There were always decanters of liquor upon the buffet in the dining
room; and liquor was served to guests upon any--and every pretext. And
the women drank as freely as the men--even Miss Gladys drank, a thing
which was simply appalling to Samuel.
Of course, these were privileged people, and they knew what they
wanted to do. But could it be right for anyone to drink? As in the
case of suicide, Samuel found his moral convictions beginning to
waver. Perhaps it was that drink did not affect these higher beings as
it did ordinary people! Or perhaps what they drank was something that
cheered without inebriating! Certain it was that the servants got
drunk; and Samuel had seen that they took the stuff from the decanters
used by the guests.
It was something over which he labored with great pain of soul. But,
of course, all his hesitations and sophistries were for the benefit of
his master--that it could be right for Samuel himself to touch liquor
was something that could not by any chance enter his mind.
The dinner had begun; and Samuel went on several errands to the room
below the butler's pantry, and so from the dumb-waiter shafts he could
hear the sounds of laughter and conversation. And more wine went up--
it was evidently a very merry party. The meal was protracted for two
or three hours, and the noise grew louder and louder. They were
shouting so that one could hear them all over the house.
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