The Last of the Foresters: Or, Humors on the Border; A story of the Old Virginia FrontierCooke, John Esten
General
The Last of the Foresters: Or, Humors on the Border; A story of the Old Virginia Frontier
Cooke, John Esten
Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction; Virginia -- Fiction
Mr. Jinks explained that he was angry,--in a towering rage; and added,
that nothing but the presence of Mistress O'Calligan had prevented him
from exterminating O'Brallaghan, who was a wretched creature, beneath
the contempt, etc.
Whereto the lady replied, Really, to think it; but that these feelings
was wrong; and she were only too happy if her presence had prevented
bloodshed. She thought that Mr. Jinks was flattering her--with more of
the same description.
Thus commenced this interview, which the loving and flattered Mistress
O'Calligan wrongly supposed to be intended as one of courtship, on the
part of Mr. Jinks. She was greatly mistaken. If ever proceeding
was calm, deliberate, and prompted by revengeful and diabolical
intentions, the proceeding of Mr. Jinks, on the present occasion, was
of that description.
But none of this appeared upon the countenance of our friend. Mr.
Jinks was himself--he was gallant, impressive; and warming with the
rum, entered into details of his private feelings.
He had ever admired and venerated--he said--the character of the
beautiful and fascinating Judith O'Calligan, who had alone, and by her
unassisted merits, removed from his character that tendency toward
contempt and undervaluation of women, which, he was mortified to say,
he had been induced to feel from an early disappointment in love.
Mistress O'Calligan here looked very much flurried, and ejaculated,
Lor!
Mr. Jinks proceeded to say, that the lady need not feel any concern
for him now; that the early disappointment spoken of, had, it was
true, cast a shadow on his life, which, he imagined, nothing but the
gory blood of his successful rival could remove; that still he, Mr.
Jinks, had had the rare, good fortune of meeting with a divine charmer
who caused him to forget his past sorrows, and again indulge in hopes
of domestic felicity and paternal happiness by the larean altars of
a happy home. That the visions of romance had never pictured such a
person; that the lady whom he spoke of, was well known to the lady
whom he addressed; and, indeed, to be more explicit, was not ten
thousand miles from them at the moment in question.
This was so very broad, that the "lady" in question blushed the color
of the red bricks in her fire-place, and declared that Mr. Jinks was
the dreadfulest creature, and he need'nt expect to persuade her that
he liked her--no, he need'nt.
Mr. Jinks repelled the accusation of being a dreadful creature, and
said, that however terrifying his name might be to his enemies among
the men, that no woman had ever yet had cause to be afraid of him, or
to complain of him.
After which, Mr. Jinks frowned, and took a gulp of the poteen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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