There Were Two Dark-Haired, Long-Limbed Gentlemen, Who
Lay The Greater Part Of The First And Second Day At
Full length on the
sofas in the after-cabin, each with a spittoon before him, chewing tobacco
with great rapidity
And industry, and apparently absorbed in the endeavor
to fill it within a given time. There was another, with that atrabilious
complexion peculiar to marshy countries, and circles of a still deeper hue
about his eyes, who sat on deck, speechless and motionless, wholly
indifferent to the sound of the dinner-bell, his countenance fixed in an
expression which seemed to indicate an utter disgust of life.
Yet we had some snatches of good talk on the voyage. A robust old
gentleman, a native of Norwalk, in Connecticut, told us that he had been
reading a history of that place by the Rev. Mr. Hall.
"I find," said he, "that in his account of the remarkable people of
Norwalk, he has omitted to speak of two of the most remarkable, two
spinsters, Sarah and Phebe Comstock, relatives of mine and friends of my
youth, of whom I retain a vivid recollection. They were in opulent
circumstances for the neighborhood in which they lived, possessing a farm
of about two hundred acres; they were industrious, frugal, and extremely
charitable; but they never relieved a poor family without visiting it, and
inquiring carefully into its circumstances. Sarah was the housekeeper, and
Phebe the farmer. Phebe knew nothing of kitchen matters, but she knew at
what time of the year greensward should be broken up, and corn planted,
and potatoes dug.
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