“A circumstance soon occurred, which tended to embarrass our plans, and at first seemed to menace their overthrow. Our assembling at the mansion was irregular, as occasion and circumstances required; often not more than once a week, but sometimes more frequent, and always in the night.—Late one night, as we were proceeding to the mansion, and had arrived near it, suddenly one of the chamber windows wasopened and a light issued from within. We entered the house with caution, and soon discovered that some person was in the chamber from whence we had seen the light. We remained until all was silent, and then entered the chamber by one of our secret doors, and to our inexpressible surprise, beheld a beautiful young lady asleeponthe only bed in the room. We cautiously retired, and reconnoitering all parts of the mansion, foundthatshe was the only inhabitant except ourselves. The singularity of her being there alone, is a circumstance we have never been able to discover, but it gave us fair hopes of easily procuring her ejectment. We then immediately withdrew, and made preparations to dispossess the fair tenant ofthepremises to which we considered ourselves more properly entitled, as possessing a prior incumbency.“We did not effect the completion of our apparatus under three or four days. As soon aswewere prepared, we returned to the mansion. As we approached the house, it appears the lady heard us, for again she suddenly flung up a window and held out a candle: we skulked from the light, but feared she had a glimpse of us.—After we had got into the house we were still until wesupposed her to be asleep, which we found to be the case on going to her chamber.“We then stationed one near her bed, who, by a loud raponthe floor with a cane, appeared to arouse her in a fright. Loud noises were then made below, and some of them ran heavily up the stairs which led to her chamber; the person stationed in the room whispering near her bed—she raised herself up, and he fled behind the curtains. Soon after she again lay down; he approached nearer the bed with a design to lay his hand, on which he had drawn a thin sheet-lead glove, across her face; but discovering her arm on the out side of the bedclothes, he grasped it—she screamed and sprang up in the bed; the man then left the room.“As it was not our intention to injure the lady, but only to drive her from the house, we concluded we had sufficiently alarmed her, and having extinguished the lights, were about to depart, when we heard her descending the stairs. She came down and examined the doors, when one of our party, in a loud whisper, crying ”away! away;” she darted up stairs, and we left the house.“We did not return the next night, in order to give her time to get off; but the night after we again repaired to the mansion,expecting that she had gone, but we were disappointed. As it was late when we arrived, she was wrapped in sleep, and we found that more forcible measures must be resorted to before we could remove her, and for such measures we were amply prepared.”The stranger then unfolded the mysteries of that awful night, when Melissa was so terrified by horrible appearances. One of the tallest and most robust of the gang, was attired, as has been described, when he appeared by her bed side. The white robe was an old sheet, stained in some parts with a liquid red mixture; the wound in his breast was artificial, and the blood issuing therefrom was only some of this mixture, pressed from a small bladder, concealed under his robe. On his head and face he wore a mask, with glass eyes——the mask was painted to suit their purposes. The bloody dagger was of wood, and painted.Thus accoutred, he took his stand near Melissa’s bed, having first blown out the candles she had left burning, and discharged a small pistol. Perceiving this hadawakenedher, a train of powder was fired in the adjoining room opposite the secret door, which was left open, in order that the flash might illuminate her apartment; then several large cannon balls were rolled through the rooms over her head, imitativeof thunder. The person in her room then uttered a horrible groan, and gliding along by her bed, took his stand behind the curtains, near the foot. The noises below, the cry of murder, the firing of the second pistol, and the running up stairs, were all corresponding scenes to impress terror on her imagination. The pretended ghost then advanced in front of her bed, while lights were slowly introduced, which first shone faintly, until they were ushered into the room by the private door,exhibitingthe person before her in all his horrific appearances. On her shrieking, and shrinking into the bed, the lights were suddenly extinguished, and the person, after commanding her to be gone in a hoarse voice, passed again to the foot of the bed, shook it violently, and made a seeming attempt to getuponit, when, perceiving her to be springing