San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-06-29
THE SCARLET LETTER.
BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

magistrates are. to go by and the minis
tiers and all the great people and good
people, with the music and the soldiers
marching before them"
'.Andwill the minister be thereT asked
Pearl. "And will he hold out both his
hands;to me, as when thou ledst me to
him from the brookside?'
'.He will be there, child" answered
her mother. ':But he will not greet
thee today; nor must thou greet him"
"What a strange, sad man is her
said the child, as if speaking partly to
herself. .'In the dark night time he
calls us to him, and holds thy hand and
mine, as when we stood with him on
the scaffold yonder. And in the deep
forest, where only the old trees can
hear, and the strip of sky see it, he
talks with thee, sitting on a heap of
moss! And he kisses my forehead, too,
so that the little brook would hardly
wash it off! But here, in the sunny day,
and among all the people, he knows us
not: nor must we know lin! A strange,
sad man is he, with his hand always
over his heart!"
AtBe quiet. Pearl! Thou understandest
not these things" said her mother.
"Think not now of the minister. but
look about thee and see how CHEEKY is
everybody's face today. The children
have come from their schools, and the
grown people from their workshops m |
their fields ON purpose to, be happy. for
&ol,- 20 hnD,p,ino RI -1la
over them, and so-as has been the Gus
tom of mankind ever since a nation WIS
first gathered-they make merry and re-
joice, as if q good and golden year were
at length to pass over the poor old
world!' = =
The picture of human life in the mar
ket place, though its general tint was
the sad gray, brown or black of the Eng
lish emigrants, was yet enlivened by
some diversity of hue. A party of In
dians-in their savage finery of curious
ly embroidered deerskin robes, WAN
pun belts, red and yellow ocher and
feathers, and armed with the bow and
arrow and stoneheaded spear - stood
apart with countenances of infiexibIe
gravity beyond what even the Puritan
aspect could attain. Nor, wild as
were these painted barbarians, were
they the widest feature of the scene.
This distinction could more justly be
claimed by some maripers-a part of the
crew of the vessel from the Spanish
Main-who had come ashore to see
the humors of election day. They
We're rough looking d~esperadoes, with
sun blackeled faces and an i'm
mensity of beard; their wide. short
trousers wero confined about the waist
by belts, often clasped with a rough
plate of gol1, and sustaining always a
long knife, and in some instances a
sword.
From beneath their broad brimmed
hats of pain leaf cleaned eyes which,
even in good nature and merriment, had
a kind of animal ferocity. They trans
crossed without fear or scruple the rules
of behavior that were binding on all
others; smoking tobacco under the bea-
dies very nose, although each Whit
would have cost a townsman a shil-
ling; and quaffing at their pleasure
drafts of wine or aqua vitae from pocket
TASKS, which they freely rendered to the
gaping crowd around them. 1t remark
ably characterized the incomplete mo-
rality of the age, rigid as we call it,
that a license was allowed the seafarinG
class, not merely for their freaks on
shore, but for far more desperate deeds
on their proner element. = =
Thus the Puritan elders in their black
cloaks, starched bands and steeple
crowned hats smiled not unbenignantly
at the clamor and rude department of
these jolly seafaring men; and it excited
neither surprise nor animadversion
when so reputable a citizen as old Roger
Chillingworth, the physician, was seen
to enter the market place in close and
familiar talk with the commander of
the questionable vessel.
The latter was by far the most snowy
and gallant figure, so far as apparel
went, anywhere to be seen among the
multitude. He wore a profusion of rib
bons on his garment and gold lace on
his hat. which was also encircled by a
gold chain and surmounted with a
feather. There was a sword at his side
and a sword cut on his forehead, which,
by the arrangement of his hair, he
seemed anxious rather to display than
hide. A landsman could hardly have
worn this garb and shown this face,
and worn and shown them both with
such a galliard air without undergoing
stern question before a magistrate and
probably mourning fine or imprison-
ment, or perhaps an exhibition in the
stocks. AS regarded the shipmaster,
however, all was looked upon as per.
tanning to the character, as to a fish his