“James!  James!” she said, in a voice of assumed calmness—­laying her hand upon him and endeavouring to arouse him to consciousness.  But it was a long time before she could get him so fully awake as to make him understand that it was necessary for him to go up stairs and retire to bed.  At length she succeeded in getting him into his chamber before the servants had come down; and then into bed.  Once there, he fell off again into a profound sleep.

“Is pa sick?” asked little Emma, coming into her mother’s chamber, about an hour after, and seeing her father in bed.

“Yes, dear, your father is quite unwell!” Mrs. Martin said, in a calm voice.

“What ails him, ma?” pursued the child.

“He is not very well, dear; but will be better soon,” the mother said, evasively.

The little girl looked into her mother’s face for a few moments unsatisfied with the answer, and unwilling to ask another question.  She felt that something was wrong, more than the simple illness of her father.

It was near the middle of the day when Mr. Martin became fully awake and conscious of his condition.  If he had sought forgetfulness of the past night’s debauch and degradation, the sad, reproving face of his wife, pale and languid from anxiety and watching, would too quickly have restored the memory of his fall.

The very bitterness of his self-condemnation—­the very keenness of wounded pride irritated his feelings, and made him feel gloomy and sullen.  He felt deeply for his suffering wife—­he wished most ardently to speak to her a word of comfort, but his pride kept him silent.  At the dinner hour, he eat a few mouthfuls in silence, and then withdrew from the table and left the house to attend to his ordinary business.  On his way to his office, he passed a hotel where he had been in the habit of drinking.  He felt so wretched—­so much in want of something to buoy up his depressed feelings, that he entered, and calling for some wine, drank two or three glasses.  This, in a few minutes, had the desired effect, and he repaired to his office feeling like a new man.

During the afternoon, he drank wine frequently; and when he returned home in the evening, was a good deal under its influence; so much so, that all the reserve he had felt in the morning was gone.  He spoke pleasantly and freely with his wife—­talked of future schemes of pleasure and success.  But, alas! his pleasant words fell upon her heart like sunshine upon ice.  It was too painfully evident that he had again been drinking—­and drinking to the extent of making him altogether unconscious of his true position.  She would rather a thousand times have seen him overwhelmed by remorse.  Then there would have been something for her hope to have leaned upon.

Day after day did Mr. Martin continue to resort to the wine-cup.  Every morning he felt so wretched that existence seemed a burden to him, until his keen perceptions were blunted by wine.  Then the appetite for something stronger would be stimulated, and draught after draught of brandy would follow, until when night came, he would return home to agonize the heart of his wife with a new pang, keener than any that had gone before.