The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-06-09

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 nayest live
take off this draft
Without further expostu1ation 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 ernble at these preparations, for she
felt chat-having now done all that hu-
ulanity or principle, or, if SO it We're
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 irrepsrably in
jured.
'sHester," said he, ''1 ask not where
fore nor how thou hast fallen int the
pit or say, rather, thou hast assembled to
the pedestal of infamy, on which found
thee. The reason is not far to seek. IL
was my folly and thy weakness. l, a
man of thought, the bookworm of great
libraries, 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 owng
Misshapen from my birth hour, how
could delude myself with the idea that
intellectual gifts might veil physical
deformity in a young girls fantasy?
Men call mo wise IF sages were ever
- -. I,a1oonQ I T11iohf hoUn
foreseen all this. might have known
that as l 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 thysef, Hester
Prynne, standing up, 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
PATH"
"Thou knowest,'' said Heeter-for, de-
pressed as she was, she could not endure
! this last quiet stab at the token Of her
shame-''thou knowest that was frank
with thee felt no love, nor feigned
any"
have said it. But, up to that epoch of
my life, had lived in vain. The world
had been so cherries! My heart was a
habitation, large enough for many
guests, but lonely and chill, and with
out household fire. longed to kindle
onel 1t seemed not 50 wild dream
old as l 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
thereT
al have greatly wronged thee" muir
INJURED Hester.
1--WE 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,
seek no vengeance, plot no evil agains
} thee. Between thee and me the scale
hangs fairly balanced. But Hester thu
man lives who has wronged us both
Who is her
ask me notl" replied Hester Prynne
r looking firmly into his face. ''That thoI
3 shalt never known
''Never, sayest thou?" rejoined he
with a smile of dark-and self relying in
? telligence. s'Never know himi Believe me
Hester, there are few things-whethe
3 in the outward world or, to certain
depth, in the invisiblesphere of thought
: few things hidden from the man VIII
. devotes himself earnestly and unre
: servedly to the solution of mystery
g Thou mayest cover up thy secret from
t the prying multitude. Thou mayes
s conceal it, too, from the ministers an
magistrates, even as thou didst thi
:. day, when they sought to wrench tn
K name out of thy heart and give thee
/ partner on thy pedestal. But, as 70
s me, l come to the inquest with othe
}. senses than they possess. | shall see
/; this man, as | have sought truth i
|, books; as have sought gold in alchemy
n There is a sympathy that will make IN
/, conscious of him. | shall see him tren
l. BILE. | shall feel myself shudder, sue
II denly and unawares. Sooner or Later
is he must needs be MINER
d The eyes of the wrinkled schola
d glowed so intensely upon her that He
II ter Prynne clasped her hands over he
l. heart, dreading that he should read tn
d secret there at once.
4. s'Thou wilt not reveal his name? NJ
the less he is mine. resumed he, with
E look of confidence, as if destiny were {
y one with him. 'sHe bears no letter
re infamy wrought into his garment ;
n thou dost; but shall read it on h
Of heart Yet fear not for hint Thin
S. not that 1 shall interfere with heaven
N own method of retribution, or to n
re own loss, betray him to the grippe
Id human law. Neither do thou imagn
N that / shall contrive aught against
life; no, nor against his fame if, as
10 Judge, he be man of fair repute. L
to him livel Let him hide himself in on
7, ward honor, if he mayl Not the less
to shall be MINER
ed 'sThy acts are like mercy, said Heste
bewildered and appalled,. but thy wor
= interpret thee as q terror
We zone thing, thou that vast my wife
] would enjoin upon thee, continued t
th scholar. sThou hast kept the secret
re thy paramour. Keep, likewise, min
Is There are none In this land that kno
me. Breathe not to any human soul tn
th thou didst ever call me husband! HeI
GU on this wild outslrirt of the earth, | sh;