Publisher's Synopsis
It was Independence Day. The sun rose gorgeously. The air was electric and inspiring. Blossoming plants were exhaling rare fragrance. The forests and rivers were palpitating with glad, soft sounds and gentle fervor. The birds were singing jubilantly, and various forms of living things were alert and antic. Yes, it was "Independence Day in the morning" as the Killsbury boys called it. It was full of glorious promise-the list of the dead and wounded had not as yet come in! Apparently there were not half a dozen people in the town who would have admitted that there would be any casualties on the day that had dawned so beautifully; although there had been an increasing number of them every year since Millionaire Schwarmer had come and built his mansion on "The Hill" and decorated its brow with a big-mouthed cannon.
