m with a crash. Tilly James leaned over and whispered to
Huldy Mason: "The Professor seems to have a bad attack of Quincy, too."
And the two girls smothered their laughs in their handkerchiefs. If the
singing society had not been so well acquainted with the closing chorus
the Professor certainly would have thrown them out by his many mistakes
in beating time. The piece was a "sleighride" song. The Professor forgot
to give the signal for the ringing of the sleigh bells, but the members
of the singing society did not, and their introduction, which was
unexpected by the audience, to use a theatrical term, "brought down the
house." The number was well rendered, despite the manifest defects in
leadership. The concert came to a close.

Deacon Mason and his wife, accompanied by their daughter, Huldy, and
Rev. Mr. Howe, occupied a double sleigh, as did Hiram, Mandy, and Cobb's
twins. Another double-seated conveyance contained Mr. and Mrs. Benoni
Hill, their son, Samuel, and Miss Tilly James. Quincy also had
accommodations for four in his sleigh, but its only occupants were Miss
Putnam and himself. Abner Stiles sat on the front seat of another
double-seated sleigh, while the Professor and Ezekiel were on the back
one; the remainder of the Mason's Corner folks occupied the big barge
which had been used for the sleigh ride the night before.

The barge led the procession to Mason's Corner, followed by the vehicles
previously mentioned and scores of others containing residents of
Mason's Corner, whose names and faces are alike unknown. By a strange
fatality, the sleigh containing the Professor and Ezekiel was the last
in the line. Ezekiel was inwardly elated that Mr. Sawyer had gone home
with Lindy instead of with Deacon Mason's party. Strout's bosom held no
feelings of elation. He did not seem to care whether the concert was
considered a success or not. He had but one thought in his mind, and
that was the "daring impudence of that city feller." Turning to Ezekiel,
he said:

"I'll get even with that city chap the next time I meet him. As I said
last night, Pettengill, this town ain't big enough to 'hold both on us
and one on us has got to git."

As he said this, he leaned back in the sleigh and puffed his cigar
savagely while Ezekiel was wondering if Huldy was thinking half as much
about him as he was about her.

CHAPTER IV.

ANCESTRY VERSUS PATRIOTISM.

Four days had passed since the concert in the Town Hall at East