Oxford eagle., 1904-06-30

the Fourth of July, but it treats of eX-
plosives, SO | suppose it will suit you
just as well"
The children settled themselves de-
lightedly. and the professor began. He
was charming story-teller, and the
children sat spelbound until he had
finished. The tale made a great i'm
preston, and especially on Clifford.
The next day, when he and his playfel-
lows were lying on the grass in the
shade, too lazy to play on account OF
the heat, Cliffofffd told the story to
them, and concluded by saying:
Boys, I've got scheme. Let's us
get up 'gunpowder plot for the
Fourth. Only we won't have ours just
like the story, for ours shall go off as
it ought We can have it on that va
cant block across the street. We'll
dig cellar and then build a sort of a
house on top for the parliament build
ing
Yes. and make the house of tin
cans and such things, so it will make
a terrible noise when 1t goes off" said
Frank Middlebury.
So it went on and soon the plans
were all laid
The next day they began operations,
and worked desperately, as boys will
for play. all morning Day after day
the work went on. Both boys and girls
of the neighborhood were wild with
curiosity to know what they We're
about, but never a word of informa-
ton could they get from any of the
workers. Even Ruth Gray did not
know what they We're doing until she
accidentally overheard Clifford say
something TO Clarence about the gun
powder plot Then she was all in
terest and wanted 10 join the conspir-
ators herself.
There weren't any ladies in it,
Clarence replied. scornfully. when she
asked him about it.
"Oh. well, that doesn't make any dif-
ference and want to so bad"
well. you ask Cliff"
And when she asked Clifford he put
her off very contemptuously. Then
Ruth began to cry and told him he was
real mean"
But no amount of teasing made any
difference. Clifford was obstinate
Ruth was not admitted to the plot
AT last the morning OF the Fourth
arrived. The conspirators had agreed
that parliament" should be assembled
and the gunpowder in the cellar "ses
off, at Il exactly, as they would all
have returned from the public exer-
cises of the morning by that time.
The day wore on. The usual pop
ping and banging of typical Fourth
of July continued very steadily. 1t
was nearing II o'clock and one by one
five boys appeared on the scene near
the parliament building
Issuing rom one side of this ''tir
cam house was a rope which extended
about ten feet out of the house. The
end of this rope was to be lighted and
then the boys were to run away and
watch proceedings The rope COM
munieated with quantity of firecrack-
sers underneath the house. All the
pocket money that FIVE boys could save
and earn for week had been invested
in explosives and stored away there
for the Fourth
Finally the appointed moment ar
rived. Clifford. who was the Guy
Fawkes Of the conspiracy. touched i
lighted match TO the end of the rope
Then the five boys stepped back to a
safe distance Very eagerly they
watched the progress of the tiny poin.
of FIRE moving slowly along the rope
Closer and closer to its destination
crept the spark.
Its getting there, boys said Frank
Middlebury. ~
'Landy. won't 1t be grcst2" cried
another.
Watch ii. It's nearly there.D Cliff
ford exclaimed
Sure enough the tiny fame had
reached the boundary of the house. Il
was creeping inside. An instant-and