The parlor was lighted up, and as John stood on the broad flaggingbefore the front entrance, by the lilac-bush, he could hear the sound ofvoices--girls' voices--which set his heart in a flutter. He couldface the whole district school of girls without flinching,--he didn'tmind 'em in the meeting-house in their Sunday best; but he began tobe conscious that now he was passing to a new sphere, where the girlsare supreme and superior, and he began to feel for the first timethat he was an awkward boy. The girl takes to society as naturallyas a duckling does to the placid pond, but with a semblance of shytimidity; the boy plunges in with a great splash, and hides his shyawkwardness in noise and commotion.