THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER



hung on his bones in folds; the fur cap of
the perilous expedition was on his head. He
made his way slowly, swaying a little-for
he was weak-till he had wandered down
into the field itself, close to the stakes which
marked it off and well forward of the general
and his staff.
  With that, as he stood there, the eyes of
all the gay crowd fixed on him, the parade
ended, and the afternoon's doings were over,
and from, the fort on the hill the sunset gun
boomed. Then the soldiers by the great flag-
staff were seen to be pulling ropes, and
swiftly the flag, the Stars and Stripes of
America, began to slip down. The band
struck sharply into the "Star-Spangled Ban-
ner." It was a good band, and the martial mu-
sic came out with a swing; perhaps every one
there fitted the stirring words to the melody:
"Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light."
  The proud words sang themselves to the
bold air, and ended triumphantly:
"The Star-Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
                  [ 125 1