produced by rick niles , john hagerson , and the online distributed proofreading team .

twice-told tales .

by

nathaniel hawthorne .

philadelphia : david mckay , publisher , @number@ south ninth street .

@number@

contents .

page

the gray champion @number@

sunday at home @number@

the wedding-knell @number@

the minister's black veil @number@

the maypole of merry mount @number@

the gentle boy @number@

mr . higginbotham's catastrophe @number@

little annie's ramble @number@

wakefield @number@

a rill from the town pump @number@

the great carbuncle @number@

the prophetic pictures @number@

david swan @number@

sights from a steeple @number@

the hollow of the three hills @number@

the toll-gatherer's day @number@

the vision of the fountain @number@

fancy's show-box @number@

dr . heidegger's experiment @number@

legends of the province house : i .

howe's masquerade @number@ ii .

edward randolph's portrait @number@ iii .

lady eleanore's mantle @number@ iv .

old esther dudley @number@

the haunted mind @number@

the village uncle @number@

the ambitious guest @number@

the sister-years @number@

snowflakes @number@

the seven vagabonds @number@

the white old maid @number@

peter goldthwaite's treasure @number@

chippings with a chisel @number@

the shaker bridal @number@

night-sketches @number@

endicott and the red cross @number@

the lily's quest @number@

footprints on the seashore @number@

edward fane's rosebud @number@

the threefold destiny @number@

twice-told tales .

the gray champion .

there was once a time when new england groaned under the actual pressure of heavier wrongs than those threatened ones which brought on the revolution .

still , the intelligence produced a marked effect .

the sun was near setting when the march commenced .

these holy men exerted their influence to quiet the people , but not to disperse them .

" satan will strike his master-stroke presently , " cried some , " because he knoweth that his time is short .

all our godly pastors are to be dragged to prison .

we shall see them at a smithfield fire in king street . "

" the pope of rome has given orders for a new st bartholomew , " cried others .

" we are to be massacred , man and male-child . "

neither was this rumor wholly discredited ; although the wiser class believed the governor 's object somewhat less atrocious .

his predecessor under the old charter , bradstreet , a venerable companion of the first settlers , was known to be in town .

" stand firm for the old charter-governor ! " shouted the crowd , seizing upon the idea " the good old governor bradstreet ! "

" my children , " concluded this venerable person , " do nothing rashly .

cry not aloud , but pray for the welfare of new england and expect patiently what the lord will do in this matter . "

the event was soon to be decided .

their steady march was like the progress of a machine that would roll irresistibly over everything in its way .

those around him were his favorite councillors and the bitterest foes of new england .

on the other side was bullivant , scattering jests and mockery as he rode along .

the captain of a frigate in the harbor and two or three civil officers under the crown were also there .

another guard of soldiers , in double rank , brought up the rear .

" o lord of hosts , " cried a voice among the crowd , " provide a champion for thy people ! "

this ejaculation was loudly uttered , and served as a herald 's cry to introduce a remarkable personage .

the intervening space was empty a paved solitude between lofty edifices which threw almost a twilight shadow over it .

he made a gesture at once of encouragement and warning , then turned again and resumed his way .

" who is this gray patriarch ? " asked the young men of their sires .

" who is this venerable brother ? " asked the old men among themselves .

but none could make reply .

the elderly men ought to have remembered him , too , with locks as gray in their youth as their own were now .

and the young !

" whence did he come ?

what is his purpose ?

who can this old man be ? " whispered the wondering crowd .

meanwhile , the venerable stranger , staff in hand , was pursuing his solitary walk along the centre of the street .

now he marched onward with a warrior 's step , keeping time to the military music .

" stand ! " cried he .

at the old man 's word and outstretched arm the roll of the drum was hushed at once and the advancing line stood still .

a tremulous enthusiasm seized upon the multitude .

they raised a shout of awe and exultation , and looked for the deliverance of new england .

" what does this old fellow here ? " cried edward randolph , fiercely .

" on , sir edmund !

" nay , nay !

let us show respect to the good grandsire , " said bullivant , laughing .

doubtless he thinks to put us down with a proclamation in old noll 's name . "

" are you mad , old man ? " demanded sir edmund andros , in loud and harsh tones .

" how dare you stay the march of king james 's governor ? "

" i have stayed the march of a king himself ere now , " replied the gray figure , with stern composure .

and what speak ye of james ?

back , thou that wast a governor , back !

with this night thy power is ended .

to-morrow , the prison !

back , lest i foretell the scaffold ! "

but his voice stirred their souls .

they confronted the soldiers , not wholly without arms and ready to convert the very stones of the street into deadly weapons .

but where was the gray champion ?

but all agreed that the hoary shape was gone .

and who was the gray champion ?

i have heard that whenever the descendants of the puritans are to show the spirit of their sires the old man appears again .

when eighty years had passed , he walked once more in king street .

and when our fathers were toiling at the breastwork on bunker 's hill , all through that night the old warrior walked his rounds .

long , long may it be ere he comes again !

his hour is one of darkness and adversity and peril .

sunday at home .

every sabbath morning in the summer-time i thrust back the curtain to watch the sunrise stealing down a steeple which stands opposite my chamber window .

now the loftiest window gleams , and now the lower .

the carved framework of the portal is marked strongly out .

methinks though the same sun brightens it every fair morning , yet the steeple has a peculiar robe of brightness for the sabbath .

by dwelling near a church a person soon contracts an attachment for the edifice .

but the steeple stands foremost in our thoughts , as well as locally .

it impresses us as a giant with a mind comprehensive and discriminating enough to care for the great and small concerns of all the town .

yet , in spite of this connection with human interests , what a moral loneliness on week-days broods round about its stately height !

a glance at the body of the church deepens this impression .

time where man lives not what is it but eternity ?

we will say more of this hereafter .

many have fancied so .

and ever let me recognize it !

some illusions and this among them are the shadows of great truths .

if it have gone astray , it will return again .

i love to spend such pleasant sabbaths from morning till night behind the curtain of my open window .

are they spent amiss ?

every spot so near the church as to be visited by the circling shadow of the steeple should be deemed consecrated ground to-day .

my heart , perhaps , has no such holy , nor , i would fain trust , such impious , potency .

but i am there even before my friend the sexton .

at length he comes a man of kindly but sombre aspect , in dark gray clothes , and hair of the same mixture .

he comes and applies his key to the wide portal .

how glad , yet solemn too !

all the steeples in town are talking together aloft in the sunny air and rejoicing among themselves while their spires point heavenward .

meantime , here are the children assembling to the sabbath-school , which is kept somewhere within the church .

or i might compare them to cherubs haunting that holy place .

about a quarter of an hour before the second ringing of the bell individuals of the congregation begin to appear .

would that the sabbath came twice as often , for the sake of that sorrowful old soul !

i sometimes fancy that the old woman is the happier of the two .

after these , others drop in singly and by twos and threes , either disappearing through the doorway or taking their stand in its vicinity .

those pretty girls !

why will they disturb my pious meditations ?

were i the minister himself , i must needs look .

the greater part , however , have adopted a milder cheerfulness of hue .

a white stocking is infinitely more effective than a black one .

here comes the clergyman , slow and solemn , in severe simplicity , needing no black silk gown to denote his office .

his aspect claims my reverence , but cannot win my love .

by middle age , or sooner , the creed has generally wrought upon the heart or been attempered by it .

as the minister passes into the church the bell holds its iron tongue and all the low murmur of the congregation dies away .

oh , i ought to have gone to church !

the bustle of the rising congregation reaches my ears .

they are standing up to pray .

" lord , look down upon me in mercy ! "

with that sentiment gushing from my soul , might i not leave all the rest to him ?

hark ! the hymn !

at this distance it thrills through my frame and plays upon my heart-strings with a pleasure both of the sense and spirit .

heaven be praised !

it is my misfortune seldom to fructify in a regular way by any but printed sermons .

i , their sole auditor , cannot always understand them .

suppose that a few hours have passed , and behold me still behind my curtain just before the close of the afternoon service .

the hour-hand on the dial has passed beyond four o'clock .

around the church door all is solitude , and an impenetrable obscurity beyond the threshold .

a commotion is heard .

this instantaneous outbreak of life into loneliness is one of the pleasantest scenes of the day .

i have taken a great liking to those black silk pantaloons .

the sabbath eve is the eve of love .

at length the whole congregation is dispersed .

poor souls !

to them the most captivating picture of bliss in heaven is " there we shall be white ! "

all is solitude again .

but hark !

a broken warbling of voices , and now , attuning its grandeur to their sweetness , a stately peal of the organ .

who are the choristers ?

on the wings of that rich melody they were borne upward .

this , gentle reader , is merely a flight of poetry .

a few of the singing-men and singing-women had lingered behind their fellows and raised their voices fitfully and blew a careless note upon the organ .

yet it lifted my soul higher than all their former strains .

they are gone the sons and daughters of music and the gray sexton is just closing the portal .

oh , but the church is a symbol of religion .

there is a moral , and a religion too , even in the silent walls .

and may the steeple still point heavenward and be decked with the hallowed sunshine of the sabbath morn !

the wedding-knell .

that venerable lady chanced to be a spectator of the scene , and ever after made it her favorite narrative .

with such a place , though the tumult of the city rolls beneath its tower , one would be willing to connect some legendary interest .

but there was no need of this .

if he were mad , it was the consequence , and not the cause , of an aimless and abortive life .

the widow was as complete a contrast to her third bridegroom in everything but age as can well be conceived .

sage in most matters , the widow was perhaps the more amiable for the one frailty that made her ridiculous .

but while people talked the wedding-day arrived .

it had been arranged , or possibly it was the custom of the day , that the parties should proceed separately to church .

the whole group , except the principal figure , was made up of youth and gayety .

so brilliant was the spectacle that few took notice of a singular phenomenon that had marked its entrance .

at the moment when the bride 's foot touched the threshold the bell swung heavily in the tower above her and sent forth its deepest knell .

the vibrations died away , and returned with prolonged solemnity as she entered the body of the church .

" good heavens !

what an omen ! " whispered a young lady to her lover .

" on my honor , " replied the gentleman , " i believe the bell has the good taste to toll of its own accord .

what has she to do with weddings ?

if you , dearest julia , were approaching the altar , the bell would ring out its merriest peal .

it has only a funeral-knell for her . "

they therefore continued to advance with undiminished gayety .

but her heroism was admirable .

the bell continued to swing , strike and vibrate with the same doleful regularity as when a corpse is on its way to the tomb .

thus we may draw a sad but profitable moral from this funeral-knell . "

the young have less charity for aged follies than the old for those of youth .

two buried men with a voice at her ear and a cry afar off were calling her to lie down beside them .

but why had she returned to him when their cold hearts shrank from each other 's embrace ?

still the death-bell tolled so mournfully that the sunshine seemed to fade in the air .

immediately after , the footsteps of the bridegroom and his friends were heard at the door .

" you frighten me , my dear madam , " cried she .

" for heaven 's sake , what is the matter ? "

i am expecting my bridegroom to come into the church with my two first husbands for groomsmen . "

" look ! look ! " screamed the bridemaid .

" what is here ?

the funeral ! "

as she spoke a dark procession paced into the church .

behind appeared another and another pair , as aged , as black and mournful as the first .

it was the bridegroom in his shroud .

no garb but that of the grave could have befitted such a death-like aspect .

" come , my bride ! " said those pale lips .

" the hearse is ready ; the sexton stands waiting for us at the door of the tomb .

let us be married , and then to our coffins ! "

how shall the widow 's horror be represented ?

it gave her the ghastliness of a dead man 's bride .

the awestruck silence was first broken by the clergyman .

" mr ellenwood , " said he , soothingly , yet with somewhat of authority , " you are not well .

your mind has been agitated by the unusual circumstances in which you are placed .

the ceremony must be deferred .

as an old friend , let me entreat you to return home . "

" home yes ; but not without my bride , " answered he , in the same hollow accents .

" you deem this mockery perhaps madness .

none that beheld them could deny the terrible strength of the moral which his disordered intellect had contrived to draw .

" cruel ! cruel ! " groaned the heartstricken bride .

at your summons i am here .

but other husbands have enjoyed your youth , your beauty , your warmth of heart and all that could be termed your life .

what is there for me but your decay and death ?

the stern lesson of the day had done its work ; her worldliness was gone .

she seized the bridegroom 's hand .

" yes ! " cried she ; " let us wed even at the door of the sepulchre .

my life is gone in vanity and emptiness , but at its close there is one true feeling .

it has made me what i was in youth : it makes me worthy of you .

time is no more for both of us .

let us wed for eternity . "

with a long and deep regard the bridegroom looked into her eyes , while a tear was gathering in his own .

how strange that gush of human feeling from the frozen bosom of a corpse !

he wiped away the tear , even with his shroud .

" beloved of my youth , " said he , " i have been wild .

the despair of my whole lifetime had returned at once and maddened me .

forgive and be forgiven .

yes ; it is evening with us now , and we have realized none of our morning dreams of happiness .

and what is time to the married of eternity ? "

amid the tears of many and a swell of exalted sentiment in those who felt aright was solemnized the union of two immortal souls .

the minister's black veil .

a parable . [ @number@ ]

the sexton stood in the porch of milford meeting-house pulling lustily at the bell-rope .

the old people of the village came stooping along the street .

children with bright faces tripped merrily beside their parents or mimicked a graver gait in the conscious dignity of their sunday clothes .

spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the pretty maidens , and fancied that the sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on week-days .

the first glimpse of the clergyman 's figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons .

in his case , however , the symbol had a different import .

" but what has good parson hooper got upon his face ? " cried the sexton , in astonishment .

all within hearing immediately turned about and beheld the semblance of mr hooper pacing slowly his meditative way toward the meeting-house .

with one accord they started , expressing more wonder than if some strange minister were coming to dust the cushions of mr hooper 's pulpit .

" are you sure it is our parson ? " inquired goodman gray of the sexton .

" of a certainty it is good mr hooper , " replied the sexton .

the cause of so much amazement may appear sufficiently slight .

there was but one thing remarkable in his appearance .

but so wonder-struck were they that his greeting hardly met with a return .

" i can't really feel as if good mr hooper 's face was behind that piece of crape , " said the sexton .

" i don't like it , " muttered an old woman as she hobbled into the meeting-house .

" he has changed himself into something awful only by hiding his face . "

" our parson has gone mad ! " cried goodman gray , following him across the threshold .

a rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded mr hooper into the meeting-house and set all the congregation astir .

but mr hooper appeared not to notice the perturbation of his people .

it was strange to observe how slowly this venerable man became conscious of something singular in the appearance of his pastor .

that mysterious emblem was never once withdrawn .

did he seek to hide it from the dread being whom he was addressing ?

such was the effect of this simple piece of crape that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house .

yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister as his black veil to them .

it was tinged rather more darkly than usual with the gentle gloom of mr hooper 's temperament .

a subtle power was breathed into his words .

many spread their clasped hands on their bosoms .

an unsought pathos came hand in hand with awe .

after a brief interval forth came good mr hooper also , in the rear of his flock .

such was always his custom on the sabbath-day .

strange and bewildered looks repaid him for his courtesy .

none , as on former occasions , aspired to the honor of walking by their pastor 's side .

a sad smile gleamed faintly from beneath the black veil and flickered about his mouth , glimmering as he disappeared .

" something must surely be amiss with mr hooper 's intellects , " observed her husband , the physician of the village .

" but the strangest part of the affair is the effect of this vagary even on a sober-minded man like myself .

do you not feel it so ? "

" truly do i , " replied the lady ; " and i would not be alone with him for the world .

i wonder he is not afraid to be alone with himself . "

" men sometimes are so , " said her husband .

the afternoon service was attended with similar circumstances .

at its conclusion the bell tolled for the funeral of a young lady .

it was now an appropriate emblem .

could mr hooper be fearful of her glance , that he so hastily caught back the black veil ?

a superstitious old woman was the only witness of this prodigy .

" why do you look back ? " said one in the procession to his partner .

" i had a fancy , " replied she , " that the minister and the maiden 's spirit were walking hand in hand . "

" and so had i at the same moment , " said the other .

that night the handsomest couple in milford village were to be joined in wedlock .

there was no quality of his disposition which made him more beloved than this .

but such was not the result .

if ever another wedding were so dismal , it was that famous one where they tolled the wedding-knell .

the next day the whole village of milford talked of little else than parson hooper 's black veil .

it was the first item of news that the tavernkeeper told to his guests .

the children babbled of it on their way to school .

never did an embassy so ill discharge its duties .

the topic , it might be supposed , was obvious enough .

were the veil but cast aside , they might speak freely of it , but not till then .

but there was one person in the village unappalled by the awe with which the black veil had impressed all besides herself .

as his plighted wife it should be her privilege to know what the black veil concealed .

come , good sir ; let the sun shine from behind the cloud .

first lay aside your black veil , then tell me why you put it on . "

mr hooper 's smile glimmered faintly .

" there is an hour to come , " said he , " when all of us shall cast aside our veils .

take it not amiss , beloved friend , if i wear this piece of crape till then . "

" your words are a mystery too , " returned the young lady .

" take away the veil from them , at least . "

" elizabeth , i will , " said he , " so far as my vow may suffer me .

no mortal eye will see it withdrawn .

this dismal shade must separate me from the world ; even you , elizabeth , can never come behind it . "

" what grievous affliction hath befallen you , " she earnestly inquired , " that you should thus darken your eyes for ever ? "

" but what if the world will not believe that it is the type of an innocent sorrow ? " urged elizabeth .

" beloved and respected as you are , there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin .

for the sake of your holy office do away this scandal . "

the color rose into her cheeks as she intimated the nature of the rumors that were already abroad in the village .

but mr hooper 's mildness did not forsake him .

he even smiled again that same sad smile which always appeared like a faint glimmering of light proceeding from the obscurity beneath the veil .

and with this gentle but unconquerable obstinacy did he resist all her entreaties .

at length elizabeth sat silent .

though of a firmer character than his own , the tears rolled down her cheeks .

she arose and stood trembling before him .

" and do you feel it , then , at last ? " said he , mournfully .

she made no reply , but covered her eyes with her hand and turned to leave the room .

he rushed forward and caught her arm .

" have patience with me , elizabeth ! " cried he , passionately .

" do not desert me though this veil must be between us here on earth .

be mine , and hereafter there shall be no veil over my face , no darkness between our souls .

it is but a mortal veil ; it is not for eternity .

oh , you know not how lonely i am , and how frightened to be alone behind my black veil !

do not leave me in this miserable obscurity for ever . "

" lift the veil but once and look me in the face , " said she .

" never !

it cannot be ! " replied mr hooper .

" then farewell ! " said elizabeth .

but with the multitude good mr hooper was irreparably a bugbear .

a fable went the rounds that the stare of the dead people drove him thence .

their instinctive dread caused him to feel more strongly than aught else that a preternatural horror was interwoven with the threads of the black crape .

it was said that ghost and fiend consorted with him there .

even the lawless wind , it was believed , respected his dreadful secret and never blew aside the veil .

but still good mr hooper sadly smiled at the pale visages of the worldly throng as he passed by .

among all its bad influences , the black veil had the one desirable effect of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman .

its gloom , indeed , enabled him to sympathize with all dark affections .

such were the terrors of the black veil even when death had bared his visage .

but many were made to quake ere they departed .

once , during governor belcher 's administration , mr hooper was appointed to preach the election sermon .

several persons were visible by the shaded candlelight in the death-chamber of the old clergyman .

natural connections he had none .

but there was the decorously grave though unmoved physician , seeking only to mitigate the last pangs of the patient whom he could not save .

there were the deacons and other eminently pious members of his church .

who but elizabeth !

there had been feverish turns which tossed him from side to side and wore away what little strength he had .

the minister of westbury approached the bedside .

" venerable father hooper , " said he , " the moment of your release is at hand .

are you ready for the lifting of the veil that shuts in time from eternity ? "

" yea , " said he , in faint accents ; " my soul hath a patient weariness until that veil be lifted . "

i pray you , my venerable brother , let not this thing be !

suffer us to be gladdened by your triumphant aspect as you go to your reward .

" never ! " cried the veiled clergyman .

" on earth , never ! "

and yet the faint , sad smile so often there now seemed to glimmer from its obscurity and linger on father hooper 's lips .

" why do you tremble at me alone ? " cried he , turning his veiled face round the circle of pale spectators .

" tremble also at each other .

have men avoided me and women shown no pity and children screamed and fled only for my black veil ?

what but the mystery which it obscurely typifies has made this piece of crape so awful ?

i look around me , and , lo ! on every visage a black veil ! "

still veiled , they laid him in his coffin , and a veiled corpse they bore him to the grave .

the maypole of merry mount .

there is an admirable foundation for a philosophic romance in the curious history of the early settlement of mount wollaston , or merry mount .

the masques , mummeries and festive customs described in the text are in accordance with the manners of the age .

authority on these points may be found in strutt 's book of english sports and pastimes .

bright were the days at merry mount when the maypole was the banner-staff of that gay colony .

jollity and gloom were contending for an empire .

never had the maypole been so gayly decked as at sunset on midsummer eve .

from its top streamed a silken banner colored like the rainbow .

where this green and flowery splendor terminated the shaft of the maypole was stained with the seven brilliant hues of the banner at its top .

o people of the golden age , the chief of your husbandry was to raise flowers !

but what was the wild throng that stood hand in hand about the maypole ?

these were gothic monsters , though perhaps of grecian ancestry .

there was the likeness of a bear erect , brute in all but his hind legs , which were adorned with pink silk stockings .

his inferior nature rose halfway to meet his companions as they stooped .

here might be seen the salvage man well known in heraldry hairy as a baboon and girdled with green leaves .

by his side a nobler figure , but still a counterfeit appeared an indian hunter with feathery crest and wampum-belt .

such were the colonists of merry mount as they stood in the broad smile of sunset round their venerated maypole .

within the ring of monsters appeared the two airiest forms that had ever trodden on any more solid footing than a purple-and-golden cloud .

one was a youth in glistening apparel with a scarf of the rainbow pattern crosswise on his breast .

