Then the fellows said, "You're all right! You are initiated
now and you're a man!"
I didn't feel very much like a man. I felt as though I was some fellow
without a single spark of manhood in my whole make-up. I thought of
mother; what would she say if she knew I had broken my promise to her? I
had promised her when father died never to take a drink in all my life.
I knelt at her dear side, with her hands upon my head, and she prayed
that God would bless her boy and keep him from drink. I had honestly
intended to keep that promise, but you see how the Devil popped in and
once more made me do what I knew was wrong--drink that first cursed
glass of beer.
I went home, walking all the way, and trying to get the smell out of my
mouth. I could not face my dear mother, so I went to my room without
supper. I thought that all she had to do was to look in my face and she
would know that I had broken my promise, and I was ashamed. She came up
later and asked me what was the matter, and I said I had a headache. If
I had had the courage to tell her then, things might have been
different! She brought me a cup of tea and bade me good-night.
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