Charles was right, for Antonio, moving his face, with a laugh cried in
his turn--"There, sir, my nose is moved, but you can't see no better,
after all."
Julia was amused with his condescension, which she thought augured
perfect good-nature and affability. After all, thought Julia, if noble
and commanding qualities are necessary to excite admiration or to
command respect, familiar virtues induce us to love more tenderly, and
good temper is absolutely necessary to contribute to our comfort. On the
whole, she was rather pleased than otherwise, that Antonio could receive
and return what was evidently intended for a witticism, although as yet
she did not comprehend it. But Charles did not leave her long in doubt.
On the north side of the Mohawk, and at about fifty miles from its
mouth, is a mountain which, as we have already said, juts, in a nearly
perpendicular promontory, into the bed of the river; its inclination is
sufficient to admit of its receiving the name of a nose. Without the
least intention of alluding to our hero, the early settlers had affixed
the name of St. Anthony, who appears to have been a kind of Dutch deity
in this state, and to have monopolized all the natural noses within her
boundaries to himself. The vulgar idiom made the pronunciation an-TONY'S
nose--and all this Charles briefly explained to Miss Emmerson and her
niece by way of giving point to his own wit. He had hardly made them
comprehend the full brilliancy and beauty of his application of the
mountain to their driver, when they reached the pass itself. The road
was barely sufficient to suffer two carriages to move by each other
without touching, being from necessity dug out of the base of the
mountain; a precipice of many feet led to the river, which was high and
turbulent at the time; there was no railing nor any protection on the
side next the water--and in endeavouring to avoid the unprotected side
of the road, two wagons had met a short time before, and one of them
lost a wheel in the encounter--its owner had gone to a distance for
assistance, leaving the vehicle where it had fallen. The horses of
Antonio, unaccustomed to such a sight, were with some difficulty driven
by the loaded wagon, and when nearly past the object, took a sudden
fright at its top, which was flapping in the wind. All the skill and
exertions of Antonio to prevent their backing was useless, and carriage
and horses would inevitably have gone off the bank together, had not
Charles, with admirable presence of mind, opened a door, and springing
out, placed a billet of wood, which had been used as a base for a lever
in lifting the broken wagon, under one of the wheels. This checked the
horses until Antonio had time to rally them, and, by using the whip with
energy, bring them into the road again. He certainly showed great
dexterity as a coachman. But, unhappily, the movement of Charles had
been misunderstood by Julia, and, throwing open the door, with the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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