Not long afterwards The People _ex rel_ Cane and Tobin against The Society for the Prevention of Unnecessary Noises, came on for hearing before Mrs. Justice Cane sitting at Special Term. The argument was opened on behalf of the relators by Mr. Gizzard Tobin. The speaker's voice which at first was very low and uncertain, gathered speed and volume as it proceeded, and finally ended in perfect fury of words. "My--my mother--she wants to--to know can Sube come over to my house--for supper to-night--and she wants to know can he stay all night with me to-night till eleven o'clock--and then she'll call us and wake us up so's my uncle Bert he can come and get us and take us to see the bonfire--he likes bonfires, he likes every kind of fires, he always goes to fires in the night, he's gone to fires ever since the Germans set fire to the Declaration-ofinna-pen'ance--" Gizzard's finish was not unlike the explosion of a cannon-cracker after the proper amount of sizzling at the fuse. "What is it you are saying, Charley?" gasped Mrs. Cane. Gizzard turned hopelessly to his co-petitioner. "You tell 'er, Sube." "I'm invited to his house for supper and to stay all night," Sube interpreted calmly. "But what about the Germans setting fire to the Declaration of Independence?" "You didn't understand him, he talked so fast. His uncle Bert's dead stuck on bonfires--" "Dead stuck?" "He likes 'em," Sube corrected, "and he wants us to go to bed early, and then he'll call us a little before midnight, and take us up to see the bonfire for a little while, and then take us back home again." "That isn't a good place for boys," ruled Mrs. Cane dubiously. "There's a very rough element at those bonfires. What does your mother think about it, Charley? Is she going to--" "Sure she is! Isn't she, Giz?" interrupted Sube with great enthusiasm. "Yes, ma'am," mumbled Gizzard unconvincingly. "That's what he was tryin' to tell you," Sube enlarged. "She likes to celebrate the ever-glorious Fourth, and she says she's never missed a bonfire since we signed the Declaration of Independence from the Germans!" "If that's the case," said Mrs. Cane with a visible effort to retain control of herself, "I'll have to let you go--" "Whoo-oo-pee-ee! Hoo-oo-ray!" and Sube bounded out of the house with Gizzard at his heels. "Three rousing cheers for the ever-glorious Fourth!" And they were gone. CHAPTER XIV THE GHOSTS The boys experienced little difficulty in gaining entrance to the church through the cellar window, and noiselessly made their way to the gallery, from which they ascended a frail ladder leading to a hatchway in the ceiling. On raising the scuttle, Sube, who up to this time had maintained a somewhat aggressive lead, suddenly remembered his manners. "Why, here, Giz," he said in a self-deprecatory tone, "here I been crowdin' ahead all the time. I'll bet you'd like to go first part of the way." And he nimbly descended the ladder and stepped to one side.