e 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 the
air, with its long tail climbing after it till the fennel tuft swung
free. If there was not much surface wind you might have to run a little
way, but as soon as the kite caught the upper currents it straightened
itself, pulled the twine taut, and steadily mounted, while you gave it
more and more twine; if the breeze was strong, the cord burned as it ran
through your hands; till at last the kite stood still in the sky, at
such a height that the cord holding it sometimes melted out of sight in
the distance.

If it was a hot July day the sky would be full of kites, and the Commons
would be dotted over with boys holding them, or setting them up, or
winding them in, and all talking and screaming at the tops of their
voices under the roasting sun. One might think that kite-flying, at
least, could be carried on quietly and peaceably; but it was not.
Besides the wild debate of the rival excellences of the different kites,
there were always quarrels from getting the strings crossed; for, as the
boys got their kites up, they drew together for company and for an
easier comparison of their merits. It was only a mean boy who would try
to cross another fellow's string; but sometimes accidents would happen;
two kites would become entangled, and both would have to be hauled in,
while their owners cried and scolded, and the other fellows cheered and
laughed. Now and then the tail of a kite would part midway, and then the
kite would begin to dart violently from side to side, and then to whirl
round and round in swifter and narrower circles till it dashed itself to
the ground. S