Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-02-15

Slowly and oediyI asoendsi tO my room.
I had oni7 ina6 e. doh my sllating apparel
pocket 6 pistol heavily charged with old
bourbon, and ,half-choka myself with 3
cracker be!ofe Bridget Knocked To say that
athe young lady wished me to hurry" and
IhadstO start Of, ? mslapoAsly sseFiass y
8 Womsn's caprice.
Just as We got into the street, sis came
rvmnins out, app4fenny In great hSste,
and called me back.
"JRmes," said she, please be careful to
remove an tha oil 0ara from the .vloihity
before you commence. That's ell. Good
III a6OAuu z ssld kra'nihia what cA4
she mean 7"
9ssure enough replied, blushing new
si III aelss u to.ike roots Of my hair, awhat
oaa she msan9Ass9HH9T
Notwithstanding, I knew what she
meant and sWore vengeance. r-..5 $50,
86foTp | had fairly realiEsa The import
anee Of this discovery, (which did NOT
taks,a moment TO- End out had returned
ia liten.t b fArahintA, Nh6 Was aFrsh gins
her manifold draperiss preparatory to
5stArt DeaigninEdts IProdues 8 GprOfoup6
inbressi6h, stttsk with assumed oAfe-
lessness, a graceful attitude had spent
saRetime u acquiring on myParlof skates
( Indeed, on them, | could do Il hrst-rates
/ for, by putting the knees together, and
pressing the feet little OutEards, you can
maintain almost any position you may de-
sire. But alss T. I Was speaiily reminded
.hat Wss standing on something very
different from ParI0T skates
Just as ArRminta looked up With an adj
miring glance, putting the final touch upon
her multitudinous apparel by that indes-
cribable witch with which ladies alWsys
announce themselves as dready," and exA
tolaimsd in q tene Of rapture,
Isnitit heavenlyP @ ir71s
II fslt my legs slowly reoedlng from eaoA
ether, and starting OF sideways on theft
separate and individual responsibility 4
Imurmured beautiful O At the SAME
time Imade frantic effort 10 bring them
toEether, with no more effect, however,
than If they had belonged to different peri
Parlor skates 6nly roll backwards and
forwards, and side movement not comm :
within the range of MY previous experienI
ees, found me wholly unprepAFed. Ny feet
slid OF further and further apart, and
EnA NAlAANA anu IaAgelnu4 ~ lllNA4ftt4AI
till, actually, every bone In my body SEEM
cd to ache, bnt no avail The human framf
Is not q pair Of compasses, and l found
myself obliged, when my feet we're some
distance apart, to tumble OF split and 90
tumbled. ,131l8l adi i iu
OF oouIse the moment touched the ice
Immediately commenced 10 Bir my skates.-i-
Indeed, have no recollection Of ever see-
ing any one tumble who didat commence
! to fx his skates. Il Is singular circum!
stance, but almost exactly the same thing
may be seen on the road every day. a
gentleman viii be observed passing every
body Of q 2i40 gait, and everything Is al
right; but when he reaches some one who
starts after and passes him in 289, some
thing Immediately happens to his harness,
obliging him-to pull up into corner Of the
fence and fEitl This iG curious soinoi-
dence, for which acknowledge myself
wholly unable to account. 90
I cot up as seon aa my skates were fixed,
and assisted Arminla to her feet. AS that
beautiful (but somewhat lsrge) creature
entrusted herself eonfdingly TO my protee-
tion, felt her weight which roughly es7
imated at l65 pounds) IS she leaned upon
my arm for support, with the same sensa-
tons that the man must have experienced
on taking possession Of the elephant that
he had drawn in o lottery.
We started beautifully, but on the third
stroke Araminta, without any earthly Fea-
son that I could see, grssped my arm fran
tioally, threw her head back, and sat down,
more like b thousand Of brick than any
thing else that l ever saw. ] tried 70 stop
her, but you might as we'll have tried 70
stop an evaIance from sliding or an NJ. G.
FROM speaking.
-qshe looked heavy but she felt twice ss
heavy Is she looked, and my attempt to
save her only resulted in the downfall Of
both Of as.
We came down Hsolid,' and a sharp
iscraek,D as though the Zoe had given away
under the pressure, was distinctly sudibiy,
/ started, and Araminta screamed, but
nothing was to be seen. Pretty soon q
strong smell Of whisky began to preva de
/ the air. Aramanta who is Temperance" 10
the back bone, shifted the odor with intense
disgust and remarked, shat any one who
who would come to any place where there
were ladies, smelling as that man did Who
/ had just passed, was no gentleman" I 80.
quisOed, Of course, and muttered something
about ''grest brute" At the same time
could not help felicitsting myself on my
discretion in putting my whisky into my
cost-tail instead Of my breast pocket, where
Aramints would have discovered 1t 10 q
certainty. But in putting my hand into
my pocket, WsB horri6ed TO discover, by
getting my fingers cut, that last ''crsck"
had been the death knell Of my flask, it
was reduced TO fragments, and the Odor in
question arose from my saturated pockeil
It WAS first GLASS Bourbon, and could be
smelled qutrter Of q mile Every one
turned as We passed, and shifted and
stared to see what made 'ithat smell p and
q policeman began to follow as 'iafar off,"--
My charmer was not greatly pleased at
the public celebrity she had so suddenly
sttsined, although as yet uncOnciOus o.. the
cause.
We started again. This time she slipped
and hit my shin with her skate, in way
that would have brought tears in the eyes
Of 8 psWnbroker, tripping me up and Of
course We went down together. l uttered
single ejaculation, more emphatic than
usual In polite conversation, ss the pieces
Of glass in my pocket on which brought
up, stuck in my leg in several places, and
bounced up in hurry, forgetting for the
moment all about Aramints.
She looked ct me with indigestion. EMr. 1
Smith, said she, with great dignity and !
emphasis On the Mr., s.you have been drink !
ing STRIP e'a 5se
y Gf course sWOre hadn't snd made /
all possible excuses but could plainly /
see that my prOtestatiOns did not reosive |
much credit, Nevertheless, the breach was
salged over, and we started again.
For time sll went smoothly, but be- !
gan to thiRk thst Aramints in one Of her
evolutiOns must have fallen upon her tenn
per, for it was getting more unpleasant
with eyeiy collision and stumble-and their |
name was legion. - l8 |