The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-07-14
0m punng folks.
THE PETERKINS CELEBRATE THE
FOURTH OF JULY.

little boys the evening before.
| They were TO be allowed to usher in
the glorious day by the blowing of horns
exactly at sunrise. But they were to
blow them for precisely five minutes
only, and no sound of the horns should
be heard afterward till the family were
downstairs.
1t was thought that peace might thus
be bought by a short though crowded
period of noise
The morning came. Even before the
morning, at half-past three o'clock, a
terrible blast of the horns aroused the
whole family.
Mrs. Peterkin clasped her hands to her
head and exclaimed: I" | am thankful
the lady from Philadelphia is not here!"
For she had been invited to stay a week,
but had declined to come before the
Fourth of July, as she was not well, and
her doctor had prescribed quiet.
And the number of the horns was most
remarkable! 1t was as though every COW
in the place had arisen and was blowing
through both her own horns
How many little boys are there?
How many have WEI" exclaimed Mr.
Peterkin, going over their names one by
one mechanically, thinking he would do
it, as he might count imaginary sheep,
jumping over a fence, to put himself to
sleep. Alas! the counting could not put
him to sleep now in such din.
And how Unexpectedly long the five
minutes seemed! Elizabeth Eliza was to
take out her watch and give the signal
for the end of the five minutes and the
ceasing of the horns Why did not the
signal come? Why did not Elizabeth
Eliza stop them?
And certainly it was long before sun
rise; there was no dawn to be seen!
"We will not try this plan again, " said
Mrs. Peterkin.
" If we live to another Fourth" added
Mr.. Peterkin, Fastening to the door, to
inquire into the state of affairs
Alas! Amanda, by mistake, had walked
up the little boys an hour too early. And
by another mistake the little boys had
invited three or four of their friends to
spend the night with them. Mrs. Peter
kin had given them permission to have
the boys for the whole day, and they I'M
derstood day as beginning when they
went to bed the night before. This &C
counted for the number of horns.
1t would have been impossible to hear
any explanation; but the five minutes
were over, and the horns had ceased, and
there remained only the noise of a sin
gular leaping of feet, explained perhaps
by possible pillow fight, that kept the
family below partially awake until the
bells and cannon made known the dawn
ing of the glorious day-the sunrise, or
the rising of the sons" as Mr. Peterkin
loosely called it when they heard the
little boys and their friends gathering
down the stairs to begin the outside fes-
tivities.
They were bound first for the swamp,
for Elizabeth Eliza, at the suggestion of
the lady from Philadelphia, had advised
them to hang some flags around the pill
lars of the piazza. Now the little boys
knew of a place in the swamp where
they had been in the habit of digging for
t1ag-root," and where they might find
plenty of flag flowers. They did bring
away all they could, but they were lit,
tie out of bloom. The boys were in the
midst of mailing up all they had on the
pillars of the piazza, when the process
sion of Antiques and Horribles passed
along AS the procession saw the festive
arrangements on the piazza, and the
crowd of boys, who Cheered them loudly,
it stopped to salute the house with some
especial strains of greeting.
Poor Mrs Peterkin They were di-
rectly under her windows! In the few mo-
ments of quiet during the boys absence
from the house on their visit to the
swamp, she had been trying to find out
whether she had sick headache, or
whether it was all the noise, and she was
Just deciding it was the sick headache,
but was falling into light slumber, when
the fresh noise outside began.
There were the limitations of the crow
ing of cocks and braying of donkeys,
and the sound of horns, encored and in
creased by the cheers of the boys. Then
began the torpedoes, and the Antiques
and Horribles had Chinese crackers, also!
And, in despair of sleep, the family
came down to breakfast.
Mrs. Peterkin had always been much
afraid of fire. works, and had never al.
lowed the boys to bring gunpowder into
the house. She was even afraid of tor
pedoes they looked so much like sugar
plums, she was sure some of the chill.
drcn would swallow them, and explode
before anybody knew it.
She was very timid about other things.
She was not sure even about peanuts
Every body exclaimed over this: "Sure.
ly there was no danger in peanutsw But
Mrs. Peterkin declared she had been
very much alarmed at the Exhibition,
and in the crowded corners of the streets
in Boston, at the peanut stands, where
they had machines to roast the peanuts.
She did not think it was safe. They
might go off at any time, in the midst of
a crowd of people, too
Mr.. Peterkln thought there actually
was no danger, and he should be sorry
to give up the peanut. He thought 1t an
American institution, something really
belonging to the Fourth of July He
even confessed to quiet pleasure in
crushing the empty shells with his feet
on the sidewalks as he went along the
streets.
Agamemnon thought it simple Joy
In consideration however, of the fact
that they had had no real celebration of
the Fourth the last year, Mrs. Peterkin
/ Tod NSrtyrn Il,