Middletown transcript., 1906-06-30

Corners were already celebrating
and there would be neither peace
nor rest for the next twenty four
hours. Miss Almira had known
how it would be when Sam At
kins, her next-door neighbor,
came home from Pendleton an
hour ago. Every boy in the
neighborhood had sent By him
forfrecrackers and powder. Miss
Almira was afraid Of powders and
noise gave her nervous headache.
There was. a black cloud in the
west that betokened rain. She
hoped it was not . false prophecy
as she put the tubs out under the
caves.
Tommy Atkins was firing on
crackers the other side OF the
fence. He was also watching
Miss AImira out of his weather
eye.' Presently an apparently
false motion sent one flying over
the fence at Miss Almira's very
feet, where it went off with q
loud bang, startling her nearly
into spasms, while her pet cat
leaped wildly into the air and
then took refuge on the ridge
pole of the cottage.
Miss Almira gave him a look
of keen reproach, which failed OF
it's intended effect. Tommy At
kins was usually q nice kind of o
boy. What was it about the
Fourth of July that turned boys
into fiends ?
Tommy. was delighted at his
success. He lit whole bunch
and tossed them over the fence
when Miss Almira's back was
turned. They fell with q soft
thump close beside her, and she
watched the swiftly burning fuse
with fascinated gaze moment
then fed precipitately into the
house and shut the door against
the fusillade of rapid artillery
outside.
Tommy was disgusted. He
had wasted whole bunch on one
old woman, who had not waited
to be scared. There was enough
in that bunch to have frightened
all the cats in town into fits. Tom
my was Of an economical turn of
mind.
After the smoke of battle had
cleared sway, Miss Almira called
in the cat, locked all the doors
and put down the curtains. Then
she stuffed her ears with cotton
and sat down with the cat in her
lap. She knew what the next
few hours would bring forth.
The Burch boys, the Brown boys
and the Vanderburg boys joined
forces with Tommy presently,
and pandemonium reigned. They
always celebrated as close 10 Miss
Almira's back door as possible.
Tt was twelve o'clock when the
last cannon cracker went off amid
hideous howls of satisfaction,
which grew fainter, and finally
faded away altogether. Tommy S
allies had gone home. and Miss
Alm1ra, trembling and unnerved,
crept away to bed. She fell into
a troubled sleep about one Q clock
which lasted undisturbed for two
hours, and then the time honored
anvil at Hackett's Corners awoke
the slumbering echoes, also Miss
Almira. There was no more
sleep for her, and she lay and
covered miserably with nervous
fear at the continuous explosions
which tore, shrieking, through
the silence of the night. Some
where she had heard that heavy
cannonading was sure to bring
rain, and it was the only drop Of
consolation in the Overlooking
cup of her misery but she was
destined to disappointment. The
morning dawned bright and beau
tiful. Not a cloud softened the
cerulean blue of the sky,and Miss
Almira took her wooden tubs
back into the cellar with evident
disappointment. She had no ap-
petite for breakfast, and nibbled
at her dry toast and drank her
English breakfast tea with de-
pressed air, which lightened
somewhat as the buggies and
wagons began to 60 by. They
seemed to be filed principally
with boys for this she felt thank
full. There were eight in Jerry
Browns wagon.
She frightened visibly after
they had gone by, and drew a
long breath of relief. How nice
and still it was. She thought Of
the noisy, distracting crowds at
Pendreton with ashudder. Miss
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