"You mean I'm puttin' on airs 'cause I won't drink with you? No,
sir-ree. There isn't a man I'd drink with sooner than with you."

"Come up, then, old fellow. What'll you take?"

"I'll take a sandwich, if you insist on it."

"That's vittles. What'll you drink?"

"Nothing but water. That's strong enough for me."

"Danged if I don't believe you're a minister in disguise."

"I guess I'd make a cur'us preacher," said Joshua, with a comical
twist of his features. "You wouldn't want to hear me preach more'n
once."

In this way our friend Mr. Bickford managed to evade the hospitable
invitations of his comrades and still retain their good-will--not
always an easy thing to achieve in those times.

Joe was equally positive in declining to drink, but it was easier for
him to escape. Even the most confirmed drinkers felt it to be wrong
to coax a boy to drink against his will.

There was still another--Kellogg--who steadfastly adhered to cold
water, or tea and coffee, as a beverage. These three were dubbed by
their companions the "Cold-Water Brigade," and accepted the
designation good-naturedly.