FullReads

Willing to spare her own horses, Miss Emmerson had already sent to the city for the keeper of a livery-stable, to come out and contract with her for a travelling carriage, to convey her to the Falls of Niagara. The man came, and it is no wonder that Julia, under her impressions, chose to be present at the conversation.

“Well then,” said Miss Emmerson to the man, “I will pay you your price, but you must furnish me with good horses to meet me at Albany–remember that I take all the useless expense between the two cities, that I may know whom it is I deal with.”

“Miss Emmerson ought to know me pretty well by this time,” said the man; “I have driven her enough, I think.”

“And a driver,” continued the lady, musing, “who am I to have for a driver?” Here Julia became all attention, trembling and blushing with apprehension.

“Oh, a driver!” cried the horse-dealer; “I have got you an excellent driver, one of the first chop in the city.”

{first chop = first rank, highest quality}

Although these were not the terms that our heroine would have used herself in speaking of this personage, yet she thought they plainly indicated his superiority, and she waited in feverish suspense to hear more.

“He must be steady, and civil, and sober, and expert, and tender-hearted,” said Miss Emmerson, who thought of any thing but a hero in disguise.

“Yes–yes–yes–yes–yes,” replied the stable- keeper, nodding his head and speaking at each requisite, “he is all that, I can engage to Miss Emmerson.”

“And his eyesight must be good,” continued the lady, deeply intent on providing well for her journey; “we may ride late in the evening, and it is particularly requisite that he have good eyes.”

“Yes–yes, ma’am,” said the man, in a little embarrassment that did not escape Julia; “he has as good an eye as any man in America.”

“Of what age is he?” asked Miss Emmerson.

“About fifty,” replied the man, thinking years would he a recommendation.

“Fifty!” exclaimed Julia, in a tone of disappointment.

“‘Tis too old,” said Miss Emmerson; “he should he able to undergo fatigue.”

“Well, I may be mistaken–Oh, he can’t be more than forty, or thirty,” continued the man, watching the countenance of Julia; “he is a man that looks much older than he is.”

“Is he strong and active?”

“I guess he is–he’s as strong as an ox, and active as a cat,” said the other, determined he should pass.

“Well, then,” said the aunt, in her satisfied way, “let every thing be ready for us in Albany by next Tuesday. We shall leave home on Monday.”

The man withdrew.

Julia had heard enough–for ox she had substituted Hercules, and for cat, she read the feathered Mercury.

CHAPTER V.

THE long expected Monday at length arrived, and Miss Emmerson and Julia, taking an affectionate leave of their relatives in the city, went on board the steam-boat under the protection of Charles Weston. Here a new scene indeed opened on our heroine; for some time she even forgot to look around her in the throng in quest of Antonio. As the boat glided along the stream, she stood leaning on one arm of Charles, while Miss Emmerson held the other, in delighted gaze at the objects, which they had scarcely distinguished before they were passed.

“See, dear Charles,” cried Julia, in a burst of what she would call natural feeling–“there is our house– here the summerhouse, and there the little arbour where you read to us last week Scott’s new novel– how delightful! every thing now seems and feels like home.”

“Would it were a home for us all,” said Charles, gently pressing her arm in his own, and speaking only to be heard by Julia, “then should I be happy indeed.”

Julia thought no more of Antonio; but while her delighted eye rested on the well known scenes around their house, and {as} she stood in the world, for the first time, leaning on Charles, she thought him even nearer than their intimacy and consanguinity made them. But the boat was famous for her speed, and the house, garden, and every thing Julia knew, were soon out of sight, and she, by accident, touching the picture which she had encased in an old gold setting of her mother’s, and lodged in her bosom, was immediately restored to her former sense of things. Then her eye glanced rapidly round the boat, but discovering no face which in the least resembled disguise, she abandoned the expectation of meeting her lover before they reached Albany. Her beauty drew many an eye on her, however, and catching the steady and admiring gaze of one or two of the gentlemen, Julia’s heart beat, and her face was covered with blushes.