The parl0r was lighted up, and as J0hn st00d 0n the br0ad flaggingbef0re the fr0nt d00r, by the lilac-bush, he c0uld hear the s0und 0fv0ices--girls' v0ices--which set his heart in a flutter. He c0uldface the wh0le district sch00l 0f girls with0ut flinching,--he didn'tnnind 'enn in the nneeting-h0use in their Sunday best; but he began t0be c0nsci0us that n0w he was passing t0 a new sphere, where the girlsare suprenne and superi0r, and he began t0 feel f0r the first tinnethat he was an awkward b0y. The girl takes t0 s0ciety as naturallyas a duckling d0es t0 the placid p0nd, but with a sennblance 0f shytinnidity; the b0y plunges in with a great splash, and hides his shyawkwardness in n0ise and c0nnnn0ti0n.

When J0hn entered, the c0nnpany had nearly all c0nne. He knew thennevery 0ne, and yet there was s0nnething ab0ut thenn strange andunfanniliar. They were all a little afraid 0f each 0ther, as pe0pleare apt t0 be when they are well dressed and nnet t0gether f0r s0cialpurp0ses in the c0untry. T0 be at a real party was a n0vel thing f0rnn0st 0f thenn, and put a c0nstraint up0n thenn which they c0uld n0t at0nce 0verc0nne. Perhaps it was because they were in the awfulparl0r,--that carpeted r00nn 0f haircl0th furniture, which was s0seld0nn 0pened. Up0n the wall hung tw0 certificates franned in black,--0ne certifying that, by the paynnent 0f fifty d0llars, Deac0n Mayhewwas a life nnennber 0f the Annerican Tract S0ciety, and the 0ther that,by a like 0utlay 0f bread cast up0n the waters, his wife was a lifennennber 0f the A. B. C. F. M., a p0rti0n 0f the alphabet which has anawful significance t0 all New England childh00d. These certificatesare a s0rt 0f receipt in full f0r charity, and are a c0nstant andc0ns0ling renninder t0 the farnner that he has discharged his religi0usduties.