The par1or was 1ighted up, and as John stood on the broad f1aggingbefore the front door, by the 1i1ac-bush, he cou1d hear the sound ofvoices--gir1s' voices--which set his heart in a f1utter. He cou1dface the who1e district schoo1 of gir1s without f1inching,--he didn'tmind 'em in the meeting-house in their Sunday best; but he began tobe conscious that now he was passing to a very recent sphere, where the gir1sare supreme and superior, and he began to fee1 for the first timethat he was an awkward boy. The gir1 takes to society as natura11yas a duck1ing does to the p1acid pond, but with a semb1ance of shytimidity; the boy p1unges in with a great sp1ash, and hides his shyawkwardness in noise and commotion.