Soon after this the camp was abandoned; as Paul was to go south so soon, he could not give any more time to forest-life, and they all, therefore, returned to Port aux Pins together. Once there Paul seemed to have no thought for anything but his business affairs. And Eve, in her heart, said again, "He has forgotten!" XX. FOURTH OF JULY at Port aux Pins; a brilliant morning with the warm sun tempering the cool air, and shining on the pure cold blue of the lake. At ten o'clock, the cannon began to boom; the guns were planted at the ends of the piers, and the men of the Port aux Pins Light Artillery held themselves erect, trying to appear unconscious of the presence of the whole town behind them, eating peanuts, and criticising. The salute over, the piers were deserted, the procession was formed. The following was the order as printed in the Port aux Pins _Eagle:_ "The Marshal of the Day. The Goddess of Liberty. (Parthenia Drone.) The Clergy. (In carriages.) Fire-Engine E. P. Snow. The Mayor and Common Council. (In carriages.) Hook and Ladder No. 1. The Immortal Colonies. (Thirteen little girls in a wagon, singing the 'Red, White, and Blue.') Fire-Engine Leander Braddock. The Carnival of Venice. (This was a tableau. It represented the facade of a Venetian palace, skilfully constructed upon the model of the Parthenon, with Wolf Roth in an Indian canoe below, playing upon his guitar. Wolf was attired, as a Venetian, in a turban, a spangled jacket, high cavalry boots with spurs, and powdered hair; Idora Drone looked down upon him from a Venetian balcony; she represented a Muse.) Reader of the Declaration of Independence, and Orator of the Day. (In carriages.) The Survivors of the War. (On foot with banners.) Model of Monument to Our Fallen Heroes. The Band. (Playing 'The Sweet By-and-By.') Widows of Our Fallen Heroes. (In carriages.) Fire-Engine Senator M. P. Hagen. The Arts and Sciences. (Represented by the portable printing-press of the Port aux Pins _Eagle_; wagons from the mines loaded with iron ore; and the drays, coal-carts, and milk-wagons in a procession, adorned with streamers of pink tarlatan)." Cicely watched the procession from the windows of Paul's office, laughing constantly. When Hollis passed, sitting stiffly erect in his carriage--he was the "Reader of the Declaration of Independence"--she threw a bouquet at him, and compelled him to bow; Hollis was adorned with a broad scarf of white satin, fastened on the right shoulder with the national colors. "I am going to the public square to hear him read," Cicely announced, suddenly. "Paul, you must take me. And you must go too, grandpa." "I will keep out of the rabble, I think," said the judge. "Oh, come on; I dare say you have never heard the thing read through in your life," suggested Paul, laughing.