1896 



GLEANlNGb IN i^EE CULTURE. 



421 



said another; and another shouted, " Good time 

 to initiate the tenderfoot into Gideon's Band." 

 Then they all shouted, " Here's my heart, and 

 here's my hand; we all b'long to Gideon's 

 Band." 



"Come, tenderfoot, hustle round," said the 

 leader. 



Now, Fred had no objection to dancing; in 

 fact, he had often taken part in private theat- 

 ricals, and could execute a jig or a clog-dance 

 fairly well; and, to avoid further trouble, he 

 would indulge their whim and show them that 

 the tenderfoot could dance. So, taking off his 

 coat, he stepped into the open space on deck; 

 and, to get into time, as it were, he spatted his 

 hands on his knees, and then broke into a 

 genuine plantation song, accompanied with a 

 jig. The jig was also accompanied with shouts 



r 



^^ 



^1im^ 



"how do you do, mk. pickerel,?" 



from the crowd, "Hoe 'er down, tenderfoot! 

 get there. Gideon! We all b'long to Gideon's 

 Band." 



When Fred stepped out of the circle there 

 were several approving smiles, nods, and winks, 

 and all subsided for a moment into silence. 

 Fred hoped this would satisfy them, and that 

 now he would be let alone. But the leader of 

 the gang had no notion of giving his victim 

 rest, and shouted, "Hurray fur the tenderfoot, 

 boys! he made a nimble dance, and beat us; 

 but, boys, d'ye know he hasn't drank a drop of 

 our whisky? he's a crank temperance tender- 

 foot. We've got to fill him up with whisky, 

 and then we'll see whose dance is best. Hur- 



ray, now; pass round the crystal jug; let's all 

 have a drink." 



The demijohn soon came to Fred, and all eyes 

 were upon him; but he stepped to one side and 

 tried to expostulate and reason with the men; 

 but whisky was in, and the human being and 

 reason had stepped out, leaving nothing but 

 the brute. Fred tried to get off with another 

 jig; he knew that he was somewhere near his 

 destination; and if he could divert them he 

 might soon be landed and rid of them ; but now, 

 finding that he was really a temperance youth, 

 they seemed the more determined to force him 

 to drink. 



The captain of the boat seemed to think that 

 the drinking of a little whisky was a small mat- 

 ter, and said, " Why, young fellow, what's a 

 drop of whisky? see here. I'll set ye an exam- 

 ple;" and, amid 

 the approving 

 shouts of the 

 crowd, he took the 

 demijohn and a 

 liberal drink from 

 it. 



While the cap- 

 tain was drinking, 

 Fred felt that he 

 was in an embar- 

 rassing situation. 

 He had passed 

 through many 

 temptations that, 

 for a time, had 

 threatened to de- 

 throne his tem- 

 perance princi- 

 ] pies; but they had 

 / always been in 

 { social gatherings. 



S The cup had been 



{ offered by so-call- 



ed friends, and 

 even by fair 

 hands; but now 

 the situation was 

 different and des- 

 perate; for if he 

 did not comply with the demands of the miners 

 he plainly saw that they would proceed to 

 personal violence. His very soul rebelhi 

 against being bullied into drinking the vile 

 stuff; and as the entire situation flashed 

 through his mind he decided upon a desperate 

 remedy. As the leader of the gang determined- 

 ly approached him with the demijohn and an 

 oath, Fred to all appearances, seemed to acqui- 

 esce to their demands. 



"All riglit, gentlemen." he was upon the 

 point of saying; but as that would be a ridicu- 

 lous misnomer to the crowd before him, he had 

 in mind to say men; but there was not a manly 

 quality in the crowd. To call them brutes, he 





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