't do it," said Frank.

"What makes you think so?"

"See here," said Frank, bending over a footprint in the soft earth;
"the Hillers all go bare-foot, and these fellows wore boots. I know
who did it, as well as if I had seen them. It was the work of Charles
Morgan and a few of his particular friends. They must have been very
still about it, for Brave didn't hear them."

"I don't see what object they had in doing it," said Julia.

"I know what they did it for," said Frank; "and if I ever catch--But,"
he added, checking himself, "there's no use in grumbling about it; no
amount of fretting will repair the damage."

So saying, he led the way toward the house.

It did not take him long to don his working-suit, and, shouldering his
hoe, he returned to the strawberry-bed, and, in less than an hour, the
plants were all in the ground again.

CHAPTER VIII.

How to Spend the "Fourth."

That evening, after supper, Frank retired to his room, and, settling
himself in his comfortable armchair, was soon deeply interested in one
of Bayard Taylor's works. While thus engaged, a light step was heard
in the hall, and, afterward, a gentle rap at his door, and Julia came
into the room.

"Now, Frank," she began, "I don't want you to read to-night."

"Why not?" he inquired.

"Why, you know that day after to-morrow is the Fourth of July, and--"

"And you haven't got your fire-works yet?" interrupted Frank.

"That's it, exactly."

"Well," said her brother, rising to put away his book, "then, I
suppose, I shall have to go down to the village and get you some. What
do you want?"

"I want all the things that are written down on this paper."

Frank took the paper and read, "Three packs of fire-crackers, four
boxes of torpedoes, three Roman candles, half a dozen pin-wheels, and
a dozen sky-rockets."

"Whew!" said Frank, as he folded up the paper and put it into his
pocket, "that's what I should call going it strong! Well, I'll tell
Mr. Sheldon [the store-keeper] to send up all the fire-works he has
got."

Julia burst into a loud laugh, and, the next moment, Frank and Brave
were out of the gate, on their way to the village.

In the mean time several of Frank's acquaintances had been amusing
themselves on the village common with a game of ball. At length it
grew too dark for their sport to continue, and one of the boys
proposed that they should decide upon some pleasant way of spending
the Fourth.

In spite of the hu