The Shasta courier., 1863-11-07
MY INDEPENDENCE DAY

:
The 4th of July, 1868. with all the haaow
ed associations of the past and its proml,e in
the throhping present, has passed away But
it came to me so freighted with the memory
Of an eventful day in my life that cannot
sail smoothly on with old Tempus without
first unburdening. Trusting that no@ and
then some fretted traveller as he Journeys on
may be tempted to peep into and profit by
my budget, | cast it upon the highway.
| had been dining out. The meats served
on the occasion were good, the wines superb,
the speeches brilliant, and, better than ali,
nv own premeditated remarks, which, by a
singular coincidence, had haunted me for the
past four days. had been received with de-
cided eclat 1t was on the night Of the Sd
of July, lS5-. The shop windows were COR
geous with their display of fire works and
the peculiar flicker and multiplication of the
gas lights, the rockets and pin wheels. seem
ed to be having a premature frolic G. their
own account. -
On the whole. felt peculiarly haas,Sand
amiable A bright-eyed rosy beggar child
asked me for sixpence; she was starcisg, she
said My heart was touched, and threw
her a small handful of silver. Three young
gentlemen came swinging arm in arm along
the sidewalk, jostling me rather roughly. A.
any other time might have been indignant;
but now, were they rot men and brothers?
| bowed gracefully, and, at the same tine, |
felt confident with dignity, and stepped off
the eurb stone to allow them to pass. At
last reached my own door. / rang, first
the doorknob, then the bell. violently. My
next-door neghbor, Mr.. Green, came to the
door in his calico wrapper.
All, Mister Green" | exclaimed, stea-
dying the tottering door post, " delighted to
see you. Is my-my wife 2"
Mr.. Green seized me somewhat roughly by
the arm, thereby seriously inconveniencing
me Jas he pitched about considerably, and
led me to neighboring doqr.
"Where is your night key, Mr. r"
he asked crafty.
There were about six pockets on my vest
on that occasion but after while dscoy-
cred the right one, and pIoduced the key,
with polite bow.
The instant found myself inside the door
closed. and the only visible link between my
self and the second story. swinging violently
backward and forward in the shape of dy
ing Gas let suspended from the ceiling. Ny
effort to resuscitale the spark resulted in to-
tai darkness.
After cropping about for while found
the stair way. and clutching the haluster.
commenced to ascend. This feat was attend
ed with SO much difficulty that ! was induc-
ed 10 bring the full force of nv reasoning
powers to bear upon the performance, and
soon discovered that | had been trying to
mount tie hat rack. Abandoning the en-
terprise, with smile of superiority, over
my weaker self | proceeded in mY search.
and finally planted my foot firmly on the
lowest step. Alas! step number two con
WINGED me of my error, and our 1ommy's
new velocipede toppled over with Il crash
casting me PROSTATE beside it. Then | saw
a flash of light, and soon, approaching
nearer (as though Jet down by rope from
the upper regions), the white-robed. grace
ful form of hy Oldest daughter. kitty
Rising and Offering her my arm we ascended
the stairs together As she left me at the
room door | turned and solemnly gave her
my paternal blessing. She was yisibly af-
fected, even bursting into tears, and ex-
claiming, "Qh, Father - as she hurried
away.
The next morning | found myself on the
spareroom bed with all my clothes on, ex-
cept my cravat and one boot. The cravat
was on the hearth and the boot was on the
mantle peice. Guns were booming and fire:
crackers were swapping. the din of powder
and merry voices of children filed the air.
could hear my own youngsters shoptCG out
Justify in the garden and in the hall the
81 first bell'' was tingling its summons through
the house.
1t was the 4th of july sure enough, and
| as head of the family, must present myself
in suitable array at the breakfast table and
inaugurate the jollities of the day. | seized
the boot in one hand and the cravat in the
other, and proceeded meekly to the apart
ment generally used in common by Mrs.
F. and myself.
''Ah Mrs. F." said bowling rather
sheepishly in my attempt to pass the thing
off as a joke. /" Good morning ma am -
GOOD morning, John,' replied my wife
quietly, not shade of crossness in her tone.
- | must 90 down and watch the children or
they may do some mischief with their pis-
toes and fire crackers; but come to break
fast soon as you can.'
With these words she didn't scold or g go
on a little concerning my spree. This sad
and gentle way of speaking made me uncom
Portable, cough and strut about the room as
| would, for | knew we'll enough the pain
and disgust gnawing at her heart. and that
during the past year had given her too fire.
quent cause for the reproaches that never
came. though was prepared to receive them
after egch offense. Cold water. however.
and clean clothes braced me up somewhat.
and soon after the - second belF' rang |
strobe maiestically through the halls. severe
in my dignity as head of the household
Reaching the basement door, paused a mo
ment, halfdreadine to meet the rows of faces
on either side of the table, and nv wife's
sweet, pale countenance beaming so quietly
over them all. This momentary weakness
over, with a pompous 8 ahem" | mustered
the requisite manner and entered.
There was no one at the table. and only
Kitty was in the room kitty, my usually
joyous girl, now standing in pensive atti-
tude by the window.
1t was important that my children should
respect me, and l felt, of course. anxious to
obliterate from her mind any impression of
weakness might have given her the p-e-i-
ous night
This is glorious day, Kittypr 1 ex-
claimed expansively-.sa glorious day my
child; the day on which we as nstion de-