-mill," said he. "It will be a buster, too! I'll show 'em a thing
or two 'round here. I mean to run a lathe with it here at the shop and
do wood turning. I'll turn banisters, rolling-pins, gingerbread creasers
and all sorts of things. I can make lots of money off a lathe. I'm going
to set the wind-mill up on a tall post at the corner of the shop here,
and then have a pulley shaft clean across this whole side of it. Won't
it just hum though!"

I grew considerably interested in the proposed wind-mill, as Halse
explained it. He really had some ideas of a lathe, run by wind power,
and went on for some time telling me of his plans, till Ellen called us
to dinner.

It continued to rain till past two o'clock, when the clouds broke away
and the sun came forth very hot and bright.

"Shall we go?" was now the question. "Will there be a celebration now
the day is so far advanced?"

The Old Squire thought it hardly worth the while to set off, assuredly
not in the bough-embowered cart. Gram and the girls therefore decided to
give up going altogether, but we three boys at length harnessed old Sol
into the express wagon and started; for we hoped to see the fireworks in
the evening and perhaps the sack-race and wheelbarrow-race which had
been set for afternoon.

The meadow brook was swollen high out its banks and flowed into the
grass on both sides, and the wet road was full of puddles through which
old Sol splashed prosaically on. There were very few teams on the road.
Alfred Batchelder, the two Murch boys and Ned Wilbur overtook us,
however, when we had nearly reached the village, all four riding on one
seat of an old wagon. We found, too, that Thomas Edwards and Catherine
had come to the village, in advance of us. Catherine came out from one
of the stores to ask us whether Theodora and Ellen had come; she seemed
much disappointed to learn that they had not, and that she was the only
girl from our neighborhood who had ventured forth.

Despite the wet, a crowd of three or four hundred persons, mostly boys
or young men, had collected in front of the Elm House, where they were
popping off firecrackers and playing pranks. Zest was presently lent to
these latter efforts, by the continuous explosion of half a bunch of
crackers beneath the wagon seat of a young farmer who, with his sister,
or some other young lady, was sitting in a wagon on the outskirts of the
crowd, looking on. Both of them were smiling broadly. In the rear end of