Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1892-06-18
CHAPTER XIV.

'sThou wilt love her dearly" repeated
Hester Prynne. as she and the minister
sat watching little Pearl. ''Dost thou
not think her beautiful? And see with
what natural skill she has made those
simple flowers adorn her? Had she
gathered pearls and diamonds and rubies
in the wood they could not have become
her better. She is splendid child. But
know whose brow she has!''
'sDost thou know, Hester" said Ar
thur Dimmesdale with an unquiet smile,
that this dear child. tripping about al
ways at thy side, hath caused me many
an alarm? Methought-Oh, Hester, what
a thought is that, and how terrible to
dread it,-that my own features were
partly repeated i'll her face, and so strik-
ingly that the world might see them!
But she is mostly thine"
mo, mol Not mostlyw answered the
mother, with tender smile. "A little
longer and thou modest not to be afraid
to trace whose child she is. But how
strangely beautiful she looks, with those
wild flowers in hel HART 1t is as if one
of the fairies, whoIl we left in our dear
old England. had decked her ont to
meet us"
1t was with feeling which neither of
them had ever before experienced that
they sat and watched PEARLS slow ad-
vance. In her was visible the tie that
united them. She had been offered TO
the world these seven years past rs the
living hieroglyphic, in which was re-
vealed the secret they so darkly sought
to hide-all written in this symbol-all
plainly manifest--had there been
prophet or magician skilled to read the
character of flame! And Pearl was the
L oneness of their being. Be the foregone
evil what it might, how could they
doubt that their earthly lives and future
destinies were conjoined, when they be-
held at once the material union and the
spiritual idea in whom they met and
were to dwell Immortality together?
Thoughts like these-and perhaps other
thoughts, which they did not acknowl.
edge or define-threw an awe about the
child as she came onward.
'.Let her see nothing strange-no pas
sion nor eagerness--in thy way of ac-
costing her." whispered Hester "Our
sometimes. Especially, she is seldom
tolerant of emotion, when she does not
fully comprehend the why and where
fore But the child hath strong affec-
tionsl She loves me and will love thee!"
"Thou canst not think" said the min
lister, CHANGING aside at Hester Prynne,
show my heart breads this interview
and yearns for it, But in truth, as | al
ready told thee, children are not readily
won to be familiar with me. They viii
not climb my knee, nor prattle in my
ear, nor answer TO my smile; but stand
apart and eye me strangely. Even lit
tie babes. when take them in my arms,
weep bitterly. Yet Pearl twice in her
little lifetime hath been kind 10 mel
The first time-thou knowest it WELT
The last was when thou ledst her with
thee to the house Of yonder stern old
governor"
"And thou didst plead so bravely in
| her behalf and minel" answered the
mother. Il remember it. and SO shall
little Pearl. Fear nOthiDgl She may
be strange and shy at first, but win soon
learn TO love theel'
BY this time Pearl had reached the
margin Of the brook, and stood ON the
farther side. gazing silently at Hester
and the clergyman, who still sat to
| gether on the messy tree trunk, waiting
| to receive her. Just where she had
paused the brook CHANGED to form a
pool, so smooth and quiet that il re
| fected perfect image Of her little fig
ure, with all the brilliant picturesque
ness of her beauty, in its adornment Of
flowers and wreathed foliage, but moro
refined and spiritualized than the real
ity.
This image, so nearly identical with
| the living Pearl, seemed to communicate
somewhat of its own shadowy and in
| tangible quality to the child herself 1t
| was strange, the way in which Pearl
| stood, looking so steadfastly at them
| through the dim medium of the forest
| gloom; herself, meanwhile, all glorifed
| with ray of sunshine that was attract
ed thitherward as by a certain sympathy.
| In the brook beneath stood another
| child-another and the same-with like
| wise its ray of golden light. Hester felt
| herself, in some indistinct and tantaliz-
ing manner, estranged from PEARL as if
the child, in her lonely ramble through
the forest, had 81 aged out of the sphere
in which she and her mother dwelt to
| gether, and was now vainly seeking to
| return to it.
There was both truth and error in the
| impression; the child and mother were
estranged, but through Hester's fault,
| not Pearls. Since the latter rambled
| from her side another inmate had been
admitted within the circle of the moth
| er's feelings, and so modified the aspect
of them all that Pearl, the returning
wanderer, could not find her wonted
| place, and hardly knew where she was.
Il have a strange fancy" observed the
sensitive minister, "that this brook is
| the boundary between two worlds, and
| thou canst never meet thy Pearl again.
Or is she an elfish spirit, who, as the
| legends of our childhood taught us, is
| forbidden to cross a running streamf
| Pray hasten her, for this delay has al
| ready impaired tremor to my nerves"
| Come, dearest childr said Hester en-
couragingly, and stretching out both
1 AASA al Lis AAOn S4OW tIOu w ucu
hast thou been so sluggish before now
Here is friend of mine, who must be
thy friend also. Thou wilt have twice
| as much love henceforward as thy
mother alone could give theel Leap
across the brook and come to us. Thou
canst leap like young DEER
Pearl, without responding in any man
ner to these honey sweet expressions, re-
manned on the other side Of the brook.
Now she fixed her bright, wild eyes on
her mother, now on the minister, and
now included them both in the same
| glance, as if to detect and explain to
herself the relation which they bore to
one another. For some unaccountable
reason, as Arthur Dimmesdale felt the
child's eyes upon himself, his hand
with that gesture so habitual as to have
become Neutrality-suspicious. over his
heart. At length. assuming a singular
air Of authority, Pearl stretched out her
hand, with the small forefnger extend
ed and pointing evidently toward her
mothers breast. And beneath, in the
mirror of the brook, there was the flower
girdled and sunny image of little Pearl
pointing her small forefnger toe.
Thou strange child, why dost thou
not come to me?' exclaimed Hester.
Pearl still pointed with her foreinger.