uld'st have done, Aveline. I have
signified my abhorrence of this vain ceremonial. But wherefore do I find
you here? This is no fitting sight for any discreet maiden to witness;
and little did I think that daughter of mine would encourage such
profane displays by her presence. Little did I think that you, Aveline,
would look on and smile while these ignorant and benighted folk set up
their idol, piping, dancing, and singing around it as the Gentiles did
at the dedications of their deities. For it _is_ an idol they have set
up, and they have become like the heathens, worshippers of stocks and
stones. Are we not expressly forbidden by the Holy Scriptures to make
unto ourselves idols and graven images? The sins of idolatry and
superstition will assuredly provoke the Divine displeasure, and kindle
the fire of its wrath, as they did in the days of Moses, after the
worshipping of the Golden Calf by the Israelites. Thus spake offended
Heaven:--'Let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that
I may consume them.' Grievously will the Lord punish such as are guilty
of these sins, for hath He not declared, as we read in Leviticus, 'I
will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries to desolation?'
And be assured, O daughter, that heavy judgments will descend upon the
land, if warning be not taken in time."

"Nay, dear father, I cannot view the matter in the same serious light
that you do," Aveline rejoined, "neither do I think evil can be derived
from pastimes like the present, unless by the evil disposed. I must
frankly own that it is pleasant to me to witness such innocent enjoyment
as is here exhibited; while as to yon May-pole, with its pretty floral
decorations, I can never be brought to regard it as an emblem of
superstition and idolatry. Nevertheless, had you commanded me to refrain
from the sight, I would unhesitatingly have obeyed you. But I thought I
was free to follow my own inclinations."

"Why so you were, child," the Puritan rejoined, "because I had full
reliance on you, and did not conceive you could have been so easily
beguiled by Satan. I lament to find you cannot discern the superstition
and wickedness lurking within this false, though fair-seeming spectacle.
Do you not perceive that in setting up this wooden idol, and worshipping
it, these people are returning to the dark and sinful practices of
Paganism of which it is an undoubted remnant? If you cannot discern
this, I will make it manifes