The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-07-21
Scarlet Letter.
BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

mas ne not palu Lne6 air
'tNol mol He has but increased the
debtT answered the physician; and as
he proceeded his manner lost its fierce1
characteristics and subsidized into gloom.
''Dost thou remember me, Hester, as
was nine years agone? Even then was
in the autumn of my days, nor was il
the early autumn. But all my life had
been made up of earnest, studious,
thoughtful, quiet years, bestowed faith
fully for the increase of mine OWL
knowledge, and faithfully, too, though
this latter object was but casual to the
other-faithfully for the advancement
f human welfare. No Life had been
more peaceful and innocent than mine;
lew lives so rich with benefits conferred.
Oost thou remember me? Was / not,
though you might deem me cold, never
Sheless a man thoughtful for others,
craving little for himself-kind, true,
just and of constant, if not warm affec-
Ions2 Was not all this?'
''All this and more" said Hester.
"And what am | now?" demanded he,
looking into her face and permitting
the whole evil within him to be written
on his features. 81 have already told
thee what am! A fendI Who made
me so?'
sit was myself" cried Hester, shud-
dering. at was / not less than he.
Why hast thou not avenged thyself on
meY'
81 have left thee to the scarlet letter"
replied Roger Chillingworth. of that
have not avenged me can do no morer'
He laid his finger on it with a smile.
SIT has avenged theer' answered Hes
ter Prynne.
81 judged no less," said the physician.
"And now, what wouldst thou with
me touching this mani"
81 must reveal the secret" answered
Hester firmly. ''He must discern thee
in thy true character. What may be
the result, ! know not. But this long
debt of confidence, due from me to him,
whose bane and ruin have been, shall
at length be paid. So far as concerns
the overthrow or preservation of his fair
fame and his earthly state, and per-
chance his life, he is in thy hands. Nor
do Whom the scarlet letter has dis
ciplined to truth, though it be the truth
of red hot iron entering into the soul
nor do perceive such advantage in his
living any longer life of CHASTITY empti-
ness that shall stoop to ilnp1ore thy
mercy. Do with him as thou wilt!
There is no good for. him-no good for
memo good for theel There is no good
for little Pearl! There is no path to
guide us out of this dismal mazer'
woman, could well nigh pity thee!'
said Roger ChilIingworth, unable to re-
strain a thrill of admiration, too, for
there was quality almost majestic in
the despair which she expressed. ''Thou
hadst great elements. Peradventure,
hadst thou met earlier with better love
than mine, this evil had not been. pity
thee for the good that has been wasted
In thy nature"
Sand l thee, answered Hester Prynne,
"for the hatred that has transformed a
wise and just man to a fiendl Wilt thou
yet purge it out of thee and be once
more human? If not for his sake, then
doubly for thine own. Forgive, and
leave his further retribution to the Pow
er that claims it. l said, but now, that
there could be no good event for him or
thee or me, who are here wandering to-
gether in this gloomy maze of evil and
stumbling at every step over the guilt
wherewith we have strewn our path.
It is not sol There might be good for
thee, and thee alone, since thou hast
been deeply wronged, and hast it at thy
will to pardon. Wilt thou give up that
only privilege? Wilt thou reject that
priceless benefit?''
peace, Hester, peace!' replied the
old man, with gloomy sternness. sit is
not granted me to pardon. l have no
such power IS thou tellest me of. My
old faith, long forgotten, comes back to
me and explains all that we do and all
we suffer. By thy first step awry thou
didst plant the germ of evil, but since
that moment it has all been a dark
necessity. Ye that have wronged me
are not sinful, save in kind of typical
illusion; neither am | tiendlike, who
have snatched fend's Office from his
hands. It Ia our fate. Let the black
flower blossom as it may! Now go thy
ways, and deal as thou wilt with yonder
man."
He waved his hand and betook him
self again to his employment of gather
ing herbs.
'Be it sin or no" said Hester Prynne
bitterly, as she still gazed after him. 81
hate the manp
She upbraided herself for the senti-
ment, but could not overcome or lessen
it. Attempting to do so she thought of
those long past days in distant land,
when he used to emerge at eventide from
the seclusion of his study and sit down
in the freight of their home and in the
light Of her nuptial smile. He needed
to bask himself in that smile, he said, in
order that the chill of so many lonely
hours among his books might be taken
off the scholars heart. Such scenes had
once appeared not otherwise than happy,
but now, as viewed through the dismal
medium of her subsequent life, they
classed themselves among her ugliest
remembrances. She marveled how such
scenes could have been. She marveled
how she could ever have been wrought
upon to marry him. She deemed it her
crime most to be repented of that she
had ever endured and reciprocated the
lukewarm grasp of his hand, and had
suffered the smile of her lips and eyes to
mingle and melt into his own. And it
seemed a fouler offense committed by
Roger Chillingworth than any which
had since been done him that, in the