The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-03-14

2:39, something Immediately happens to his
harness. obliging him TO pull up into . cor
ner Of the fence and fix it, This is a curious
coincidence, for which / acknowledge Myself
wholly unable to account.
l got up as soon as my skates were fixed,
and assisted Araminta to her feet As that
beautiful (but somewhat large) creature en-
trusted herself con6dingly to my protection,
l felt her weight (which roughly estimated
at 165 pounds) as she leaned upon my arm
for support, with the same sensations that
the man must have experienced on taking
possession of the elephant which he had
drawn in lottery. We started beautifully,
but on the third stroke Araminta, without
any earthly reason that could see, grssped
nv arm frantically, threw her lead back, and
sat down, more like q thousand of bricks
than anything else that ever saw. tried
to stop her, but YOU might as we'll have tried
to stop an avalanche from sliding or an NC.
from speaking. She looked heavy, but she
felt twice as heavy as she looked, and my
attempt to save her only resulted in the
downfall of both of US. We came down SO
i'd and sharp crack as though the ice
had given away under the pressure, was dis
tinctly audible. l started, and Araminta
screamed. but nothing was to be seen. Pret-
ty soon strong smell Of whiskey began to
peryade the air. Araminta, who is temper
ance' to the backbone, shifted the odor with
intense disgust, and remarked that any one
who would come TO any place where there
were ladies, smelling as that man did who
had just passed, was no gentleman &C
quiesced, of course, and muttered something
about great brute At the same time l
could not help felicitating myself on my dis
eretion in putting my whiskey into my coat
tail instead of my breast pocket, where Ara
minta would have disco, cred it to q certainty.
But, on putting my hand into MY pocket,
was horified to discover, by getting my fin
gers cut, that that last crack had been The
death knell of my flask, that it was reduced
to fragments, and the odor in question arose
from my saturated pocket. Ii was first class
Bourbon, and could be smelled quarter Of q
mile. Every one turned as We passed, and
shifted ard stared to see what made that
smell ? and a policeman began to follow Us
!. 'afar off, My charmer was not greatly pleas
ed at the public celebrity she had SO suddenly
attsined, although as yet unconscious of the
cause.
> We started again. This time she slipped
ard hit my shin with her skate, in Way
that would have brought tears in the eyes Of
: pawnbroker, tripping me up, and of course
: We went down together. | uttered a sinEi-
ejaculation, more emphatic than usual in po-
lite conversation, as the pieces of glass in nv
pocket, on which l brought up, stuck in nv
leg in several places, and bounced up in
hurry, forgetting for a moment all about Ar
aminta. She looked at me with indignation.
'-ur smith, said she, with great dignity and
, emphasis on the Mr, .you have been drink
ing, SIR OF course l swore l hadn't, ana
, made all possible excuses; but / could plain
D iy see that my protestations did not receive
| much credit. Nevertheless,we started again.
e For time all went smoothly, but began to
, think that Araminta in one of her evo,u,ions
= must have fallen on her temper, for il was
t getting more unpleasant with every collision
: and stumble and their name was LEGION
Finally. Just as We were in front of the ladies'
. room, little brat of a boy, skating by like
| the wind, came up against Araminta with
. force that caromed him of about two hune-
, red yards, making hole in the crowd in hi.
way like a six-pound shell. seized her,and
kic'r would have held her up, only, Just
al that moment, my left leg, by some fatality,
, had again seeded hom the right. and start
| ed off sideways by Itself. Anyhow, over L
went, and Araminta sat on me, more like a
pile-driver than young lady. We went
down right in the path of halfa-dozen skat-
ers, who piled over US in a perfect pyramid.
The way the drapery fell was tremendous,
and then-all was blank.
came 10 my senses in one of the eating
booths by having scalding hot coffee poured
down my throat by gentleman who stirred
a little whiskey in il, occasionally, with sau-
sage, in the absence of spoon. TO strengthen
me. l started up and rushed to the door,
Where was Araminta?
Your big galr confidently remarked We
ry small boy. has gone off with that fancy
skater over there. My eyes. you ought to
see him DO the outside edge backwardr'
looked and saw Jones, Yes, Jones,
standing on one leg and looking at his coat
tail under his elbow, in utter defiance of all
laws of gravitation, and not sitting down;
-, and there also was Araminta, gazing q, him
with silent admiration. At this moment the
policeman who had followed US upon the ice,
, tapped me on the shoulder, and arrested me
, for being intoxicated on the pond. 1 plead
anG protested without avail-the guardian of
the public virtue was inhexible had TO go
to headquarters, followed by train of ad-
; miring spectators, like the tail of highland
chief, and attracting the attention Of every
} one on the pond. After half an hours e1-
| postulation with the powers that be- sue
| ceeded in convincing them that | was not
. drunL ,pd ob-.;n.1 my release with ,ba sa