f
moderate drinking.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE COMMITTEE'S DECISION.

THE weekly Band of Hope meeting had been carried on through the long
winter months with vigour and success, and now on the evening of one of
the first spring days, its committee had met to decide upon the
all-important question as to whether the meetings should be discontinued
through the summer months.

"I certainly think it would be a pity to hold the meetings on the long
bright evenings," said Mr. Jones, and, judging from the expression on
many of the faces, his opinion was shared by several.

"It would be a downright shame to coop up the children in a close
school-room when they might be enjoying themselves in the bright
sunshine," said Mr. Gale.

It may be here stated that the committee was comprised of equal numbers
of abstainers and non-abstainers, to which latter class the
afore-mentioned speakers belonged. From a corner, a nervous little man
summoned up courage to suggest the possibility of the younger members of
the Band of Hope breaking their pledge, if they had not a constant
reminder in the shape of their attractive weekly meeting.

"That goes to prove what is my firm conviction, that these kind of
affairs, popular as they have become, accomplish little of what they
profess to, for although pledges of total abstinence are taken from the
young folks who attend in large numbers, it only needs a trivial pretext
such as a change of residence, or the suspension of their meetings, and
they become forgetful of the pledge which they have signed," said a
prominent member of the committee.

"You are quite right, my dear sir," replied a middle-aged gentleman
beside him; "as I can testify by my own experience. When I was a lad of
seven or eight, I attended a Band of Hope meeting. Like all children, I
was readily influenced by others, and as most of the little folks who
attended signed the pledge, I did the same. Two or three years
afterwards my parents moved out of the neighbourhood, and it never
occurred to my childish mind that I was just as much bound to keep my
pledge as though I had still been attending the meeting where I signed
it. So I partook with my brothers and sisters of the daily stimulant
which found its way to our table, to the amusement of my father, who had
looked upon my previous self-denial as a boyish whim."

"I believe your experience is by no means an isolated one," added
another member, co