of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the 390 wall, mingled with the gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs and dark mahogany tables shone like mirrors; andirons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs, glistened from their covert of asparagus tops; mock oranges and conch-shells dec- 395 orated the mantel-piece; strings of various-colored bird's-eggs were suspended above it; a great ostrich egg was hung from the centre of the room, and a corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and well-mended china.

400

From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the peace of his mind was at an end, and his only study was how to gain the affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this enterprise, however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to the lot of a knight-errant of 405 yore, who seldom had anything but giants, enchanters, fiery dragons, and such like easily conquered adversaries, to contend with; and had to make his way merely through gates of iron and brass, and walls of adamant, to the castle keep, where the lady of his heart was confined, all which he achieved as 410 easily as a man would carve his way to the centre of a Christ

390. Festoons (Fr. feston; Ital. festone, a great wreath, garland, or chaplet of boughs, leaves, or flowers on church doors at feasts; from Lat. festa, pl. of festum, festus dies, a holiday), wreaths hanging in dependent

curves.

393. Andirons, brand or fire irons, upon which wood is laid in a fireplace. 395. Covert of asparagus tops. In summer the fireplace is often filled with asparagus tops. Mock oranges. Probably the author means orange gourds. They are shaped like oranges, yellow, white, or variegated in color, and are used for ornament.

405. Knight-errant (plural, knights-errant. From A.-S. cnight, boy, servant; Ger. knecht; Eng. knight, a fighting man, a soldier who fought on horseback in armor; errant, wandering, from Lat. errāre, to wander), a wandering knight. He travelled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting military skill, prowess, and generosity.

409. Castle keep, the donjon of ancient castles, the stronghold to which the besieged inmates retired in cases of danger, and there made their last defence; also used as a prison for captives.

mas pie; and then the lady gave him her hand as a matter of course. Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win his way to the heart of a country coquette, beset with a labyrinth of whims and caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and 415 impediments; and he had to encounter a host of fearful adversaries of real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic admirers who beset every portal to her heart, keeping a watchful and angry eye upon each other, but ready to fly out in the common cause against any new competitor.

420

Among these the most formidable was a burly, roaring, roistering blade, of the name of Abraham, or, according to the Dutch abbreviation, Brom Van Brunt, the hero of the country round, which rang with his feats of strength and hardihood. He was broad-shouldered and double-jointed, with short, curly 425 black hair, and a bluff but not unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and arrogance. From his herculean frame and great powers of limb, he had received the nickname of Brom Bones, by which he was universally known. He was famed for great knowledge and skill in horsemanship, being as 430 dexterous on horseback as a Tartar. He was foremost at all races and cock-fights; and, with the ascendency which bodily strength acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all disputes. setting his hat on one side, and giving his decisions with an air and tone admitting of no gainsay or appeal. He was always 435 ready for either a fight or a frolic, but had more mischief than

414. Labyrinth (Lat. labyrinthus), a building or place full of intricate ways or winding passages, out of which it is difficult to find one's way.

427. Herculean, having the size and strength of Hercules, powerful. Hercules is perhaps the greatest hero in Greek mythology. He was famous for his great strength and the incredible feats he performed, generally called "the twelve labors of Hercules."

431. Tartar, an inhabitant of Tartary, a country formerly occupying nearly all the great central belt of Asia from the Caspian Sea eastward. The Tartars were noted for their skill in horsemanship.

433. Umpire (Old Fr. nompair, uneven, odd; from Lat. non, par, not equal, not even: an umpire being chosen by two, four, or other even number, to give his casting vote and so make a majority one way or the other), a third party to whom a dispute or disagreement is referred for settlement.

ill-will in his composition; and, with all his overbearing roughness, there was a strong dash of waggish good-humor at bottom. He had three or four boon companions, who regarded him as their model, and at the head of whom he scoured the country, 440 attending every scene of feud or merriment for miles round. In cold weather he was distinguished by a fur cap, surmounted with a flaunting fox's tail; and when the folks at a country gathering descried this well-known crest at a distance, whisking about among a squad of hard riders, they always stood by for 445 a squall. Sometimes his crew would be heard dashing along past the farmhouses at midnight, with whoop and halloo, like a troop of Don Cossacks; and the old dames, startled out of their sleep, would listen for a moment till the hurry-scurry had clattered by, and then exclaim, "Aye, there goes Brom Bones 450 and his gang!" The neighbors looked upon him with a mixture of awe, admiration, and good-will; and when any madcap prank or rustic brawl occurred in the vicinity, always shook their heads, and warranted Brom Bones was at the bottom of it.

