Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-01-21

y
!, 4 tall Yankeetold the story; aman, bon
|. hard features, yet upon whose coantenan
the Almighty had stamped genins IN unnn
takeabie characters.
,, Said be, when was young man, ! y
awkward. as i believe all young men Al
whose stature outrun their years ! b
grown so fast that people where lived loo
|. ed up 70 me, and Of eoursed looked down I
i them. But was not proud at all had
/ cousin, a singuiarly handsome young ma
. whose face was to me delightful study. I
was not of such ungain1y height as myse
but his hair was brown and curling, h
| checks tinged with red, his eyes glowing ar
sparkling, his manner commanding, an
above all, he was minister Now. IN tho.
days, ministers were almost made idols G
and consequently were often spoiled N
cousin, | always thought had more prid
than was good for him, but he was so attei
tive when he came out to the country to max
Us long visit, las he invariably did ever
summer so pleasant with us all, that "
overlooked his pecuiiarities
| remember how we used to watch him Q
meal times, and what general jingling wa
there, whenever he took the, spoon out OF tn
tea cup into his saucer, for we were an i'm
i tative family, and cousin Dennis was GU
beau ideal Of politeness
One winter we had unusual good luck, an
! father happening to have a surplus of none.
| on hand, told me if had a notion to see tn
world, j might go to the neighboring cit
| and stop till spring.
You may be sure that was taller thai
ever, for although ! was nearly twenty-one
had never been in the city to stop over da,,
at the most, and now the idea depending thu
winter there was almost overwhelming. Ey
cry night | made programme OF my expect
ed tour, where should go this night ant
where next week, and: above all / though
how pleasant it would be to share Cousin
Dennis hospitality for he had SO often urg
ed me to come and spend some time with
him, that had no doubt that his delight at
seeing me would be equal to mine at seeing
him. A few weeks more and the busy fingers
of sisters and mother had prepared my ward
robe, and the great trunk was brought down
from the garnet and stuffed till its brass frame
would hold no more. Probably no expert
enced traveller starting for Europe ever took
half the number of wearables that in my
simplicity deemed far too limited. But the
great gain-day came, with its departure left
home for the wilderness of New Y ork.
1t was late when | arrived at my cousin 8
house, a handsome brick dwelling which, with
some lands adjoining, he had inherited l
had never seen it before, and to me it was as
beautiful as palace. An old Quaker aunt
kept house for him, and by her was vel
coined with cold formality | did not under
stand yet wearied as l was, did not think
much upon the subject, but ate my supper
in silence, cheered by the news that my cous-
in had gone to of6ciate at wedding, and
might not be home until eleven or later
Already it is ten, and |, unused to such
late hours, begged to be shown to my room
| shall never forget how icy cold the room
was to which ] was attended Large and
cherries, filled with sombre furniture, it was
far different from my snug little chamber at
home, where the sun shone all day, and
where the water seldom froze The sheets,
as touched them, seemed like ice; and l
had not dared to touch my feet to the polish
ed stove hearth down stairs, and l suffered
exceedingly. However, l soon forgot in
dreams, in which the old farm house and
roaring fire were the principal objects of in
terest. In the morning, and bitter cold as it
was, arose at my usual hour, dressed and
hurried from the chamber, | found my way
to the hall. On the rack, in the corner, lay
an ample cloth cloak, which l supposed my
cousin had thrown off in hurry. Surprised
ut the unusual stiffness, tried the door from
which had made egress the preceding night.
1t was locked fast; successfully tried every
loor within my range alas there was
neither egress nor outlet, for the front en-
rance was also fastened in such q manner
hat it deGed all my endeavors to move the
ock 1t seems that my cousins housekeep-
sr was one of thee old fashioned sort, and never
retired without fastening up everything in
he house. l question somewhat whether
she did not lock her bed-curtains
Three mortal hours did l stay shivering in
ny room on that eventful morning, solacing
myself with doleful glances at the brick wall
IF distillery, and running over the pages Of
. Greek Lexicon; which decidedly was all |
Greek to me-and nothing else.
at length, oh, welcome sound the bell
.ang, and |, blue with cold descended to the |
room. There | met my cousin,
md, for the first time in my life, witnessed
sham welcome | did not understand it |
hen; do understand such things better
low.
My cousin tried his best to be agreeable,
out saw that disappointment presided over
I'll his actions particularly when | mention
ID that had come for long visit. But
'oon got over the unpleasant feeling conse
iuent on this discovery, and determined to |
brave it out Had he not stayed summer |
.fter summer, on my fathers farm? Did
We not every six weeks send him some favor,
n the shape of the best winter greetings
.ussetts or Baldwins ? So put myself on
ny dignity, awkward thought was and APP
,eared as though had observed nothing I'M
pleasant @e
Wherever we went l could see that my
relative was ashamed of his tall cousin. Now
[ knew in my soul that was good for some
hing. had the consciousness of intellect
not very inferior to his own. At home |
was famous as Yankee story teller, but hay-
ing fear of the minister's superior attain
ments constantly before my eyes, had never
allowed him to see what could do.
The false timidity was, however, gradually
away. began to feel anxious to
resent my cousins oficiousness, and daily
grew stronger in my determination to do SO.
[ noticed his department when he little
thought of it; his quick step ahead, SO as to
seem alone when he met some fashionable
lady; his little manHvres to Slip out OF
church by himself, zone day I'll teach you a
lesson, young man, in spite of your ministe-
rial tricks.
How it was, know not, but by some mis-
suppose, invitations were sent
US to attend large dinner party, given in
honor of some distinguished divine,
then creating quite an excitementin the city.
Ny relative looked astounded when he found
that resolved to go, and tried to intimidate
me by limiting at the fashionable character
of the entertainment. At length, finding me
resolute, he said with a bland smile:
You had better let me introduce you as
my cousin from the country, and as you are
not initiated into the arts and mysteries of
fashion, it will help you wonderfully; they
will suppose you are ignorant of etiquette,
and therefore excuse your greenness.
Thank you for nothing, thought /, and
went to the party. There is no mistake
about it, was at first abashed in the com
pany ofso much dignity and beauty. Itrem-
bled for myself My cousin sat opposite me-
and by his side a lovely girl, robed in blue,
who looked to me the nearest to an angel
that l could possibly imagine, | soon saw
that my cousin heart had been travelling
faster than common in that DIRECTION; he was