back? No sir! It is no light thing, as I regard it, to put a
stumbling-block in another's way or to lead the weak or unwary into
temptation."

"Perhaps you are right about it," was the answer, "and I must confess
that, though not a temperance man myself, I never feel quite
comfortable about it when I see clergymen taking wine freely at public
dinners and private parties. It is not a good example, to say the least
of it; and if there is a class of men in the community to whom we have
some right to look for a good example, it is the class chosen and set
apart to the work of saving human souls."

CHAPTER VI.

MR. RIDLEY went home from that first party with his head as clear and
his pulse as cool as when he came. The wine had not tempted him very
strongly, though its odor had been fragrant to his nostrils, and the
sparkle in the glasses pleasant to his sight. Appetite had not aroused
itself nor put on its strength, but lay half asleep, waiting for some
better opportunity, when the sentinels should be weaker or off their
guard.

It had been much harder for him to refuse the invitation of his host
than to deny the solicitations of the old desire. He had been in
greater danger from pride than from appetite; and there remained with
him a sense of being looked down upon and despised by the wealthy and
eminent citizen who had honored him with an invitation, and who
doubtless regarded his refusal to take wine with him as little less
than a discourtesy. There were moments when he almost regretted that
refusal. The wine which had been offered was of the purest quality, and
he remembered but too well the theory advanced by Mr. Elliott, that the
moderate use of pure wine would restore the normal taste and free a man
whose appetite had been vitiated from its enslaving influence. His mind
recurred to that thought very often, and the more he dwelt upon it, the
more inclined he was to accept it as true. If it were indeed so, then
he might be a man among men again.

Mr. Ridley did not feel as comfortable in his mind after as before this
party, nor was he as strong as before. The enemy had found a door
unguarded, had come in stealthily, and was lying on the alert, waiting
for an opportunity.

A few weeks afterward came another invitation. It was accepted. Mrs.
Ridley was not really well enough, to go out, but for her husband's
sake she went with him, and by her presence and the quiet power she had
over him held him back fr