V' !l ? ft j^^BUw 9B ypvx X n x O|C Mi,/ ; C M tli< V; ^ \ H \ J \ /'^N . : X n H,A vs^t >v The Property of FRIEXD : This book I gladly lend to thee To read, to study not to lend ! But to return again to me. Read slowly, pause frequently. And return duly, With the corners of the leaves not turned down iJhttj- >." " I would set one," said Calick, speaking gently, after some silence, " if I knew what you would have on it." " I should like to have you do it," replied the Captain. " A plain stone without inscription, will mark the spot. It is better than nothing." And so the stone was set. By midnight moonlight, a tall, manly form came slowly down the hill, and, passing the meeting-house, entered the burying-ground by the arched gateway. He looked carefully about him, but seeing no one, he rapidly approached the newly turfed mound, and stooped, uncovered, at the marble stone. Its pale white face shone mournfully upon him in the moonlight. With a ready pencil he sketched, and with a dexterous chisel he lightly cut upon the stone the one word : MOTHER. It was a task of some time, and somewhat rudely done at that. lie lingered over the word too, touching and retouch- 82 CONE CUT CORNERS. ing here and there. At last he laid aside his tools, and wiped his brow. " Oh ! oh !" sighed he. " It could never mean any thing to anybody else ; and this is all that it can say even to her, poor child I" And then he went away. VII. MARCH, 1843. TIME with his scythe had mown the hair from Elder Graynes' "forehead, and made a place there to plant a wig, although no wig had as yet been planted. The same industrious farmer had plowed deeper furrows in the Deacon's face, and brought its capacities of varied expression into a higher state of cultivation than ever before. He had, in leisure moments, carved the lineaments of Calick's countenance into the expression of maturity. He had made many other changes in Cone Cut Corners also, more or less noticeable and important. He passed his hand very lightly over Aunt Provy, to be sure, bringing her only a pair of silver spectacles, which she rarely found need to use ; but then, on the other hand, he had magnified Salanda through all the sizes of 'infancy and childhood, and now adding up the years of her life, he computed her to be seven years old. 84 CONE CUT CORNERS. Time, in making these changes, did not pass by, untouched, the gentlemanly man. Captain Mayferrie was no longer a young man. He no longer went to meeting with jet black boots. He no longer frequented the society of the village except those circles which gathered in Gregory Donoe's store. The ambitions of men change with their ages. Captain Mayferrie now no longer plumed himself upon the hay crop, nor prided himself upon his seed-corn. He thought less of his oxen now, and more of his horses. He cared little for his ax, but a good deal for his fishing-pole. He had built him a new cider-mill, and his orchard was now esteemed by him, more according to the quantity of its products, than their quality. In short, Captain Mayferrie had passed that time of his life when respectability was his most cherished luxury. Time, who had quieted the inquiries, and speculations, and gossipings, which sprang up upon the occasion of Salanda's birth, thought fit to raise them to life again ; and to do it through the instrumentality of Mrs. Gregory Donoe. Gregory Donoe, the Captain's friend, was a man very well to do in the world, as we have already had reason to judge. He was prosperous, and, after the manner of men, happy. He had nevertheless one affliction he was about to lose his wife. It is not often that a husband can obtain definite and reliable information of the exact date of his approaching widowerhood ; but Mrs. Donoe had marked with an ink-blot in her husband's almanac, the twenty-third of April, as the day of her undoubted departure from this earthly scene, and was arranging her family affairs with a view to a public ascension upon that day. ' CONE CUT CORNERS. So In other words, Mrs. Gregory Donoe was a confirmed Millerite ; a believer in that faith which was then somewhat prevalent in New England, and which, by a careful casting up of the accounts of the prophecies, demonstrated the certain destruction of this globe upon the 23d of April, 1843. As the spring of that fated year advanced, Mrs. Donoe began to be less and less interested in such sublunary affairs as breakfasts and dinners, parlors and bedrooms, furniture and clothing, gusts, customers and charges, until it really seemed as if she were indeed about to give up the business of living altogether. As the month of April drew near, she grew more and more enthusiastic in the work of preparing ascension- robes for herself and Tommy. Tommy was a young Donoe of some fifteen or eighteen months old. He was not, to be sure, a very strong believer in Millerism, but then, as his mother said, he was " so young and innocent like, he would go right straight up by his own heft when the time came, and think nothing at all about it." Mrs. Donoe's Millerism might not have disturbed her hus- band much if it had been confined to a quiet opinion in her own mind, which did not interrupt the regular performance of her domestic duties. But, unhappily, the case was otherwise. Nothing in the house was properly washed but ascension- robes. Very often there was neither breakfast, dinner, nor supper, prepared for Gregory. For a time he submitted to live on casual luncheons in the store. But before long he be- gan to tire of the limited variety of that establishment, and he concluded that the world would come to an end for him, pretty soon, if he was not careful. And so he told the Cap- tain ; who cheered him up by the assurance that, if he could 86 CONE CUT CORNERS. only get along by the twenty-third, he guessed things would all come out right after all. Mrs. Donoe derived the information, which supported her in her controversial discussions uptm the melancholy subject which occupied her thoughts, from a villainous-looking sheet styled, " The Midnight Cry," a newspaper of a somber cast of mind, devoted to the elucidation of such problems as : Given, a beast with seven heads and ten horns, numbered 666, the date of the Babylonish captivity, not very definitely settled, a guess that the word " time " in prophecy means a period of three hundred and sixty years, a period of seventy weeks with leave to make it as many centuries long as you choose, as many beasts with heads, horns, wings, legs, and tails, ad libitum, as the nature of the argument may seem to demand, and such h'ke data ; Required, to compute the time of the general end of all things. This sheet, being printed in extremely black type, and profusely illustrated with graphic portraits of the various beasts by which the argument was supported, was by no means what one would call light reading ; and was not at all calculated to give a lively or exhilarating turn to Mrs. Donoe's discussions with her friends. These discussions, although they turned chiefly upon the cer- tainty with which the destruction of the world on the twenty- third of April might be counted upon, involved a further, though subordinate debate, upon the positions, prospects, and chances of all the neighbors. It was a great point with Mrs. Donoe to assure herself, who, upon the promised day was likely to go up ; who, down. CONE CUT CORNERS. 87 Foremost upon the latter list in the opinion of Mrs. Donoe, stood Captain Mayferrie. Her reasons for despairing of his future safety, were thus interpreted to that gentleman by Aunt Provy, one afternoon, when she met him in the village street. " La ! Captain," said she, " do you know, Mrs. Donoe's been saying most awful things about you. Mrs. Tripp was over to see me this afternoon, and says she, I was down at Squire Cartrock's, and Mrs. Cartrock said her girls was up to the hill a little while ago, up to Mrs. Buxton's, and Mrs. Buxton says that if you 're what Mrs. Donoe says you are, you 're not fit to live ; them 's her very words." " Ha ! ha !" laughed the Captain. " She says, you know Mrs. Donoe 's a Millerite, and be- lieves the world 's a coming to an end next month, she says all sorts of things about you, and Mrs. Buxton told the Cart- rock girls that she heard that Mrs. Donoe told her husband that you was a reprobate ; and, says she, the poor girl was his victim, and the child 's his outcast." " I 'm much obliged to you for telling me," said the Cap- tain ; " I must call on Mrs. Donoe some night, I think, if she 's going to bring that old gossip all up again." Nor did the Captain forego his intention. A few nights later he stood in Gregory Donoe's store, as the storekeeper was preparing to close for the night. " Is your wife waiting for the end of the world as patient as ever T' he inquired of the proprietor of the establishment. " Yes, just the same," was the reply. "She expects to go up before the fire, don't she 1 ?" con- tinued Captain Mayferrie. " I believe she does," answered the storekeeper, somewhat 88 CONE CUT CORNERS. absently. He was putting some packages away in a drawer clown under the counter. " It would n't be quite unexpected, if she was to be called away to-night, would it ?" asked the Captain. "What?" said Gregory, looking up quickly, and closely scanning the expression of the Captain's face. " It would n't come much amiss, would it," said the Cap- tarn, repeating his inquiry ; but this time with a nod and a wink, which seemed to make a far greater impression on the trader's mind than did the language of the question, " if she was to be called for to-night? not if she would come back to breakfast in her sober senses ?" " Mayferrie," exclaimed the storekeeper with an appreciat- ing smile, " you 're a regular brick. What '11 you take to drink ?" And with unprecedented generosity, he poured out a full glass of the Captain's favorite beverage, and treated him, gratis. That night was a cold and blustering March night. About one o'clock some one rapped sharply outside the window of the room where Mr. Donoe and his wife were quietly sleeping. " Mrs. Donoe," cried a voice from without ; a sort of mid- night cry. " What do you want ?" said Mr. Donoe, in reply. " Mrs. Donoe," responded the midnight cry, " Mrs. Donoe ; I '11 not talk to an unbeliever." " What is it ?" said Mrs. Donoe rising hastily and going to the window. " I Ve come for you," replied the cry without, laconically, " come along ; I 'm in a hurry." CONE CUT CORNERS. 89 "Who is it 1 ?" inquired Mrs. Donoe, peering out from be- hind the curtain. " I 'm an angel," was the answer. " We 're a going to cany up all the saints before the twenty-third ; and they 've sent me for you, so come along." " Oh, Gregory !" exclaimed his wife, bursting into tears, " I must go with him, I must, I must. Oh, dear me ! Do come too, now. Now you know it 's all true what I Ve told you so many times. Only believe, and we '11 go up together. Oh, dear." " Don't go, Mary," remonstrated her husband, " I would 'nt, it 's too cold ; besides that ain't an angel, I don't believe." " Yes it is," said Mrs. Donoe, " and I must go." " Come, be quick," said the angel, " I 'm as cold as thunder, waiting out here." " Did you ever hear of a cold angel ?" asked Mr. Donoe of his wife, argumentatively. Mrs. Donoe made no reply. She busied herself with the preparations that were necessary for her departure. There was but little for her to do, since she had done nothing for a month previous but arrange her affairs for this crisis. Grief in her heart filled her eyes with tears, for, with all her folly, she loved her husband truly. To be parted from him for any cause, would have been a great affliction to her, but to leave him thus, was doubly painful. He, on the other hand, seemed but little moved by the prospect of her departure, but then it must be considered that he was not, perhaps, then fairly awake. At one time indeed, he seemed almost overcome with emotion, but he soon stifled it under the blankets. What kind of emotion it was, is not easily determined. He, however, repeated his advice, that she should disregard the 90 CONE CUT CORNERS. dubious summons, but to no effect ; an angel called her, and she must go. " Mayn 't I take little Tommy ?" said she, addressing the angel without, " I Ve got his robes all ready." u No, no," said he, " I 'm coming for all the babies next week ; let him be ; and come along yourself quicker, do you suppose an angel can wait forever ?" Mrs. Donoe bid a hasty farewell to her husband, in which tears, Millerite Theology, kisses, expostulations, and womanly affection, were strangely mingled, gave the sleeping Tommy a parting caress ; and then, weeping bitterly, sallied out into the cold and blustering night. She found her angel in earthly guise, resembling a stage- driver as much as any thing. He was warmly clothed from head to foot, wore a warm fur cap and shaggy woolen com- forter, and stood in as stout a pair of boots as ever cased the feet of a mortal. As Mrs. Donoe had never been led to con- ceive of angels in such a form and dress, but, on the contrary, had supposed them to consist of the head and wings usually assigned to them by imaginative artists, she felt her confidence in his muffled angelhood somewhat shaken. She gazed upon his countenance to discern that radiant glory which she sup- posed would there appear ; but it was dimmed and quenched between the fur cap which was pulled down low over his eyes, and the comforter, which was tied around the lower part of his face, concealing every thing below the bridge of his nose. The angel, however, gave her no time for questions, but grasping her arm started off with her down the road at a brisk pace. "How are we going up 1 ?" inquired Mrs. Donoe, timidly, CONE CUT CORNERS. 91 after they had trudged some three or four minutes. " We ain't going to walk all the way, I suppose, are we ?" " No" said the angel, " I Ve got a chariot of fire down along a piece, when we get to it." " A chariot of fire," exclaimed Mrs. Donoe, mentally. The possibility that this would be the mode of her ascension had never occurred to her. She had expected to go up in the bal- loon style, as being safer, and more in accordance with the teachings of the Millerite prophets. However, there was nothing to be said about the matter, and the two walked on half a mile in silence* The angel would not talk, and Mrs. Donoe dared not ; but she began to fear that the angels were very unsocial creatures. But at last, as they reached a place where two roads met, the angel spoke : " You wait here," said he. " What for ?" said Mrs. Donoe. " I don't see the chariot." " We have n't come to that yet," replied the angel. " I 've to go up this other road after two more sisters ; then we '11 all go on to it." So saying, he led Mrs. Donoe to a rock by the side of the road, which afforded her a seat, and telling her to sit down there until he came back, started off upon his errand. Mrs. Donoe sat patiently down to await his return. " By the way," thought she, " if I 'm going up in a chariot of fire, I guess I '11 carry up some snow ; perhaps it '11 be hot." So saying, she crowded snow into her shoes and bonnet, as well as into such parts of her dress as the construction of her robe allowed ; in order to be protected as much as possible from the clement to which she was to be exposed. Time passed slowly on, but no angel appeared. In vain 92 CONE CUT CORKERS. the deserted lady stood up upon her seat, and looked eagerly to see him corning down the hill with the promised compan- ions of her journey. He came not. In vain she turned about, and strove to catch in the dim distance some flashes of light which might disclose to her the stopping-place of the chariot. No light revealed its form. No light could she discern, ex- cept that the gray rays which warn us of the morning were beginning to make their appearance in the east. Day was dawning ; but faster than its tardy coming, dawned the light of truth upon her mind. Weary, cold, wet, indignant, she resolved to await no longer the coming of her deceptive angel, but to return to her husband and her home. Accordingly, about five o'clock, Mr. Donoe was aroused by another tap at his window ; this time a light and timid one. " Who 's there ?" said he. " I," was the answer. " Well, I know that," said Mr. Donoe, "but who is I?" " Your wife, your own Mary," answered Mrs. Donoe. "Not a bit of it," said Mr. Donoe; "my wife went off with an angel in the middle of the night ; I expect she 's far enough off by this time." " Oh, Gregory !" replied his weeping wife, " do let me in, I 've come back ; only try me, and I never will be such a fool again." Mr. Donoe gladly received his wife home again, and neither heard nor saw more of her Millerism. The dust again flew from the shelves and chairs betimes ; the frying-pan sputtered in the morning, as of old, and the tea-kettle hissed and sang at twilight. The wash-tub returned to its wonted activity, and order and comfort reigned again in the household. CONE CUT CORNERS. 