But Ward was merrily firing his crackers, with no thought of sleeping sisters. Fred Williamson and Artie Marley were with him, and by the time the three girls had joined them they had made a respectable hole in their packages and had announced to all of River Bend that another Independence Day had dawned.
"Mother says not to shoot another thing till after breakfast," said Margy. "Oh-h, look at the tin can!"
For as she spoke a tin can sailed skyward with telling effect and Fred beamed proudly.
"Let me do that!" begged Margy.
"After breakfast," Fred promised, and the chums separated reluctantly.
They all ate with more speed than their mothers could strictly approve, but as the Fourth of July, like Christmas, comes but once a year, leniency was granted.
"It is so warm, I shouldn't think you'd want to go near a firecracker," said Mrs. Marley, catching Artie as he asked to be excused and made a dash for the front porch.
"Oh, yes, Mother, they're great," he assured her. "Only Joe Anderson has a pistol," he added.
"He's a more foolish and reckless boy than I gave him credit for, then," declared Artie's father, who overheard this. "A lad of his age has no business with such a thing."
"Now let me fire a tin can," Margy demanded, as soon as they were reassembled after breakfast.