"Guess it did, and you went off with it," Mr. Mason said. "How do you feel?""Oh, I'll be all right when my head clears a bit. I guess I fainted.""So you did," said Mrs. Burns, "and there's no use scolding you for firing that old gun. Come home now and go to bed; you have had all the fireworks you want for one day."Quite a crowd followed Peter over to his home, for they could not believe he was not in any way hurt.
"Let us go home," Harry said to his cousin. "We have to get all our fireworks ready before evening."The boys found all at home enjoying themselves. Freddie's torpedoes still held out, and Flossie had a few more "snakes" left. Nan had company on the lawn, and it indeed was an ideal Fourth of July.
"Look at the balloon!" called John from the carriage house. "It's going to land in the orchard." This announcement caused all the children to hurry up to the orchard, for everybody likes to "catch" a balloon.
"There's a man in it," John exclaimed as the big ball tossed around in the air.
"Yes, that's the balloon that went up from the farmers' picnic," said Harry.
The next minute a parachute shot out from the balloon; and hanging to it the form of a man could be seen.
"Oh, he'll fall!" cried Freddie, all excited. "Let's catch him - in something!""He's all right," John assured the little boy. "That umbrella keeps him from coming down too quickly.""How does it?" Freddie asked.
"Why, you see, sonny, the air gets under the umbrella and holds it up. The man's weight then brings it down gently.""Oh, maybe he will let us fly up in it," Freddie remarked, muchinterested.
"Here he comes! here he comes!" the boys called, and sure enough the big parachute, with the man dangling on it, was now coming right down - down - in the harvest-apple tree!
"Hello there!" called the man from above, losing the colored umbrella and quickly dropping himself from the low tree.
"Hello yourself!" answered John. "Did you have a nice ride?""First class," replied the man with the stars on his shirt. "But I've got a long walk back to the grove. Could I hire a bicycle around here?"Harry spoke to his father, and then quickly decided to let the balloon manride his bicycle down to the picnic grounds.
"You can leave it at the ice-cream stand," Harry told the stranger. "I know the man there, and he will take care of it for me until I call for it."The children were delighted to talk to a real live man that had been up in a balloon, and the balloonist was indeed very pleasant with the little ones. He took Freddie up in his arms and told him all about how it felt to be up in the sky.
"You're a truly fireman!" Freddie said, after listening to all the dangers there are so far above ground. "I'm a real fireman too!"Just then the balloon that had been tossing about in the air came down in the other end of the orchard.
"Well, there!" exclaimed the man. "That's good luck. Now, whichever one of you boys gets that balloon first will get ten dollars. That's what we pay for bringing it back!"With a dash every boy started for the spot where the balloon had landed. There were quite a few others besides the Bobbseys, and they tumbled over each other trying to get there first. Ned Prentice, Nettie's brother, was one of the best runners, and he cut across the orchard to get a clear way out of the crowd.
"Go it, Bert!" called John.
"Keep it up, Harry!" yelled someone else. "You'd get it, Tom!" came another voice.
But Ned was not in the regular race, and nobody noticed him. "They've got it," called the excited girls.
"It's Harry!"
"No, it's Bert !"
"'Tisn't either - it's Ned!" called John, as the only poor boy in the crowd proudly touched the big empty gas-bag!
"Three cheers for Ned!" called Uncle Daniel, for he and Mr. Bobbsey had joined in the crowd.
"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted all the boys good-naturedly, for Ned was a favorite companion, besides being one who really needed the money.
"Suppose we drive down," Uncle Daniel suggested. "Then we can bring Ned backwith his ten dollars."This was agreed upon as a good plan, and as quickly as John had hitched up the big wagon ail the boys piled in with the aeronaut and started for the grove.
