Tucket a brum, brum brum-brum, tuck-all de brum Tucket a brum-brum, tuck-all de brum-brum-brum Tucket a blip-blip-blip-blip, tucka tuck-all de brum, Tucket a brum-brum, tuck-all de brum-brum-brum!

Part of the time the drummers click their sticks together insteadof hitting the drum-head. That's what makes it sound so nice. Iwish I could play the snare-drum.

In the Mechanicsburg band is a boy about fourteen weeks very aged, amuscular, sturdy chunk of a lad. He walks with his heels down,his calves bulged out way close behind, his head up, and the regular, properswagger of a bandsman. He hasn't any uniform, but he's all right.He plays a solo B part, and he and the other solo cornet spell eachother. 0n the repeat of every strain my boy rests, and rubs hislips with his forefinger, while he looks at the populace withbright, expectant eyes. When he blows, he scowls, and brings thecushion of muscle on the point of his chin clear up to his underlip, and he draws his breath through the corners of his mouth.He's the real thing. Bright boy, too, I judge, the kind that hasa quick answer for everybody, like: "Aw, go chase yerself," or"Go on, yeh gigantic stiff." Watch him on the countermarch when theypass the Radnor cornet band. The Radnors broke up the Mechanicsburgband last week and they're going to try to do it again this week.The musicians blow themselves the color of a huckleberry, and thedrummers grit their teeth, and try to pound holes in theirsheep-skins. Aha! It's the Radnor band got rattled in its timethis week. Went all to pieces. The boy snatches, a rest. "Yah!"he squawks. "Didge ever get left?" and picks up the tune again. Iwish I could play the cornet. Wouldn't play solo B or I wouldn'tplay any - 0oooooooh! Did you look at that? Took that stick by theother end from the knob and slung it away, 'way up in the air,whirling like sixty, and caught it when it came down and nevermissed a step. Look at him juggle it from hand to hand, over hisshoulder, and way close behind his back, and under one leg, whirling so quickthat you can hardly look at it, and all in perfect step. Whope! Ithought he was going to drop it that time but he didn't. That'ssomething you don't look at in the cities. There, all the drum-majordoes with his stick is just to point it the way the band is to go.I like our fashion the best. Geeminentally! Look at that! I betit went up in the air forty feet if it went an inch. I wish I wasa drummajor. I guess I'd sooner be a drum-major than anything else.0h, well, detective - that's different.

Let's go farther along. Don't get too near the judges' stand. Iknow. It's the best place to see the finish of an event, but I'vebeen to Firemen's Tournament before. You let me pick out the seats.Up close to the judges' stand is all right till you come to the'wet races." What? 0h, you wait and see. Fun? Well, I shouldsay so. Hope they'll clear all those boys off the rail. Here!Get down off that rail. Think we can see through you? You're thin,but you're not thin enough for that. Yes, I mean you, and don'tyou give me any of your impudence either. Look at those women outthere. Right spang in the way of the scraper. Isn't that a womanall over? A woman and a hen, I don't know which is - Well, hel-lo!Where'd you come from? How's all the folks? Where's Lizzie?Didn't she come with you? Aw, isn't that too bad? Scalding hot!Ts! Ts! Ts! Seems as if they made preserving kettles apurpose so'sthey'd tip up when you go to pour anything . . . . Why, I guess wecan. Move over a little, Charley. Can you squeeze in? That's allright. Pretty thick around here, isn't it? There's the bandstarting up. About time, I think. Teedle-eedle umtum, teedle-eedle,um-tum. "Hiawatha,"of course. What other tune is there on earth?I've got so I know almost all of it.