Of course, with such a troop of children as there was at Kayuna, Fourth of July was a wildly exciting time. They were always up at unearthly hours in the morning, and used up, before breakfast, an immense supply of giant torpedoes and fire-crackers, by way of opening the day. Later, they were allowed free range of the back-kitchen, in order that they might carry out, all by themselves, the grand performance of the day. This was making and freezing a great can of ice-cream, with no interference, even to the extent of a suggestion, from the cook. This was always eaten by the assembled family, on the piazza, at five in the afternoon.
In the evening all the people in the neighbourhood gathered on the piazza and lawn, to see the display of a great quantity of fireworks, which Dr. Ward always had sent out from town. So they wound up the Glorious Fourth in a very patriotic manner.
It was really very good-natured of Dr. Ward to allow the display on his grounds, for it always took Thomas and one of the other men all the next day to take away the débris, clear up the lawn, and restore things to their usual trim order.
This particular Fourth really began the night before.
Hilda Mason had been invited to come and spend the night with Cricket and Eunice, in order to be on hand in the morning. It was barely dark when the three children decided it was quite time to go to bed, in order to shorten the long hours that stretched before to-morrow morning. Nurse had put up a cot in Cricket’s room for Hilda, close beside the larger bed, so it was quite like sleeping all together.
They were far too much excited to settle down very soon, especially as it was earlier than their usual bedtime, so they frolicked and built tents of the sheets, and ended up with a game of tag around the foot-board. But this speedily brought Eliza to the scene, with a very peremptory order “to go to sleep, and not disturb everybody in the house with their jim-jams.”
Thus commanded, and being tired by this time, they were quite ready to subside, and very soon, after numberless “good-nights” and “don’t you wish it was to-morrows,” they settled down.
Cricket woke first. The room was already beginning to grow light.
“Oh, girls, girls!” she cried, scrambling out of bed. “We’ve overslept, I know. There’s the sun rising now.” There certainly was light behind the trees, as she looked from the east windows.
“Funny we don’t hear the boys,” said Eunice, sitting up and trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. “I’m awful sleepy—seems as if we’d just gone to bed.”