TEA IN LADIES' NOVELS 



WHAT would women novel- 

 ists do without tea in their 

 books ? The novelists of 

 the rougher sex write of " over the 

 coffee and cigars " ; or, "around the 

 gay and festive board " ; or, " over a 

 bottle of old port"; or/ 'another bottle 

 of dry and sparkling champagne was 

 cracked"; or, "and the succulent welsh 

 rarebits were washed down with royal 

 mugs of musty ale"; or, " as the storm 

 grew fiercer, the captain ordered all 

 hands to splice the main brace," i. e., 

 to take a drink of rum ; or, " as he 

 gulped down the last drink of fiery 

 whiskey, he reeled through the tav- 

 ern door, and his swaying form drif t- 



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