" votaries of the maypole , " cried the flower-decked priest , " merrily all day long have the woods echoed to your mirth .

but be this your merriest hour , my hearts !

up with your nimble spirits , ye morrice-dancers , green men and glee-maidens , bears and wolves and horned gentlemen !

all ye that love the maypole , lend your voices to the nuptial song of the lord and lady of the may ! "

when the priest had spoken , therefore , a riotous uproar burst from the rout of monstrous figures .

oh , edith , this is our golden time .

" that was the very thought that saddened me .

" therefore do i sigh amid this festive music .

what is the mystery in my heart ? "

just then , as if a spell had loosened them , down came a little shower of withering rose-leaves from the maypole .

alas for the young lovers !

that was edith 's mystery .

meanwhile , we may discover who these gay people were .

two hundred years ago , and more , the old world and its inhabitants became mutually weary of each other .

but none of these motives had much weight with the colonists of merry mount .

erring thought and perverted wisdom were made to put on masques , and play the fool .

they gathered followers from all that giddy tribe whose whole life is like the festal days of soberer men .

light had their footsteps been on land , and as lightly they came across the sea .

the young deemed themselves happy .

sworn triflers of a lifetime , they would not venture among the sober truths of life not even to be truly blest .

all the hereditary pastimes of old england were transplanted hither .

the king of christmas was duly crowned , and the lord of misrule bore potent sway .

but what chiefly characterized the colonists of merry mount was their veneration for the maypole .

it has made their true history a poet 's tale .

thus each alternate season did homage to the maypole , and paid it a tribute of its own richest splendor .

unfortunately , there were men in the new world of a sterner faith than those maypole worshippers .

their weapons were always at hand to shoot down the straggling savage .

their festivals were fast days , and their chief pastime the singing of psalms .

woe to the youth or maiden who did but dream of a dance !

once , it is said , they were seen following a flower-decked corpse with merriment and festive music to his grave .

but did the dead man laugh ?

who but the fiend and his bond-slaves the crew of merry mount had thus disturbed them ?

the future complexion of new england was involved in this important quarrel .

after these authentic passages from history we return to the nuptials of the lord and lady of the may .

alas ! we have delayed too long , and must darken our tale too suddenly .

but some of these black shadows have rushed forth in human shape .

yes , with the setting sun the last day of mirth had passed from merry mount .

the puritans had played a characteristic part in the maypole mummeries .

no fantastic foolery could look him in the face .

it was the puritan of puritans : it was endicott himself .

" stand off , priest of baal ! " said he , with a grim frown and laying no reverent hand upon the surplice .

" i know thee , blackstone ! [ @number@ ]

but now shall it be seen that the lord hath sanctified this wilderness for his peculiar people .

woe unto them that would defile it !

and first for this flower-decked abomination , the altar of thy worship ! "

[ footnote 1 : did governor endicott speak less positively , we should suspect a mistake here .

the rev. mr blackstone , though an eccentric , is not known to have been an immoral man .

we rather doubt his identity with the priest of merry mount . ]

and with his keen sword endicott assaulted the hallowed maypole .

nor long did it resist his arm .

as it sank , tradition says , the evening sky grew darker and the woods threw forth a more sombre shadow .

" there ! " cried endicott , looking triumphantly on his work ; " there lies the only maypole in new england .

the thought is strong within me that by its fall is shadowed forth the fate of light and idle mirthmakers amongst us and our posterity .

amen , saith john endicott ! "

" amen ! " echoed his followers .

but the votaries of the maypole gave one groan for their idol .

it would have served rarely for a whipping-post . "

" but there are pine trees enow , " suggested the lieutenant .

" true , good ancient , " said the leader .

" wherefore bind the heathen crew and bestow on them a small matter of stripes apiece as earnest of our future justice .

further penalties , such as branding and cropping of ears , shall be thought of hereafter . "

" how many stripes for the priest ? " inquired ancient palfrey .

" none as yet , " answered endicott , bending his iron frown upon the culprit .

let him look to himself .

" and this dancing bear ? " resumed the officer .

" must he share the stripes of his fellows ? "

" shoot him through the head ! " said the energetic puritan .

" i suspect witchcraft in the beast . "

" here be a couple of shining ones , " continued peter palfrey , pointing his weapon at the lord and lady of the may .

" they seem to be of high station among these misdoers .

methinks their dignity will not be fitted with less than a double share of stripes . "

endicott rested on his sword and closely surveyed the dress and aspect of the hapless pair .

they looked first at each other and then into the grim captain 's face .

but never had their youthful beauty seemed so pure and high as when its glow was chastened by adversity .

" youth , " said endicott , " ye stand in an evil case thou and thy maiden-wife .

make ready presently , for i am minded that ye shall both have a token to remember your wedding-day . "

" stern man , " cried the may-lord , " how can i move thee ?

were the means at hand , i would resist to the death ; being powerless , i entreat .

do with me as thou wilt , but let edith go untouched . "

" not so , " replied the immitigable zealot .

" we are not wont to show an idle courtesy to that sex which requireth the stricter discipline .

what sayest thou , maid ?

shall thy silken bridegroom suffer thy share of the penalty besides his own ? "

" be it death , " said edith , " and lay it all on me . "

truly , as endicott had said , the poor lovers stood in a woeful case .

yet the deepening twilight could not altogether conceal that the iron man was softened .

he smiled at the fair spectacle of early love ; he almost sighed for the inevitable blight of early hopes .

" the troubles of life have come hastily on this young couple , " observed endicott .

" we will see how they comport themselves under their present trials ere we burden them with greater .

look to it , some of you . "

" crop it forthwith , and that in the true pumpkin-shell fashion , " answered the captain .

" then bring them along with us , but more gently than their fellows .

it was a deed of prophecy .

they returned to it no more .

the gentle boy .

but the measures by which it was intended to purge the land of heresy , though more than sufficiently vigorous , were entirely unsuccessful .

the quakers , whose revengeful feelings were not less deep because they were inactive , remembered this man and his associates in after-times .

he struggled , however , against the superstitious fears which belonged to the age , and compelled himself to pause and listen .

for the ease of mine own conscience i must search this matter out . "

he therefore left the path and walked somewhat fearfully across the field .

under this unhappy tree which in after-times was believed to drop poison with its dew sat the one solitary mourner for innocent blood .

the puritan , whose approach had been unperceived , laid his hand upon the child 's shoulder and addressed him compassionately .

" you have chosen a dreary lodging , my poor boy , and no wonder that you weep , " said he .

the boy had hushed his wailing at once , and turned his face upward to the stranger .

the puritan , seeing the boy 's frightened gaze and feeling that he trembled under his hand , endeavored to reassure him :

" nay , if i intended to do you harm , little lad , the readiest way were to leave you here .

what ! you do not fear to sit beneath the gallows on a new-made grave , and yet you tremble at a friend 's touch ?

take heart , child , and tell me what is your name and where is your home . "

he then spoke soothingly , intending to humor the boy 's fantasy :

" your home will scarce be comfortable , ilbrahim , this cold autumn night , and i fear you are ill-provided with food .

i am hastening to a warm supper and bed ; and if you will go with me , you shall share them . "

the puritan , who had laid hold of little ilbrahim 's hand , relinquished it as if he were touching a loathsome reptile .

but he possessed a compassionate heart which not even religious prejudice could harden into stone .

" god forbid that i should leave this child to perish , though he comes of the accursed sect , " said he to himself .

" do we not all spring from an evil root ?

are we not all in darkness till the light doth shine upon us ?

he shall not perish , neither in body nor , if prayer and instruction may avail for him , in soul . "

he then spoke aloud and kindly to ilbrahim , who had again hid his face in the cold earth of the grave :

" was every door in the land shut against you , my child , that you have wandered to this unhallowed spot ? "

i knew that my father was sleeping here , and i said , ' this shall be my home . ' "

" rise up and come with me , and fear not any harm . "

" my poor boy , are you so feeble ? " said the puritan .

" when did you taste food last ? "

trouble not thyself for my hunger , kind friend , for i have lacked food many times ere now . "

with this determination he left the accursed field and resumed the homeward path from which the wailing of the boy had called him .

at the word " home " a thrill passed through the child 's frame , but he continued silent .

as the puritan entered he thrust aside his cloak and displayed ilbrahim 's face to the female .

" dorothy , here is a little outcast whom providence hath put into our hands , " observed he .

" be kind to him , even as if he were of those dear ones who have departed from us . "

" what pale and bright-eyed little boy is this , tobias ? " she inquired .

" is he one whom the wilderness-folk have ravished from some christian mother ? "

" no , dorothy ; this poor child is no captive from the wilderness , " he replied .

dorothy was gifted with even a quicker tenderness than her husband , and she approved of all his doings and intentions .

" have you a mother , dear child ? " she inquired .

" dry your tears , ilbrahim , and be my child , as i will be your mother . "

the good woman prepared the little bed from which her own children had successively been borne to another resting-place .

tobias pearson was not among the earliest emigrants from the old country .

they had left their native country blooming like roses , and like roses they had perished in a foreign soil .

the common people manifested their opinions more openly .

lo ! the scourge is knotted for him , even the whip of nine cords , and every cord three knots . "

the interior aspect of the meeting-house was rude .

the exercises had not yet commenced , however , when the boy 's attention was arrested by an event apparently of trifling interest .

ilbrahim 's faint color varied , his nerves fluttered ; he was unable to turn his eyes from the muffled female .

he spoke of the danger of pity in some cases a commendable and christian virtue , but inapplicable to this pernicious sect .

he observed that such was their devilish obstinacy in error that even the little children , the sucking babes , were hardened and desperate heretics .

the sands of the second hour were principally in the lower half of the glass when the sermon concluded .

she then divested herself of the cloak and hood , and appeared in a most singular array .

she was naturally a woman of mighty passions , and hatred and revenge now wrapped themselves in the garb of piety .

the character of her speech was changed ; her images became distinct though wild , and her denunciations had an almost hellish bitterness .

slay ! '

but i say unto ye , woe to them that slay !

woe to them that shed the blood of saints !

woe to them in their lifetime !

cursed are they in the delight and pleasure of their hearts !

woe to them in their death-hour , whether it come swiftly with blood and violence or after long and lingering pain !

woe in the dark house , in the rottenness of the grave , when the children 's children shall revile the ashes of the fathers !

lift your voices , chosen ones , cry aloud , and call down a woe and a judgment with me ! "

having thus given vent to the flood of malignity which she mistook for inspiration , the speaker was silent .

the weakness of exhausted passion caused her steps to totter as she descended the pulpit stairs .

scarcely did her feet press the floor , however , when an unexpected scene occurred .

in that moment of her peril , when every eye frowned with death , a little timid boy threw his arms round his mother .

" i am here , mother ; it is i , and i will go with thee to prison , " he exclaimed .

" blessed art thou , my son ! " she sobbed .

the sorrows of past years and the darker peril that was nigh cast not a shadow on the brightness of that fleeting moment .

thou wilt go seeking through the world , and find all hearts closed against thee and their sweet affections turned to bitterness for my sake .

my child , my child , how many a pang awaits thy gentle spirit , and i the cause of all ! "

sobs were audible in the female section of the house , and every man who was a father drew his hand across his eyes .

dorothy , however , had watched her husband 's eye .

" stranger , trust this boy to me , and i will be his mother , " she said , taking ilbrahim 's hand .

leave the tender child with us , and be at ease concerning his welfare . "

the quaker rose from the ground , but drew the boy closer to her , while she gazed earnestly in dorothy 's face .

her mild but saddened features and neat matronly attire harmonized together and were like a verse of fireside poetry .

" thou art not of our people , " said the quaker , mournfully .

doubt not that your boy shall meet you there , if there be a blessing on our tender and prayerful guidance of him .

thither , i trust , my own children have gone before me , for i also have been a mother .

i am no longer so , " she added , in a faltering tone , " and your son will have all my care . "

" but will ye lead him in the path which his parents have trodden ? " demanded the quaker .

the boy has been baptized in blood ; will ye keep the mark fresh and ruddy upon his forehead ? "

" i will not deceive you , " answered dorothy .

were we to act otherwise , we should abuse your trust , even in complying with your wishes . "

the mother looked down upon her boy with a troubled countenance , and then turned her eyes upward to heaven .

she seemed to pray internally , and the contention of her soul was evident .

but thou hast spoken of a husband .

doth he stand here among this multitude of people ?

let him come forth , for i must know to whom i commit this most precious trust . "

she turned her face upon the male auditors , and after a momentary delay tobias pearson came forth from among them .

as she gazed an unmirthful smile spread over her features , like sunshine that grows melancholy in some desolate spot .

her lips moved inaudibly , but at length she spake :

" i hear it , i hear it !

break the bonds of natural affection , martyr thy love , and know that in all these things eternal wisdom hath its ends . '

i go , friends , i go .

take ye my boy , my precious jewel .

i go hence trusting that all shall be well , and that even for his infant hands there is a labor in the vineyard . "

having held her hands over his head in mental prayer , she was ready to depart .

she turned her steps toward the door , and the men who had stationed themselves to guard it withdrew and suffered her to pass .

a general sentiment of pity overcame the virulence of religious hatred .

she went , the apostle of her own unquiet heart , to renew the wanderings of past years .

of the malice which generally accompanies a superfluity of sensitiveness ilbrahim was altogether destitute .

when trodden upon , he would not turn ; when wounded , he could but die .

his mind was wanting in the stamina of self-support .

her husband manifested an equal affection , although it grew daily less productive of familiar caresses .

as the sufferer 's own home was at some distance , dorothy willingly received him under her roof and became his tender and careful nurse .

it was that of reciting imaginary adventures on the spur of the moment , and apparently in inexhaustible succession .

the boy 's parents at length removed him to complete his cure under their own roof .

but it happened that an unexpected addition was made to the heavenly little band .

the poor child 's arms had been raised to guard his head from the storm of blows , but now he dropped them at once .

its signs were principally of a negative character , and to be discovered only by those who had previously known him .

sometimes at night , and probably in his dreams , he was heard to cry , " mother !

in the mean time , neither the fierceness of the persecutors nor the infatuation of their victims had decreased .

the hale and weatherbeaten old man who sat beside him had sustained less injury from a far longer course of the same mode of life .

" thy voice has fallen on my ear like a sound afar off and indistinct , " replied pearson , without lifting his eyes .

faint not , for thy burden is yet light . "

" it is heavy !

it is heavier than i can bear ! " exclaimed pearson , with the impatience of a variable spirit .

all this i could have borne and counted myself blessed .

verily , i am an accursed man , and i will lay me down in the dust and lift up my head no more . "

as we went on "

" have i not borne all this , and have i murmured ? " interrupted pearson , impatiently .

" nay , friend , but hear me , " continued the other .

at length we came to a tract of fertile land .

then came bitter thoughts upon me yea , remembrances that were like death to my soul .

the happiness of my early days was painted to me , the disquiet of my manhood , the altered faith of my declining years .

" couldst thou obey the command at such a moment ? " exclaimed pearson , shuddering .

" yea ! yea ! " replied the old man , hurriedly .

but i yielded not ; i knelt down and wrestled with the tempter , while the scourge bit more fiercely into the flesh .

my prayer was heard , and i went on in peace and joy toward the wilderness . "

her wounds have been deep and many , but this will be the sorest of all . "

the boy hath done his work , and she will feel that he is taken hence in kindness both to him and her .

blessed , blessed are they that with so little suffering can enter into peace ! "

the fitful rush of the wind was now disturbed by a portentous sound : it was a quick and heavy knocking at the outer door .

" the men of blood have come to seek me , " he observed , with calmness .

it is an end i have long looked for .

i will open unto them lest they say , ' lo , he feareth ! ' "

" nay ; i will present myself before them , " said pearson , with recovered fortitude .

" it may be that they seek me alone and know not that thou abidest with me . "

" let us go boldly , both one and the other , " rejoined his companion .

" it is not fitting that thou or i should shrink . "

" enter , friend , and do thy errand , be it what it may , " said pearson .

" it must needs be pressing , since thou comest on such a bitter night . "

" peace be with this household ! " said the stranger , when they stood on the floor of the inner apartment .

pearson started ; the elder quaker stirred the slumbering embers of the fire till they sent up a clear and lofty blaze .

" catharine , blessed woman , " exclaimed the old man , " art thou come to this darkened land again ?

art thou come to bear a valiant testimony as in former years ?

" rejoice , friends ! " she replied .

" thou who hast long been of our people , and thou whom a little child hath led to us , rejoice !

lo , i come , the messenger of glad tidings , for the day of persecution is over-past .

a ship 's company of our friends hath arrived at yonder town , and i also sailed joyfully among them . "

as catharine spoke her eyes were roaming about the room in search of him for whose sake security was dear to her .

pearson made a silent appeal to the old man , nor did the latter shrink from the painful task assigned him .

sister , go on rejoicing , for his tottering footsteps shall impede thine own no more . "

but the unhappy mother was not thus to be consoled .

she shook like a leaf ; she turned white as the very snow that hung drifted into her hair .

the firm old man extended his hand and held her up , keeping his eye upon hers as if to repress any outbreak of passion .

surely , " added she , with a long shudder , " he hath spared me in this one thing . "

she broke forth with sudden and irrepressible violence : " tell me , man of cold heart , what has god done to me ?

hath he cast me down never to rise again ?

hath he crushed my very heart in his hand ?

and thou to whom i committed my child , how hast thou fulfilled thy trust ?

give me back the boy well , sound , alive alive or earth and heaven shall avenge me ! "

the agonized shriek of catharine was answered by the faint the very faint voice of a child .

but after a little time he relinquished whatever secret hope had agitated him and with one low complaining whisper turned his cheek upon the pillow .

as dorothy looked upon his features she perceived that their placid expression was again disturbed .

" friend , she is come !

open unto her ! " cried he .

he looked into her face , and , reading its agony , said with feeble earnestness ,

" mourn not , dearest mother .

i am happy now ; " and with these words the gentle boy was dead .

mr . higginbotham's catastrophe .

it being nearly seven o'clock , he was as eager to hold a morning gossip as a city shopkeeper to read the morning paper .

" good-morning , mister , " said dominicus , when within speaking-distance .

" you go a pretty good jog .

what 's the latest news at parker 's falls ? "

" well , then , " rejoined dominicus pike , " let's have the latest news where you did come from .

i 'm not particular about parker 's falls .

any place will answer . "

" i do remember one little trifle of news , " said he .

" old mr higginbotham of kimballton was murdered in his orchard at eight o'clock last night by an irishman and a nigger .

they strung him up to the branch of a st michael 's pear tree where nobody would find him till the morning . "

he was rather astonished at the rapidity with which the news had spread .

the stranger on foot must have worn seven-league boots , to travel at such a rate .

" ill-news flies fast , they say , " thought dominicus pike , " but this beats railroads .

the fellow ought to be hired to go express with the president 's message . "

he met with one piece of corroborative evidence .

his property would descend to a pretty niece who was now keeping school in kimballton .

there were as many as twenty people in the room , nineteen of whom received it all for gospel .

" i tell the story as i heard it , mister , " answered dominicus , dropping his half-burnt cigar .

he didn't seem to know any more about his own murder than i did . "

" why , then it can't be a fact ! " exclaimed dominicus pike .

here was a sad resurrection of old mr higginbotham !

" good-morning , mister , " said the pedler , reining in his mare .

" if you come from kimballton or that neighborhood , maybe you can tell me the real fact about this affair of old mr higginbotham .

was the old fellow actually murdered two or three nights ago by an irishman and a nigger ? "

dominicus had spoken in too great a hurry to observe at first that the stranger himself had a deep tinge of negro blood .

" no , no !

there was no colored man .

it was an irishman that hanged him last night at eight o'clock ; i came away at seven .

his folks can't have looked for him in the orchard yet . "

dominicus stared after him in great perplexity .

" but let the poor devil go , " thought the pedler .

" i don't want his black blood on my head , and hanging the nigger wouldn't unhang mr higginbotham .

unhang the old gentleman ?

his second duty , of course , was to impart mr higginbotham 's catastrophe to the hostler .

the inhabitants felt their own prosperity interested in his fate .

the village poet likewise commemorated the young lady 's grief in seventeen stanzas of a ballad .

had mr higginbotham cared about posthumous renown , his untimely ghost would have exulted in this tumult .

it had travelled all night , and must have shifted horses at kimballton at three in the morning .

" now we shall hear all the particulars ! " shouted the crowd .

" mr higginbotham !

mr higginbotham !

tell us the particulars about old mr higginbotham ! " bawled the mob .

" what is the coroner 's verdict ?

are the murderers apprehended ?

is mr higginbotham 's niece come out of her fainting-fits ?

mr higginbotham !

mr higginbotham ! "

the coachman said not a word except to swear awfully at the hostler for not bringing him a fresh team of horses .

we passed through kimballton at three o'clock this morning , and most certainly should have been informed of the murder had any been perpetrated .

but i have proof nearly as strong as mr higginbotham 's own oral testimony in the negative .

here is a note relating to a suit of his in the connecticut courts which was delivered me from that gentleman himself .

i find it dated at ten o'clock last evening . "

but unexpected evidence was forthcoming .

