, 1874-12-13

i
| but q mortal vcil-it Is not for eternitv! oh
| you know not how lonely an, and how fright
enod to be alone behind my black veil. Do not
leave me in this miserable obscuEity forever
| face" said she.
4sNever 1T cannot be-. replied Mr.. Hooper.
"Then farewell /" said Elizabeth.
She withdrew her arm from his grasp, and
slowly departed, pausing at the door to give one
long. ahudderinR gaze. that seemed almost to
even amid his grief, Nj. Hooper smiled to think
that only material emblem had separated him
from happiness, though the horrors which it
Swallowed forth must be drawn darkly batwoen
the fondest Of lovers.
From that time no attempts were made to re-
move air: Hoopers black veil. or, by . direct ap-
peal to discover the secret which It was supposed
| to hide. By persons who claimed superiority
! to popular prejudice, 1t was reckoued merely m
| eccentric whim, such as often uaingIea with the
! sober aotions Of men otherwise rational, and
| hnges them all with it's own semblance OF in
| sanity. But with tho multitude good Mr. Hooper
! was irreparably buebear. He could notwalk
| tho street with any peace OF mind, SO conscious
was he that the gentle and timid would turn aside
| to avoid him, and that others would make it 4
| point OF hardihood to throw themselves in his
| way. Tho impertinence OF the latter class COM
pellod him to give up hia customary walk at sun
| set TO the battle-ground; for, when he leaned
| pensiyely over the gate, there would ALWAYS be
faces behind the grayo-stones peeping at his
black vell. fable went the rounds, that the
stare of the dead people drove him hence. It
| grieyed him to the very depth OF his kind heart
| to observe how the children fled from his ap-
proach, breaking up their meE1iest sports while
| his melancholy figure was yet afar OF. Their
instructive dread caused him to feel more Strong
| " than aught else that psetcrnatu1ai horror
Was interviewer With tho threads OF the black
Grape. In truth. his own antiPashy to the veil
WAS known to be so great that he never willingly
passed before mirror, nor stopped to drink At u
still fountain, lest in its peaceful bosom no
should be alrighted By himself. This was what
gave plausibility to the whispers that Mr.
Hooper's conscience 1orturted him for some
grent crime too horrible to be entirely concealed,
or otherwise than SO obscurely intimated. Thus,
from beneath the black veil, there rolled cloud
into the sunshine. an ambiguity Of Gin or sorrow,
which enve1oped the poor minister, SO that love
or eympathy could never reach him. 1t was
said that ghost aud fond consorted with him
there. With solf-shudderings and outward ter
rors he walked continually in its shadow, CROP
ing darkly within his own soul, or gazing through
4 medium that saddencd the whole world. Even
the IawleaB wind, it was believed, respected this
dreadful secret. and mover blew aside tho veil.
But still good Mr. Hooper sadly smiled at tho
pale yisages Of the worldly tlrong Us they pissed
by.
Among all it's bad influences, tho black veil
had tho ono desirable effect of making its wearer
a very efficient Clergyman. By the aid OF his
parent cause-ha became man OF awful power
over souls that wero in agony for sin. His con-
vorts always regarded him With dread peculiar
to themselves, affirming. though buE fguratiye-
1 that, before he brough them to celestial light,
they had been with him behind the black veil.
Its gloom. indeed. enabled him to sympathize
with all dark affections. Dying sinners cried
aloud for Mr. Hooper. and would not yield their
breath till he appeared-though ever. as he
stopped to whisper consolation. they shnddred
ar tfra Ia6 fara n II
tho terrors OF the black veil. even when death
had barred his visage! Strangers came long dis
tances to attend service at his church, with the
mere idle purpose of gazing at h,a figure. be-
But many were made to quake ere they depart
ed Once, during Gov. Delchcr's Administra-
ton, Mr.. Hooper was appointed to preach the
election sermon. Covered with his black veil,
Ila stood before the Chief Magistrate, the Coun-
Gil, and the Representatives., and wrought so
deep a. impression that the legislative measures
of that year were characterized by all the gloom
and pietY of our earliest ancestral sway.
In this manner Mr.. Hooper spent long Life,
irreproachablo in outward act. yet shrouded in
dismal suspicion; kind and loving, though uu-
loved, aud dirnly feared; man .i,art from men,
Stunned in their health and joy, but ever gum
1noned to their aid in mortal agonies. As years
wore on, shedding their SHOWS above his sable
veil, be acquired name throughout New England
churches, and they called him Father Hooper,
Nearly all his paribhiouers who were OF mature
age when he WAS settled. had been borne away by
many a funeral; he had one congregation in tho
church, and more crowded one in the church.
yard; and, having wrought so late into the even
ing. and done his work so well, it 11as now good
Father Hooper's turn to rest
Several persons were visible by tho ehaded
candIo-hghs in the dcath-chanber OF tho old cler-
gvnan. Natural connections be had none. But
there vas the decorously ly-sraTe. though unmoged,
physician, seeking ouly to mitigate the last
nan nf