Show the best A juvenile sketch for independence day the crosspatch man was sick again and this time it must be pretty bad tor all the morning meredith had been watching the servants spread straw before the house and muffle the big shiny doorbell poor man mamma said he la sick so often but hes a crosspatch man mut meredith stiffly then he re dented and looked as shamefaced as ii very little boy with a very round dim pled face could look I 1 m so airy oiry he s ve ry sic t he said slowly I 1 pose it hurts even crosspatch men mamma did not notice she was having her little noon gossip with papa and they were still talking about their invalid neighbor it isn t quite so bad as it seems you know papa was saying he al ways has the straw laid down and things muffled when he has one of his worse nervous attacks it doean doesn t mean all that it does in most cases he is terribly afflicted by noise at al most any time noise I 1 should think so that was from meredith who pricked up his ears at the word dian didn t he know how the patch man felt bout a noise D he be ong to the rudd street second he captain and oh my the times he d seen tha crosspatch man a scowling and a fuming when they marched past his window but fourth of july will be a terri bla day to him poor man went on j mamma s gentle voice that made meredith start a little he had been thinking aboul fourth july too did he think of much of anything else nowadays he had been going over in his mind all the glorious pro gram ot the day for the hudd street second was going to celebrate in a worthy manner a were going to even outdo themselves thia year and they had the proud honor of being the foiest treet in the city tor two fourth julys a running 7 let em just wait till tasy heard this fourth jul it vas three days on that bould give the crosspatch man time to have the straw tal en up and the muffled tor his worst times never lasted more than two or three days then he 11 have to cotton up his MEREDITH STOOD IN SHEER AMAZEMENT ears mused meredith philosophic ally watching the big foreign servant that wore a turban go back and forth past the crosspatch man s window the house meredith lived in and the crosspatch man s house were quite close together so tt easy to watch things unfortunately for an invalid with the terrible affliction ca led nerves rudd street was a regular nest of boys they were boys everywhere on it you ran against boys when you went east and boys ran against you anen you went west boys sprang up in the most unexpected places the houses seemed to be running over with boys and really there was at least one boy and on an average two or three in every house on meredith s side except in fhe crosspatch man s house oh dear me no there t any boys there on the other side of the street you had to skip the midd lest house and miss and miss Ero matheas oh yes and the minister s house of which miss and miss eroma thea were old maids and the minister oh no he wasa t an old maid but you coulden couldn t expect him to have boys in the house for how could he ever write his sermons 7 so it was as I 1 said an unfortunate street to ha 7 nerves on and the crosspatch maa had so many the three days between soon went alpy and it was the night tha very night before it there were only a few hours more tor of course you have to wait till sun rose on fourth of july meredith had drilled the rudd street second tor the last time and dispersed his men he was on his way home to supper going by the crosspatch man s house he voices distinctly issuing from an open window he coulden couldn t help bearing it iwas so quiet in the street perhaps it was the lull before the storm the sahib cannot bear t a gentle soothing vo ce was saying but mere adith recognized the indignation mixed with the pity in tf the sahib will be again sick then came me edith s astonishment for the crosspatch man s voice was answering and it was quite calm and gentle and it said of course I 1 shall be sick again harl I 1 venade all my plans to perish but what can you expects the little chaps must have their fourth july I 1 was a little chap myself once shut the window hari there s a suspicion of a draught meredith stood still in sheer amaze ment and watched the turban man HE MADE A LITTLE SPEECH close the window he was a little chap himself once the crosspatch man was and how kind his voice had sounded too it made him sorry for the crosspatch crass patch man sorrier than he had ever been before s he a a dreadin it like sixty he s to denb meredith said aloud it s go n to make him sick of course that s what he said to the turban man an he was a little chap once an his vo ce was kind an tired out then meredith went home and perched himself up on the banister post in the hall ta anink that was where he always thought things big things you know this was oh my such a big thing r I 1 m cap n aued meredith knit ting his little fair brows I 1 can say go an thou ahot like the man in the bible but they 11 be dreadful dis po anted the budd street seconds will be still well he sick an he had a kind spot in his voice an he aed to be a little chap too so of course he used to bang things an make noises I 1 don t think he sound ed much like a crosspatch man in a little while after a little more tough thinking meredith slipped down and out of the door up the street he got together the rudd st beet seconds and made a little speech as a captain may to men the day abety and all amer lea celebrated fourth july and rudd street was fadoul again but time tr being thi very quietest street in all the city there were just as many boys in it too as ever the crosspatch man s white ner face smoothed and calmed as the day wore on and at last it actually smiled in a gentle way as if he was thinking about cometh ng pleasant and the captain 0 the rudd street seconds and bis alave men drilling and popping and banging in a distant street were happy too annie ham allton donnell |