" good people , " said she , " i am mr higginbotham 's niece . "

but some shrewd fellows had doubted all along whether a young lady would be quite so desperate at the hanging of a rich old uncle .

he has the kindness to give me a home in his house , though i contribute to my own support by teaching a school .

i left kimballton this morning to spend the vacation of commencement-week with a friend about five miles from parker 's falls .

nothing saved dominicus either from mob-law or a court of justice but an eloquent appeal made by the young lady in his behalf .

and , as he 's a real shaver , i 'll have the minister , or some other responsible man , for an endorser . "

it was growing dusk when he reached the toll-house on kimballton turnpike , about a quarter of a mile from the village of this name .

dominicus was acquainted with the toll-man , and while making change the usual remarks on the weather passed between them .

he 's been to woodfield this afternoon , attending a sheriff 's sale there .

" so they tell me , " said dominicus .

" i never saw a man look so yellow and thin as the squire does , " continued the toll-gatherer .

" says i to myself tonight , ' he 's more like a ghost or an old mummy than good flesh and blood . ' "

the pedler strained his eyes through the twilight , and could just discern the horseman now far ahead on the village road .

dominicus shivered .

" mr higginbotham has come back from the other world by way of the kimballton turnpike , " thought he .

dominicus knew the place , and the little mare stopped short by instinct , for he was not conscious of tightening the reins .

" for the soul of me , i cannot get by this gate ! " said he , trembling .

" i never shall be my own man again till i see whether mr higginbotham is hanging on the st michael 's pear tree . "

one great branch stretched from the old contorted trunk across the path and threw the darkest shadow on that one spot .

but something seemed to struggle beneath the branch .

" mr higginbotham , " said dominicus , tremulously , " you 're an honest man , and i 'll take your word for it .

have you been hanged , or not ? "

little annie's ramble .

ding-dong !

ding-dong !

ding-dong !

let me listen too .

perhaps little annie would like to go ?

little annie shall take a ramble with me .

see !

smooth back your brown curls , annie , and let me tie on your bonnet , and we will set forth .

what a strange couple to go on their rambles together !

yet there is sympathy between us .

now we turn the corner .

hitherward , also , comes a man trundling a wheelbarrow along the pavement .

is not little annie afraid of such a tumult ?

now her eyes brighten with pleasure .

who heeds the poor organ-grinder ?

but where would annie find a partner ?

it is a sad thought that i have chanced upon .

what a company of dancers should we be !

for i too am a gentleman of sober footsteps , and therefore , little annie , let us walk sedately on .

it is a question with me whether this giddy child or my sage self have most pleasure in looking at the shop-windows .

all that is bright and gay attracts us both .

here is a shop to which the recollections of my boyhood as well as present partialities give a peculiar magic .

here are pleasures , as some people would say , of a more exalted kind , in the window of a bookseller .

is annie a literary lady ?

that would be very queer .

oh , my stars !

is this a toyshop , or is it fairy-land ?

betwixt the king and queen should sit my little annie , the prettiest fairy of them all .

but what cares annie for soldiers ?

this is the little girl 's true plaything .

little annie does not understand what i am saying , but looks wishfully at the proud lady in the window .

we will invite her home with us as we return .

meantime , good-bye , dame doll !

come , little annie , we shall find toys enough , go where we may .

now we elbow our way among the throng again .

look up , annie , at that canary-bird hanging out of the window in his cage .

poor little fellow !

what a pity that he does not know how miserable he is !

there is a parrot , too , calling out , " pretty poll !

pretty poll ! " as we pass by .

if she had said " pretty annie ! " there would have been some sense in it .

see that gray squirrel at the door of the fruit-shop whirling round and round so merrily within his wire wheel !

being condemned to the treadmill , he makes it an amusement .

admirable philosophy !

success to your search , fidelity !

oh , sage puss , make room for me beside you , and we will be a pair of philosophers .

here we see something to remind us of the town-crier and his ding-dong-bell .

but they are choosing neither a king nor a president , else we should hear a most horrible snarling !

annie returns the salute , much to the gratification of the elephant , who is certainly the best-bred monster in the caravan .

the lion and the lioness are busy with two beef-bones .

are there any two living creatures who have so few sympathies that they cannot possibly be friends ?

in fact , he is a bear of sentiment .

but oh those unsentimental monkeys !

the ugly , grinning , aping , chattering , ill-natured , mischievous and queer little brutes !

merrily , merrily plays the music , and merrily gallops the pony , and merrily rides the little old gentleman .

come , annie , into the street again ; perchance we may see monkeys on horseback there .

mercy on us !

what a noisy world we quiet people live in !

did annie ever read the cries of london city ?

with what lusty lungs doth yonder man proclaim that his wheelbarrow is full of lobsters !

what cares the world for that ?

annie sympathizes , though without experience of such direful woe .

lo ! the town-crier again , with some new secret for the public ear .

i guess the latter .

ding-dong !

ding-dong !

ding-dong !

now he raises his clear loud voice above all the din of the town .

what saith the people 's orator ?

whoever will bring her back to her afflicted mother "

stop , stop , town-crier !

the lost is found .

but i have gone too far astray for the town-crier to call me back .

sweet has been the charm of childhood on my spirit throughout my ramble with little annie .

has it been merely this ?

not so not so .

they are not truly wise who would affirm it .

their influence on us is at least reciprocal with ours on them .

all this by thy sweet magic , dear little annie !

wakefield .

the wedded couple lived in london .

during that period he beheld his home every day , and frequently the forlorn mrs wakefield .

this outline is all that i remember .

we know , each for himself , that none of us would perpetrate such a folly , yet feel as if some other might .

whenever any subject so forcibly affects the mind , time is well spent in thinking of it .

thought has always its efficacy and every striking incident its moral .

what sort of a man was wakefield ?

we are free to shape out our own idea and call it by his name .

imagination , in the proper meaning of the term , made no part of wakefield 's gifts .

only the wife of his bosom might have hesitated .

this latter quality is indefinable , and perhaps non-existent .

let us now imagine wakefield bidding adieu to his wife .

it is the dusk of an october evening .

he has informed mrs wakefield that he is to take the night-coach into the country .

wakefield , himself , be it considered , has no suspicion of what is before him .

yet for its sake , when all others have given him up for dead , she sometimes doubts whether she is a widow .

but our business is with the husband .

we must hurry after him along the street ere he lose his individuality and melt into the great mass of london life .

it would be vain searching for him there .

he is in the next street to his own and at his journey 's end .

doubtless a dozen busybodies had been watching him and told his wife the whole affair .

poor wakefield ! little knowest thou thine own insignificance in this great world .

no mortal eye but mine has traced thee .

remove not thyself even for a little week from thy place in her chaste bosom .

it is perilous to make a chasm in human affections not that they gape so long and wide , but so quickly close again .

in the morning he rises earlier than usual and sets himself to consider what he really means to do .

the vagueness of the project and the convulsive effort with which he plunges into the execution of it are equally characteristic of a feeble-minded man .

a morbid vanity , therefore , lies nearest the bottom of the affair .

but how is he to attain his ends ?

yet should he reappear , the whole project is knocked in the head .

wakefield , whither are you going ?

at that instant his fate was turning on the pivot .

can it be that nobody caught sight of him ?

wonderful escape !

in ordinary cases this indescribable impression is caused by the comparison and contrast between our imperfect reminiscences and the reality .

but this is a secret from himself .

right glad is his heart , though his brain be somewhat dizzy , when he finds himself by the coal-fire of his lodgings .

so much for the commencement of this long whim-wham .

it is accomplished : wakefield is another man .

he will not go back until she be frightened half to death .

next day the knocker is muffled .

dear woman ! will she die ?

if aught else restrains him , he does not know it .

in the course of a few weeks she gradually recovers .

" it is but in the next street , " he sometimes says .

fool ! it is in another world .

poor man !

the dead have nearly as much chance of revisiting their earthly homes as the self-banished wakefield .

would that i had a folio to write , instead of an article of a dozen pages !

wakefield is spellbound .

long since , it must be remarked , he has lost the perception of singularity in his conduct .

now for a scene .

he bends his head and moves with an indescribable obliquity of gait , as if unwilling to display his full front to the world .

she has the placid mien of settled widowhood .

her regrets have either died away or have become so essential to her heart that they would be poorly exchanged for joy .

just as the lean man and well-conditioned woman are passing a slight obstruction occurs and brings these two figures directly in contact .

after a ten years ' separation thus wakefield meets his wife .

the throng eddies away and carries them asunder .

she passes in , however , opening her prayer-book as she goes .

and the man ?

you are mad ! "

perhaps he was so .

the life of a hermit is nowise parallel to his .

it would be a most curious speculation to trace out the effect of such circumstances on his heart and intellect separately and in unison .

he would look on the affair as no more than an interlude in the main business of his life .

alas , what a mistake !

would time but await the close of our favorite follies , we should be young men all of us and till doomsday .

on the ceiling appears a grotesque shadow of good mrs wakefield .

at this instant a shower chances to fall , and is driven by the unmannerly gust full into wakefield 's face and bosom .

he is quite penetrated with its autumnal chill .

no ; wakefield is no such fool .

he ascends the steps heavily , for twenty years have stiffened his legs since he came down , but he knows it not .

stay , wakefield !

would you go to the sole home that is left you ?

then step into your grave .

the door opens .

how unmercifully has he quizzed the poor woman !

well , a good night 's rest to wakefield !

this happy event supposing it to be such could only have occurred at an unpremeditated moment .

we will not follow our friend across the threshold .

like wakefield , he may become , as it were , the outcast of the universe .

a rill from the town-pump .

( scene , the corner of two principal streets , [ @number@ ] the town-pump talking through its nose . )

noon by the north clock !

noon by the east !

truly , we public characters have a tough time of it !

the title of " town-treasurer " is rightfully mine , as guardian of the best treasure that the town has .

i am at the head of the fire department and one of the physicians to the board of health .

as a keeper of the peace all water-drinkers will confess me equal to the constable .

i perform some of the duties of the town-clerk by promulgating public notices when they are posted on my front .

at this sultry noontide i am cupbearer to the parched populace , for whose benefit an iron goblet is chained to my waist .

[ footnote 1 : essex and washington streets , salem . ]

here it is , gentlemen !

here is the good liquor !

walk up , walk up , gentlemen !

walk up , walk up !

here is the superior stuff !

walk up , gentlemen , walk up , and help yourselves !

it were a pity if all this outcry should draw no customers .

here they come .

a hot day , gentlemen !

quaff and away again , so as to keep yourselves in a nice cool sweat .

welcome , most rubicund sir !

now , for the first time these ten years , you know the flavor of cold water .

good-bye ; and whenever you are thirsty , remember that i keep a constant supply at the old stand .

who next ?

take it , pure as the current of your young life .

take it , and may your heart and tongue never be scorched with a fiercer thirst than now !

well , well , sir , no harm done , i hope ?

if gentlemen love the pleasant titillation of the gout , it is all one to the town-pump .

see how lightly he capers away again !

jowler , did your worship ever have the gout ?

are you all satisfied ?

the water was as bright and clear and deemed as precious as liquid diamonds .

endicott and his followers came next , and often knelt down to drink , dipping their long beards in the spring .

the richest goblet then was of birch-bark .

governor winthrop , after a journey afoot from boston , drank here out of the hollow of his hand .

the elder higginson here wet his palm and laid it on the brow of the first town-born child .

finally the fountain vanished also .

drink and be refreshed .

your pardon , good people !

no part of my business is pleasanter than the watering of cattle .

now they roll their quiet eyes around the brim of their monstrous drinking-vessel .

an ox is your true toper .

but i perceive , my dear auditors , that you are impatient for the remainder of my discourse .

it is altogether for your good .

the better you think of me , the better men and women you will find yourselves .

let us take a broader view of my beneficial influence on mankind .

in this mighty enterprise the cow shall be my great confederate .

milk and water the town-pump and the cow !

blessed consummation !

then poverty shall pass away from the land , finding no hovel so wretched where her squalid form may shelter herself .

then disease , for lack of other victims , shall gnaw its own heart and die .

then sin , if she do not die , shall lose half her strength .

at least , there will be no war of households .

their dead faces shall express what their spirits were and are to be by a lingering smile of memory and hope .

ahem !

dry work , this speechifying , especially to an unpractised orator .

i never conceived till now what toil the temperance lecturers undergo for my sake ; hereafter they shall have the business to themselves .

do , some kind christian , pump a stroke or two , just to wet my whistle .

thank you , sir !

such monuments should be erected everywhere and inscribed with the names of the distinguished champions of my cause .

now , listen , for something very important is to come next .

i pray you , gentlemen , let this fault be amended .

trust me , they may .

and whenever i pour out that soul , it is to cool earth 's fever or cleanse its stains .

one o'clock !

nay , then , if the dinner-bell begins to speak , i may as well hold my peace .

here comes a pretty young girl of my acquaintance with a large stone pitcher for me to fill .

may she draw a husband while drawing her water , as rachel did of old !

hold out your vessel , my dear !

the great carbuncle . [ @number@ ]

a mystery of the white mountains .

all who visited that region knew him as " the seeker , " and by no other name .

near this miserable seeker sat a little elderly personage wearing a high-crowned hat shaped somewhat like a crucible .

the fifth adventurer likewise lacked a name , which was the greater pity , as he appeared to be a poet .

certain it is that the poetry which flowed from him had a smack of all these dainties .

several related the circumstances that brought them thither .

here we are , i say , all bound on the same goodly enterprise .

what says our friend in the bearskin ?

" how enjoy it ! " exclaimed the aged seeker , bitterly .

" i hope for no enjoyment from it : that folly has past long ago .

i keep up the search for this accursed stone because the vain ambition of my youth has become a fate upon me in old age .

a good version of the story can be found here : @url@ , as well as on the internet archive and in print editions .

ideally , you would check this entire ebook with the other editions to make sure there are no more such textual errors .

the above-quoted paragraph should be as follows , including the paragraphs missing from the text :

" how enjoy it ! " exclaimed the aged seeker , bitterly .

" i hope for no enjoyment from it that folly has past , long ago !

yet , not to have my wasted life time back again , would i give up my hopes of the great carbuncle !

" oh , wretch , regardless of the interests of science ! " cried doctor cacaphodel , with philosophic indignation .

mine is the sole purpose for which a wise man may desire the possession of the great carbuncle .

" excellent ! " quoth the man with the spectacles .

i tell ye frankly , sirs , i have an interest in keeping up the price .

" not i , pious master pigsnort , " said the man with the spectacles .

" i never laid such a great folly to thy charge . "

" truly , i hope not , " said the merchant .

if any of ye have a wiser plan , let him expound it . "

" that have i , thou sordid man ! " exclaimed the poet .

there night and day will i gaze upon it .

thus long ages after i am gone the splendor of the great carbuncle will blaze around my name . "

" well said , master poet ! " cried he of the spectacles .

" hide it under thy cloak , sayest thou ?

why , it will gleam through the holes and make thee look like a jack-o'-lantern ! "

have not i resolved within myself that the whole earth contains no fitter ornament for the great hall of my ancestral castle ?

" it is a noble thought , " said the cynic , with an obsequious sneer .

hannah here and i are seeking it for a like purpose . "

" how , fellow ? " exclaimed his lordship , in surprise .

" what castle-hall hast thou to hang it in ? "

" no castle , " replied matthew , " but as neat a cottage as any within sight of the crystal hills .

and then how pleasant , when we awake in the night , to be able to see one another 's faces ! "

" the great carbuncle ! " answered the cynic , with ineffable scorn .

" why , you blockhead , there is no such thing in rerum naturâ .

they listened for the roll of thunder , but heard nothing , and were glad that the tempest came not near them .

the modest little wife had wrought this piece of tapestry while the other guests were talking .

" up , dear matthew ! " cried she , in haste .

" the strange folk are all gone .

up this very minute , or we shall lose the great carbuncle ! "

it was a sweet emblem of conjugal affection as they toiled up the difficult ascent gathering strength from the mutual aid which they afforded .

" let us climb a little higher , " whispered she , yet tremulously , as she turned her face upward to the lonely sky .

next they came to masses and fragments of naked rock heaped confusedly together like a cairn reared by giants in memory of a giant chief .

but soon they were to be hidden from her eye .

but they drew closer together with a fond and melancholy gaze , dreading lest the universal cloud should snatch them from each other 's sight .

her breath grew short .

at last she sank down on one of the rocky steps of the acclivity .

" we are lost , dear matthew , " said she , mournfully ; " we shall never find our way to the earth again .

and oh how happy we might have been in our cottage ! "

" dear heart , we will yet be happy there , " answered matthew .

" look !

in this direction the sunshine penetrates the dismal mist ; by its aid i can direct our course to the passage of the notch .

let us go back , love , and dream no more of the great carbuncle . "

" the sun cannot be yonder , " said hannah , with despondence .

" but look ! " repeated matthew , in a somewhat altered tone .

" it is brightening every moment .

if not sunshine , what can it be ? "

a ray of glory flashed across its surface .

for the simple pair had reached that lake of mystery and found the long-sought shrine of the great carbuncle .

but with their next glance they beheld an object that drew their attention even from the mighty stone .

but he stirred not , no more than if changed to marble .

" it is the seeker , " whispered hannah , convulsively grasping her husband 's arm .

" matthew , he is dead . "

" the joy of success has killed him , " replied matthew , trembling violently .

" or perhaps the very light of the great carbuncle was death . "

" ' the great carbuncle ' ! " cried a peevish voice behind them .

" the great humbug !

if you have found it , prithee point it out to me . "

" where is your great humbug ? " he repeated .

" i challenge you to make me see it . "

" there ! " said matthew , incensed at such perverse blindness , and turning the cynic round toward the illuminated cliff .

" take off those abominable spectacles , and you cannot help seeing it . "

" matthew , " said hannah , clinging to him , " let us go hence . "

it revived her , but could not renovate her courage .

the blessed sunshine and the quiet moonlight shall come through our window .

we will kindle the cheerful glow of our hearth at eventide and be happy in its light .

but never again will we desire more light than all the world may share with us . "

and for all these purposes the gem itself could not have answered better than the granite .

the critics say that , if his poetry lacked the splendor of the gem , it retained all the coldness of the ice .

as the funeral torches gleamed within that dark receptacle , there was no need of the great carbuncle to show the vanity of earthly pomp .

matthew and his bride spent many peaceful years and were fond of telling the legend of the great carbuncle .

when our pilgrims reached the cliff , they found only an opaque stone with particles of mica glittering on its surface .

the prophetic pictures . [ @number@ ]

" but this painter ! " cried walter ludlow , with animation .

" he not only excels in his peculiar art , but possesses vast acquirements in all other learning and science .

he talks hebrew with dr mather and gives lectures in anatomy to dr boylston .

in a word , he will meet the best-instructed man among us on his own ground .

nor is all this what i most admire in him . "

" indeed ! " said elinor , who had listened with a women 's interest to the description of such a man .

" yet this is admirable enough . "

but the greatest wonder is yet to be told . "

are you telling me of a painter , or a wizard ? "

" in truth , " answered he , " that question might be asked much more seriously than you suppose .

they say that he paints not merely a man 's features , but his mind and heart .

it is an awful gift , " added walter , lowering his voice from its tone of enthusiasm .

" i shall be almost afraid to sit to him . "

" walter , are you in earnest ? " exclaimed elinor .

" there ! it is passing away now ; but when you spoke , you seemed frightened to death , and very sad besides .

what were you thinking of ? "

" nothing , nothing ! " answered elinor , hastily .

" you paint my face with your own fantasies .

well , come for me tomorrow , and we will visit this wonderful artist . "

yet walter ludlow was the chosen of her heart .

" a look ! " said elinor to herself .

" no wonder that it startled him if it expressed what i sometimes feel .

i know by my own experience how frightful a look may be .

but it was all fancy .

but he had been born and educated in europe .

art could add nothing to its lessons , but nature might .

whenever such proposals were made , he fixed his piercing eyes on the applicant and seemed to look him through and through .

pictorial skill being so rare in the colonies , the painter became an object of general curiosity .

their admiration , it must be owned , was tinctured with the prejudices of the age and country .

these foolish fancies were more than half believed among the mob .

the day after the conversation above recorded they visited the painter 's rooms .

several of the portraits were known to them either as distinguished characters of the day or their private acquaintances .

mr cooke hung beside the ruler whom he opposed , sturdy and somewhat puritanical , as befitted a popular leader .

the ancient lady of sir william phipps eyed them from the wall in ruff and farthingale , an imperious old dame not unsuspected of witchcraft .

john winslow , then a very young man , wore the expression of warlike enterprise which long afterward made him a distinguished general .

their personal friends were recognized at a glance .

among these modern worthies there were two old bearded saints who had almost vanished into the darkening canvas .

" how singular a thought , " observed walter ludlow , " that this beautiful face has been beautiful for above two hundred years !

oh , if all beauty would endure so well !

do you not envy her , elinor ? "

" if earth were heaven , i might , " she replied .

" but , where all things fade , how miserable to be the one that could not fade ! "

but the virgin looks kindly at us . "

" yes , but very sorrowfully , methinks , " said elinor .

the easel stood beneath these three old pictures , sustaining one that had been recently commenced .

