Virginia illustrated : containing a visit to the Virginian Canaan, and the adventures of Porte Crayon and his cousins . mself in the mysteries of old sledge and the fiddle. At the PORTE CRAYONS TRIUMPH. 155 end of the year his Euclid and Gra;ca Majora smelt as fresh ason the day they left the book-store, while he had sawed throughinnumerable strings of catgut, and thumbed to pieces pack afterpack of Crehores cards, with a j)erseverance which some personsmight say was worthy of a better cause. The perusal of Chester-fields Letters, and further acquaintance with the world, had long-ago induced h
Virginia illustrated : containing a visit to the Virginian Canaan, and the adventures of Porte Crayon and his cousins . mself in the mysteries of old sledge and the fiddle. At the PORTE CRAYONS TRIUMPH. 155 end of the year his Euclid and Gra;ca Majora smelt as fresh ason the day they left the book-store, while he had sawed throughinnumerable strings of catgut, and thumbed to pieces pack afterpack of Crehores cards, with a j)erseverance which some personsmight say was worthy of a better cause. The perusal of Chester-fields Letters, and further acquaintance with the world, had long-ago induced him to lay aside an accomplishment which, to say theleast, is of doubtful utility to a gentleman; but it must be ac-knowledged, privately, he never laid eyes on a fiddle that his fin-gers did not itch to get hold of it. There was nothing in the sur-roundings there to remind him of Chesterfield, and, yielding to anatural impulse, he took the instrument, and sticking it underhis chin, flourished off that brilliant extravaganza, The DevilsDream, in such eff*ective style that the whole house, and especial- \\m Illll i!. THE TRIUMPH 156 PORTE CRAYON AND HIS COUSINS. ly Tim Longbow, were perfectly electrified. The excited herdstood for several moments mute and listening, then made a rush,en masse, upon the person of the fiddler. Before he could resistor protest, he found himself taking an Olympic promenade on theshoulders of the enthusiastic crowd. Whether Crayon felt more like a Grecian hero or a rowdy, ashe rode round and round the dusty bar-room, we have never beenable to ascertain. His countenance, serene and Sphinx-like, be-trayed none of the emotions of his soul, while he continued toflourish his fiddle-stick with a furious zeal that would have donecredit to the great Volker of the Niehelungen Lied. At the end ofabout half an hour he managed to make his escape into anotherpart of the house, and finding there a sleeping-place, lately desert-ed by some fellow, he rolled himself in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectvirginiasociallifean
