`` We 'll come among them in procession , with music and dancing , '' cried the merry damsel . Accordingly -- for it must be understood that our pilgrimage was to be performed on foot -- we sallied joyously out of the wagon , each of us , even the old gentleman in his white-top boots , giving a great skip as we came down the ladder . Above our heads there was such a glory of sunshine and splendor of clouds , and such brightness of verdure below , that , as I modestly remarked at the time , Nature seemed to have washed her face , and put on the best of her jewelry and a fresh green gown , in honor of our confederation . Casting our eyes northward , we beheld a horseman approaching leisurely , and splashing through the little puddles on the Stamford road . Onward he came , sticking up in his saddle with rigid perpendicularity , a tall , thin figure in rusty black , whom the showman and the conjurer shortly recognized to be , what his aspect sufficiently indicated , a travelling preacher of great fame among the Methodists . What puzzled us was the fact , that his face appeared turned from , instead of to , the camp-meeting at Stamford . However , as this new votary of the wandering life drew near the little green space , where the guidepost and our wagon were situated , my six fellow-vagabonds and myself rushed forward and surrounded him , crying out with united voices , -- `` What news , what news from the camp-meeting at Stamford ? '' The missionary looked down , in surprise , at as singular a knot of people as could have been selected from all his heterogeneous auditors . Indeed , considering that we might all be classified under the general head of Vagabond , there was great diversity of character among the grave old showman , the sly , prophetic beggar , the fiddling foreigner and his merry damsel , the smart bibliopolist , the sombre Indian , and myself , the itinerant novelist , a slender youth of eighteen . I even fancied that a smile was endeavoring to disturb the iron gravity of the preacher 's mouth . `` Good people , '' answered he , `` the camp-meeting is broke up . '' So saying , the Methodist minister switched his steed , and rode westward . Our union being thus nullified , by the removal of its object , we were sundered at once to the four winds of heaven . The fortune-teller , giving a nod to all , and a peculiar wink to me , departed on his northern tour , chuckling within himself as he took the Stamford road . The old showman and his literary coadjutor were already tackling their horses to the wagon , with a design to peregrinate southwest along the seacoast . The foreigner and the merry damsel took their laughing leave , and pursued the eastern road , which I had that day trodden ; as they passed away , the young man played a lively strain , and the girl 's happy spirit broke into a dance ; and thus , dissolving , as it were , into sunbeams and gay music , that pleasant pair departed from my view . Last night , between eleven and twelve o'clock , when the Old Year was leaving her final foot prints on the borders of Time 's empire , she found herself in possession of a few spare moments , and sat down -- of all places in the world -- on the steps of our new City Hall . The wintry moonlight showed that she looked weary of body , and sad of heart , like many another wayfarer of earth . Her garments , having been exposed to much foul weather , and rough usage , were in very ill condition ; and as the hurry of her journey had never before allowed her to take an instant 's rest , her shoes were so worn as to be scarcely worth the mending . But , after trudging only a little distance farther , this poor Old Year was destined to enjoy a long , long sleep .
I forgot XXXXX mention , that when she seated herself on the steps , she deposited by her side a very capacious bandbox , in which , as is the custom among travellers of her sex , she carried a great deal of valuable property .
as at before by for into on to under within