The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1861-04-11
Taken EHa Her 0SCsa Net.

A few Sundays ago, a young man be-
longing to ore Of the very first families of
Virginia, and imbued with that descrip-
tpn of early piety which induces youthful
masculines to attend fashionable taberna-
cles, attended morning service in one of
the principal churches N Richmond
The affabie and gentlemanly sexton of the
institution met him at the door, and escor-
ted him with all due solemnity to luxu-
RANT pew.
The pew was uninhabited at the time :;
but scarcely had the young gentleman Ia
ken a seat when there entered beautiful
young lady of the most fashionable pat
tern, who gracefully waved her hand in
token Of her unwillingness to disturb him,
and subsidized delightfully."- into seat near
the head of the private box-we mean pew.
Our hero was as pious as a Virginian
can afford to be, and entertained a due
sense Of the solemnity Of the time and
place; but he could not help casting a
glance now and then toward the fair stran-
ger and when she was so kind as to hand
him hymn-book, an oyerpowering sensa-
ton caused his vocal praise to resemble
anything Out music.
The hymn being finished, the clergyman
raised his hands in prayer; and straight
way the lady and her admirer sank upon
their knees, in the manner prescribed by
polite standards of devotion.
1t is believed that the young man heard
little of the petition, as the worshippers in
other pews observed that instead of look
ing devoutiy upward he stared persistently
in an obique direction over the left wing
Of his mustache. At any rate he looked
boldly in that direction on rising from his
knees, and was somewhat surprised to
find that the young lady still remained in
the attitude of deep devotion and made no
apparent attempt to resume her seat. At
first he fancied that the minister's prayer,
which was of a particularly soothing char
acter, had hushed her to sleep but upon
looking more closely at her he discovered
that she was trembling violently, and be-
trayed every symptom of great mental ag-
itation.
"Can it be-" thought he, "that some
eloquencc Of the preacher, which I have
failed to perceive, has SO touched the inno-
cent heart of this young creature that she
dare not arise lest her dewy tears should
attract the attention Of the congregation ?'
"And still he sazed, and still the wonder grew
until the beautiful kneeler's emotion was
suddenly augmented to such a degree that
she actually threw one of her fair hands
behind her, and made divers couvulsive
clutches at her dress Purely devotional
tervor would not account for this, and the
young mans astonishment was fast leading
him toward idiocy, when the young devo-
teespasmodicaily beckoned him toapproach
her. Virginians are not generally troubled
with bashfulness and when we say that
our hero slid in the direction of his kneel-
ing companion with unparalleled alacrity,
1t will be perceived that he was no excep-
ton to the general rule
Finding him beside her, the fair girl
turned to him face rivaling the most
glorious sunset in its rosy hue, and falter-
ingly rejoined:
'Please help me, sir My dress has
caught, and-oh, dear Il can not get
up"
The bewildered youth saw the point at
once Though properly pious, the devout
maiden was not above those vanities OF the
world which induce womankind to worship
Fashion and their Maker at the same time,
and she had honored the former by COM
ing to church in an extensive hoop-shirt
and a pair of high-heeled CATERS. While
in the kneeling attitude, the heels of her
CATERS had caught in one Of the upper
hoops of her skirt, and thus rendering her
unable to rise, each effort to release her
self making the matter worse. Her only
recourse was to ask the aid of her COM
panion, and that he promptly and eff
ciently rendered his assistance no one will
hesitate to believe. In short, the young
gentleman achieved the feat in way that
would have caused the lady to call him an
awkward, stupid thing had he been her
husband, and she thanked him, as she re-
gained her seat, with blush more elo-
quent than words.
rca Dan't Won think husband that ,-o,,