" kind old man ! " exclaimed elinor .

" he gazes at me as if he were about to utter a word of paternal advice . "

but so does the original .

i shall never feel quite comfortable under his eye till we stand before him to be married . "

he was a middle-aged man with a countenance well worthy of his own pencil .

walter ludlow , who was slightly known to the painter , explained the object of their visit .

the artist was evidently struck .

i must not lose this opportunity for the sake of painting a few ells of broadcloth and brocade . "

the painter expressed a desire to introduce both their portraits into one picture and represent them engaged in some appropriate action .

two half-length portraits were therefore fixed upon .

do you believe it ? "

" not quite , " said elinor , smiling .

at length he announced that at their next visit both the portraits would be ready for delivery .

seldom indeed has an artist such subjects . "

while speaking he still bent his penetrative eye upon them , nor withdrew it till they had reached the bottom of the stairs .

nothing in the whole circle of human vanities takes stronger hold of the imagination than this affair of having a portrait painted .

yet why should it be so ?

but we forget them only because they vanish .

it is the idea of duration of earthly immortality that gives such a mysterious interest to our own portraits .

the sunshine flashed after them into the apartment , but left it somewhat gloomy as they closed the door .

their eyes were immediately attracted to their portraits , which rested against the farthest wall of the room .

" there we stand , " cried walter , enthusiastically , " fixed in sunshine for ever .

no dark passions can gather on our faces . "

" no , " said elinor , more calmly ; " no dreary change can sadden us . "

this was said while they were approaching and had yet gained only an imperfect view of the pictures .

at intervals he sent a glance from beneath his deep eyebrows , watching their countenances in profile with his pencil suspended over the sketch .

at length walter stepped forward , then back , viewing elinor 's portrait in various lights , and finally spoke .

" is there not a change ? " said he , in a doubtful and meditative tone .

" yes ; the perception of it grows more vivid the longer i look .

" is , then , the picture less like than it was yesterday ? " inquired the painter , now drawing near with irrepressible interest .

the eyes are fixed on mine with a strangely sad and anxious expression .

nay , it is grief and terror .

is this like elinor ? "

" compare the living face with the pictured one , " said the painter .

walter glanced sidelong at his mistress , and started .

had she practised for whole hours before a mirror , she could not have caught the look so successfully .

had the picture itself been a mirror , it could not have thrown back her present aspect with stronger and more melancholy truth .

she appeared quite unconscious of the dialogue between the artist and her lover .

" elinor , " exclaimed walter , in amazement , " what change has come over you ? "

" do you see no change in your portrait ? " asked she .

" in mine ?

none , " replied walter , examining it .

" but let me see .

yes ; there is a slight change an improvement , i think , in the picture , though none in the likeness .

now that i have caught the look , it becomes very decided . "

while he was intent on these observations elinor turned to the painter .

" that look ! " whispered she , and shuddered .

" how came it there ? "

the artist the true artist must look beneath the exterior .

would that i might convince myself of error in the present instance ! "

turning them over with seeming carelessness , a crayon sketch of two figures was disclosed .

i might change the action of these figures too .

but would it influence the event ? "

he directed her notice to the sketch .

" we will not have the pictures altered , " said she , hastily .

" if mine is sad , i shall but look the gayer for the contrast . "

" be it so , " answered the painter , bowing .

" may your griefs be such fanciful ones that only your pictures may mourn for them !

after the marriage of walter and elinor the pictures formed the two most splendid ornaments of their abode .

walter ludlow 's portrait attracted their earliest notice .

there was less diversity of opinion in regard to elinor 's picture .

it was enough .

her visitors felt that the massive folds of the silk must never be withdrawn nor the portraits mentioned in her presence .

time wore on , and the painter came again .

but he did not profane that scene by the mockery of his art .

with store of such his adventurous ramble had enriched him .

his portfolio was filled with graphic illustrations of the volume of his memory which genius would transmute into its own substance and imbue with immortality .

he felt that the deep wisdom in his art which he had sought so far was found .

like all other men around whom an engrossing purpose wreathes itself , he was insulated from the mass of humankind .

he had no aim , no pleasure , no sympathies , but what were ultimately connected with his art .

he could not recross the atlantic till he had again beheld the originals of those airy pictures .

" o glorious art ! "

thus mused the enthusiastic painter as he trod the street .

" thou art the image of the creator 's own .

the innumerable forms that wander in nothingness start into being at thy beck .

thou snatchest back the fleeting moments of history .

have i not achieved it ?

am i not thy prophet ? "

it is not good for man to cherish a solitary ambition .

reading other bosoms with an acuteness almost preternatural , the painter failed to see the disorder of his own .

" and this should be the house , " said he , looking up and down the front before he knocked .

" heaven help my brains !

that picture !

methinks it will never vanish .

he knocked .

the guest was admitted into a parlor communicating by a central door with an interior room of the same size .

he involuntarily paused on the threshold .

they had not perceived his approach .

that of elinor had been almost prophetic .

a mixture of affright would now have made it the very expression of the portrait .

walter 's face was moody and dull or animated only by fitful flashes which left a heavier darkness for their momentary illumination .

he looked from elinor to her portrait , and thence to his own , in the contemplation of which he finally stood absorbed .

the painter seemed to hear the step of destiny approaching behind him on its progress toward its victims .

a strange thought darted into his mind .

" our fate is upon us ! " howled walter .

" die ! "

drawing a knife , he sustained her as she was sinking to the ground , and aimed it at her bosom .

in the action and in the look and attitude of each the painter beheld the figures of his sketch .

the picture , with all its tremendous coloring , was finished .

" hold , madman ! " cried he , sternly .

he stood like a magician controlling the phantoms which he had evoked .

" what ! " muttered walter ludlow as he relapsed from fierce excitement into sullen gloom .

" does fate impede its own decree ? "

" wretched lady , " said the painter , " did i not warn you ? "

" you did , " replied elinor , calmly , as her terror gave place to the quiet grief which it had disturbed .

" but i loved him . "

is there not a deep moral in the tale ?

david swan .

a fantasy .

we can be but partially acquainted even with the events which actually influence our course through life and our final destiny .

this idea may be illustrated by a page from the secret history of david swan .

but we are to relate events which he did not dream of .

but censure , praise , merriment , scorn and indifference were all one or , rather , all nothing to david swan .

a linch-pin had fallen out and permitted one of the wheels to slide off .

" how soundly he sleeps ! " whispered the old gentleman .

" from what a depth he draws that easy breath !

" and youth besides , " said the lady .

" healthy and quiet age does not sleep thus .

our slumber is no more like his than our wakefulness . "

methinks i can see a likeness to our departed henry .

shall we waken him ? "

" to what purpose ? " said the merchant , hesitating .

" we know nothing of the youth 's character . "

" that open countenance ! " replied his wife , in the same hushed voice , yet earnestly .

" this innocent sleep ! "

yet fortune was bending over him , just ready to let fall a burden of gold .

in such cases people sometimes do stranger things than to act the magician and awaken a young man to splendor who fell asleep in poverty .

" shall we not waken him ? " repeated the lady , persuasively .

" the coach is ready , sir , " said the servant , behind .

the old couple started , reddened and hurried away , mutually wondering that they should ever have dreamed of doing anything so very ridiculous .

the merchant threw himself back in the carriage and occupied his mind with the plan of a magnificent asylum for unfortunate men of business .

meanwhile , david swan enjoyed his nap .

perhaps it was this merry kind of motion that caused is there any harm in saying it ? her garter to slip its knot .

but there was peril near the sleeper .

the sting of a bee is sometimes deadly .

how sweet a picture !

" he is handsome ! " thought she , and blushed redder yet .

why , at least , did no smile of welcome brighten upon his face ?

" how sound he sleeps ! " murmured the girl .

she departed , but did not trip along the road so lightly as when she came .

had david formed a wayside acquaintance with the daughter , he would have become the father 's clerk , and all else in natural succession .

the girl was hardly out of sight when two men turned aside beneath the maple shade .

both had dark faces set off by cloth caps , which were drawn down aslant over their brows .

their dresses were shabby , yet had a certain smartness .

but , finding david asleep by the spring , one of the rogues whispered to his fellow :

" hist !

do you see that bundle under his head ? "

the other villain nodded , winked and leered .

and if not there , we will find it in his pantaloons pocket . "

" but how if he wakes ? " said the other .

his companion thrust aside his waistcoat , pointed to the handle of a dirk and nodded .

" so be it ! " muttered the second villain .

nay , had the villains glanced aside into the spring , even they would hardly have known themselves as reflected there .

but david swan had never worn a more tranquil aspect , even when asleep on his mother 's breast .

" i must take away the bundle , " whispered one .

" if he stirs , i 'll strike , " muttered the other .

he then lapped out of the fountain .

" pshaw ! " said one villain .

" we can do nothing now .

the dog 's master must be close behind . "

" let's take a drink and be off , " said the other .

it was a flask of liquor with a block-tin tumbler screwed upon the mouth .

he slept , but no longer so quietly as at first .

an hour 's repose had snatched from his elastic frame the weariness with which many hours of toil had burdened it .

now he stirred , now moved his lips without a sound , now talked in an inward tone to the noonday spectres of his dream .

he started up with all his ideas about him .

" halloo , driver !

take a passenger ? " shouted he .

" room on top ! " answered the driver .

up mounted david , and bowled away merrily toward boston without so much as a parting glance at that fountain of dreamlike vicissitude .

sleeping or waking , we hear not the airy footsteps of the strange things that almost happen .

sights from a steeple .

so !

i have climbed high , and my reward is small .

here i stand with wearied knees earth , indeed , at a dizzy depth below , but heaven far , far beyond me still .

and yet i shiver at that cold and solitary thought .

what clouds are gathering in the golden west with direful intent against the brightness and the warmth of this summer afternoon ?

yonder , again , is an airy archipelago where the sunbeams love to linger in their journeyings through space .

bright they are as a young man 's visions , and , like them , would be realized in dullness , obscurity and tears .

i will look on them no more .

yonder is a fair street extending north and south .

certainly he has a pensive air .

is he in doubt or in debt ?

is he if the question be allowable in love ?

does he strive to be melancholy and gentlemanlike , or is he merely overcome by the heat ?

but i bid him farewell for the present .

they stand talking a little while upon the steps , and finally proceed up the street .

meantime , as their faces are now turned from me , i may look elsewhere .

upon that wharf and down the corresponding street is a busy contrast to the quiet scene which i have just noticed .

at a little distance a group of gentlemen are assembled round the door of a warehouse .

i can even select the wealthiest of the company .

but i bestow too much of my attention in this quarter .

on looking again to the long and shady walk i perceive that the two fair girls have encountered the young man .

after a sort of shyness in the recognition , he turns back with them .

in two streets converging at right angles toward my watch-tower i distinguish three different processions .

and yet it stirs my heart .

such was not the fashion of our fathers when they carried a friend to his grave .

there is now no doleful clang of the bell to proclaim sorrow to the town .

not so .

here is a proof that he retains his proper majesty .

the military men and the military boys are wheeling round the corner , and meet the funeral full in the face .

immediately the drum is silent , all but the tap that regulates each simultaneous footfall .

the new-born , the aged , the dying , the strong in life and the recent dead are in the chambers of these many mansions .

the full of hope , the happy , the miserable and the desperate dwell together within the circle of my glance .

lo ! the raindrops are descending .

unhappy gentleman !

the ladies would not thus rival atalanta if they but knew that any one were at leisure to observe them .

ah ! as they hasten onward , laughing in the angry face of nature , a sudden catastrophe has chanced .

all this is easy to be understood .

the old man and his daughters are safely housed , and now the storm lets loose its fury .

the large drops descend with force upon the slated roofs and rise again in smoke .

thus did arethusa sink .

i will descend .

but stay !

the hollow of the three hills .

in the spot where they encountered no mortal could observe them .

the chill beauty of an autumnal sunset was now gilding the three hill-tops , whence a paler tint stole down their sides into the hollow .

" here is our pleasant meeting come to pass , " said the aged crone , " according as thou hast desired .

say quickly what thou wouldst have of me , for there is but a short hour that we may tarry here . "

as the old withered woman spoke a smile glimmered on her countenance like lamplight on the wall of a sepulchre .

the lady trembled and cast her eyes upward to the verge of the basin , as if meditating to return with her purpose unaccomplished .

but it was not so ordained .

" i am stranger in this land , as you know , " said she , at length .

there is a weight in my bosom that i cannot away with , and i have come hither to inquire of their welfare . "

" i will do your bidding though i die , " replied the lady , desperately .

" kneel down , " she said , " and lay your forehead on my knees . "

she hesitated a moment , but the anxiety that had long been kindling burned fiercely up within her .

then she heard the muttered words of prayer , in the midst of which she started and would have arisen .

" let me flee !

let me flee and hide myself , that they may not look upon me ! " she cried .

but those strangers appeared not to stand in the hollow depth between the three hills .

" a weary and lonesome time yonder old couple have of it , " remarked the old woman , smiling in the lady 's face .

" and did you also hear them ? " exclaimed she , a sense of intolerable humiliation triumphing over her agony and fear .

" yea , and we have yet more to hear , " replied the old woman , " wherefore cover thy face quickly . "

chains were rattling , fierce and stern voices uttered threats and the scourge resounded at their command .

he went to and fro continually , and his feet sounded upon the floor .

he spoke of woman 's perfidy , of a wife who had broken her holiest vows , of a home and heart made desolate .

the lady looked up , and there was the withered woman smiling in her face .

" couldst thou have thought there were such merry times in a mad-house ? " inquired the latter .

" wouldst thou hear more ? " demanded the old woman .

" there is one other voice i would fain listen to again , " replied the lady , faintly .

" then lay down thy head speedily upon my knees , that thou mayst get thee hence before the hour be past . "

again that evil woman began to weave her spell .

the lady shook upon her companion 's knees as she heard that boding sound .

before them went the priest , reading the burial-service , while the leaves of his book were rustling in the breeze .

but when the old woman stirred the kneeling lady , she lifted not her head .

" here has been a sweet hour 's sport ! " said the withered crone , chuckling to herself .

the toll-gatherer's day .

a sketch of transitory life .

if any mortal be favored with a lot analogous to this , it is the toll-gatherer .

sitting on the aforesaid bench , i amuse myself with a conception , illustrated by numerous pencil-sketches in the air , of the toll-gatherer 's day .

the toll is paid ; creak , creak , again go the wheels , and the huge hay-mow vanishes into the morning mist .

as yet nature is but half awake , and familiar objects appear visionary .

the morn breathes upon them and blushes , and they forget how wearily the darkness toiled away .

the old man looks eastward , and ( for he is a moralizer ) frames a simile of the stage-coach and the sun .

while the world is rousing itself we may glance slightly at the scene of our sketch .

beneath the window is a wooden bench on which a long succession of weary wayfarers have reposed themselves .

and there sits our good old toll-gatherer , glorified by the early sunbeams .

now the sun smiles upon the landscape and earth smiles back again upon the sky .

frequent now are the travellers .

the bottom of the chaise is heaped with multifarious bandboxes and carpet-bags , and beneath the axle swings a leathern trunk dusty with yesterday 's journey .

luckless wight doomed through a whole summer day to be the butt of mirth and mischief among the frolicsome maidens !

the vinegar-faced traveller proves to be a manufacturer of pickles .

he is a country preacher going to labor at a protracted meeting .

the next object passing townward is a butcher 's cart canopied with its arch of snow-white cotton .

see , there , a man trundling a wheelbarrow-load of lobsters .

but let all these pay their toll and pass .

but methinks her blushing cheek burns through the snowy veil .

another white-robed virgin sits in front .

and who are these on whom , and on all that appertains to them , the dust of earth seems never to have settled ?

two lovers whom the priest has blessed this blessed morn and sent them forth , with one of the bride-maids , on the matrimonial tour .

take my blessing too , ye happy ones !

may the sky not frown upon you nor clouds bedew you with their chill and sullen rain !

may the hot sun kindle no fever in your hearts !

in a close carriage sits a fragile figure muffled carefully and shrinking even from the mild breath of summer .

she leans against a manly form , and his arm enfolds her as if to guard his treasure from some enemy .

and now has morning gathered up her dewy pearls and fled away .

the sun rolls blazing through the sky , and cannot find a cloud to cool his face with .

the horses toil sluggishly along the bridge , and heave their glistening sides in short quick pantings when the reins are tightened at the toll-house .

glisten , too , the faces of the travellers .

no air is stirring on the road .

nature dares draw no breath lest she should inhale a stifling cloud of dust .

" awful hot !

dreadful dusty ! " answers the sympathetic toll-gatherer .

yes , old friend , and a quiet heart will make a dog-day temperate .

and as the wayfarer makes ready to resume his journey he tells him a sovereign remedy for blistered feet .

now comes the noontide hour of all the hours , nearest akin to midnight , for each has its own calmness and repose .

meanwhile , on both sides of the chasm a throng of impatient travellers fret and fume .

and what are the haughtiest of us but the ephemeral aristocrats of a summer 's day ?

what miracle shall set all things right again ?

the sage old man !

strollers come from the town to quaff the freshening breeze .

one or two let down long lines and haul up flapping flounders or cunners or small cod , or perhaps an eel .

the horses now tramp heavily along the bridge and wistfully bethink them of their stables .

the vision of the fountain .

at fifteen i became a resident in a country village more than a hundred miles from home .

the ground was rocky , uneven , overgrown with bushes and clumps of young saplings and traversed only by cattle-paths .

one solitary sunbeam found its way down and played like a goldfish in the water .

from my childhood i have loved to gaze into a spring .

the bottom was covered with coarse sand , which sparkled in the lonely sunbeam and seemed to illuminate the spring with an unborrowed light .

in one spot the gush of the water violently agitated the sand , but without obscuring the fountain or breaking the glassiness of its surface .

wherever she laid her hands on grass and flowers , they would immediately be moist , as with morning dew .

they were the reflection of my own .

the vision had the aspect of a fair young girl with locks of paly gold .

through the dim rosiness of the cheeks i could see the brown leaves , the slimy twigs , the acorns and the sparkling sand .

the solitary sunbeam was diffused among the golden hair , which melted into its faint brightness and became a glory round that head so beautiful .

my description can give no idea how suddenly the fountain was thus tenanted and how soon it was left desolate .

i breathed , and there was the face ; i held my breath , and it was gone .

had it passed away or faded into nothing ?

i doubted whether it had ever been .

my sweet readers , what a dreamy and delicious hour did i spend where that vision found and left me !

thus have i often started from a pleasant dream , and then kept quiet in hopes to wile it back .

deep were my musings as to the race and attributes of that ethereal being .

had i created her ?

was she the daughter of my fancy , akin to those strange shapes which peep under the lids of children 's eyes ?

and did her beauty gladden me for that one moment and then die ?

i watched and waited , but no vision came again .

i departed , but with a spell upon me which drew me back that same afternoon to the haunted spring .

there was the water gushing , the sand sparkling and the sunbeam glimmering .

methought he had a devilish look .

i could have slain him as an enchanter who kept the mysterious beauty imprisoned in the fountain .

sad and heavy , i was returning to the village .

i was admiring the picture when the shape of a young girl emerged from behind the clump of oaks .

how could i ever reach her ?

while i gazed a sudden shower came pattering down upon the leaves .

a rainbow vivid as niagara 's was painted in the air .

when the rainbow vanished , she who had seemed a part of it was no longer there .

was her existence absorbed in nature 's loveliest phenomenon , and did her pure frame dissolve away in the varied light ?

yet i would not despair of her return , for , robed in the rainbow , she was the emblem of hope .

thus did the vision leave me , and many a doleful day succeeded to the parting moment .

weeks came and went , months rolled away , and she appeared not in them .

i withdrew into an inner world where my thoughts lived and breathed , and the vision in the midst of them .

in the middle of january i was summoned home .

most of the day was spent in preparing for the journey , which was to commence at four o'clock the next morning .

a gust of wind blew out my lamp as i passed through the entry .

there was no light except the little that came sullenly from two half-burnt brands , without even glimmering on the andirons .

i noticed that there was less room than usual to-night between the collegian 's chair and mine .

as people are always taciturn in the dark , not a word was said for some time after my entrance .

nothing broke the stillness but the regular click of the matron 's knitting-needles .

were we not like ghosts ?

we were aware of each other 's presence , not by sight nor sound nor touch , but by an inward consciousness .

would it not be so among the dead ?

the silence was interrupted by the consumptive daughter addressing a remark to some one in the circle whom she called rachel .

had i ever heard that sweet , low tone ?

whom had my heart recognized , that it throbbed so ?

i listened to catch her gentle breathing , and strove by the intensity of my gaze to picture forth a shape where none was visible .

she knew me .

fair ladies , there is nothing more to tell .

if i transformed her to an angel , it is what every youthful lover does for his mistress .

therein consists the essence of my story .

but slight the change , sweet maids , to make angels of yourselves .

fancy's show-box .

a morality .

what is guilt ?

a stain upon the soul .

if this be true , it is a fearful truth .

let us illustrate the subject by an imaginary example .

wine will not always cheer him .

but mr smith had a shrewd idea that it was conscience .

her eyes she could not lift .

he was the personification of triumphant scorn .

mr smith was scandalized .

" oh , vile and slanderous picture ! " he exclaims .

