<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>THE BROWNIES' FOURTH OF JULY.</h2>
<div class='poem'>
<span class='smcap'>When</span> Independence Day was nigh,<br/>
And children laid their pennies by,<br/>
Arranging plans how every cent<br/>
Should celebrate the grand event,<br/>
The Brownies in their earnest way<br/>
Expressed themselves about the day.<br/></div>
<div class='center'> <table class="slope" summary="slope">
<tr><td align='left'><br/><br/>Said one: "The time is drawing near—<br/>
To every freeman's heart so dear—<br/>
When citizens throughout the land,<br/>
From Western slope to Eastern strand,<br/>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></td></tr>
</table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class='poem'>
Will celebrate with booming gun<br/>
Their liberties so dearly won!"<br/>
<br/>
"A fitting time," another cried,<br/>
"For us, who many sports have tried,<br/></div>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Poem and drawing">
<tr><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i133a.png" width-obs="85" height-obs="125" alt="Holding firecracker" title="" />
</td><td align='left'>To introduce our mystic art<br/>
And in some manner play a part."<br/>
A third replied, with beaming face:<br/>
"Trust me to lead you to a place<br/>
Where fireworks of every kind<br/>
Are made to suit the loyal mind.<br/></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class='poem'>
"There, Roman candles are in store,<br/>
And bombs that like a cannon roar;<br/>
While 'round the room one may behold<br/>
Designs of every size and mold,—<br/>
The wheels that turn, when all ablaze,<br/>
And scatter sparks a thousand ways;<br/>
The eagle bird, with pinions spread;<br/>
The busts of statesmen ages dead;<br/>
And him who led his tattered band<br/>
Against invaders of the land<br/></div>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="drawing and poem">
<tr><td align='left'>Until he shook the country free<br/>
From grasp of kings beyond the sea.<br/>
<br/>
"We may, from this supply, with ease<br/>
Secure a share whene'er we please;<br/>
And on these hills behind the town<br/>
That to the plain go sloping down,<br/></td><td align='left'><ANTIMG src="images/i133b.png" width-obs="85" height-obs="133" alt="Exploding firecracker" title="" />
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class='poem'>
We'll take position, come what may,<br/>
And celebrate the Nation's Day."<br/>
<br/>
That eve, when stars began to shine,<br/>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</SPAN></span>The eager band was formed in line,<br/>
And, acting on the plans well laid,<br/>
A journey to the town was made.<br/>
<br/>
The Brownies never go astray,<br/>
However puzzling is the way;<br/>
With guides before and guards behind,<br/>
They cut through every turn and wind,<br/>
Until a halt was made at last<br/>
Before a building bolted fast.<br/>
But those who think they'd turn around<br/>
And leave because no keys are found<br/>
Should entertain the thought no more,<br/>
But study up the Brownie lore.<br/>
<br/>
They rummaged boxes piled around<br/>
And helped themselves to what they found,<br/>
Some eager to secure the wheel<br/>
That would so many sparks reveal.<br/>
Some active members of the band<br/>
To bombs and crackers turned their hand,<br/>
While more those emblems sought to find<br/>
That call the Nation's birth to mind,<br/>
And bring from every side the shout<br/>
When all their meaning blazes out.<br/></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i134.png" width-obs="341" height-obs="89" alt="exploding out of a barrel" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
Ere long, upon the homeward road<br/>
They hastened with their novel load:<br/>
And when the bell in chapel tower<br/>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</SPAN></span>Gave notice of the midnight hour,<br/>
The ruddy flame, the turning wheel,<br/>
The showering sparks and deafening peal<br/>
Showed Brownies in the proper way<br/>
Gave welcome to the glorious day.<br/></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i135.png" width-obs="506" height-obs="537" alt="Carrying fireworks home" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
The lighted eagles, through the night,<br/>
Looked down like constellations bright;<br/>
The rockets, whizzing to and fro,<br/>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</SPAN></span>Lit up the slumbering town below;<br/></div>
<div class='center'> <table class="firework" summary="firework">
<tr><td align='left'><br/><br/><div class='poem8'>
While, towering there with eyes of fire,<br/>
As when he made his foes retire,<br/>
Above all emblems duly raised,<br/>
The Father of his Country blazed.<br/>
<br/>
But ere the Brownies' large supply<br/>
Had gone to light the summer sky,<br/></div>
<div class='poem5'>
Some plasters would have served the band<br/>
Much better than the goods on hand;<br/>
For there were cases all about<br/>
Where Brownies thought the fuse was out,<br/>
Till with a sudden fizz and flare<br/>
It caught the jokers unaware.<br/></div>
<div class='poem10'><br/>
At times, in spite of warning cries,<br/>
Some proved too slow at closing eyes;<br/>
Some ears were stunned, some noses got<br/>
Too close to some- thing quick and hot,<br/>
And fingers bore for days and weeks<br/>
The trace of hasty powder's freaks.<br/>
<br/></div>
<div class='poem4'>
Some dodging 'round would get a share<br/>
Of splendor meant for upper air,<br/>
And with a black or speckled face<br/></div>
<div class='poem7'>
They ran about from place to place,<br/>
To find new dangers blaze and burn<br/>
On every side where'er they'd turn.<br/>
<br/>
But few were there who felt afraid<br/>
Of bursting bomb or fusillade,<br/>
And to the prize they'd stick and hang<br/>
Until it vanished with a "bang,"<br/>
Or darting upward seemed to fly<br/>
On special business to the sky.<br/>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></div>
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i137a.png" width-obs="502" height-obs="415" alt="Lighting up the night" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
But there, while darkness wrapped the hill,<br/>
The Brownies celebrated still;<br/>
For, pleasures such as this they found<br/>
But seldom in their roaming 'round;<br/>
And with reluctant feet they fled<br/>
When morning tinged the sky with red.<br/></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i137b.png" width-obs="123" height-obs="121" alt="Explaining to the police" title="" /></div>
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