93 The Captain, accidentally passing the domestic entrance of Gregory Donoe's one bright morning in the first week of Mrs. Donoe's re-conversion, saw that lady shaking the door-mat on the front-door steps, in front of the porch. Gregory himself was standing near the door watching that operation. From all appearances, the mat had not enjoyed as thorough a shak- ing for some time. " Your wife 's about again, I see," said the Captain, in an under tone, to Donoe. Gregory Donoe grinned at the Captain, as much as to say, " You 're a cute fellow." " Good morning, Mrs. Donoe," said the Captain, in a louder tone of voice. " Good morning," said Mrs. Donoe, curtly, without looking up however, and without intermitting her occupation. She was the least bit in the world suspicious of the Captain. " It 's a fine morning," renewed the Captain, pleasantly. No answer. " Milder than last Tuesday night," persisted the Captain, in a still more winning tone. Mrs. Donoe looked sharply at the Captain, and murmured something to the effect that she "didn't know any thing about last Tuesday night." " Gregory turned suddenly around, away from the house ; presenting to a philosophic cow, who happened to be passing, a visage surprisingly rosy and contorted with repressed emotion. " I thought I would just mention," said the Captain, assum- ing his most gentlemanly manner, "that if any body ever comes t<> me a'xain with any gossip about my aft'airs, that you - 94 CONE CUT CORNERS. had a hand in, I shall feel obliged to tell them all about your trip with that angel." " Oh, you ! " commenced Mrs. Donoe, clinching her fair hand. " And about the chariot of fire," added the Captain. And he bowed a gentlemanly bow, and passed on. There was no further gossip in Cone Cut about the affairs of Captain Mayferrie. VIII. FROM THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS, DOWNWARD. IN the present embryotic state of American aristocracy, the name of Chesslebury can not be expected to receive that admira- tion which it surely will com- mand when, by the inevitable lapse of time, it shall have become truly ancient and ennobled. It . is now middle-aged and respectable. It aspires to become antique and venerable. We all know that families, like cheese for instance, are more highly esteemed after they have become old and rich, and fragrant of a certain highly artificial savor. It is for this odor that some of the ambitious members of the family, with whom we have presently much to do, most ardently aspire. The name of Chesslebury, however, is not even now to be sneered at. It has been in newspaper paragraphs for many years. It has furnished several subjects for modern biogra- phies, "printed for private circulation not published," and mostly written by modest descendants, who are supposed to 96 CONE CUT CORNERS. have caught whatever mantle of earthly virtue the late lamented may have left belfind him. This same name too, appears once in a foot-note in a memorable page of Bancroft, which makes that historian a favorite with the readers of the family. There are towns named for it too. It has been called by the tellers in Legislatures with various prefixes, from Peter to Lafayette, time out of mind that is to say, for almost three quarters of a century and it may be further said, if that adds any thing to the weight of such considerations, that it has graced three defeated tickets in congressional elections. It is, therefore, a very respectable name. There hangs at this moment in the library of Lafayette Chesslebury, Esquire, an elaborate painting of the coat of arms of his family. The resurrection of this decoration has been a recent work; and it now begins to be announced upon proper occasions, which occur with sufficient frequency, that the American branch sprang from "two brothers who came over in 1*7 , and settled in Connecticut," where their name has been industriously propagated ever since. Of this branch of the family tree, the bough with wlu'ch we have more particularly to do, comprises five twigs : Hon. Lafayette Chesslebury, Mrs. Virginia Chesslebury, the two Misses Chesslebury, and the young Master Chesslebury. These have some time since forsaken the country condition and circumstance" of the Connecticut Chessleburys, and have sought modern and urban prosperity in the city of New York. Mr. Chesslebury's original profession was Law. It was now, Money. He started in life- by practice in .the rural districts. In this he was quite successful. He knew enough law to talk to his clients, and gain about half his cases, which CONK CUT CORNERS. 97 is said by those who ought to know, to be no mean profi- ciency in his profession. Becoming thus an important man in the county, he gradually assumed political engagements, which carried him more and more into public life. When he had achieved his election into the State Legislature he came to the conclusion that all things considered, it would be a very good time for him to marry. Here arose a perplexity. Mr. Chesslebury did not know upon whom to confer his name, and this question was made still more serious and embar- rassing by the thought that he had just added " Honorable," to that name. He scanned the horizon of his acquaintances without finding any star of sufficient magnitude to throw much light upon his path and prospects. For Mr. Chessle- bury had set his heart on Congress, and in default of Congress, an office. " Now," reasoned he, " I have a pretty good chance to run in as representative next year ; as good a chance as I can make it ; and if that falls through, I must have the train laid for being appointed District Attorney. I must therefore plan with reference to that. I must many into some first-rate family ; some family with large political influence ; that 's what I need. The best thing I can do is to go to Washington a little while this winter, and perhaps things will lead to something." In pursuance of this reso- lution, the Honorable Lafayette Chesslebury finally wooed, won, and married one of the first families in Virginia in fact, without doubt, the very first in the person of Miss Virginia Plumme. Mr. Chesslebury was a smart man, not a great man. The life of a smart man is the asymptote to the hyperbola of trivatness. It continually approaches, but can never meet it. 08 CONE CUT CORNERS. The political interest , and influence of Miss Virginia Pluinnie very curiously losing its strength as soon as she was married and settled, Mr. Chesslebury was obliged to console himself with the seven thousand and odd per annum, which bonus he had received when he took his better two-fifths off the hands of the first family. Moreover, as next fall, a poor democrat, who had often mado horse-shoes for him in the coun- try, ran over him in the congressional election, Mr. Chessle- bury, with characteristic readiness, found opening before him r other, far higher aims, and infinitely broader prospects than an attorneyship, or a seat in the somewhat plebeian hall of repre- sentatives. Soon his ambition converged to that of his wife, and he removed to New York ; " which is, after all," said he, " the center and head-quarters of all those interests and influences and powers which are the real sources of any great success in life, and of those things which do finally lead to something." In the lower part of Broadway he opened an office, and de- voted himself to such practice as came to him which was little ; to managing his property which was considerable ; to speculating largely and shrewdly in things which were going to lead to something ; and to achieving for the Chesslebury name that eminence and precedence in the fashionable world to which it was undeniably entitled. Mrs. Chesslebury is therefore of the best society. Few stand better in the best society than she. She is a leader in the world of fashion. Few have higher qualifications for that very lofty and commanding position. The world of fashion in which she shines is not a large world, but it is a very choice world. Its orbit is smaller than tin? orbits of some others ; the path prescribed for it in the CONE CUT c o n :; K K .s . I; v social system is narrow, but it is exclusive. It is an indus- trious world; it works late at night, and far into the next morning, and only retires to rest, putting out its many lights, when the morning sun begins to extinguish, one by one, the stars. Like the moon, the world of fashion shines by night ; and shows but a feeble, faded face by day. It is an ambitious world ; ambitious to wear the newest dress, to produce the most re- cent fashion to make the most striking show. It is a world which spends much, dresses much, talks much, -does little. It is a world of smiling faces, and of envious hearts of bright eyes and dull intellects of brilliant nights, and of cold gray morn- ings. It is a world of great cry ; but not of a great deal of fine wool ; a world of much glitter ; but of very little pure gold. Prominent as a leader in this world is Mrs. Lafayette Ches- slebury, well fitted by nature and education for her position ; well endowed with all those charming qualities of mind and person which make the world of fashion so elevated and so elevating. The great object of her life is to outshine Mrs. Stuccuppe ; as the great object of Mrs. Stuccuppe's life is to outshine Mrs. Chesslebury. The world of fashion is pretty equally divided between the two. One half takes its tone from Mrs. Stuccuppe, the other half from Mrs. Chesslebury. Mrs. Stuccuppe drinks the waters at Saratoga. Mrs. Ches- slebury bathes and yachts at Newport. Mrs. Stuccuppe at- tracts admiring glances in morning service, by a new Parisian bonnet. Mrs. Chesslebury extinguishes her, next Sunday, with a camel's hair shawl. Mrs. Stuccuppe annihilates Mrs. Chesslebury with " the largest party of the season," in which, she introduces the new feature of tableaux. Mrs. Chesslebury the next week attains a glorious resurrection, in a triumphant 100 CONE -CUT CORNERS. fancy dress ball. Meanwhile, they arc to each other warm friends ; and no acquaintances in an evening party shake hands more cordially than these two mortal enemies. In all such fashionable warfare, Mrs. Chesslebury is unsur- passed. A host within herself, wherever she goes, she carries strength and courage to her friends, and spreads rout and dis- may among her enemies. Young ladies growing up in the world of fashion, model themselves after her. Old we beg their pardon mature ladies, hesitate not to imitate her closely. Young men, connoisseurs, pronounce her a splendid woman, and her husband a lucky fellow ; and the pair never enter a ball-room together without producing a sensation. She is bold in open contest, skillful in tactics, placid in triumph, and graceful in defeat. She has a mind for maneu- vering, an ear for scandal, an eye for the faults and frailties of her friends, and a hand for her husband's purse. The elder Miss Chesslebury, just seventeen by the family genealogy, has lately finished her education, and has butter- flied, or as that process is termed among the insects of fash- ionable life, has " come out," this winter. The younger Miss Chesslebury is still in chrysalis at a boarding-school. Both of them sing a little, play a little, dance a little, and misun- derstand French a good deal. There is also in the family, young Master Chesslebury, already mentioned in these pages. But young masters are of no account in the fashionable world. Of him, more hereafter. This comprises the whole of the list; and gives you. sir, what many a young gentleman would give his head, aye ! and a good deal more than that is worth, to obtain ; namely, a per- sonal introduction to the Chessleburv family. IX. AUGUST, 1S4TT THE Chesslebury mansion, a building brick in substance, but veneered with free-stone, stands four stories high in the vicinity of Washington Parade Ground ; and the younger Miss Chesslebury, sitting listlessly by the -window, overlooks the park, and sees through the green foliage a number of vul- gar people sitting upon the benches. From stopping to rest upon a bench a moment, and munch a penny apple, purchased on the spot, a boy wends his way to the Chesslebury mansion, heavily laden with vulgar bundles. No ! we beg your pardon, madam ! There is nothing vulgar in those bundles. This, for instance, is a French silk ; that an expensive shawl ; this a pair of Cinderella-sized slippers. This littlest parcel is a pair of kid gloves, which it is the gen- teolost thing to wear upon the hands ; but a veiy vulgar 102 CONE CUT CORNERS. thing to carry in the hand, thus tied up in brown paper. On so slight a matter, madam, depend so important results. The boy goes straight to the Chesslebury mansion, know- ing it of old. He climbs its broad steps, rings the door-bell, and sits down upon a step, to wait for an answer ; whistling, meanwhile, a popular melody with brilliant variations, and keeping time with his head. The performance is interrupted in the middle of the second repetition, by, " Well ! there, boy !" What do you want ?" The speaker is a very sprucely-dressed gentleman, whose boots are of the brightest polish, whose coat is of the glossiest black, whose marseilles vest is of the most unspotted purity, whose clerical neckcloth is of the most dazzling whiteness, whose whole mien and manner is that of one fresh starched every morning, like his own linen. " Is Mrs. Chesslebury in ?" inquired the lad. " Yes," replied the gentlemanly-dressed young man, coolly surveying the boy, whom he at onee noted as belonging to the lower order of creation. " Yes, Mrs. Chesslebury is in." This he said with the door opened but a little way, and the space fully occupied by his own prepossessing person. " Bundles for her," said the boy. " You can leave the things. I will see to them." " I am to see her, if you please." "Well, really," said the gentlemanly-dressed young man, in soliloquy, quite deprived for the moment of his usual pres- ence of mind. Then recovering himself, in a tone of some im- patience he added, " Well, why don't you come in, then ?" Saying this, he threw the door open, standing carefully on CONE CUT CORNERS. 103 one side, lest he should be contaminated by the vulgar pres- ence. The boy, modestly entering his bundles, was proceed- ing to follow them himself, when he was again interrupted. " Hold on there," said the gentlemanly dressed young man, " what do you suppose scrapers were made for ?" The boy made no further answer to this interrogatory than to scrape his feet very hard against the scraper, which stood outside the door, and to burnish them very bright upon the mat which lay within. The gentlemanly-dressed young man then shut the door, and departed up the richly-carpeted stairs, treading apologetically upon the pictured flowers, which climbed naturally enough up the spiral staircase. " Which Miss Chesslebury did you wish to see T inquired he, stopping half way up, and turning partly around to ad- ' dress the boy, who was leaning wearily against the wall. " It's Mrs. Chesslebury, if you please," returned the boy. "Mrs. Chesslebury. Eh 1 ?" said the gentlemanly-dressed young man. " That 's quite another matter. Why could n't you say it right at first. No. She 's out. Or stop. It 's just possible she may be in. I '11 ask." So saying, he went on up stairs to inquire of Mrs. Chessle- bury whether she were in ; that worthy lady having just in- formed him over the bannisters that she was out unless the boy from Haggle & Change's came. Mrs. Chesslebury and the elder Miss Chesslebury were ex- amining dress patterns. The younger Miss Chesslebury was working a beautiful design in Avorsted a green butterfly in a blue oyster-shell, reposing amid a bed of many-colored roses. Young Jason Chesslebury, pressed into that service much against his will, was reading aloud. 104 CONE CUT CORNERS. " Well, "Wilson," said Mrs. Cliesslebury, as the gentlemanly dressed young man entered the room. " It 's the boy from Haggle & Change's." "Good!" cried Jason; "Cousin Paul!" So saying, he threw down the book, and darted out of the room, very glad of the interruption. " Jason ! Jason !" called his mother, reprovingly. But Jason had already disappeared down the stairs, or to speak more accurately, down the bannisters, upon which he had slid, descending like a young avalanche. " Oh, dear ! What a boy !" sighed the younger Miss Ches- slebury. " Oh ! how ridiculous !" exclaimed her sister ; " running after a shop-boy in that manner." " Let the boy leave the things," said Mrs. Chesslebury. "I told him that, ma'am," replied Wilson, "and he said he wanted to see you." " Let him wait, then," said Mrs. Chesslebury. "Very well, ma'am." "Hulloa, Cousin Paul," cried Jason, sliding dexterously off the bannister, and cordially shaking hands with him. " How are you ?" "Tired," said the boy. Paul Bundle, though Jason's second-cousin, was entirely unknown, to the Chesslebury genealogy. His mother, origin- ally a Chesslebury, had voluntarily excommunicated herself, when she promised to love, honor, and obey a Rundle a mere shopman a fellow of no pretensions to gentility whatsoever. She never had stood high in that family before. She was now utterly disowned. Her name was struck off the family CONE CUT CORNERS. 105 visiting-list, and she no longer moved in any society at all. A few Mr. Chesslebury among the number kept up, for a while, a limited acquaintance with the Bundles, in the hope that it might lead to something. But when Mr. Rundlo invested, through Mr. Chesslebury's advice, in an unlucky speculation, by taking stock in one of Mr. Chesslebury's com- panies, the result of which operation was the transfer of all his property to Mr. Chesslebury's pocket, the business world, as well as the fashionable world, deserted him, and the Rundles were known no more forever. Thus it was that Paul, though Jason's second-cousin, was unknown to the Chesslebury "Come in, and sit down," said Jason. * The boys entered the parlor and sat down. The room was one which seldom saw the daylight. The shutters were closed now, and the dark curtains were not gathered up in graceful folds, but hung heavily to the floor. Paul noticed, however, that the sofa on which they sat, as well as the rest of the fur- niture, was covered with a brown linen dress, like that which elephants are accustomed to wear when entering a country village in company with a menagerie. " How are they all at home ?" asked Jason. "First-rate." "And how 's your father ?" inquired Jason, hesitatingly. Paul shook his head sorrowfully, but said nothing. Jason understood the answer. " I say," said he, after a pause, " why didn't you come up yesterday? Ma's dreadfully cross that the things didn't come before." , " I can't help it," answered Paul, despairingly, " if she is. 5* 106 CONE CUT CORNERS. I can't , manufacture the silk, or steal the gloves. I have to take them when they 're given to me. I came straight here as soon as I could get them." " Well, I know it," replied Jason. " I don't blame " " Now, look here ; this is how it is," continued Paul, inter- rupting him, " I come away from the store with a dozen bun- dles. I come here first. And your mother keeps me waiting half an hour before she '11 see me, and then I have to catch it because the things were n't brought before. Then I go to Mrs. Stuccuppe's, and there I have to wait for half an hour, and then catch it because a ribbon does n't match ; as though I had any tiling to do with that ; and then I go to Mrs. Minnyflinn's, and there I have to catch it because the last silk she bought was n't a good one ; and so on ; every^ where they keep me half an age, and blow me up for other people's faults ; and then, when I get back to the store again, I have to catch it finally for being gone so long, and " Well, I declare," commenced Jason, " it is too bad." " And if," continued the boy, interrupting him again, " I am tired, or in a hurry, or both, and try to hook a ride a little way, why I am a dishonest scapegrace ; and if I get cut behind, I get laughed at." " Why ! don't you ride ?" asked Jason. " I mean if you 're going far." " Hide ! bless you ! no ! I wish I did. Now, to-day, I have n't had any dinner, not to speak of. I shan't have any tea, nor yet supper ; and if I get to bed before to-morrow morning, I shall be lucky. Then if I ain't at the store early to-morrow, and get the windows washed and the store swept CONE CUT CORNERS. 