up, he fled out of the room by the secret door, cautiously shut it, and joined his companions.The operators had not yet completed their farce, or rather, to Melissa, tragedy. They had framed an image of paste-board, in human shape, arrayed it in black, its eyes being formed of large pieces of what is vulgarly calledfox-fire,**A sort of decayed or rotten wood, which in the nightlookslike coals of fire, of a bright whitish colour. It emits a faint light.made into thelikeness of human eyes, someof the samematerial being placed in its mouth, around which was a piece of thethinnestscarlet tiffany, in order to make it appear of a flame colour. They had also constructed a large combustible ball, of several thicknesses of paste-board, to which a match was placed. The image was to be conveyed into her room, and placed, in the dark, before her bed;—&while in that position, the ball was to be rubbed over with phosphorus, the match set on fire, and rolled across her chamber, and when it burst, the image was to vanish, by being suddenly conveyed out of the private door, which was to close the scene for that night. But as Melissa had now arisen andlightedcandles, the plan was defeated.While they were consulting how to proceed, they heard her unlock her chamber door, and slowly descend the stairs. Fearing a discovery, they retired with their lights, and the person who had been in her chamber, not havingyetstripped off his ghostly habiliments, laid himself down on one side of the hall. The man who had the image, crowded himself with it under the stairs she was descending. On her dropping the candle, when she turned to flee to her chamber, from the sight of the same object which had appeared at her bed-side, the person under the stairs presented theimage at their foot, and at the same instant the combustible ball was prepared, and rolled through the hall; and when on its bursting she fainted, they began to grow alarmed; but on finding that she recovered and regained her chamber, they departed, for that time, from the house.“Our scheme, continued the wounded man, had the desired effect. On returning a few evenings after, we found the lady gone and the furniture removed. Several attempts were afterwards made to occupy the house, but we always succeeded in soon frightening the inhabitants away.”Edgar and Alonzo then requested their prisoner to show them the springs of the secret doors, and how they were opened. The springs were sunk in the wood, which being touched by entering agimblethole with a piece of pointed steel, which each of the gang always had about him, the door would fly open, and fasten again in shuttingto. On opening the trap-door over which the gang had sat when they first discovered them, they found the table and chairs, with the decanters broken, and the money, which they secured. In one part of the cellar they were shown a kind of cave, its mouth covered with boards and earth—here the company kept their furniture, and to this place would they have removed it, had they not been sosuddenly frightened away. The canoe they found secreted in the bushes beyond the canal.It was then agreed that the man should go before the proper authorities in a neighbouring town, and there, as state’s evidence, make affidavit of what he had recited, and as complete a developement of the characters concerned in the business as possible, when he was to be released. The man enquired to what town they were togo,which, when they had informed him, “Then, said he, it will be in my power to perform one deed of justice before I leave the country, as leave it I must, immediately after I have given in my testimony, or I shall be assassinated by some of those who will be implicated in the transaction I have related.”He then informed them, that while he, with the gang, was prosecuting the illicit trade, a British ship came and anchored in the Sound, which they supplied with provisions, but that having at one time a considerable quantity on hand, the ship sent its boat on shore, with an officer and five men, to fetch it; the officer came with them on shore, leaving the men in the boat: “As we were about to carry the provisions on board the boat, continued the man, a party of Americans fired upon us, andwounded the officer in the thigh, who fell: “I shall be made prisoner, said he, taking out his purse; keep this, and if I live and regain my liberty, perhaps you may have an opportunity of restoring it:—alarm the boat’s crew, and shift for yourselves.” The boat was alarmed, returned to the ship, and we saved ourselves by flight.