From the Ball-Room to Hell | Page 2

have ever been of any previous
achievements. And if this little book shall, in any degree, help in the
accomplishment of this purpose, I shall feel that I am more than repaid
for my trouble in its writing, and shall willingly and gladly endure all
the harsh criticism and condemnation I know its writing will bring
upon me.
T. A. FAULKNER.

FROM THE BALL-ROOM TO HELL.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST AND LAST STEP.
Since my conversion from a dancing master and a servant of the "Evil
One" to an earnest Christian and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
question has been repeatedly asked me: "Is there any harm in dancing?"
And letters innumerable have been coming in with questions to the
same effect.
The more I mingle with people outside the dancing circle the more
forcibly I am made to realize how many there are who are seeking to
know the truth concerning the evil of dancing, and how many
thousands more who, if they are not seeking that knowledge, certainly
ought to have it.
+---------------------------------+ | ~Have you read the preface?~ |

+---------------------------------+
Let me assure you in the first place that I am well aware that there are
many church members and professing Christians who dance; but, if on
the strength of this you deem it a safe amusement, come with me for a
few evenings, and when you have seen all that I can show you, let your
judgment tell you, whether you can, with safety, place your pure,
beautiful daughter in the dancing academy or ball-room.
Let us first take an instance from the "select" dancing academy, and
thus begin at the root of the matter.
Here is a beautiful young girl. Let me take her for an example.
She is the daughter of wealthy parents; they have been called to mourn
the loss of two of their children; and this is their only remaining
treasure, their darling, their idol almost, whom they love more than
their own lives.
They wish to bestow upon her every accomplishment which modern
society demands, so when it is announced that Prof. ---- will open his
select dancing academy they hasten to place her under his instruction.
At first she seems shocked at the manner in which he embraces her to
teach her the latest waltz.
It is her first experience in the arms of a strange man, with his limbs
pressed to hers, and in her natural modesty she shrinks from so familiar
a touch. It brings a bright flush of indignation to her cheek as she thinks
what an unladylike and indecent position to assume with a man who,
but a few hours before, was an utter stranger, but she says to herself:
"This is the position every one must take who waltzes in the most
approved style--church members and all--so of course it is no harm for
me." She thus takes the first step in casting aside that delicate
God-given instinct which should be the guide of every pure woman in
such matters.
She is very bright and learns rapidly, but a few weeks have passed

before she is able to waltz well, and is surrounded by the handsomest
and most gallant men in the room, who flatter her until her head is quite
turned. She has entirely overcome her delicacy about being embraced
in public for half an hour by strange men. In fact she rather likes it now.
She wonders all day, before dancing school, if that handsome man who
dances so "elegantly" and says such nice things to her, will ask her to
dance with him to-night, and finds herself dreaming of how delightful it
would be to feel his arm about her.
The evening at last comes; the uninteresting square dances are gone
through with, and the music of the waltz begins. Her partner is the
Apollo of her day dreams. He presses her close to his breast, and they
glide over the floor together as if the two were but one.
When she raises her eyes, timidly at first, to that handsome but
deceitful face, now so close to her own, the look that is in his eyes as
they meet hers, seems to burn into her very soul. A strange, sweet thrill
shakes her very being and leaves her weak and powerless and obliged
to depend for support upon the arm which is pressing her to himself in
such a suggestive manner, but the sensation is a pleasant one and grows
to be the very essence of her life.
If a partner fails, through ignorance or innocence, to arouse in her these
feelings, she does not enjoy the dance, mentally styles him a "bore,"
and wastes no more waltzes on him. She grows more bold, and from
being able to return