Litchfield enquirer., 1873-01-02

hEve given anything and everything had to give could he have looked in upon it
 was sure there was Aothing wrong 1T eAcla Amusement. ! could not imagine
 how boy could be made worse by suct
 happaneas. and never discovered that hs VAS. Indeed, l can trace thousand good aa4d refining influences to those evenings
 Ehey were the shining goals of every
 weeks race with myyouthful competitors
 Menie they were accounted simply as paeasures by us, they were regarded by tie master and teachers as among the ehoicest means of education. The man nfrs of the school were shaped by them asd I know that hundreds of boys attrib saie to them their release from the bond
 a8e of bashfulness, under which many g
 man suffers while in, the presence ot vpmen during all his life - sI repeat that have never discovered tat boy was made worse by his expe. rhnces and exercises during those pre-. cpus evenings; and 1 have often thought hSw sad thing it is for . child to lear, Hat he had beeR deceived or misinformed
 b1 his parents with relation to practice saeharged with innocent enjoyment. selter here no plea for dancing beyond a
 salthful record of its effect upon the oc- cfpants of the Birds Nest. suppose the ahusement may be liable to abuse: most GAod things are; and do not know why tihs should be an exception. This, how .eter, l am sure 1t Is legitimate to say sSft the sin of abuse, be it great or little, i|YenIal compared with that which pre- saats to the conscience as a sin in itseli tat which is not sin in itself, and thus charges an innocent amusement with the f4yor of guilt, and drives the young in tIeir exuberant life and love of harmoni- ots play, beyond the pale of Christian Sympathy.
 There was one boy besides myself who seaacted the part of an observer during t3at evening. He was a new boy, who hd entered the school only a few days bffore myself. He was from the city, and l4oked with hearty contempt upon the wiole entertainment. He had made no ffends during the fortnight which had pissed since he became an occupant of tae Birds Nest. His naughty and super efious ways. his habit of finding fault with the school and everything connect el with it, his overbearing treatment of t5e younger boys, and his idle habits. lEd brought upon him the dislike of all tie fellows. His name was Frank An dsws, though for some reason we never esiled him by his first name. He gave U all to understand that he was gen. teman's son, that he was rich, and par tfularly, that he was in the habit of do- iis what pleased him and nothing else. 7 He was dressed better than any of the oher boys, and carried watch, the clain of which he took no pains to con- chl During all the evening he stood htre and there about the rooms, his arms faded, looking on with his critical eyes aid cynical smile. Nobody took notice oS Shim, and he seemed to be rather proud q his isolation. do not know why he slould have spoken to me, for he was my shior, but toward the close of the even ng he came up to me and said, ill his pat r5nizing way:
 istWel, little chap. how do you like it?''
 FtOh! I think it's beautiful" I replied. .'s<s F<asfs9 yon2 That's because yo-,'re green, ssasl Andrews.
 itts responded. initiating his
 a,fi n they 're aII greeR--Mr. Bird ard al
 There's where you're right, little chap, said he. :, :, ,.,'They are all green
 Miss Butler isn't green," I asserted stoutly.
 Oh! ists't she?" exclaimed Andrews, with a degree of sarcasm in his tone that quite exasperated me. "Oh, no! Miss Butler isn'tgreen, of course" he continued, as he saw my face reckoning. ''She's a duck-so she is! so she is! and if you are a good little boy you shall waddle around with her some time, so you shall"
 was so angry that am sure I should have struck him if we had been out of doors, regardless of his superior size and age. turned sharply on my heel, and, retiring to a corner of the room, glared at him savagely, to his very great amuse- ment.
 It was at this moment that the bell rang for bed; and receiving, one after an- other, the kisses of Mir. and Mrs. Bird. and bidding the guests a goodnight. some of whom were departing while oth- CTS remained, we went to our rooms.
 Scarcely less interesting than the exer- cises oi reeeption-evening were those of the ''family meeting," as 1t was called. which was always held on Sunday. This family meeting was one of the most re- markable of all the institutions of The Birds Nest. It was probably more in- tiuential upon us than even the attend ance at church and our Bible lessons there, which occurred on the same day. for it's aim and it's result were the appli- cation of the Christian rule to our own actual everyday conduct.
 l attended the family meeting which was held on my first Sunday at the school with intense interest. suspect, indeed. that few more interesting and impressive had ever been held in the es- tablishment.
 After we were all gathered in the hall, including Mrs. Bird and the teachers, as well as the master, Mir. Bird looked kind ly out upon us and said:
 "Well, boys, has anything happened during the week that we ought to discuss to-day? Is the school going all right? Have you any secrets bnttoned up in your jackets that you ought show to me and to the school? Is there anything wrong go- ing on which will do harm to the boys 2" As Mir. Bird spoke, changing the form of his question so as to reach the con- sciences of his boys from different di- rectlons, and get time to read their faces, their was dead silence. When he paus- ed, every boy felt that his face had been shrewdly read and was still under inspec- tion. += &
 ssYes, there is something wrong. see it, 2" said MT. Bird. 'sI see 1t in several faces; but Tom Kendrick can tell us just what it is. And he will tell us just what it is, for Tom Kendrick never hes.''
 All eyes were instantly turned on Tom, a blushing, frank-faced boy of twelve. Close beside him sat Andrews, the new boy. who had so reused my anger on Fri day night. His face wore the same su- contemptuous expression that it wore that night, The whole proceed ing seemed to impress him as unworthy even the toleration of gentleman's son, yet fett sure that he would be in some way implicated in Tom Hendricks reve- lations. Indeed there was, or thought there was, look of conscious guilt in his face and the betrayal of excitement in his eye, when Tom rose to respond to Mir. Birds bidding. -zo
 Tom hesitated, evidently very unwilling