“This happened about four months ago; the ship soon after sailed for New York, and the officer was imprisoned in the gaol of the town to which we are to go; I can therefore restore him his purse.”The man farther informed them, that they had several times come near being taken, and the last trip they were fired upon, and one of their party killed.Theyimmediately set out for the aforesaid town, after having dismissed their fifteen men; and when they arrived there, Alonzo and Edgar accompanied their prisoner to the gaol. On making the proper enquiries, they were conducted into a dark and dirty apartment of the gaol, where were several prisoners in irons. The British officer was soon distinguished among them by his regimentals. Though enveloped in filth and dust, his countenance appeared familiar to Alonzo; and on a few moments recollection, he recognized in the manacled officer, the generous midshipman,JackBrown, who had so disinterestedly relieved him, when he escaped from the prison in London!In the fervency of his feelings, Alonzo flew to him and clasped him in his arms. “What do I behold! he cried. My friend, my brave deliverer, in chains in my own country!”“The fortune of war, boy! said Jack—it might have been worse. But my lad, I am heartily glad to see you; how has it fared with you since you left Old England?”—“We will talk of that by and by,” said Alonzo.There were then some American officers of distinction in town, with whom Edgar was acquainted, to whom he applied for the relief of the noble sailor;——and as there were several other British prisoners inthegaol it was agreed that a cartel should be immediately sent to New York to exchange them. Alonzo had, therefore, the satisfaction to see the irons knocked off of his liberal hearted benefactor, and his prison doors opened.The man they had taken at the mansion, returned him his purse, containing only twenty-five guineas, of which Jack gave him ten. “There, boy, said he, you have been honest, so I will divide with you.”They then repaired to an inn. Jack, whose wound was healed, was put underthe hands of a barber,cleaned, furnished with a change of clothes, and soon appeared in a new attitude.He informed Alonzo, that soon after he left England, his ship was orderedforAmerica: that the price of provisions growing high, it had taken almost all his wages to support his family; that he had sent home his last remittance just before he was taken, reserving only the twenty-five guineas which had been restored him that day.—“But I have never despaired, said he; the great Commodore of life orders all for the best. My tour of duty is to serve my king and country, and provide for my dear Poll and her chicks, which, if I faithfully perform, I shall gain the applause of the Commander.”When the cartel was ready to depart, Alonzo, taking Jack apart from the company, presented him with a draughtoffive hundred pounds sterling, on a merchant in New York, who privately transacted business with the Americans. “Take this, my friend, said he; you can ensure it by converting it into bills of exchange on London. Though you once saw me naked, I can now conveniently spare this sum, and it may assist you in buffeting the billows of life.”—The generous tar shed tears of gratitude, and Alonzo enjoyed the pleasure of seeinghim depart, calling down blessings on the head of his reciprocal benefactor.The man who came with Alonzo and Edgar from the mansion, then went before themagistratesof the town, and gave his testimony and affidavit, by which it appeared that several eminent characters of Connecticut were concerned in this illicit trade. They then released him, gave him the money they had found in the cellar at the mansion, and he immediately left the town. Precepts were soon after issued for a number of those traders; several were taken, among whom were some of the gang, and others who were only concerned—but most of them absconded, so that the company and their plans were broken up.When Alonzo and Edgar returned home and related their adventure, they were all surprised at the fortitude of Melissa in being enabled to support her spirits in a solitary mansion, amidst such great, and so many terrors.It was now that Alonzo turned his attention to future prospects. It was time to select a place for domestic residence. He consulted Melissa, and she expressively mentioned the little secluded village, where“Ere fate and fortune frown’d severe,”theyprojected scenes of connubial bliss, andplanned the structure of their family edifice*.SeeBarometerNo. 