Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1855-12-07
an 4atsrsstins Storp.


A tall yankee told the story; a man,
bony. hard featured. yet upon whose
front the Almighty hand had stamp
ed genius a character upmistakable
Said he, "when l was a young man
l was awkward, as l believe all young
men are, whose stature outruns the;l
years. had grown so fast that peo-
pie where / lived looked up to me,
and of course, as was natural. look
ed down upon them. but | was not
proud. not at all. / had cousin,
then, a s.ngularly handsome man,
whose face to me was always de-
lightfuI study. He was not Of such
ungainly height as myself. but his
hair was brown and curling and
sparkling, his manner commanding,
and above all he was a minister
Now in those days, ministers were
nearly made idols Of, and consequent
ly were often spoiled. My cousin,
| always thought, had more pride
than was good for him; but he was SC
attentive, whenever he came out ir
the country to pay us long visit As
he invariably did every summer sc
pleasant and sffable to US all. that We
overlooked his peculiarities.
II remember how we used to watch
him at meal times, and what q gener
al gingling there was whenever hi
took his spoon out Of his tea-cup intt
his saucer, for we we were very i'm
itative family. and cousin Dennis was
our beau-ideal Of politeness.
"One winter we had unusually goot
luck. and father happening to have :
surplus of money on hand. told m,
that il / had notion to see the worle
a might go to the city and stop I'll
Spring. You may be sure was tall
er than ever. for although | was very
nearly twenty-one. 1 had never beer
in the city to stop over a day at the
most, and now the idea Of spending I
winter there was almost overwhelm
ing. Every night made a pro
gramme Of my expected .our-wher,
should 90 this night, and wher,
next week. and above all to share
cousin Dennis hospitality. for he hat
SO often urged me to come and pass
some time with him, that Ihad n,
doubt but that his delight at sc,
ing me would be equal to min,
at seeing him. A few weeks NOR
aud the busy fingers of mother ne
sisters had prepared my robe. anu III
great trunk was brought down from
the garret and stuffed till they woul,
hold no more. Probably no expert
enced stranger. starting for Europe
ever took half the number of "weara
bles" that /, in my simplicity, deem
ed by far too limited. But the grea
gala day arrived. and with its depart
ure left my home for the wilderness.
of New York.
1t was late when 1 arrived at m,
cousins house. a handsome bricl
dwelling. which with some little LAM
adjoining, he had inherited. / ha'
never seen it before, and to me it wa
a palace. An old Quaker aunt KEEP
house for him. and by her was wei
welcomed by cold formality | di,
not understand yet weaiied as was
did not give much thought abou
the subject, but ate my supper in 81
lence. cheerel by the news that m
cou, in had gone to officiate at a wed
ding and might not be home unit
eleven
ALREADY it was nearly ten, and !
unused to such late late hours, beg
ged to be shown to bedroom.
shall never forget how icy cold tn
room was, to which l was attended
Lsrge and cheerless, filled wit sombr
furniture; it WIS so different from m
snug little chamber at home. wher
the sun lay all day and the water neve
froze! The sheets. as | touched them
seemed like ice; l had not dared I
approach my feet to the stove heart
below stairs, and ! suffered exceeding
ly. However. soon forgot all di:
comfort in dreams, in which the oil
farmhouse and roaring FIRE were th
chief objects of interest.
lin the morning. and bitter cold
was. / arose a. my usual hour, dres.
ed and hurried from my chamber.
found my way to the hall. On tn
rack in the corner laid an ample clot
cloak. which supposed my cousi
must have thrown of in hurry
Surprised at the unusual stiffness
l tried the door from which l mad
egress the preceding night. 1t W.
locked fast Successfully / tried e.
cry door within range; alas! there W,
neither ingress or outlet. for the frol
entrance was also fastened in such
manner that it de6ed all my endea'
ors to move the lock. 1t seems Eth
my cousins housekeeper was one
the old fashioned sort. and never r
tired without fastening up every.hir
in the house. question somewh
AS to whether she did not lock b,
bed curtains.
"Three mortal hours did / st,
shivering in my room on that EVENT.
morning. soIac,ng myself with oolef
glances at the brick walls Of dist
lery. and running over the pages OF
Greek Lexicon. which assuredly W.
all Greek TO me--and nolhiLg else.
"At length. o, welcome sound; Il
bell rang. and /, blue with cold. d
scended to lhebreakfast room. The
l met my cousin. and for the lin
time in my life Witnessed sham W,
come. did not understand il the
do understand such things bett
now.
my cousin tried his best to
{ agreeable. but l saw that disappoir
ment stood out all over bis actor
particularly when I mentioned tha,
had come for long visit. Blu,
soon got over the unpleasant feelinl
consequent on this discovery. and
termined TO brave Ii out. Had
not stopped summer after summer
my fathers farm? Did we not eve
u six months send him some favor in {