THE CHILDREN OF OLD PARK'S TAVERN A Story of the South Shore By FRANCES A. HUMPHREY AUTHOR OF "DEAN STANLEY WITH THE CHILDREN" NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1886 Copyright, 1886, by HARPER & BROTHERS. _All rights reserved._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. HOW DOLLY ATTENDED THE CONVENTION CHAPTER II. ON THE MARSHES CHAPTER III. THE HOME OF WEBSTER CHAPTER IV. THE LITTLE MADAM CHAPTER V. SKATTA CHAPTER VI. THE TOURNAMENT IN THE OLD MUSTER-FIELD CHAPTER VII. DEATH OF GASTON CHAPTER VIII. THE SECRET CHAMBER CHAPTER IX. THE SCHOOL AND ITS MASTER CHAPTER X. THEIR FIRST QUARREL CHAPTER XI. MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF SKATTA CHAPTER XII. NED TO THE RESCUE CHAPTER XIII. THANKSGIVING DAYS CHAPTER XIV. THE YELLOW SATIN GOWN CHAPTER XV. THE MILITARY BALL CHAPTER XVI. THE PUBLISHMENT IN THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE CHAPTER XVII. YARROW CHAPTER XVIII. HOW ULYSSES LOST AND FOUND HIS PENELOPE CHAPTER XIX. THE WEDDING THE CHILDREN OF OLD PARK'S TAVERN. CHAPTER I. HOW DOLLY ATTENDED THE CONVENTION. "C'nvention? What's a c'nvention?" "Oh, it's a lot o' men, 'n they meet and chew tobacco and scatter the votes all over the floor, till it looks _worse_ than a pigsty, Thankful says, 'n then they come over here 'n eat 'n eat till they're fit to burst. But it's fun! I shall be glad when I'm old enough to go to c'nvention." "Do women go?" asked Dolly. "No, indeed! 'tisn't fit for women and girls," replied Ned, emphatically. The two speakers were sitting in the veranda of the old tavern at Byfield. One would have known at once that the long, rambling, veranda-shaded house was a tavern because of the tall sign-post standing at its north-west corner. The sign was a huge gilt ball attached to an arrow-shaped scroll of iron, and had it been an English inn it would doubtless have been called "The Orange and Arrow," and have had a story about it like the story of William Tell. As it was, there was no story at all, and it was known through the county simply as "Park's Tavern."