107 out before seven o'clock, I am a slow stupid, or a lazy rascal. Oh ! ho ! If it was n't for Susie and mother I don't know what I should do." "And do you have to run of errands all the day ?" asked Jason. "All day, and half the night, too. It 's nothing but bun- dles, bundles, bundles,- from morning to night. Why, a lady a real fine lady can't buy a yard of ribbon, or a pair of gloves, but they must be sent home. My feet ache so, sometimes, when I get home, with being on them all the time ! Heigho ! I wish your mother would come down." " I '11 go and see if I can't get her to," said Jason. He was as good as his word, and presently returned with Mrs. Chesslebury, whom he had persuaded, though not with- out much difficulty, to come down. " Well, Bundle," said the lady, graciously, to him. " Here are all the things, ma'am," replied he, now out in the entry, and placing the Chesslebury bundles on one of the entry chairs. " And if you please, ma'am," he added, hesita- tingly, " Mr. Change wants to know would you find it con- venient to settle that bill." He handed it to her as he spoke. " Bless me !" said she, " isn't that thing settled yet ? You brought this to me a month ago." " I know it," said Paul. "And I told you then," said the lady, "not to bring these bills to me. You must carry them to Mr. Chesslebury, to the office. " And so I did," said Paul, " and Mr. Chesslebury said that he did not know any thing about it. He could n't settle it. I must bring it to you. He said I must n't bring these bills to him, never. I must carry them to the house." "Oh ! it's a mistake," said Mrs. Chesslebury; "/haven't 108 CONE CUT CORNERS. got the money. I never keep the money here. You must carry the bill to him, and just say that I said it was all right. He will settle it. It 's of no use bringing these bills to me no use." Of this Paul \vas very well satisfied, as he took the bill back again from Mrs. Chesslebury. Four times did Paul thus play shuttlecock between the house and the office, before he succeeded in getting even any promise of payment ; and that was only by finding, luckily, Mr. and Mrs. Chesslebury at home together, one evening, where neither could well refer him to the other. " And what," said Mrs. Chesslebury, taking up a bundle directed to Mrs. Stuccuppe, " and what is in this ? Do you know, Bundle ?" " No, ma'am," said Paul. " It feels like velvet. Look here, Helen. I wonder what this is. Something new for Araminta, I expect." " Poor thing ! I hope so," said the elder Miss Chesslebury, in a tone of great commiseration. " She has worn that pink brocade of hers three times. I declare it is quite dreadful to think of it." " It certainly is velvet," said Mrs. Chesslebury, opening a little crack in the corner, for the purpose of taking a better observation. " Let me see," said Helen. She took the bundle, and slipped the string partly off. " Oh ! please not," said the boy, starting forward, and then stopping, frightened at his own boldness. " Oh ! dear me," said Miss Helen , " you need not be fright- ened. I shall not hurt it." CONE CUT CORNERS. 109 " I don't see what business you have to open it," remon- strated Jason. "You wouldn't like it if Araminta should open your bundles." " 'T would be just like her, the meddlesome minx !" return- ed Miss Helen, opening the bundle at the end, and examining its contents. "What a lovely color!" said Mrs. Chesslebury, looking over her daughter's shoulder. "It is a cheap thing," said Miss Helen, contemptuously, testing its quality between her thumb and finger. Probably no epithet in Miss Chesslebury's vocabulary con- tained so much of contempt as the word cheap. At all events, it completed the examination of the dress pattern, and she tossed the parcel back, leaving Bundle to tie it up as well as he might. She then followed Mrs. Chesslebury up stairs ; while Jason covertly went out with Paul, to accompany him up to Mrs. Stuccuppe's, and help him carry his bundles. "My dear," said Mrs. Chesslebury to her husband that night, " don't go right to sleep. I want to talk to you about Jason." " Well !" said Mr. Chesslebury. " He ought to go away some where to school," continued she. " He is getting into very low habits here. To-day he went up to Mrs. Stuccuppe's with a what 's his name Bundle. And he actually carried some of his bundles for him." " Yes !" responded the gentleman. " I Ve been thinking of that for some time past. It is very important that he should be placed at some good institution immediately. He is just 110 CONE CUT CORNERS. at that age when it is of the highest consequence that his mind should be properly trained, and its growth rightly di- rected. And we ought to be peculiarly careful, my dear, in respect to the character of the circle of his acquaintance. He should be placed in some quiet, yet exclusive circle, where his tastes and manners may be formed in a mold more congenial to, and and and better fitted for, the position in society which his family, and, I think I may safely say so his abili ties, are eminently calculated to bestow upon him." " There 's Doctor Crammer's Collegiate Institute," suggested his wife. " And yet," said he, doubtfully, " there are objectionable features even in that excellent institution. It is too much, perhaps, of a miscellaneous character ; which is, indeed, a characteristic, I regret to say, of all our American institutions of learning. There are, I am afraid, many lads, sons of shop- keepers, and even mechanics and farmers, at Doctor Crammers, with whom we should naturally not wish our son to associ- ate in future life, or even now. 'T was only last night, I think, that Jason told me young Haggle was going to school there, this fall." Mrs. Chesslebury shuddered. " Cone Cut has occurred to me, -as a place better fitted, in some resp " " Why, bless me ! Mr. Chesslebury," interrupted his wife. " There is no school there. Nothing but a village academy." " True, my dear," returned he, " but I should not propose to send him directly to the academy. Let him go into some quiet family ; the minister's for example. What is his name .' Some sort of vegetable, I think. Corn 1 no it can not be corn.'' CONE CUT CORNERS. Ill " Grain," suggested Mrs. Chesslebury. " Thank you. That is the word, Grayne. He has no chil- dren, I think. Strange I should have forgotten his name ; we used to be at school together, once. Jason would have no common acquaintances and friendships to form therefore. And, indeed, it would be more like employing a private tutor for him than sending him to a public school. It would be, it is true, rather more expensive than the ordinary course of education, but augh " he ends the sentence with a yawn. The expense Mr. Chesslebury stated in form, as an objec- jection ; but in effect, as a recommendation. "Will it?" said Mrs. Chesslebury. "Well! perhaps then, that is the best place." "I augh dear me " another tremendous yawn "think that will be found to be the most desirable course to be pur- sued." As he said this, considering the discussion virtually finished, he turned over and composed himself to sleep ; he then continued, " In such a position he will he will be free from all all restraints and and ; what was I saying ? I mean from all from all associates and There is a brief pause. " When is he to go, Mr. Chesslebury ?" No answer. " Mr. Chesslebury ! Mr. Chesslebury ! I say, Mr. Chessle- bury !" " Eh ! What 1" said he, suddenly. " When is he to go ?" " Yes ! I think so too. He had better go by by all " "Yes! but when? Mr. Chesslebury! I say Mr. Chessle- 112 CONE CUT CORNERS. bury ! Oh ! dear me ; just like him. Always will go to sleep when I want to talk ; and always will talk when I want to go to sleep." And this was the way it was decided that Jason should go to Cone Cut to school. X. SEPTEMBER, 1347. " IF all the men, women, and chil- dren in the world were one great man, and all the axes, hatchets, and knives were one great ax, and all the trees and bushes were one great tree, and all the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, brooks, and fountains in the world, were one great ocean ; and if the great man, taking the great ax, should cut down the great tree, so that it fell into the great 114 CONE CUT CORNERS. ocean, -what a tremendous splash it would make," theorizes an ancient proverb with which the authors of this veracious history recollect to have been greatly entertained in their infancy. Very much such a splash as this did the news that Jason Chesslebury was coming to pursue his education at the Cone Cut Academy create, when it was first precipitated into the placid mind of Miss Provy Pease ; from which central point, circling ripples of intelligence flowed out over all the surface of society at Cone Cut Corners. For the academy of that town did not boast a foreign repu- tation. It was not a college, as, in certain portions of our re- public, most academies are growing up to be. Nor was its principal a " Professor." Nor had that functionary re- ceived that degree of "Doctor of" something or other, to which every man who attains a position of mediocrity in litera- ry pursuits, and keeps it, is now understood to be entitled. Nor was the Institution heralded, from term to term, in the city prints, in advertisements, setting forth in effect, that Cone Cut Academy was so near the city that parents could, without the slightest inconvenience, enter their children as students, and visit them upon the shortest notice, while it was yet so remote that no adventurous boy could return unexpectedly ; that its situation was at once so retired as to entice the minds of youth to engrossing study, and yet so rurally agreeable as to tempt to constant and healthful pastime in the open air; that as a special favor to particular friends in urgent cases, any body's children would be received into the family of the principal, where, for a consideration merely nominal, absolutely a bagatelle, they would enjoy not only every phys- CONE CUT CORNERS. 115 ical luxury, no matter how costly, but also that strict and ele- vated moral training which is more closely associated, in the mind of the boyish philosopher, with lasting and flagellation, than with good living. It may have been that such eminent advantages as these, which now-a-days seem to be the uniform perquisites of rural schools, were not at the command of the founders of the Cone Cut Academy. At all events those unsophisticated men had been content to intrust the management of their school to a young man who had grown up in their own town, and had won his way to a good education by hard labor. He had de- voted himself steadily to the task of educating the youth of Cone Cut and its vicinity, without laboring for a more extend- ed feme. Thus it was that Jason Chesslebury was the first who had ever joined the school from quarters beyond the immediate neighborhood. Nor is it likely that Mr. Chesslebury would have had his attention favorably drawn to this seat of learning, as an eligi- ble place for his son to pursue his education, had it not been for a slight circumstance connected with the early financial management of the academy. A number of years before, when the old church was first surrendered to the uses of the school, the trustees had applied to Mr. Chesslebury, their wealthy ex-townsman, then on a summer's visit among them, for a pecuniary loan to aid them in making the desired altera- tions in the building. With this request Mr. Chesslebury had complied, to a limited extent, taking the note of the trustees for the amount of his advance. This note the trustees had *" never found it convenient to pay. Such a circumstance as 116 CONE CUT CORNERS. this, was exactly calculated to interest Mr. Chesslebuiy in the academy ; to give him, as it were, a paternal feeling toward it. Therefore, he had often written for information upon the affairs of the school, asking " how they were getting on,"-^ " what their prospects were," " how they were off for cash," and making other like inquiries indicating his friendly interest in the welfare of his pet academy. And this autumn, finding money rather tight, and looking about him, as rich men do when times are hard, to discover what retrenchments he could make without making any sacrifices, he bethought himself that he had better send Jason to Cone Cut and endorse his bills upon the note, than keep him at school in New York and pay them in cash. "Besides," ruminated Mr. Chesslebury, putting the Cone Cut note back into the little tin box which served as coffin for sundry " dead papers" of like character ; " a run in the country '11 do him good ; the country is the best place to be brought up in, after all." What weight Mr. Chesslebury attached to these respective considerations, can not at this distance of time be ascertained. It is certain, however, that the arguments which he suggested to his wife in the domestic council, revealed in the last chap- ter, were not those which operated most strongly upon his own mind. Notwithstanding this, however, the plan was duly carried into effect, the black trunk embroidered with bright brass nails, presenting, in the midst of various geometri- cal devices, the initials J. L. C., was seasonably packed, and, on the appointed day, Jason departed from the Chesslebury mansion. Our young friend, having duly arrived at the residence of COXE CUT CORNERS. 117 Elder Graynes, made a very favorable impression upon the scrutinizing and inquisitive eyes that were immediately turned upon him. First was the inspection of the Elder himself, made gravely and silently through the medium of a pair of substantial silver spectacles, produced for the purpose from a pocket. " I am very glad to see you, my young friend," said the Elder, in a hortatory tone of voice, and seating himself as he spoke, in a rocking-chair. " I hope you and I shall get along together as well as your father and I used v to, when we were at school." "Father told me," answered Jason, with a frank smile, " about the good times you used to have together." The good pastor smiled at the reminiscences of mischief thus called up, and silently nodded, as if to confess that the lad had the advantage in the first approaches of their ac- quaintance. The eyes that Jason next became conscious of, were those of Airs. Graynes, an elderly lady, grave too, and kindly in her manner, like her husband. Mrs. Graynes was seated in an- other rocking-chair, upon the opposite side of the still sum-* mer-screened fire-place, and by the side of her little work- table, where she was employed in getting out work for the sewing circle. The two rocking-chairs were alike, except that the Elder's wore a coat of paint a black coat and looked ministerial, while his wife's chair wore a chintz dress, with the usual stuffing upon the seat, and looked matronly. The occupants, too, resembled each other, except that the one was osteifcibly masculine, and the other apparently feminine. It seemed as if the quiet current of their lives had run so long 118 in one channel that they formed indeed one and the same. When the husband smiled and recognized Jason's quiet sug- gestion in anticipation of questions of discipline, the wife smiled and nodded too ; and when the Elder asked Jason about the health of his father, the wife followed with inquiries after the wejfare of his mother; and finally, when Mrs. Graynes apologized for withdrawing to the kitchen on the ground of household duties preliminary to supper, the Elder excused himself for going out in the other direction to put away the garden tools, which he said he had left behind the house. Jason, however, was not to be left in the sitting-room upon ceremony. He followed the Elder into the garden, where finding that the basket, which the latter had been filling with potatoes from the hills, was but half full, he suggested the propriety of completing the job; and briskly rolling up his sleeves, grasped a vine with a sweep of his hands, and had the roots shaken free of earth, and dangling over the basket, before the Elder, had he been accustomed to that expression, could have said Jack Kobinson ; much less, Jason Lafayette Chesslebury. Looking up with a smile, Jason stood back to let the Elder uncover the hill. " Aha," said Elder Graynes, " I did n't think you city boys knew as much as that." By the time the hoe was planted to uncover the first hill, Jason had the next one opened ; and before the Elder could bend his stiffened back to pick up, Jason was stooping over the hill, and the potatoes were rattling into the basket. When Jason came trudging unceremoniously in at* the back door of the kitchen, carrying the heaped basket, the surprised CONE OUT CORNERS. 