The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-06-01
SILAS MARINER;
THB wEAvBR OF RRvKLoK.
ny the Asthsr sf Adam Beae.
CHAPTER IL

with his father, and had gone Oh, nobody kusw
whittier, to return at the end OF six weeks, take
up bis old quarters unforbiddsn, and swagger as
usual.
His own family, who equally expected his
issue, with the sole difference that the Sluire
was determined this time to forbid him the old
quarters, neves mentioned his absence; and when
his uncle kimble, or Mr.. Osgood not iced IT, the
aory Of his having killed widSre, aud commit
ed sone offence against his father, was enoagh
% prevent surprise
To,conr cot The fact Of Dunscy's dissppe france
sith that o. the robbery occurring on the same
day, la, quite a way from the track of every
Sons's thou ught--evsn Gedfrey's who had better
reason thnr any one else TO know what his bro
ther was caEsbc o.
But while poor silass loss served thus TO
brush the slow current Of Rayelce cunyerSation,
Eilas himsel' was fceir, the witherbl9 dssola-
tin OF hist bereavement, about which his
tnois s,hbors were arguing at their ease. TO any
oua who hal observed him before he lost his
gold, It might have seemed that 20 wi hered and
shrunken a life as his could hard be suscepti-
ble OF a brnise, could hardly endure any subtrsc-
tion but such Us would put an end to it alto
gether.
But In reality II had been an eager life, filled
with immediate purpoNe, which fen ed him In
from the wide cherries unknown. 1t had been
a cliuging life; and though the object round
which its f1rcs bad clung was dead disrup'ed
thing, II satisfied the need for clinging. Bat
now the fence was broken down he support
was snat ched away.
Manners thoughts could no longer move in
their old round, and we're baill,d by blank like
that which meets plodding ant when he earth
has broken away on its homeward path. The
loom was there, and the We iying, and the grow
Ing pattern In tnc cloth but the bri hit treasure
in the hole under his feet was gone: the pros
rec' of handling and counting II was ,onc; the
evening had No phantasm Of delight to still the
pOor snu''s craving.
The tn uIht Of the money he would get Ivy
HE actual work could bring no joy, for its mca-
ger Image was only fros, re@nd.r Of its los.
and hops was too heavily crushed by the sud
den blo~ for Lis Imagination to dwell on the
growth of a new hoard fiom that small begin
ming.
lie ill d up the blank with grief As he sat
weaving, lac every now and then moaned low,
like one 10 pam: IL was the sign that his
thoughts had come round again to tho sudden
Chasm--to the empty evening time. And all
the evening, rs he sat in his loneliness by his
dull fire, be loanei his c'hovs on his knees and
clasped his head with his hands and moaned
very low--no. as on, who seeks TO be heard.
AMI yet hs was not utterly forsaken in his
rouLle.
The repulsion Mariner had always created in
his neighbors WIS partlV diSsipatod by the new
light IN which this misfort nne had shown hipl.
Instead o. a man who had more cunning than
fo,est folks could come by, and. what was worse,
had not that inclination to use that canning in
a neighborly way, il was nov apparent that
Silas had not got cunning enough to keep his ~n
He was generally spoken Of asa poor mush-d
Heatur," and that avoidance OF his ncighbors
Ehich had before bean referred to his ill-wiL,
md to probable addiction to worse company,
gas now consdetsi mere Craziness.
Tho inhabitants Of Raveloe were not severely
ieuiar IN their church gong, and psrh ips there
wa hardly q person In the parish who would
not have he'll that 10 40 to church every Sunday
in the calendar would have shown greedy do
sire to st4nd well with II, zen, and get an un-
due advantage over their neighbors-a wish to
be better than tho common rum" that would
have imph vi u reflection on those who had had
godfathers and sodmo, hers as we'll as themselves,
and had an equal right to the burying service
At the same time II was understood TO be re-
quisite for all who -ere not household servants,
or Young mon 10 take tho sacrament at one OF
the great festivals; Squire Cas- himself took II
on Cbristmas day; while those who were held
70 be "gcod livers," went to church with great
cr,gthough still with moderate frequency.
Mrs. Winthrop, the wheelwrights wife was
one Of these; she was In al respects a woman o.
life seemed to offer them too scantily unless snc
cose at half-past four, though this threw scar
city Of work over the more advanced hour, o.
the morning, which 1t was a constant problem
with her TO remove.
YET she had not the vixenisL temper which /
sometimes supposed to he necessary condition
of such habis: a,c was very mild, plticn
woman, whose nature II was TO seek out tn
ssdder and mora serious elements Of life, an,
pasture her mind upon them. She was the per
son always first thought Of In Raveloe whei
there was illness or death in a family, whel
Jen disarpointmcnt In a monthly nurse. Sh
was u comfortable woman -goOd.look king
fresh. h.con pleNioned, having her lips alway
slightly screwed, as II she felt herself IN sick
room wi h the doctor or tho clergyman present.
l,ut Ii, was never whmperng; no Que had eve
= en- her he'd tears she was simply grave an