.

"I s'pose we shall 'ave to 'ave something," he ses in a whisper to Sam;
"we can't expect to come in and sit down for nothing. What'll you take?"

Sam looked at 'im, but he might just as well ha' looked at a brass door-
knob.

"I--I--I'll 'ave a small ginger-beer," he ses at last, "a very small
one."

"One small ginger," ses Mr. Goodman to the bar-maid, "and one special
Scotch."

Sam could 'ardly believe his ears, and he stood there 'oldin' his glass
o' ginger-beer and watching Peter's teetotal uncle drink whiskey, and
thought 'e must be dreaming.

"I dessay it seems very shocking to you," ses Mr. Goodman, putting down
'is glass and dryin' 'is lips on each other, "but I find it useful for
these attacks."

"I--I s'pose the flavor's very nasty?" ses Sam, taking a sip at 'is
ginger-beer.

"Not exactly wot you could call nasty," ses Mr. Goodman, "though I dessay
it would seem so to you. I don't suppose you could swallow it."

"I don't s'pose I could," ses Sam, "but I've a good mind to 'ave a try.
If it's good for one teetotaller I don't see why it should hurt another."

Mr. Goodman looked at 'im very hard, and then he ordered a whiskey and
stood watching while Sam, arter pretending for a minnit to look at it as
though 'e didn't know wot to do with it, took a sip and let it roll round
'is mouth.

"Well?" ses Mr. Goodman, looking at 'im anxious-like.

"It ain't so 'orrid as I 'ad fancied," ses Sam, lap-ping up the rest very
gentle.

[Illustration: "'It aint so 'orrid as I 'ad fancied.' ses Sam."]

"'Ave you 'ad enough to do you all the good it ought to?"

Mr. Goodman said that it was no good 'arf doing a thing, and p'r'aps he
'ad better 'ave one more; and arter Sam 'ad paid for the next two they
went out arm-in-arm.

"'Ow cheerful everybody looks!" ses Mr. Good-man, smiling.

"They're going to amuse theirselves, I expect," ses Sam--"music-'alls
and such-like."

Mr. Goodman shook his 'ead at 'em.

"Music-'alls ain't so bad as some people try to make out," ses Sam.

"Look 'ere; I took some drink to see what the flavor was like; suppose
you go to a music-'all to see wot that's like?"

"It seems on'y fair," ses Peter's uncle, considering.

"It is fair," ses Sam, and twenty minutes arterwards they was sitting in
a music-'all drinking each other's 'ealths and listening to the songs--
Mr. Goodman with a big cigar in 'is mouth and his 'at cocked over one
eye, and Sam beating time to the music with '