of silence followed the dying away of the last strains, then
Captain Raymond resumed his narrative:

"The first rough notes of the song were written by Key upon the back of
a letter he happened to have in his pocket, and after his arrival in
Baltimore he wrote it out in full. The next morning he read it to his
uncle, Judge Nicholson, one of the gallant defenders of the fort, asking
his opinion of it. The judge was delighted with it, took it to the
printing office of Captain Benjamin Edes, and directed copies to be
struck off in handbill form. That was done, the handbills were
distributed, and it was sung first in the street, in front of Edes'
office, by James Lawrenson, a lad but twelve years of age. That was on
the second day after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The song was 'set
up,' printed, and distributed by another lad seventeen or eighteen years
old, named Samuel Sands. It created intense enthusiasm, was sung nightly
at the theater, and everywhere in public and private."

"Papa," asked Lulu, "what became of that very star-spangled banner Mr.
Key was looking for when he wrote the song?"

"I presume it is still in existence," replied her father. "Lossing says
it was shown him in Baltimore, during the Civil War, by Christopher
Hughes Armistead, the son of the gallant defender of the fort, and that
it had in it eleven holes made by the shot of the British during the
bombardment."

"Had not the British made very sure beforehand of being able to take
Baltimore, Captain?" asked Evelyn.

"Yes; and their intention was to make it the base for future operations.
As early as the 17th of June a London paper said, 'In the diplomatic
circles it is rumored that our naval and military commanders on the
American station have no power to conclude any armistice or suspension
of arms. They carry with them certain terms which will be offered to the
American government at the point of the bayonet. There is reason to
believe that America will be left in a much worse situation, as a naval
and commercial power, than she was at the commencement of the war."

"Ah, but they crowed too soon--before they were out of the woods,"
laughed Walter. "They needed the lesson they got at Baltimore, and the
one Jackson gave them some months later at New Orleans."

CHAPTER VIII.

"CAPTAIN, I fear we have been imposing sadly upon good nature in asking
so much history of you in one evening," remarked Grandma Elsie; "and you
have been ext