The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-08-20
ID. G..
For the National Era
rHF EXPERIENCE OF A I'll MAN.
BY GAIL HAMILTol


fsars. flushed fercely, though, thanks to my
swarthy visage, / was probably the only one
ina, knew #, and could only stammer "I-I-
no irleed!" feeling at the moment as if
could better face a whole troop of Border Ruff.
faas. singlehanded, than stand the running
Ere of her banter.
"Neoccasion for a novel," said Mr.. Gleason.
at Is to be presumed, from such an suspicious
commencement, that the course of love will
run without ripple, in which case novel
would fall through from sheer want of Incl
dent"
Not ia the least You are laboring under
mental Authorization, in supposing the work
Is done, simply because it is laid out. You are
to approach, Mr.. Thomas Gleason, by the or.
tholox gradations. You are to fear, and sigh,
AMI tgemble, and languish, in hopeless adora.
ton. ! an TO have no suspicion Of the state
o. yolr young affections. All the machinery
!, to be provided-walks, rides, drives, boating,
moonlight, music, and flowers, regardless of
ex7en5e-denouement, bushes, ask brother
family ferd Of ten generations standing reu-
vena,ed, grand explosion, opposition Of friends
drives US to madnoss-and there you have a
catastrophe sufficient to furnish abundant Cd.
pOr.uli,y for tie display of heroic bravery on
your part, and dis;nterested devotion on NINE"
How ssucily she looked at him How ad.
Tsirel ;he ;houghtle3s, lighthearted confidence
which her youth and beauty, and happy, un.
ccaded llfa had given her, and wondered what
The sense Of sgch freedom must be. How I
Pon9cr,i that night, as lay tossing on my un-
qqi=. bed why il was that the talents which |
was conscious Of possessing, should be marred
yfi'el spoiled, by this hateful nightmare, which
seemed to cast blight over my whole life, and
ruin the prospects which might otherwise
stretch before me. Why 1, man, in the full
possession of health and strength, fighting the
battle Of life by inches, and needing courage
s. ! needed my daily bread, should be bound
down to the very dust by the CALLING chains of
sIavish fear; while she, on whom the lowest
teF'ee Of modesty would cit with peculiar
sracc-she, who might, if she would, dwell
among her own people in her ancestral home.
surrounded only by the faces she had known
sad loved from her babyhood-she, whose
troubled heart the noblest and bravest of men
would delight TO soothe into grateful and happy
quie'-sbe, should be free, careless, and unre.
strained, as bird on the wing.
Yet in this very freedom. far removed az II
was from my sphere, recognised wopdrous
fascination. Meeting her but seldom for the
.iTst iew days of my stay, the power which she |
had over me | can in no wise account for or ex. |
pam. She was cup of cold water to nv |
,nFstv soul. Much as | dreaded hand.to. |
pArd ccHtllct. | yet lowered near her to he re |
HesAtd oy her wOrus, ner looks, LcI ,ouco, ,.v. |
movements. There was flash about her, a |
native energy, contrasting with my constitu-
nonal Incidence, which had for me charm all |
ITS cwn. From my window overlooking the
garden, often saw her at work; and the vigor |
With which she handled the hoe, and the I'M
-faring determination with which her little foot |
drove the spade into the soil, the unhesitating,
confident ar with which she undertook every |
lhirg, seemed so suggestive of latert power, |
,ha' never wearied of watching her; and at |
length grew 10 fancy her at the head of an army,
Ike Joan of Arc, devsing. directing, COM
handing. la my heart fully believe she was |
adequate to that or any other emergency.
hunting trouting, camping, tramping-oh, |
the wildwood glory Of those summer days. The |
calhefral magnifcence of those grand old trees, |
The untathomable stiffness of those northern |
nights, "clad in the beauty of thousand |
stars = Like An'eus, touching the earth, l |
was strong. When | fed from Nature, she de. |
serted me; but when / sought her in her noun. |
tam businesses, on her sunny slopes, and by her
blue streams, she met me, mighty mother She |
lard bare 10 me the secrets of her heart and |
calmed my own, tumultuous. In her sublime
sohtudes the voice of passion is hushed, the |
HASH OF shame dies away. "The individual |
wiheTs." The stir of the multitudinous leaves. |
me rush of the rolling waters, holy, holy, |
holy. goes up in swelling chorus forevermore. |
Mas that while The head may knock the |
sa-S. the feet must be of the earth, earthly. |
HE soul is drunk with the draught of beauty, |
but " meat for the belly" is still the pitiful |
cry Of the human" Mingled with the crystal |
Memories of these wild days, there come also |
VISIONS of the fabulous "junks" of sailed pork
unwcTthy aud detested Wand that disappeared |
with celebrity truly astonishing. Whether |
sated pork is inherently blessing to man, may
admit Of debate; but unques:ionably the appe-
tIte that can make even sailed pork luscious, |
y The extreme point of rude health.
It was in the intervals of my hunting excur-
slors that l caught glimpses of Merle-only |
gl'mpses; for she fitted in and out, here and |
lAere, with comet-like eccentricity of move |
mem, terrific to staid and retiring individual,
IKE myself. In the very moment where from |
d careful calculation of our orbits, confident |
y ptheved In the impossibility Of their inter-
Sec'lon, flash came the sweep of her silken |
Iooes' the toss Of her audacious curls, and she
was gone, vanished-bm she left her mark!
V"e hue morning, | arose, earlier than usual, |
"hu Sirolled into the garden and through the
'oii'erVatory, and thence into the library. Ro |
ne bte-hke, from shelf to shelf of boarded |
WISDOM, at length summoned cid Chaucer to |
par me company, and had just distributed my
aei' iuXurousiy on a sofa. when the door open
e. and OF course, in walked Miss Merle, fresh |
as me oeSy roses in her hand. Now, it would |
I'd been natural and proper, and young lady.
,,lke, Tor her to blush and start, on seeing me
nu'' as usual, l relieved her from all duties of
ny" nature, by monopolizing the ceremonials
- sell ana precipitately stammered, as if to |
r.e'e"t any possibility of mistake, / thought
!Su were Lot Up, Miss Wynne; thought l
J., lHoeed, sir" said she, very softly, with the
- 'S, lsint tinge of red flushing her cheek, and
~ t-e e;st little arch smile playing around her
..P5' Indeed, sir, you shall be. / won't dis
i i-'O you but minute, Just minute" and she |
Tau 10 arrange the flowers in vase.
&C = suddenly awoke to tingling consciousness
we unacceptable nature Of my salutation,
G. Gu eager above all things to extricate myself
al i"i such false position, hurriedly exclaim-
Y nat was not what meant, Miss Wynne. |
gu ~ won't disturb me at all-not in the least" |
u ore sat down on cricket with the vase on |
ln' moor by her side, and let the flowers fall
i0Ist in her lap.
are" ~" oo"u'Nui 'ney
;, cooked at them, but not half so long as at |
,- &c white, rose-tinted fingers that glanced in
1 .u out selecting this and rejecting that. Tom
"Vai ID have told her so. did not.
81 mat IS little bit of fb," she went on,