Gin and “Bitter” Experience

The temperance advocate had handed us a pamphlet, and, as she turned it over, my friend smiled reminiscently. 

"There's one drink I shall never touch again as long as I live," she ‘aid," and that's gin.~- not since I experimented with it at the age of seven: My father had a visitor one day for whom he was mixing a cocktail, and I watched with a child's interest as he rubbed a drop or two of gin on the Glass. Though I was familiar with his usual wine, it so happened that I had never seen this particular drink before. 

"What's that?" said I. 

"Not for little girls," replied my father, corking the bottle firmly,and, with a suspicious glance at me, he put it well out of reach on the highest shelf of the sideboard. But I was not so easily daunted. No sooner was his back turned than I brought a chair, heaved it on the sideboard, climbed on it and reached the bottle down.  Pouring myself a good, tumblerful, I replaced the bottle and chair and slipped away with the prize, which I drained completely. 

To this day I remember the awful sensations that followed. With my legs giving way beneath me and the room circling, I staggered to my bed and lay down. The furniture whirled in mad dances and the ceiling billowed down upon - me till I hid my head under the bedclothes from the awful ‘thing that had overtaken me.

Teatime came and a search was made, A horror stricken family found me apparently dying, and a servant ran for a doctor. The fumes had evaporated by then and he was quite unable to diagnose my complaint. Fearful of punishment, I kept my mouth shut, and it was many years before the family discovered the real nature of the mysterious complaint that had so suddenly attacked their baby. But", she laughed,"to this day the sight of gin makes me shudder."