Tribune and telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1855-1856, 1856-03-13

about me that could possibly afford DieHepbael
Il preteXt for another operation Commeucinl
with my head, | travelled down to my feet, ant
fe)oIced to find that, with the execution of NIX
tortured mouth and punctured arm. evervthinc
was III perfectly natural and healthy state
tiiefe was nothing to justify any further prac
llce OF surgery upon my unfortunate person
reserved to be extremely on my guard and IN
lock the room door whenever / was alone.
The day was near it's close when we retprn.
ed to thchouse, where we found the sumner tablo
Spread. The young ladies were all absent
Heaven only knew in which direction Nimrod
was out shooting. Dieltenbach amputatinr, and
oxen collecting spiders. | must confess 70 n
greater wish to see Oxen than Minnie perhaps.
would altogether have approved. At any rate
with her should not be in bodily danger She
would hardly attempt TO impale me on q corkino
pm, like beetle or n butterfly. | was yerV
glad her two sisters did not make their appear
ance To me their presence would have embit.
tered the meal. We waited a while expecting
their arrival, and the counsellor, who could nor
but remark or suppose that the impression made
upon me by the occurrences of the morning
was not particularly favorable, filed up the in-
terval with praises of his daughters, lauding
the excellence of their hearts and pointing out
how much better it was that they should have
been suffered to grow up half wild in the coun-
slloulu nave been exposed,
without the guidance and protection of q moth
er, to the corrupt atmosphere and dangerous re-
hnements OF the town When upon this theme
Frager was inexhaustibe. ! never saw a man
so much i'll love with his own children Atla.t
he declared lie would wait no longer for the
girls, and we began supper. We had been AT
table about quarter of an hour, when the door
opened, and Oxen, long expected, came at last
Very different was the impression she made
upon NE to that produced by her sisters. She
was quite as pretty, but gentle and amiable in
countenance, and manner. She did not run
past me ike Nimrod and Dietfenbach. as if |
had been part of the furniture but bowed her
head gracefully and courteously, apologised for
her tardy arrival, and added that had she known
| was at Wiesen.hal, the most interesting re-
searches IN natural history should not have with
held her from returning home to welcome me-
L was delighted to find her so pleasing a con-
trast to her sisters, and, but for thoughts of
Minnie, L should at once have admitted myself
Nanquished by her chhrms She tastefully
dressed-hcr hair Just n little blown about by
the evening breeze. In her hand she carried a
covered basket, which she placed upon a chair
beside her when she sat down. The converse.
ton turned on natural history. Out of complai-
sance, and to win her good opinion, feigned
lively interest in the science, about which had
never in the least troubled my head. We were
most harmonious trio. Counsellor Frager
worthy man that Ernestine and / were born for
each other. For my part, forgot the disasters
of the morning, and basked i'll the smiles of the
lovely naturalist, who by this time was deep in
the latest discoveries respecting amphibia.-
Concerning these | neither knew nor cared any
thing, but pretended profound attention, and
gazed with delight on the lovely mouth that
spoke so learnedly. 1t was quite a little lecture
on reptiles Presently Ernestine opened the
basket beside her, and the next moment an OK
traordinary object wrthed and danced within a
few inches of my face. Its appearance was so
sudden that did not at the instant recognize
its nature, but when | did, / thought / should
have fallen from my chair with terror. A living
and very lively snake stretched out towards me
its horrible head and forked tongue.
Here you have most beautiful specimen of
tho She wound up the sentence with
some Latin name of snake. / was almost be-
side myself From my infancy upwards | had
held serpents of every kind in extraordinary
sPect. Oxen detected my diScomposure -
What she exclaimed, laughing scorntully, you
would pass for naturalist, and are afraid. Of a
snake? Impossibler
And the accursed head, with its quiyerng
tongue and bright beadiike eyes. drew nearer *
nearer, Oxen seeming TO enjoy my manifest
uneasiness.
For Heavens sake l cried, take away that
horrible creature
4 see nothing horrible in it., quietly replied
Emostine. Observe how gracefully its body
undulates.' And again the reptile writhed )
self just before my nose. jumped up and re-
treated. Ernestine followed me, snake in
hand.
have never been able to understand be-
gan the idiotic counsellor, in n doctor;l tone,
whence arose the peculiar aversion with which
men regard all kinds Of reptiles
The deuce you have notn cried /, still re-
treating from Oxen and her odious pet. THE
aversion is not very difficult to account for
For my part, abhor the creatures.
'Pshawn SAID Ernestinc, angriy; you are
but counterfeit naturalist And thereupon
she slapped me across the face with the snake
could not refrain a cry of horror and disgust.
Then she returned to her seat, and put tho YER
min into its basket
In my estimation the counsellor's third daugh-
ter had now fallen into the same category with
her sisters Frager, who saw that I was una
ordered his daughter to discontinue her unseen
~ jest; but the poor old gentieman'S authority
was evidently at discount that day, and Oxen
with dabolical maIignity had continued to tor
turc me until the perspiration rolled oil my fore
head.
Now may Old Nick fly away with all three
Of you,' said | TO myself, as passed my hand /
kerchief across my damp brow. You have seen
the last of me at Wiesenthal. At daybrcab /
pack up my traps and leave this place of tor
ments worse than a cell of the inquisition, or
a dungeon in Front de Bopufs Castle. A nice
place to come a wooing!-snaSes, bullets and
tooth ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS welcome for n suitor!
The evening wore YEARLY away. Miss Oxen
having ascertained that | was naturalist, /
adopted her sisters system, and treated me with /
profound contempt in fact, she hardly seemed
aware of my presence. For my part, the sym
pathy with which she had ut first inspired me
had completely vanished Frazer was quite /
put out by the change in hi. daughters de-
lneanor, aud of course cast the blame of it on me.
i should never have thought he said, that you
would be so alarmed by little harmless snake. /
who could have supposed it, cried Erncs-
tine, apPlauding her fathers words. we are
different sort Of people here
1t is impossible to change ones nature l |
replied.
Nature" repeated Ernestine; what do you
know about nature! For Heavens sake hold
your tongue
This was really too rude. / was on the
point Of making p sharp reply, when saw Oxen
extend her hand towards the reptiles cage.
kept silent and prepared for fight
Never have passed two more irksome hours
than those that elapsed before bedtime came
The counsellor proposed cigar | caught at
the idea. With a glowing havana in my
mouth, felt as If should be safer from the as
saults of that cobra de cappello, or what ever
else ii was, that Oxen kept beside her like
grey hound i'm leash ready To let slip upon her