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Show j" t f:r-w )- IMflV )ffS i A JJ ,V C' -T- vT '" " '-" ' ( - V 0' A Fourth of July Confession 1IY CHARLKH KUGRN'K BANKS. iriHivrldil. tun, l pally HinrT Hub. Co) Mr. Arnold, I dim I think you b Hove what )riiu Bay " "ludctd I do, Mian Darlington." "fourth of July la lares? Then 7011 really think that?" "I mean to say that all thai mono? apent In firing; off crackers and burning burn-ing rockets haa no useful purpose." "It expresses our feelings, I think, and that la all anything can lu for ua In thla world." "1 do not agree with you. Thorn are many almplor and more aonslblo waya nt giving expressions to our emoltnne than by ".Hint the air with noise and amoko. U la childish, drown people ought to ho able to ahow their patriot-lam patriot-lam In a more aonalhle way." "Fudge. You are gutting aa dry and uninteresting aa Ihoae old booka you bury yourself In moat of lha tlina. I bolleve In life. Ilooka are all well enough In their way, but that la gun-rally a very tiresome way." The young man stooped tn the aide of thn pnlh and picked up a dry twig, hold It before hla eyre for a momi'iil ami thrn snspplng It sharply threw the t-nila Into thn air. "Why Isn't Hint aa good an oxpree-alon oxpree-alon aa thouith It had been tightly rolled roll-ed paper with a Utile saltpeter confined con-fined at Ita heart? If I break the stick with a devotional thought concerning the Declaration of Indcpcndent-a I ahall experience aa aubllino a thrill aa though I had fired off a rannon." "You might, Mr. Wiseman, but we are not all ao gifted with Imagination. Moat of ua require something outaldn of ourselves to move ua sublimely." The hot bloou aurgod Into the fnre of the young man at the retort. He turned hla gaze full on the girt at hla aide, but ahe waa already turning away, calling aoftly to a robin hopptug In tho shade of an old appla tree that grow bealde thn gate loading Into the farmhouse gmunda. "Mllly,'" be called, reproachfully. "Walt till George Lounsbery comes home from New York to-morrow and you'll ace what the Fourth of July moans to a mnn with real red blood In hla velna. Ho woe up laat year and brought more than a hundred dollara' worth of fireworks. I don't believe any one went to bed that night at all. The sky waa filled with red riro and I rnalliod for the "rat Unto what It meant tn be an American." "You menu the eon of Farmer leitmhery, I anppoae?" "Yea. Ilea a great man now. although al-though hu waa born and grew up In thla Illiterate neighborhood." "Mllly " "Mine Darlington, If you pleaae. Mr. rlhakeapeara. Doea your dingy old leather covered booka tell you that a young man haa the right to addreaa a young lady that ha met only four weeka ago with aa much familiarity aa though ahe waa hla aimer?" The girl tnaaed her pretty head with an air that might nava been learned In the court of a queen, allhough ahe had little knowledge of the waya of the world oulaldo of Mohawk Valley. Hut waa aha not a woman, young, pretty, proud, whimsical aa moat pretty young women are? And what need had ahe for Instructions In the art uf coquetry T To the aerloua young atudent who had come Into the neighborhood neigh-borhood with no other Idua than that of earning a modc-il living by teaching In the public school aha had knowledge enough and to apart), tie loved her, of couree. Thero waa no eacnpo from that. Una knew It, too, aa well aa though ha had told her ao with all the Impaaalonrd fervor of a Itunieo. But he had not told her ao. How could ha when alia met ovary attempt of hla to utter what filled hla heart with good-natured good-natured rallory tlut he bad not been discouraged. "Bho will linen to me aome day," he told himself over and over again aa he walked over the hllle or aat In hla little room with an unread un-read book In hla band. A woman doea not like tn he eaally won. Hla reading read-ing told him that, tie had never dreamed or a rival. 1 he lew young men of Itandall aeemnd to feel that ahe waa not for them and treated her with marked reverence or aurly dla-daln. dla-daln. What waa thla aha had bacn Baying but now? George lOiinabory! A real mnn, with rwi blood In hla velua. Ho felt the -blood freeilng tn bla heart. "la ha la Mr. Iiunsbsry a friend of youra?" "A friend of mine? Indeed ha la. 1 have known him ever alnce I waa a child. He la a great man now. Casta-ler Casta-ler In a bank In the city and trusted with tona of money. Walt till you aea how tnluga will move when be arrives. ar-rives. " He did wait, although with no pleas-ant pleas-ant anticipations. And that night he aaw the rocketa streaking serosa the aky and heard the houeal country folk cheer the neatly dreaaed, amooth-frtok-en young man who aet off whole pack-agea pack-agea of fira-c.rarkera with far Icea thought that one of the wealthiest among them would have atruoa; a match. And when It waa all over, whan the laat red flame had faded out of tha aky, the laat pin wheel had aplt out Ita epltuful little life, the laat bunch of Orncrarkora popped and danced ovar tha alnged and trampled lawn, Arnold walked home alone through tha wood a. carrying the burnt and of a single cracker tightly clutched In hla hand. After all had ho not been right when ha told Mllly that all thla celebration cele-bration waa "nnlae and fury, algnlfy-lug algnlfy-lug nothing?" 