Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1841-02-19

over him, they came mutually to the conclu-
sion, that an odder society had never met,
in ci,y or wilderness-on mountain or plain.
The eldest of the group, tall, lean,
wcather-bcaten man, some sixty years Of age
was clad in the skins of wild animals, whose
fashion of dress lie did well to initiate, since
the deer, the wolf, and the bear, had long
been his most intimate companions. He
was one of those Inflated morlals, such as
the Indians told Of, whom, in their early
youth, the Great Carbunclc smOte with a
peculiar madness, and became tho passion
ate dream of their existance. All, who
visited that region, knew him as the Seeker,
and by no other name. As none could re-
member when he first took up the search,
there went fable inthe valley of the SacO,
that for his nordnatc lust after the Great
Carbunele, he had been condemned TO wan
der among the mountains till the end oftime,
still with the same frvcrisl, hopes at sunrise
the same despair at eve. Near this Seeker
sa, little elderly parsonage, wearing high
crowned hat, shaped somewhat like a cruci-
BILE. lie was from beyond the sea, a Doctor
Cacaphodcl, who had wil,cd dried himself
into mummy, by continually STOPPING over
charcoal furnaces, and inhaling UNIV holesome
fumes, during his researches in chemistry and
alchymy. l, was told of him, whether truly
or not, that at the commencement of his
studies, he had drained his body OF all its
richest blood, and wastedit, with other ines
Unable ingredients, in an unsuccessful ex-
pcriment-and had never been a well man
since. Another Of the adventures was
Master Ichaboo Pigsnort, a weigh,y mer-
chant and selec,man of Boston, and an elder
Of the famous Mr.. Norton's church. His
enemies had ridiculous story, that Master
Pigsnort was accustomed to spend whole
hour, after pravcr-tine, every morning and
evcning, in wallowing naked among an i'm
mcnse quantity of pinc-trcc slillings, which
werethc earliest silver coinage of Massa.
chusctts. The fourth, whom we shall notice
had no name, that his companions knew o
and was chiefly distinguished by sheer tina,
always contorled his thin visagc, and by o
pfodigious pair Of spectaccs, which were
supposed to dctorm, and discoor the whole
face of nature, to this gen,lcman's precep,.
ton. The fifth adventurer likewise Lacked
a name, which was the greater pity
as he appeared to be Il poet. He was =
bright-eycd man, but woiuly pinned away
which was no more than natural, if, as some
people affirmed, his ordinary diet was fog
morning mist, and a slice ofthc dcnscst cloud
within his reach, sauced with moonshine
whenever he could get it. Certain it is, tina
the poetry, which flowed from him, had :
smack of all these dain,cs. The sixth o.
the party was young man Of naughty mien
and sat somewhat apart from the rest, wear
ing his plumcd hat loftle among his elders
while tho fire glittered on the rich embroid-
cry of his dress, and cleaned intensely OF
the leweled pommel of his sword. This wa
the Lord de We're, who, when at home, wa.
SAID ospcnd much of his time in the burial
vault Of his dead progen,ors, rummagin!
their mouldy collins insearch of all the earth
ly pride and vain-glory, that was bidder
among bones and dust; so that besides hi
own share, he had the collected haughtincs,
his whole line of ancestry.
Lastly, there was a handsome youth il
rustic garb, and by his side, blooming l,tl'
person, in whom delicate shade of nader
reserve was Just melting into the rich glow o
a young wiic's affection. Her name wa
Hannah, and her husbands Matthew tw,
] Hu'htS, wv wen tu"ptNu ~
the simple pair, who seemed strangely ont o
place among the whimsical fraternity whos'
wits had been sci agog by the Great Carbun
Gle.
Beneath the shelter Of one hut, in tin
bright blaze Of the same fire, sat this varic'
group of advcnturers, all so intent upon
single object, that, of whatever else they be
gan to speak, their closing words were sur
to be Illuminated with the Great Carbuncle
Severalrolatcd the circumstances that brouel
them thithcr. One had listened to traveller
tale Of this marvellous stone, in his own dis
tant country, and had Immediately bee
seized with sucha thirst for bcl,olding it, a
could only he quenchcd in its ntcnsest lusturt
Another, so long ago as when the famou
Captain Smith visited these coasts, had see
il blazing far at sea, and had felt no rest j
all the intervening years, till now that h
took up the search. a third, being encampc
on a hunting expedition, full forty miles soul
Of the White Mountains, awake at midnigh
and bchcld the Great Carbunclc, glcamin
like a meteor, so that the shadows of the tree
fell backward from il. They spoke of tn
nnumerablc attempts, which had been mad
10 reach the spot, and Of the singular iatalit
y which had hitherto Withheld success from Il
:: Adventures, though it might seem so easy I
: follow to its source a light that ovcrpowerc
= the moon, and almost matched the sun
n was observable that each smiled scornful
:. at the madness Of every other, in anticipatin
better fortune than the past, yet nourislled
scarcely hidden conviction, that he woul
himself be the favored one. AS if to ALA
their too sanguine hopes, they REQUIRED t
i the Indian traditions, tina, spirit kept watc
4 about the gem, and bewildered those VIII
:, sought il, either by removing it from peak t
q peak of the higher hills, or by calling up
i, mist from the enchanted lake over which
: hung. But these tales were deemed I'm
i worthy of credit; all protesting to believe
that the search had been balllcd by want ,
sagachy or perseverance in the adventure,
), or such other causes as might naturally oil
v struct the passage to any given point, anon
!, the inlricacics forest, valley, and mountain
d In pause of the conversation, the weare
G of the prodigious spectacles looked roun