’I’ll tell ye, lass,’ he retorted. ’It was one where they taught folk no to force other folk to drink against their will.’ ’Then it was different frae the one where I was brought up, for there, when the doctor ordered anybody to take medicine, they were made to take it. And here’s yours,’ she said; and she stood before him with the glass in her hand. She was good-natured; it would have been ungracious to refuse; he took the glass from her and drank off the contents. Now a glass of champagne, even with the addition of a little angostura bitters, cannot be called a very powerful potion to those accustomed to such things; but the fact was that he had not touched a drop of any alcoholic fluid for two days; and this seemed to go straight to the brain. It produced a slight, rather agreeable giddiness; a sense of comfort was diffused throughout the system; he was not so anxious to get away. And Kate began talking—upbraiding him for thinking that she wanted to see him otherwise than well and in his usual health, and declaring that if he were guided by her, there would be no need for him to torture himself with total abstinence, and to reduce himself to this abject state. The counsel (which was meant in all honesty) fell on yielding ears; Kate brought some biscuits, and filled herself out another glass. ’That’s what it is,’ she said boldly, ’if you would be ruled by my advice there would be no shaking hands and white cheeks for ye. Feeling better, are ye?—ay, I warrant ye! Here, man, try this.’ She filled his glass again, adding a good dose of bitters. ’This one I will, but not a drop more,’ said he. ’Ye’re a desperate creature, lass, for making folk comfortable.’ ’I ken what’s the matter wi’ you better than ye ken yoursel’, Ronald,’ said she, looking at him shrewdly. ’You’re disappointed—you’re out o’ heart—because thae fine American friends o’ yours hae forgotten you; and you’ve got sick o’ this new work o’ yours; and you’ve got among a lot o’ wild fellows that are leading ye to the devil. Mark my words. Americans! Better let a man trust to his ain kith and kin.’ ’Well, Katie, lass, I maun say this, that ye’ve just been ower kind to me since ever I came to Glasgow.’ ’Another glass, Ronald——’ ’Not one drop—thank ye’—and this time he rose with the definite resolve to get away, for even these two glasses had caused a swimming in his head, and he knew not how much more he might drink if he stayed. ’Better go for a long walk, then,’ said Kate, ’and come back at three and have dinner with us. I’ll soon put ye on your legs again—trust to me.’ But when he went out into the open air, he found himself so giddy and half-dazed and bewildered that, instead of going away for any long walk, he thought he would go back home and lie down. He felt less happy now. Why had he taken this accursed thing after all his resolves?