" when have i triumphed over ruined innocence ?

was not martha wedded in her teens to david tomkins , who won her girlish love and long enjoyed her affection as a wife ?

and ever since his death she has lived a reputable widow ! "

though not a death-blow , the torture was extreme .

the exhibition proceeded .

there had been mirth and revelry until the hand of the clock stood just at midnight , when murder stepped between the boon-companions .

the murdered youth wore the features of edward spencer .

" what does this rascal of a painter mean ? " cries mr smith , provoked beyond all patience .

" edward spencer was my earliest and dearest friend , true to me as i to him through more than half a century .

neither i nor any other ever murdered him .

the pain was quite excruciating .

" really , this puzzles me ! " quoth mr smith , with the irony of conscious rectitude .

" asking pardon of the painter , i pronounce him a fool as well as a scandalous knave .

a man of my standing in the world to be robbing little children of their clothes !

ridiculous ! "

but while he spoke memory had searched her fatal volume and found a page which with her sad calm voice she poured into his ear .

it was not altogether inapplicable to the misty scene .

fortunately , before he was quite decided , his claims had turned out nearly as devoid of law as justice .

even then , however , he sustained an ugly gash .

why should we follow fancy through the whole series of those awful pictures ?

and could such beings of cloudy fantasy , so near akin to nothingness , give valid evidence against him at the day of judgment ?

yet his heart still seemed to fester with the venom of the dagger .

nevertheless , the unfortunate old gentleman might have argued the matter with conscience and alleged many reasons wherefore she should not smite him so pitilessly .

were we to take up his cause , it should be somewhat in the following fashion .

a scheme of guilt , till it be put in execution , greatly resembles a train of incidents in a projected tale .

it is not until the crime is accomplished that guilt clenches its gripe upon the guilty heart and claims it for his own .

be it considered , also , that men often overestimate their capacity for evil .

they knew not what deed it was that they deemed themselves resolved to do .

yet , with the slight fancy-work which we have framed , some sad and awful truths are interwoven .

he must feel that when he shall knock at the gate of heaven no semblance of an unspotted life can entitle him to entrance there .

penitence must kneel and mercy come from the footstool of the throne , or that golden gate will never open .

dr . heidegger's experiment .

that very singular man old dr heidegger once invited four venerable friends to meet him in his study .

there were three white-bearded gentlemen mr medbourne , colonel killigrew and mr gascoigne and a withered gentlewoman whose name was the widow wycherly .

if all stories were true , dr heidegger 's study must have been a very curious place .

it was a dim , old-fashioned chamber festooned with cobwebs and besprinkled with antique dust .

in the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet with its door ajar , within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton .

between two of the bookcases hung a looking-glass , presenting its high and dusty plate within a tarnished gilt frame .

there were no letters on the back , and nobody could tell the title of the book .

such was dr heidegger 's study .

four champagne-glasses were also on the table .

now , dr heidegger was a very strange old gentleman whose eccentricity had become the nucleus for a thousand fantastic stories .

" this rose , " said dr heidegger , with a sigh " this same withered and crumbling flower blossomed five and fifty years ago .

it was given me by sylvia ward , whose portrait hangs yonder , and i meant to wear it in my bosom at our wedding .

five and fifty years it has been treasured between the leaves of this old volume .

now , would you deem it possible that this rose of half a century could ever bloom again ? "

" nonsense ! " said the widow wycherly , with a peevish toss of her head .

" you might as well ask whether an old woman 's wrinkled face could ever bloom again . "

" see ! " answered dr heidegger .

he uncovered the vase and threw the faded rose into the water which it contained .

at first it lay lightly on the surface of the fluid , appearing to imbibe none of its moisture .

soon , however , a singular change began to be visible .

" pray , how was it effected ? "

" but did ponce de leon ever find it ? " said the widow wycherly .

" no , " answered dr heidegger , " for he never sought it in the right place .

an acquaintance of mine , knowing my curiosity in such matters , has sent me what you see in the vase . "

" you shall judge for yourself , my dear colonel , " replied dr heidegger .

for my own part , having had much trouble in growing old , i am in no hurry to grow young again .

with your permission , therefore , i will merely watch the progress of the experiment . "

while he spoke dr heidegger had been filling the four champagne-glasses with the water of the fountain of youth .

but dr heidegger besought them to stay a moment .

with palsied hands they raised the glasses to their lips .

they drank off the water and replaced their glasses on the table .

there was a healthful suffusion on their cheeks instead of the ashen hue that had made them look so corpse-like .

the widow wycherly adjusted her cap , for she felt almost like a woman again .

" give us more of this wondrous water , " cried they , eagerly .

" we are younger , but we are still too old .

quick ! give us more ! "

" patience , patience ! " quoth dr heidegger , who sat , watching the experiment with philosophic coolness .

" you have been a long time growing old ; surely you might be content to grow young in half an hour .

but the water is at your service . "

was it delusion ?

even while the draught was passing down their throats it seemed to have wrought a change on their whole systems .

at last , turning briskly away , she came with a sort of dancing step to the table .

" my dear old doctor , " cried she , " pray favor me with another glass . "

" certainly , my dear madam certainly , " replied the complaisant doctor .

" see !

i have already filled the glasses . "

even while quaffing the third draught of the fountain of youth , they were almost awed by the expression of his mysterious visage .

but the next moment the exhilarating gush of young life shot through their veins .

they were now in the happy prime of youth .

they felt like new-created beings in a new-created universe .

" we are young !

we are young ! " they cried , exultingly .

youth , like the extremity of age , had effaced the strongly-marked characteristics of middle life and mutually assimilated them all .

they were a group of merry youngsters almost maddened with the exuberant frolicsomeness of their years .

the most singular effect of their gayety was an impulse to mock the infirmity and decrepitude of which they had so lately been the victims .

then all shouted mirthfully and leaped about the room .

" pray excuse me , " answered the doctor , quietly .

" i am old and rheumatic , and my dancing-days were over long ago .

but either of these gay young gentlemen will be glad of so pretty a partner . "

" dance with me , clara , " cried colonel killigrew .

" no , no !

i will be her partner , " shouted mr gascoigne .

" she promised me her hand fifty years ago , " exclaimed mr medbourne .

they all gathered round her .

never was there a livelier picture of youthful rivalship , with bewitching beauty for the prize .

but they were young : their burning passions proved them so .

still keeping hold of the fair prize , they grappled fiercely at one another 's throats .

as they struggled to and fro the table was overturned and the vase dashed into a thousand fragments .

the insect fluttered lightly through the chamber and settled on the snowy head of dr heidegger .

" come , come , gentlemen !

come , madam wycherly ! " exclaimed the doctor .

" i really must protest against this riot . "

" my poor sylvia 's rose ! " ejaculated dr . heidegger , holding it in the light of the sunset clouds .

" it appears to be fading again . "

and so it was .

he shook off the few drops of moisture which clung to its petals .

" i love it as well thus as in its dewy freshness , " observed he , pressing the withered rose to his withered lips .

while he spoke the butterfly fluttered down from the doctor 's snowy head and fell upon the floor .

his guests shivered again .

a strange dullness whether of the body or spirit they could not tell was creeping gradually over them all .

was it an illusion ?

" are we grown old again so soon ? " cried they , dolefully .

in truth , they had .

the water of youth possessed merely a virtue more transient than that of wine ; the delirium which it created had effervesced away .

yes , they were old again .

such is the lesson ye have taught me . "

but the doctor 's four friends had taught no such lesson to themselves .

they resolved forthwith to make a pilgrimage to florida and quaff at morning , noon and night from the fountain of youth .

legends of the province-house .

i.

howe's masquerade .

ii .

edward randolph's portrait .

iii .

lady eleanore's mantle .

iv .

old esther dudley .

i.

howe's masquerade .

the sign represented the front of a stately edifice which was designated as the " old province house , kept by thomas waite . "

the province house is constructed of brick , which seems recently to have been overlaid with a coat of light-colored paint .

a wide door with double leaves admitted me into the hall or entry , on the right of which is the entrance to the bar-room .

but the room in its present condition cannot boast even of faded magnificence .

the cupola is an octagon with several windows , and a door opening upon the roof .

the portion of his talk which chiefly interested me was the outline of the following legend .

one other such fit of merriment , and i must throw off my clerical wig and band . "

as to this new foolery , i know no more about it than yourself perhaps not so much .

he was spared the necessity of a retort by a singular interruption .

the man was drum-major to one of the british regiments .

" dighton , " demanded the general , " what means this foolery ?

bid your band silence that dead march , or , by my word , they shall have sufficient cause for their lugubrious strains .

silence it , sirrah ! "

i never heard it but once before , and that was at the funeral of his late majesty , king george ii . "

" well , well ! " said sir william howe , recovering his composure ; " it is the prelude to some masquerading antic .

let it pass . "

at the same time , the music in the street sounded a loud and doleful summons .

" in the devil 's name , what is this ? " muttered sir william howe to a gentleman beside him .

" a procession of the regicide judges of king charles the martyr ? "

" why had that young man a stain of blood upon his ruff ? " asked miss joliffe .

" there may be a plot under this mummery . "

" tush ! we have nothing to fear , " carelessly replied sir william howe .

" there can be no worse treason in the matter than a jest , and that somewhat of the dullest .

even were it a sharp and bitter one , our best policy would be to laugh it off .

see ! here come more of these gentry . "

another group of characters had now partly descended the staircase .

the first was a venerable and white-bearded patriarch who cautiously felt his way downward with a staff .

" prithee , play the part of a chorus , good dr byles , " said sir william howe .

" what worthies are these ? "

but we talk of these figures .

i take the venerable patriarch to be bradstreet , the last of the puritans , who was governor at ninety or thereabouts .

then comes sir william phipps , shepherd , cooper , sea-captain and governor .

may many of his countrymen rise as high from as low an origin !

lastly , you saw the gracious earl of bellamont , who ruled us under king william . "

" but what is the meaning of it all ? " asked lord percy .

several other figures were now seen at the turn of the staircase .

" governor belcher my old patron in his very shape and dress ! " gasped dr. byles .

" this is an awful mockery . "

" a tedious foolery , rather , " said sir william howe , with an air of indifference .

" but who were the three that preceded him ? "

" governor dudley , a cunning politician ; yet his craft once brought him to a prison , " replied colonel joliffe .

" methinks they were miserable men these royal governors of massachusetts , " observed miss joliffe .

" heavens ! how dim the light grows ! "

as they vanished from the door , still did these shadows toss their arms into the gloom of night with a dread expression of woe .

" the shape of gage , as true as in a looking-glass ! " exclaimed lord percy , turning pale .

perhaps he will not suffer the next to pass unchallenged . "

a wild and dreary burst of music came through the open door .

" see ! here comes the last , " whispered miss joliffe , pointing her tremulous finger to the staircase .

" villain , unmuffle yourself ! " cried he .

" you pass no farther . "

but sir william howe had evidently seen enough .

" hark !

the procession moves , " said miss joliffe .

" would your excellency inquire further into the mystery of the pageant ? " said he .

" take care of your gray head ! " cried sir william howe , fiercely , though with a quivering lip .

" it has stood too long on a traitor 's shoulders . "

it was supposed that the colonel and the young lady possessed some secret intelligence in regard to the mysterious pageant of that night .

however this might be , such knowledge has never become general .

a pretty chambermaid , no doubt .

then , diving through the narrow archway , a few strides transported me into the densest throng of washington street .

ii .

edward randolph's portrait .

the old legendary guest of the province house abode in my remembrance from midsummer till january .

the wintry blast had the same shriek that was familiar to their ears .

" only seven o'clock ! " thought i .

" my old friend 's legends will scarcely kill the hours ' twixt this and bedtime . "

time had thrown an impenetrable veil over it and left to tradition and fable and conjecture to say what had once been there portrayed .

" is it known , my dear uncle , " inquired she , " what this old picture once represented ?

shirley , for instance , had beheld this ominous apparition on the eve of general abercrombie 's shameful and bloody defeat under the walls of ticonderoga .

" but would it be possible , " inquired her cousin , " to restore this dark picture to its pristine hues ? "

" such arts are known in italy , " said alice .

the lieutenant-governor had roused himself from his abstracted mood , and listened with a smile to the conversation of his young relatives .

yet his voice had something peculiar in its tones when he undertook the explanation of the mystery .

it was the portrait of edward randolph , the founder of this house , a person famous in the history of new england . "

" it was the same randolph , " answered hutchinson , moving uneasily in his chair .

" it was his lot to taste the bitterness of popular odium . "

" and yet , " whispered alice vane , " may not such fables have a moral ?

when the rulers feel themselves irresponsible , it were well that they should be reminded of the awful weight of a people 's curse . "

he knew , indeed , that alice , in spite of her foreign education , retained the native sympathies of a new england girl .

" peace , silly child ! " cried he , at last , more harshly than he had ever before addressed the gentle alice .

" the rebuke of a king ; is more to be dreaded than the clamor of a wild , misguided multitude .

captain lincoln , it is decided : the fortress of castle william must be occupied by the royal troops .

the two remaining regiments shall be billeted in the town or encamped upon the common .

do not convert the streets of your native town into a camp .

" young man , it is decided , " repeated hutchinson , rising from his chair .

" a british officer will be in attendance this evening to receive the necessary instructions for the disposal of the troops .

your presence also will be required .

till then , farewell . "

as he held the door for her to pass alice beckoned to the picture and smiled .

" come forth , dark and evil shape ! " cried she .

" it is thine hour . "

would you have me wait till the mob shall sack the province-house as they did my private mansion ?

" yes , " said the british major , who was impatiently expecting the lieutenant-governor 's orders .

" the demagogues of this province have raised the devil , and cannot lay him again .

we will exorcise him in god 's name and the king 's . "

" craving your pardon , young sir , " said the venerable selectman , " let not an evil spirit enter into your words .

we will strive against the oppressor with prayer and fasting , as our forefathers would have done .

" and there peep forth the devil 's claws ! " muttered hutchinson , who well understood the nature of puritan submission .

" this matter shall be expedited forthwith .

what to me is the outcry of a mob in this remote province of the realm ?

looking angrily up , he perceived that his young relative was pointing his finger to the opposite wall .

" alice !

come hither , alice ! "

an exclamation of surprise burst from every beholder , but the lieutenant-governor 's voice had a tone of horror .

until this hour no living man hath seen what we behold . "

beneath this cloud the eyes had a peculiar glare which was almost lifelike .

there was the struggle of defiance , beaten down and overwhelmed by the crushing weight of ignominy .

the torture of the soul had come forth upon the countenance .

" ' twould drive me mad , that awful face , " said hutchinson , who seemed fascinated by the contemplation of it .

" be warned , then , " whispered alice .

" he trampled on a people 's rights .

behold his punishment , and avoid a crime like his . "

see here ! "

" away ! " answered hutchinson , fiercely .

" though yonder senseless picture cried ' forbear ! ' it should not move me ! "

then , it is said , he shuddered , as if that signature had granted away his salvation .

" it is done , " said he , and placed his hand upon his brow .

the truth probably was that alice vane 's secret for restoring the hues of the picture had merely effected a temporary renovation .

did his broken spirit feel at that dread hour the tremendous burden of a people 's curse ?

it is as if the echoes of half a century were revived .

iii .

lady eleanore's mantle .

mine excellent friend the landlord of the province house was pleased the other evening to invite mr tiffany and myself to an oyster-supper .

yet prejudices so obstinate have not made him an ungentle or impracticable companion .

in another paper of this series i may perhaps give the reader a closer glimpse of his portrait .

peace to his red-nosed ghost and a libation to his memory !

with some suitable adornments from my own fancy , it ran pretty much as follows .

" a very great disrespect ! " exclaimed captain langford , an english officer who had recently brought despatches to governor shute .

" the funeral should have been deferred lest lady eleanore 's spirits be affected by such a dismal welcome . "

king death confers high privileges . "

but the governor 's stately approach was anticipated in a manner that excited general astonishment .

" up , sir ! " said the governor , sternly , at the same time lifting his cane over the intruder .

" what means the bedlamite by this freak ? "

" who is this insolent young fellow ? " inquired captain langford , who still remained beside dr clarke .

he loved her , and her scorn has driven him mad . "

" he was mad so to aspire , " observed the english officer .

" never ! " cried captain langford , indignantly " neither in life nor when they lay her with her ancestors . "

not many days afterward the governor gave a ball in honor of lady eleanore rochcliffe .

gradually , lady eleanore rochcliffe 's circle grew smaller , till only four gentlemen remained in it .

" they tell me that i have done you harm . "

" heaven knows if that be so , " replied the young man , solemnly .

" where has this mad fellow stolen that sacramental vessel ? " exclaimed the episcopal clergyman .

" perhaps it is poisoned , " half whispered the governor 's secretary .

" pour it down the villain 's throat ! " cried the virginian , fiercely .

" whether knave , fool or bedlamite , it is intolerable that the fellow should go at large . "

" pray , gentlemen , do my poor admirer no harm , " said lady eleanore , with a faint and weary smile .

" cast it from you , " exclaimed jervase helwyse , clasping his hands in an agony of entreaty .

" it may not yet be too late .

give the accursed garment to the flames . "

" farewell , jervase helwyse ! " said she .

" keep my image in your remembrance as you behold it now . "

woe to those who shall be smitten by this beautiful lady eleanore !

but yonder stands the governor , and i have a word or two for his private ear .

good-night ! "

but the disease , pursuing its onward progress , soon ceased to be exclusively a prerogative of aristocracy .

its red brand was no longer conferred like a noble 's star or an order of knighthood .

we cannot estimate the affright which this plague inspired of yore by contemplating it as the fangless monster of the present day .

such was the dismay that now followed in the track of the disease or ran before it throughout the town .

this dark tale , whispered at first , was now bruited far and wide .

" wretched lunatic , what do you seek here ? " exclaimed shute , extending his cane to guard himself from contact .

" there is nothing here but death ; back , or you will meet him . "

" death will not touch me , the banner-bearer of the pestilence , " cried jervase helwyse , shaking the red flag aloft .

" why do i waste words on the fellow ? " muttered the governor , drawing his cloak across his mouth .

" what matters his miserable life , when none of us are sure of twelve hours ' breath ?

on , fool , to your own destruction ! "

" young man , what is your purpose ? " demanded he .

" i seek the lady eleanore , " answered jervase helwyse , submissively .

" all have fled from her , " said the physician .

" why do you seek her now ?

i tell you , youth , her nurse fell death-stricken on the threshold of that fatal chamber .

" let me look upon her , " rejoined the mad youth , more wildly .

" let me behold her in her awful beauty , clad in the regal garments of the pestilence .

she and death sit on a throne together ; let me kneel down before them . "

" wilt thou still worship the destroyer and surround her image with fantasies the more magnificent the more evil she has wrought ?

thus man doth ever to his tyrants .

approach , then .

ascending another flight of stairs , he threw open a door and signed to jervase helwyse that he should enter .

he dreamed , no doubt , that her beauty was not dimmed , but brightened into superhuman splendor .

" where is the lady eleanore ? " whispered he .

" call her , " replied the physician .

" lady eleanore ! princess ! queen of death ! " cried jervase helwyse , advancing three steps into the chamber .

" she is not here .

there , on yonder table , i behold the sparkle of a diamond which once she wore upon her bosom .

there " and he shuddered " there hangs her mantle , on which a dead woman embroidered a spell of dreadful potency .

but where is the lady eleanore ? "

he fancied , even , that he recognized its tones .

" my throat !

my throat is scorched , " murmured the voice .

" a drop of water ! "

" what thing art thou ? " said the brain-stricken youth , drawing near the bed and tearing asunder its curtains .

" whose voice hast thou stolen for thy murmurs and miserable petitions , as if lady eleanore could be conscious of mortal infirmity ?

fie !

heap of diseased mortality , why lurkest thou in my lady 's chamber ? "

the curse of heaven hath stricken me because i would not call man my brother nor woman sister .

you are avenged , they are all avenged , nature is avenged ; for i am eleanore rochcliffe . "

" another triumph for the lady eleanore ! " he cried .

" all have been her victims ; who so worthy to be the final victim as herself ? "

impelled by some new fantasy of his crazed intellect , he snatched the fatal mantle and rushed from the chamber and the house .

arriving opposite the province-house , the mob burned the effigy , and a strong wind came and swept away the ashes .

a remarkable uncertainty broods over that unhappy lady 's fate .

supposing the legend true , can this be other than the once proud lady eleanore ?

iv .

old esther dudley .

finally he poured forth a great fluency of speech .

at the pathetic passages of his narrative he readily melted into tears .

a blood-stain upon the floor should then bear testimony that the last british ruler was faithful to his trust . "

the tremulous voice of a woman replied to his exclamation .

" heaven 's cause and the king 's are one , " it said .

" go forth , sir william howe , and trust in heaven to bring back a royal governor in triumph . "

but sir william howe , if he ever heard this legend , had forgotten it .

" mistress dudley , why are you loitering here ? " asked he , with some severity of tone .

" it is my pleasure to be the last in this mansion of the king . "

" not so , if it please your excellency , " answered the time-stricken woman .

" this roof has sheltered me long ; i will not pass from it until they bear me to the tomb of my forefathers .

what other shelter is there for old esther dudley save the province-house or the grave ? "

" now , heaven forgive me ! " said sir william howe to himself .

" i was about to leave this wretched old creature to starve or beg .

take this , good mistress dudley , " he added , putting a purse into her hands .

that purse will buy a better shelter than the province-house can now afford . "

" this is an evil hour for you and me .

the province which the king entrusted to my charge is lost .

i go hence in misfortune perchance in disgrace to return no more .

" never ! never ! " said the pertinacious old dame .

