Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1892-04-30

know me so little, Hester Prynne. Are
nv purposes wont to be so shallow?
Even If / imagine a scheme Of yenge.
ance what could do better for my OBJ
iecf than TO let thee live-than to give
thee medicines against all harm and
peril Of life-so that this burning shame
may still blaze upon thy BOSOM As
he spoke he laid his long foreinger on the
scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed
to scorch into Hesters breast as If it
had been red hot. He noticed her in
voluntary gesture and smiled Live,
therefore, and bear about thy doom with
thee, in the eyes of men and women
in the eyes of him whom thou didst call
thy husband-in the eyes of yonder
child And, that thou mayest live.
take off this draft"
Without further expostulation or de-
lay Hester Prynne drained the cup, and
at the motion of the man of skill seated
herself on the bed where the child was
sleeping, while he drew the only chair
which the room afforded and took his
own seat beside her. She could not but
t-emble at these preparations, for she
felt that--having now done all that hui
mainly or principle, or, if so it were.
refined cruelty, impelled him to do. for
the relief of physical suffering-he was
next to treat with her as the man whom
she had most deeply and irreparably in
jured
.sHester,s said he, Il ask not where
fore nor how thou hast fallen into the
pit or say, rather, thou hast assembled to
the pedestal of infamy, on which l found
thee The reason is not far to seek. 1t
was my folly and thy weakness. l. q
man of thought, the bookwor1n of great
libraries, a man already in decay, having
given my best years to feed the hungry
dream of knowledge, what had to do
with youth and beauty like thine own?
Misshapen from my birth hour, how
could delude myself with the idea that
intellectual gifts might veil physical
deformity in young girls fantasy?
Men call me wise. If sages were ever
wise in their own behoof / might have
foreseen all this. | might have known
that as came out of the vast and dis
NAL forest and entered this settlement of
Christian men the very first object to
meet my eyes would be thyself, Hester
Prynne, standing mp, a statue of igno-
miny, before the people. Nay, from the
moment when we came down the old
church steps together, a married pair,
might have beheld the balefire of that
scarlet letter blazing at the end of our
pathl"
'sThou knowest," said Hester-for, de-
pressed as she was, she could not endure
this last quiet stab at the token of her
shame-ssthou knowest that | was frank
with thee | felt no love, nor feigned
any,"
'.True," replied he. 1T was my follyl
[ have said it. But, up to that epoch of
my life, | had lived in vain. The world
had been SO cheerlessl My heart was a
habitation, large enough for many
guests, but lonely and chill, and with
out household fire. longed to kindle
onel It seemed not so wild dream
old as | was, and somber as | was, and
misshapen as | was-that the simple
bliss, which is scattered far and wide
for all mankind to gather up, might yet
be mine. And so, Hester, drew thee
into my heart, into its innermost cham
Der, and sought to warm thee by the
warmth which thy presence made
therep
81 have greatly wronged thee muir
INJURED Hester.
Eve have wronged each other" an
swered he. mine was the FIRST wrong,
when betrayed thy budding youth into
false and unnatural relation with my
decay. Therefore, as man who has
not thought and philosophical in vain, l
seek no vengeance, plot no evil against
| thee. Between thee and me the scale
hangs fairly balanced. But Hester the
| man lives who has wronged us bothi
| Who is hep
.'Ask me not!" replied Hester Prynne,
| looking firmly into his face. "That thou
| shalt never knowr'
| s'Never, sayest thouT' rejoined he,
with smile of dark and self relying in
telligence. 'Never know him! Believe me,
| Hester, there are few things
| in the outward world or, to certain
| depth, in the invisible sphere of thought
| few things hidden from the man who
| devotes himself earnestly and unre-
servedly to the solution of a mystery.
Thou mayest cover up thy secret from
| the prying multitude. Thou mayest
| conceal it, too, from the ministers and
| magistrates, even as thou didst this
day, when they sought to wrench the
name out of thy heart and give thee a
partner on thy pedestal. But, as for
me, come to the inquest with other
senses than they possess. | shall seek
this man, as / have sought truth in
books; as have sought gold in alchemy.
There is sympathy that will make me
conscious of him. shall see him trem-
BILE. shall feel myself shudder, sud-
| denly and unawares. Sooner or later,
he must needs be mine!"
The eyes of the wrinkled scholar
| glowed so intensely upon her that Hes
ter Prynne clasped her hands over her
heart, dreading that he should read the
secret there at once.
.sThou wilt not reveal his name? Not
the less he is mine" resumed he, with a
look of confidence, as if destiny were at
one with him. "He bears no letter Of
infamy wrought into his garment as
thou dost; but | shall read it ON his
heart. Yet fear not for himl Think
not that shall interfere with heavens
own method of retribution, or to my
own loss, betray him to the grippe OF
human law Neither do thou imagine
that / shall contrive aught against his
life; no, nor against his fame If, as
judge, he be man of fair repute. Let
him livel Let him hide himself in out
ward honor, if he mayi Not the less he
shall be minef"
"Thy acts are like mercy" said Hester,
bewildered and appalled,. "But thy words
interpret thee as terror
"One thing, thou that vast my wife,
would enjoin upon thee" continued the
scholar. "Thou hast kept the secret Of
thy paramour. Keep, likewise, mine
There are none in this land that know
me. Breathe not to any human soul that
thou didst ever call me husband Here,
on this wild outskirt of the earth, | shall
pitch my tent; for, elsewhere wanderer
and isolated from human interests, / find
here woman, a man, child, among
whom and myself there exist the closest
hgaments. No matter whether of love
or hate; no matter whether of right on
wrong! Thou and thine, Hester Prynne,
belong to me. My home is where thou
art and where he is. But betrav me
notf'
Wherefore dost thou desire its' In.