tones of thunder--

"Did they tell thee I was false, Katy Darling?"

Suddenly, to our great joy, the ponderous iron door of the dungeon was
unlocked and thrown open, and an officer announced that he had orders to
release us all, provided that we would engage to satisfy the landlord of
the Pemberton House for the damage he had sustained. This we of course
agreed to do, it being understood that the college students should be
compelled to pay one-half the amount, which was certainly no more than
right, as they had perpetrated half the damage, and had commenced the
row in the first place. The landlord having received sufficient
security that his damages would be made whole, we were all set at
liberty, to our most intense delight, for we had anticipated being
imprisoned during the whole of that glorious day.

We left the house of bondage, and, as we passed through the already
crowded streets, our fantastic dresses and strange appearance generally,
collected a mob at our heels, which, in broad daylight, was certainly
rather annoying. However, we soon reached the theatre, and resumed our
own proper habiliments.

It was announced upon the bills of the theatre that a certain actor
would that evening deliver an original Fourth of July poem. That poem I
had engaged to write, yet not a single line had I committed to paper.
The actor was in a terrible quandary, and swore that his failure to
recite the poem, as announced, would render him unpopular with the
public and ruin him forever. Telling him to keep cool and call again in
two hours, I sat down to my writing-desk and dashed off a poem of
considerable length. My pen flew with the rapidity of lightning, words
and ideas crowded upon me in overwhelming numbers, and in three-quarters
of an hour my work was done! I sent for the actor who was astonished at
the brief space of time in which I had performed the task. Having heard
me read the poem, he declared himself to be delighted with it; and, with
all due humility and modesty, I must say that the production did possess
considerable merit. I had avoided the usual stereotyped allusions to the
"star spangled banner," to the "Ameri-eagle," to the "blood of our
forefathers," &c.;--and had dwelt principally upon the sublime moral
spectacle afforded by an oppressed people arising in their might to
throw off the yoke of bondage and assert their independence as a nation.
The actor soon committed the poem to memory; and, having rehearsed