8ha had boasted to him that Mr. l.ounebery would bring a hundred hun-dred dollars' worth of flreworka from tha city to voice the patriotism of the neighborhood. And her boaat lis been made good. A hundred dollaiW I Why, that waa more than he wai to get for tha threa montha' term of ti-achlag In tha Itandall district school. A hundred dollars! What could ha not have done with the money 1 lint had been consumed In an evening, for the glory of patriotism? ln thought of the long, dreary struggle behind him. and tha dark, dreary, tedious daye ahead and a great bitterness clutched at hla heart and an unfimll-lar unfimll-lar oath roan In hla throat and demanded de-manded that he give It tongue. What waa all thla boaHted liberty If It broiiKht nothing to one and bo much to another? Why should this young nun-try nun-try hoy he favored by lato ao that the best poaltlona In a great city were hla lor the sukliiK. wbllv be. tha atudent. the scholar, the man with a real pur pose and a bljh aim, waa left to will'' hla way among auch hopeless surrounding-? llo-eliR, Indeed. For ahe who had wakened In hla heart now aspirations, aspira-tions, mndo even the frowning future bright with promise, sho had turned from h 1 111 with senrcely a word to Join In tho pralae and adulation that was Bhnwered upon the succeaaful man of the world. Hha waa heartless, lie waa aura ot that now, and It waa well that ha bad found no opportunity during tha bui-tla of tha day and aveulug to give bar ll-.a 1 written declaration ha had found It Ire J possible to make In apoken words, it least ba waa saved Uie humiliation of a reruaai. Let It be burned with I lha other useless Ihlugs or the day. Ho ran hla hand Into hla pocket. It waa empty. The lottor he bad penned In a fever of hope and dospalr was gone. He niuat have dropped It on tba lawn. Tho thought of eouie one finding find-ing and resiling It brought the blush to hla cheek and aent him back over the flelda with Impatient atrldua. Ho left the beaten path and climbing the anake lence that divided tho pasture land from the orchard hurried forward In tba shadow of the trneo. Aa ba came out upon the lawn a whlto bit of paper gleaming In the dew-wut grass caught bis eye and he sprang forward and eagerly caught It up. It waa tha envelope that had held tile letter, but It had been opened and the letter waa gone. It la said that every man haa one murder In hla heart which ha will ba ready to commit If tha proper moment arrives. To tho great majority Uila moment never presouta itself; only ono In ten thousand la therefore forced to faca the gallowa. Whether thla bo true or not It waa fortunate that tha person ao auddeuly to faoa tha young achoolmaater at that momont waa beyond be-yond the power of hla handa. A man would hava to be a devil Indeed to wish harm to a One young woman with tho fresh color of lha country on hsr cheeks, tha light of roguery In her eyea and lha moonlight clothing her aa a garment. And then If ahe laugh merrily and tba neit Inatant throw her arma about hla neck and tell him he la "an old gooes," be Isn't likely to wlah harm to bla worst enemy. "1 read your letter all through, you silly old thing, and thero lan't a word of truth In It. if there waa I should be caught up to heaven mis minute. You were awfully Beared when you found soma one had opened It? Oh, I could see your eyes flash even In tho muoullght. And you awore, too. 1 heard you; don't deny It. That's what ducldcd me. Up to that time I was afraid you were too good to bo human. Tbnre'a Just one thing mora yon must do before I'll promise not to refuao you. You've got to admit that tho Fnuith ot July la the grandest day In tha year and promise to celebrate It like a true American every year with real fire-crackers." "I ahall always hold the day Sacred In my heart, dearest," he aald, sol emu- ly. "It haa brought me " "Slavery, sir. slavery, nut. there. I'll try to make your chains aa light aa possible, and Frank, 1 love you better than all the rocketa to tba world." |