will and
the drink habit the same as smallpox or yellow fever. It was sent to
be endured. We all felt that there was something wrong somewhere and a
terrible injustice put on us but we didn't know what to do about it and
so we all tried to learn to be cheerful and like our men in spite of
their shortcomings.

"But one woman in this town was an out-and-out prohibitionist. She was
Cynthia's mother. She came from some odd sort of a settlement in the
East and Cynthia's father used to laugh and say he stole her. And I
think he did. She was so lovely and sweet and had such strange notions
of right and wrong. But for all her sweetness she was firm. And she
set her face sternly and publicly against drink. It was the only
thing, people said, about which Joshua Churchill and his wife Abby ever
disagreed. Though she didn't convince him still she went to her grave
without ever seeing her husband drunk.

"And her girl, Cynthia, swore that she would do the same. For Cynthy
was just like her mother and as full of strange notions of right.

"Well, it was bound to happen. The wonder of it is it didn't happen
before. I think I always knew that Dick and Roger drank a little
sometimes with the other boys. But Cynthia never thought about it, I
guess. She was an only child and guarded from everything and she
supposed every man was like her father. And, anyhow, she was too happy
to think of trouble. Dick and Roger were considered two of the best
boys in town. There were stories now and then of Roger's mad doings
but they never got to Cynthia, and if they had she would have just
laughed, I expect, so sure was she that her boy was all she thought him.

"I was to be married one week and Cynthy the next. We had our wedding
things ready. And my wedding day came. Cynthy was bridesmaid and
Roger was best man and everything went off beautifully until the dance
in the evening. Dick and I were too poor to take a wedding trip so we
had a dance instead.

"And then came the tragedy. Some of the older men did it. They didn't
stop to think. But they meant no real harm. In those days it was
considered funny to get another man drunk. But they didn't know
Cynthia's strange heart. They brought drink, more than was at all
necessary and--and--all I remember of my wedding night is standing in
the moonlight, holding on to Cynthia and crying miserably. I knew it
would come sometime but I never dreamed it would come to hurt me then.