1.Ray was thought to be an odd boy. You will think him so，too，when you have read this story.
2.Ray liked well enough to play with the boys at school； yet he liked better to be alone under the shade of some tree，reading a fairy tale or dreaming daydreams1. But there was one sport that he liked as well as his companions2； that was kite.ying.
3.One day when he was.ying his kite，he said to himself，"I wonder if anybody ever tried to.y a kite at night. It seems to me it would be nice. But then，if it were very dark，the kite could not be seen. What if I should fasten a light to it，though. That would make it show. Iˊll try it this very night."
4.As soon as it was dark，without saying a word to anybody，he took his kite and lantern，and went to a large，open lot，about a quarter of a mile from his home. "Well，" thought he，"this is queer. How lonely and still it seems without any other boys around！But I am going to.y my kite，anyway."
5.So he tied the lantern，which was made of tin punched full of small holes，to the tail of his kite. Then he pitched the kite，1Daydreams，vain fancies.
2Companions，playmates. friends.
and，after several attempts1，succeeded in making it rise. Up it went，higher and higher，as Ray let outthe string . When the string was all unwound，he tied it to a fence； and then he stood and gazed at his kite as it floated high up in the air.
6 . W h i l e R a y was enjoying his sport，some people who were o ut o n th e s tre e t i nthe village，saw a strange light in the sky. They gathered in groups2 to watch it. Now it was still for a few seconds，then it seemed to be jumping up and down； then it made long sweeps3 back and forth through the air.
7."What can it be." said one person. "How strange！" said another. "It can not be a comet4； for comets have tails，" said a third.
1Attempts，trials，efforts.
2Groups，several together，small assemblages.
3Sweeps，rapid movements in the line of a curve.
4Comet，a brilliant heavenly body with a long，very tail.
"Perhaps it’s a big.re.y，" said another.
8.At last some of the men determined1 to.nd out what this strange light was-whether it was a hobgoblin2 dancing in the air，or something dropped from the sky. So o. they started to get as near it as they could.
9.While this was taking place，Ray，who had got tired of standing，was seated in a fence corner，behind a tree. He could see the men as they approached； but they did not see him.
10.When they were directly under the light，and saw what it was，they looked at each other，laughing，and said，"This is some boyˊs trick； and it has fooled us nicely. Let us keep the secret，and have our share of the joke."
11.Then they laughed again，and went back to the village； and some of the simple people there have not yet found out what that strange light was.
12.When thc men had gone，Ray thought it was time for him to go； so he wound up his string，picked up his kite and lantern，and went home. His mother had been wondering what had become of him.
13.When she heard what he had been doing，she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold； but I think she laughed，and told him that it was time for him to go to bed.