119 Mrs. Graynes within said, " Thank you, Jason," in exactly the same kind, pleasant tone in which her husband, who followed with the hoe, had uttered it five minutes before, in the garden without. During the few moments they had been out of the house, Jason had been the unconscious focus of many eyes. Miss Lucretia Oleanda Blossom, who had been looking from her parlor window opposite, ever since the stage came in, said he was a fine-looking little fellow, until she saw him picking up potatoes; and then she added? as if in the same sentence, that his manner was quite rude and boyish. Mrs. Boggs, who was a judge of character, of juvenile character in particular, and was then looking at the young stranger from around the water-butt which stood Under her own eaves, soliloquized a compliment and a resolution to af- ford him an early opportunity to gather a basket of chips for her own domestic hearth. Mr. Trimmins, the tailor, who was accidentally passing the Elder's gate at about the same time, leaned his short per- son against the fence, tarrying to familiarize his eye with what he assured himself must be the latest fashion of youth's roundabouts in New York ; and next week reproduced his idea of the same in the shape of a jacket with half sleeves, and only quarter coat tails, for Master William Henry Blos- som, younger brother to Miss Lucretia Oleanda. Mrs. Soozle, who was of a different persuasion from the Elder, and deplored his ministrations, remarked from behind her thin hedge, across the lane, that the Elder was getting the poor fellow at work in good season, and she though! it 120 CONE CUT CORNERS. would pay well at that rate if her husband had a boarder from the city. And Miss Provy Pease herself, coming briskly in at the garden gate, followed the Elder into the kitchen, and running before him to greet the stranger, cried out ; " So this is Master Jason Chesslebury : I am happy to see you, Jason, how do you do ? You left them all well in New York I hope ?" To this unexpected greeting Jason responded with better grace than Miss Provy Pease was accustomed to receive from unknown young gentlemen of his age ; and she being quite struck with admiration, addressed her remarks thereafter to Mrs. Graynes, to help whom, she averred she had come in, as she happened to be going by. Miss Provy Pease prolonged her stay some tune ; but no favorable opportunity arising for her to offer her services in assisting in the unpacking of Jason's trunk, she- contented herself with dispatching the preparations for supper. She received an invitation from the Elder, and 'a similar one from his wife, to stay to tea. This she declined to do, saying with a laugh, that she could n't leave Calick to starve ; and there- upon she threw on her white sun-bonnet and nodded herself out again. And thence on every hand the ripples spread. Flowing in through a door here, and through an open window there ; now eddying over a garden gate, now dashing up at a second story. And so the ripples spread. One of these ripples reached Mr. John Mayferrie in the store of Gregory Doqpe. Mr. Mavferrio was then verv comfortably seated in a rush- CONK CUT COKNERS. 121 bottomed chair, tipped up against the door-post of the store. It was hardly the gentlemanly position he was accustomed to assume some years ago. But perhaps he had just finished a hard day's work, and might be pardoned this indulgence. There was an idle tip about the hat he wore, and when he rose there was something in his gait, not by any means the vigorous step and handsome bearing he used to have. But then perhaps a farmer's life and hard toil had made him stand less straight and tread less firmly. When the ripple reached him he rose and remarked that it was growing dark, and time for steady people like him to be off. With this he started homeward. Tea was just finished as he approached the parsonage. " Ah," said the Elder, who was standing in the open door with Jason, after tea, " there goes Captain Mayferrie." But Captain Mayferrie did not seem to be decided to go by, and as he lingered a moment near the gate, the Elder sal- lied out to exchange a word. Jason followed. " Captain Mayferrie, this is our young friend, Master Chessle- bury." " Good evening, Mister Chesslebury," said the Captain, handsomely. Jason stepping up, clandestinely put his foot on the lower bar of the front fence, to raise himself to a level with his new acquaintance, and his new title. " You have come to spend some time among us, have you not F " Yes, sir, I hope so." " I should be happy to have you come up and see me. My place is on the hill right up the road. They all know where 122 CONE CUT CORNERS. it is. I should be happy to see you. Come any time. We are getting in apples now. We have about got through with that, and are beginning to make cider. I always begin that early, and mine is pretty good too, they tell me. Come up to-morrow and you shall have some cider, and as many ap- ples as you can bring home." XL SEPTEMBER, 134T. MR. BAXTER BLOSSOM, who may perhaps, be styled the Captain of the Cone Cut Infantry, inasmuch as he taught the young idea of that pleasant village how to shoot, pursued his vocation in a curious old intellectual pistol-gallery, known in Cone Cut chronicles as the Academy. It was a building originally erected to serve as a church, when the village numbered fewer church-goers than at this day. But as time passed on, and the congregation grew too large for their edifice, there were but two courses open to them ; to split up 1-24 CONE CUT CORNERS. into half a dozen .denominations, build five additional churches, settle five additional pastors, and set themselves diligently at work to convert each other or, upon the other hand, to build one larger church and worship therein in har- mony. . Unlike most towns in New England when in a simi- lar emergency, they chose the latter course; and thus it was, that upon the completion of their new building, the old church became the new academy. It was very little changed without; but somewhat more within, where the old pulpit was razeed to make a platform for Mr. Baxter- Blossom's seat, the former pews were re-modelled to the form of desks, and the little singer's gallery was fitted up as a recitation- room. To this Mr. Blossom daily conducted little troops upon various intellectual target excursions. And in this arrangement he enjoyed one eminent advantage that he could stand sentinel over the whole force under his command .below stairs, at the same time that he was able effectually to superintend the practice of the particular detachment on duty above. It was into this academy that Master Jason Chesslebury was brought by destiny and Elder Graynes, to commence his intended course of study. And the term being now well under way, and the school prosperous, the desks were nearly full. All up and down on the right hand side of the aisle the seats were filled with boys ; big boys, little boys, shame- faced boys, bold boys, lazy boys, industrious boys, bright boys, roguish boys. And on the other side were girls; young girls, grown-up girls, handsome girls, plain girls, charming girls, fine girls, pretty girls, queer girls. CONE CUT CORNERS. 125 At the further end of the room there had formerly been upon each side of the church three side pews which faced the pulpit, with doors opening out toward the body of the house. These had been favorite seats with all the boys in the days of the old church, as affording at once a view of the minister and of the singers. But now their popularity had departed. Those on one side had been removed to make room for an extensive set of hat and cloak-stands. Those upon the other had been replaced by a pair of school-desks, each long enough to seat four scholars. The forward one of these was vacant. That behind it wns occupied by a young girl alone. Bending over her slate, with long curls shading a still childish, yet almost womanly face, she was the only one who did not in- dulge herself in a good look at the new comer. Her curiosity respecting him, if any she felt, was somewhat gratified, inasmuch as, since Mr. Blossom, after a short examination of his new pupil, installed him in the unoccupied desk just before her, she had an excellent view of so much of the new scholar's person as could be seen from her position. And before long, as the novelty of his new seat began to wear off, and Jason began to grow tired of having nothing to do, and but a dull place to do it in, he casually, as it were, and with great and well-assumed appearance of accident, turned himself about from time to time, to observe his new neigh- bor ; finding upon nearly every such occasion that she was herself equally busy in observing him. Not to make advances toward a better acquaintance, under such circumstances, was not to be Jason Chesslebury. And having no better letter of introduction, that young gentleman drew from his pocket a good-sized russet apple, one of Cap- 1*. COKE CUT CORNERS. tain Mayferrie's best graftings, and having previously pre- pared a slip of paper containing the phrase, borrowed from his city reminiscences " introducing Mr. Jason L. Chesslebury" fastened it to the brown-cheeked fruit by the simple process of driving a pin through the paper and cheek, into the very seeds of the apple. This done, and having watched Mr. Blos- som into the very furthest corner of the room, he adroitly laid his peace-offering upon the young lady's desk, in such man- ner that, without opportunity for remonstrance on her part, it rolled directly down into her very lap. There was a look of surprise and interest upon her face as she looked up from reading the inscription ; which was quickly mirrored in Jason's countenance, when she covertly opened her arithmetic, and turning it half round to meet his eye, permitted him to read, inscribed upon the inside of the cover, the classic lines : " Steal not this book, for fear of shame, For here you see the owner's name. SALA>T>A PEASE CHESSLEBUBY." " What !" exclaimed Jason, in a whisper, Mr. Baxter Blos- som being nearly forgotten in the discovery of a namesake ; " You a Chesslebury ?" But Jason was not forgotten by Mr. Baxter Blossom. That careful preceptor had seen the apple roll ; and stealthily mak- ing his way up to the delinquent's seat, Jason's question had scarcely passed his lips when he felt himself sternly grasped by the arm, and lifted bodily over his fair neighbor's desk, and seated by her side. " There ;" said the ironical Mr. Blossom, " now talk." ^here was a titter among the girls, and a grin passed across COXE CUT CORNERS. 12 the faces of the boys, at this prompt vindication of outraged law and order. " Thank you, sir," responded Jason with cheerful submis- sion ; " we will." Another titter, and another grin. But Mr. Blossom al- lowed no laughing in school hours, except at his own wit. " Silence !" said he ; and he emphasized the command with so forcible a blow upon his desk, that he was fain to examine his knuckles as he went down the aisle, under the strong sus- picion that he had broken the skin upon them. " I say," said Jason in a whisper, as Mr. Blossom retired, keeping an eye and a half upon Salanda, and half an eye on Mr. Baxter Blossom. But Salanda would not say. Bending over her slate, she ciphered with a rapidity and energy very unusual among Mr. Blossom's pupils. " I say," continued Jason, laying his head down on the desk, and looking right through the curls, " are you truly a Chesslebury P The slightest possible shake of the head, not so much a negative, as an injunction to silence, was the only response that he received. " I say," continued Jason, venturing to pull the fold of the calico dress that lay nearest to him, " he said, talk." But talk his companion would not, and Jason, much against his will, was compelled to leave his promise to his teacher unperformed. " I don't care," said he to himself, but in a whisper intended for Salanda's ear. " I think it 's too bad. You ought to mind the teacher. He told us to talk." 128 CONE CUT CORNERS. When school was dismissed that afternoon, Jason did not immediately return to Elder Graynes'. He turned first to seek for his new acquaintance, but she had disappeared. Partly in the hope to meet her, and partly in the desire to explore the precincts of his new scene of duty, he lingered for some time around the school-house. Having at last seen suf- ficient of that, and nothing of her, he concluded to bid his preceptor good afternoon. For this purpose he entered the school-room. Mr. Blossom was drilling, with a terrific voice of command, a small company, who, having been unfortunate in their reg- ular afternoon exercise, were detained on duty for further dis- cipline. English grammar was the field whereon these dis- ported themselves. " MAN," said the terrific voice, reading from a text book of moral sentiments, adapted to dissection and analytical examin- ation ; " MAN is A SOCIAL BEING. NEXT, PARSE MAN." Next attempted the task ; but finding himself at an early stage of the usual formula unable to determine whether " man" was in the first person and agreed with " is" in the nominative case, or whether it was not a personal pronoun, referring to " social being" ; there was a silence. "Well, Chesslebury?" " I came in, sir," replied that youth, " to ask if you would like me to keep the last seat you gave me to-day 1" " ITm !" said the voice, surprised into a moderate tone. " I'll see about it ; ask me again to-morrow." This was Mr. Blossom's invariable and invincible shield against troublesome questions. It served the purpose now ; for Jason, who wished to ask the question a good deal more COKE CUT CORNERS. 129 than he desired to gain an answer, turned away quite satis- fied, and departed home. And as he passed the door he heard the voice commence again, terrific ; " MAN is A SOCIAL BEING. NEXT, PARSE MAN." Salanda, going home that afternoon, walked hurriedly and out of breath, she hardly knew why ; partly with excitement, and partly in apprehension that her new acquaintance might be following in the same path. Strange timidity ! for as she hastened, she looked back, fearing nevertheless that he might be going in the other direction. Walking with nervous haste, she soon came to Aunt Provy's. Finding that lady at home, she immediately de- tailed her strange introduction to the new comer. From Aunt Provy she had a long extemporaneous biography of the young gentleman, including a circumstantial account of his arrival, of the objects of his sojourn, and the conjectured length of his stay, together with a review of his birth and pa- rentage, and a statement of pedigree ; the whole concluding with a masterly discussion of the controlling motive of Mr, ^ Chesslebury in wooing and espousing Mrs. Chesslebury, which was conclusively shown to be compounded thus ; one third an eligible match, one third high family connections, one third an aristocratic alliance, and the rest love. The russet apple stood for several days upon Salanda's little study table, in the diminutive slanting-roofed chamber which she called her room. It ultimately fell a prey to that des- truction which awaited all of Captain Mayferrie's russets. But the seeds Salanda carefully saved, and treasured for 6* 130 CONE CUT CORNERS. many months in one corner of a little compartment of her work-box. And the note of introduction finally found an appropriate place, at the foundation of a packet of notes longer and less formal. XII. JANUARY, 1S4S. THE lapse of six months enabled Jason and Salanda to become very well ac- quainted; and mid-winter found them most excellent friends. That same mid-winter, at church one pleasant afternoon, found Salanda, seated in Aunt Provy's pew at the side of the, pulpit, attentive to the ministrations of Elder Graynes; and found Jason, seated in the Elder's pew a front pew it was 132 COXE CtTT CORNERS. with his head somewhat shaded by his hand, attentive to the movements of Salanda. The last strain of Old Hundred had ceased. The final, long-drawn squeak of the chorister's violin had expired, and the congregation were standing in noisy expectation of the benediction. Elder Graynes arose in the pulpit. All the boys immediately began to feel for their hats. " I omitted," said he, " to give notice that there will be a temperance meeting on Tuesday evening next, at seven o'clock, in the brick school-house in the Bunganock district. It is hoped there will be a general attendance." Then followed the benediction, during which, from the ap- pearance of the younger portion of the congregation, a deaf hearer might reasonably have supposed the minister to be saying: "Now, wait a moment, boys; let all have a fair chance make ready hats; -now start!" The congregation" then began to disperse. The men of Cone Cut greeted each other in the porches, the old ladies gathered in little knots to gossip, and the younger ladies walked slowly, very slowly, toward home, interspersed by entirely accidental young gen- tlemen. A temperance meeting in a New England village, presents two attractive features. Any one attends it who wishes to practice oratory, and it thus offers to beginners in that art^ a fine opportunity to display their forensic powers. Then again it is usually appointed in the winter season, when there is good sleighing, and, if possible, a fine moon ; circumstances which add much to the size and pleasure of the meeting. Jason's interest in these abstract considerations was greatly heightened when he perceived Salanda a little before him in CONE CUT CORNERS. 