Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-03-13

es Of Georgia Scenes" BY the author of
Major Jones' Courtship." Now in press
by Messrs. Carey s. Hart, Philadelphia.
Mr., Eugenius Augustus Van Sock
was born somewhere "Down East, !"
but for the purposes ofthe sketch which
we are about to give ola single incident
10 his life-an incidentthe more lmpor-
tant for the influence iteXerted upon his
subsequent career-lt is not material
that we should state precisely where or
when. Suffice it, he had been trained
/ w Yin the way he should CO." and had
Abeen sent forth into the world to seek
This fortune, with the fervent admoni-
tons of a pious mother, who concluded
her long dissertation upon matters and
things in general, with the solemn in
junction-"But, Eugenius Augustus,
dear, whatever you do, be good boy
and go to meeting every Sunday" to
which he replied he would be certain
10 do so. y. .
Mr.. Van Socks talents had been
devoted to mercantile pursuits-not on
his own account, it is true, but on ac-
count of his health, which had been
delicate from his you;h-and he now
gave himself out as a professional sales
man, in which capacity he had made
his appearance in Pineville, with Mr..
, Harley's latest importation of New
goods from New York. He was tall,
-complexioned crane-built, Cos
ling-looking youth, with very promi-
nent beak, and eyes askew. Thenose
stuck ssright out,' and there was no
help for it, but he managed to hide the
slight obliquity in the setting Of his
visual organs, by means Of pair of
large-bowled silver spectacles, with
green glasses, which he wore under
pretext of weakness. 1855 14
Mr.. Eugenius Augustus Van Scoik
was polite, good-natured, Miss-Nan-.
cy sort Of young gentleman, and Of
course soon acquired great popularity
among the elder ladies, to whom he
always warranted his goods not to fade,
tear, or wear out, and was certain to
throw in the thread and little things,
even if he had to thumb 1t to small
amount in the measurement Of the
yards to make up for his generosity
The young ladies, too, thought Mr..
Harley's new'sstore-keeper' "dread-
full nice young man if he didn't have
such horrid nose" and the commu-
nifty, generally, who had heard his
psalm singing, and noticed his public
attendance at church, every Sunday
morning, had noted him down as We
ry proper young man, Notwithstanding
his nose; and Parson Storrs had been
heard to speak of him as an example
worthy of imitation by the young men
of Pinerille.s # s sa
But Mr.. yanScoik struggled against
besetting temptation unknown TO any
but himself. If he had an invetera::@,
uncomfortable sspropensity for any
thing IN the world" it was for shoot
ing robins. He delighted in a shotgun
that wouldn't kick much, and bird
that would sit, and he never looked out
upon the sky, out his soul painted TO
be away in the fields with bag and gun.
He dreamed Of shooting all night, and
he ruminated on the subject all the day.
He had not taken hunt since he left
: home-he had been so busy in the
store-and he determined to have one
ssfair shake at the birds, even if he
had to 20 on Sunday. If the truth
must be told, he had grown SO lose in
his morals under the Influence of our
vertical sun, that he began to entertain
very little reverence for those holy or
dinances, which, in his youth, he had
been taught to obey, and he was DETER
ed from his commission of what he
would once haveregarded as an almost
objectionable sin, by the fear of detec-
ton. There was now nothing very
shocking to him in the violation Of the
Sabbath-but he would not have had
anybody to see him on that day with a
gun in his hands for any consideration.
He was not long, however, in devising
plan by which he was enabled to in
dulges his propensity without ,incurri1g
thesr.k of being discovered by those
whose good opinions h. was anxious to
retain.
Accordingly, one beautiful Sunday
afternoon, Mr.. Eugenius Augustus Van
Scoiksa)lied forth from his boarding
house. ana walked gnxely along the
main street until he reached the edge
of:fhe woods, where he was met BY a
hide negro boy whom be Mad engaged
tcenuy - Esny 1atsep ~, 10, out
Of town. Finding all right, he dis