Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty EstablishedMusick, John R. (John Roy)
History
Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty Established
Musick, John R. (John Roy)
United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Fiction
Sukey stood at the narrow window gazing out on the dreary and melancholy
scene, while he heaved an occasional sigh.
"If this is what you call gitten an education I don't want it," he
drawled at last. "I would rather go back to Ohio and hunt for deer or
black bear, than enjoy such amusement as this is."
"Oh, it will get better," said Fernando.
"It has great room for growing better."
"But it might be worse."
"Yes, we might be at sea."
Their landlady, a portly woman with two marriageable daughters, did all
in her power to make their stay pleasant. She praised Baltimore for its
beauty and health, its picturesqueness and poetry. It was surely
destined to be the greatest city in the United States.
When they were alone, Sukey pointed to the mud heaps and duck pools and
gravely asked:
"Do they show the poetry and picturesk of which she speaks? Is that old
chaise a sign of health or prosperity?"
"Be patient, Sukey; we have seen little or none of Baltimore."
"Plague take me if I haven't seen more than I want to see of it now,"
growled Sukey.
At last the weather cleared a little, and the sun shone brilliantly on
the pools of water and muddy street. The young gentlemen strolled forth
to look about the town.
When about to start from the inn, Sukey asked:
"Say, Fernando, how are we goin' to find our way back?"
This was a serious question for even Fernando. He reflected over it a
moment and then said:
"It's the house at the foot of the second hill with the road or street
that winds around the cliff."
"Wouldn't it be better to take hatchets and blaze the corners of the
houses as we go along?" suggested Sukey. Fernando smiled and thought the
owners might raise some serious objections to having their houses
blazed. They were still somewhat undecided in regard to the matter, when
their landlady, with a movement about as graceful as the waddle of a
duck, came down the rickety stairs, and they in despair appealed to her.
She relieved them of their trouble in short order. On a piece of tin
over her door was the number 611. She told them the name of the street,
and assured them if they would remember that and the number, any one
would point it out to them. Besides they had only to remember the widow
Mahone, everybody in the town knew the widow Mahone.
With this assurance of safe return, the two youngsters ventured forth
into the city. They were not as verdant as the reader may imagine. Both
had been reared in the western wilderness and retained much of the
pioneer traits about them; but books had been society for them, and
their four months spent in New York and Boston had given them an urbane
polish. Sukey, however, had many inherent traits, which all the schools
could not wholly eradicate.
"I don't like towns," he declared, as they ascended a hill, which gave
them an excellent view of the harbor and shipping. "They are too close.
I want elbow room, and as soon as I get through my college course, I am
going back to the woods."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account