109-110.See pages 34 and 36.This intimationaccorded Alonzo. Thesite formerly marked out, with an adjoining farm, was immediately purchased, and suitable buildings erected, to which Alonzo and Melissa removed the ensuing summer.The clergyman of the village having recently died in agood old age, Edgar was called to the pastoral charge of this unsophisticated people. Here did Melissa and Alonzo repose after the storms of adversity were past. Here did they realize all the happiness which the sublunary hand of time apportions to mortals.Thevarying seasons diversified their joys, except when Alonzo was called with the militia of his country, wherein he bore an eminent commission, to oppose the enemy; and this was not unfrequent, as in his country’s defence he took a very conspicuous part. Then would anxiety, incertitude, and disconsolation possess the bosom of Melissa, until dissipated by his safe return. But the happy termination of the war soon removed all cause of these disquietudes.Soon after the close of the war, Alonzo received a letter from his friend, Jack Brown, dated at an interior parish in England,—in which, after pouring forth abundance of gratitude, he informed, that onreturning to England he procured his discharge from the navy, sold his house, andremovedinto the country, where he had set up an inn with the sign ofThe Grateful American. “You have made us all happy, said he; my dear Poll blubbered like a fresh water sailor in a hurricane, when I told her of your goodness. My wife, my children, all hands upon deck are yours. We have a good run of business, and are now under full sail, for the land of prosperity.”Edgar married to one of the Miss Simpsons, whose father’s seat was in the vicinity of the village. The parents of Alonzo and Melissa were their frequent visitors, as were also Vincent and his lady, with many others of their acquaintance, who all rejoiced in their happy situation, after such a diversity of troubles. Alfred was generally once a year their guest, until at length he married and settled in the mercantile business in Charleston, South Carolina.To our hero and heroine, the rural charms of their secluded village were a source of ever pleasing variety. Spring, with itsverduredfields, flowery meads, and vocal groves: its vernal gales, purling rills, and its evening whippoorwill: summer, with its embowering shades, reflected in the glassylake, and the long, pensive, yet sprightly notes of thesolitary strawberry-bird;*its lightning and its thunder; autumn with its mellow fruit, its yellow foliage and decaying verdure; winter, with its hoarse, rough blasts, its icy beard and snowy mantle, all tended to thrill with sensations of pleasing transition, the feeling bosoms ofAlonzo and Melissa.*A bird which, in the New England states, makes its first appearance about the time strawberries begin to ripen. Its song is lengthy, and consists of a variety of notes, commencing sprightly, but endingplaintiveand melancholy.
“A circumstance soon occurred, which tended to embarrass our plans, and at first seemed to menace their overthrow. Our assembling at the mansion was irregular, as occasion and circumstances required; often not more than once a week, but sometimes more frequent, and always in the night.—Late one night, as we were proceeding to the mansion, and had arrived near it, suddenly one of the chamber windows wasopened and a light issued from within. We entered the house with caution, and soon discovered that some person was in the chamber from whence we had seen the light. We remained until all was silent, and then entered the chamber by one of our secret doors, and to our inexpressible surprise, beheld a beautiful young lady asleeponthe only bed in the room. We cautiously retired, and reconnoitering all parts of the mansion, foundthatshe was the only inhabitant except ourselves. The singularity of her being there alone, is a circumstance we have never been able to discover, but it gave us fair hopes of easily procuring her ejectment. We then immediately withdrew, and made preparations to dispossess the fair tenant ofthepremises to which we considered ourselves more properly entitled, as possessing a prior incumbency.
“We did not effect the completion of our apparatus under three or four days. As soon aswewere prepared, we returned to the mansion. As we approached the house, it appears the lady heard us, for again she suddenly flung up a window and held out a candle: we skulked from the light, but feared she had a glimpse of us.—After we had got into the house we were still until wesupposed her to be asleep, which we found to be the case on going to her chamber.
“We then stationed one near her bed, who, by a loud raponthe floor with a cane, appeared to arouse her in a fright. Loud noises were then made below, and some of them ran heavily up the stairs which led to her chamber; the person stationed in the room whispering near her bed—she raised herself up, and he fled behind the curtains. Soon after she again lay down; he approached nearer the bed with a design to lay his hand, on which he had drawn a thin sheet-lead glove, across her face; but discovering her arm on the out side of the bedclothes, he grasped it—she screamed and sprang up in the bed; the man then left the room.
“As it was not our intention to injure the lady, but only to drive her from the house, we concluded we had sufficiently alarmed her, and having extinguished the lights, were about to depart, when we heard her descending the stairs. She came down and examined the doors, when one of our party, in a loud whisper, crying ”away! away;” she darted up stairs, and we left the house.
