Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-07-12
CHE BUDDED
~ ON THE FOURTH

ep;ford's invitation to spend the
Tonrth OF July at the Clifford country
n,oce ave shall be very quiet" she
,rrote You mustn't expect any gay
o,v There viii be no one here e&
enrt the members of our family. Sorry
capt have a young lady FOR you. but
don't want the trouble Of one"
The clifford children were Grace and
charlie When | had iast seen them
Grace was sweet little girl seven or
oigfd years of AEGEAN ethereal child
,gbom au artist would choose fer spir
uneIle model purposes. Charlie was
tbree years younger. What luck for
me. this opportunity to turn my back
on III, cracking. booming city and
spend the day with this quiet family.
when arrived--iii time for dinner
nm the evening of the 3d--I was re
minded hoy time flies. Grace clifford,
though she still wore her dresses quite
short. was Us tail rs she was likely
IN be- Charlie was nearly fifteen
Grace seemed to have retained her
childish gCnsleuess. and Charlie also
seemed quiet. retiring boy. deyot-
al, 50 bis mother told me, 20 book.
We dlued undisturbed by the sound
Of n single cracker, the children so
well behaved that neither OF them
smoke during the meal. Indeed I, be-
ing young man considerably under
thirty. remembering that Grace must
be eighteen. felt inclined to have some
words with her, especially as she was
very pretty But she maintained her
reserve in presence OF the father and
mother nj table and after dinner.
saw her no more during the evening
The next morning was awakened
BY the sp.teful snap of II firecracker, |
turned over and slept again. | was
awakened by second snap, this time
to stay awake. | felt under my pillow
for my watch and noted the time
o'clock. i had been told that breakfast
would be ut o. Four hours interval.
and felt hungry. | must get another
nap. I shut my eyelids and resolved
that | would sleep despite the daylight
streaming in ut my window. was
DOING of when there came another
crack-not good round noise. but
spiteful, malicious, malignant little
snap. not big enough to fully awaken
me, but to disturb the siumber into
which | was drifting, | continued to
keep my eyes closed tightly. hoping TIC
fall asleep. but there came a succession
OF cracks In monotonous regularity and
volume. covered my ears with the
sheet aud perseyered. My efforts We're
Of no avail. The contemplate snaps
continued. and ut last gave up, open
ed my eyes and looked at the window.
saw little brass cannon resting or
the rail OF the balcony ON to which my
room opened. A hand projecting from
coat sleeve. with lighted match. was
thrust forward to touch of the cannon,
bat the fame was blown out by the
wind before 1t reached the vent.
waited aud watched. Another match
was tried and failed. Then bit OF
lighted firecracker was tried. and this
time the wrist of the hand that held it
wore a bracelet | also heard girls
giggle. The cannon was fired.
II was still but half past O'Clock.
Should endure this annoyance or
make an attempt to stop IL? | got up
and, looking into the hall, saw the door
Of bedroom opposite standing open.
Iwant In. closed the door, threw myself
on the bed and succeeded in getting 6
few minutes slumber before being
called. Meanwhile | presume the chill
dren kept on with their firing. suppos-
Ing they We're annoying me. At break
fast Grace looked demure enough for
nunnery. l made no reference to my
discovery
The children kept their crackers ex-
ploding all the morning. If / went on
10 the front piazza they came with
them there. II | went to the back
piazza they also changed for my new
position. We dlned at l O'Clock, and
after dinner | sought the library for
a nap. expected to hear more crack
ers, but | did not was doing OH
when an immense bee came tumblins
on to my nose. l made frantic grasp
for it and failed. | settled myself
again, aud again came the bee. This
time | saw that II was bit OF paper
hanging by thread to a stick. | shut
my eyes and pretended TO sleep. The
bee climbed all over my nose, but
paid no attention to it, Finally l
snored. Out OF the corner OF my eye
| saw Grace clifford steal softly from
behind screen with a plant sprayer
In her hand. Reaching forward, she
gave me its contents. Almost before
The water reached me L sprang up.
seized her in my arms and covered her
face with kisses.
let me go or I'll call papaw she
cried, struggling vigorously.
Call as loud as you like"
You're not a gentleman"
Nor are you lady"
How dare you say that to meY'
mo lady would fire brass cannon
under a guests window to keep him
awake"