# The Amorous Intrigues and Adventures of Aaron Burr/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.
Night Walking.—A rough encounter.—A young lady from New York.—A mad bull in church.
On the way to his uncle's house, Burr conversed with Dr. Bellamy about the troubles, that were then becoming serious, between Old England and the Colonies: but the doctor was evidently disposed to turn the subject upon youthful follies and indiscretions, and he glanced so often at such matters, that Burr entertained little doubt that his course with Angelina was suspected by the old gentleman.
Under the circumstances, the interview between Burr and the doctor was far from agreeable to the former, who left his old friend as soon as decency permitted, and rode back to the spot where he had assisted Angelina to mount her horse, being impressed with a vague hope that she had lingered about the spot, or had returned to it, with the hope of meeting him again.
Burr was doomed to be again disappointed; for the beautiful dell, in which he had encountered the lovely girl, was deserted by all but the birds, which sang their roundelay, as if endeavoring to cheer the unhappy youth; but their music failed of any such effect.
He remained on the spot till long after night-fall, and then, as some alleviation to his anguish, he determined to walk across the plains, to the house of Mr. Dudley—a distance of five miles—and endeavor to catch a glimpse of the beautiful girl through the window, or even obtain an interview with her, if the thing were possible.
"That she loves me is certain," said he, as he walked briskly forward, "and if she has not returned hither, it is because she is afraid of behaving to bold, especially as I have tried to go to extremes with her. If she returned, she thinks it would appear as if she had come back for the express purpose of throwing away her maiden-head. Therefore I must make all advances in future. As for old Dr. Bellamy, I shall hereafter regard him as one of those stumbling-blocks, who will neither enter heaven themselves, nor suffer others to go in when they have an opportunity to do so."
When Burr reached the grounds of Mr. Dudley, he met with a reception that was far from flattering. While crossing a meadow that ​lay between him and the mansion he heard hasty steps thundering behind him, and on turning his head, he saw through the darkness, the form of a large white horses approaching. The animal came on as if enraged at the young man's intrusion upon his premises, and with the evident intention of trampling him under his feet.
Burr rushed towards the infuriated steed with uplifted hands, and words of stern command; but the animal was not to be frightened by such opposition. He showed his naked jaws, and thrust out his head to bite, while, at the same time, he struck with his fore feet.
If our hero had not darted behind a tree, he would have been roughly handled. The beast persisted in following him up, and Burr caught up a large stone, but unwilling to injure the animal, he did not immediately throw it. He looked about him for a fence, over which he could escape, and at that moment, the horse caught the collar of the youth between his teeth, and tore it from the body of the coat. Then the exasperated lover struck at the animal with the stone. The horse reared, and made a plunge at him,and when inevitable destruction seemed to threaten the young man, the wayward beast wheeled, and ran off at full speed to the other end of the lot.
"A narrow escape!" said Burr, aloud, and he walked forward till he came to a stone wall, which he clambered over only to find himself in the close vicinity of a large dog. The animal made a rush at him, yelling hideously, but he was fortunately chained, and could not quite reach the spot where Burr stood.
The noise made by the dog quickly alarmed the inmates of the Dudley mansion, and Burr heard the doors open, and a cry of "thieves! thieves!" from some half a dozen voices.
Burr dodged back over the stone wall, while footsteps of his human pursuers sounded nearer and nearer. He had got about half way over the meadow, when the thundering hoofs of the white horse were again heard in his rear. Horse and men, the latter with loud shouts and imprecations, followed fast after the youth. He saw no other way but to trust to his good legs, and he thought only of flight. He exerted himself to the utmost, and at length gained the fence. He bounded over the rails, and the horse came no farther; but the men kept up the chase. A thick, black-looking grove lay on one side of the flying youth, and towards this he now directed his steps. He was soon among the under-wood, and pricked himself severely with briars. At the next moment, he slumped up to the middle in a quagmire. He thought himself a captive, but the darkness favored him, and though one of the pursuers passed very near, and probably saw him, yet he might easily have been mistaken for the stump of a tree, as not more than three feet of his person was standing out of the mud.
Be that as it may, all the men rushed by, with threatening cries and ​ferocious yells; and Burr, by clinging to the branch of a staunted hemlock, which extended over his head, succeeded in regaining solid ground.
He then ventured to walk forward over the fields, but narrowly escaped falling into the hands of his pursuers on their return. By throwing himself flat on the ground, amid a forest of whortleberries, he eluded their observation.
Though he had undergone some peril and no little fatigue, we are sorry to say that Burr went to bed, that night, neither "a sadder" nor "a wiser man." He resolved to make an attempt to see Angelina on the next night, by approaching the mansion in front.
Burning with impatience, Burr thought the sun marched in the wrong direction, and would never reach his western goal. But evening at length came on, "and twilight gray had in her sober livery all things clad."
Our hero secured a sharp dagger about his person, and with a stout staff in his hand, set out on foot for the mansion of the Dudleys. When he reached the white pailings which enclosed the front door-yard, Burr found that the lower rooms were well lighted, and the sound of meriment merriment within announced that there were visitors in the house.
Our hero waited a long time without catching a glance of her whom he sought through the lighted windows, though he saw the dark forms of men occasionally, as they passed by the casements.
At length, the company began to retire, and Burr hid himself till the sound of their rolling wheels could be no longer heard.
He then came forth, and saw a light passing through towards the upper part of the mansion. Then he beheld the form of Angelina at the window. The night was hot, and the sash was raised.
