Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-28

your selfish countrymen have kept for cen--
turtles corked up in a golden flask"
| 'BismiHah!" shouted the Arab, striking
| himself iercely across the forehead with his
| clinched fist. Cannot you understand, you
stupid one. that 1t mine-mine!-this
| Wonderful Water of Life? 1 had planned
to use it myself = drop by drop = that I
| might live forever"
| I'm sorry, said monsieur. but it is
your own fault. You forced my wife to
care for the flask. and you would not let
J her tell me about it. So. through your own
stupidity. I used it in the gingerbread
| man"
! 'Ah!' said All Dubh, an eager CLEAN in
his eyes. where, then, is that same ginger
| bread man? If I can find him and eat him,
a bit at a time, I shall get the benefit of
| the Great Elixir, after ALL 1t would not be
so powerful perhaps. as In it's natural
state, but 1t would enable me to live for
| many, many years.!
John Dough heard this speech with
thrill of horror. Also he now began to I'M
| derstand how he happened to be alive.
man is.'' said monsieur He walked out of
my shop while he was quite hot"
| But he can be found" said the Arab.
ut is impossible for a gingerbread man,
| who Is alive, to escape notice. Come, let US
search for him at once! 1 must find him
| and eat him."
He fairly dragged monsieur and madame
| from the room in his desperation, and John
| Dough crouched out Of sight behind the
| counter until he heard them pass through
|
| the street.
The talk he had overheard made the GIN
gerbread man very sad, indeed. The bak-
| cry was no safe home for him, after all
| Evidently 1t was the Arabs intention to
| find him and insist upon eating him, and
| John Dough did not want to be eaten at ALL
| Therefore, his enemies must not find him.
| They were no safer to meet with than the
| awful woman who wanted to cut him into
| slices, and he was learning, by degrees, that
| all men were dangerous enemies to him. al
| though he had himself the form Of man
| He left the bakery and stole out into the
street once more, walking now in the oppo-
site direction from that taken by the Arab
| and the Grograndes.
pie on the streets. and these. in the dark,
| paid little attention to the gingerbread
man. so gradually his spirits rose and his
! confidence in his future returned.
By and by he heard a strange popping
and Kissing coming from the direction Of
/ the square in the center of the town, and
then he saw red and green lights illuminat-
ing the houses and fiery comets go sailing
| into the sky to break into dozens of beau
| tinful colored stars.
The people were having their Fourth of
| July fireworks, and John Dough became
| curious to witness the display from nearby
| So forgetting his fears, he ran through the
| streets until he came to big crowd Of
| people, who were too busy watching the
| fireworks to notice that a gingerbread man
| stood beside them.
| John Dough pressed forward until he was
quite in the front row and just behind the
| men who were firing the rockets.
! For time he watched the rush Of the
! colored fires with much pleasure, and thor
| oughly enjoyed the suffering Of big
| wheel that refused to go around, merely
| sending out weak and listless spurts Of
| green and red sparks, as Is the manner of
| such wheels.
But now the event of the evening was to
| occur. Two men brought out an enormous
| rocket. fully fifteen feet tall and filled with
| a tremendous charge of powder. This they
| leaned against a wooden trough that stood
| upright but the rocket was too tall to stay
| in place and swayed from side to side
| awkwardly.
| Here! Hold that stick" cried one Of the
| men, and John Dough stepped forward and
| grasped the stick of the big rocket firmly
| not knowing there was any danger in doing
| so.
| Then the man ran to get a piece of rope
| to tie the rocket in place. but the other
man. being excited and thinking the rocket
| was ready to fire, touched off the fuse with