an and make ice-cream I shall just boil it," and she walked back with
grave dignity.

She took the Odell girls to Mrs. Dean's, and some other children flocked
around the stoop. They had torpedoes and lady-crackers, that two
children pulled, when they went off with a loud explosion in the middle
and made you jump. There were real fire-crackers that the boys had, and
pin-wheels and various simple fireworks. But the great thing would be
going down to City Hall in the evening and seeing the fireworks there.

The Odells could not stay, to their sorrow. Mr. Underhill proposed to
take the business wagon and put three seats in it, and ask the Deans to
go with them. Mrs. Dean was very glad to accept for herself and the
children. There was a young lady next door, Miss Weir, that Margaret
liked very much, and she accompanied them. John had promised to take
charge of the boys. Steve had dressed himself in his new light summer
suit and gone off.

The little girl thought the display beyond any words at her command.
Such mysterious rockets falling to pieces in stars of every color. There
was a great dome of stars, and rays that presently shot up into heaven;
there was a ship on fire, which really frightened her. And, oh! the
noise and the people, the shouting and hurrahing, the houses trimmed
with flags, the brass band that played all the patriotic songs, and the
endless confusion! The little girl clung closely to her mother, glad
she was not down on the sidewalk, for the people would surely have
trodden on her.

They came home very tired. But the little girl had added to her stock of
historical knowledge and knew what Fourth of July stood for. It was a
very great day, the beginning of the Republic.

The boys were out early the next morning finding "cissers," crackers
that had failed to burn out entirely, and still had a little explosive
merit when touched by a piece of lighted punk. There was no school that
day, and Steve took them up to West Farms to expend the rest of their
hilarity. The little girl was pale and languid. Mrs. Underhill was quite
troubled at times when friends said:

"Isn't Hanny very small of her age? Is she real strong? She looks so
delicate."

This was why she had thought it best not to send her to school this
summer. She read aloud to her mother and said one column in a speller
and definer, and Margaret taught her a little geography and arithmetic.
She could hem very nicely now. She had learned to knit l