Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-13

that he would ride down to the house to
see what was going on. Nimrod susg ested
his fear to Toby. Yes, massa," said the
boy, Il knows him; that's jest what he'll
do" Sure enough, they both heard the
outer gate gently opening Somebody was
approaching. Word was conveyed IT once
to the party inside: the music ceased ard
the candles We're eXtinguished. Nimrod
listened, and soon recognized the short trot
of the squire's favorite riding amin Al. well
known throughout the neighborhood.
Squire Dickey had seen the light in Aunt
Betsy's windows knew that the quilting
and the faint sound of the violin excited
his suspicious. The disappearance OF the
lights convinced him that there some
thing wrong. However, to clinch the mat
ter, he rode down through the front lot to
the yard gate of the house. The horses of
the young folks We're hitched to the fence.
They recognized the fact of the arrival of
another horse by a general snort. The
squire knew now that every boy I'm the
house was aware of his presence. So he
simply consulted the hands of his great
silver watch. that kept justice time in the
court room and good habits i'm the neigh
borhood The hands pointed to . pm.
We'll! Well!' he apostrophised. Sure
enough. a dance had been going on at Aunt
Betsy's." To make sure of the fact, he eX-
amined the line of horses. There was
"Wildfre." Nimrod Mayfield's mare: next.
Deacon Jones' sorrel: then Jack Webster 5
black mare. There could be no doubt of
the correctness of his differences. So he
turned about, rode back. closed the outer
gate Of the premises with less caution than
he had entered. and proceeded on his home
ward journey.
"Therev' said Jack Webster to Nimrod,
as the heavy latch of the gate closed and
came down with "a snap into the socket, Il
told you so, MIN. Old Trot is gone-its all
out There will be the dickens to pay"
The sooner we get home" muttered
Deacon Jones boy, 1.-The better This opin-
ion evidently was general
Whispered conferences took place. sad
ding was done in haste. gates gently open
ed and shut. then with the assurance that
Aunt Betsy was still asleep the young
folks separated for their homes
Next day it was mysteriously noised
about that something dreadful had happen
ed. 1t was noticed that the young people
were strangely silent. Not word did they
have to say about the candy pulling, and
nobody seemed to know precisely when they
reached home. At last the frightful truth
came out: The biggest dance of the sea-
son had taken place at Aunt Betsy's, not
withstanding the new minister and DR..
Tyndale had spent the day there. 1t was
simply avful-awful-to know that such an
occurrence should take place in Christian
neighborhood; something must be done.
The session Of the church ought to investi-
gate the matter.
Such was the general talk of the mothers,
and of Aunt Betsy in particular. The guilty
party must be exposed. No matter who
might prove to be the guilty one, it was the
unanimous demand that example must
be made of the individual who had brought
so much scandal upon the neighborhood.
So tn session was convened at the Brick
Church, and the young people assembled
at Watts Madden's for trial
Watts lived on a hill a quarter of a mile
distant. in front of the Brick Church. A
day of doom could not have been more
solemn. Like so many criminals, the boys
were imprisoned in enc end of the house
and the girls in the other Weeping loud
lon, ,fati ;1a.1
girls ROOM A vague. indefinable sense of
something terrible about to happen over
Swallowed both parties. Nimrod Mayfield
was unusually pale and hustered, Jack