Project Gutenberg's Harper's Young People, April 20, 1880, by Various

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Title: Harper's Young People, April 20, 1880
An Illustrated Weekly

Author: Various

Release Date: May 13, 2009 [EBook #28790]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, APR 20, 1880 ***

Produced by Annie McGuire

[Illustration: HARPER'S

YOUNG PEOPLE

AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY.]

* * * * *

VOL. I.--NO. 25. PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. PRICE FOUR
CENTS.

Tuesday, April 20, 1880. Copyright, 1880, by HARPER & BROTHERS. $1.50
per Year, in Advance.

* * * * *

[Illustration]

SIM VEDDER'S KITE.

BY W. O. STODDARD.

The kite fever visited Hagarstown every year, and caught all the boys
over five before it subsided. It generally crept in slowly, a boy and a
kite at a time; but this year it came as if a big wind brought it.

Yesterday there had been three kites up at one time in the main street,
and Squire Jones's pony had been scared into a canter. The Squire, and
Mrs. Jones, and the three Misses Jones, and Aunt Hephzibah had all been
in the carry-all at the time, and they had all screamed when the pony
began to canter. So the Squire had told the boys he "could not have any
more of that dangerous nonsense in the streets," and they had all come
out to Dr. Gay's pasture, on the side-hill, to-day, and they had eight
kites among them.

"Sim Vedder's coming, boys," said Parley Hooker. "He's been making a
kite."

"He?" exclaimed Joe Myers. "He's a grown-up man. What does he know about
kites?"

"There he comes now, anyway."

They all turned toward the bars and looked, for not one of them had sent
up his kite yet.

"Oh, what a kite!"

"It's as tall as he is."

"No, it isn't. He's carrying it on his shoulder."

"It's just an awful kite."

Sim Vedder was the man who worked for Dr. Gay, and he was as thin as a
fence rail. So was his face, and his hooked nose had a queer twist in it
half way to the point.

He was coming with what looked like an enormous kite trying all the
while to get away from him