"`Abel,' exclaimed Hollins, in a fresh burst of candor, `you will neverbe a Reformer, until you possess some of the commonest elements ofknowledge.'

"The rest of us were much diverted: it was a pleasant relief to ourmonotonous amiability.

"Abel, however, had a stubborn streak inside his character. The nextday he sent Perkins Brown to Bridgeport for a dozen bottles of`Beer.' Perkins, either intentionally or by mistake, (I alwayssuspected the former,) brought pint-bottles of Scotch ale,which he placed in the coolest part of the cellar. The eveninghappened to be exceedingly hot and sultry, and, as we were allfanning ourselves and talking languidly, Abel bethought him of hisbeer. In his thirst, he drank the contents of the first bottle,almost at a single draught.

"`The effect of beer,' exclaimed he, `depends, I think, on thecommixture of the nourishing principle of the grain with thecooling properties of the water. Perhaps, hereafter, a liquid foodof the same character may be invented, which shall save us frommastication and all the diseases of the teeth.'

"Hollins and Shelldrake, at his invitation, divided a bottlebetween them, and he took a second. The potent beverage was notlong in acting on a mind so unaccustomed to its influence. Hegrew unusually talkative and sentimental, in a few minutes.

"`0h, sing, somebody!' he sighed in a hoarse rapture: `the eveningwas made for Song.'

"Miss Ringtop, nothing loath, immediately commenced, `When starsare in the quiet skies;' but scarcely had she finished the firstverse before Abel interrupted her.