The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Page 6

ask while living.
As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great
green eyes over the fat meadow lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye,
of buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchards burdened with ruddy
fruit, which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart
yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, and his
imagination expanded with the idea, how they might be readily turned

into cash, and the money invested in immense tracts of wild land, and
shingle palaces in the wilderness. Nay, his busy fancy already realized
his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole
family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with
household trumpery, with pots and kettles dangling beneath; and he
beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting
out for Kentucky, Tennessee,--or the Lord knows where!
When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete. It
was one of those spacious farmhouses, with high- ridged but lowly
sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch
settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front,
capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails,
harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the
neighboring river. Benches were built along the sides for summer use;
and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed
the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. From
this piazza the wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the
centre of the mansion, and the place of usual residence. Here rows of
resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one
corner stood a huge bag of wool, ready to be spun; in another, a
quantity of linsey-woolsey just from the loom; ears of Indian corn, and
strings of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the
walls, mingled with the gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave
him a peep into the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs and dark
mahogany tables shone like mirrors; andirons, with their accompanying
shovel and tongs, glistened from their covert of asparagus tops; mock-
oranges and conch-shells decorated the mantelpiece; strings of
various-colored birds eggs were suspended above it; a great ostrich egg
was hung from the centre of the room, and a corner cupboard,
knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and
well-mended china.
From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight,
the peace of his mind was at an end, and his only study was how to
gain the affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this
enterprise, however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to

the lot of a knight-errant of yore, who seldom had anything but giants,
enchanters, fiery dragons, and such like easily conquered adversaries,
to contend with and had to make his way merely through gates of iron
and brass, and walls of adamant to the castle keep, where the lady of
his heart was confined; all which he achieved as easily as a man would
carve his way to the centre of a Christmas pie; and then the lady gave
him her hand as a matter of course. Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win
his way to the heart of a country coquette, beset with a labyrinth of
whims and caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and
impediments; and he had to encounter a host of fearful adversaries of
real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic admirers, who beset every
portal to her heart, keeping a watchful and angry eye upon each other,
but ready to fly out in the common cause against any new competitor.
Among these, the most formidable was a burly, roaring, roystering
blade, of the name of Abraham, or, according to the Dutch abbreviation,
Brom Van Brunt, the hero of the country round, which rang with his
feats of strength and hardihood. He was broad-shouldered and
double-jointed, with short curly black hair, and a bluff but not
unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and arrogance.
From his Herculean frame and great powers of limb he had received the
nickname of BROM BONES, by which he was universally known. He
was famed for great knowledge and skill in horsemanship, being as
dexterous on horseback as a Tartar. He was foremost at all races and
cock fights; and, with the ascendancy which bodily strength always
acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all disputes, setting his hat on
one side, and giving his decisions with an air and tone that admitted of
no gainsay or appeal. He was always