he was contemplating the expediency of his youthful kinsman in making the lack of a dresssuit serve as a means of lightening his coming examinations at the academy. mr. moseley, now fully launched upon a flood of eloquence, was just concluding a brilliant argument. look at the round dance! he cried. who can behold and not shudder? mr. meech, who had not beheld and therefore could not shudder, ventured a timid inquiry: mr. moseley, just what is a round dance? mr. moseley pushed back his chair and wheeled the table nearer the window. will you just step forward, mr. meech? with difficulty mr. meech extricated himself from the corner to which the pressure of so many guests had relegated him. he slipped apologetically to the front and took his stand beneath the shadow of mr. moseleys presence. prayermeeting being but a semiofficial occasion, he wore his secondbest coat, and it had followed the shrinking habit established by its predecessors. now, commanded mr. moseley, place your hand upon my shoulder. mr. meech did so with selfconscious gravity and serious apprehensions as to the revelations to follow. now, continued mr. moseley, i place my arm about your waistthus. surely not, objected mr. meech, in embarrassment. but mr. moseley was relentless. i assure you it is true. and the other hand he stopped in grave deliberation. the methodist brother, who had been growing more and more overcharged with suppressed knowledge, could contain himself no longer. thats not right at all! he burst forth irritably. you dont hook your arm around like that! you hold the left arm out and saw it up and downlike this. he snatched the bewildered mr. meech from mr. moseleys embrace, and humming a waltz, stepped briskly about the limited space, to the consternation of the onlookers, who hastened to tuck their feet under their chairs. mr. meech, looking as if he were being backed into eternity, stumbled on the rug and clutched violently at the tablecover. in his downfall he carried his instructor with him, and a deluge of tracts from the table above followed. in the midst of the confusion there was a sound from the church next door. mr. meech sat up among the debris and listened. it was the opening hymn for prayermeeting. chapter xv hell and heaven the events of the afternoon, stirring as they had been, were soon dismissed from sandys mind. the approaching hop possessed right of way over every other thought. by the combined assistance of mrs. hollis and aunt melvy, he had been ready at halfpast seven. the dance did not begin until nine; but he was to take annette, and the doctor, whose habits were as fixed as the numbers on a clock, had insisted that she should attend prayermeeting as usual before the dance. in the little hardshell baptist church the congregation had assembled and services had begun before mr. meech arrived. he appeared singularly flushed and breathless, and caused some confusion by giving out the hymn which had just been sung. it was not until he became stirred by the power of his theme that he gained composure. in the front seat dr. fenton drowsed through the discourse