The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-10-30
NO. 30.

q. WIN great gaping NlulDA5r some o
, which were broken and mended viii
old hats and petticoats, and over th,
! door was painted, The Union Hotel
by Jonathan Doolittie" Instead o
, the great tree that used to shelter ths
quiet little Dutch inn Of yOre. there
was now reared a tall naked pole
with something on the top that look
ed Ike a red night-esP and from i
was fiuttering flag. on which was a
singular assemblage Of stars and
stripes-all this was strange and In
comprehensive. He recognized on
y the sign however, the ruby face Of
King George under which be had
smoked so many peaceful pipe; bu!
even this was singulary netamorphos-
I ed. The red coat was changed for
one Of blue and buff, a sword was
held in the hand instead Of a scepue.
the head was decorated with a cock
ed hat. and underneath was painted
in large characters. GENERAL
! WASHINGTON
There was a. usual. q crowd Of
folk about the door. but none that
Rip reeOllected- The character Of
the people seemed changed. There
was busy, bustling. disputatious
tone about il, instead Of the phlegm
and drowsy tranquility He looked
in vain for the sage Nicholas Vedder.
with his broad face. double chin, and
fair, long pipe. uttering clouds Of to-
baeeO smoke instead Of idle speeches;
OF Van Bummel, the sehoolmaster.
doing forth the contents Of an ancient
newspaper In place Of these. g
I clean, bilious looking fellow. with his
pockets full Of handbilIs. was harang-
ing vehemeHtly about the rights Of
citizeDs-elections-memberso Of con-
gres-libertv-Bunker' Hill heroes
Of seventy-six-and other words
which were perfect Babvlonish jar
T gon TO the bewildered Van Winkle.
Z The appearance Of Rip. with his
long, grizzled beard. his rusty fowl
+ ing-piece, his uncouth dress, and an
army Of women and children at his
heels, soon attracted the attention Of
the tavern politicians. They crowd
ed round him. eveing him from head
to foot with great curiosity. The ora
tor BUSTED up 10 him, and drawing
him partly aside inquired, "on which
side be voted 2" Rip stared in vacant
stupidity Another short but busy
little fellow pulled him By the arm,
and, rising on tiptOe. inquired in his
ear, Whether be was Federal or
Democratic - Rip was equally at
loss TO comprehend this question ::
when g knowing, selfimportant old
1 gentleman, in a sharp cooked hat,
made his way through the crowd,
putting them TO right and left with
his elbows as he passed, and planting
himself before Van Wiakle. with one
arm akimbo, the other resting on his
cane, his keen ewes and sharp hat pen
etrating, as it were, into his very soul
demanding in an austere tone, what
brought him 10 the election with a
gun on bis shoulder and a mob at his
heels, and whether be ment 10 breed
a riot in the village Alas! gen
tleDen, f" cried Rip, somewhat dismav-
ed, Il an a poor, quiet man. q native
Of this place and a loyal subject Of
the King. God bless him, -
Here a general shout from the by-
standers-"A tory, a toryl a spy
refugee, hustle him away,' 1t was
with great difficulty that the man in
the cooked hat restored order: and
having assumed a tenfold austeritv Of
brow, demanded Of the unknown cul-
prit, what he came for and whom be
was seeking? The poor man assur-
ed them that be meant no harm. but
merely came in search Of some Of his
neighbOrs, who used TO keep about
the tavern
~Well-who are they name
them
Rip bethought himself & moment.
and inquired, Where's Nicholas We'd
der -
There was silence for a little while.
when an old man replied in 4 piping
tone. Nicholas Vedder. why, he Is
dead and gone there eighteen years.
there was a wooden tombstone in the
ehureh-yard that use to tell all about
him, but that's rotten and gone too.
Where's Brom butcher ?"
"Oh, be went of to the armv..at the
beginning Of the war; some say that
he was killed at the storming Of Stony
Point-others say that be was drown
ed in s squall at the foot Of Ant0ny's
Nose. i don't know-be never came
back again
Where's Van Bummel, the school
master -
He went OF to the wars too. was
a great militia general, and Is now in
Congress.
Rips heart died away at hearing
Of these changes in his friends and
home, and finding himself thus alone
in the world Every question puz-
zied him, too, by treating Of such enor-
nous lapses Of time, and Of matters
which he could not understand: war
-COngress-Stony Point;-he had
no courage to ask after anv more
friends, but cried out in dispair.
Does nobody here know Rip Van
Winkle?r
"Oh, Rip Van Winkle, :" exclaimed
two or three. "0h, TO be sure that's
Rip Van Winkle yonder, leaning
against the tree"
Rip looked, and beheld the exact
counterpart Of himself as be went up
the mountain, apparently as lazy, and
certainly as ragged. The poor fellow
was now completely eonfounded. He
doubted his own identity, and wheth-
er il was himself or another man. In
the midst Of his bewilderment the
man in the cooked hat demanded who
be was and what was his name:
God knows" exclaimed he. at his
wits end; I'm not myself-I'm some I
body else-that's me yonder-no
that's somebody else 20; into my
shoes-I was myself last night, but 1
| fell asleep on the mountain, and 4
they've changed my gun, and every
things changed, and I'm changed. I
and | can't tell what's nv name, or
who | am -