The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1897-07-14

so many things that they were quite
ready for bed as soon as supper was
eaten. Only there were so many
things to talk about, and so many
plans to make that the Little Boy and
the Little Girl both thought it would
he very nice to stay up just little,
tiny bit longer. But the Grown Person
looked at the clock and didn't say any
thing, and the Little Boy and the Little
Girl looked mt the clock and then very
solemnly at each other, and began to
gather together the many parcels that
they had brought home with them.
While they were putting the pack
ages away in one corner the Grown
Person began:
''Once upon time there was q
great big sky rocket"
Two little faces frightened, and the
little people ran across the porch and
snuggled down in the Grown Persons
lap.
"a story's part of getting ready for
bed, isn't it?" said the Little Boy.
''Once upon a time" repeated the
Grown Person, smiling, "there was a
great big sky rocket in great big
box, in little bit of a store kept by u
Chinaman."
''Was il great big Chinaman or a
little bit of Chinaman?" asked the
Little Girl.
"Well," said the Grown Person,
"when the rocket looked at the China
man it thought he was wonderfully
big person, but beside some of the
high boxes in his store, he wasn't
very big at all. The rocket was a
proud sort of a rocket; it had come
all the way across the ocean, and
thought that it must be very superior
sort indeed, to he carried so far, at
such expense. 1t disliked very much
to hear its neighbors on the shelf
"Why, / thought you said it was in
n boxw interrupted the Little Boy.
81 guess the box must have been ON
n shelf, said the Little Girl.
But the Grown Person went on:
''It disliked to hear its neighbors
talking about what they would do on
the Fourth of July. 4 tell you what
it is, said big cannon cracker one
day, when go off, I'm goingto make
a noise that can be heard all around
the world. My brothers and sisters
in China are listening for it, and when
they hear it, they'll know I'm gone.
The man that buys me will be glad.
"I'm going to he bought by a
woman with little boy, said a bunch
of small fire crackers, and if that lit
tie boy tries to tie me to dogs tail,
like / saw little boy do once, do you
know what I'm going to do? I'm go
ing right off in his bands, and I'm just
going to burn him as much as / can. ,"
''That would be right, said the Lit
tie Girl. "Willie Jones tried to do that
last year, and his papa cav him and
took his fire crackers away from him,
and didn't let him come out at night
to see the fireworks"
"When the rocket heard all the fire
crackers talking he said, That's right,
make all the noise you can now, and
all the noise You can when You go off
That's all you are good for anyway!
But just look at me, when / go oil, I'll
shoot away up into the air, away up
where the clouds are, and I'll make
beautiful light with thousands of little
stars and big ones, and all the people
will look up and say"oh- HI and "ah-h!"
and little girls will clap their hands,
then some day, when / grow bigger
and bigger, I'll come sweeping back
through the sky and people will think
I'm comet, and will write about me
in their books and I'll be famous for
ever. That's what I'm going to do.
You talk about doing anything! Why,
what's a fire cracker good for anyway,
only to frighten horses, and hurt chill
dren and burn holes in clothes. I'm
he at all surprised if all this Fourth of
July that they talk about, was just
made so they could show me off.
''The crackers didn't say anything
for they knew they didn't make much
of show in the world and they knew
they do frighten horses sometimes"
And little girls, too" said the Lit
tie Boy.
"Oh, / amt afraid" cried the Lit
tie Girl, "last year almost shot off
little one in my fingers"
! just Us tnt rochtU HulSHeu lts Dig
speech" said the Grown Person, IA
big man came in the door, and said,
Sam, where's that box of spoiled fire
works? That's it, is it? No good, are
they? Well might as well take them
down and throw them in the river
and then the man picked up the very
box in which was the rocket that had
talked so much and the cannon cracker
that was going to be heard around the
world-the man picked them up just
this way" and the Grown Person got
up out of the chair still holding the
Little Boy and the Little Girl.
''And he walked down the street, I"
said the Grown Person, walking into
the house and toward the bedroom,
"and then up another street until he
came to the river, and then-heave,
ho!-he drew them in, and that was
And with that the Grown Person
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