Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-05-25

in all the athletic exercises Of the gym
nasium, in which, by-the-by, he enga-
ged with the keen hilarity of boyhood,
he had no equal. His feats of strength
and agility were alike the wonder and
admiration Of US all; and yet they new
er seemed to cost him an effort, or a.
waken in him one feeling Of conscious
superiority. remember oncday, when
we were all on the gymnasium, that a
stalwart Sophomore from Ohio, by a
powerful effort, overlcapt the hitherto
unattained mark which Ned had made
two years before. His fellows imme-
diately setup hoisterous shout in glo-
rifcation of their classmates triumph.
Ned had been i'll for several days, and
we were standing aside from the melee,
quietly enjoying the merriment of the
various groups. around us. looked at
him despairing ly, as the cry Of Ohio
against theworldn broke from the par
tisans of the successful Buckeye
|'''Twas gallant leap observed Ned,
gathering up the skirts Of his slender
doublet, and fetching three strides to
the salient point he bounded like a
stag full yard beyond the ne plus Ill
tru of his rival.
you've been barking up the wrong
tree, this time cried the good-naturcd
Ohioan to his silent and crest-iallen ap-
Iplauders, sand till some one of us gets
his foot-handles strung with the thews
OF painter, | guess we'd best let old
Connecticut chalk out for US. suspi-
cion he's one Of that bounding brother
hood, who, the Indians say, leaped O.
yer the Wabash and Mississippi as ca
silly as greyhound clears a log fence
But to return. Ned and | were va
eating as | have said, at his fathers
charming residence, situated in one Of
the loveliest valleys which look out up
on Long Island Sound. 1t was in the
latter part of September. We had been
confined tothe house for several days
by the "equinoctial Storm" during
s T. ~ l,s.u = m
planes and rifles, and indeedsset in
order all the appurtcnanccs Of our 9th
er outdoor amusements. This done,
we sat down perlorcc, and waited the
pleasure of the boisterous clements to
release us from our impatient d,rancc.
For the equanimity we displayed on
this occasion, silence were the safest
eulogy. We were enfranchised at last,
however, and by one of the loveliest
mornings that ever dispelled the two
fold dreariness Of night and storm. AS
the sun whee,,.d up from behind the
low woodlands Of Rhode Island, he
seemed to rejoice that there was not
cloud in the whole horizon to obstruct
the full tide of his glorious efulgence.
The air waslike a liquid and impalpa-
bic crystal, bright and clear as empty
real ether. So perfect was its transIu-
cency, that the remot.st objects with
in the scope of vision, showed to the,
eye in all the distinctncss of compare
tive proximity. The rocky outline of
the neighboring islands and promono-
tories seemed to have been chiseled but
yesterday, SO sharply were their rough
features defined; while the tall light
house on Montauk, far away across the
sound, lowered up against the clearsky
as distinctly as at leagues distance. Il
This singular aerial transparency seems
peculiar to the first few weeks Of our
autumnal season,-soon to be contrast I,
ed with that equally beautiful. phenom-
enon, the mellow, dreamy, ETHEREAL ha-
illness which charactcrizcs the period
Of our Indian summer. II
The atmosphere was not only thus
clear and eflulgcnt, but calm and bland ]
as the breath Of slumbering angel.
Not breeze was on the wing, and the
sphered rain-drops lay stirlcssly glis-l
tening in the cups Of the pale flowers j
Of autumn, waiting the warmer kisses q
Of the sun to exhalc their radiant in
ccnsc. A few frosts had already fallen {
upon the foliage, and their subtle al o
chemy had converted the uniform YER q
lure ofsummerin innumerable bright
tints, which clothed the whole land
scape as with the vesture of a thousand t
rainbows. Every tree, and bush, and
herb, seemed arrayed as if fora gorge a
BUS masqueradc-some in robes Of rich t
sst crimson, others in garniturc of re-
gal scarlet, but most in draperies OF va
'ying gold. Nor was the charm OF mu- .
nc wanting tocomplete the scene. Ma S
~ familiar bird still fingered amid :
ne haunts Of its summer joyousness, s
md poured out its piaintive mathis IN $
hat soft and ra,olnnnhclx, tone IN which {