pity! And yet
that poor, pitiable creature had once been a fair and lovely girl, as full
of life and hope as she was of health and beauty. But now, alas, how
fallen! What had done it? The wine cup, used in circles of fashion, began
the work of ruin. Rum and gin were doing their best to finish it.

Finding they could not rouse her, the boys ran off to Mr. Tipstaff, the
constable, and told him about her. That worthy repaired to the spot. Aided
by one or two others he dragged her to a magistrate's office; and he sent
her to jail as a common vagrant.

These facts were all told to Mr. Carlton and Guy by the landlord of the
hotel, who painted the poor woman in very dark colors. After calling on
the magistrate and requesting that the prisoner might be detained the next
day until it was ascertained certainly that she was Madge's mother, he and
Guy returned home with sad hearts. They talked the matter over as they
walked. Among other questions, Guy asked:

"Do _many_ women become drunkards, Pa?"

"Yes, a great many; though drunken women are not so common as drunken men,
by far."

"It always makes me feel bad to see a tipsy man; but when I once saw a
tipsy _woman_ in New York, it made me shudder. How do _women_ learn to
drink, Pa? They don't go to the tavern like men, do they?"

"Not at first, Guy. Usually they begin at home, or at parties, or when
stopping at the great hotels, where wine is drunk at the dinner-table. In
many families, also, wine is used at the table, and fathers and mothers
teach their daughters to drink it as a daily beverage. But generally, I
believe, ladies begin their habit of drinking wine at parties, taking it,
at first, not from choice, but because they don't like to be thought
singular."

"But I don't see how drinking a little wine at a party can teach a lady to
be a drunkard, Pa," remarked Guy.

"It does not do so, my son, in every case. But too often a lady will
acquire an appetite for wine, which gradually grows stronger and stronger
until she cannot control it. This appetite is not awakened in all who
drink, but it _may_ be. Hence, it is better for all, boys, girls, men, and
women, not to touch the drink that is in the drunkard's bowl."

"So I think, Pa," said Guy, "and therefore, I mean to be a tee-totaler as
long as I live."

"That's right, my son. It is always best to keep as far from a dangerous
place as possible."

When Mr. Carlton and Guy reached home, tea was ready, and they went