Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-06-01
DOLPE HEYLICER,
By wAsHINoToH IRVING

In the early time Of the province Of
New York. while 1t groaned under the
tyranny Of the English governor, Lord
Cornbury. who carried his cruelties 10
wards the Dutch Inhabitants 90 far a. to
allow no dominic, or schoolmaster, to
officiate In their language, without his
special license; about this time, there
lived In the jolly little old city Of the
Manhattoes, q kind motherly dame,
known by the name Of Dame Heyliger.
She was the widow Of Dutch sea cap
tain. who died suddenly Of a fever, in
consequence Of working too hard, and
eating too heartily, Mt the time when all
the inhabitants turned out In panic, to
fortify the place against the invasion Of
a small French privateer. He left her
with very little money, and one infant
son. the only survivor of several children.
The good woman had need of much
management to make both ends meet
and keep up decent appearance. How.
ever, as. her husband had fallen a victim
to his zeal for the public safety, it was
universally agreed that something
ought to be done for the widow" and
on the hopes of this ''something" she
lived tolerably for some years; In the
meantime, everybody pitied and spoke
well of her; and that helped along.
She lived in small house, in small
street, called Garden street, very proba-
bly, from garden which may have
hourished there some time or other. As
her necessities every year grew greater,
and the talk OF the public about doing
something for her" grew less, she had
N for 90 l.s
something for herself, by way of helping
out her slender means, and maintaining
her independence, of which she was
somewhat tenacious.
Living in a mercantile town, she had
caught something of the spirit, and de-
termined to venture q little in the great
lottery OF commerce. On sudden,
therefore, to the great surprise of the
street there appeared at her window q
grand array of gingerbread kings and
queens, with their arms stuck akimbo,
after the invariable royal manner. There
were also several broken tumblcrs. some
hlled with sugar plums, some with mar
bies; there were, moreover, cakes of
various kinds, and barley sugar, and
Holland dolls. and wooden horses. with
here and there gilt covered picture books,
and now and then a skein of thread or
dangling pound of candles. At the
door of the house sat the good old DANES
cat, decent demurc looking parsonage,
that seemed to scan everybody that
passed. to criticise their dress, and now
and then To stretch her neck, and look
out with sudden curiosity, to sec what
was going on ut tho other end Of the
street; but if by chance any idle vaga-
bond dog came by, and offered to be
uncivil - hoity-toityl - how she would
bristle up, and growl, and spit, and strike
out Eer paws! she was as indignant as
ever was an ancient and ugly spinster,
on the approach of some graceless prof
ligate.
But though the good woman had to
come down to these humble means Of
subsistence. yet she still kept up feel
ing of family pride, having descended
from the Vanderspiegels, of Amsterdam;
and she had the family arms painted and
framed, and hung over her mantelpiece.
She was, in truth, much respected by all
the poorer people of the place; her house
the neighborhood; they would drop in
there of winters afternoon, as she sat
knitting on one side of her fireplace, her
cat purring on the other, and the tea kct-
tie singing before it; and they would
gossip with her until late in the evening.
There was always an arm chair for Peter
de Groodt, sometimes called Long Peter,
and sometimes Peter Longlegs, the clerk
and sexton of the little Lutheran church,
who was her great crony, and indeed the
oracle of her fireside. Nay, the dominic
himself did not disdain, now and then,
to step in, converse about the state Of
her mind, and take glass of her special
good cherry brandy. Indeed, he never
failed to call on New Years day, and
wish her a happy New Year; and the
good dame, who was little vain on
some points, always pigued herself on
town.
have said that sh9 had one son. lie
was the child of her old age; but could
hardly be called the comfort-for, of all
unlucky urchins, Dolph Heyliger was the
most mischievous Not that the whipster
was really vicious; he was only full of
fun and frolic, and had that daring,
gamesome spirit which is extolled in a
rich mans child, but eNecrated in poor
mans. He was continually getting into
scrapes: his mother was necessarily
harasscd with complaints Of some wag.
gish pranks which ho had played off;
bills were sent iii for windows that he
had broken; in n word, he had not
reached his fourteenth year before he was
pronounced by the neighborhood to be
wicked dog, the wickedest dog in the
street, Nay, one old gentleman, in "a
claret colored coat, with a thin red face
and ferret eyes, went SO far as to assure
Dame Heyliger, that her son would, one
day or other, come to the gallows!
Yet, notwithstanding all this, tho poor
old soul loved her boy. 1t seemed as
though she loved him the better, the
worse he behaved; and that he grew
more In her favor, the more he grew out
of favor with the world Mothers are
foolish. fond hearted beings; there's no
reasoning them out of their dotage; and,
indeed, this poor woman's child was ali
that was left TO love her in this world
30 we must not think it hard that she
turned 9 deaf ear to her good friends,
who sought to provo TO her that Dolph
would come TO a halter.
To do the varlet justice, too, ho was
strongly attached to his parent. lie
would not willingly have given her pain
on any account; and when he had been
doing wrong, it was but for him to catch
his poor mothers eye fixed wistfully and
sorrowfully upon him, to fill his heart
with bitterness and contrition. But he
was a needless youngster, and could not,
Tor the life OF him, resist any new temp
tation To fun and mischief. Though
quick at his learning, whenever he could
be brought to apply himself, yet he was al.
ways prone to be led away by idle com
pany, and would play truant to hunt
after birds nests, to rob orchards, or to
swim in the Hudson.
In this way he grew up, tall, lubberly
boy; and his mother began to be greatly
Perplexed what to do with him, or how
10 put him in way to do for himself;
for he had acquired such an unlucky
reputation that no one seemed willing to
employ him.
Many were the consultations that she
held with Peter de Groodt, the clerk and |