for over a year, but his reputation at the bar and
connection with important cases brought him more and more into notice,
and he was finally drawn within the circle of danger. Mrs. Ridley's
personal accomplishments and relationship with one or two families in
the State of high social position brought her calls and invitations,
and almost forced her back again into society, much as she would have
preferred to remain secluded.

"'Mr. Ridley, it is said, felt his danger, and I am told never escorted
any lady but his wife to the supper-room at a ball or party, and there
you would always see them close together, he not touching wine. But it
happened last winter that invitations came, for one of the largest
parties of the season, and it happened also that only a few nights
before the party a little daughter had been born to Mrs. Ridley. Mr.
Ridley went alone. It was a cold and stormy night. The wind blew
fiercely, wailing about the roofs and chimneys and dashing the
fast-falling snow in its wild passion against the windows of the room
in which his sick wife lay. Rest of body and mind was impossible,
freedom from anxiety impossible. There was everything to fear,
everything to lose. The peril of a soldier going into the hottest of
the battle was not greater than the peril that her husband would
encounter on that night; and if he fell! The thought chilled her blood,
as well it might, and sent a shiver to her heart.

"'She was in no condition to bear any shock or strain, much less the
shock and strain of a fear like this. As best she could she held her
restless a