ONCE upon a time a little girl went to see the fireworks on Boston
Common. She was a very small girl, but she wanted to go just as much
as if she had been big, so her mother said she might go with Mary, the
nurse. She put on her best bonnet, and her pink frock, and off they
went.
The Common was crowded with people, and in one part there was a dense
throng, all standing together, and all looking in one direction. “We
must stand there, too,” said Mary; “there’s where the fireworks are
going to be.” So they went and stood in the dense crowd; and the little
girl saw the back of a fat woman in a red plaid shawl, but she could
not see anything else. Oh, yes! she saw the legs of the tall man who
stood next to the fat woman, but they were not very interesting, being
clad in a common sort of dark plaid: the shawl, at least, was bright,
and she could tell the different colours by the lamplight.
Now there was a movement in the crowd, and people cried, “Oh! oh!
look at that! Isn’t that a beauty?” And they clapped their hands
and shouted; but the little girl saw only the plaid shawl and the
uninteresting legs of the tall man. The people pressed closer and
closer, so that she could hardly breathe. She held tight to Mary’s
hand, and Mary thought she was squeezing it for pleasure, and said,
“Yes, dear! ain’t they lovely?” The little girl tried to say, “I can’t
see anything but the plaid shawl!” but just then the tall man turned
round, and looked down on her and said, “Bless me! here’s a little girl
right under my feet. Can you see anything, my dear?”
“Nothing but the red shawl and the back of your legs,” said the little
girl, sadly.
“Hi, then!” said the tall man; “up with you!” And before the child
could say a word, he had taken her two hands and lifted her lightly to
his shoulder.
“Put your arm round my neck,” said the tall man. “I had a little girl
once, just like you, and I know how to hold you. So, now you are all
right!”
“Thank the kind gentleman, dear!” said Mary. “I’m sure it’s very good
of him.”
The little girl was too shy to speak, but she patted the tall man’s
neck, and he understood as well as if she had spoken. Now she saw
wonderful sights indeed! Fiery serpents went up into the sky,
wriggling and hissing, dragging long tails of yellow flame behind
them. Coloured stars, red, blue and green, shot up in the air, hung
for an instant, and then burst into showers of rainbow light. There
were golden pigeons, and golden flower-pots, and splendid wheels, that
went whirling round so fast it made the little girl dizzy to look at
them. The child gazed and gazed, breathless with delight. Sometimes
she forgot where she was, and thought this was fairy-land, all full
of golden dragons, and fluttering elves, as the story books described
it; but if she chanced to look down, there was Mary, and the kind face
of the tall man, and the red shawl of the fat woman. By and by came a
great burst of light, and in the midst of crimson flames she saw the
Goddess of Liberty, standing on a golden ball, waving the starry flag
in her hand: thousands of stars shot up, blazed and burst; loud noises
were heard, like cannon-shots; then, suddenly, darkness fell, and all
was over.
The crowd began to disperse.
“Now, little one,” said the tall man, “you have seen all there is to
see.” And he made a motion to put her down; but the little girl clung
tight to his neck.
“Did your little girl ever kiss you?” she whispered in his ear.
“Bless your little heart!” said the man, “she did, indeed; but it’s
long since I’ve had a little girl to kiss me.”
The child bent down and kissed him heartily on the cheek. “If it hadn’t
been for you,” she cried, “I should have seen nothing at all except the
plaid shawl. I think you are the kindest man that ever lived, and I
love you very much.” And then she slipped down, and taking her nurse’s
hand, ran away home as fast as she could.