Wilford was allowed to go to Band
of Hope only when Miss Barner went for him and escorted
him home again. Mrs. Ducker had been very particular
about Wilford from the first.
Then the White girls recited a strictly suitable piece.
It was entitled "The World and the Conscience."
Lily represented a vain woman of the world bent upon
pleasure with a tendency toward liquid refreshment. Her
innocent china-blue eyes and flaxen braids were in strange
contrast to the mad love of glittering wealth which was
supposed to fill her heart:
Give to me the flowing bowl,
And Pleasure's glittering crown;
The path of Pride shall be my goal,
And conscience's voice I'll drown!
Then Blanche sweetly admonished her:
Oh! lay aside your idle boasts,
No Pleasure thus you'll find;
The flowing bowl a serpent is
To poison Soul and Mind.
Oh, sign our pledge, while yet you can,
Nor look upon the Wine
When it is red within the Cup,
Let not its curse be thine!
Thereupon the frivolous creature repents of her waywardness,
and the two little girls join hands and recite in unison:
We will destroy this giant King,
And drive him from our land;
And on the side of Temp-er-ance
We'll surely take our stand!
and the piece was over.
Robert Roblin Watson (otherwise known as Bugsey), who
had that very day been installed as a member of the Band
of Hope, after he had avowed his determination "never to
touch, taste nor handle alcoholic stimulants in any form
as a beverage and to discourage all traffic in the same,"
was the next gentleman on the programme.
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