Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1839-11-14
MISCELLANY.
From DR.. Birds ne,o ,ocrh, ssPeter Pilgrim.'
THE EXTRA LOGGER.


IL was once my fate to pass the night in a
certalnwaysldc carravansary among the noun
tains of Virginia, lowly and dirty habita-
ton, from whose mean appearance no one
would have inferred the majestic spirit of the
ruler within; as up-or rather down-.o which,
for 1t stood at the bottom of a hill-one fine
evening IN September, rolled mail-coach.
well crammed with passengers, of whom l.
for my sins, was one.-We numbered twelve
souls in all, nine inside and three out of
which latter group, l, being somewhat a va
letudinarian, was honored with seat beside
his highness ofthe whip; while my two COM
Panions, the one Mississippian, the other
varmint, as he called himself, of Tennessee
sat gallantly on the top, where they rolled and
pitched about as we Numbered down the roc
ky road, in a manner admirable to behold
or, as the Mississippian expressed it, s.like
two short tailed dogs in boiling pot,'' re-
semblance that was somewhat the STRONGER for
the tremendous bow-wows and yelpings with
which he-sometimes assisted by the Ten
nessecan-beguiled the WEAKNESS of the dav.
Certainly there never was iollier set of
rantiPole personages got together in mail
stage before. Besides the Mississippian yelp-
Ing on top, there was another of the same in
the inside, who could initiate the Drawing of
an ass to perfection-a melody which he kept
w ~ Nv ah Will lIlcIlu ana partner a.
lott. Add to these an Albanian who suno
negro songs; Rock River Illinoisan. who
whooped like an Indian a Texian that play-
ed the mustang, or wild horse of the prairies.
and besides kicking the bottom nearly from
the stage. nelghed and whinnied till the very
team horses on the road responded to the
note; and five others who did nothinr but
scream and laugh to fill up the concert: and
yon have before you a set of the happiest mad
Drained roisterers that ever astonished the
monarch of a stage house.
At this place we Were destined to sun and
lodge, and accordingly, In due course of time.
we were all seated at the board, where we
had the satisfaction of being tyrannized over
Doth by mine host and my hostess, the one
grum yet facetious, the other ugly as ill tenn
pcred, and naughty as a princess. There
|, was nothing at all remarkable in the sumner.
which was no better nor worse than usual
except the total absence of that sine MN MN
OF Virginia table, fried chickens-and in
deed, OF chickens In every shape, there being
not so much as wing or claw on the table
This omission producing gentle interropa-
tary, somewhat in the tone Of expostulation.
from one of the Mississippians, (who, as well
as all the other travellers, it is proper to saw.
was now playing the part of very modest,
well behaved young gentleman,) mine host
Wittily gave us to understand 'sitwas cur own
fault, seeing that the diaboIical noise we had
made while approaching the house had scar
cd all the fowls into the mountans'' This
the Missssippian declared, 'sreminded him of
Captain Dobbs' chickens in Kentucky, which
he had the captains own words for il. no
sooner caught sight of traveller approach
ing, than they Immediately took to their heels.
being well aware from long experience, as
Capt. Dobb5 said, that the visit of a STRANGER
was certain death to Them
Before we had finished supper thirteenth
guest made his appearance tall, rawboned
Yankee pedler, it seemed, who drove I'D in
his little wagon through a shower that had
begun to fall, and presently entered the sup
per room, bearing pair of saddle bags which
ne laid beside him with great care, as ifafraid
the contents should be injured if placed out
OF his protection. He had very meek, SOL
emn unpresuming, solitary look, and rather
sneaked into, than took chair, at the foot of
the table, where he waited very submissivelv
Tor the cup of coffee which INV landlady
delgned, after sundry contemptuous looks and
hive minutes delay, to send him.
On the whole, he did not seem to produce
any more favorable impression upon his fell
low travellers, who left him to consume his
chlckenless supper by himself, while thew
proceeded to the bar-roOm to resolve doubt
which had entered the head of the Mississip-
plan, Capt Dobb's friend-to wit: whether
the thunder of their approach had not killed
all the mint plants and so deprived them of
their lullps.-Ihis was fortunately proved
not to be the case; the young gentlemen con-
cocted their sleeping draughts, smoked their
segars' settled the affairs of the nation, and
then, having received d hint that such was the
VIII and pleasure Of the landlord, ascendcd to
the travellers room to seek their beds.
rms travellers room was the garnet, or the
nall thereof, the other moiety being PARTITION
eu on ana applied to some other purpose; and
as II was neither ceiled nor plastered, it pre-
scented no very striking look of luxury or com
!or'. But 1t exhibited the rare and captvat-
ing spectacle of a dozen different beds, in
wien ,1l each man was to possess, for one night
az leSS y, the happiness of sleeping without a
oeo-ieilow. The beds were, moreover, all
single ones, one only excepted, which was
neither single nor double, and indeed. was a
mere plank stretched between two stools,
a leather hnd =.