“We did not return the next night, in order to give her time to get off; but the night after we again repaired to the mansion,expecting that she had gone, but we were disappointed. As it was late when we arrived, she was wrapped in sleep, and we found that more forcible measures must be resorted to before we could remove her, and for such measures we were amply prepared.”
The stranger then unfolded the mysteries of that awful night, when Melissa was so terrified by horrible appearances. One of the tallest and most robust of the gang, was attired, as has been described, when he appeared by her bed side. The white robe was an old sheet, stained in some parts with a liquid red mixture; the wound in his breast was artificial, and the blood issuing therefrom was only some of this mixture, pressed from a small bladder, concealed under his robe. On his head and face he wore a mask, with glass eyes——the mask was painted to suit their purposes. The bloody dagger was of wood, and painted.
Thus accoutred, he took his stand near Melissa’s bed, having first blown out the candles she had left burning, and discharged a small pistol. Perceiving this hadawakenedher, a train of powder was fired in the adjoining room opposite the secret door, which was left open, in order that the flash might illuminate her apartment; then several large cannon balls were rolled through the rooms over her head, imitativeof thunder. The person in her room then uttered a horrible groan, and gliding along by her bed, took his stand behind the curtains, near the foot. The noises below, the cry of murder, the firing of the second pistol, and the running up stairs, were all corresponding scenes to impress terror on her imagination. The pretended ghost then advanced in front of her bed, while lights were slowly introduced, which first shone faintly, until they were ushered into the room by the private door,exhibitingthe person before her in all his horrific appearances. On her shrieking, and shrinking into the bed, the lights were suddenly extinguished, and the person, after commanding her to be gone in a hoarse voice, passed again to the foot of the bed, shook it violently, and made a seeming attempt to getuponit, when, perceiving her to be springing up, he fled out of the room by the secret door, cautiously shut it, and joined his companions.
The operators had not yet completed their farce, or rather, to Melissa, tragedy. They had framed an image of paste-board, in human shape, arrayed it in black, its eyes being formed of large pieces of what is vulgarly calledfox-fire,**A sort of decayed or rotten wood, which in the nightlookslike coals of fire, of a bright whitish colour. It emits a faint light.made into thelikeness of human eyes, someof the samematerial being placed in its mouth, around which was a piece of thethinnestscarlet tiffany, in order to make it appear of a flame colour. They had also constructed a large combustible ball, of several thicknesses of paste-board, to which a match was placed. The image was to be conveyed into her room, and placed, in the dark, before her bed;—&while in that position, the ball was to be rubbed over with phosphorus, the match set on fire, and rolled across her chamber, and when it burst, the image was to vanish, by being suddenly conveyed out of the private door, which was to close the scene for that night. But as Melissa had now arisen andlightedcandles, the plan was defeated.
While they were consulting how to proceed, they heard her unlock her chamber door, and slowly descend the stairs. Fearing a discovery, they retired with their lights, and the person who had been in her chamber, not havingyetstripped off his ghostly habiliments, laid himself down on one side of the hall. The man who had the image, crowded himself with it under the stairs she was descending. On her dropping the candle, when she turned to flee to her chamber, from the sight of the same object which had appeared at her bed-side, the person under the stairs presented theimage at their foot, and at the same instant the combustible ball was prepared, and rolled through the hall; and when on its bursting she fainted, they began to grow alarmed; but on finding that she recovered and regained her chamber, they departed, for that time, from the house.
“Our scheme, continued the wounded man, had the desired effect. On returning a few evenings after, we found the lady gone and the furniture removed. Several attempts were afterwards made to occupy the house, but we always succeeded in soon frightening the inhabitants away.”
