HERTFORD: MY HOME LIFE 65 



Hertford, we were allowed an exceedingly scanty amount of 

 pocket-money. Till I was ten years old or more I had only 

 a penny a week regularly, while John may perhaps have had 

 twopence, and it was very rarely that we got tips to the 

 amount of the smaller silver coins. We were, therefore, 

 obliged to save up for any little purchase required for our 

 various occupations, as, for example, to procure the saltpetre 

 and sulphur required for making fireworks ; the charcoal we 

 could make ourselves, and obtain the iron filings from some 

 friendly whitesmith. The simplest fireworks to make were 

 squibs, and in these we were quite successful, following the 

 receipt in the " Boy's Own Book." The cases we made before- 

 hand with a little copy-book paper and paste. Crackers were 

 much more difficult, and the home-made ones were apt to go 

 off all at once instead of making the regular succession of 

 bangs which the shop article seemed never to fail in doing. 

 But by perseverance some fairly good ones were made, though 

 they could never be thoroughly trusted. Roman candles we 

 were also tolerably successful with, though only the smallest 

 size were within our means ; and we even tried to construct 

 the beautiful revolving Catherine-wheels, but these again 

 would often stop in the middle, and refuse either to revolve 

 properly or to burn more than half way. 



In connection with fireworks, we were fond of making 

 miniature cannon out of keys. For this purpose we begged 

 of our friends any discarded -box or other keys with rather 

 large barrels, and by filing a touch-hole, filing off the handle, 

 and mounting them on block carriages, we were able to fire 

 off salutes or startle our sister or the servant to our great satis- 

 faction. When, later, by some exchange with a fellow school- 

 boy or in any other way, we got possession of one of the 

 small brass cannons made for toys, our joy was great; and I 

 remember our immense admiration at one of these brass 

 cannon, about six inches long, in the possession of a friend, 

 which would go off with a bang as loud as that of a large 

 pistol. We also derived great pleasure by loading one of our 

 weapons to the very muzzle, pressing it down into the ground 

 so that we could lay a train of powder to it about two feet 



