Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-05-14

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began to be impressed with an indcscribab
something in that thin, rugged. thoughtr
visage, with the grzzled hair hanging wildl
about it. and those deeply sunkcn eve
which CLEANED like fires within the cntrnn,
of Il mysterious cavern. But, as he clos
the door, the stranger turned toward him
and spoke in quiet, familiar way, that mad
Bertram feel us if he were a sane and sens
bic man after all
Your task draws to an end. | Sec" sai
he. his marble has already been burnn
three days. \ few hours more will conveI
the stone into lime.
"Why, who are you" exclaimed the lime
burner. "iou seem as well acquainted wit
my business as myself"
"And well may be- said the stranger
"tor followed the same craft many IA lon
year, and here, too, on this very spot. Bu
you are new conner in these parts. Dit
you ever hear of Ethan Brand 2"
"The man that went in scach of the Tn
pardonable Sin % asked Bcrtram with
laugh.
1.-The same, answered the stranger. III,
has found what he sought, and therefore hi
comes back again.
What . then you are Ethan Brand him
self?' cried the lime burner in amazement
~ am new conner here, as you say, anc
they call it eighteen years since YOU left tn,
foot of Graylock. But, can tell you the
good folks still talk about Ethan Brand ir
the village yonder, and what a strange errand
took him away from his lme-kin. Well, SC
You have found the objectionable Sin9"
Even So said the stranger, calmly.
" If the question is a fair one" proceeded
Bartram, where might it be ."
Etb,o pronl L.; l.
heart.
Here :" replied he
And then, without mirth in his counte-
nance, but as if moved by an involuntary re-
cognition of the infinite absurditv of seeking
throughout the world for what was the
closest of all things to himself, and looking
into every heart, save his own, for what was
hidden in no other heart, he broke into II
laugh of scorn. 1t was the same slow heavy
laugh that had almost appalled, the limc-bur-
ner when it heralded the wayfarer's ap-
proach.
The solitary mountlin side was made dis
NAL by it. Laughter, when out of place,
mls-tlmed, or bursting forth from disorder
ed state OF feeling, may be the most terrible
incubation OF the human voice. The laugh
ter OF one asleep, even if it be little child
the madman s laugh, or the wild screaming
laugh of an idiot, are sounds that we some
times tremble to hear, and would ALWAYS
willingly forget. Poets have imagined no
utterancc of fiends or hobgoblins 50 fcarfully
appropriate as laugh. And even the
obtuse lime-burncr felt his nerves shake as
this strange man looked inwards at his own
heart, and burst into laughter that rolled
away in the night, and was indistinctly re-
verberated among the hills.
''Joe, said he to his little son, ..scam-
per down to the tavern in the village and tell
the jolly fellows there that Ethan Brand has
come back, and that he has found the Un-
pardonable Sin ~
The boy darted away on his errand,
to which Ethan Brand made no OBJ
lection, nor seemed hardly to notice
it, lie sat on log..of wood, looking
steadfastly at the iron door of the kiln.
When the child was out Of sight, and the
swift and light foot-step ceased to be heard
treading first on the fallen leaves and then on
the rocky mountain path, the lime-b burner
the little fellows presence had been barrier
between his guest and himself, and that he
must now deal, heart to heart, with man
who, on his own confession, had committed
the only one crime for which Heaven could
afford no mercy. That crime, in its indistinct
blackness, seemed to overshadow him. The
lime-burner' own sins rose up within him.
and made his memory riotous with throng
of evil shapes that asserted their kindred
with the master sin, whatever it might be,
which it was within the scope of mans cor
rupt nature to conceive and cherish. They
were all OF one family ; they went to and fro
between his breast and Ethan Brands, and
carried dark greetings from one to the other.
Then Bertram remembered the stories
which had grown traditionary in reference to
this strange man, who had come upon him
like the shadow of night, and was making
himself at home in his old place, af-
ter so long an absence that the dead people,
dead and buried for years, would have had
more right to be at home in any familiar
spot than he. Ethan Brand, it was said, had
conversed with Satan himself in the lurd
blaze of this very kiln. The legend had
been matter of mirth heretofore, but looked
grimly now. According to this tale before
Ethan had departed on his search he had
been accustomed to evoke fend from the
hot furnace of the lime-kiln, night after
night, in order to confer with him about the
objectionable Sin; the man and the fend
each laboring to frame the image of some
mode of guilt which could neither be atoned
for nor forgiven. And, with the first CLEAN
of light upon the mountain top, the fend
orept in at the iron door, there to hbide the
intensest element of fire, until again sum-
moned forth to share in the dreadful task of
extending mans possible guilt beyond the
scope of Heavens else infinite mercy.
While the lime-burner was struggling with
the horrors of these thoughts, Ethan Brand
rose from the log and flung open the door of
the kiln. The action was in such accordance
with the idea in Bertram's s mind, that he al
most expected to see the Evil One issue forth
red hot from the raging furnace.
Hold, hold :" cried he, with a tremulous
attempt to laugh; for he was ashamed of his
fears, although they over-mastered him.
" Don't, for mercy's sake, bring out your
devil now -
60 Man :" sternly replied Ethan Brand
" what need have | of the devil? | have left
him far behind me on my track 1t is with
such halfway sinners as you that he busies
himself. Fear not, because | open the door.
do but act by old custom, and am going to
trim your fire like lime-burner as was
once"
lie stirred the vast Goals, thrust in more
wood, and bent forward to gaze into the hol-
low prison-house OF fire, regardless OF the
fierce glow that REDEEMED upon his face The
llmo-burner sat watching him, and half sus-
pected his strange guest of purpose, if not
to evoke fend, at least to plunge bodily
into the flames, and thus vanish from the
sight of man. Ethan Brand, however, drew
quietly back and closed the door of the kiln
81 have looked" said he, " into many a
human heart that was seven times hotter with
sinful passion than your furnace is with fire
but ! found not there what sought-no,
not the objectionable Sin -
"What is the objectionable Sin - asked
the lime-burner, and then he shrank fur
ther from his companion, trembling lest his
question should be answered.
sit is sin that grew within my own
breast, replied Ethan Brand, standing erect
| with the pride that distinguishes all enthnsi.