The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-07-15
Our Fourth Of July.

Our Fourth OF July.
There were just six of us. Fred and Char
lie and Frank and Arth-they're boys; and
May and I-we're girls. My really true name
is Stella Blanche; that's pretty, think, but
somehow, have always been called Patty,
ever since | was little teeny-weeny thing.
l am eight going on nine now. We all live in
the city. and go to school all the time, only
in the summer when we come to Grandma
Days and stay a long time. We are all
cousins. mixed up some way, but she is
Grandma to all of us, cause she said so, and
Grandpa, too. Frank and Charlie are broth
ers, and Arth is Mays brother, and Fred is
mine; so now you know all about Us, and 1
can go on and tell you about the gay time
we had last 4th of July. All of us chill
dren had been at Grandpa and Grandma's
about three weeks but our mammas had not
come yet; you know sometimes, there is
right smart of sewing to do, and they stayed
home to do it after we were out of the way.
Grandma had been tending to us all that
time-combing our hair and fixing us up,
and. between you and me, 'spect she was
pretty near sick of her job, but la. she
thought so much of us she would not have
said so, if she had been worried to death.
Well, the 4th of July came on Saturday,
and the Thursday before, at the dinner-table
Q remember we had apple-dumplings for the
first time) Grandpa said there was to be big
celebration at Jonesboro, and asked us if
we we said we did, and 1 we
almost gave three cheers for grandpa and the
4th of July. right there at the dinner-table,
but remembered ourselves in time.
Grandma said she guessed We could get
raadx- for II lint xva would oil have to holm
her to cook and fix, as it took an awful sight
of victuals for anything that way. We all
promised and you may believe, we did not
talk of much else that afternoon, but the
celebration and the good time we were going
to have. The boys commenced hunting up
old flags and things, and Frank and. Arth
walked clear to Ridgeville a little bit of
town, about mile away, to get some torpe-
does and firecrackerS, and then didn't get
any, cause they have only one store there,
and they did not have any. May and ! got
q lot of red, white, and blue ribbons, and
sewed on our white dresses, and we thought
they looked Just grand After that we got
out in the orchard and practiced marching
till supper was ready. The next day we had
to gather berries, for grandma to make pies,
hunt the eggs, bring in wood, and well,
she Just kept us trOtting all the morning till
we were nearly tired to DEATH But then We
had promised to help and we had il to do. At
ter dinner the boys went off to the field with
grandpa, and May and helped grandma to
clean up-swept the porch and cellar steps,
so there wouldn't be so much to do in the
morning. Then we went and swung awhile,
cause we had nathing else to do, and waded
in the branch, and finally got our dolls and
made playhouse. 1t seemed "a though the
4th of July never would come; | know that
was the longest afternoon we ever saw.
But after q long while the supper-bell
rang and we. weren't very sorry After
supper we all sat out on the long porch and
grandpa told Us stories about the 4th of July
and about some battles he was in one time.
He was in war once, in Mexico, think, or
some other place. and | don't know just
when, but | think it was before was born.
Well. we went to bed rather early that
night, cause grandpa said we would have to
get up at O'Clock sharp. so rs to get ready
to go to the celebration. | dreamed that
night was going to the celebration, riding
ON a white horse and dressed IN my white
dress with red, white and blue ribbons.
When we came to the town, some one cried.
Here comes the Goddess of Liberty" the
people began to shout and the drums began
to beat-and grandpa was pounding the door
with all his might, and telling us to get up to
breakfast. We bounced up quick, got dressed
in a hurry and ran down to breakfast; but
some way we did not feel as hungry as usual,
and grandma got afraid we were sick, but we
all declared we never felt better in our lives.
When breakfast was over the boys hustled
off to help grandpa feed, and we wanted to
help Susan. the girl, do UP the kitchen work,
but she said we were in her way and wOuldn'
let us Grandma called us up stairs and told
us to begin to dress, as it most always took
so long We didn't like it a bit cause she
had taken the red, white and blue ribbons
off our dresses, but she said she supposed the
little girls in the city wore their dresses that
way. but the little girls in Jonesboro did not,
and they would make funOf US. OF course
we did not want to be made fun
of, but still we thought they
looked real pretty, though we
| had never seen any of the girls at home fixed
| that way. 1t took grandma an awful long
| time to fix us that morning, she said she
didn't know much about little girls clothes
nowadays, land couldn't get the hang OF
| them anyway" / noticed May sash looked
| kind-o'- funny, and when | looked close,
| saw il was tied upside down. In n little
| bit, the boys came in, in terrible hurry to
| get dressed, and tearing around just like they
| were crazy. Ii did not take them long, for
/ they were not a bit particular how they
| looked-oily Fred; he's fourteen. and some
| times thinks he is awful nice and pays a
| good deal of attention to the girls. but most
| of the time, he is just little boy. like the
! rest OF us. That morning, he could not get
his ncck-tie to suit him, and grandma could
| not fix it, nor Susan, and If 1T had not
been that May got it twisted
just the right way, we might have been there