erloo, or a battle with a den of
snakes. Upon the completion of the grand overture of the fiddlers the
brilliant programme of the "exhibition," which usually lasted all day,
opened with "Mary had a little lamb;" and it gathered fury until it
reached Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death!!!" The
programme was interspersed with compositions by the girls, from the
simple subject of "flowers," including "blessings brighten as they take
their flight," up to "every cloud has a silver lining;" and it was
interlarded with frequent tunes by the fiddlers from early morn till
close of day.

[Illustration: MUSIC OF THE OLD FIELD SCHOOL EXHIBITION.]

Did you never hear the juvenile orator of the old field school speak?
He was not dressed like a United States Senator; but he was dressed with
a view to disrobing for bed, and completing his morning toilet instantly;
both of which he performed during the acts of ascending and descending
the stairs. His uniform was very simple. It consisted of one pair of
breeches rolled up to the knees, with one patch on the "western
hemisphere," one little shirt with one button at the top, one "gallus,"
and one invalid straw hat. His straw hat stood guard over his place on
the bench, while he was delivering his great speech at the "exhibition."
With great dignity and eclat, the old teacher advanced on the stage and
introduced him to the expectant audience, and he came forward like a
cyclone.

[Illustration: THE OLD FIELD SCHOOL ORATOR.]

"The boy stood on the burnin' deck whence all but him had fled----The
flames that lit the battle's wreck shown 'round him o'er the dead,
yet beautiful and bright he stood----the boy stood on the burnin'
deck----and he wuz the bravest boy that ever wuz. His father told him to
keep a-stan'in' there till he told him to git off'n there, and the boy
he jist kep' a stan'in' there----and fast the flames rolled on----The
old man went down stairs in the ship to see about sump'n, an' he got
killed down there, an' the boy he didn't know it, an' he jist kept a
stan'in' there----an' fast the flames rolled on. He cried aloud: "say
father, say, if _yit_ my task is done," but his father wuz dead an'
couldn't hear 'im, an' the boy he jist kep' a stan'in' there----an' fast
the flames rolled on.----They caught like flag banners in the sky, an'
at last the ol' biler busted, an' the boy he went up!!!!!!!!"

At the close of this great speech the fiddle fainted as dead as a