I therefore had them specially made for me by a
pyrotechnist in London. One dozen, as you see, are ordinary rockets
of the largest size; they contain colored balls, which will give
out a most brilliant light. One of them thrown into the air, even
where we believe any Indians to be, will light up the plain, and
give us a fair view of them. The other three dozen are loaded with
crackers. As you see, I have had a strong case of tin placed over
the ordinary case; and one of them striking a man will certainly
knock him off his horse, and probably kill him. The roar, the rush,
the train of fire, and finally the explosion and the volley of
crackers in their midst would be enough to frighten their horses
altogether beyond control. What do you think of my idea?"
"Capital, capital!" they all cried.
"But how, papa," Hubert asked, "will you manage to make your
rockets go straight at the Indians? All rockets I ever saw went
straight up into the air."
"Yes, Hubert, because they were pointed up. A rocket goes whichever
way it is pointed. Rockets in war are fired through a tube, or from
a trough. We will use the trough. Set to at once, boys, and make a
trough about four feet long, without ends. It must stand on legs
high enough to raise it above the level of the wall round the top
of the tower.
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