Evening journal., 1892-09-06

tu Ail0nN AllC cAtEGAs A8lk lAC AAeANitlN
both his hands over his breast and cast
his eyes toward the zenith.
Nothing was more common in those
days than to interpret all meteoric APP
pearances and other natural phenomena
that occurred with less regularity than
the rise and set Of sun and moon as so
many revelations from supernatural
source. Thus u blazing spear. sword
OF flame, bow or a sheaf of arrows |
seen in the midnight sky prefgured lu
dian warfare. Postilence was known 10 |
have been foreboded by Il shower OF /
crimson light. We doubt whether any |
marked event for good or evil ever be- |
fell New England from its settlement |
down to Revolutionary times of which
the inhabitants had not been previously |
warned by some spectacle of this nature.
Not seldom it had been seen by multi
tudes.
Oftener however, its credibility rested
ON the faith Of some lonely eyewitness,
who beheld the wonder through the col
ored inagnifying and distorting medium
Of his imagination, and shaped it moro
distinctly in his afterthought. 1t was
indeed a majestic idea, that the destiny
of nations should be revealed in these
awful hieroglyphics on the cope of
/ heaven A scroll so wide might not be
deemed too expansive for Providence to
write peoples doom upon. The belief
was favorite one with our forefathers,
as betokening that their infant common
wealth was under celestial guardian
ship of peculiar intimacy and strictness.
But what shall we say when an individ-
ual discovers a revelation, addressed TO
himself alone, on the same vast sheet of
record? In such case it could only be
thesymptom of a highly disordered men,
tai state, when a man, rendered morbid
ly self contemplative by long, intense
and secret pain, had extended his ego
tism over the whole expanse Of nature,
until the armament itself should appear
no more than fitting page for his souls
history and fate
We impute it therefore solely to the
disease in his own eye and heart, that
the minister, looking upward to the ze-
NTH, beheld there the appearance Of an
immense letter-the letter A-marked
out in lines Of dull red light Not but
the meteor may have shown itself at
that point, burning duskily through a
veil of cloud, but with no such shape
as his guilty imagination gave it, or, at
least, with 50 little deiiniteness that an
others guilt might have seen another
symbol in it.
There was a singular circumstance
that characterized Mr.. Dimmesdale's
psychological state at this moment. All
the time that he gazed upward to the
zenith he was nevertheless perfectly
aware that little Pearl was pointing her
finger toward old Roger Chillingworth,
who stood at no great distance from the
scaffold. The minister appeared to see
him with the same glance that discerned
the miraculous letter.
To his features, as TO all other objects,
the meteoric light impaired a new ex-
preston; or it might well be that the
/ physician was not careful then, as at all
other times, to hide the malevolence
with which he looked upon his victim.
(, Certainly, if the meteor kindled up the
, sky and disclosed the earth with an
. awfulness that admonished Hester
Prynne' and the clergyman of the day OF
, Judgment, then might Roger Chilling
: worth have passed with them for the
arch fend, standing there with a smile
and scowl to claim his own. So viyid
was the expression, or so intense the
minister's perception Of it, that j
. seemed still to remain painted on thu
Iarkness after the meteor had vanished
with an effect as if the street and al
. things else were at once annihilated.
"Who is that man, Hester gaspe,
. Mr.. Dimmesdale, overcome with terror
Il SILVER at him Dost thou know tn
Z man? hate him, Hester"
u She remembered her oath and wa
y silent.
. Il tell thee my soul shivers at him!
. muttered the minister again. "Who
II he? Who is he: Canst thou do nothing
:. for me? have anameless horror Of tn
u manr
Minister" said little Pearl, Il ca,
tell thee who he is"
e Quickly, then, childl" said the mir
. lister, bending his ear close to her lip'
I Quickly! and as low as thou cans
: whisper"
u Pearl mumbled something into his ca
Y that sounded, indeed, like human lar
guage but was only such glbberlsh a
children may be heard amusing then
II selves with, by the hour together 4
,s all events, fit involved any secret II
= formation in regard to old Roger Chi
= lingworth, it was in tongue unknow
to the erudite clergyman, and md bt
increase the bewilderment of his min'
~ The elfish child then laughed aloud.
~ "Dost thou mock me nowT' said II
minister.
g Thou vast not boldl Thou vast NJ
r true" answered the child. Tho
y wouldst not promise to take my han
T and mothers hand tomorrow noontide
"a Worthy sir" answered the physical
a. who had now advanced to the foot Of Il
IN platform "Pious Master Dimmesdal
e, can this be you? Wen, well, indee
az We men of study. whose heads are IN OF
e books, have need to be straightly locke
IN afterl We dream in our waking IN
re ments and walk in our sleep. Com
er good sir. and my dear friend, pray 70
ne let me lead You hOmel"