“That heaven—­it is beautiful, mistress,” said little Sky-High.  In his own country, it had been pleasant music to hear the “prayer-wheels” go round in the temples, whirling the paper prayers fastened upon them, but the pleasure he felt at this moment was different.

“I will help many, mistress,” he said.  “Perhaps Sky-High will help the boys that pull his queue on the street when he goes errands to the stores.  Sky-High will go with his mistress and her children other Sundays, if he may.  Goodnight, mistress!”

So ended the Easter Sunday of the little Chinaman.

XI.

SKY-HIGH’S FIREWORKS.

One June evening, in the balcony, when Sky-High inquired about American holidays, Mrs. Van Buren related to him the story of Washington and of the American Independence.  She enlivened her narratives by Weems’s story of the boy Washington and the hatchet.

“He never told a lie?” asked Sky-High.  “Was that so wonderful?  Confucius, he tell no lies; Sky-High, he tell no lies.”

Mrs. Van Buren described to him Independence Day, and how it was celebrated.  Sky-High asked many questions, and began to look forward to the celebration.

On the morning of the Fourth the sun came up red, and glimmered on the cool sea and dewy trees.  To Sky-High the air seemed to blossom with flags; the far State House dome rose like an orb of gold above the bunting that floated over the great forest of Boston Common.

Cannon rent the morning silence, and everywhere there were crackers bursting.  Even the milkmen fired them as they went on their early way.

Sky-High danced about.  “You have Cracker Day!  It is all same as China!” he said.

Some of the Milton boys who had many bunches of fire-crackers, good-naturedly thought they would startle little Washee-washee-wang at his work.  So they stole around a corner of the garden, where he was busy in his neat little cabin, and “lit” a whole bunch and threw it over the fence, at a point where all would “go off” right at his door, then threw after it two cannon crackers, whose fuses burned slowly.

When the small crackers began to explode Sky-High, to whom the noise was like music, came and stood in the door and danced with delight.

Irish Norah heard the rattling explosions in the garden, and ran out.

“China!  China!” shouted Sky-High.  “Red crackers make the bad spirits fly!  The garden all free from evil spirits all day.”

Just then both of the cannon crackers in the grass “went off,” with a deafening bang.  Norah jumped, and put her fat hands to her ears.  But little Sky-High clapped his after the American fashion.  His delight in the racket and in the smell of the gunpowder was so intense, that Charlie forebore to go out on the street, but staid in and fired his immense supply in front of the cabin.

In the evening there were fireworks everywhere, small and great.  The children and Sky-High went up to a turret overlooking the sea.  The sky over the towns around Boston blazed.