t isn't rot-gut I
never smelt it."

Alfred pretended to go to sleep and the father and mother talked long
and earnestly. Their solicitude for the erring boy, touched Alfred to
the heart. He had not realized until this moment the meanness of his
actions. When Alfred fully realized the misery and suffering he had
caused his parents, he was impelled to crawl to them and kiss the hem of
their garments, promising never to cause them pain from the same cause
again.

Let it be recorded he did not realize immediately when he drank from the
cup, that it was whiskey. After the first swallow or two he became
oblivious to his danger. He felt that he was forever disgraced. He
thought of getting out of bed and fleeing, he cared not whither, only to
get far away from the scene of his disgrace.

We do not know that the boy resolved that he would never touch, taste or
handle whiskey again. We do not know what resolutions he made to
himself, but we do know that whisky never passed his lips again until he
was more than a man grown and then rarely and in very small quantities.

Alfred slept. When he awoke it was daylight. The sun was shining
brightly. His first thought was that he would be late for work. Then he
heard the voice of a neighbor woman, one whom the mother disliked, one
who was noted for her tatling propensities. As an excuse to call she had
brought fruit for Alfred. The boy overheard her inquiries as to his
condition. She whispered long and earnestly with Lin. The latter,
looking down at the pale face of Alfred began questioning him:

"Well, I see ye're alive yit, I gess ye'll kum out of hit. I s'pose the
hull durn town'll be laffin' at me. I never dreamed ye wus jus corned.
Ef I'd knowed, I'd brot ye out uf it quicker; I'd jus made a hull tin
cup uf hot mustard--"

Alfred heard no further than "tin cup." Flopping over on his stomach,
endeavoring to hold down the last remnants of his innards, he begged to
be left alone. But Lin kept on:

"An' yere I sends fur the doctor es innercent es a baby an' up an' tole
him Sammy Steele's mewel hed histed ye. An' when he was feelin' roun' ye
I thot he was feelin' fur busted bones, an' durned ef I ever knowed even
when ye begun throwin' up on the carpit thet ye wus jus drunk."

Lin continued: "Ef I hadn't sent fur the doctor it wouldn't be so blamed
green lookin' in me. I'll never hear the las' uf hit. I'll bet Sammy
Steele's mewel's ears will burn, the hull town'll be talkin' 'bo