that amazed him. Of course the rest of the
evening was a chaos to him. The throat
down which he poured the liquor was as
tender as a child's. The men turned his
head with their ironical compliments. Their
boisterous good-fellowship was as intoxicat-
ing to this poor young recluse as the liquor.

It was the revulsion from this feeling,
when he came to a consciousness that the
men were laughing at him and not with
him, that wrecked his life. He had gone
from beer to whiskey, and from whiskey to
brandy, by this time, at the suggestion of
the men, and was making awkward lunges
with a billiard cue, spurred on by the mock-
ing applause of the others. One young
fellow was particularly hilarious at his
expense. His jokes became insults, or so
they seemed to David.

A quarrel followed, half a jest on the part
of the other, all serious as far as David was
concerned. And then -- Well, who could
tell how it happened? The billiard cue was
in David's hand, and the skull of the jester
was split, a horrible gaping thing, revolt-
ingly animal.

David never saw his home again. His