thing I had ever seen before. I couldn't imagine how those
things could make stars, and was just about to take out one and examine
it when there was a bright light and the Roman candles began to work and
send up beautiful round stars right above our heads, first one way and
then another, lighting up everything quite plainly. Just then Mr. Man's
little boy must have looked in my direction, for he shouted right out,
'Oh, look! there's a young coon!' and, without stopping to think, being
so young himself, he aimed his Roman candle in my direction, and shot
those stars straight at me. One big yellow one just grazed my left ear
and scared me so I couldn't move at first. Then a big red one singed my
back fur, and I commenced to dodge and get in motion. And just then a
big blue star-ball came straight toward me. I thought I was gone then,
but I wasn't. It didn't hit me; it fell short and went in the box.

"Well, there must have been ever so many of the best stars wasted that
night. Before I could get fairly turned around those curious things I
had seen in there began to go off. You never heard such a popping and
fizzing and spluttering and banging, and you never could imagine such
a flashing and flaming and wriggling of dangerous materials as that
blue star-ball started.

[Illustration: I NOTICED A SCARED CHICKEN]

"Of course I didn't stay right there to enjoy it. About the first pop
that came from that star-box I was headed in the other direction and up
a tree, where I could get a good view and be out of range. It was most
exciting. Every minute something new came out of that box--fiery snake
things, and whirlers, and all sorts of fancy stuff, and things like
bouquets of flowers, which I suppose would have been up there in the sky
now for us to look at, if they hadn't been wasted so recklessly; and Mr.
Man and his family all came running with pails of water, but were afraid
to get near enough to put it on, until the star-stuff was nearly used
up; and just then I noticed a scared chicken on the limb next mine, so I
took it and went home, though it wasn't a very good one, being picked
out in that careless way.

"I told my folks about seeing Mr. Man and _his_ folks making the stars,
but they didn't think much of my story. When I showed them the singed
place on my back they said that I had probably been shot at, as I
deserved to be for trying to borrow a chicken before Mr. Man had gone to
bed, and that I had imagined or made u