Burr whistled to attract her attention, but Angelina did not seem to hear the signal. He whistled again, and she leaned out the window, looking anxiously towards the spot where Burr stood. He was then determined to pronounce her name; but the word died away upon his lips, as he saw the front door open, and a gentleman appeared with a lighted segar in his mouth. The gentleman remained in the porch, smoking, some minutes, and Angelina, in the meantime, extinguished her light.
"She has gone to bed," said Burr to himself. "How vexatious!"
At that moment, a bright idea flashed through the brain of the young adventurer.
"I will write to her," said he. "I will conjure her in the most solemn manner to meet me in the same spot where we encountered each other before. I will promise to be most prudent, and will ​profess the most devoted love—that will do. At least her answer will show me what she intends to do."
Burr went home, sad and disconsolate. He had never felt more miserable, and he declared to himself that life was nothing but a hell upon earth.
The next morning, Aaron went down stairs with a heavy heart, but he very unexpectedly encountered, at the breakfast-table, a beautiful blonde, a Miss Edwards, from New York, a distant relative, who had formed an acquaintance with his sister in the metropolis, and who had now called to make a visit of several days.
Burr's head was so full of Angelina Dudley, that he saluted the young lady from New York with formal politeness. He listened to her conversation during breakfast, however, and found her lively and intelligent. Withal, the glances she now and then cast at Aaron, were well calculated to satisfy his vanity, of which he had no small share, when women were concerned.
He then regarded Miss Edwards more attentively. He saw that her locks were flaxen and very abundant; her complexion was pure; and bust good, and her form very voluptuous and elegantly turned. Her hands and feet were small.
By degrees his imagination became fired, and before night, he said many soft things to the white-bosomed maid of Gotham.
Alas! the letter to Angelina Dudley was not written that day; he would do it early to-morrow morning.
The morning came, and Aaron was in a hurry to join Miss Edwards; he would write to Angelina in the evening. By the time evening arrived, the letter was forgotten entirely: he had kissed the lips of the handsome blonde, and found them sweeter than the honey of Hybla.
Mrs. Reeve was not altogether ignorant of the roguish propensities of her promising brother, and evidently watched the growing intimacy of Aaron and her lively visitor with some suspicion. She was determined that Miss Edwards should not suffer an irreparable injury to her house, and frequently broke in upon the tete-a-tetes of the young couple, with visible manifestations of uneasiness.
Aaron saw that he must set his wits at work, and one Sunday, when the trio set out together to church—Mr. Reeve being from home—the former feigned a sudden faintness, and the good sister went back for her salts, leaving Aaron and Miss Edwards in the centre of a piece of woods. Aaron lost not a moment, but commenced the violent protestation of undying love.
Miss Edwards and Miss Dudley were two very different women, and the former had not, like Angelina, made the first advances. She received kindly the declarations of Burr, and evidently regarded him in ​the light of an honorable suitor, which she inwardly thought he was. When, therefore, he hugged and kissed her, she only sighed and gently disengaged herself from his grasp; but when he proceeded to assail her bosom, she struggled hard to get away, and told him to wait until he could honorably claim what he now seemed disposed to wrest by force. So long did the young lady resist her enterprising lover, that Mrs. Reeve returned with the smelling-bottle, before he had made much progress in his lawless attempt.
Mrs. Reeve discovered nothing peculiar in the appearance of the youthful pair. She supposed, by her visitor's blushes, that Aaron had snatched a kiss during her absence, but nothing more.
At church, Burr was surprised to see Angelina Dudley. She was not accustomed to attend that house of worship, but had come, on the present occasion, to hear a new preacher, who had exchanged pulpits with the clergyman who usually officiated there. She sat in the pew adjoining the Reeve's family.
As the eyes of Angelina and Aaron met, a deep blush suffused the countenance of the enamored girl.
Aaron exchanged several glances with Angelina during service, and read in her countenance something which he did not quite understand. She was very attentive to the words of the speaker.
Just as the service was concluded, a loud noise of men and boys was heard in the vicinity of the church.
All listened, and the service was suspended a few moments, when a mad bull rushed furiously in at the open door, and passed down the aisle of the church. Many rushed from the building, and among them Mrs. Reeve.
Great was the confusion. The bull bellowed and tossed his horns; some ran up the pulpit stairs, and others fled to the doors and windows.
In the melee, Aaron Burr found himself standing near an open window, between Angelina and Miss Edwards. Both of these young ladies looked to him for protection, with fear and anxiety vividly depicted on their countenances.
The bull was plunging directly towards them. There was time to seize one of the young ladies, lift her up, and thrust her through the window. Burr must instantly decide which of them to save.
In this dilemma, our hero perceived that his chances with Miss Edwards was sacrificed for ever, if he gave Angelina Dudley the preference.
Accordingly, he caught the former in his arms, and put her out the window, where hands were ready to receive her half-fainting form. Angelina, giving her supposed lover a look of astonishment, sprang over ​the railing of the altar, and just escaped the horns of the enraged animal. Burr himself was knocked down and slightly bruised, but sustained no other injury.
Perceiving that Angelina was safe, Burr turned towards the bull, but the discharge of a couple of muskets, in the hands of men from the outside, settled the whole affair by giving the cause of all this trouble his quietus. It appeared that no body had been hurt by the bull, though clothes had been torn in clambering out of his way, and several ladies had been seriously injured by fright.