So they sallied off to the stable, and saddled the pony and the donkey, and led them out to the play-ground, where Napoleon treated them in turn to a very fine dance on his hind-legs, and Old Pudding-head, not to be behindhand in politeness, gave all the little boys a somersault over his nose. They had a first-rate frolic, and did not think once of the lost fireworks.
After dinner—and a fine dinner they had of chickens, and goose-pie, and custard—Mr. Harrison took the boys (little Edwin, too) down into the village, where a band of musicians were playing and parading through the street. Every little while they would stop playing and hurrah! The boys always hurrahed when the band did, for boys in general are not slow about making a noise. So they made all the noise they possibly could, and came back to tea, each one so hoarse, that Mrs. Harrison asked them if they had frogs in their throats.
At last the evening came, and a still and beautiful evening it was. The stars peeped out, one by one, and the moon stayed in—that is, she did not make her appearance until very late. They could not have had a finer night for the grand display.
The family were all assembled on the lawn, and Mr. Harrison fixed the wheels so nicely, that they whizzed round in the most astonishing manner. The Roman candles went up beautifully, and the grasshoppers and snakes sent the little fellows laughing and scampering in all directions.
The hurrahing was tremendous, and the shouts of laughter were tremendous too.
Altogether they had a very nice time, and went off to bed tired, it is true, but highly pleased with their day's enjoyment—all except little Edwin. He sighed many times, and could hardly get to sleep; but his carelessness was a good lesson to him, for it afterwards made him the most careful boy in the school.
After the Fifth of November, the boys settled down into their usual employments. Their gardens were carefully tended, and many a fine bouquet of flowers was presented with pride and pleasure to Mrs. Harrison. They ate pumpkin-pie, made with their own pumpkins, and thought them the most delicious pumpkins that ever grew; and their melons were the sweetest melons they ever tasted in all their lives.
They were very attentive in school also; and at the end of the term, when the boys were preparing to go home for the holidays, they all said it was the pleasantest time they had ever spent together. They parted with their kind teacher with many thanks for his kindness, and hopes that after the holidays all would meet together again, and be as happy as before.