The Music of the Spheres 8 



o 



land are tame in their beauty compared with those 

 on smooth water. All preparations are completed 

 during the day. We make some bombs of tough 

 paper and glue, wrapping the paper in long strips 

 about a nucleus of a few ounces of gunpowder. 

 The glue, with which the paper is saturated, makes 

 the bomb as hard and almost as tough as iron. 

 These are fired for the sake of the echoes, which 

 crash back and forth from the shores, and end in 

 long-drawn, far-away diminuendoes. The point of 

 land at the north end of the island is selected for 

 the display of fire-works. All but the operator 

 betake themselves to boats, or seat themselves on 

 the opposite shore. There is but little difference 

 between the brilliance of the rocket or wheel and 

 that of its reflection on the water. Now you can 

 understand that one standing with a roman candle 

 in each hand can describe ellipses, circles, figure 

 8's, and so on, of the red, blue, green, and other 

 colors of the balls of fire which they shoot out, one- 

 half of the lines being in the air and the other half 

 in the water. A rocket makes a great ( }^ ) bracket. 

 There is great enthusiasm all day among the little 

 folks in preparing for the evening. We always have 

 a sumptuous dinner served in courses, the fish and 

 roasts and partridges taken freshly in the woods 

 and lakes the day previous. When the fire-works 

 are over, the day's festivities are concluded with a 

 two-gallon pail of lemonade, garnished with birch- 

 bark bowls piled high with snowflake crackers, 



