piloted his way circumspectly up to the side of the platform where the
speaking was going on.

He deposited the freezers inside the bunting-decorated inclosure, where
half a dozen young ladies were posted to dispense the refreshments after
the literary programme was finished.

Bart started to return with his empty cart the way he had come, but
about ten feet from the platform paused for a moment to take in the
exceptionally flowery sentiment that was being enunciated by the speaker
of the day.

Colonel Harrington, it seemed, was the self-appointed hero of the
occasion. The great man of the village was in his element--the eyes and
ears of all Pleasantville fixed upon him.

In rolling tones and with magnificent gestures he was paying a lofty
tribute to the immortal Stars and Stripes waving just over his head,
when, his eyes lowering, they focused straight in a fixed stare on Bart.

The colonel gave the young express agent an awful look, and in an
instant Bart knew that the military man had been informed of the
identity of the audacious cannoneer of the evening previous.

Like some orators, the colonel, once disturbed by an extraneous
contemplation, lost his voice, cue and self-possession all in a second.

It seemed as if he could not take his eyes from the innocent and
embarrassed author of his distraction.