I had never
visited Tapville, but, from accounts I had heard, judged it to be a
sort of Pandemonium-a juvenile Bedlam. As I entered, troops of
children greeted me with shouts, and my horse with stones. Despite
of my treatment, I could not but compare their appearance, to say
nothing of their conduct, with those I had last seen in another
town, thirty miles distant. These were attired in rags, those in
good clothing; these with unwashed faces, uncombed hair, and bearing
every mark of neglect,--those bright and smiling, happy themselves,
and making all around them so.
I did not much fancy my reception, I assure you. My horse seemed
wondering at the cause of it, for he suddenly halted, then turned
slowly about, and began to canter away with a speed that I thought
quite impossible for a beast after a long day's work. I reined him
in, turned about, and entered the town by a small and not much
frequented pathway.
There was a large building at my left, with a huge sign over its
principal door, from which I learned that "Good Entertainment for
Man and Beast" might be had within. Appearances, however, indicated
that a beast must be a very bad beast who would accept its
"entertainment.
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