Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-10-18
WHOLE NUMBER l76. /

mortiiication. that profound respect which
he had ever preserved towards his father,
'.just as l,expec,ed and deserved. sir.s.s1
was sent on FOOLS errand, and have Te.'
turned iiule wiser than went, | hope.V
/ "And pray, sir, what has your wndom
taught oa2"s ,a,,s< .-..i O.
! alt basfaught me, father, that in afiaiis
Ipf the heart, Lhat heart alone should be
consulted. Had you left the matter 70
time, as wisEed-had you suffered me 70
Hollow my own feelings end judgment,
which would have prpmPted snfe tesIry 10
win her affections by courssHef aliet at
] dtensious, snehr us'lhe most modest women
migir receive without a blush, and the
most fastIdiousA think not derogatory to-
their delcacy or fiiefr pride, might have
PEI hnps succeeded IN time. But you, sir,
took advantage ol sense of duty, which
have, | hope, never violated. TO urge, nay,
TO force me into situation which will
bring bushes TO my cheek, and anguish 10
my heart, TO the latest hour of my riGe."
"Phew!' whislled Solomon; ..all moon-
shiref Try again, boy. Take time by
The forelock, and go 10 her tomorrow
morning. | insist upon it. sir, or you are
no longer son Of mine"
"Fulher!" replied Gideon, in accents Of
the deepest. most solemn determination.
''tather. I ha, e hitherto obey ed you in all
hing; often when Goth my wishes and
my reason refolted at the nature of your
commands, because you were my parent.
and felt | was but boy, who had no
right To stake my experience against your
knowledge Of mankind and The world
But this Is u different case. It is an afiair
in which Fanny and myself alone are
concerned; it is an affair o. personal deli
cacy and feeling; it involves the violation
Of thai respect Which every man deserving
the name owes 10 the dcicacy, the dignity
and the feelings of virtuous woman.
have insul,ed Fanny once--I will Lever
do it again. have outraged my own feeE.
ings, betrayed my own judgment, and have
been punished so keenIy, 81 bitterly, that
declare in the face of Leaven and my ia
ther, that rather than repeat the scene,
will subject myself 10 parents curse, and
become an outcast from my home"
Solomon was absolutely coniounded at
this sudden running up of the flag Of re-
belion. Though very wise man in The
opinion OF his neighbors, and his own loo,
because he always took time by The fore
lock, he had not learned that the lower
you pull the supling toward the earth, the
higher 1t will fly when it escupes from
your hand. Hitherto Gideon had been The
most submissive Of sons, and the last thing
Solomon expected was an outbreak of this
sort. He was one Of those men who are
all obstnecy, until they meet with opposi.
lion, but who, like brawling stream, al
ways turn aside from rock. According
ly, finding Gideon immovab,e, he moved
on one side himself, and. in conformity
with his usual custom, solaced his self-sul.
iciency with prediction.
: "Well. weil-haye your own way,
but mind what say-you will be sorry
you had moi taken lime by the forelock,
and followed my advice, before year
passes over your head. Remember what
| say" ..
Fanny could not sleep that night for
of the strange, unaccounlahle be.
havior Of Gideon, and wondering whether
he was in earnest or not, in his professions
Of love. To be sure, his passion mus,
have been very violent and sudden in f:s
progress; but there was certainly such q
hing as love at first sight, ard this might
be case in point.
''lf he is in earnest-why then can
have him when please; and ii must be
that he is good-ooking-some
hiLk very handsome-und every body
speaks well of him. If he hsd only wait
I'd TIL we had got little acquainted,
dare say should have been brought to
like him-but 10 be so lnsulted-y est
was certainly downright insult, almost
strangers as we were, 10 Kiss my hand as
if he was going TO eat it. Bet that might
have been because he could not help il.
Poor fellow! he seemed as if he didn't
know what he was doing, Heigho! wish
he had not been in such hurry, though |
dare say i! was all owing TO his fatber, who
is always preaching up :akirg time by the
forelock. Heigho! wish-l wish had
not spoken so harshly 10 the poor fellow"
I hus thought Fanny as she lay awake
in her bed, and the moon peeped into her
window TO have look at her, in order TO
Judge whether she was so handsome as re-
port made her out 10 be-. r-
The next morning the squire was very
curious TO know what the deuce had got into
Gideon the night before to behave so Ri
diculousl ly, and declared his solemn belief
that the young man was tipsy. Fanny
warmly defended him from this accuasion,
ard certainly nobody had q better right,
for during the scene Of the preceding eve-
ming, they had been Tor a moment in such
close juxtaposilion. that she could dlstl,i-
guish the quality of his breath. and ii was as
sweet and fresh as that Of blthe spring
Fanny felt a strong impulse of
duty to disclose the truth; but refieciing
that it was not quite fair 10 expose discard
ed swain, she kept the secret, and thereby
afford a memorable example 10 her SEX
1t was observed. however that she was not
quite so cheerful as usual, but appeared al
ways thoughtful, and Fat times somewhat
depressed. She saw nolhlng of Gideon
for some time afterwards, except at church
where she occasionally stole look al him,
and was rather afTfonted al finding he was
neither pale or thin, and had nothing Of the
appearance of disappointed swain. She
never caught his eye, for he never could
see or think of her without most bitter
twnge ofmor,ihed pride at the recollection
Of his own folly, and its merited punish
mept. Neither OF them could ever give