He had, however, a happy mixture of pliability and
perseverance in his nature; he was in form and spirit like a
supple jack--yielding, but although; though he bent, he never
broke and though he bowed beneath the slightest pressure, yet the
moment it was away, jerk! he was as erect and carried his head as
high as ever.
To have taken the field openly against his rival would have been
madness for he was not man to be thwarted in his amours, any more
than that stormy lover, Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made his
advances in a quiet and gently-insinuating manner. Under cover of
his character of singing-master, he made frequent visits at the
farm-house; not that he had anything to apprehend from the
meddlesome interference of parents, which is so often a
stumbling-block in the path of lovers. Balt Van Tassel was an
easy, indulgent soul; he loved his daughter better even than his
pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let her
have her way in everything. His notable little wife, too, had
enough to do to attend to her housekeeping and manage her poultry
for, as she sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things
and must be looked after, but girls can take care of themselves.
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