l§84.i 
AMEElOAH' AaBiCTJLTUEIST. 
301 
deserve tlieir share for killing the worms.” said 
Bobby, “ and just think all you will lose. Every 
one is going, I don’t believe there will be another 
boy left in Pinville.”—‘‘ Will you be sure and come 
home at four and help me ?'■’ asked Charlie, sorely 
tempted.—“Yes, sharp!” said Jack, “so throw 
us down a handful of your bothersome cherries 
and come along, for it is getting late. 
Thus urged, Charlie tilled his friends’ and his 
own pockets, and without telling his mother his in¬ 
tentions, slid down the tree, and was soon trudging 
along the dusty road toward the county town some 
three miles distant from Pinville, the rural village 
where the trio lived. It was a warm day, but the 
highway was gay with merry parties in holiday at¬ 
tire, and as they entered the town, the music and 
firing was almost deafening. Houses were patroti- 
cally decked with flags and banners, masqueraders 
in quaint costumes as the “ boys of ’76,” amused 
the spectators, and by the time the main-stand on 
the green was reached, from which the chief man 
of the place was to read the “ Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence,” Charlie had forgotten everything ex¬ 
cept the enjoyment of the hour. But he was both 
surprised and annoyed to suddenly discover that 
his mother’s little pet dog Mab had followed him, 
and now came crouching to his feet, sure that she 
was too far from home to be sent back. “ What 
a bother,” he exclaimed, but Jack just then called 
his attention to a gaunt female in a linen duster, 
loon, which looked like some huge brown monster 
pinioned to the earth. “The car looks comforta¬ 
ble,” said Charlie, “and I see a stock of provisions 
have been laid in for the voyage.” 
At that moment a bell struck qnick and sharp 
upon the air, the cry of “Eire ! Eire ! ’’ resounded 
on all sides, and a sudden rusli of tlic crowd made 
Cliarlie hastily seize Mab and tuck her under his 
arm, for fear of trampling. It is marvellous how 
quickly a mass of people will collect, and how 
quickly they can disperse, and in five minutes the 
park was almost deserted, except by the three 
friends. “ Only a barn or a hay-stack,” said Jack, 
“ let us stay here, and have a good look at the 
balloon.” And as an engine went thundering by, 
followed by a stream of men, women and children, 
Bobby climbed unobserved into tlie wicket-car and 
seated himself on tlie cushioned scat. 
“Up in a balloon, boys, up in a balloon,” he 
sang, “ come in and let us play we were on our 
way to Cloudland.”—“ Cloudland, sure enough,” 
said Jack, glancing up to see that tlie sun had dis¬ 
appeared, and the sky was dark and threatening. 
“ Why ! all the blue is gone, and the wind is rising, 
we shall have a gale.” —“ Oh, the cherries !” cried 
Charlie in dismay, but the thought did not prevent 
his stepping into the aeronaut’s basket to see what 
it was like. Jack was a mischievous chap, and 
thinking to give his friends a scare, slyly cut one 
of the ropes and began swaying the enormous ma* 
“HP IN A BAIiLOON, BOYS.” 
Drawn and Engraved ior the American Agriculturist. 
with a green veil tied over her bonnet. “ See, that 
is the balloonist,” he said “is’nt shea guy?”— 
“Yes,” put in Bobby, “but she’s smart, and 
knows what she is about. She gets fifty dollars 
for her airy trip. And may lose her life.”—So 
the lads wandered on, with Mab at their heels, 
listening to the Spread Eagle speeches, laughing 
at the efforts of some countiy clowns to reach the 
ham on top of the well-greased pole, popping cherry 
stones at every cat brave enough to venture out on 
the “ Glorious Fourth,” and investing their small 
stock of pennies in lemonade highly flavored with 
molasses, until at length they came to the bal¬ 
chine back and forth. Both started up in affright, 
but were soon laughing at the joke, and rather en¬ 
joyed the motion.—“ I wish we could go up a little 
way, and be pulled down again,” remarked Bobby, 
when, even as he spoke, a fierce gust of wind—such 
as sometimes arises in summer—suddenly swooped 
down upon them, struck the balloon until it 
shivered like an animal in distress, and before the 
boys could realize what had occurred, the remain¬ 
ing fastenings were snapped, and with a bound 
that threw them from their seat, the brown ball 
flew up like a wild bird let loose from its cage, 
stoxiped, wavered, and then began once more slow- 
An Unexpected Journey. 
AGNES CARR SAGE, 
The great cherry tree in Deacon Dodge’s front 
yard was bending beneath a luscious burden of red 
and yellow fruit, and Charlie Dodge, perched on 
the highest rung of a tall ladder was rapidly fill¬ 
ing a large basket with the juicy Ox-hearts. He 
looked anything but happy this sunshiny sum¬ 
mer morning, although the birds twittered gaily 
in the green branches around him, and every fifth 
cherry popped into his mouth instead of the bas¬ 
ket. “ Its a downright shame,” he grumbled, “to 
keep a fellow at work on the Fourth of July, and I 
wish all the cherries were in Jericho.” — “Never 
mind Charlie, boy,” said his mother, who had come 
out to secure some of the fruit for a pie, and over¬ 
heard his complaint. “You know it is only be¬ 
cause your father was call¬ 
ed away unexpectedly, and 
he is afraid rain and birds 
together will make havoc 
of the cherries if they are 
left a day longer. Be spry 
and you will be able to go 
to town and see the fire¬ 
works this evening.” She 
returned to the house, and 
the lad was left once more 
alone, but not for long. A 
whistle sounded down the 
road, and a. merry voice 
sang: 
“ Squeak the fife, and boat the 
drum. 
Independence Day has come.” 
And then, as Charlie’s 
freckled face suddenly ap¬ 
peared, framed in green 
leaves, two boys came to a 
halt and called, “Hollo, 
what are you doing up 
there ! are’nt you going to 
town to see the celebra¬ 
tion?”—“I can’t,” sighed 
Charlie. “ Pa had to go to 
Dorchester, and left me all 
the cherries to pick before 
night.” — “ Glad I’m not 
you then, for there is to be 
great sport in the Park, a 
greased pole, hurdle and 
sack races, and at three 
o’clock a woman is to go 
up in a baOoon. Wish she’d 
take me with her. But 
why can’t the cherries 
wait until to-morrow?”— 
“Father thinks it will rain 
to-night and spoil them.”— 
“ Nonsense I there is’nt a 
cloud to be seen,” and 
Jaek Martin, and Bobby 
Button turned their faces up to the sky, which i 
was indeed “deexfly, darkly, beautifully blue,” 
without a speck to break the clear expanse.—“I 
think so too,” said Charlie climbing out ou a limb, 
and tilting np and down, “and oh ! I do want to 
see the fun awfully.”—“I tell you what,” sug¬ 
gested Jack, “ you come with us and see the sport, 
and we’ll come back with you at four o’clock and 
get all the Ox-hearts gathered by dark.”—This 
was a generous offer, but Charlie hesitated. “ I 
don’t know,” he said, “ I’m afraid pa would’nt like 
it, and the robins are so saucy and greedy they 
eat up all the best ones.”—“My teacher says they 
