"Can't you get any one else?"
"No one who can really play. There is a chap who tries to, but you would think he was filing a saw instead of playing a fiddle."
"Perhaps I can't do any better."
"Oh, you'll be all right. Jake and his wife have heard you, and so has
Empty."
"And Empty spread the report, did he?"
"Yes. But, say, you'll play, won't you?"
Douglas did not reply at once. He wondered what Ben would say if he told him what he knew about his contemptible act at Long Wharf. He did not want to play at the dance, and yet he knew it would be too good an opportunity to miss. He would see many of the young people of Rixton, and learn things which might prove of great assistance.
"Where is the hall?" he at length asked.
"Down at Kane's corner, about a mile and a half from here."
"What time does the dance begin?"