uncommunicative. The boys were restless and impatient; if there was to be
any fun, they wanted to see it. Thomas was as impatient as his fellows,
and being more enterprising than the others, he determined, while obeying
the instructions of Captain Barney in the spirit, to disobey them in the
letter.

He had been a sufferer to the extent of two great wales on the calves of
his legs by the treason of the squire, and no doubt he thought he ought to
be regarded as an exception to those who were called on to observe the
instructions of the chairman of the committee. Leaving the group of
inquiring minds near the front door of the house, he walked down the
driveway till he came to a rail fence, through which he crawled, and
entered the field adjoining the garden of the squire. His fellow-citizens,
men and boys, were too intently watching the house to heed him, and no one
noticed his enterprising movement.

From the field, he entered the garden, and made his way to the rear of the
house. But even here, he was doomed to disappointment, for Mrs. Pemberton
had drawn her curtains. Our hero was not, however, to be utterly defeated,
and as the curtains had not been fitted by an accomplished upholsterer,
there were openings on either side, through which he might command a full
view of the interior of the room.

Thomas proceeded slowly and cautiously to obtain a position which would
enable him to gratify his curiosity, and witness the humiliation of the
haughty squire. Beneath the window which, he had chosen to look through,
there was a cellar door, from which a pile of seaweed, placed upon it to
keep the frost out of the cellar, had just been removed. The adventurous
inquirer crept up the slippery boards, and gained the coveted position. He
could not only see the committee and the squire, but he could hear all