Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-09-04
THE THREEFoLD DESTINY.
One Of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Delight
full Short stories.

One Of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Delight
full Short stories.
In the twilight of summer eve. a tall.
dark figure. over which long and remote
travel had thrown an outlandsh aspect
was entering a village, not in Fairy
Londe. but within our own familiar boun-
diaries. The staff on which this traveller
leaned had been his companion from the
spot where it grew, in the iungles of Hin
dostan; the hat that overshadowed his
sombre brow, had shielded him from the
suns of Spain but his cheek had been
backened by the red-hot wind of an Ara
ban desert, and had felt the frozen breath
of an Arctic region. Long soiourning
amid wild and dangerous men. he still wore
beneath his vest the ataghan which he had
once struck into the throat of a Turkish
robber. In every foreign cline he had lost
something of his New England character
istics; and, perhaps, from every people he
had mconsciouSly borrowed a new pecu-
liarity: so that when the world-wanderer
again trod the street of his native village.
it is no wonder that he passed unrecogniz-
ed. though exciting the gaze and curiosity
of all. Yet, as his arm casually touched
that Of young woman. who was venting
her way to an evening lecture, she started.
and almost uttered a cry.
Ralph Crantield"' was the name she
half articulated.
Can that be my old playmate. Faith
Egerton?' thought the traveller. looking
round at her figure, but without pausing.
Ralph Craniield. from his youth upward.
had felt himself marked out for high
destiny. He had imbbed the idea.-we
say not whether it We're revealed to him by
witchcraft, or in dream of prophecy. or
that his broodmg fancy had palmed its own
dictates upon him as the oracles of a Sibvl.
but he had imbibed the idea, and held it
tirmest :da-ng his articles of faith, that
three marvellous tents of his life were to
be confirmed TO him Y three signs.
The first of these three fatalities. and
perhaps the one on which his Youthful
imagination had dwelt most fondlv. was
the discovery of the maid. who alone. of all
the maids on earth. could make him laDpv
by her love. He was to roam around the
world till he should meet a beautiful wo-
man, wearing on her bosom a level in the
shape of heart; whether of pearl. or ruby.
or emerald, or carbuncle, or a changefll
opal, or perhaps priceless diamond. Ralph
Cranfield little cared, so long as ii We're a
heart of one peculiar shape. On encoun-
tering this: lovely stranger, he was bound TO
address her thus: Maiden, have brought
you heavy heart. May l rest its weight
on YOU? And if she were his fated bride.
If their kindred souls We're destined to
form union here below. which all eternity
should only bind more closelv-she would
reply, with her finger on the heart-shaped
Jewel, "This token, which have worn so
long, is the assurance that YOU mayr'
And, secondly, Ralph Cranfieid had a
flrm belief that there was mighty treasure
hidden somewhere in the earth. of which
the burial-place should be revealed to none
but him. When his feet should press upon
the mysterious spot, there should be a
hand before him, pointing downward. -
whether carved of marble. or hewn in
gigantic dimensions on the side of rocky
precipice, or perchance hand of flame in
empty air, he could not tell: but. at least
he could discern a hand. the forefinper
pointing downward, and beneath il the
Latin word efode dig! And digging
Whereabouts, the gold in coin or ingots, the
precious stones, or of whatever else ahe
treasure might consist, would be certain TO
reward his toll.
The third and last of the miraculous
events in the life of this high-destined man
was to be the attainment of extensive in
fiuence and sway over his fellow-creatures
Whether he were to be king, and founder
OF an hereditary throne, or the victorious
leader of people contending for their
freedom or the apostle of a purified and
regenerated faith, was left for futuritv to
show. As messengers of the sign, by
which Ralph Cranfield might recognize the
summons, three venerable men We're to
claim audience of him. The chief among
them, dignifed and majestic person. ar
Tayed' 1t may be supposed, in the flowing
garments of an ancient sage. would be the
bearer OF wand, or prophets rod With
this wand, or rod, or staff, the venerable
sage would trace a certain figure in the air.
and then proceed to make known his
AeaVen-mstructed message; which, if obey
ed, must lead to glorious results.
With this proud fate before him. in the
musk OF his imaginative youth. Ralph Gran
field had set forth to seek the maid. the
treasure. and the venerable SAGE with
his gift of extended empire. And had he
found them? Alas, il was not with the
aspect OF triumphant man. who had
achieved a nObler destiny than all his fell
lows, but rather with the gloom of one
struggling against peculiar and continual
his mothers cottage. He had come back
but only for time, to lay aside the pill
grim staff, trusting that his weary man
hood would regain somewhat of the elias
tcity OF youth, in the spot where his three
Told fate had been foreshown him. There
had been few changes in the village: for it
was one Of those thriving places where a
year prosperity makes more than the
havoc OF century's decay; but like gray
hair in young mans head, an antiquated
little town. full of old maids, and aged
elms, and moss-grown dwellings. Few
seemed TO be the changes here. The droop-
ing elms, indeed, had more majestic
spread; the weather-blackened houses were
adorned with a denser thatch of yerdant
moss; and doubtless there were a few more
grayestones in the burial ground, inscribed
with names that had once been familiar in
the village street. Yet. summing up all
the mischief that ten years had wrought,