THE ascent of the Rubber Baby took place in the back yard on the
afternoon of last Fourth of July. It was an occasion of great interest.
We were all in the yard,—Mamma, Papa, Tubby, Toots, Posy, Bunny, Bay
and Mr. Bagabave. (This boy has another name, but he prefers Mr.
Bagabave because he made it himself.)
There was also the best cousin, who is nine feet tall, more or less,
and a kind gentleman who was a friend of the best cousin, and came to
see that he did not hurt himself with the firecrackers.
Well, there we all were, and we fired crackers and torpedoes the whole
afternoon without stopping. The best cousin and the kind gentleman did
it to amuse the children, and the rest of us did it to amuse ourselves.
We had cannon-crackers a foot long; we had double-headers, which papa
threw up in the air, oh, ever so far, so that they exploded long before
they reached the ground. Then there were dear little crackers, very
small and slender, just made for Bay, though it is quite strange that
the Chinese people should have known about her, when she is so very
young.
Now we fired off single crackers, great and small, with a bang and a
bang and a bang-bang; then we put a whole bunch under a barrel, and
they went snap, crack, crickety, crackety. Yes, it was delightful.
But Papa, who has lived long and fired many crackers, began to pine for
something new, and he said, “Let us have an ascension!”
Then we took counsel, and Mr. Bagabave said, “We will send up the
Rubber Baby.” Now the Rubber Baby belonged to Bay, and she loved him;
but when Bunny and Mr. Bagabave told her what a fine thing it was to
get up in the world, and how many people would like to go up farther
than the Rubber Baby would go, Bay consented, and went and brought the
Rubber Baby, who smiled and thought little of the matter.
Then Papa brought the biggest cannon-cracker of all, and made a long
fuse for it, and set it up in the ground; and over it he put a tomato
can, and on the tomato can he set the Rubber Baby.
Now all was ready, and we all stood waiting for the final moment. I do
not know what were the thoughts of the Rubber Baby at this moment, but
we were all in a state of great excitement.
“Get out of the way, children!” cried Papa. “Run away, Bay! Get behind
the maple-tree, Mr. Bagabave! She’s going. Now, then! One, two, three,
and away!” and Papa touched off the fuse.
A moment of great suspense, a tremendous report, a dense cloud of
smoke. Up soared the Rubber Baby, higher than the top of the big
maple-tree, almost to the very clouds (or so Bay thought).
We watched in silent rapture; then, as the intrepid air-traveller came
down, still smiling, a loud cheer broke from the whole crowd.
No, not from the whole crowd; there was one exception. The kind
gentleman who came to keep the best cousin from hurting himself gave a
howl so loud and clear that we all started, and ran to see what was the
matter.
The poor gentleman had been holding a cannon-cracker, which he was
going to fire just when Papa gave the signal for sending off the Rubber
Baby. In the excitement of the moment he forgot the cannon-cracker,
and it went off in his hand, and burnt him quite badly.
We were all very sorry, not only for the poor gentleman’s own sake, but
because now there was no one to see that the best cousin did not hurt
himself.
A pretty young lady came, and tied up the poor gentleman’s hand so
nicely with her soft handkerchief that he said he was glad the cracker
had gone off in it.
The Rubber Baby said nothing, but sat still in the middle of the gravel
walk. Perhaps it was waiting to see if some lovely young lady would
come to cheer and comfort it; but no one came till little Bay took it
up, wiped off the dust and powder, kissed it, and put it to bed.