All week 'Nfoiremis and her". little "family" fished with the' big dip-net and salted and smoked the fish' for winter .use. But/J-onV day, j
Nah-may, the Great Sturgeon, the King of , Fishes, came swimming up the stream and scared all the other- fish away. Nah^niay'w^s tbo.
big to be caught in the dip-net, so Nokomis send the. children' back to the wigwam to get an iron spear-head that was packed away, among
other things, in the Wigwaus Makuk, the wonderful birch-bark box. which" you' have been told about before. v.While' rummaging. there, !
tittle Bear'found a hollow buffalo horn, closed at the larger end^ with a round piece of wo ad and with a horn plug at the other. He sniffed I
at it, and shook it, and, hearing something rattle inside, asked if it did not hold somethine good to cat! But Growling Bird cried: "JCaygo! ;
Do not touch it!! It heap bad medicine! 1 1".'\ •\u25a0 \u0084-'•\u25a0•'. .. ' ' J .* 1 . ' *- ''^ \u25a0'\u25a0'"\u25a0. ;V/ , v
Then she made little fuses to light them, taking smaller strips of the bark (which grows in layers as thin as paper), and, scattering'
grains of powder along their length, she twisted them into strings and poked them into, the ends of the larger ones Bhe had made first. Then
she covered; them with a coating oftnoist ctay and placed them on a flat stone to dry in the sun. These home-made firecrackeralwere not ;
as neat-looking as the nice red ones "you can buy, but they had plenty of'powder in' them, whi.ch is the* mainlthing, • after all.*! She \varned
Little Bear and Aundak not to touch them until she gave, them 'leave, and then went" to help Growling Bird make a Httle f '^ire. mountain.";
.or volcano-^This is dene by wetting a small heap of powder and covering it over with a.' shell of moist earth or clay, leaving a 5a 5 small opening at
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* jThey poked the lighted ends. **ound anrong fuses witfo .
;. mountain.'* "\u25a0 By, this time' the second "volcano" was almost finishied; and ' Growling Bird held the • fire-stick ; ready to set J it offX = Suddenly v ' i
there was an AWFUL EXPLOSION right behind hun! I BANG! BANG!! BANG!! !^^ the fire^^ke^
same time, and Little' Bear and 'Aundak we swallowed up" in acloud: of smoke ! '- Yellow Hair wMSo'startied she let aUihe DRY powder ; ! i;
; run out of the powder^r^and GrowUhg 3ifd/in his
PLOSION followed almost immediately, and every' qne* seemed to! be turning somersaults in' the air .at once ! 'C (You can see ". their" antics "
:in thefrictttre^rbut not : Tery^dearly/ on account of the \u25a0slmoke)^ : l MeMwJiile~ ! ':"-.'' i'r./e.r '' :;^/, . \ \u0084\' j: . \ .. , \ v ;
THE- SAN cFRANQSCOi SUNT>AYiC]CAEIi
Now it was only a powder-horn that t Paleface hunter had given to Nokomis long before, in exchange for a pair of moccasins. . It was
nearly full of gunpowder, but, because she had'no gun V.she putitlaway^in the birch-bark box^saying it was '.'heap bad medicine for little
boy,*' and warned Grbwling'Bird hot totbuch it. But Yellow Hair, like most Paleface children, knew that firework* were made with gun
powder, and other things,- end she explained to Growling. Bird hojjj^ghe'and her former playmates used to celebrate their great national'
v holiday by shooting' off : firecrackers arid burning powder^in other wav*^ ;As ; it was now about that time of the year, she offered to show him
: how they did it.V So, they, took the powder-horn, and some very .thin strips of' birch-bark, outside, and Yellow Hair poured powder. in the
: stripsand rolled them up tight. ' J \u25a0 -\u25a0-.::'•.'\u25a0 •;/\u25a0;. -'--\u25a0'. .;•\u25a0-' \u25a0,\u25a0'\u25a0-\u25a0 : '' '\u25a0\u25a0-\u25a0.' . '•'''.'."'''. '^z' '.'''".'' ' ' V "
• '\u25a0•;. , Yellow Hair then brought a live $pal from the camp-fire,' in the cleft end of a stick, and touched it to top of the littla "fire mountain.'^'
\ \ FIZ-Z-Z ! - WH-I-i-SH !— went the damp powder' ; and up. spouted a stream jof, fire; A sprcading > outward like a fountain of flame and falling ; feacjf
in a shower of spark's! .; Damp" powder, you know, will not explode,' like dryVbut.if touched with a hot coal, or a lighted matchl ft will siizlc't
- away. harmlessly until all'is consumed.; "i-ittle Bear arid Aundak were so delighted wth the new play that they determined to set eff Bom^
. fireworks on their own hook. So/ while Yellow Hair aiid • Growling • Bird , were' building another* and * larger , "volcano," the mischievous
rogues went -to. the camp-fire and slyly, pulled out a'cbuple of burning sticks>'i.They sneaked back to the place where the clayieovered fireW
\u25a0\u25a0; crackers 'lay. and— -'<•-.- \u25a0 ;' s - .-:.;;. \, J ..'\u25a0 \u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0"'"\u25a0 '-",\u25a0\u25a0'. ; \u25a0'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0:\u25a0 \-:y-::\. -•.•* l _'-. ;%''\u25a0"\u25a0 ' ' \u25a0'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 '\y> \u25a0\u25a0• . : ".>'. ; -i: v '•r v -
: 1-iocorcus wiaoig scar, woiwcnng wnaiicep; tnc cnuaren so long, naa comcjip to investigate. It was a strange sight that met their eyes!
Thereysprw^
a bural finger or, thumb! > Little ßear, too.^was ji funny^ sight! j There were b^e "patches all oyer.him where the'fi had been burnt off. and
his coat now looked^ ibfnewhat like'aii old mot h-catch rug ! * And jAiindak," that \inf ortunate , crow !--HE\wept tearing around with ' siziling
tail-feathers, yelling ''FIS^ Cf*"'? Pb?™.? : f °" "P ut 6%? e^ °** TX^pi**"^." it^was a regular FOURTH-OF-JULY celebration !!!
\u25a0\u25a0'; ")Ahd so iit'always" happens, "that wHeri fireworlo'are^handle^^CAßi^ESSLY; there are/clothes to ; be mended and many painfulßUßNS
TO HEAL! THEREFORE/when NEXT THURSDAYS COMES, you.should rememberthii-^AND BE VERY CAREFUL! A.-T. C?i