Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-02-26
In the Lodge.

A boy approached the outside guard,
and the outside guard said to him
"Who comes there?' The answer
was, "a friend"
Friend, have you the word ?"
II have"
"What is it ?"
II dare not speak it,"
"Then whisper it,"
Taking the outside guards hand in
his own and giving him the grip, he
whispered the password.
AS the real lodge was then in session
some idiot proposed that we should 60
and work off our knowledge on the
genuine outside guard of the genuine
secret grown-up conclaye. often
wonder why it was that no boy had
the sense to put veto on this pro-
ceeding, because we all knew that our
fathers and mothers were there and
that we were all perfectly well known
to everybody in the lodge. But we
had solong carried on our depredations
without discovery that we had become
proud of our villainous achievements,
and pride goes before a fall, as it cer-
tainly did in this instance.
The school-room front door opened
into a sort of ante-room in which the
scholars placed their hats and over
coats before entering the school-room
itself. This was very handy for the
outside guard in winter, for he sat in
this enclosure. and it was here that
the examination of the candidates took
place and from here that they were
taken to be initiated in the general
lodge room. When our crowd appear
ed at the school-house and raped, it
was of course perfectly dark outside
and there was not very much light in
the ante.room. The outside guard
opened the outside door and went
through the preliminary examination
with the first boy, but seeing the
crowd of us he said carelessly: "Do
you all belong to the lodgel"
We answered unanimously, "We
do"
Then he said, "Come right in"
! had some misgivings that we were
walking into a trap, as indeed we were.
The outside guard of course recognized
us and knew that we did not belong
to the lodge, but he was puzzled to
find that we had the correct password
and the correct grip.
When we came into the ante-room
he locked the front door, and even if
we wanted to escape there was no
means of doing so, for in the ante.room
there were no windows. He asked us
to wait there for moment while he
reported to the inside guard, which
was something Bill Simmons had told
us nothing about. We had expected
to walk into the back part of the hall
and take our seats unnoticed and see
the performance and listen to the
songs. We heard conference going
on in the main room, but we could not
tell what was said. This was, as |
found out afterwards, what went on.
"Mr. Jones'" said the outside guard,
"does your boy belong to the lodge ?"
"My boy?" cried Jones in astonish-
ment, "why, bless me, my boy is at
home and in bed"
"Nohe isn't" said the outside guard,
"he is in the ante-room with half
dozen other boys I; yours, Mr.. Smith,
and yours, Mr.. Robinson" naming
the others, who each could not believe
the remarkable assertion of the guard;
"and the trouble is," continued the
latter, THAT they have got the correct
password and seem to know the signs"
"Oh, that is impossible" was the
cry from each astonished father of a
family, in which opinion they were
joined by the mothers as well.
"What shall | do ?" asked the out
side guard. The grand worthy chief
templar said t: The best thing you can
do is to go out in the ante-room and
see if they have the other signs and
words as well. If they have, then /
think we must devise some way of
furnishing them."
The method of punishment was de-
cided upon as the outside guard came
into the anteroom and put us through
our facings. imagine we stood the
examination a great deal better than
some OF the older templars themselves
would have done. I'VE were up on
every point and the guard was simply
paralyzed to find that all the village
boys were ION to" the secrets of the
lodge. He went back and reported.
Our fears had by this time died away,
and we felt that every thing was
straight aud lovely. When the guard
came back he said ut is all right
enter" But this time when he open
ed the ante-room door we found il
black darkness inside. Each time he
had opened it before it had been light.
The most perfect silence reigncd in the