133 the path, by the calculation that Salanda and himself upon the front seat, and Miss Lucretia Oleanda Blossom and her cousin Carrie Vining upon the back, with buffalo robes to match, would exactly fill Captain Mayferrie's new sleigh, and form an inspiriting load for Captain Mayferrie's best horse. The identical horse and sleigh was now before him, and Calick, in fur cap and big mittens, was holding the best horse, while the Captain was handing into the new sleigh, ladies young and old, invited promiscuously on the spot, from among the dispersing congregation. When the Captain had filled the sleigh, and had cast his eye over the crowd of bonnets to calculate the best order in which to distribute his load, he took his seat in front, and received at Calick's hands the reins. Jason climbed upon the runner by the Captain's side, and as they started he said, " Mr. Mayferrie, are you going to the temperance meeting 2" " I guess not, Jason." "Well, were you intending to use your horse Tuesday night ?" "Oh, you'd like to go, eh? Well, you shall. I'll lend you the horse, only don't take him into the meeting, because I don't want him to get any bad ideas." " Thank you, sir," said Jason. "But, Jason," said the Captain, stopping him as he was about to jump off, " don't take too many girls with you, for you '11 be sure to upset them." Jason, laughing, jumped off to speak to Salanda, whom they had just passed. " Oh ! Salanda," said he, speaking as if the opportunity was quite accidental, " will you go to the temperance meeting 134 CONE CUT CORNERS. Tuesday night ? There will be a splendid moon, and it is capital sleighing ; I have got Captain Mayferrie's horse and " Yes, certainly," said Salanda, " if Aunt Provy will let me. Who else is going ?" Then Jason said he did not know, that was for her to say ; and then Salanda was going to say and then Deacon Fick- som appearing, Jason bid her a sudden good morning and fell behind. Early Tuesday evening, Jason drove the Captain's sleigh down, and took in his load, though not without a great deal of laughing and joking, particularly at the expense of the young lady who in accordance with ingenious management on his part, was to sit with him on the front seat. And after wrapping his companions up well with buffalo robes, he started off with his load of ardent spirits for the temperance meeting. On they went ; the horse smoking, sleigh-bells jing- ling, girls all laughing, every one talking, no one listening, going to the temperance meeting. At length they came to a little square wooden school-house, painted after the fashion of country school-houses, red on the outside, and not at all within. It presented the other familiar features appropriate ; a large wood-pile by the door, and every tree or bush which might add to the warmth or beauty of the place, carefully cut down. But what does that matter ? When all were gathered around the huge wood fire which crackled and roared as if old Boreas himself had escaped from his dun- geon, what mattered appearances without ? The interior was quite a curiosity. Rows of long slanting- topped desks ran across the room. Valuable desks these CONE CUT CORNERS. 135 were ; made of the genuine old Connecticut mahogany, in form antique, and cut and carved in curious figures, with mys- terious ciphers and initials. By the side of the door, as if to guard it, was the master's desk. It stood upon a square plat- form, with an elderly arm-chair behind it. On the desk lay several well-worn books, the inkstand, a couple of pens, and the noble ruler, so often wielded in scholastic strife. On the right hand of the teacher's desk, and corresponding with the door, stood the remains of the blackboard. Salanda and her companions had scarcely warmed their numb fingers at the glowing fire, when some volunteer stepped upon the teacher's platform, and suggested that the meeting should come to order. The meeting, taking this suggestion in good part, came to order accordingly. The gentlemen took their seats upon one side of the house, leaving the ladies to take the other, as was required by the Cone Cut etiquette of public meetings. Then upon a further suggestion of the vol- unteer upon the platform, the meeting proceeded to elect a moderator ; and after some delay, the moderator elect was duly installed. He was a gentleman known to be somewhat fond of making long and tedious speeches, and was, per- haps, elected chiefly on this account; just as in the world outside of Cone Cut we notice that many men in high places are placed there because they are in the way any where else. There was a few moments' delay before speakers could be induced to come forward. But at length, in response to a call from the Chair, Colonel Willick, the same gentleman whose vinegar was at an early stage of this history experimentally compared by Deacon Ficksom with the article sold under that 136 CONE CUT CORNERS. name by Gregory Donoe, and who more lately attained a military elevation, arose to address the audience. Colonel "Willick standing up, spit and put his hands into his pockets, looking very earnestly and intently at the floor, spit and half seated himself against the corner of the desk behind him, and then spoke as follows : " Mr. Moderator," (spit, and a pause,) " I did n't expect (spit) to be called upon to speak to-night ; I came to (spit) listen, not to talk, (spit, and took one hand out of his pocket and hung it by the thumb in the arm-hole of his waistcoat.) There are others more able to please this (spit) audience, and better orators (spit). I don't feel prepared to (spit) break the ice ; but after it is broken, I will drop into the same hole. (Spit, followed by great applause from all). I believe in (spit) temperance ; but I don't pretend to be a talking man. My heart is all right, (spit several times,) but I ain't no talking man, so I '11 quit" (Spit, and sat down). " Mr. Moderator ;" said Jason, a short time afterward, rising in great haste, and hitting his knee under the desk. " Mr. Chesslebury ;" said Mr. Moderator, bowing benignant- ly to Jason. Jason had been so much encouraged by the success which attended Colonel Wiilick's effort that he immediately deter- mined upon essaying a speech himself. He had, indeed, already risen thrice with that view, but had been each time forestalled in his purpose of obtaining the floor, by other speakers ; which was the occasion of his present haste. He now found himself somewhat disconcerted by the very readi- ness with which the opportunity to speak was awarded him. So he said again : CONE CUT CORNERS. 137 "Mr. Moderator." Having thus made a fair beginning, he turned himself partly around toward Salanda's seat, burst into a little laugh, and im- mediately smothered his face into a preternatural solemnity. " I hope, sir," he proceeded, when these preliminaries iad been adjusted, "that you will excuse my occupying your time this evening ; but I should like to contribute my mite with the rest. I don't intend to say but little. I 'm not any more of an orator than Colonel Willick, nor so much, but I suppose, ladies and gentlemen, that we don't come here to make orations, but only speeches. So I should like to say that what seems to me is, that we ought to do something about temperance, as well as talk about it. It 's just as if a man should see his house on fire, and go on say- ing what a dreadful thing it was to have one's house on fire, and how he must begin to put it out, and should n't begin to bring any water, or any thing. Speeches are very good things, sir, particularly when they 're short. But what we want is to do something about temperance. We might sit here, and talk and tell each other stories, and so on, all night, and have a good time ; but the question is, what good would it do ?" " Now what I move is, that we get up a society. Form a temperance society, and have a meeting regularly once a week, or a fortnight. I should attend regularly and I think most of the students would ; and and " What rock Jason's smoothly-gliding speech here struck upon whether he found himself upon the very verge of express- ing an intention to bring Salanda and Miss Blossom and cousin with the same regularity, and could not connectedly +' 138 CONE CUT CORNERS. draw back, can not be ascertained. At all events he here brought his address to an abrupt termination, -with a " that 's all I have to say, sir," and took his seat ; somewhat uncertain whether he had been silly, or had made the best speech of the evening ; and he scarcely knew whether the applause which followed his effort was intended in commendation of the speech, or was called forth by the dilemma which hastened its termination. Deacon Ficksom rose. " He had been requested," " he said, ' to take some part in the meeting, and he had come for that purpose. He thought it was a good cause, if prudently fol- lowed, and not overdone. He approved the zeal of his young friend from the city, but thought nothing ought to be done in haste. He supposed there were a good many people who drank too much, and he wished they would reform. People would be a great deal better oft' if they were only willing to spend less money in drink. He was glad that people were giving more attention to temperance. Some people thought total abstinence was the only remedy for intemperance. There was a good deal of difference between temperance and total abstinence. There was no need of drinking so much. He was not prepared to say that all drinking of fermented liquors in every form ought to be given up. There was certainly a difference between temperance and total abstinence. Temper- ance was certainly a virtue, the Bible commanded it. But it was hard to say that total abstinence was a duty. St. Paul himself said, that we should ' take a little wine for our stomach's sake, and our often infirmities.' " Here the Deacon made a pause ; he was not quite certain whether he had quoted the text aright. He had an idea, in - CONE CtTT CORNERS. 139 which he seems to be supported by some modern commenta- tors, that it should read, " take often wine for your stomach's ache, and your little infirmities." But not feeling quite clear upon this point, he proceeded. " He thought that the only means was moral suasion ; every man should endeavor to persuade his neighbor to be temper- ate moderate " " Ha ! ha ! ha !" laughed a wild voice. " I say, Deacon who did you ever persuade, eh T " I have the floor, I believe," said the Deacon. " Ha ! ha ! ha ! who now ? Tell us." "Please address the Chair," interposed the moderator, tap- ping that article of furniture upon the arm. " I tell you," cried the wild voice, in still wilder tones, with no laughter now, but with terrible earnestness, " I tell you the man that talks about moral suasion to sots and drunkards is a fool." The whole room buzzes with astonishment. " Is a fool," the voice repeats. The speaker rose. He stood somewhat unsteadily, leaning now back against the wall, and now reaching forward in the emphasis of his utterance, and leaning half over the desk before him. His dress was very poor, his hair disheveled and matted, and the Deacon, turning round to see him, recog- nized the red-nosed man he had often met enjoying the hos- pitality of Gregory Donoe's store. The Deacon said nothing, but he turned upon the assembly a mild but impartial look, that seemed to sum up concisely the law upon disturbances of religious meetings, and to express the opinion that a fellow who would put out a Deacon, ought to be summarily put out himself. 140 CONE CUT CORNERS. " Moral suasion to drunkards ! it 's no use, and it 's worse than no use. / know it. I tell you I am one of 'em. I am, by the Almighty God I am. And I KNOW.'' The whole room is startled into perfect silence. In the pause, the very fire seems to hold its breath. "I Ve been a drunkard these ten years. You know it You've seen me loafing about your streets ten yejjrs, and you Ve had a chance to try your moral suasion and I ain't the only chance, God knows. Yes, and you Ve tried it, too. You know I used to want to knock off. You have n't failed to say kind words, and try your suasion. You all try it By God, the very man that sells me rum, says, when he pours me out a glass, ' Come, come, Jerry ; you 'd better not drink any more.' " His profanity was terrible, but the equally terrible earnest- ness of his speech suffered not even the Deacon to reprove it. " You think a drunkard needs persuading. There 's not a drunkard in the State that's worth saving who doesn't wish, two hours out of three, every day of his life, that ho could knock off. They Ve got moral suasion. What they want is help ! help ! Good God ! HELP ! FORCE ! FORCE ! to back it up. " You Ve seen me you see me every day sitting round loafing. You thought I Ve been asleep, thinking of nothing. Outside I Ve been dead as a heap of ashes. Inside, I Ve been a-fire ! " When a man 's a going to sell himself to the devil, cool and easy money down and wants to drive a sharp bargain, like your rum-sellers, it may do to talk of moral suasion to him. But when the devil 's caught a careless fellow and 's CONE CUT CORNERS. 141 got him tight in his clutches as he holds us, and we writh- ing and squirming, then when you come along and think we need moral suasion to get us away, you 're fools. And with some of you it 's worse 'n that. Some of you know better, and when you say so, and quote Scripture to it, you 're damned fools. / can see you 're making the devil's speeches, and I believe the Lord's sharper-sighted than I am. If he pays any attention to what goes on in a temperance meeting, he '11 set- tle your arguments one of these days. If God ever lets any thing . earthly into hell, it '11 be rum-selling. There '11 be no law agin' that business there, I tell you. The devil knows what '11 pay for licensing, as well as you do. But you go on selling liquor, and talking about moral suasion. Moral sua- sion ! Good God ! if any body needs it, it 's your ministers who darsen't preach rum down, and your deacons who quote Scripture like a devil's concordance." The discussion which followed these remarks was not of that parliamentary character which can be well reported. But whatever may have been the result of this meeting in other respects, it at least wrought a marked change in the position of Deacon Ficksom upon the temperance question, and thereafter he became gradually more and more known as conservative. He took, from time to time, a more decided stand against all innovations upon all the old-established liberties of men, and raised his warning voice, upon occasion, against that fanatical excitement which, before many years had passed away, began to agitate society in Cone Cut Corners. His enemies the best of men have enemies called him 142 CONE CUT CORNERS. a " rummy," and attributed his defeat, in the usual church election for deacon, two years later, by a two-thirds majority, to his being pledged to the liquor interest ; though, as all the world knows, this disappointment was the work of a fan- atical clique, who, though unsupported by the real wishes of the majority, succeeded, by unscrupulous maneuvering, in ob- taining a temporary supremacy. XIII. SEPTEMBEE, 1851 UP stairs. For here hu- manity depos- its itself in strata, like ge- ological soils, and the city grows upward, aye ! and burrows down- ward, too, as well as widens and extends abroad. _ Upstairs. Dusty, dark, and dingy stairs; well worn with many foot-prints ; hollowed and sunken with strange bur- dens. Many diversities of foot-marks these same steps sustain. Rough, thick-shod feet tramp heavily up, and jolt noisily down. Bright boots, prim and glossy, glance up and 144 CONE CUT CORNERS. down. Many weary little feet, naked and sore, bearing the heavy burden of a young heart, chilled and joyless in poverty, cjjmb slowly here. Now and then dainty, tripping feet dance up, bringing a rare beam of sunshine, and visions of bright colors into staid and dusky-hued places. Strange diversities of errands, too, they come upon. One listening unseen could dream the meaning of their different steps. The step of haste rapid, vigorous; it speaks of hurried toil, a mind whirled in the vortex of uncertain busi- ness. The step of leisure growing age and independence ; deliberate, but firm. The step of indolence sauntering in moody carelessness. The step of uncertainty wavering, hesitating, stopping to consider, and starting again undeter- mined. The step of poverty gentle, slow, wearisome ; a hopeless sound is this step. The step of juvenility dashing, delighting in noises and dusts. The step of anxiety again ; nervous, quick ; rapidly this foot hurries away, as if it had not time to finish its own foot-pfints. There are many tiers of offices above, and many froward feet that haste to do evil, run to and fro here, and climb these stairs ; for, from the time of Babel, to these days in which law offices have ascended into upper stories, it has been observed that many men who climb much toward the sky, do not thereby come nearer heaven. These profound and solemn suggestions which rise with us upon the staircase, are by no means intended as reflections upon the honorable gentleman whose name heads our chapter, much less upon our errand at his office. They are but the suggestions of the moralizing and philosophic mind, fertile in wholesome fruit from almost - CONE CUT COHNEUS. 