"You have heard of little Laurens Cornwallis's terrible death I suppose, Mr. Schwarmer?" "Yes, I heard of it last night. It was very, very sad, most assuredly it was, Dr. Normander." "The mystery is where he got the fireworks, Mr. Schwarmer. He went out into the field to fly his kite. He had no fireworks and no money to buy any. His parents do not approve of putting such dangerous things into the hands of children. His mother thinks he must have been seized upon by older boys and compelled to take part in, or witness their sports. However the case may be, I have been asked so many times by friends and acquaintances if it were true that he came up here and you gave him the fireworks, that I felt it my duty to ask you personally." "This is my answer for one and all, Dr. Normander. He did not come here and I did not give him any firecrackers. You may set that down as gospel truth, most assuredly you may." "I am glad to hear it and be able to refute the rumor; still I feel that I shall not have done my whole duty without telling you that I fear your custom of distributing fireworks to the boys is having a very bad effect. I have noticed an alarming increase of Independence Day accidents since you inaugurated the custom. Yesterday was the worst of all. I was told that the Public Square was a more dangerous place than if it had been invaded by a foreign enemy--that the boys really took possession of it and fired at everybody who attempted to enter." Mr. Schwarmer laughed. "Well that's no fault of mine, Dr. Normander. Any sensible man knows that there isn't enough powder in one of my little packages to hurt any child. He couldn't more than scorch his fingers were he to let them all off at once--rest assured he couldn't. He couldn't more than learn 'The burnt child dreads the fire' adage, which every child has got to learn sooner or later." "But if a large number of boys should club together and every one had a box, Mr. Schwarmer? What then?" "O that would be another affair, Dr. Normander. The parents and the police should regulate a thing of that kind--most assuredly they should--the parents primarily." "But parents can't always stand on guard, Mr. Schwarmer."