" here will i abide , and king george shall still have one true subject in his disloyal province . "

" she is the very moral of old-fashioned prejudice , and could exist nowhere but in this musty edifice .

well , then , mistress dudley , since you will needs tarry , i give the province-house in charge to you .

take this key , and keep it safe until myself or some other royal governor shall demand it of you . "

the total change of affairs that ensued on the departure of the british troops did not drive the venerable lady from her stronghold .

many and strange were the fables which the gossips whispered about her in all the chimney-corners of the town .

and did she dwell there in utter loneliness ?

rumor said , " not so . "

yet esther dudley 's most frequent and favored guests were the children of the town .

toward them she was never stern .

a kindly and loving nature hindered elsewhere from its free course by a thousand rocky prejudices lavished itself upon these little ones .

" but governor belcher has been dead this many a year , " would the mother say to her little boy .

" but when old esther had done speaking about him , he faded away out of his chair . "

sooner or later , it was her invincible belief , the colonies would be prostrate at the footstool of the king .

sometimes she seemed to take for granted that such was already the case .

her wrinkled visage actually gleamed with triumph , as if the soul within her were a festal lamp .

" what means this blaze of light ?

what does old esther 's joy portend ? " whispered a spectator .

" it is frightful to see her gliding about the chambers and rejoicing there without a soul to bear her company . "

" it is as if she were making merry in a tomb , " said another .

" pshaw !

it is no such mystery , " observed an old man , after some brief exercise of memory .

" mistress dudley is keeping jubilee for the king of england 's birthday . "

now , it was the fact that intelligence bearing some faint analogy to esther 's version of it was current among the townspeople .

" oh , happy day !

oh , blessed , blessed hour ! " she exclaimed .

" let me but bid him welcome within the portal , and my task in the province-house and on earth is done . "

she turned the key , withdrew it from the lock , unclosed the door and stepped across the threshold .

he was richly dressed , but wore a gouty shoe , which , however , did not lessen the stateliness of his gait .

as he approached she involuntarily sank down on her knees and tremblingly held forth the heavy key .

" receive my trust !

take it quickly , " cried she , " for methinks death is striving to snatch away my triumph .

but he comes too late .

thank heaven for this blessed hour !

god save king george ! "

" yet , in reverence for your gray hairs and long-kept faith , heaven forbid that any here should say you nay .

over the realms which still acknowledge his sceptre , god save king george ! "

years ago she had known him among the gentry of the province , but the ban of the king had fallen upon him .

how , then , came the doomed victim here ?

" have i bidden a traitor welcome ?

come , death ! come quickly ! "

ceasing to model ourselves on ancestral superstitions , it is our faith and principle to press onward onward .

the key of the province-house fell from her grasp and clanked against the stone .

" i have been faithful unto death , " murmured she .

" god save the king ! "

" she hath done her office , " said hancock , solemnly .

" we will follow her reverently to the tomb of her ancestors , and then , my fellow-citizens , onward onward .

we are no longer children of the past . "

many a governor had heard those midnight accents and longed to exchange his stately cares for slumber .

the haunted mind .

what a singular moment is the first one , when you have hardly begun to recollect yourself , after starting from midnight slumber !

the distant sound of a church-clock is borne faintly on the wind .

if you could choose an hour of wakefulness out of the whole night , it would be this .

yesterday has already vanished among the shadows of the past ; to-morrow has not yet emerged from the future .

oh that he would fall asleep and let mortals live on without growing older !

hitherto you have lain perfectly still , because the slightest motion would dissipate the fragments of your slumber .

there will be time enough to trace out the analogy while waiting the summons to breakfast .

you may almost distinguish the figures on the clock that has just told the hour .

yet look at that one glorious star !

it is too cold even for the thoughts to venture abroad .

ah ! that idea has brought a hideous one in its train .

that gloomy thought will collect a gloomy multitude and throw its complexion over your wakeful hour .

but sometimes , and oftenest at midnight , those dark receptacles are flung wide open .

it is too late .

do you remember any act of enormous folly at which you would blush even in the remotest cavern of the earth ?

then recognize your shame .

pass , wretched band !

what if remorse should assume the features of an injured friend ?

what if the fiend should come in woman 's garments with a pale beauty amid sin and desolation , and lie down by your side ?

what if he should stand at your bed 's foot in the likeness of a corpse with a bloody stain upon the shroud ?

your eye searches for whatever may remind you of the living world .

throughout the chamber there is the same obscurity as before , but not the same gloom within your breast .

her influence is over you , though she have no existence but in that momentary image .

in both you emerge from mystery , pass through a vicissitude that you can but imperfectly control , and are borne onward to another mystery .

now comes the peal of the distant clock with fainter and fainter strokes as you plunge farther into the wilderness of sleep .

it is the knell of a temporary death .

the village uncle .

an imaginary retrospect .

come ! another log upon the hearth .

toss on an armful of those dry oak chips , the last relicts of the mermaid 's knee-timbers the bones of your namesake , susan .

and now come , susan ; come , my children .

draw your chairs round me , all of you .

there is a dimness over your figures .

hark ! let me listen for the swell of the surf ; it should be audible a mile inland on a night like this .

how strangely the past is peeping over the shoulders of the present !

to judge by my recollections , it is but a few moments since i sat in another room .

but it was paler than my rugged old self , and younger , too , by almost half a century .

thank heaven i am an old man now and have done with all such vanities !

still this dimness of mine eyes !

come nearer , susan , and stand before the fullest blaze of the hearth .

there ! you made me tremble again .

do you remember it ?

you stood on the little bridge over the brook that runs across king 's beach into the sea .

now , susan , for a sober picture of our village .

the village was picturesque in the variety of its edifices , though all were rude .

two grocery stores stood opposite each other in the centre of the village .

the very air was fishy , being perfumed with dead sculpins , hard-heads and dogfish strewn plentifully on the beach .

you see , children , the village is but little changed since your mother and i were young .

in the autumn i toled and caught those lovely fish the mackerel .

he looked like a harbinger of tempest a shipmate of the flying dutchman .

one of uncle parker 's eyes had been blown out with gunpowder , and the other did but glimmer in its socket .

even now i seem to see the group of fishermen with that old salt in the midst .

they are a likely set of men .

be it well with you , my brethren !

but where was the mermaid in those delightful times ?

what a picture was susan behind the counter !

a few freckles became beauty-spots beneath her eyelids .

nature wrought the charm .

she made you a frank , simple , kind-hearted , sensible and mirthful girl .

it was beautiful to observe how her simple and happy nature mingled itself with mine .

she gave me warmth of feeling , while the influence of my mind made her contemplative .

thus went on our wooing , till i had shot wild-fowl enough to feather our bridal-bed , and the daughter of the sea was mine .

except the almanac , we had no other literature .

in truth , i dreaded him .

i feared to trust them even with the alphabet : it was the key to a fatal treasure .

sometimes my voice lost itself in a tremulous depth , for i felt his eye upon me as i spoke .

strange illusion !

like uncle parker , whose rheumatic bones were dashed against egg rock full forty years ago , i am a spinner of long yarns .

with a broken voice i give utterance to much wisdom .

with such awful fidelity did that lover return to fulfil his vows !

thus do i talk , and all my auditors grow wise while they deem it pastime .

i recollect no happier portion of my life than this my calm old age .

but with me the verdure and the flowers are not frost-bitten in the midst of winter .

show me anything that would make an infant smile , and you shall behold a gleam of mirth over the hoary ruin of my visage .

i can spend a pleasant hour in the sun watching the sports of the village children on the edge of the surf .

why should not an old man be merry too , when the great sea is at play with those little children ?

next they are smit with wonder at the black shells of a wagon-load of live lobsters packed in rock-weed for the country-market .

for i launch my boat no more .

for i am a patriarch .

susan !

my children !

will you meet me there ?

ah !

and now for a moral to my reverie .

the ambitious guest .

up the chimney roared the fire , and brightened the room with its broad blaze .

the faces of the father and mother had a sober gladness ; the children laughed .

they had found the " herb heart's-ease " in the bleakest spot of all new england .

for a moment it saddened them , though there was nothing unusual in the tones .

though they dwelt in such a solitude , these people held daily converse with the world .

the stage-coach always drew up before the door of the cottage .

the door was opened by a young man .

one glance and smile placed the stranger on a footing of innocent familiarity with the eldest daughter .

" ah ! this fire is the right thing , " cried he , " especially when there is such a pleasant circle round it .

" yes , to burlington , and far enough beyond , " replied he .

" i meant to have been at ethan crawford 's to-night , but a pedestrian lingers along such a road as this .

so i shall sit down among you and make myself at home . "

the family held their breath , because they knew the sound , and their guest held his by instinct .

" the old mountain has thrown a stone at us for fear we should forget him , " said the landlord , recovering himself .

besides , we have a sure place of refuge hard by if he should be coming in good earnest . "

and thus it should have been .

is not the kindred of a common fate a closer tie than that of birth ?

the secret of the young man 's character was a high and abstracted ambition .

he could have borne to live an undistinguished life , but not to be forgotten in the grave .

" as yet , " cried the stranger , his cheek glowing and his eye flashing with enthusiasm " as yet i have done nothing .

not a soul would ask , ' who was he ?

whither did the wanderer go ? '

but i cannot die till i have achieved my destiny .

then let death come : i shall have built my monument . "

with quick sensibility of the ludicrous , he blushed at the ardor into which he had been betrayed .

" you laugh at me , " said he , taking the eldest daughter 's hand and laughing himself .

and truly that would be a noble pedestal for a man 's statue . "

" perhaps they may , " observed the wife .

" is the man thinking what he will do when he is a widower ? "

" no , no ! " cried he , repelling the idea with reproachful kindness .

" when i think of your death , esther , i think of mine too .

" we 're in a strange way to-night , " said the wife , with tears in her eyes .

" they say it 's a sign of something when folks ' minds go a-wandering so .

hark to the children ! "

they listened accordingly .

at length a little boy , instead of addressing his brothers and sisters , called out to his mother .

the boy had hardly spoken , when a wagon rattled along the road and stopped a moment before the door .

" father , " said the girl , " they are calling you by name . "

" there , mother ! " cried the boy , again ; " they 'd have given us a ride to the flume . "

again they laughed at the child 's pertinacious fancy for a night-ramble .

it forced its way , in spite of a little struggle to repress it .

then , starting and blushing , she looked quickly around the circle , as if they had caught a glimpse into her bosom .

the stranger asked what she had been thinking of .

" nothing , " answered she , with a downcast smile ; " only i felt lonesome just then . "

" oh , i have always had a gift of feeling what is in other people 's hearts , " said he , half seriously .

" shall i tell the secrets of yours ?

for i know what to think when a young girl shivers by a warm hearth and complains of lonesomeness at her mother 's side .

shall i put these feelings into words ? "

all this was said apart .

there was a wail along the road as if a funeral were passing .

the light hovered about them fondly and caressed them all .

the aged woman looked up from her task , and with fingers ever busy was the next to speak .

" old folks have their notions , " said she , " as well as young ones .

you 've been wishing and planning and letting your heads run on one thing and another till you 've set my mind a-wandering too .

children , it will haunt me night and day till i tell you . "

" what is it , mother ? " cried the husband and wife at once .

but this evening an old superstition had strangely recurred to her .

the bare thought made her nervous .

" don't talk so , grandmother , " said the girl , shuddering .

who knows but i may take a glimpse at myself and see whether all 's right ? "

" old and young , we dream of graves and monuments , " murmured the stranger-youth .

young and old exchanged one wild glance and remained an instant pale , affrighted , without utterance or power to move .

then the same shriek burst simultaneously from all their lips :

" the slide !

the slide ! "

the simplest words must intimate , but not portray , the unutterable horror of the catastrophe .

alas ! they had quitted their security and fled right into the pathway of destruction .

down came the whole side of the mountain in a cataract of ruin .

their bodies were never found .

the next morning the light smoke was seen stealing from the cottage chimney up the mountain-side .

all had left separate tokens by which those who had known the family were made to shed a tear for each .

who has not heard their name ?

the story has been told far and wide , and will for ever be a legend of these mountains .

poets have sung their fate .

woe for the high-souled youth with his dream of earthly immortality !

the sister-years .

the wintry moonlight showed that she looked weary of body and sad of heart , like many another wayfarer of earth .

but after trudging only a little distance farther this poor old year was destined to enjoy a long , long sleep .

besides this luggage , there was a folio book under her arm very much resembling the annual volume of a newspaper .

she was evidently a stranger , and perhaps had come to town by the evening train of cars .

" well , my dear sister , " said the new year , after the first salutations , " you look almost tired to death .

what have you been about during your sojourn in this part of infinite space ? "

" oh , i have it all recorded here in my book of chronicles , " answered the old year , in a heavy tone .

" there is nothing that would amuse you , and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from your own personal experience .

it is but tiresome reading . "

" what have you been doing in the political way ? " asked the new year .

but the loco-focos "

" i do not like these party nicknames , " interrupted her sister , who seemed remarkably touchy about some points .

" perhaps we shall part in better humor if we avoid any political discussion . "

" with all my heart , " replied the old year , who had already been tormented half to death with squabbles of this kind .

yet they have occupied so large a share of my attention that i scarcely know what else to tell you .

" perhaps , " cried the hopeful new year " perhaps i shall see that happy day . "

" i doubt whether it be so close at hand , " answered the old year , gravely smiling .

" have you done much for the improvement of the city ? " asked the new year .

" judging from what little i have seen , it appears to be ancient and time-worn . "

old salem now wears a much livelier expression than when i first beheld her .

strangers rumble down from boston by hundreds at a time .

new faces throng in essex street .

railroad-hacks and omnibuses rattle over the pavements .

there is a perceptible increase of oyster-shops and other establishments for the accommodation of a transitory diurnal multitude .

but a more important change awaits the venerable town .

an immense accumulation of musty prejudices will be carried off by the free circulation of society .

a peculiarity of character of which the inhabitants themselves are hardly sensible will be rubbed down and worn away by the attrition of foreign substances .

much of the result will be good ; there will likewise be a few things not so good .

we sisterhood of years never carry anything really valuable out of the world with us .

i have likewise a quantity of men 's dark hair , instead of which i have left gray locks or none at all .

i have several bundles of love-letters eloquently breathing an eternity of burning passion which grew cold and perished almost before the ink was dry .

moreover , here is an assortment of many thousand broken promises and other broken ware , all very light and packed into little space .

" i have a fine lot of hopes here in my basket , " remarked the new year .

" they are a sweet-smelling flower a species of rose . "

" they soon lose their perfume , " replied the sombre old year .

" what else have you brought to insure a welcome from the discontented race of mortals ? "

but i heartily wish well to poor mortals , and mean to do all i can for their improvement and happiness . "

" it is a good resolution , " rejoined the old year .

" and must i also pick up such worthless luggage in my travels ? " asked the new year .

" most certainly , and well if you have no heavier load to bear , " replied the other .

if these ridiculous people ever see anything tolerable in you , it will be after you are gone for ever . "

" but i , " cried the fresh-hearted new year " i shall try to leave men wiser than i find them .

for my happiness must depend on them . "

" alas for you , then , my poor sister ! " said the old year , sighing , as she uplifted her burden .

" we grandchildren of time are born to trouble .

but hark ! my task is done . "

but she , in the company of time and all her kindred , must hereafter hold a reckoning with mankind .

" thank you kindly , " said the new year ; and she gave the watchman one of the roses of hope from her basket .

" may this flower keep a sweet smell long after i have bidden you good-bye ! "

wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers , they quaffed her health .

kind patrons , will not you redeem the pledge of the new year ?

snowflakes .

these are not the big flakes heavy with moisture which melt as they touch the ground and are portentous of a soaking rain .

it is to be in good earnest a wintry storm .

the cloud-spirits are slowly weaving her white mantle .

thus gradually by silent and stealthy influences are great changes wrought .

we likewise shall lose sight of our mother 's familiar visage , and must content ourselves with looking heavenward the oftener .

now , leaving the storm to do his appointed office , let us sit down , pen in hand , by our fireside .

gloomy as it may seem , there is an influence productive of cheerfulness and favorable to imaginative thought in the atmosphere of a snowy day .

in our brief summer i do not think , but only exist in the vague enjoyment of a dream .

however transitory their glow , they at least shine amid the darksome shadow which the clouds of the outward sky fling through the room .

now look we forth again and see how much of his task the storm-spirit has done .

slow and sure !

he has the day perchance the week before him , and may take his own time to accomplish nature 's burial in snow .

this is a sad time for the shrubs that do not perish with the summer .

they neither live nor die ; what they retain of life seems but the chilling sense of death .

very sad are the flower-shrubs in midwinter .

the roofs of the houses are now all white , save where the eddying wind has kept them bare at the bleak corners .

look next into the street , where we have an amusing parallel to the combat of those fancied demons in the upper regions .

it is a snow-battle of schoolboys .

what pitched battles worthy to be chanted in homeric strains !

what storming of fortresses built all of massive snow-blocks !

what feats of individual prowess and embodied onsets of martial enthusiasm !

who reared it ?

and what means it ? "

the shattered pedestal of many a battle-monument has provoked these questions when none could answer .

would it might inspire me to sketch out the personification of a new england winter !

and that idea , if i can seize the snow-wreathed figures that flit before my fancy , shall be the theme of the next page .

how does winter herald his approach ?

it is stern winter 's vesture .

it is the voice of winter ; and when parents and children hear it , they shudder and exclaim , " winter is come .

cold winter has begun his reign already . "

there he lies stark and stiff , a human shape of ice , on the spot where winter overtook him .

on strides the tyrant over the rushing rivers and broad lakes , which turn to rock beneath his footsteps .

his dreary empire is established ; all around stretches the desolation of the pole .

such fantasies , intermixed among graver toils of mind , have made the winter 's day pass pleasantly .

on the window-sill there is a layer of snow reaching halfway up the lowest pane of glass .

the garden is one unbroken bed .

next comes a sledge laden with wood for some unthrifty housekeeper whom winter has surprised at a cold hearth .

but what dismal equipage now struggles along the uneven street ?

a sable hearse bestrewn with snow is bearing a dead man through the storm to his frozen bed .

oh how dreary is a burial in winter , when the bosom of mother earth has no warmth for her poor child !

evening the early eve of december begins to spread its deepening veil over the comfortless scene .

alas !

whence come they ?

where do they build their nests and seek their food ?

i know not whence they come , nor why ; yet my spirit has been cheered by that wandering flock of snow-birds .

the seven vagabonds .

two horses munching provender out of the baskets which muzzled them were fastened near the vehicle .

" halloo !

who stands guard here ?

is the doorkeeper asleep ? " cried i , approaching a ladder of two or three steps which was let down from the wagon .

a small piece of silver was my passport within his premises , where i found only one other person , hereafter to be described .

perhaps the movable scene of this narrative is still peregrinating new england , and may enable the reader to test the accuracy of my description .

" what an admirable piece of work is this ! " exclaimed i , lifting up my hands in astonishment .

and then with how fresh a feeling must he return at intervals to his own peculiar home !

" i would i were assured of as happy a life as his , " thought i .

indeed , his stock required some considerable powers of commendation in the salesman .

the literary-man now evinced a great kindness for me , and i ventured to inquire which way he was travelling .

i , meanwhile , with many a wild and undetermined fantasy was narrowly inspecting these two doves that had flown into our ark .

we visited together at least , our imaginations did full many a famous city in the streets of which i had long yearned to tread .

when we had travelled through the vast extent of the mahogany box , i looked into my guide 's face .

" ' where are you going , my pretty maid ? ' " inquired i , in the words of an old song .

" ah ! " said the gay damsel ; " you might as well ask where the summer wind is going .

we are wanderers here and there and everywhere .

wherever there is mirth our merry hearts are drawn to it .

blessed pair , whose happy home was throughout all the earth !

" oh , maiden , " said i aloud , " why did you not come hither alone ? "

while the merry girl and myself were busy with the show-box the unceasing rain had driven another wayfarer into the wagon .

" it is a bill of the suffolk bank , " said i , " and better than the specie . "

as the beggar had nothing to object , he now produced a small buff leather bag tied up carefully with a shoe-string .

in this precious heap was my bank-note deposited , the rate of exchange being considerably against me .

here let me have credit for a sober fact .

but i must stop and see the breaking up of the camp-meeting at stamford . "

all this was a sort of happiness which i could conceive of , though i had little sympathy with it .

my reflections were here interrupted .

" another visitor ! " exclaimed the old showman .

it was a red indian armed with his bow and arrow .

this son of the wilderness and pilgrim of the storm took his place silently in the midst of us .

the indian had not long been seated ere our merry damsel sought to draw him into conversation .

at length she inquired whether his journey had any particular end or purpose .

" i go shoot at the camp-meeting at stamford , " replied the indian .

" and here are five more , " said the girl , " all aiming at the camp-meeting too .

but oh , you would find it very dull indeed to go all the way to stamford alone . "

now , hoping no offence , i should like to know where this young gentleman may be going ? "

i started .

how came i among these wanderers ?

" but in what capacity ? " asked the old showman , after a moment 's silence .

" all of us here can get our bread in some creditable way .

every honest man should have his livelihood .

you , sir , as i take it , are a mere strolling gentleman . "

" either this , " said i , " is my vocation , or i have been born in vain . "

dreading a rejection , i solicited the interest of the merry damsel .

