San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-06-25
10 take advantage Of it,

strength TO take advantage of il"
BE thou strong for mel" answered he.
advise me what to do"
''Is the world, then, so narrow" en-
claimed Hester Prynne, fixing her deep
eyes on the minister's and instinctively
exercising a magnetic power over spirit
so shattered and snbdued that it could
hardly hold itself,erect. doth the uni
verse lie within the compass of yonder
town, which onlysa little time ago was
but leaf strewn. desert, as lonely as this
around us! Whittier leads yonder forest
track? Backward.to the settlement, thou
sayest! Yes, but onward TOO. Deeper
it goes and deeper into the wilderness
less plainly to be seen at every step, I'M
til some few miles hence the yellow
leaves will show no vestige of the white
mans tread. There thou art freei So
brief a journey would bring thee from a
a world where thou hast been most
wretched to one where thou mayest still
be happy Is there not shade enough in
all this boundless forest to hide thy
heart from the gaze of Roger Chilling
WORTH
Eyes, Hester; but only under the
fallen leaEes!' replied the minister, with
sad smile.
Then there is the broad pathway of
the sea!'' continued Hester. 1T brought
thee hither. If thou so choose, it will
bear thee back again. In our native
land, whether in some remote rural vii
lage or in vast London--or surely in
Germany, in France, in pleasant Italy
thou wouldst be beyond his power and
knowledge! And what hast thou to do
with all these iron men and their opin-
ions? They have kept thy letter part In
bondage too long alreadyr
1T cannot bel" answered the minis
ter, listening as if he were called upon
to realize dream. Il am powerless to
go! Wretched and sinful as | am,
have had no other thought than to drag
ON my earthly existence in the sphere
where Providence hath placed me Lost
as my soul is, would still do -yhat J.
may for other human souls L dare not
quit my post, though an unfaithful SEN
tinel, whose sure reward is death and
dishonor, when his dreary watch shall
come to an endr'
Thou art crushed under this seven
years weight of misery. replied Hester,
fervently resolved to buoy him up with
her own energy. But thou shalt leave
it all behind thee! 1t shall not cumber
thy steps, as thou treadest along the
forest path; neither shalt thou freight
the ship with it, if thou prefer to cross
the sea. Leave this wreck and ruin here
where it hath happened. NEEDLE nc
more with 1T Begin all anew! Hast
thou exhausted possibility in the failure
of this one trial? Not so! The future
is yet full of trial and success. There is
happiness to be enjoyed! There is good
to be done! Exchange this false life of
thine for true one. Be, if the spirit
summon thee to such a mission, the
teacher and apostle of the red men. Or
AS is more thy nature-be scholar
and sage among the wisest and most
renowned of the cultivated world
Preach! Write! Act! Do anything,
save to lie down and die! Give up this
name of Arthur Dimmesdale and make
thyself another, and high one, such as
thou canst wear without fear or shame.
Why shouldst thou tarry so much as
one other day in the torments that haze
SO gnawed into thy life!-that have MADE
thee feebleto will and to do!-that will
leave thee powerless even to repent! Up
and awayr'
80 Hesterr' cried Arthur Dimmes-
dale, in whose eyes a titful light, kindled
by her enthusiasm, flashed up and died
away, "thod tellest of running a race TO
man whose knees are tottering be-
meath him! must die here! There is
not the strength or courage left me to
venture into the wide, strange, difficult
world aloner'
1t was the last expression of the DE-
spondency of broken spirit He lacke.,
energy to grasp the better fortune that
seemed within his reach.
He repeated the word.
"Alone, Hesterr'
Thou SHIFT not go alone!" answered
she in deep whisper
Then all was spokenl
CHAPTER XIII.