hrough our freedom. Forgive
me for saying so, but the truth is best.

"'Wine was free as water--good wine, tempting to the taste. I meant to
be very guarded, to take only a glass or two, for on the next day I had
a delicate and dangerous operation to perform, and needed steady
nerves. But the wine was good, and my one or two glasses only made way
for three or four. The temptation of the hour were too much for my
habitual self-restraint. I took a glass of wine with you, Mr. Elliott,
after I had already taken more than was prudent under the circumstances
another with Mr. Birtwell, another with General Abercrombie--alas for
him! he fell that night so low that he has never risen again--and
another with some one else. It was almost impossible to put a restraint
upon yourself. Invitation and solicitation met you at every turn. The
sphere of self-indulgence was so strong that it carried almost every
one a little too far, and many into excess and debauch. I was told
afterward that at a late hour the scene in the supper-room was simply
disgraceful. Boys and men, and sadder still, young women, were more
than half drunk, and behaved most unseemly. I can believe this, for I
have seen such things too often.

"'As I went out from Mr. Birtwell's that night, and the cold,
snow-laden air struck into my face on crossing the pavement to my
carriage, cooling my blood and clearing my brain, I thought of Mrs.
Carlton and the life that had been placed in my hands, and a feeling of
concern dropped into my heart. A night's indulgence in wine-drinking
was a poor preparation for the work before me, in which a clear head
and steady nerves were absolutely essential. How would I be in the
morning? The question thrust itself into my thoughts and troubled me.
My apprehensions were not groundless. Morning found me with unsteady
nerves. But this was not all. From the moment I left my bed until
within half an hour of the time when the operation was to begin, I was
under much excitement and deeply anxious about two of my patients, Mrs.
Voss and Mrs. Ridley, both dangerously ill, Mrs. Voss, as you know, in
consequence of her alarm about her son, and Mrs. Ridley--But you have
heard all about her case and its fatal termination, and understand in
what way it was connected with the party at Mr. and Mrs. Birtwell's.
The consequence of that night's excesses met me at every turn. The
unusual calls, the imminent danger in which I found Mrs. Ridley and the
almost