" ' mirth , ' " cried i , most aptly appropriating the words of l'allegro , " ' to thee i sue !

mirth , admit me of thy crew ! ' "

" i have espied much promise in him .

true , a shadow sometimes flits across his brow , but the sunshine is sure to follow in a moment .

he is never guilty of a sad thought but a merry one is twin-born with it .

this affair settled , a marvellous jollity entered into the whole tribe of us , manifesting itself characteristically in each individual .

the young foreigner flourished his fiddle-bow with a master 's hand , and gave an inspiring echo to the showman's melody .

" we 'll come among them in procession , with music and dancing , " cried the merry damsel .

casting our eyes northward , we beheld a horseman approaching leisurely and splashing through the little puddle on the stamford road .

what puzzled us was the fact that his face appeared turned from , instead of to , the camp-meeting at stamford .

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 .

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 old showman and his literary coadjutor were already tackling their horses to the wagon with a design to peregrinate south-west along the sea-coast .

the white old maid .

the moonbeams came through two deep and narrow windows and showed a spacious chamber richly furnished in an antique fashion .

but how quietly the slumberer lay ! how pale his features !

and how like a shroud the sheet was wound about his frame !

yes , it was a corpse in its burial-clothes .

suddenly the fixed features seemed to move with dark emotion .

strange fantasy !

as she drew back from that long kiss her features writhed as if a proud heart were fighting with its anguish .

again it seemed that the features of the corpse had moved responsive to her own .

still an illusion .

there the two maidens stood , both beautiful , with the pale beauty of the dead between them .

but she who had first entered was proud and stately , and the other a soft and fragile thing .

" away ! " cried the lofty one .

" thou hadst him living ; the dead is mine . "

" thine ! " returned the other , shuddering .

" well hast thou spoken ; the dead is thine . "

a creature of hope and joy , the first draught of sorrow had bewildered her .

" edith ! " cried her rival .

" wilt thou betray me ? " said the latter , calmly .

" till the dead bid me speak i will be silent , " answered edith .

" leave us alone together .

go and live many years , and then return and tell me of thy life .

he too will be here .

then , if thou tellest of sufferings more than death , we will both forgive thee . "

" and what shall be the token ? " asked the proud girl , as if her heart acknowledged a meaning in these wild words .

" this lock of hair , " said edith , lifting one of the dark clustering curls that lay heavily on the dead man 's brow .

and edith , too !

was not her white form fading into the moonlight ?

lifting his torch on high , the slave lighted her down the staircase and undid the portal of the mansion .

the young clergyman of the town had just ascended the steps , and , bowing to the lady , passed in without a word .

years many years rolled on .

she dwelt alone , and never came into the daylight except to follow funerals .

evil was the omen to that marriage .

her blessing was better than a holy verse upon the tombstone .

still years went on , and still she followed funerals and was not yet summoned to her own festival of death .

the scene was cheerful and animated in spite of the sombre shade between the high brick buildings .

" i espy a strange sail yonder , " remarked a liverpool captain " that woman in the long white garment . "

almost immediately the various topics of conversation gave place to speculations in an undertone on this unwonted occurrence .

" can there be a funeral so late this afternoon ? " inquired some .

" what may this portend ? " asked each man of his neighbor .

what a comet is to the earth was that sad woman to the town .

it was a long , loose robe of spotless purity .

its wearer appeared very old , pale , emaciated and feeble , yet glided onward without the unsteady pace of extreme age .

" she is but a shadow , " whispered the superstitious .

" the child put forth his arms and could not grasp her robe . "

an elderly man approached the steps , and , reverently uncovering his gray locks , essayed to explain the matter .

his heirs , being ill-agreed among themselves , have let the mansion-house go to ruin . "

but again she lifted the hammer , and gave , this time , a single rap .

the bar fell on the inside ; the door was opened .

" who undid the door ? " asked many .

this question , owing to the depth of shadow beneath the porch , no one could satisfactorily answer .

" her summons has waked up a servant of the old family , " said one , half seriously .

" let us wait here , " replied another ; " more guests will knock at the door anon .

but the gate of the graveyard should be thrown open . "

twilight had overspread the town before the crowd began to separate or the comments on this incident were exhausted .

one after another was wending his way homeward , when a coach no common spectacle in those days drove slowly into the street .

there was something awful in the heavy rumbling of the wheels .

" whose grand coach is this ? " asked a very inquisitive body .

an old man possessed of the heraldic lore so common in that day examined the shield of arms on the panel .

her strong and rigid features had an awe about them unlike that of the white old maid , but as of something evil .

she passed up the steps , leaning on a gold-headed cane .

after a momentary pause , a glance backward and then a desperate effort , she went in .

" but such a hideous grin , " added he , " was never seen on the face of mortal man , black or white .

it will haunt me till my dying-day . "

these graphic reminiscences seemed to call up the ghosts of those to whom they referred .

" impossible ! " exclaimed others .

" see !

the moon shines beneath the porch , and shows every part of it except in the narrow shade of that pillar .

there is no one there . "

" did not the door open ? " whispered one of these fanciful persons .

" didst thou see it too ? " said his companion , in a startled tone .

but the general sentiment was opposed to the idea that a third visitant had made application at the door of the deserted house .

this too was pronounced a mere fantasy .

but at once the whole multitude started , and each man beheld his own terror painted in the faces of all the rest .

" what an awful thing is this ! " cried they .

the people knew not whether to fly from the very sight of the house or to rush trembling in and search out the strange mystery .

but when possessed of the facts , his energies assumed unexpected vigor .

behold , then , the venerable clergyman ascending the steps of the mansion with a torch-bearer behind him .

like their predecessors , they gave three raps with the iron hammer .

" old cæsar cometh not , " observed the priest .

" well , i wot he no longer doth service in this mansion . "

" assuredly , then , it was something worse in old cæsar 's likeness , " said the other adventurer .

" be it as god wills , " answered the clergyman .

" see ! my strength , though it be much decayed , hath sufficed to open this heavy door .

let us enter and pass up the staircase . "

here occurred a singular exemplification of the dreamy state of a very old man 's mind .

" well-a-day ! " cried the old clergyman , staring strangely around him .

" art thou here with me , and none other ?

of a truth , i saw the shades of many that are gone .

on their right hand was the open door of a chamber , and a closed one on their left .

the clergyman pointed his cane to the carved oak panel of the latter .

it was sufficient to discover all that could be known .

it clutched a lock of hair once sable , now discolored with a greenish mould .

but it was only the shadow of a tattered curtain waving betwixt the dead face and the moonlight .

" both dead ! " said the venerable man .

" then who shall divulge the secret ?

methinks it glimmers to and fro in my mind like the light and shadow across the old maid 's face .

and now ' tis gone ! "

peter goldthwaite's treasure .

" neither at that , nor treble the sum , " responded the gaunt , grizzled and threadbare peter goldthwaite .

next summer i intend to put a splendid new mansion over the cellar of the old house . "

what say you , again ? "

" precisely what i said before , mr brown , " answered peter goldthwaite .

" and the cost , peter ?

eh ? " said mr brown as he withdrew in something of a pet .

" that , i suppose , will be provided for off-hand by drawing a check on bubble bank ? "

" they did but flutter in the wind , " quoth peter goldthwaite .

no , peter , they beckoned , for the scarecrows knew their brother .

at the period of our story his whole visible income would not have paid the tax of the old mansion in which we find him .

so here he dwelt with bad luck till good should come .

peter 's person was in keeping with his goodly apparel .

he raised his hand , clenched it and smote it energetically against the smoky panel over the fireplace .

tomorrow morning i will begin with the garret , nor desist till i have torn the house down . "

as the feet were ragged past all darning , she had cut pieces out of a cast-off flannel petticoat to make new soles .

should it ever be necessary , she loved him well enough to feed him with her last morsel and clothe him with her under-petticoat .

hearing him threaten to tear the house down , she looked quietly up from her work .

" best leave the kitchen till the last , mr peter , " said she .

" the sooner we have it all down , the better , " said peter goldthwaite .

" i am tired to death of living in this cold , dark , windy , smoky , creaking , groaning , dismal old house .

you shall have a room on the sunny side , old tabby , finished and furnished as best may suit your own notions . "

" i should like it pretty much such a room as this kitchen , " answered tabitha .

how much do you mean to lay out on the house , mr peter ? "

" what is that to the purpose ? " exclaimed peter , loftily .

" i can't say but he did , mr peter , " said tabitha , threading her needle .

the present peter 's father had faith enough in the story to cause the cellar to be dug over .

but now was the crisis .

" yes , " cried peter goldthwaite , again ; " to-morrow i will set about it . "

the deeper he looked at the matter , the more certain of success grew peter .

gorgeous that night were the dreams of peter goldthwaite .

but the house , without losing its former aspect , had been changed into a palace of the precious metals .

a moralizer might find abundant themes for his speculative and impracticable wisdom in a garret .

he found old moth-eaten garments , all in rags and tatters , or peter would have put them on .

here was a large box full of shoes with high heels and peaked toes .

this , however , he had unaccountably forgotten .

" well , mr peter ! " cried tabitha , on the garret stairs .

" have you torn the house down enough to heat the teakettle ? "

" not yet , old tabby , " answered peter , " but that 's soon done , as you shall see . "

" we shall get our winter 's wood cheap , " quoth tabitha .

never , in any of his vagaries , though each had made him happy while it lasted , had peter been happier than now .

it was his nature to be always young , and the tendency of his mode of life to keep him so .

at the kindling of each new fire his burnt-out youth rose afresh from the old embers and ashes .

it rose exulting now .

what heart could resist him ?

happy peter goldthwaite !

this was always heaped plentifully with the rubbish of his day 's labor .

all this , of course , was but an emblem of the bright fortune which the destruction of the house would shed upon its occupants .

one night the hundredth time he teased tabitha to tell him something new about his great-granduncle .

" so there was , mr peter , " answered tabitha , " and she was near about a hundred years old .

but methinks he might have invested the money better than he did .

no interest ! nothing but good security ! and the house to be torn down to come at it !

what made him hide it so snug , tabby ? "

" just as i swore to john brown , my old partner , " remarked peter .

" but this is all nonsense , tabby ; i don't believe the story . "

and as soon as peter had given him the deed the chest flew open , and peter caught up a handful of the gold .

but , lo and behold ! there was nothing in his fist but a parcel of old rags . "

" hold your tongue , you silly old tabby ! " cried peter , in great wrath .

" they were as good golden guineas as ever bore the effigies of the king of england .

old rags indeed ! "

but it was not an old woman 's legend that would discourage peter goldthwaite .

how enviable is the consciousness of being usefully employed !

nothing troubled peter , or nothing but those phantoms of the mind which seem like vague recollections , yet have also the aspect of presentiments .

think a little while , and you will remember where the gold is hidden . "

days and weeks passed on , however , without any remarkable discovery .

but as yet no treasure .

it had formerly been the state-bedchamber , and was honored by tradition as the sleeping-apartment of governor dudley and many other eminent guests .

the furniture was gone .

one sketch , however , and that the best one , affected him differently .

" avaunt , satan ! " cried peter .

" the man shall have his gold . "

moreover , his axe broke quite through the plaster and laths and discovered a cavity .

" mercy on us , mr peter !

are you quarrelling with the old scratch ? " said tabitha , who was seeking some fuel to put under the dinner-pot .

it contained nothing but a brass lamp covered with verdigris , and a dusty piece of parchment .

while peter inspected the latter , tabitha seized the lamp and began to rub it with her apron .

" there is no use in rubbing it , tabitha , " said peter .

" it is not aladdin 's lamp , though i take it to be a token of as much luck .

look here , tabby ! "

tabitha took the parchment and held it close to her nose , which was saddled with a pair of iron-bound spectacles .

but no sooner had she begun to puzzle over it than she burst into a chuckling laugh , holding both her hands against her sides .

" you can't make a fool of the old woman , " cried she .

" this is your own handwriting , mr peter , the same as in the letter you sent me from mexico . "

" there is certainly a considerable resemblance , " said peter , again examining the parchment .

no ; this is old peter goldthwaite 's writing .

but the ink has either faded or peeled off , so that it is absolutely illegible .

what a pity ! "

" well , this lamp is as good as new .

that 's some comfort , " said tabitha .

" a lamp ! " thought peter .

" that indicates light on my researches . "

for the present peter felt more inclined to ponder on this discovery than to resume his labors .

peter forced it open and looked out upon the great street of the town , while the sun looked in at his old house .

the air , though mild , and even warm , thrilled peter as with a dash of water .

it was the first day of the january thaw .

this couple rode in an old-fashioned square sleigh which had served them twenty winters and stood twenty summers in the sun beside their door .

the sleigh passed on , and when concealed by a bend of the street was still audible by a distant cry of merriment .

and peter 's gaunt figure , half visible in the projecting second story , was worthy of his house .

" peter !

how goes it , friend peter ? " cried a voice across the street as peter was drawing in his head .

" look out here , peter ! "

his voice had directed the attention of the whole town to peter goldthwaite 's window , and to the dusty scarecrow which appeared at it .

you are repairing the old house , i suppose , making a new one of it ?

eh ? "

" too late for that , i am afraid , mr brown , " replied peter .

" if i make it new , it will be new inside and out , from the cellar upward . "

" had not you better let me take the job ? " said mr brown , significantly .

peter goldthwaite had exposed himself to this influence by merely looking out of the window .

but this was momentary .

peter the destroyer resumed the task which fate had assigned him , nor faltered again till it was accomplished .

another singular discovery was that of a bottle of wine walled up in an old oven .

peter needed no cordial to sustain his hopes , and therefore kept the wine to gladden his success .

there was likewise a silver coronation medal of george iii .

we will not follow him in his triumphant progress step by step .

except the kitchen , every room and chamber was now gutted .

the house was nothing but a shell , the apparition of a house , as unreal as the painted edifices of a theatre .

it was like the perfect rind of a great cheese in which a mouse had dwelt and nibbled till it was a cheese no more .

and peter was the mouse .

it was an admirable parallel to the feat of the man who jumped down his own throat .

this fated evening was an ugly one .

" the wine , tabitha , " he cried " my grandfather 's rich old wine !

we will drink it now . "

it reminded him of his golden dream .

" mr peter , " remarked tabitha , " must the wine be drunk before the money is found ? "

" the money is found ! " exclaimed peter , with a sort of fierceness .

" the chest is within my reach ; i will not sleep till i have turned this key in the rusty lock .

but first of all let us drink . "

he then filled two little china teacups which tabitha had brought from the cupboard .

its rich and delicate perfume wasted itself round the kitchen .

" drink , tabitha ! " cried peter .

" blessings on the honest old fellow who set aside this good liquor for you and me !

and here 's to peter goldthwaite 's memory ! "

" and good cause have we to remember him , " quoth tabitha as she drank .

until they have finished the bottle we must turn our eyes elsewhere .

" poor fellow ! " thought mr john brown .

" poor crack-brained peter goldthwaite !

for old acquaintance ' sake i ought to have taken care that he was comfortable this rough winter . "

these feelings grew so powerful that , in spite of the inclement weather , he resolved to visit peter goldthwaite immediately .

the strength of the impulse was really singular .

but the powers of the air had rather the best of the battle .

there seemed little hope of his reappearance earlier than the next thaw .

at the same moment his hat was snatched away and whirled aloft into some far-distant region whence no tidings have as yet returned .

he therefore entered without ceremony , and groped his way to the kitchen .

his intrusion even there was unnoticed .

peter goldthwaite was inserting a key into the lock .

" oh , tabitha , " cried he , with tremulous rapture , " how shall i endure the effulgence ?

the gold ! the bright , bright gold !

methinks i can remember my last glance at it just as the iron-plated lid fell down .

and ever since , being seventy years , it has been blazing in secret and gathering its splendor against this glorious moment .

it will flash upon us like the noonday sun . "

" then shade your eyes , mr peter ! " said tabitha , with somewhat less patience than usual .

" but , for mercy 's sake , do turn the key ! "

and with a strong effort of both hands peter did force the rusty key through the intricacies of the rusty lock .

no sudden blaze illuminated the kitchen .

" what 's here ? " exclaimed tabitha , adjusting her spectacles and holding the lamp over the open chest .

" old peter goldthwaite 's hoard of old rags ! "

" pretty much so , tabby , " said mr brown , lifting a handful of the treasure .

oh what a ghost of dead and buried wealth had peter goldthwaite raised to scare himself out of his scanty wits withal !

what , then , in sober earnest , were the delusive treasures of the chest ?

bills of a thousand pounds were intermixed with parchment pennies , and worth no more than they .

" and this , then , is old peter goldthwaite 's treasure ! " said john brown .

he went mad upon the strength of it .

but never mind , peter ; it is just the sort of capital for building castles in the air . "

" the house will be down about our ears , " cried tabitha as the wind shook it with increasing violence .

" let it fall , " said peter , folding his arms , as he seated himself upon the chest .

" no , no , my old friend peter ! " said john brown .

" i have house-room for you and tabby , and a safe vault for the chest of treasure .

chippings with a chisel .

his own monument , recording his decease by starvation , would probably be an early specimen of his skill .

gravestones , therefore , have generally been an article of imported merchandise .

the more recent monuments are mere slabs of slate in the ordinary style , without any superfluous flourishes to set off the bald inscriptions .

these , these were graves where loved ones slept .

her sighs had been the breath of heaven to her soul .

after her departure i remarked that the symbol was none of the most apt .

it was seldom that i could find such pleasant food for contemplation as in the above instance .

this , indeed , was mr wigglesworth 's standing emblem of conjugal bereavement .

thus the wife of his youth , though she died in his and her declining age , retained the bridal dewdrops fresh around her memory .

the link is already strong enough ; it needs no visible symbol .

then would she mark out the grave the scent of which would be perceptible on the pillow of the second bridal ?

he had been picked up at sea , and stood in no present need of tombstone or epitaph .

" and how , " inquired i , " did his wife bear the shock of joyful surprise ? "

a comely woman with a pretty rosebud of a daughter came to select a gravestone for a twin-daughter , who had died a month before .

i was impressed with the different nature of their feelings for the dead .

her thoughts knew , but not her heart .

perchance her consciousness was truer than her reflection ; perchance her dead sister was a closer companion than in life .

she makes the epitaph anew , though the selfsame words may have served for a thousand graves .

" and yet , " said i afterward to mr wigglesworth , " they might have made a better choice than this .

one of these would have formed an inscription equally original and appropriate . "

and somehow they seem to stretch to suit a great grief and shrink to fit a small one . "

it was not seldom that ludicrous images were excited by what took place between mr wigglesworth and his customers .

on communicating this nonsensical picture to the old man he laughed heartily and pronounced my humor to be of the right sort .

" hard fare , " rejoined i , smiling , " but you seemed to have found it excellent of digestion , too . "

he expressed a purpose of being buried side by side with his enemy .

methinks what they mistook for hatred was but love under a mask . "

" you talk nonsense , " said the sculptor , with the offended pride of art .

he then added with his usual good-nature , " how can cupid die when there are such pretty maidens in the vineyard ? "

" very true , " answered i ; and for the rest of the day i thought of other matters than tombstones .

mr wigglesworth consulted me as to the propriety of enabling a dead man 's dust to utter this dreadful creed .

but when the grave speaks such falsehoods , the soul of man will know the truth by its own horror . "

" so it will , " said i , struck by the idea .

i saw her no more , but soon afterward found mr wigglesworth cutting her virgin-name into the stone which she had chosen .

now , which of these slabs would you like best to see your own name upon ? "

every gravestone that you ever made is the visible symbol of a mistaken system .

our thoughts should soar upward with the butterfly , not linger with the exuviæ that confined him .

" would you forget your dead friends the moment they are under the sod ? "

forget them ?

no ; but , to remember them aright , i would forget what they have cast off .

and to gain the truer conception of death i would forget the grave . "

but still the good old sculptor murmured , and stumbled , as it were , over the gravestones amid which he had walked through life .

the shaker bridal .

at his footstool stood a man and woman , both clad in the shaker garb .

read their faces , i pray you , and say whether the inward movement of the spirit hath guided my choice aright . "

accordingly , each elder looked at the two candidates with a most scrutinizing gaze .

" this pair are still in the summer of their years , " observed the elder from harvard , a shrewd old man .

" i would like better to see the hoar-frost of autumn on their heads .

methinks , also , they will be exposed to peculiar temptations on account of the carnal desires which have heretofore subsisted between them . "

year after year , therefore , their marriage had been deferred .

adam colburn had followed many vocations , had travelled far and seen much of the world and of life .

still , they had held fast their mutual faith .

but neither of them desired good-fortune save to share it with the other .

he sought an interview with martha and proposed that they should join the society of shakers .

martha , faithful still , had placed her hand in that of her lover and accompanied him to the shaker village .

their faith and feelings had in some degree become assimilated to those of their fellow-worshippers .

martha was not less distinguished in the duties proper to her sex .

they were to be the father and mother of the village .

the simple ceremony which would constitute them such was now to be performed .

even my wishes of worldly success were almost dead within me .

we are brother and sister , nor would i have it otherwise .

and in this peaceful village i have found all that i hope for all that i desire .

i will strive with my best strength for the spiritual and temporal good of our community .

my conscience is not doubtful in this matter .

i am ready to receive the trust . "

" thou hast spoken well , son adam , " said the father .

" god will bless thee in the office which i am about to resign . "

" but our sister , " observed the elder from harvard .

" hath she not likewise a gift to declare her sentiments ? "

martha started and moved her lips as if she would have made a formal reply to this appeal .

