Maine, and who had several times, with great earnestness, invited the young sailor to make his appearance in that quarter.

Ichabod Allen stepped into the stage-sleigh one cold morning in January, at an early hour, and after a comfortless ride of two days and a half, in that most uncomfortable of all vehicles which the ingenuity of man ever invented, and being upset only four times on his route, he was safely deposited, although almost as gelid as an icicle, at the door of the Black Swan Public House, in Allensville. This noted tavern, indeed the only one in the village, was kept by Jonas Sanderson, a bluff-looking, ruddy-cheeked, good-humored landlord, who delighted in seeing all his customers

taking their comfort," as he called it, which, according to his notions, consisted in swilling deep and frequent potations of sling, toddy, or flip. And Jonas Sanderson, with singular hospitality, neglected no attentions which would contribute to the comfort of his guests; and his bar-room was frequented not only by the passing travellers, for whose especial accommodation our country taverns were originally intended, but by all the idle, the silly, the vicious, and the intemperate men within a circle of several miles, who sought to kill "the enemy" by drinking alcoholic drinks, at the same time that they emptied their purses, destroyed their constitu

tions, and brought misery upon their families. Thus Jonas Sanderson waxed rich; for the money which the poor infatuated inebriate should have spent to clothe and feed his shivering and starving wife and children, was paid over to the landlord, for generously, hospitably supplying his fellow-men with a poison, destructive alike to body and soul. Jonas Sanderson was also a respectable man, and honored with the commission of justice of the peace, which gave him a legitimate claim to the title of "Squire." But the Squire's rubicund countenance and bloodshot eyes, showed that he was not averse to "taking his own comfort" pretty often; and those who watched the signs of the times, predicted that many years would not elapse, before even the "burly host " himself- albeit, his worldly possessions might increase in value would become one of that very class of despised and degraded beings, ycleped drunkards, which he had labored so hard, by night and by day, by precept and example, to increase and multiply in the village.

Ichabod Allen, after warming himself by the large and cheerful fire in the bar-room, and returning the stare of the motley group, which were collected, apparently to inhale the stimulating effluvia, and procure a drop or two of comfort, inquired the direction in which his uncle Timothy

lived. He was informed by his ruddy-visaged host that his uncle's dwelling-house was situated about three quarters of a mile off, on a cross road, leading to North Allensville. And he at once decided to leave his baggage for the present with the landlord of the Black Swan, and to proceed to his uncle's residence on foot, notwithstanding the travelling was heavy, the snow being deep, and a good deal drifted on the route he was about to take.

Drawing his cloak tighter about him, and pulling his fur cap around his ears, Ichabod took the bearings of his uncle's residence, and was about to start on his cruise, when three or four dashing young men, each accompanied by a fair and laughing damsel, and each drawn by a spirited horse, with the bells jingling at a wonderful rate, as if "all bedlam was broken loose," drove up to the door. These village beaux had been driving fast and furious, in order to command the admiration and win the favor of the blooming belles who had vouchsafed to honor them with their company. On arriving at the Black Swan, they found it advisable to rest their horses a few moments, have a little chat with the friendly landlord, and partake of "something comfortable " in the meanwhile.

The foremost vehicle was drawn by a large black

horse, which was driven by a young man with an unprepossessing countenance, who wore a monstrous high shirt-collar, and sported a respectable pair of whiskers. He smiled and smirked on every body as he reined his horse up opposite the doorstone; and he seemed to be particularly happy as he leaped out of the sleigh, threw the reins into the hands of the ostler, entered the bar-room and called out right lustily for a mug of flip-" and remember, Squire," added he, "I like it pretty stiff." The landlord tipped him a knowing wink, as much as to say, I know and approve your taste in these matters, and entered with alacrity upon his labors.

But Ichabod's attention was arrested by the fair and now sole occupant of the sleigh, who preferred remaining in her seat, to entering the tavern, the atmosphere of which was strongly impregnated with the fumes of alcohol, and the flavor of the rank Virginia weed. "This is an evidence," thought Ichabod, "of her refinement and good sense." She wore no odious veil to conceal her features; and our young sailor, who imagined himself a connoisseur in female charms, thought that he had never seen anything so dazzlingly beautiful before. Her bright blue eyes, sparkling with mischief and the excitement of the occasion; her cheeks, colored of a rosy hue, by a bracing north

wester, youth, exercise and health; her smile, which seemed to irradiate features, that Canova would have loved to make immortal; all constituted a galaxy of charms, which struck our hero with admiration. Prompted by a pardonable curiosity, he tried also to ascertain if the outline of her form corresponded with the loveliness of her face, but here he was for the present doomed to disappointment, so completely was she ensconced within the folds of an odious buffalo robe. Perceiving that his rather ardent gaze suffused the cheeks of the fair maiden with a more than ordinary tinge of crimson, he turned away and addressing one of those everlasting loungers, or in modern parlance, loafers, who are often found about country taverns, he inquired the name of the young lady who was seated in the sleigh.

That," said the person to whom he applied for information, "is Barbara Howard, allowed on all hands to be the prettiest gal in Allensville, and there are some who think it would be hard work to find her equal within twenty miles; and she knows it, too, as well as you or I do; and, I tell you what it is, my friend, I never knew a gal that was pretty, but what she could find it out as soon as other folks.

"Who is that dandified-looking chap who rode in the sleigh with her?" asked Ichabod, in a manner somewhat more contemptuous than the occasion seemed to warrant.