"O, dear, Henry! Don't talk in that kind of a way! You make me shudder all over. You're getting too much carried away by this subject of temperance." And Mrs. Eldridge left the room to look after her domestic duties. But she could not push from her mind certain uneasy thoughts which her son's suggestions had awakened. During the morning an intimate lady friend came in to whom Mrs. Eldridge spoke of the intended party. "And would you believe it," she said, "that old-fashioned boy of mine actually proposed that we should have coffee instead of wine and brandy." "And you're going to adopt the suggestion," replied the lady, her face lighten up with a pleasant smile. "It would suit my own views exactly; but then such an innovation upon a common usage as that; is not to be thought of for a moment." "And why not?" asked the lady. "Coffee is safe, while wine and brandy are always dangerous in promiscuous companies. You can never tell in what morbid appetite you may excite an unhealthy craving. You may receive into your house a young man with intellect clear, and moral purposes well-balanced, and send him home at midnight, to his mother, stupid from intoxication! Take your son's advice, my friend. Exclude the wine and brandy, and give a pleasant cup of coffee to your guests instead." "O, dear, no, I can't do that!" said Mrs. Eldridge. "It would look as if we were too mean to furnish wines and brandy. Besides, my husband would never consent to it." "Let me give you a little experience of my own. It may help you to a right decision in this case."