Two or three appeared to have
bottles of their own behind the counter; and, winking one red eye to
the bar-keeper, he forthwith produced these choicest and peculiar
cordials, which it was a matter of great interest and favor, among
their acquaintances, to obtain a sip of.
Agreeably to the Yankee habit, under whatever circumstances, the
deportment of all these good fellows, old or young, was decorous and
thoroughly correct. They grew only the more sober in their cups;
there was no confused babble nor boisterous laughter. They sucked in
the joyous fire of the decanters and kept it smouldering in their
inmost recesses, with a bliss known only to the heart which it warmed
and comforted. Their eyes twinkled a little, to be sure; they hemmed
vigorously after each glass, and laid a hand upon the pit of the
stomach, as if the pleasant titillation there was what constituted
the tangible part of their enjoyment. In that spot, unquestionably,
and not in the brain, was the acme of the whole affair. But the true
purpose of their drinking--and one that will induce men to drink, or
do something equivalent, as long as this weary world shall
endure--was the renewed youth and vigor, the brisk, cheerful sense of
things present and to come, with which, for about a quarter of an
hour, the dram permeated their systems. And when such quarters of an
hour can be obtained in some mode less baneful to the great sum of a
man's life,--but, nevertheless, with a little spice of impropriety,
to give it a wild flavor,--we temperance people may ring out our
bells for victory!
The prettiest object in the saloon was a tiny fountain, which threw
up its feathery jet through the counter, and sparkled down again into
an oval basin, or lakelet, containing several goldfishes.
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