ll these
kites was given, and the sticks stayed in place by a string carried taut
from stick to stick, which was notched at the ends to hold it; sometimes
the sticks were held with a tack at the point of crossing, and sometimes
they were mortised into one another; but this was apt to weaken them.
The frame was laid down on a sheet of paper, and the paper was cut an
inch or two larger, and then pasted and folded over the string. Most of
the boys used a paste made of flour and cold water; but my boy and his
brother could usually get paste from the printing-office; and when they
could not they would make it by mixing flour and water cream-thick, and
slowly boiling it. That was a paste that would hold till the cows came
home, the boys said, and my boy was courted for his skill in making it.
But after the kite was pasted, and dried in the sun, or behind the
kitchen stove, if you were in very much of a hurry (and you nearly
always were), it had to be hung, with belly-bands and tail-bands; that
is, with strings carried from stick to stick over the face and at the
bottom, to attach the cord for flying it and to fasten on the tail by.
This took a good deal of art, and unless it were well done the kite
would not balance, but would be always pitching and darting. Then the
tail had to be of just the right weight; if it was too heavy the kite
kept sinking, even after you got it up where otherwise it would stand;
if too light, the kite would dart, and dash itself to pieces on the
ground. A very pretty tail was made by tying twists of paper across a
string a foot apart, till there were enough to balance the kite; but
this sort of tail was apt to get tangled, and the best tail was made of
a long streamer of cotton rags, with a gay tuft of dog-fennel at the
end. Dog-fennel was added or taken away till just the right weight was
got; and when this was done, after several experimental tests, the kite
was laid flat on its face in the middle of the road, or on a long
stretch of smooth grass; the bands were arranged, and the tail stretched
carefully out behind, where it would not catch on bushes. You unwound a
great length of twine, running backward, and letting the twine slip
swiftly through your hands till you had run enough out; then you seized
the ball, and with one look over your shoulder to see that all was
right, started swiftly forward. The kite reared itself from the ground,
and swaying gracefully from side to side, rose slowly into th