Sam tumbled up accordingly, dexterously contriving to tickle andy as he did so, which occasioned andy to split out into a laugh, greatly to haley's indignation, who made a cut at him with his riding-whip.
"i's 'stonished at yer, andy," said sam, with awful gravity. "this yer's a seris bisness, andy. yer mustn't be makin' game. this yer an't no way to mas'r." (p.49)

how might the reader infer that the excerpt is written in the style of romanticism?

the characters are basically good.
the characters are secretly expressing an independent spirit.
the characters are in close relation to nature.
the characters are expressing individuality.

The Romanticism style is a movement that had great popularity from the late 18th century well into the 19th century. It is characterized by a "rejection" of all the concepts that were popular (due to the Classicism movement of the 18th century) in that time like: order, rationality and calmness. So the Romantic movement exalted things like senses over reason and emotion over intellect. It was basically a time for creativity instead of rules so the correct answer to the question would be option B: "The characters are secretly expressing an independent spirit", since the characters in the excerpt seem to value a good time more than rules.  

ichabod crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in washington irving's short story, "the legend of sleepy hollow", first published in 1820. in popular culture, this story is sometimes retitled as "the headless horseman."