145 Passing from the bead of the stairs toward the end of the entry, two steps down bring us on a level with Mr. Chessle- bury's door. This leads us into a low room, so comfortably full of substantial furniture, and so agreeably littered with books and papers, that it looks snug and cozy, and almost small. It is well-lighted by three broad windows upon one side ; but the remaining sides are so filled and darkened with the shelves of books, the secretary, the black marble mantle, and with the maps which fill the spaces of the wall, that the room has just that aspect of shaded light most convenient and congenial to an intellectually busy place. There is an ob- long table in the middle of the room, with a grove .of tall quills growing out of a tub of an inkstand upon it. It bears also the newspapers, piles of open letters, and a few books. The seats are all easy-chairs, except a wooden chair at a desk near the door, and also except a corner of the table, which we may, for the moment, allude to- as a seat, inasmuch as it affords a resting-place to the form of a young gentleman of one-and-twenty or thereabouts, of a neglige style of attire, and very-much-at-home-where-I-am manner. This is Mr. Stretch, the junior professional gentleman and the senior errand-boy of the establishment. Mr. Chesslebury, it is almost unnecessary to say, is of course, the senior profes- sional gentleman. The junior errand-boy is at this moment endeavoring to fill that gentleman's usual seat with one end of his body, and a neighboring chair with the other extrem- ity ; and thus, in a position of considerable practical uneasi- ness, effects great theoretic comfort and indolence. "Well, John," said Mr. Stretch, from the corner of the lable, as he polished his hat with his right elbow and inspect- 146 CONE CUT COR NEKS. eel narrowly the good qualities of the nap which were begin- ning to be strongly developed by age, " so Mr. C. has gone. Is he coming back again ?" "No;" said John, spitting at the fire-place, and hitting the letter press. " He said he was gone for the day." " Aha !" said Mr. Stretch, speaking with much amiability of manner, and meanwhile, reducing an incipient dent in the top of his hat by pressure applied from within. " He 's gone for the day, is he ? Well, I 'd hare advised him to start earlier if he wanted to catch it." " John," added he, after a pause, in which the hat relapsed, " I am. going for the day." " You '11 catch it !" retorted the lad sharply, " never fear about that." Mr. Stretch leaned over and selected a couple of the most readable newspapers at hand, folded them deliberately to fit his pocket, turned over the letters on the table for a few mo- ments to post himself upon the news of the day, which he in- dexed in his memory by saying half audibly as he read, " Pockitt vs. Pierce ; pooh, eternal ! Pennsylvania property again ; speculation, eh ! good ; h'm. Mrs. Chesslebury ; hullo ; Confiden ah! huh!" " Well !" said Mr. Stretch, after a short pause, in which he seemed to have been reviewing his investigations into the correspondence of Mr. Chesslebury, and proceeding as he spoke to dress his somewhat disorderly hair with a brush which he took for that purpose from a drawer in Mr. Chessle- bury's secretary. "When I get things straightened out a little, I must look into that Pennsylvania business. Perhaps there is a chance for ine too." CONE CUT CORN BUS. 147 If John had been a stranger he might have wondered what was the occupation of a man who was devoted to getting things straightened out. His wonder would have been mis- spent, for with Mr. Stretch every thing was crooked and en- tangled, and needed to be straightened out. All his own affairs, and all of other people's in his keeping he regarded, and for the most part, indeed, he was justified in so doing, as so many snarled and knotted threads, the straightening out of which was the task he perpetually held up for his anticipa- ting industry. Existence itself he thought sometimes had some tangle about it, though here his attention was not much spent, nor did he set himself at work to mark the crooked places of his life, or straighten out himself. " Well," asked John, quietly, " when do you expect to get things out straight?" "I'm sure I can't say.; there's every thing to be done; seems to me there 's no end to it. I say, John, what does he pay you ?" " Twelve shillings." " Whole ones 1 Ain't any of 'em clipped, or with holes in 'em ?" " It 's the regular price," said John, with some indifference in his tone. " Why, he could n't hire a dog for that, that knew enough to pull a cart." " It don't make any difference to me," said the boy, in a careless tone, "but I used to make more than that in the hotel business." " You were a landlord, perhaps ?" inquired Mr. Stretch, with a very humorous feint of misunderstanding the lad's expression. 148 CONE CUT CORNERS. "Trading in hotels, I mean. Selling things. I used to clear three or four dollars a week sometimes. But father did n't like my being around so, and then he put me in here, where he said I would learn. Pay don't make any difference to me either way ; but you might as well expect a fellow to grow fat by standing in a wholesale flour and pork store, as think I M learn any thing good here for all he ever says to me." " Well, now," said the other, taking a chair, and speaking with the familiarity of a senior errand boy, though still retain- ing the dignity of manner of the junior professional man ; " that 's just it. Plenty of words about opportunities, and contingencies, and prospects, and things leading to something, but devilish little pay. If any body should ask me what he pays me, I should be ashamed to mention it. And then to say it is about the usual terms, and no office does differently. True enough, but that's the worst of it. The man that was here before me staid five years after he was admitted. He did all the law business that Chesslebury charged people for, and he stuck at it till he grew bald, and then left only because they wouldn't pay him but five hundred dollars ; just as if society expected to pay men just enough to feed them, and then ex- pected them to go about to clothe themselves decently with opportunities, and to lodge in contingencies, amuse themselves at prospects, and improve in general with thincp that are going to lead to something. I tell you what, Mr. Chessle- bury, if things don't lead to something pretty soon, I shall be driven to something.'' Thus apostrophizing his employer, the junior professsiortnl man rose to depart. At the door he stopped for an instant, and ivsuming that easy aud good-humored manner, which for CONE CUT CORNERS. 149 a short time he had forgotten, he turned, and said facetiously, to the occupant of his principal's chair, " Well, sir, if you have no further commands to-day, I will bid you good afternoon." " None," said John, " only if he comes in and should ask for you " \ Why then you may tell him that I have gone to the City Hall, and from there to the sheriff's office in Brooklyn, and shall probably not be back until well say till six o'clock." So saying, he closed the door and disappeared. " Huh !" said the solitary John, breaking silence a few mo- ments after the departure of Mr. Stretch, and subjugating another easy chair with his right foot as he spoke, and draw- ing it near him so as to have one for each leg, " Huh ! Gone after the sheriff. You '11 have a sheriff after you if you go on this way." < ' The ears of Mr. Stretch were unfortunately far beyond the reach of this wholesome caution, he having reached by this time the sidewalk of Broadway. After some lingering upon corners, with that peculiar imcertainty of manner which be- tokens a mental indecision, he finally bent his steps toward the Hoboken ferry, and by easy and agreeable stages arrived presently at the Elysian Fields, where some hours afterward the last rays of twilight forsook him, disporting himself in con- genial scenes. John, left triangulated in easy chairs, dismissed Mr. Stretch's complaints from his mind ; and his train of thought which the conversation of that gentleman did, so to speak, switch off and break up, glided on into its former track, whatever that I 150 CONE CUT CORNERS. may have been, and was soon again under full headway. Nor was its course checked until the strokes of Trinity clock, which in the subsiding noise of the latter part of the afternoon be- came audible, reminded him of his approaching liberty. XIY. OCTOBER, 1851, MR. CHESSLEBTTRY sat in his office one fine morning in Oc- tober, balancing his check-book prepara- tory to calculating how much to subscribe to the capital stock of the Mintermunny Land and Timber Company, which was about to be organiz- ed under his auspices, when his pleasant thoughts were in- terrupted by a gentle knock at the door. If the owner of the impinging knuckles had turned the door-knob and walked in without ceremony, Mr. Chesslebury would have gone on interpolating a balance at the foot of the page, so as to set down naught and carry nine into the thou- sands' column, and have left the visitor to announce himself, But a knock indicated to him that he was about to receive either a lady or an unaccustomed stranger. Therefore, under 152 CONE CUT COUXEUS. 4 the alternative motives of gallantry and cariosity, he looked up to see who it should be. The entrance to the office was guarded by the youth John, who presented, when on duty, a sharp and vigilant aspect, very different from that in which he indulged himself during afternoon relaxations in the empty easy chairs. He seemed to be regarded by his employer in a strictly legal light, and as simply an infant ; and the duties assigned to him were to do as he was bid, to speak when he was spoken to, to shut the door when other people left it open, put every thing away that was left out of place, and in, general, to bear the burdens of other people's delinquencies, which indeed, seems to be the lot of infancy throughout the civilized world. The same knock which stopped a balance in Mr. Chessle- bury's book caused a sudden suspension of the operations of the- particular infant in question, who then occupied about three fifths of a chair, and one fourth of a desk, near the door, and was at the instant engaged in engraving his employer's name upon a ruler. Upon hearing the knock he rose, and crying, " Come in," in a tone of surprise, pitched so high that it seemed to come from somewhere in the ceilpg, opened the door. " Good morning, Mr. Chesslebury," said a hearty, pleasant young voice. The speaker was a young lad of about well, in the professional eye of Mr. Chesslebury, certainly not yet out of his infancy. He was of a tall form, and sufficiently slender to suggest through that professional eye to the humorsome fancy of its possessor, that if infants could not contract it was to be hoped that some of them might expand. His features were CONE CUT CORNERS. 153 small but expressive, and his dress substantial, plain and neat. He entered uncovered, in token of respect for the location ; and having got fairly within the door turned and shut it with great care, thus relieving the lad behind him of his usual tribute to the negligence of visitors. Mr. Chesslebury was entirely prepared, as the door opened, to rise and come forward with a greeting of overwhelming cordiality, if circumstances should render that politeness poli- tic. Judging however, with a glance, and on the instant, that the visitor was not likely to be made, at any effort, a pur- chaser from him at par of the Mintermunny Stock, (on which two per cent, was to be paid in,) he merely said, after an im- pressive pause, " Ah, Master Bundle ; good morning," and sat still to await approaches. If there ever was a man who understood the art of adapting his conversation to his hearers, it was probably Lafayette Chesslebury. So much did he rely upon his persuasive pow- ers, of which he considered this art the main secret, that the only business to which he would address the professional eye was such as consisted in convincing you or me, or some desir- able subject among us, that it was for our interest to do some very handsome thing by him. Negotiation was his occupa- tion. Tongue was his working stock. Words his staple man- ufacture. The expenses were small, the profits enormous. To carry a point with a large-worded man, he too, could use large words large sentences large periods and paragraphs, developing large views, and large probabilities of large re- sults. In contesting with brief-speaking, word-frugal men, he would overpower with the abundance of his eloquence. In contradicting eloquent men, he knew how to set at naught 7* 154 CONE CUT CORNERS. their resonance by little, brief and pithy words. To men from whom he cared to hear but little, he did set most infectious examples of uncommunicativeness. " Well, sir," said he to the young man who stood waiting before him, and he settled his whiskered chin between two graceful points of collar, and turned the professional eye upon him. Well, sir ! Only two words, but a paragraph of mean- ing in each. When with a pleasant falling inflexion of the voice, he said, " Well," what more would he have conveyed to his young friend if he had said, " I am at your service, sir, be brief, be- cause time is precious ; not my tune in particular ; I can afford the luxury of precious time ; but time in general ; busi- ness time your time. You can not afford it." And when with an agreeable rising inflexion he added in the same breath, " Sir," what more would he have communicated if lu; had said, " Sir, yes sir, sir to you. Your most obedient, sir. You have taken the liberty to call upon me, and I am of course entirely at your service, sir. What will you have ?" With these remarks so delicately condensed and expressed in two polite syllables, which he calculated must impress his visitor kindly, at the same time that they should dismiss him with most profitable brevity, he closed his check-book instinc- tively, as if he felt that it ought not to be generally under- stood that there was any limit to Latayette Chesslebury's account, or that such a thing as a balance ever needed to be ascertained by him. That laid aside, the professional eyes from under eyebrows growing long and tangled, and varied with gray, looked at Paul Bundle. CONE CUT CORNERS. 155 " And how is your mother ?" he added. " Thank you, sir," said the young man, with a brightening countenance. " She is better. She 's a great deal better, and quite herself again." " Been sick ]" " O yes, sir, she 's been very poorly. She was very low, and we were very sad for her one time." Mr. Chesslebury expressed something between disapproval and sympathy, by ticking twice with his tongue, as if his af- fection were a clock that would go just two seconds and no more. " But she 's almost well now, and about again like herself." The gentleman nodded slowly to indicate approval of the course his cousin had taken. " The doctor said it was a slow fever. I think it was as much as any thing having so much to care for, and to do ; and then father 's not being heard from too. She can't give him up. At any rate," pursued the youth, still standing, but taking courage that the professional eye was not directed at him, " she was very low. I had to give up my place at Haggle & Change's because I was needed at home, and now I could take hold again it 's a dull season, and they don't need me. Mother said I had better come and see you, and per- haps you would know of some opening." Mr. Chesslebury looked at an unknown point through, and about three feet beyond, the mantle-piece, as if he would, if possible, "pierce the wall with the professional eye, and make an eligible opening for the young man in the chimney. No such opening, however, occurred. And it appearing thereupon to him that the case was hopeless, he said. 156 CONE CUT CORNERS. " No." Paul waited as long as it seemed proper to prolong tlie silence, and then commenced to thank the gentleman for his kind attention. " Well, Paul," said he, as the lad turned to go, " I am sorry ; if I hear of any thing, I will let you know." " I heg pardon," said Paul, stopping, " but would you have any objection to my referring to you. If I ever should find a place," he added, rather sadly, " it might be of great use to me to mention it." " Oh ! none at all," replied Mr. Chesslebury, as if he felt himself good for any amount of respectability, and was ready to honor his young friend's drafts in that currency* to an un- limited extent. Paul Bundle withdrew. He stood for a moment at the top of the stairs, as if he had come thither as a last resort, and there was no other place for him to go to. Presently he moved mechanically, and then hastening, as if suddenly awakened from forgetfulness, he was rushing down the stairs, when, at the bottom, he came forci- bly into the arms of some one else, who came around the door-post as suddenly as he had descended. " Why, Paul, halloo !" said a voice. " Ah, Jason, how do you do 1 I beg your pardon. I hope I have n't hurt you." " No, but you might have killed somebody by running over them in the street, if I had n't stopped you. Where now in a hurry ?" " Home, I believe," said Paul. " Good," cried Jason. " I must go, too. I have only got CONE CUT COIIXEUS. 