Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-02-04


looking upon Mr.. Bernard Langdon the newt
morning, when his toilet was about half
hnished, would have had very pleasant
gratultous exhibition. First he buckled the
strap OF his trousers pretty tightly. Then he
TOOK up a pair of heavy dumb bells, and swung
tnem Tor few minutes; then two great I'm
dian clubs, with which he enacted all sorts of
mpossible-looking feats.r His limbs were not
very large, nor his shoulders remarkably
broad; but If you knew as much of the muscles
az all persons who look at statues and pictures
with critical eye ought to have learned-if
you knew the trape1tuS, lying diamond shaped
over the back and shoulders like a monk 8
coWl, or the deltOla, which caps the shoulders
nke an epaulette-or the trtceps, which fur
niShes the calfof the upper arm-or the hard
knotted 6iceps-any of the great scuIpturaI
landmarks, in fact-you would have said there
was pretty show of them, beneath the white
satlny SKIN OF MI Bernard Langdon. And if
| you had seen him. when he had laid down the
Indian clubs catch hold of leather stran that
| hung from the beam Of the old fashioned cell
| ing, and lift and lower himself over and over
again by his left hand alone you might have
thought 1t very simple and easy thing to do.
| until you tried to do it yourself Mr. Bernard
BOXED at himself with the eye of an expert
| Pretty well ~ he said; mot so much fslIan
Oh as expected" Then he set up his bolster
In very knowing sort of way and delivered
TWO or three blows straight as rulers and swift
as winks. "That will do" he said. Then. as
| II determined to make a certainty of his con-
dltion, he took dynamometer from one of the
drawers in his old veneered bureau First he
| squeezed it with his two hands Then he
placed it on the floor and lifted, steadily,
strongly. The springs cracked and creak ed;
the INDEX swept with great stride far up into
tne hlgh hgures OF the scale; it was good lift
lie was satisfied. He sat down on the edge of
his bed and looked at his cleanly- shaped arms
" afrlk of fbn. 10
shall spoil him. he said. Yet this young man,
when weighed with his class at college, could
barely turn one hundred and forty two pounds
| In the scale-nOt a heavy weight, surely: but
some of the middle weights, as the present En-.
gllsh champion, for instance. seem to be of a
Tar hne quality OF muscle than the bulkier fel-
lows.
The master took his breakfast with a good
appetite that morning, but was perhaps more
quiet than usual. After breakfast, be went
upstairs and put on a light loose frock, in
stead of his usual dress coat, which was close
fitting and rather stylish one. On his way to
school he met Alminy Cutterr who happened
to be walking in the other direction. Good
morning, Miss Cutterr," he said; for she and
another young lady had been introduced to
him, on former occasion, in the usual phrase
| OF polite society in presenting ladies to gentle
men-'.Mr. LangdOn, let me make y acquain-
ted with Miss CUTTER; let me make y acquain-
u.
| morning" to which he replied, Good morn
in, Mr.. LangdOn. How's your haalth?" The
| answer to this question ought naturally to have
been the end Of the talk; but Alminy CUTTER
fingered and looked as if she had something
| more on her mind
! A young fellow does not require great ex-
| perlence to read simple country girls face
as If it were u sign-board. Alminy was good
soul, with red cheeks and bright eyes, kind
| hearted as she could be, and it was out of the
question for her to hide her thoughts or feel
ings like fine lady. Her brights eyes were
moist and her red cheeks paler than their
wont, as she said, with her lips uuivering-
"Oh, Mr.. Langdon, them boys I'll be the death
Of ye, if you don't take caar!'
Why, what's the matter, my dear '" said
| Mr.. Bernard. Don't think there was any
thing very odd in that my dear" at the sec
ond interview with village belle; some of
those women-tsmers call girl my dear"
after five minutes acquaintance and it sounds
all right as they say 1t. But you had better
not try it at venture
| 1t sounded all right to Almny, as Mr. Ber-
nard said it. III We what's the matter, -
she said, in a frightened voice "Ahbner' S
go'n to car his deg, n he IL set him on ye z
sure 'z'r alive. Us the same cretur that half
cat up Eeen S;quire's little Joe, year come
| Now this last statement WAS undoubtedly
| oser-colored; as little 10 Squires was run
| ming about the village-with an ugly scar
on his arms, 1t is true, where the beast had
| caught him with his teeth, on the occasion
| of the childs taking liberties with him,
| as he had been accustomed to do with good
| tempered Newfoundland dog, who seemed to
| like being pulled and hauled round by chill
dren. After this the creature was commonly
| muzzled, and, as he was fed on raw meat
| chiefly, was always ready for fight which be
was occasionally INDUCED in when anything
stout enough to match him could be found in
any of the neighboring villages
Tiger, or, more briefly, Tige, the property of
5bnor Briggs, junior, belonged to species not
distinctly named in scientific books, but well
known to our country folks under the name of
| :, Yallah dog" They do not use this express
| sion as they would say black or white dog, but
| with almost as definite 4 meaning as when
they speak OF terrier or spaniel A .yal-
| lah do" Is large canine brute. Of dingy
old flannel color, of no particular breed except
| his own, who hangs round a tavern or a butch
er's shop, or trots alongside a team, looking as
| if he were disgusted with the world, and the
| world with him. Our inland population, while
| they tolerate him, speak of him with contempt.
Old -, of Meredith Bridge, used to twit the
sun for not shining Oh cloudy days. swearing
that, If he hung up his "yallah dog" he would
| make better show of daylight A country
| fellow, abusing horse of bis neig ghbor J. vowed
| that " II he had such a horse he d swap him for
yaiiah dog, and then shoot the dog"
Tige was an ill-conditioned brute by nature.
and art had not improved him by cropping his
ears and tail, and investing him with spiked
collar He bore on his person, also, various
not ornamental scars, marks Of old battles for
Iige had fight in him, as was said before. and
as might be guessed by certain bluntness
about the muzzle, with a projection of the
lower jaw, which looked as if there might be
bulldog stripe among the numerous bar.
| sinisters Of his lineage
| 1t was hardly fair, however, to leave Alminy
Cutter waiting while this piece of natural his
tory was telling As she spoke of little Jo.
who had been Z" hsaf eat up'' by Tiee she
could not contain her sympathies, and began
| to cry.
| Why, my dear little SOUL" said Mr.. Ber.
nard, "what are you worried about / used
| to play with bear when / was a boy: and the
bear used to hug me, and 1 used to kiss him
| so,"
1t was too bad of Mr. Bernard onIy the sec.
ond time he had Alminy; but her kind feel
| ings had touched him, and that seemed the
most natural way of expressing his gratitude
Alminy looked round to see if any one was near
she saw nobody; so of course it would do no
| good to s1hollerp ~ She SAW noho6v. Int =. sto,,.