Edgar and Alonzo then requested their prisoner to show them the springs of the secret doors, and how they were opened. The springs were sunk in the wood, which being touched by entering agimblethole with a piece of pointed steel, which each of the gang always had about him, the door would fly open, and fasten again in shuttingto. On opening the trap-door over which the gang had sat when they first discovered them, they found the table and chairs, with the decanters broken, and the money, which they secured. In one part of the cellar they were shown a kind of cave, its mouth covered with boards and earth—here the company kept their furniture, and to this place would they have removed it, had they not been sosuddenly frightened away. The canoe they found secreted in the bushes beyond the canal.
It was then agreed that the man should go before the proper authorities in a neighbouring town, and there, as state’s evidence, make affidavit of what he had recited, and as complete a developement of the characters concerned in the business as possible, when he was to be released. The man enquired to what town they were togo,which, when they had informed him, “Then, said he, it will be in my power to perform one deed of justice before I leave the country, as leave it I must, immediately after I have given in my testimony, or I shall be assassinated by some of those who will be implicated in the transaction I have related.”
He then informed them, that while he, with the gang, was prosecuting the illicit trade, a British ship came and anchored in the Sound, which they supplied with provisions, but that having at one time a considerable quantity on hand, the ship sent its boat on shore, with an officer and five men, to fetch it; the officer came with them on shore, leaving the men in the boat: “As we were about to carry the provisions on board the boat, continued the man, a party of Americans fired upon us, andwounded the officer in the thigh, who fell: “I shall be made prisoner, said he, taking out his purse; keep this, and if I live and regain my liberty, perhaps you may have an opportunity of restoring it:—alarm the boat’s crew, and shift for yourselves.” The boat was alarmed, returned to the ship, and we saved ourselves by flight.
“This happened about four months ago; the ship soon after sailed for New York, and the officer was imprisoned in the gaol of the town to which we are to go; I can therefore restore him his purse.”
The man farther informed them, that they had several times come near being taken, and the last trip they were fired upon, and one of their party killed.
Theyimmediately set out for the aforesaid town, after having dismissed their fifteen men; and when they arrived there, Alonzo and Edgar accompanied their prisoner to the gaol. On making the proper enquiries, they were conducted into a dark and dirty apartment of the gaol, where were several prisoners in irons. The British officer was soon distinguished among them by his regimentals. Though enveloped in filth and dust, his countenance appeared familiar to Alonzo; and on a few moments recollection, he recognized in the manacled officer, the generous midshipman,JackBrown, who had so disinterestedly relieved him, when he escaped from the prison in London!
In the fervency of his feelings, Alonzo flew to him and clasped him in his arms. “What do I behold! he cried. My friend, my brave deliverer, in chains in my own country!”
“The fortune of war, boy! said Jack—it might have been worse. But my lad, I am heartily glad to see you; how has it fared with you since you left Old England?”—“We will talk of that by and by,” said Alonzo.
There were then some American officers of distinction in town, with whom Edgar was acquainted, to whom he applied for the relief of the noble sailor;——and as there were several other British prisoners inthegaol it was agreed that a cartel should be immediately sent to New York to exchange them. Alonzo had, therefore, the satisfaction to see the irons knocked off of his liberal hearted benefactor, and his prison doors opened.
The man they had taken at the mansion, returned him his purse, containing only twenty-five guineas, of which Jack gave him ten. “There, boy, said he, you have been honest, so I will divide with you.”
They then repaired to an inn. Jack, whose wound was healed, was put underthe hands of a barber,cleaned, furnished with a change of clothes, and soon appeared in a new attitude.
He informed Alonzo, that soon after he left England, his ship was orderedforAmerica: that the price of provisions growing high, it had taken almost all his wages to support his family; that he had sent home his last remittance just before he was taken, reserving only the twenty-five guineas which had been restored him that day.—“But I have never despaired, said he; the great Commodore of life orders all for the best. My tour of duty is to serve my king and country, and provide for my dear Poll and her chicks, which, if I faithfully perform, I shall gain the applause of the Commander.”
