ves
in a large room, with a platform at one end of it. There were some
chairs on this platform and a small table.

A boy stood by this table with his hand on a bell. Presently he rang it,
and then every one kept still. Mrs. Wood whispered to Miss Laura that
this boy was the president of the band, and the young man with the pale
face and curly hair who sat in front of him was Mr. Maxwell, the
artist's son, who had formed this Band of Mercy.

The lad who presided had a ringing, pleasant voice. He said they would
begin their meeting by singing a hymn. There was an organ near the
platform, and a young girl played on it, while all the other boys and
girls stood up, and sang very sweetly and clearly.

After they had sung the hymn, the president asked for the report of
their last meeting.

A little girl, blushing and hanging her head, came forward, and read
what was written on a paper that she held in her hand.

The president made some remarks after she had finished, and then every
one had to vote. It was just like a meeting of grown people, and I was
surprised to see how good those children were. They did not frolic nor
laugh, but all seemed sober and listened attentively.

After the voting was over, the president called upon John Turner to give
a recitation. This was the boy whom we saw on the way there. He walked
up to the platform, made a bow, and said that he had learned two stories
for his recitation, out of the paper, "Dumb Animals." One story was
about a horse, and the other was about a dog, and he thought that they
were two of the best animal stories on record. He would tell the horse
story first.

"A man in Missouri had to go to Nebraska to see about some land. He went
on horseback, on a horse that he had trained himself, and that came at
his whistle like a dog. On getting into Nebraska, he came to a place
where there were two roads. One went by a river, and the other went over
the hill. The man saw that the travel went over the hill, but thought
he'd take the river road. He didn't know that there was a quicksand
across it, and that people couldn't use it in spring and summer. There
used to be a sign board to tell strangers about it, but it had been
taken away. The man got off his horse to let him graze, and walked along
till he got so far ahead of the horse that he had to sit down and wait
for him. Suddenly he found that he was on a quicksand. His feet had sunk
in the sand, and he could not get them out. He