Franklin's name filled the air. Old Mr. Calamity heard of it amid the ringing of bells. "Franklin, Franklin," he said on the occasion, turning around in vexation and taking a pinch of snuff, "why, I have seen him carrying printing paper in a wheelbarrow!" Philadelphia had a day of jubilee in honor of the repeal of the Stamp Act, and Mr. Calamity with cane and snuffbox wandered out to see the sights. The streets were in holiday attire, bells were ringing, and here and there a shout for Franklin went up from an exulting crowd. As often as the prudent old gentleman heard that name he turned around, pounding his cane and taking a pinch of snuff. He went down to a favorite grove on the banks of the Schuylkill. He found it spread with tables and hung with banners. "Sir," he said to a local officer, "is there to be a banquet here?" "Yes, your Honor, _the_ banquet is to be here. Have you not heard?" "What is the banquet to be for?" "In honor of Franklin, sir." Mr. Calamity turned round on his cane and took out his snuffbox. There was an outburst of music, a great shout, and a hurrying of people toward the green grove. Something loomed in air. The old gentleman, putting his hand over his eye as a shade, looked up in great surprise. "What--what is that?" What indeed! "A boat sailing in the air?" He added, "Franklin must have invented that!" "No," said the official, "that is the great barge." "What is it for?" "It will exhibit itself shortly," said the official. It came on, covered with banners that waved in the river winds. The old man read the inscription upon it--"_Franklin_." "I told you so," he said. "It will thunder soon," said the official. "Don't you see it is armed with guns?" The barge stopped at the entrance of the grove. A discharge of cannon followed from the boat, which was forty feet long. A great shout followed the salute. The whole city seemed cheering. The name that filled the air was "_Franklin_." Mr. Calamity turned around and around, planting his cane down in a manner that left a circle, and then taking out of his pocket his snuffbox. He saw a boy cheering. "Boy!" "Sir?" "What are _you_ shouting for?" "For the Stamp Act, sir!" "That is right, my boy." "No, for Franklin!" "For Franklin? Why, I have seen him carrying a lot of printing paper through the streets in a wheelbarrow! May time be gracious to me, so that I may see him hanged! Boy, see here----" But the banners were moving into the green grove, and the boy had gone after them. Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia the most popular man in the colonies, and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. "Only Heaven can save us now," said troubled Mr. Calamity. "There's treason in the air!" The old gentleman was not a bad man; he saw life on the side of shadow, and had become blind to the sunny side of life. He was one of those natures that are never able to come out of the past.