rican Independence. She enlivened her narratives by Weems's story
of the boy Washington and the hatchet.

"He never told a lie?" asked Sky-High. "Was that so wonderful?
Confucius, he tell no lies; Sky-High, he tell no lies."

Mrs. Van Buren described to him Independence Day, and how it was
celebrated. Sky-High asked many questions, and began to look forward to
the celebration.

On the morning of the Fourth the sun came up red, and glimmered on the
cool sea and dewy trees. To Sky-High the air seemed to blossom with
flags; the far State House dome rose like an orb of gold above the
bunting that floated over the great forest of Boston Common.

Cannon rent the morning silence, and everywhere there were crackers
bursting. Even the milkmen fired them as they went on their early way.

Sky-High danced about. "You have Cracker Day! It is all same as China!"
he said.

Some of the Milton boys who had many bunches of fire-crackers,
good-naturedly thought they would startle little Washee-washee-wang at
his work. So they stole around a corner of the garden, where he was busy
in his neat little cabin, and "lit" a whole bunch and threw it over the
fence, at a point where all would "go off" right at his door, then threw
after it two cannon crackers, whose fuses burned slowly.

When the small crackers began to explode Sky-High, to whom the noise was
like music, came and stood in the door and danced with delight.

Irish Norah heard the rattling explosions in the garden, and ran out.

"China! China!" shouted Sky-High. "Red crackers make the bad spirits
fly! The garden all free from evil spirits all day."

Just then both of the cannon crackers in the grass "went off," with a
deafening bang. Norah jumped, and put her fat hands to her ears. But
little Sky-High clapped his after the American fashion. His delight in
the racket and in the smell of the gunpowder was so intense, that
Charlie forebore to go out on the street, but staid in and fired his
immense supply in front of the cabin.

In the evening there were fireworks everywhere, small and great. The
children and Sky-High went up to a turret overlooking the sea. The sky
over the towns around Boston blazed.

"I will show you something fine," suddenly said Sky-High, after he had
gazed for some time.

He went down and unlocked his great chest. He spoke to Mrs. Van Buren's
friends on the verandah as he came back. "Sky-High, he is going to fire
a star! Look this side!"

He calle