whimsical persecution to Bones and his gang of rough-riders. They harried his hitherto peaceful domains, smoked out his singing-school by stopping up the chimney, broke into the 530 school-house at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and window-stakes, and turned everything topsy-turvy, so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their meetings there. But what was still more annoying, Brom took all opportunities of turning him into ridi- 535 cule in presence of his mistress, and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most ludicrous manner, and introduced as a rival of Ichabod's to instruct her in psalmody. In this way matters went on for some time, without producing any material effect on the relative situation of the contending 540 powers. On a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on the lofty stool whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little literary realm. In his hand he swayed a ferule, that sceptre of despotic power; the birch of justice reposed on three nails behind the throne, a constant terror 545 to evil-doers; while on the desk before him might be seen sundry contraband articles and prohibited weapons, detected upon the persons of idle urchins, such as half-munched apples, popguns, whirligigs, fly-cages, and whole legions of rampant little paper game-cocks. Apparently there had been some appalling 550 act of justice recently inflicted, for his scholars were all busily intent upon their books, or slyly whispering behind them with one eye kept upon the master, and a kind of buzzing stillness reigned throughout the school-room. It was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a negro, in tow-cloth jacket and 555 trousers, a round-crowned fragment of a hat, like the cap of Mercury, and mounted on the back of a ragged, wild, half-broken 529. Harried (Fr. harrier, to molest, vex; harer, to set on a dog to attack; some deduce it from A.-S. hergian, to pillage), harassed, vexed. 536. Dog whom. Is this a correct use of the relative pronoun? 547. Contraband (Ital. contrabbando, goods prohibited by law; from Lat. contra, against, and Low Lat. bannum, an edict), forbidden. 557. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, usually employed on Jupiter's errands. He came colt, which he managed with a rope by way of halter. clattering up to the school door, with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a merry-making, or "quilting frolic," to be held that 500 evening at Mynheer Van Tassel's; and having delivered his message with that air of importance and effort at fine language which a negro is apt to display on petty embassies of the kind, he dashed over the brook, and was seen scampering away up the Hollow, full of the importance and hurry of his mission. 565 All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet school-room. The scholars were hurried through their lessons without stopping at trifles; those who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, and those who were tardy had a smart application now and then in the rear, to quicken their speed or help them over 570 a tall word. Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves; inkstands were overturned, benches thrown down, and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual time, bursting forth like a legion of young imps, yelping and racketing about the green in joy at their early emancipa- 575 tion. The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half-hour at his toilet, brushing and furbishing up his best, and, indeed, only suit of rusty black, and arranging his locks by a bit of broken looking-glass that hung up in the school-house. That he might 580 make his appearance before his mistress in the true style of a cavalier, he borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he 560. Quilting frolic or quilting-bee. A quilt was commonly made of small pieces of calico sewed together with some order and regularity. It was lined, and perhaps had a thin layer of cotton between the two surfaces, and was then stretched smooth on a frame. It was next to be quilted. This important operation was performed by a company of women invited for the purpose. Tea followed, and dancing, with games: other amusements closed the entertainment. "Now were instituted 'quilting-bees,' and ‘husking-bees,' and other rural assemblages, where, under the inspiring influence of the fiddle, toil was enlivened by gayety and followed up by the dance." History of New York, Book VII. Chap. 2. 563. Embassies, official missions, diplomatic sendings. 582. Cavalier (Fr. chevalier, a horseman, from cheval, a horse; Lat. caballus, a nag, packhorse), a horse-soldier, armed horseman, knight. was domiciliated, a choleric old Dutchman of the name of Hans Van Ripper, and, thus gallantly mounted, issued forth like a knight-errant in quest of adventures. But it is meet I should, 585 in the true spirit of romantic story, give some account of the looks and equipments of my hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plough-horse, that had outlived almost everything but his viciousness. He was gaunt and shagged, with a ewe neck, and a head like a hammer; his rusty 590 mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burrs; one eye had lost its pupil, and was glaring and spectral; but the other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it. Still he must have had fire and mettle in his day, if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder. He had, in fact, been a favorite steed of 595 his master's, the choleric Van Ripper, who was a furious rider, and had infused, very probably, some of his own spirit into the animal; for, old and broken down as he looked, there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any young filly in the country. 600 Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers'; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand, like a sceptre, and, as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not 605 unlike the flapping of a pair of wings. A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose, for so his scanty strip of forehead might be called; and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out almost to the horse's tail. Such was the appearance of Ichabod and his steed, as they shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper, 610 and it was altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad daylight. It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was 583. Choleric (Gr. xoλń, bile), easily angered, irascible, prone to fits of anger. Domiciliated, settled in a domicil or house of abode. 599. Filly (a diminutive from foal), a mare under three years old. 613, etc. The paragraphs of description, beginning "It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day," present an autumn scene with great vividness, accuracy, and beauty; the brilliant trees, the birds, the abundant harvest, sunset on the still Hudson. clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The 615 forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of 620 beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble-field. The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fulness of their revelry they fluttered, chirping and frolicking, from bush to bush and tree to tree, capricious from the very 625 profusion and variety around them. There was the hones cock-robin, the favorite game of stripling sportsmen, with its loud, querulous note; and the twittering blackbirds flying in sable clouds; and the golden-winged woodpecker, with his crimson crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage; 630 and the cedar-bird, with its red-tipped wings and yellow-tipped tail, and its little monteiro cap of feathers; and the blue jay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light-blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms with every songster 635 of the grove. As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast stores of apples, some hanging in oppressive opulence on 640 the trees, some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market, others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty-pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying be- 645 neath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and 632. Monteiro. Meaning? 638. Culinary (Lat. culina, a kitchen, food), relating to the kitchen or to the art of cookery; used in the kitchen. giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat-fields, breathing the odor of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slap-jacks, well buttered, and garnished 600 with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel. Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and “sugared suppositions," he journeyed along the sides of a range of hills which look out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the 655 mighty Hudson. The sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down into the west. The wide bosom of the Tappan Zee lay motionless and glassy, except that here and there a gentle undulation waved and prolonged the blue shadow of the distant mountain. A few amber clouds floated in the sky, with- 660 out a breath of air to move them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, changing gradually into a pure apple green, and from that into the deep blue of the mid-heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of the precipices that overhung some parts of the river, giving greater depth to the dark- 665 gray and purple of their rocky sides. A sloop was loitering in the distance, dropping slowly down with the tide, her sail hanging uselessly against the mast; and as the reflection of the sky gleamed along the still water, it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in the air. 670 It was toward evening that Ichabod arrived at the castle of the Herr Van Tassel, which he found thronged with the pride and flower of the adjacent country: old farmers, a spare, leathern-faced race, in homespun coats and breeches, blue stockings, huge shoes, and magnificent pewter buckles; their 675 brisk withered little dames, in close crimped caps, long-waisted 651. Treacle ("From the old confection called triacle, which was supposed to be a sovereign remedy against poison, and was named from Middle Greek therion, a viper, either because it was good against the bite of vipers, or because it was supposed to be made of viper's flesh." Wedgwood), sugar spume, sugar syrup, molasses. |