The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-08-13
THE FATAL FOURTH.
A TRAGEDY.

'Frederlc, sara my Wle, III 'AV 'OiN Va
dying martyr, do you really mean TO let
your children have fireworks on the
FOURTH
Il do, my dear"
"Then I know something dreadful will
happen. Think of Tom"
Tom is eleven years old, He must take
his chances like other Young scamps OF his
ilk."
"But, Frederic, there are Frank and Ber-
tie, and Jenny, and Lii, and the baby
oh dear know something will happen
And my wife shook her head prohcticaily
and sighed
Here my sister-in-law Wilhemina, broke
in.
"Never fear; your children will all be
spared to grow up, Mary. Naughty chill
dren always live. For my part, | think
re.works are fun" she adds.
Now Nina was a very emphatic young
lady, with the most positive and unchange-
able views on the conduct of life, Miss
Italics, l used to call her, because she was
all for emphasis, and yet she was such
small type of girl.
"AIina, your tastes are entirely too loud,
my wife said.
The young person tossed her saucy head,
arched pair OF delicate eyebrows, then
bounced up and went to the window look
Ing down an avenue that leads up to our
country house. Now Nina never bounced
up without jerking down the skirts of a
small Jacket she was fond Of wearing. 1t
was sort of cut-away coat arrangement,
with buttons behind, a bit OF vest in front,
dash of white linen bosom, and stand
UP collar. To-day the rig was brown silk,
with bits of gold color peeping from mys-
ferrous Innings, and cordings. Nina wore
her fair hair short She shook it out OF
cold water every morning, parted it on one
side with masculine freedom; then putting
in a pair Of turquoise earrings, bought,
with feminine coquetry, to match her eyes,
she considered, in her own concise language,
''that top piece fixed" Now Nina was a
girl for which the days OF good Walter
| Scott, that maker of heroines, would have
furnished no model. Cooper's young hunt
ers never bore such maiden as Nina safe
| " to the arms Of her family. Hannah
More would haveuse my sisterin-law SIM
ly as frightful example. A French nov
elist would ascribe 70 her more wickedness
than poor Nina would even know how to
name, and then made dazzling study. In
short. Minas contradictions in character
would have bothered Shakespeare himself
and exhausted his subtle involutions Of Ian.
guage in painting picture at once SO rude
and gentle, so bold and so shy, such jolly
fellow and such very woman. She was
the outgrowth Of an unsettled social state
of day when women, having struggled out
Of their old places, have not yet quite
lostled comfortably into their new ones, anc
so, feeling little insecure, they incline tc
be defiant Nina belonged TO a womanf
club, where, in the daintiest silks and sweet
est thing in lace, she talked Of feminine
ability in every department Of severe labol
and scientific research. On returning home
she always went to bed with headache
but was none the less ready to declare her
self fit for marine service, or any othel
work commonly held proper for men only
IF McAllister comes to spend the Fourth
he'll bring all sorts Of fireworks, " remarked
this enthusiastic young woman, not dis
guising that she was looking out for Meal
lister down the avenue.
"Mina," said my wife, "dont speak o
men without decent prefix TO their names
it isn't pretty"
II don't want TO be pretty" answer
Nina "Iwant 10 be clever and Independent
and strong Here she shook all he
, bangles, and examined pearl ring on he
slender fore.fnger.
: you want to be mannish, don't your
said /. teaslngly.
: "Qute the contrary want to be sensi
ble,' Then, with careless yawn, as if SD
had said matter-of-course thing, she add
ed ~ think ! shall take up geology
YOU'D better be nice womanly gir
y and take up husband quoth her sister.
"rake in, you mean," ! suggest, by wa