The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-07-02
ed by a call to breakfast.

ed by a call to breakfast.
'How nice 1t was this morning." re-
marked Mrs. Brewer, mot to be awak
ened by those horrid crackersl l don't
remember ever before sleeping on a
Fourth Of July morning after daylight
Did you enjoy it, Mr. CollamoreT'
Every much" l replied. ! cast my
eyes about the table to detect who had
annoyed me, my gaze lighting on the
boys, To my surprise, they showed no
consciousness Of guilt. But by the
way Nell poked her nose down near
her plate in an effort to conceal her
features knew that she had been my
torturer
And here will remark that, despite
the reputation of the small boy for
waywardness, for causing his mother
distress by climbing trees and getting
into mudholes while dressed In his
best suit, for smashing things without
reason or provocation, he is not to be
compared for pure cussedness with
certain girls from fifteen to eighteen
l refer to the kind of girl commonly
called hoyden and In some cases tom
boy. And l will further remark that
Nell Brewer was the quintessence of
this kind of girl. Such girls always
have what we call an innocent way
with them. They can look purer
sweeter. more pious, than any other
girl But when Satan comes out in
them he dances highland fling.
l was sitting after breakfast with
Margaret on the porch near the door
Of the conservatory. Margaret was
discoursing on the changed Independ-
ence day-how much more restful,
more quiet than the old Fourth
Everybody seemed to be harping con,
tinually on the subject. They didn't
harp so much before it had ended ]
was sitting with my back to the con-
servatory when | felt cold water sprin-
killed. against the back Of my neck run
down my spine
"Oh, Mr.. Collamore," cried Neil, I'm
so sorry! was watering the plants,
and the sprayer slipped"
Nell" said Margaret. you should
be more careful"
''It's Of no consequence, assure
you" l said. with the politeness expect
ed of a guest.
II hope | didn't wet you." said Nell
mot at all. only few drops; they
feel deliciously COOL" and rubbed my
neck and ruined shirt collar with my
handkerchief
But as the day wore on had my re
venge on this family who delighted in
the new Fourth. Tommy fell of the
roof of the barn and broke his arm
Alec, not having any 6recrackers to
set off, set fire to the dry grass and
came near burning up all the buildings
on the premises. For Nell's annoy
ances to me l resolved to punish her,
so l invited her to 60 rowing with me
on the river, intending to give her a
ducking If | could. l was willing to
suffer myself from the water If | could
put her into 1t, and ! wouldn't have
minded drowning her. upset the
boat, but so agile was she that she
caught an overhanging branch and es
capped with no more serious damage
than a pair Of wet feet while l was
obliged to swim for dear life.
When got into dry clothes asked
Margaret to go for a drive with me in
the auto. While we were driving she
said:
Isn't it nice to ride on the Fourth Of
July not fearing the horses will be
frightened by cracker2 We neither
have horses now nor crackers" She
had hardly spoken the words before
one of the forward wheels struck a
stone, wrenching the steering wheel
out of my hands, and before could re
cover 1t the auto had swerved, struck
a telegraph pole and thrown both Mar
garet and myself into ditch. 1t was
a miracle that we were not both hurled
against the pole and killed. We were
black as your hat with mud
Such was the finale of the new ex.
plosionless Fourth. | nave endured
many a cracker anniversary, but never
have suffered as on this regenerated
Independence day, when all was still
The ending was worse even than
have depicted 1t, for Margaret was so
mad at having a new and costly dress
spoiled In the ditch that she never has
forgiven me for putting her there. She
says 1t was all due to my careIessness