FOURTH OF JULY MORNING.
Mat, Let, and Win are the names by which three little sisters of my acquaintance are usually called. These are nicknames, of course. Can you guess what their real names are?
Lest you should be too long about it, I will tell you: they are Matilda, Letitia, and Winifred. Mat is the one standing on the chair in the picture; Let is the one sitting on the bed, with her left foot hanging down; and Win, the youngest, is the one sitting up in bed.
What is the cause of all this commotion? It is only four o'clock in the morning; but Mat and Let have rushed into Win's room to get a good view, out of her window, of the men firing guns out on the green. It is the Fourth of July.
"Why do they wake us up so early with their bell-ringing, their crackers, and guns?" said Let. "I hate the Fourth of July!"
"She talks like a rebel," said Win. "She must be put in prison."
"That is not a bad idea, Win," said Mat. "She hates the Fourth of July, does she?—the birthday of the great republic! She hates it!—the day that made us a nation."
"Yes; and I hate the stars and stripes, and all this fuss and noise, this smell of smoke, and firing of crackers," said Let, showing a fist.
"Jump up, Win, and help me arrest this rebel," said Mat. "The country is lost if we allow such talk."