This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the bloom- 455 ing Katrina for the object of his uncouth gallantries; and though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of a bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes. Certain it is his advances were signals for rival candidates to retire, who felt no 400 inclination to cross a lion in his amours; insomuch that, when his horse was seen tied to Van Tassel's paling on a Sunday night, a sure sign that his master was courting, or, as it is termed, "sparking," within, all other suitors passed by in despair, and carried the war into other quarters.

439. Boon (Fr. bon; Lat. bonus, good), gay, merry, jovial. 443. Flaunting. See note on flaunted, p. 4.

448. Don Cossacks, Cossacks of the river Don. The Cossacks are very skilful horsemen, almost always on horseback, and happy when scouring the open fields.

455. Rantipole (to rant is to rave, swagger, make a great noise or upThe pole is said to mean in this word the plank used in the game of see-saw), harum-scarum.

roar.

465

Such was the formidable rival with whom Ichabod Crane had to contend, and, considering all things, a stouter man than he would have shrunk from the competition, and a wiser man would have despaired. He had, however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature: he was in form and 470 spirit like a supple-jack, — yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke; and though he bowed beneath the slightest pressure, yet, the moment it was away -jerk! he was as erect, and carried his head as high as ever.

To have taken the field openly against his rival would have 475 been madness; for he was not a man to be thwarted in his amours, any more than that stormy lover, Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made his advances in a quiet and gently insinuating manner. Under cover of his character of singing-master, he made frequent visits at the farmhouse; not that he had any- 480 thing to apprehend from the meddlesome interference of parents, which is so often a stumbling-block in the path of lovers. Balt Van Tassel was an easy, indulgent soul; he loved his daughter better even than his pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let her have her way in everything. His 485 notable little wife, too, had enough to do to attend to her housekeeping and manage her poultry; for, as she sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves. Thus, while the busy dame bustled about the house, or plied her spinning-wheel 490 at one end of the piazza, honest Balt would sit smoking his evening pipe at the other, watching the achievements of a little wooden warrior, who, armed with a sword in each hand, was most valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle of the barn. In the mean time Ichabod would carry on his suit with the 490

471. Supple-jack, the common name of a vine which grows in Virginia and farther south. Walking-sticks, called supple-jack canes, are made of it. Supple is from Fr. souple, limber, apparently from Lat. supplicare, to bend the knee; possibly from Gaelic subailt, supail, flexible, supple.

477. Achilles, the bravest of the Greek warriors at the siege of Troy, and distinguished for his heroic actions. See Homer's Iliad, Book I,

daughter by the side of the spring under the great elm, or sauntering along in the twilight, that hour so favorable to the lover's eloquence.

I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. 500 Some seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a thousand avenues, and may be captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter; for a man must battle for his fortress 505 at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero. Certain it is this was not the case with the redoubtable Brom Bones; and from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances, 510 the interests of the former evidently declined his horse was no longer seen tied at the palings on Sunday nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow.

Brom, who had a degree of rough chivalry in his nature, 515 would fain have carried matters to open warfare, and have settled their pretensions to the lady according to the mode of those most concise and simple reasoners, the knights-errant of yore,by single combat; but Ichabod was too conscious of the superior might of his adversary to enter the lists against him; he had 520 overheard a boast of Bones that he would "double the schoolmaster up, and lay him on a shelf of his own school-house"; and he was too wary to give him an opportunity. There was something extremely provoking in this obstinately pacific system; it left Brom no alternative but to draw upon the funds 525 of rustic waggery in his disposition, and to play off boorish practical jokes upon his rival. Ichabod became the object of

501. Vulnerable (Lat. vulnus, a wound), capable of being wounded. 509. Redoubtable (Fr. redouter, to dread), formidable. The word is often used, as here, with slight contempt or in burlesque.

513. Preceptor (Lat. præcipio, to instruct), a teacher, instructor.