" adam has spoken , " said she , hurriedly ; " his sentiments are likewise mine . "

they had overcome their natural sympathy with human frailties and affections .

old father ephraim was the most awful character of all .

but , perceiving that the elders eyed her doubtfully , she gasped for breath and again spoke .

" my children , join your hands , " said father ephraim .

they did so .

the elders stood up around , and the father feebly raised himself to a more erect position , but continued sitting in his great chair .

teach unto others the faith which ye have received .

receive the weary ones who have known the vanity of earth ; receive the little children , that they may never learn that miserable lesson .

in their attention to father ephraim their eyes were turned from martha pierson , who grew paler and paler , unnoticed even by adam colburn .

he , indeed , had withdrawn his hand from hers and folded his arms with a sense of satisfied ambition .

night-sketches ,

beneath an umbrella .

pleasant is a rainy winter 's day within-doors .

strange landscapes glimmer through the familiar walls of the room , and outlandish figures thrust themselves almost within the sacred precincts of the hearth .

after a time , too , the visions vanish , and will not appear again at my bidding .

a dreamer may dwell so long among fantasies that the things without him will seem as unreal as those within .

now come fearful auguries innumerable as the drops of rain .

in my own case poor human nature may be allowed a few misgivings .

it is as if nature were dead and the world had put on black and the clouds were weeping for her .

with their tears upon my cheek i turn my eyes earthward , but find little consolation here below .

should i flounder into its depths , farewell to upper earth !

pshaw !

but this is a lonesome and dreary spot .

how loudly tinkles the collected rain down the tin spouts !

the puffs of wind are boisterous , and seem to assail me from various quarters at once .

here they amuse themselves with lesser freaks of mischief .

see , at this moment , how they assail yonder poor woman who is passing just within the verge of the lamplight !

from hence i tread upon firm pavements into the centre of the town .

here there is almost as brilliant an illumination as when some great victory has been won either on the battlefield or at the polls .

the wet sidewalks gleam with a broad sheet of red light .

the raindrops glitter as if the sky were pouring down rubies .

the spouts gush with fire .

and , after all , it is a cheerless scene , and cheerless are the wanderers in it .

the blast will put in its word among their hoarse voices , and be understood by all of them .

some domestic emergency or other has blown this miserable man from his warm fireside in quest of a doctor .

see that little vagabond !

how carelessly he has taken his stand right underneath a spout while staring at some object of curiosity in a shop-window !

surely the rain is his native element ; he must have fallen with it from the clouds , as frogs are supposed to do .

thus they struggle against the gloomy tempest , lured onward by a vision of festal splendor .

but ah ! a most lamentable disaster !

luckless lovers !

were it my nature to be other than a looker-on in life , i would attempt your rescue .

do ye touch bottom , my young friends ?

yes ; they emerge like a water-nymph and a river-deity , and paddle hand in hand out of the depths of the dark pool .

they hurry homeward , dripping , disconsolate , abashed , but with love too warm to be chilled by the cold water .

they have stood a test which proves too strong for many .

faithful though over head and ears in trouble !

not that mine is altogether a chameleon spirit with no hue of its own .

now i pass into a more retired street where the dwellings of wealth and poverty are intermingled , presenting a range of strongly-contrasted pictures .

here , too , may be found the golden mean .

bluster , fierce blast , and beat , thou wintry rain , against the window-panes !

ye cannot damp the enjoyment of that fireside .

peace , murmurer !

doubt not that darker guests are sitting round the hearth , though the warm blaze hides all but blissful images .

will she ever feel the night-wind and the rain ?

perhaps perhaps !

and will death and sorrow ever enter that proud mansion ?

as surely as the dancers will be gay within its halls to-night .

onward , still onward , i plunge into the night .

it is strange what sensations of sublimity may spring from a very humble source .

listen a while to its voice of mystery , and fancy will magnify it till you start and smile at the illusion .

he passes fearlessly into the unknown gloom , whither i will not follow him .

this figure shall supply me with a moral wherewith , for lack of a more appropriate one , i may wind up my sketch .

endicott and the red cross .

it was a period when the religious exiles were accustomed often to buckle on their armor and practise the handling of their weapons of war .

since the first settlement of new england its prospects had never been so dismal .

the dissensions between charles i. and his subjects were then , and for several years afterward , confined to the floor of parliament .

this piece of armor was so highly polished that the whole surrounding scene had its image in the glittering steel .

the blood was still plashing on the doorstep .

side by side on the meeting-house steps stood a male and a female figure .

his aspect showed no lack of zeal to maintain his heterodoxies even at the stake .

the above-mentioned individuals had been sentenced to undergo their various modes of ignominy for the space of one hour at noonday .

methinks he must have been grievously tempted to affix the other end of the rope to some convenient beam or bough .

and even her own children knew what that initial signified .

were such the custom now , perchance we might find materials for a no less piquant sketch than the above .

a few stately savages in all the pomp and dignity of the primeval indian stood gazing at the spectacle .

the valiant john endicott glanced with an eye of pride at his sturdy followers , and prepared to renew the martial toils of the day .

" come , my stout hearts ! " quoth he , drawing his sword .

" let us show these poor heathen that we can handle our weapons like men of might .

well for them if they put us not to prove it in earnest ! "

his aspect was perfectly that of a pilgrim , heightened also by an apostolic dignity .

" what ho , good mr williams ! " shouted endicott .

" you are welcome back again to our town of peace .

how does our worthy governor winthrop ?

and what news from boston ? "

" the governor hath his health , worshipful sir , " answered roger williams , now resuming his staff and drawing near .

belike it contains tidings of much import , for a ship arrived yesterday from england . "

the broad seal was impressed with winthrop 's coat-of-arms .

" black tidings these , mr williams , " said he ; " blacker never came to new england .

doubtless you know their purport ? "

" the governor is a wise man a wise man , and a meek and moderate , " said endicott , setting his teeth grimly .

" nevertheless , i must do according to my own best judgment .

soldiers , wheel into a hollow square .

ho , good people !

here are news for one and all of you . "

a few taps of the drum gave signal for silence and attention .

wherefore have we come hither to set up our own tombstones in a wilderness ?

a howling wilderness it is .

the wolf and the bear meet us within halloo of our dwellings .

the savage lieth in wait for us in the dismal shadow of the woods .

the stubborn roots of the trees break our ploughshares when we would till the earth .

our children cry for bread , and we must dig in the sands of the seashore to satisfy them .

wherefore , i say again , have we sought this country of a rugged soil and wintry sky ?

was it not for the enjoyment of our civil rights ?

was it not for liberty to worship god according to our conscience ? "

" call you this liberty of conscience ? " interrupted a voice on the steps of the meeting-house .

it was the wanton gospeller .

" what hast thou to do with conscience , thou knave ? " cried he .

" i said liberty to worship god , not license to profane and ridicule him .

break not in upon my speech , or i will lay thee neck and heels till this time to-morrow .

hearken to me , friends , nor heed that accursed rhapsodist .

but what think ye now ?

" hold thy peace , roger williams ! " answered endicott , imperiously .

" my spirit is wiser than thine for the business now in hand .

a deep groan from the auditors a sound of wrath as well as fear and sorrow responded to this intelligence .

" look ye to it , brethren , " resumed endicott , with increasing energy .

we shall hear the sacring-bell and the voices of the romish priests saying the mass .

no !

be ye strong of hand and stout of heart .

who shall enslave us here ?

what have we to do with this mitred prelate with this crowned king ?

what have we to do with england ? "

" officer , lower your banner , " said he .

he then waved the tattered ensign above his head .

" treason ! treason ! " roared the royalist in the stocks .

" he hath defaced the king 's banner ! "

" before god and man i will avouch the deed , " answered endicott .

" beat a flourish , drummer shout , soldiers and people in honor of the ensign of new england .

neither pope nor tyrant hath part in it now . "

with a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the boldest exploits which our history records .

and for ever honored be the name of endicott !

the lily's quest .

an apologue .

what a contrast between the young pilgrims of bliss and their unbidden associate !

but the three had not gone far when they reached a spot that pleased the gentle lily , and she paused .

" what sweeter place shall we find than this ? " said she .

" why should we seek farther for the site of our temple ? "

there were vistas and pathways leading onward and onward into the green woodlands and vanishing away in the glimmering shade .

" yes , " said adam forrester ; " we might seek all day and find no lovelier spot .

we will build our temple here . "

" not here , " cried old walter gascoigne .

" here , long ago , other mortals built their temple of happiness ; seek another site for yours . "

" what ! " exclaimed lilias fay .

" have any ever planned such a temple save ourselves ? "

" poor child ! " said her gloomy kinsman .

" in one shape or other every mortal has dreamed your dream . "

under this type adam forrester and lilias saw that the old man spake of sorrow .

" this is very sad , " said the lily , sighing .

" well , there are lovelier spots than this , " said adam forrester , soothingly " spots which sorrow has not blighted . "

" this glen was made on purpose for our temple . "

" and the glad song of the brook will be always in our ears , " said lilias fay .

" and its long melody shall sing the bliss of our lifetime , " said adam forrester .

" ye must build no temple here , " murmured their dismal companion .

and , alas ! there had been woe , nor that alone .

" and see ! " cried old gascoigne ; " is the stream yet pure from the stain of the murderer 's hands ? "

" come , then , " said adam forrester as cheerily as he could ; " we shall soon find a happier spot . "

they set forth again , young pilgrims on that quest which millions which every child of earth has tried in turn .

and were the lily and her lover to be more fortunate than all those millions ?

for a long time it seemed not so .

" where in this world , " exclaimed adam forrester , despondingly , " shall we build our temple of happiness ? "

" yet there is a place even in this world where ye may build it . "

the ancestral mansion wherein the lovers would dwell together appeared on one side , and the ivied church where they were to worship on another .

in due time it was finished and a day appointed for a simple rite of dedication .

with his farewell glance a shadow had fallen over the portal , and lilias was invisible .

but alas for the temple of happiness !

and , lo ! a wonder !

he watched the mourners as they lowered the coffin down .

" joy ! joy ! " he cried , throwing his arms toward heaven .

" on a grave be the site of our temple , and now our happiness is for eternity . "

footprints on the seashore .

nothing is within my daily reach more like a forest than the acre or two of woodland near some suburban farmhouse .

surely here is enough to feed a human spirit for a single day .

farewell , then , busy world !

highways and cross-paths are hastily traversed , and , clambering down a crag , i find myself at the extremity of a long beach .

a greeting and a homage to the sea !

i descend over its margin and dip my hand into the wave that meets me , and bathe my brow .

that far-resounding roar is ocean 's voice of welcome .

his salt breath brings a blessing along with it .

the beach itself is a broad space of sand , brown and sparkling , with hardly any pebbles intermixed .

along the whole of this extensive beach gambols the surf-wave .

with how fierce a roar it flings itself forward and rushes far up the beach !

hardly had i beheld them , when they passed into the shadow of the rocks and vanished .

to comfort myself for truly i would fain have gazed a while longer i made acquaintance with a flock of beach-birds .

yet , with a philosophy which mankind would do well to imitate , they drew a continual pleasure from their toil for a subsistence .

the sea was each little bird 's great playmate .

but they floated as lightly as one of their own feathers on the breaking crest .

in their airy flutterings they seemed to rest on the evanescent spray .

their images long-legged little figures with gray backs and snowy bosoms were seen as distinctly as the realities in the mirror of the glistening strand .

our tracks , being all discernible , will guide us with an observing consciousness through every unconscious wandering of thought and fancy .

here we followed the surf in its reflux to pick up a shell which the sea seemed loth to relinquish .

here we found a seaweed with an immense brown leaf , and trailed it behind us by its long snake-like stalk .

here we seized a live horseshoe by the tail , and counted the many claws of that queer monster .

here we dug into the sand for pebbles , and skipped them upon the surface of the water .

here we wet our feet while examining a jelly-fish which the waves , having just tossed it up , now sought to snatch away again .

such glances always make us wiser .

this extensive beach affords room for another pleasant pastime .

with your staff you may write verses love-verses if they please you best and consecrate them with a woman 's name .

stir not hence till the record be effaced .

child's-play becomes magnificent on so grand a scale .

but , after all , the most fascinating employment is simply to write your name in the sand .

statesmen and warriors and poets have spent their strength in no better cause than this .

is it accomplished ?

return , then , in an hour or two , and seek for this mighty record of a name .

the sea will have swept over it , even as time rolls its effacing waves over the names of statesmen and warriors and poets .

hark ! the surf-wave laughs at you .

the rocks rise in every variety of attitude .

how many a thing has troubled me with that same idea !

pass on and leave it unexplained .

how sharply and with what harsh clamor does the sea rake back the pebbles as it momentarily withdraws into its own depths !

they heap the chasm with a snow-drift of foam and spray .

and what a contrast to look through the stormy chasm and catch a glimpse of the calm bright sea beyond !

many interesting discoveries may be made among these broken cliffs .

some leviathan of former ages had used this ponderous mass as a jaw-bone .

these , these are the warm realities of those three visionary shapes that flitted from me on the beach .

hark their merry voices as they toss up the water with their feet !

they have not seen me .

i must shrink behind this rock and steal away again .

i would do battle for it even with the churl that should produce the title-deeds .

have not my musings melted into its rocky walls and sandy floor and made them a portion of myself ?

at this autumnal season the precipice is decked with variegated splendor .

a rill of water trickles down the cliff and fills a little cistern near the base .

i drain it at a draught , and find it fresh and pure .

this recess shall be my dining-hall .

and what the feast ?

there is a magic in this spot .

here , should i will it , i can summon up a single shade and be myself her lover .

yes , dreamer , but your lonely heart will be the colder for such fancies .

would that my hiding-place were lonelier , so that the past might not find me !

of what mysteries is it telling ?

of sunken ships and whereabouts they lie ?

nothing of all this .

what , then ?

has it talked for so many ages and meant nothing all the while ?

yet how would the merchant sneer at me !

and , after all , can such philosophy be true ?

methinks i could find a thousand arguments against it .

my maiden-speech is a triumphant one , for the gentleman in seaweed has nothing to offer in reply save an immitigable roaring .

his voice , indeed , will be heard a long while after mine is hushed .

once more i shout and the cliffs reverberate the sound .

but hush !

be silent , my good friend !

whence comes that stifled laughter ?

it was musical , but how should there be such music in my solitude ?

looking upward , i catch a glimpse of three faces peeping from the summit of the cliff like angels between me and their native sky .

let us keep each other 's secrets .

the sunshine has now passed from my hermitage , except a gleam upon the sand just where it meets the sea .

a crowd of gloomy fantasies will come and haunt me if i tarry longer here in the darkening twilight of these gray rocks .

this is a dismal place in some moods of the mind .

yes , say the word outright : self-sufficient to our own happiness .

how lonesome looks the recess now , and dreary too , like all other spots where happiness has been !

there lies my shadow in the departing sunshine with its head upon the sea .

i will pelt it with pebbles .

a hit ! a hit !

i clap my hands in triumph , and see my shadow clapping its unreal hands and claiming the triumph for itself .

what a simpleton must i have been all day , since my own shadow makes a mock of my fooleries !

homeward ! homeward !

it is time to hasten home .

the distant sails appear astray and not of earth in their remoteness amid the desolate waste .

my spirit wanders forth afar , but finds no resting-place and comes shivering back .

it is time that i were hence .

such companionship works an effect upon a man 's character as if he had been admitted to the society of creatures that are not mortal .

i shall think my own thoughts and feel my own emotions and possess my individuality unviolated .

but it is good at the eve of such a day to feel and know that there are men and women in the world .

the three visionary girls are likewise there .

come down and sup with us ! "

the ladies wave their handkerchiefs .

can i decline ?

no ; and be it owned , after all my solitary joys , that this is the sweetest moment of a day by the seashore .

edward fane's rosebud .

some old people especially women so age-worn and woeful are they , seem never to have been young and gay .

wrinkles and furrows , the handwriting of time , may thus be deciphered and found to contain deep lessons of thought and feeling .

now she sips , now stirs , now sips again .

it is strange that men should deem that fount a fable , when its liquor fills more bottles than the congress-water .

get you gone , age and widowhood !

come back , unwedded youth !

but , alas ! the charm will not work .

these early lovers thought to have walked hand in hand through life .

she was but three years old .

but when the sods were laid on little mary , the heart of rose was troubled .

how many a greeting since !

the rosebud was destined never to bloom for edward fane .

his mother was a rich and haughty dame with all the aristocratic prejudices of colonial times .

the lovers parted , and have seldom met again .

she went to her bridegroom 's arms with bitterer tears , they say , than young girls ought to shed at the threshold of the bridal-chamber .

he was all she had to love ; there were no children .

we must pardon his pretty wife if she sometimes blushed to own him .

his mind was palsied with his body ; its utmost energy was peevishness .

but rose was with him in the tomb .

how long poor mr toothaker was kept in misery !

" this bedridden wretch cannot escape me , " quoth death .

but no ; we have no right to ascribe such a wish to our friend rose .

she never failed in a wife 's duty to her poor sick husband .

come put a blanket on my feet ! "

so now the rosebud was the widow toothaker .

her troubles had come early , and , tedious as they seemed , had passed before all her bloom was fled .

but the widow toothaker had no such projects .

when the palsied old man was gone , even her early lover could not have supplied his place .

she missed the fragrance of the doctor 's stuff .

she walked the chamber with a noiseless footfall .

if visitors came in , she spoke in soft and soothing accents , and was startled and shocked by their loud voices .

then went her thoughts sadly to her husband 's grave .

at length she recognized her destiny .

and nurse toothaker alone , with her own shrivelled lips , could make known her experience in that capacity .

what a history might she record of the great sicknesses in which she has gone hand in hand with the exterminating angel !

she remembers when the small-pox hoisted a red banner on almost every house along the street .

where would be death 's triumph if none lived to weep ?

strange that such black mischief should lurk in a maiden 's grave !

tell us , thou fearful woman ; tell us the death-secrets .

fain would i search out the meaning of words faintly gasped with intermingled sobs and broken sentences half-audibly spoken between earth and the judgment-seat .

an awful woman !

she is the patron-saint of young physicians and the bosom-friend of old ones .

death himself has met her at so many a bedside that he puts forth his bony hand to greet nurse toothaker .

she is an awful woman .

by her long communion with woe has she not forfeited her inheritance of immortal joy ?

does any germ of bliss survive within her ?

hark ! an eager knocking st nurse toothaker 's door .

again the peal resounds just as her hand is on the lock .

" be quick , nurse toothaker ! " cries a man on the doorstep .

" old general fane is taken with the gout in his stomach and has sent for you to watch by his death-bed .

make haste , for there is no time to lose . " " fane !

edward fane !

and has he sent for me at last ?

i am ready .

i will get on my cloak and begone .

so , " adds the sable-gowned , ashen-visaged , funereal old figure , " edward fane remembers his rosebud . "

our question is answered .

there is a germ of bliss within her .

in some happier clime the rosebud may revive again with all the dewdrops in its bosom .

the threefold destiny .

a faëry legend .

" ralph cranfield ! " was the name that she half articulated .

" can that be my old playmate faith egerton ? " thought the traveller , looking round at her figure , but without pausing .

ralph cranfield from his youth upward had felt himself marked out for a high destiny .

on encountering this lovely stranger he was bound to address her thus : " maiden , i have brought you a heavy heart .

may i rest its weight on you ? "

as messengers of the sign by which ralph cranfield might recognize the summons , three venerable men were to claim audience of him .

and had he found them ?

few seemed to be the changes here .

but his heart grew cold because the village did not remember him as he remembered the village .

" here is the change , " sighed he , striking his hand upon his breast .

" who is this man of thought and care , weary with world-wandering and heavy with disappointed hopes ?

the youth returns not who went forth so joyously . "

such , at least , was its appearance in the dusky light .

that would be a jest indeed . "

it was ralph cranfield 's mother .

pass we over their greeting , and leave the one to her joy and the other to his rest if quiet rest he found .

but when morning broke , he arose with a troubled brow , for his sleep and his wakefulness had alike been full of dreams .

all the fervor was rekindled with which he had burned of yore to unravel the threefold mystery of his fate .

the crowd of his early visions seemed to have awaited him beneath his mother 's roof and thronged riotously around to welcome his return .

at length they reached her gate and undid the latch .

now , do tell them a good long story about what you have seen in foreign parts . "

what if this embassy should bring me the message of my fate ? "

" my colleagues and myself , " began the squire , " are burdened with momentous duties , being jointly selectmen of this village .

after a few more words the village dignitary and his companions took their leave .

every crook in the pathway was remembered .

even the more transitory characteristics of the scene were the same as in by-gone days .

a company of cows were grazing on the grassy roadside , and refreshed him with their fragrant breath .

" it is sweeter , " thought he , " than the perfume which was wafted to our ship from the spice islands . "

the round little figure of a child rolled from a doorway and lay laughing almost beneath cranfield 's feet .

the dark and stately man stooped down , and , lifting the infant , restored him to his mother 's arms .

" the children , " said he to himself , and sighed and smiled " the children are to be my charge . "

a sweet voice which seemed to come from a deep and tender soul was warbling a plaintive little air within .

he bent his head and passed through the lowly door .

" you are welcome home , " said faith egerton .

it was precisely on the pattern of that worn by the visionary maid .

" so , faith , you have kept the heart ? " said he , at length .

may i rest its weight on you ? "

yes , the wild dreamer was awake at last .

happy they who read the riddle without a weary world-search or a lifetime spent in vain !

end of the project gutenberg ebook of twice told tales , by nathaniel hawthorne