157 back this very day, but I must go and see your mother and Susie. How do they do ?" Then Paul said how they did, and from one thing to an- other the conversation ran on, until Jason had asked all that his father, a few minutes before, had listened to, and much more beside. Jason found how Paul had held his former place by working day and night; how it took him till ten or eleven to distribute the purchases of the day ; how he could not often reach home before midnight ; how Susie could not take care of the shop and of mother all day, and then watch with mother till midnight, too ; how disappointed he had been to have to give up his place just before the year was out, and lose the prospect of increasing Avages and better position, which was, after all, the real compensation in view in many months' hard work. Then Jason learned for the first time, that father had gone away, and ascertained, from unwilling answers, what he had before conjectured, that father had been unfortunate, not in his work particularly ; perhaps in his company and his habits ; and that he had not done well, and had got into trouble; that he had left home a long time ago, and had never written yet a line. And first and last,* Jason realized how anxious was Paul for occupation, and how important to mother and sister it was that he should have it. Arm in arm they walked up the Bowery, and a handsome pair they were. Miss Helen Chesslebury, in the Chesslebury carriage, re- turning from a morning call on the eastern side of the city, passed the young men. " Oh, dear," pouted the charming young lady, " there 's 158 CONE CUT CORNERS. Jason with that fellow, the first thing. Why, he acts just as if that shop-boy was his brother." Alas ! my dear Miss Chesslebury, how true. What a mis- take. Just as if he were his brother. Oh, dear ! What good can be anticipated from a young man who acts just as if a shop-boy were his brother. XV. SEPTEMBER, 1851. MRS. MARGARET RUN- DLE kept a thread, nee- dle, and fancy store in Grand-street. We are bound in can- dor to inform the genteel reader who may peruse this chapter in some rural district far from the noise and bustle of the city, that Grand-street is by no means so grand a street as might be supposed. For New York is a city of great self-contradiction. It is related in ancient chronicles, that in the beginning, when the Adams of that respectable metropo- lis were assembled to name the places then newly under their dominion, and had with great study and research pre- 160 CONE CUT CORNERS. pared a list of names applicable to streets, parks, squares, buildings, it was the Genius of Discord, standing near, who volunteered to assort these names and apply them appro- priately ; and the unsophisticated New Yorkers accepting the proposal, she proceeded to execute the commission in most characteristic style. And thus, oh, genteel reader, you may start from the foot of Manhattan Island, from the very toe thereof, indeed, where stands Castle Garden, so called it would seem, because it long since ceased to be a castle, and can never be a garden ; and traveling up through the heart of the city, you shall cross the Battery, that most hospitable and peaceful rurality, where are neither enemy to batter, nor ordnance to batter with ; and pass the Bowling-Green, where no man plays at bowls ; and thence journeying up Broadway, by no means so broad as many other ways, you shall pass "Wall-street, whose ancient wall, built by the Dutch to keep out marauding Yankees, has long since crumbled, Canal street, whose name is but the epitaph of a canal a long time dead and buried, Xiblo's Gar- den, stuffed as full as it can hold with a hotel and an opera- house, holding no beds except in the chambers of the first, nor flowers save those thrown upon the stage of the second, and Union Square, which is round ; and thence as much farther as you please, but always with a like experience. After this trip you will not be surprised on entering Grand-street to find it what it is ; a modest, substantial, respectable street, with plain, economical houses in some parts, and neat shops crowd- ed with low-priced goods in others ; an excellent street, a most unimpeachable street ; but with no pretension to be the grand-street of New York. CONE CUT CORNERS. 161 From the Bowery and the observation of Miss Helen Chessle- bury, the young men passed into Grand-street, such as Grand- street is, and passing eastward through a long vista of stores of various kinds, they came upon the little shop of Mrs. Mar- garet Bundle. Standing close under the shadow of the flaunt- ing breadths of gay calicoes and high piles of flannels and sheetings which adorned significantly the front of a great dry- goods establishment, it looked all the smaller in its contrast with its next-door neighbor. It was a very modest little place. It was, therefore, (or, if you prefer, oh, genteel reader, we will say, notwithstanding,) a very charming little place. The shop was a little room, and it was not entirely a shop either, but had a family-sitting room air. Since the family seemed to consist of a very genial-looking woman who was comfortably disposed in a rocking-chair at the end of the counter, bal- anced upon the other side of the room by a very charminir- looking young girl seated and industriously employed at a work-table in the corner, the domestic aspect of the room will not, perhaps, be deemed objectionable. Between the seats of the tvro occupants, was the back door of the shop, leading into a little back room. On the very delightful day in which Jason had the pleasure to visit this place, this door was open, and revealed a bright little retreat, its floor carpeted in the same style with the shop, and its open windows curtained, within with spotless white, without, with festooned and waving green, through which he caught bright glimpses of sun-light. "Mother," cried Paul, cheerily, as they entered, "mother, and Susie ! here 's cousin Jason." In his pleasure in bringing his friend, he forgot, for the moment, his sorrow in bringing a disappointment. 162 CONff CTT CORNERS. At the first sound of her brother's voice, Susie sprang for- ward, and, asserting her sisterly privilege, regardless of Jason, that modest young gentleman looked away, and took occasion to greet particularly the elder lady. Mrs. Bundle in words and tone expressed all kindly, and respectful affection, but Jason observed that she made no effort to rise from her chair ; and he saw many lines of care and anxiety quite new to him in that pleasant face. "And Susie," said he, turning again to her, "how do you do ?" " Oh ! I am so glad to see you, Cousin Jason," she said in a frank, musical voice, extending a hand whose beauty was undisfigured by gilded trinkets. Greetings were cordial ; and the conversation was uncheck- ed until, in the usual course of mutual congratulations, Susie was suddenly silenced by her cousin's observing that she had wonderfully improved, and grown quite handsome ; and Jason himself, in turn, was as completely extinguished a moment after, by being told by Mrs. Bundle that he looked very like his father, and was quite a man himself now. Jason, naturally feeling a little embarrassed after so long an absence, and now, doubly so, by consciousness of change, was at a loss for conversation, until he bethought himself of his need of a pair of gloves. He thereupon requested of Susie that she would do him the kindness to sell him a pair. That young lady consented to do so upon condition of being allowed to mend the old ones. This understanding being had, the young people proceeded to the counter to accomplish that business transaction. " Cousin Jason," said Susie, after a short silence, raising her CONE CUT CORNERS. 163 blue eyes from the box of gloves between them, and speaking with a smile, " I don't think you are a bit changed." " Cousin Susie," returned Jason, " you are the same Susie you always were, after all." It was strange how much time the business transaction took after this. First there was an endless discussion about the color ; and then a careful examination of seams, which Susie insisted upon, and then a long, long trouble about trying them on, which Jason insisted upon, and a spirited contest about who should be allowed to put away the boxes, which both insisted upon ; which contest resulted in a sudden bump- ing of heads, and a great deal of laughter ; and then at last, the purchase being finally consummated, Jason found the sub- ject exhausted. Then he made Paul promise to come to the office next noon to meet him to form further plans, and bade Mrs. Bundle good afternoon, and Susie good afternoon too, and went out, and came back again in two minutes to know when he should come to get the gloves that were left to be mended, and then finally disappeared and went home. Paul then, in answer to his mother's request, detailed the fruitless searches of the day ; how he had scanned every news- paper, which indeed he had done every morning for a fort- night, in hopes of finding an advertisement for a boy; how at last he met one, and hastened to apply for the place ; how he found, when he reached the counting-house, that nearly twenty were there before him; how there were little fellows there who could neither write nor read, almost lost among the larger boys, and apparently quite dismayed in the crowd ; how there were ragged boys with their caps on, and neat, spruce-looking boys with their caps off, and showing nicely- 164 CONE CUT CORXEKS. brushed hair, wet and sleek; how there were stout-looking young men making themselves as short and juvenile as pos- ' sible, in the hope that they might be taken for boys ; and how there was even one old man with thin light hair and very poor clothes, who stood a little apart from the crowd, and kept bowing whenever the merchant's eye was turned toward him. But Paul did not tell all the story then. It was not until evening, and when they were alone, that Paul's mother asked him what the merchant said to him ; and then he replied with tears in his eyes : "He made us all come in a row one after another, and when he came to me, he stopped me and said, ' I like your looks' ; and he asked me if I lived with my parents, and I told him yes, that was, with my mother, and where we lived, and he said was my father living, and I told him yes I be- lieved so, and he said where Avas he, and I told him I did n't know. Then he said, ' Oho ! that won't do,' and that I might go ; and the boys all looked at me as I came away. Oh ! mother," sobbed Paul as he finished, " I thought that if I ever should touch a drop of drink, I hoped God would curse me, as I knew he should." With this bitter pledge revolving in his mind, Paul went to sleep that night. That evening, at about the same time that the unhappv Paul was endeavoring to get to sleep, the magnificent Mr. Chesslebury was trying as laboriously if not as successfully, to keep awake. He was sitting in the private parlor of the Chesslebury mansion, ensconsced in a many-jointed easy chair, and appeared as comfortable as a man could who seemed to CONE CUT CORNERS. 165 have his head in the stocks, and was wearing a white Mar- seilles strait waistcoat. It was early in the evening, that is to say about eleven o'clock, and he was waiting the completion of Mrs. Chesslebury's toilet for a party. The carriage, which had just brought Jason and his sisters from the opera, was at the door, and the coachman upon the box without, was grow- ing nearly as sleepy as his master within. In the interval which elapsed between the arrival of the young people and the appearance of Mrs. Chesslebury, Jason roused his father with the proposal that Paul should be offered a place in the office. To this Mr. Chesslebury de- murred, upon the ground of unnecessary expense. " But why can't you arrange it in some way 1 You said John was going to leave to go to school. Paul will do a great deal more than he, I know." " Perhaps so," said his father. " Well now, why can't you take him ?" urged the son. " Well," said his father, " I should like to do something handsome for Paul." " Father," said Jason, after a pause, " what were you going to give for that pony for me ?" "I do not know; whatever a good one costs. Crupper said I could n't have what we want short of three hundred dollars." " And what will it cost to keep him ?" " Oh, he '11 go right into the stable with the other horses." " But it will cost something more to keep four horses than three ?" " Yes," replied his father, " I presume, doctor's bills and all, it would come near two hundred dollars a year additional." 166 CONE CUT CORNERS. " Would it ? Well father, I 'd rather have Paul than the pony, so you can afford to have him now, can't you ?" " Ha l f we could n't afford to pay so much for a boy." " Why, certainly, father, if I give up the pony, you can." " Oh, no ! that makes no difference. We can not expect to give so much for a boy." " Why not, does n't he work as hard ?" " Yes, yes, but then we can not afford to pay so much for boys, because there are plenty of them, and we can get them cheaper." " Well," said Jason, " whatever he is worth, you can give him. Now please send for him to-morrow; before some- body else engages him," added the lad, with intended sharp- ness, worthy of his parent. Here entered Mrs. Chesslebury, arrayed in gay attire in very gay attire -in fact, in attire calculated to be several hundreds of dollars gayer than the attire of any one whom she might chance to meet that evening. It was with this sole view that Mrs. Chesslebury had been got up for that occasion with great care and labor, and without regard to ex- pense, except that regard which consists in making the ex- pense as large as possible. If Mrs. Chesslebury proves more expensive to-night than Mrs. Stuccuppe, then Mrs. Chessle- bury is a triumph, and the family name shines in her splen- dor. If not, then Mrs. Chesslebury is a failure, and the family name is eclipsed. A perfumed breeze bearing down upon us, announces her approach, and a rustling proclaims her presence. It is a rust- ling, not as of an uneasy motion, but a still rustle ; she rustles as she stands, like a wild poplar-tree in a perfectly calm day. CONE CUT CORNERS. 167 without apparent cause or reason ; she rustles all over, around, under and through. In the light of this rustling splendor, Mr. Chesslebury de- parts for an evening of pleasure, from which he succeeds in tearing himself and Mrs. Chesslebury triumphant, at the early hour of three o'clock. Strange to say, although they went and returned in a coach, Mrs. Chesslebury enters the mansion in the full possession and exercise of her rustling powers. In the morning at breakfast, Mr. Chesslebury was reminded by his son of his compact ; much to the diversion of the young ladies, who charged their brother with proclivities toward jockey ism, for having swapped animals before he had bought the first one. True to his word, the father sent for Paul that morning, and in an exordium of some length and vagueness, he gave him to understand that he had long been intending to do something handsome by him, and he impressed very strongly upon his juvenile mind, grounds of great gratitude. " The time seems now to have arrived," said that gentle- man, spreading out his sentiments in a confidential tone, and pinning them down with sharp glances of the professional eye, " the time has now arrived, I believe, for me to accom- plish something. Circumstances now place it in my power to offer you arrangements which, if consummated upon your part, will, I doubt not, be highly advantageous to one, who like you, knows how to profit by all the privileges of such a position, and in this relation, I have no doubt that things will lead to something. I am confident that things may be made to lead to something very important ; in fact, things can't help leading to something ; and this to a young man, is of 168 CONE CUT CORNERS. great advantage. You would here have many conditions of improvement which can not be expected elsewhere, and you would be thrown among men of importance and high charac- ter, and in fact, in your capacity of messenger, you would often enjoy the opportunity of calling upon men of position and standing, whose acquaintance would be most valuable, and things I have no doubt will lead to something, which, if not immediately and pecuniarily remunerative, yet would be of far greater and higher importance." " Yes, sir," said Paul, to fill a pause. " I have no hesitation," pursued Mr. Chesslebury, " in saying that I think you would succeed admirably ; you would have much to learn ; and that is the great advantage that there is so much that can be learned ; here are books and papers and and all that is calculated to lead to something eventually. Indeed," concluded he, " I hardly know what the arrangement, if consummated and operating successfully, might not lead to. It opens before you before any young man who may enter upon it, a wide field, a new field, of thought and informa- tion and influence and business and indeed all those in- numerable sources of success which, if rightly and perseveringly pursued, can not fail ultimately and finally to lead to something of one kind or another inestimably valuable to a young man." " Thank you, sir," said Paul, with a general feeling of grati- tude and admiration. Mr. Chesslebury received these words silently. He was estimating the amount which could be reasonably deducted from the usual salary, on account of circumstances that were going to " lead to something." Paul was mercenarily thinking of wages too. It seemel a CONE CUT CORNERS. 