154 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



sition, and take no delight in these interesting and often romantic , 

 recitals, what shall we advise you to do to pass the time when, 

 perhaps, quartered away in some dreary, sequestered spot, out of 

 the reach of books, newspapers, or any thing else whereby to 

 satisfy an inquiring and active mind ? Ah ! we have it. Call for 

 the family Bible ; for where can you find a household, in our favored 

 country, that does not possess one of these time-worn testimonials 

 of bygone days ? Turn to the register of births, deaths, and mar- 

 riages, and you will soon find yourself lost in deciphering the 

 hieroglyphics of these important family records, and perhaps thus 

 while away an hour or two in studying some long genealogical 

 table, gravely proving that the ancient founder of the American 

 Smith family first landed at Plymouth with the pilgrims from the 

 Old World, and afterwards emigrated to these parts, where he 

 built a log-cabin on the identical spot now covered by the house 

 you are in, and which still, even to this day, continues in the pos- 

 session of the lineal descendants of the said Smith family. What 

 a discovery ! Before fully awakening from your surprise, the rain, 

 perhaps, will have ceased, the sun broken forth, and you can again 

 joyfully sally forth to the fields. If this, perchance, will not 

 engage your attention, draw a chair up to the hickory fire that 

 blazes and crackles at your feet, plant your broad back against 

 the chimney, look sullen, kick the dogs, and go to sleep as soon as 

 possible. Or, if it suits you better, walk up and down the room 

 for an hour at a time, making the whole house shake and tremble 

 with your heavy tread, scolding, and staring out of the windows 

 every few moments, to see if the lowering clouds are blowing 

 away, or to halloo after the hostler or farm-hands, whenever you 

 espy them about the premises, demanding their opinion as to the 

 state of the weather, which, nine times out of ten, will be very 

 cheering: such, for example, as, "Well, I can't say, sair; it looks 

 pretty black out in this 'ere direction." "Indeed, it's very hard 

 to tell, sair ; but it sometimes clears up when the wind shifts around 

 to that 'ere quarter;" pointing to the west, and the wind still 

 blowing a perfect gale from the east. 



