Thus while the busy dame bustled about the house or plied her
spinning-wheel at one end of the piazza, honest Balt would sit
smoking his evening pipe at the other, watching the achievements
of a little wooden warrior who, armed with a sword in each hand,
was most valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle of the barn.
In the meantime, Ichabod would carry on his suit with the
daughter by the side of the spring under the great elm, or
sauntering along in the twilight, that hour so favorable to the
lover's eloquence.
I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To
me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some
seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access, while
otheres have a thousand avenues and may be captured in a thousand
different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to gain the
former, but still greater proof of generalship to maintain
possession of the latter, for the man must battle for his
fortress at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common
hearts is therefore entitled to some renown, but he who keeps
undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero.
Certain it is, this was not the case with the redoubtable Brom
Bones; and from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances, the
interests of the former evidently declined; his horse was no
longer seen tied at the palings on Sunday nights, and a deadly
feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor of Sleepy
Hollow.
Pages:
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543