When the cartel was ready to depart, Alonzo, taking Jack apart from the company, presented him with a draughtoffive hundred pounds sterling, on a merchant in New York, who privately transacted business with the Americans. “Take this, my friend, said he; you can ensure it by converting it into bills of exchange on London. Though you once saw me naked, I can now conveniently spare this sum, and it may assist you in buffeting the billows of life.”—The generous tar shed tears of gratitude, and Alonzo enjoyed the pleasure of seeinghim depart, calling down blessings on the head of his reciprocal benefactor.
The man who came with Alonzo and Edgar from the mansion, then went before themagistratesof the town, and gave his testimony and affidavit, by which it appeared that several eminent characters of Connecticut were concerned in this illicit trade. They then released him, gave him the money they had found in the cellar at the mansion, and he immediately left the town. Precepts were soon after issued for a number of those traders; several were taken, among whom were some of the gang, and others who were only concerned—but most of them absconded, so that the company and their plans were broken up.
When Alonzo and Edgar returned home and related their adventure, they were all surprised at the fortitude of Melissa in being enabled to support her spirits in a solitary mansion, amidst such great, and so many terrors.
It was now that Alonzo turned his attention to future prospects. It was time to select a place for domestic residence. He consulted Melissa, and she expressively mentioned the little secluded village, where
“Ere fate and fortune frown’d severe,”
theyprojected scenes of connubial bliss, andplanned the structure of their family edifice*.SeeBarometerNo. 109-110.See pages 34 and 36.This intimationaccorded Alonzo. Thesite formerly marked out, with an adjoining farm, was immediately purchased, and suitable buildings erected, to which Alonzo and Melissa removed the ensuing summer.
The clergyman of the village having recently died in agood old age, Edgar was called to the pastoral charge of this unsophisticated people. Here did Melissa and Alonzo repose after the storms of adversity were past. Here did they realize all the happiness which the sublunary hand of time apportions to mortals.Thevarying seasons diversified their joys, except when Alonzo was called with the militia of his country, wherein he bore an eminent commission, to oppose the enemy; and this was not unfrequent, as in his country’s defence he took a very conspicuous part. Then would anxiety, incertitude, and disconsolation possess the bosom of Melissa, until dissipated by his safe return. But the happy termination of the war soon removed all cause of these disquietudes.
Soon after the close of the war, Alonzo received a letter from his friend, Jack Brown, dated at an interior parish in England,—in which, after pouring forth abundance of gratitude, he informed, that onreturning to England he procured his discharge from the navy, sold his house, andremovedinto the country, where he had set up an inn with the sign ofThe Grateful American. “You have made us all happy, said he; my dear Poll blubbered like a fresh water sailor in a hurricane, when I told her of your goodness. My wife, my children, all hands upon deck are yours. We have a good run of business, and are now under full sail, for the land of prosperity.”
Edgar married to one of the Miss Simpsons, whose father’s seat was in the vicinity of the village. The parents of Alonzo and Melissa were their frequent visitors, as were also Vincent and his lady, with many others of their acquaintance, who all rejoiced in their happy situation, after such a diversity of troubles. Alfred was generally once a year their guest, until at length he married and settled in the mercantile business in Charleston, South Carolina.
To our hero and heroine, the rural charms of their secluded village were a source of ever pleasing variety. Spring, with itsverduredfields, flowery meads, and vocal groves: its vernal gales, purling rills, and its evening whippoorwill: summer, with its embowering shades, reflected in the glassylake, and the long, pensive, yet sprightly notes of thesolitary strawberry-bird;*its lightning and its thunder; autumn with its mellow fruit, its yellow foliage and decaying verdure; winter, with its hoarse, rough blasts, its icy beard and snowy mantle, all tended to thrill with sensations of pleasing transition, the feeling bosoms ofAlonzo and Melissa.
*A bird which, in the New England states, makes its first appearance about the time strawberries begin to ripen. Its song is lengthy, and consists of a variety of notes, commencing sprightly, but endingplaintiveand melancholy.