he plainness of
the language used; but, my friends, I have endeavored to tell the truth,
and to do this on such a subject, does not admit of the use of delicate
language. A mild hint at such a fact, clothed in flowery language, would
only serve to give a vague impression, and would fall far short of the
mission I wish this little book to accomplish, viz.: the opening of the
eyes of the people, particularly parents, who are blind to the awful
dangers there are for young girls in the dancing academy and ball-room,
and of leading some, if possible, to forsake (as I have done) the old
unsatisfactory life of selfish pleasure and sinful indulgence and enter
upon the purer, nobler and far happier life, which I have found in the
service of the Lord.

I do not undertake to write upon a subject of which I am ignorant. There
are, perhaps, few people living who have had more practical experience
or better opportunities of finding out the evil influences of dancing
than myself. I began to dance at the age of twelve and have spent most
of my life since that time, until within a few months, in the dancing
parlors and academies. For the last six years I have been a teacher of
dancing and for several years held the championship of the Pacific Coast
in fancy and round dancing. I am also the author of many of the round
dances which are the popular fads of the day.

I merely tell you these things to prove to you that I know whereof I
speak, and not because I am proud of them. On the contrary, it is the
greatest sorrow of my life that I have been so long and in such an
influential way connected with an evil which I know to have been the
ruin, both of soul and body, to many a bright young life. And if, in the
hands of God, I can be the means of leading one-fiftieth as many souls
to Christ as I have seen led to a life of vice and crime through the
influence of dancing academies with which I have been connected, I shall
be more proud than I have ever been of any previous achievements. And if
this little book shall, in any degree, help in the accomplishment of
this purpose, I shall feel that I am more than repaid for my trouble in
its writing, and shall willingly and gladly endure all the harsh
criticism and condemnation I know its writing will bring upon me.

T. A. FAULKNER.

FROM THE BALL-ROOM TO HELL.

CHAPTER I.

FIRST AND LAST STEP.

Since my conversion from a dancing