1G9 delicate topic, and not exactly the thing to speak of in con- nection with the enjoyment of pastoral fields of study and shepherd-like circumstances. " Perhaps you would like to think longer of it," asked Mr. Chesslebury. " If you please, sir," answered Paul, " I should like to know what wages you would like to give." " Oh," said the gentleman, as if it were a thing he had not thought of in this connection, " wages ! Ah ! You have never been in an office before, I think ?" " No, sir/' " Well, I suppose under the circumstances," commenced the gentleman, " however, in common offices "they pay some- times one hundred dollars a year, for the first year. You would here have, as I have said, many unusual circumstances which I might claim should qualify the question, but I want to make a most liberal and handsome arrangement, and that amount, under all the circumstances, I should be very glad to pay you." But just here Mr. Stretch coming forward from his seat, interrupted with a question about some matters he was en- deavoring to get straightened out. Whether he did this out of commiseration for the fly, or of grudge to the spider, he succeeded in quite interrupting Mr. Chesslebury's negotiation. The things that were in hand of Mr. Stretch to be straightened out, were considered by Mr. Chesslebury as things that might lead to something, and our young friend Paul was dismissed to consider and reply at leisure Avhether he would like to have something very handsome done by him, with a gratuity thrown in of one hundred dollars a year. 8 170 CONE CUT CORNERS. That night Paul made long and repeated calculations as to how mother could make out to meet expenses, if he were not earning full wages, and convinced himself unwillingly again and again, that by no marshaling of figures and management of estimates, could they support themselves unless he earned at least four dollars a week. He was therefore compelled to make up his mind to commit the ungrateful politeness of de- clining Mr. Chesslebury's offer. This he did in a short note, which he left early the next morning in the hands of the in- fant John at the office door. John looked at the note and the bearer with curiosity, and said, " Are you coming in here T' " No," returned Paul. " Good," said the infant, shutting the door. That evening Mr. Stretch, in his usual review of Mr. Chessle- bury's correspondence, picked Paul's note from the waste- paper basket, where it lay crumpled up. He straightened it, out with great care, and read it ; and as he read it, he said, Good." XVI. OCTOBER, 1851. THE next morning, Paul Rundle, looking as was his wont in the columns of WANTS in the morn- ing paper, in the hope that somebody wanted him, found the following advertisement : " WANTED, a lad to tend store and run of errands. He must come well recommended ; must be steady, active, quick at figures, a good penman, understand accounts, and be a judge of money, and must be able and willing to make him- self .generally useful. To such an one a good place will be 172 CONE CUT CORNERS. given, with a prospect of advance. The best of reference will be required. Wages, four dollars a week. Apply to Baggie- hall, Floric & Co.)"3l7 Broadway." Immediately after breakfast and Paul took his breakfast be- fore Mrs. Stuccuppe's supper things had been cleared away Paul started for Bagglehall, Floric & Go's., to answer the advertisement. If we should say that Messrs. Bagglehall, Floric & Co., kept a grocery and liquor store, we should do them injustice. If we should say that they were wholesale and retail dealers in family groceries, and in foreign and domestic wines, we should say exactly what their sign did'. The store contrasted strongly with its next-door neighbor, Haggle & Change's. The latter was fresh and flashy ; the former Avas old and dingy. The one delighted in huge show- windows as transparent as a vacuum, brightly-polished coun- ters, and carefully swept floors ; the other in cobwebs, and a certain dust of an eminently wholesome appearance. The one was new and genteel ; the other old and respectable. The one resembled its ribbons ; the other its cheese. It was an inconveniently crowded store too, was Bagglehall, Floric & Go's. Only at night, when it was carefully shut up, could it contain its contents. As soon as it was opened in the morning, they overflowed upon the sidewalk, and there stood all day long. It was so crowded full of barrels, and boxes, and baskets, and bags, piled up every where to the very ceiling, in every pass- age-way but one, against every door but one, darkening every window but one, that half way down the counter, where the book-keeper's desk stood, a candle was necessary to give the spiders light to work by. Just behind this desk was the darkest possible pair of stairs. They were effectually walled CONE CUT CORNERS. 173 in from outside gaze by baskets and boxes ; baskets ob- long like a coffin ; baskets bottle-necked like a demijohn ; baskets full and baskets empty, baskets covered and baskets open ; with boxes too ; round boxes and oblong boxes, and many square boxes containing, as an algebraic inscription, XXX, upon their labels, indicated, unknown quantities of ale and porter. As Paul entered the store, a man whose sandy whiskers looked like a dilapidated hearth-brush came up the stairs. He had a gray checked cap upon his head, and wore an apron which was heavy and stiff with dark stains of fluids, semi- fluids and solids ; and in each hand he held a long-necked bottle, covered with dust and cobwebs. " Hi !" said he, holding one up between his finger and thumb by the very tip of its neck ; " Hi ! the spiders know what 's good, they do. They know where it is. They can't get in, but they hang around it. Talk about animals not hav- ing reason. You never saw a fly down in that cellar, did you ? What do you suppose the spiders are so thick there for 1 They know what 's there, they do. Instinct ? Non- sense ! I say, ain't it fine ?" " It is handsome, and no mistake," conceded the gentleman who was standing behind the dim candle, writing at the dark desk. As he spoke, he looked up from his accounts, and held the candle close behind the bottle. " Handsome ?' echoed the other. " Ain't it, though ? Talk of the fine arts. There ain't any thing, according . to my eye, in the fine arts as handsome as that. It 's real regular genu- ine, and no mistake, that is. It 's the real Symington eigh teen- twenty." 174 CONE CUT CORNERS. " Hold on," said his companion, " you M better keep that story for customers, you know. It 's too good to bo wasted." *' Practice," responded the other ; " it 's good practice." " "Well, you need n't practice on me," returned the clerk. " You may be practitioner, but I '11 be hanged if I '11 be pa- tient Well!" This last was addressed with some sharpness to Paul, who had advanced to the counter, and there stood waiting for a pause in the conversation. " I called, sir, in answer to an advertisement in this morn- ing's " " Back room," interrupted the clerk, erecting his right fore- arm upon the desk, into a finger-post for Paul's guidance. He then dropped his pen into the inkstand, wiped it on his hair to dispose of superfluous ink, and went on with his writing. Paul followed the direction of the finger-post, and went back to a little counting-room, divided off from the rest of the store by a thin partition, partly glass. In this counting-room were a green safe, a high desk, a stool to match, an easy-chair, and an empty fire-place. Upon the mantle over the fireplace, there were a row of dingy bottles, a box of cigars, and a pair of feet. The feet were, by a pair of chunky legs, apparently connected with something in the easy-chair. This something, whatever it was, was completely hid by a large newspaper interposed between the easy-chair and the fireplace, and be- neath which the legs disappeared. As the door opened, the newspaper dropped and disclosed to the view of Paul a per- fectly round head, a crooked nose, and a very large vest. " Good morning," said the vest. The voice proceeded ap- CONE CUT CORNERS. 175 patently from the vest, which moved quite as much as the lips in the utterance. " I called, sir," said Paul, " in answer to an advertisement which appeared in this morning's Sun." " Yes ! yes !" replied the vest. " Take a seat ; take a seat." The legs moved the feet from the mantle to the floor, and turned the vest round in its chair more toward the young man. " Yes ! yes ! take a seat." There being no other seat in the room than the high stool, Paul declined the handsome offer of such promotion, and stood up. " What name ?" Paul told his name, and then, in answer to further inquiries by the occupant of the easy-chair, told him where he lived and who his mother was, and that his father was away ; but where or how he did not say ; and how it happened that he had now no situation, and whom he was with last. And he gave him a specimen of his handwriting, and did a sum in mental arithmetic so quickly, that the round head had not the least idea whether it was accurate or not, or how it was done, though it nodded approvingly at the prompt answer when it was announced. Paul also then learned that the round head, and the crooked nose, and the large vest, were all the property of Mr. Floric, the junior partner of the firm of Bagglehall, Floric & Co., and that what the firm wanted was, according to the tenor of the junior partner's conversation, a young man of good mental abilities to help keep the books and attend to the accounts, and a young gentleman of pleasing address to help tend the counter and to be assistant salesman, and an able-bodied light - 176 CONK CUT CORNERS. porter, to help get out and pack the goods, and a young man of some acquaintance with horses, who was an experienced and careful driver, to drive one of the wagons in an emerg- ency, and a person of strict integrity to fulfill the pecuniary trusts of the place, and a small boy to run of errands and make himself generally useful ; and that they were only will- ing to pay for the small boy to run of errands, and expected the assistant book-keeper, and the assistant salesman, and the assistant light porter, and the assistant driver, and the young man of strict integrity, all to throw themselves in. To the contract, as thus defined, Paul expressed his willingness to ac- cede, and desired then and there to take hold and commence work. " At least, sir,", said he, " I can try it for to-day, and if I succeed to your satisfaction, I can go on ; if not, why " " Well," said Mr. Floric, to whom this proposal seemed un- objectionable, " say you try it for to-day. Hold on though, a minute. The best of references required. Bagglehall was particular about the references." " Well, sir," said Paul, " I can refer you to Mr. Haggle, next door, or to Mr. Change " " H'm," said Mr. Floric, somewhat doubtfully. " and to the Honorable Mr. Chesslebury." " Lafayette ?" inquired Mr. Floric, " Yes, sir," replied Paul. " He 's a relation of ours, sir, my mother's cousin. He offered me a situation as errand-boy in his office, sir, but the salary was so low ; the advantages for study, and improvement, and acquaintance, and those things you know, sir, he said were so great that the salary had to be low, and I could n't possibly get along with it, for I have to CONE OUT CORNERS. 177 support myself, so I could n't take the place, though I wanted to very much. But though he could n't get me a situation, lie said that if his name would be of any use to me I should be welcome to refer to him." " Lafayette Chesslebury all over," said Mr. Floric, slapping his hand upon his knee, while an audible chuckle agitated the surface of the large vest. Probably Paul's astonishment at this irreverent treatment of the name of his august relative, was apparent in his countenance, for Mr. Floric added : " So he 's your mother's cousin, is he ? That 's consider- able honor to start with, my boy. Hococks !" The man with the hearth-brush whiskers made his appear- ance in obedience to this summons. To him Paul was intro- duced as " young Rundle, who had applied for the situation, and who was to take hold and see what he could do." " Very good, sir," said Hococks. " He can take right hold and help you get out that order for for Mr. for what's-his-name, there, you know up on Washington Square." This, with a nod of the round head expressing great intelligence, and a wink which wrinkled the crooked nose into an expression of great mystery, and a sim- ultaneous point of the thumb toward Paul. Seeing all mys- tery and no intelligence reflected in the countenance of Ho- cocks, the partner took that man out to one side, just be- yond distinct ear-shot of Paul, where he was heard to speak, interspersed among other words, the following, " family smart boy sharp keep dark no hurry on trial the busi- ness." From this interview, in which the gray checked cap and hearth-brush whiskers were seen to nod a great many times, 178 CONE CUT CORKERS. Mr. Hococks came forth, regarding Paul with great attention and curiosity, much to the confusion of that somewhat modest candidate for employment in the respectable estab- lishment. Then, guided by Mr. Hococks and a dun candle, Paul descended the cellar stairs into the subterranean vaults of the store. Thanks to the candle, the cellar was not per- fectly dark. There was, it is true, glimmering through the grating in the side-walk, which formed the roof of the other end of the cellar, a little dingy light, but it seemed like little more than the shadow of twilight, and merely sufficed to make the darkness look respectable. Paul could therefore see very little, until the candle, groping its way to one side, set the catching example of combustion to a gas-burner, over a rough bench against the wall, and immediately the grating and the candle were eclipsed with a flood of light. Then he saw rubbish of every respectable description ; fragments of old boxes, pieces of baskets, hoops, piles of musty bags, old brooms, heaps of broken bottles, bins of coal, empty barrels, and a pile of staves looking like an admirable throw of mag- nified jackstraws. Casting hasty glances at these features of the place, which were mostly distributed in the darkest end of the cellar, Paul followed his guide to the bench. Stored in racks upon one side were bottles of all sizes and sorts, and in great quantities. Wine bottles by the hundred ; London brown stout and pale India ale bottles by the gross ; Champagne bottles by the thousand; all empty, bright, and clean. On the other side was a row of hogsheads raised on a little platform, with their faucets all in a lice. "Now," said Mr. Hococks, producing a crumpled memo- . CONE CUT CORNERS 179 randum from the gray cap, and smoothing it out upon the rough bench, " we have got a uice order to fill. First we '11 take the South Side Madeira I think. Now Bob, we Ve got to make up two dozen real old South Side East India. Them's the bottles, that kind no," said he, with his hand on the rack, suddenly interrupting himself, " that ain't the kind. We have n't got one of those English bottles left." In great apparent consternation the man ran to the foot of the stairs and called for Mr. Floric. That gentleman came to the cellar door, but being of a person not adapted to running up and down stairs as an amusement, he stood there and re- sponded to the call, peering down the stairway, and shouting : " What 's the row ?" "I say, sir," replied Hococks, in a loud under-tone, "we have 'nt got any of those English Madeira bottles. He wants two dozen, and we have 'nt got any left ; not an individual bottle." Mr. Floric looked up to see who might be around in a position to listen, and looked down again and said, " The devil, Hococks." Mr. Hococks did not notice the apposition, but continued. " I sent down to the Drinkwater House yesterday, but they hadn't any empty yet. They're to have a dinner-party to- morrow, and we can have plenty the day after, but that won't do, I suppose. Mr. um he 's very particular about his bottles." " Fact !" assented Mr. Floric. " And if we send up wrong bottles he '11 make difficulty." "Precisely," said Mr. Floric. "Can't you get 'em at Puzzling's Hotel?" 180 CONE CUT CORNERS. " No ! they supply Waters & Bungole." " So they do. Stf they do," nodded Mr. Floric. " Have you got any paper labels left ?" " Oh, yes, sir," responded Hococks. " "Well, you '11 have to use them." " What bottles ?" persisted Mr. Hococks. "Oh!" cried Mr. Floric, "I have it. Stuccuppe sent down a lot this morning, just the thing ; what we sent his last sherry in ; they 're at the back-door now. They are plain ; they '11 do for any heavy wine." " Very good," said Mr. Hococks, in a tone of great belief. " When you make that up, Hococks," added Mr. Floric, " put in a . little more brandy. The last we sent him he thought was not so good a body as he 'd been used to. His taste is getting that way. Put in a little more brandy." In accordance with these instructions, Paul, who began to comprehend the art before him, was set at work to clean the empty bottles sent down from Mr. Stuccuppe's ; and he won- dered occasionally who it was that was to be accommodated with them next, whose eye for bottles was so sharp, and whose taste for the contents so delicately sensitive. Mr. Hococks meanwhile calculated, according to the arith- metic of the respectable dealers, that in the usage of trade it would take just one dozen and six quarts to fill two dozen quart bottles. Then he brought forth from under the bench a large tin can which he cleaned by a whiff of his handker- chief, a puff with his breath and a shake with his hands. Placing this under a faucet which stood first and foremost in the long line of faucets, but which was not connected with any hogshead, he laid the foundation for the South Side Madeira, CONE CUT CORKERS. 181 in about five quarts, measured by the eye, of pure,' or nearly pure, Croton Avater. To this he added from a large hogshead, which contained the Madeira of the trade, about a dozen quarts, drawn in a gallon measure, with a little over, thrown in by way of giving himself a margin for tasting. Then he lifted the can upon the bench, and sat down by the side of it to reflect. It must not be supposed that Mr. Hococks, in 'meditation, felt any compunctions at having diluted the liquid called Ma- deira. There Avas no ground for any such feeling. Rather for satisfaction. For the history of the old South Side of eighteen-twenty, and of East Indian memory, was somewhat as follows. Not quite two years since, a dirty crew of naked natives, jumping up and down, with songs, in the wine-vats of the south side of the Island of Madeira, crushed with their feet the over-ripe and bursting grapes ; and as the juice and pulp squirted from under the soles of their dancing feet, and spirted up between their brown toes, and spattered upon their brawny thighs, they sang the louder and danced the faster, until the perspiration, starting in large drops, rolled down their hirsute legs, mingling with spatterings of grape, and was finally rub- bed off into the vat by the hands of the retiring laborers ; and thus was accomplished, at a very early period, the first di- lution of the pure juice of the grape. Thence undergoing many equally pleasant courses of treatment, the final result was strengthened with brandy to enable the same 'to endure well the voyage, and by an imaginary trip to the East Indies, came quickly to London, and there was entered safely in bond. . 182 CONE CUT CORNERS. Not even here, however, though safe under government care and surveillance, did its history end. For here by virtue of the authority of those convenient ordinances of the British Government, known as Treasury Order, 20th of May, 1830, Treasury Order, 20th of June, 1830, and other like wholesome regulations, it was mixed again with not over twenty per cent, of brandy and with other wines, also Madeira so called, ad libitum, then and there also in bond ; and thence, having been racked into other casks, was brought into the city of New York, where it appeared by the oath of the respectable dealers, who imported it, (and who subsequently made a profit on it by expanding it into thirteen hogsheads out of a dozen,) that its original and true cost to them was 48i cents a gallon. Coming from them into the hands of Messrs Baggie- hall, Floric