The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-07-07

halo, that glorifed him amid this gloomy
night of sin-as if the departed governor
had left him an inheritance of his glory
or as if he had caught upon himself the
distant shine of the celestial city, while
looking thitherward to see the trium-
phant pilgrim pass within its gates
now, in short, good Father Wilson was
moving homeward, aiding his footsteps
! with lighted lantern! The glimmer of
this luminary suggested the above cen
ceits to Mr.. Dimmesdale, who smiled,
nay, almost laughed, at them, and then
wondered if he were going mad.
AS the Reverend Mr.. Wilson passed
| beside the scaffold, closely muffiing his
Geneva cloak about him with one arm.
and holding the lantern before his
breast with the other, the minister could
hardly restrain himself from speaking.
ga good evening to you, venerable
Father Wilson! Come up hither, pray
you, and pass pleasant hour with mel"
Good heavensI Had Mr.. Dimmesdale
actually spoken? For one instant, he
believed that these words had passed
his lips. But they were uttered only
within his imagination. The venerable
| Father Wilson continued to step slowly
onward, looking carefully at the muddy
pathway before his feet and never once
| turning his head toward the guilty
platform When the light of the glim-
mering lantern had faded quite away
the minister discovered, by the faint
ness which came over him, that the last
few moments had been a crisis of ter
rible anxiety; although his mind had
made an involuntary effort to relieve it
self by kind of lurid playfulness.
Shortly afterward the like grisly sense
of the humorous again stole in among
the solemn phantoms of his thought.
He felt his limbs growing stiff with the
unaccustomed chilliness of the night,
and doubted whether he should be able
to descend the steps of the scaffold.
Morning would break and find him
there. The neighborhood would begin
to rouse itself The earliest riser, COM
ing forth in the dim twilight, would
perceive a vaguely defined figure aloft
on the place of shame, and half crazed
betwixt alarm and curiosity would go
knocking from door to door summoning
all the people to behold the ghost-as
he needs must think it-of some defunct
transgressor.
All people, in a word, would come
stumbling over their thresholds, and turn
up their amazed and horror stricken Wis
ages around the scaffold. Whom would
they discern there, with the red eastern
light upon his brow? Whom, but the
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, half
frozen to death, overwhelmed with
shame, and standing where Hester
Prynne had stood!
Carried away by the grotesque horror
of this picture, the minister, unawares,
and to his own infinite alarm, burst into
a great peal of laughter. 1t was imme-
diately responded to by a light, airy,
childish laugh, in which, with thrill of
the heart-but he knew not whether of
exquisite pain, or pleasure as acute-he
recognized the tones of little Pearl.
''Pearl! Little Pearl!' cried he after
moments pause; then, suppressing his
voice, Chester! Hester Prynne! Are
you there?"
eyes; it is Hester Prynner' she re-
piled, in tone of surprise; and the min
lister heard her footsteps approaching
from the sidewalk along which she had
been passing. cit is | and my little
Pearl"
whence come you. Hester?' asked
the minister. What sent you hither?
''I have been watching alta deathbed, y
answered Hester Prynne; sat Governor
Winthrop's deathbed, and have taken
his measure for a robe, and am now
going homeward to my dwelling"
"Come up hither, Hester, thou and
little Pearl" said the Reverend Mister
Dimmesdale. "Ye have both been here
before, but 1 was not with you. Come
I'D hither once again, and we will stand
all three together"
She silently assembled the steps and
stood on the platform, holding little
Pearl by the hand. The minister felt
for the child's other hand and took it.
! The moment that he did so there came
what seemed a tumultuous rush of new
, life, other life than his own, pouring
like torrent into his heart and hurry
ing through all his veins, as if the
mother and the child were cOmnluni
eating their vital warmth to his hall
torpid system. The three formed al
electric chain.
Minister whispered little Pearl.
''What wou1dst thou say, child?' asked
Mr. Dimmesdale.
"Wilt thou stand here with mothe
and me tomorrow noOntide? inquired
Pearl
NAY, not so, my little PEARL" an
swered the minister; for with the new
energy of the moment all the dread o
public exposure, that had so long beel
the anguish of his life, had returned
upon him; and he was already trembling
at the conjunction in which-with
strange JOY, nevertheless now foun'
! himself ''Not so, my child l shal
indeed stand with thy mother and the
one other day, but not tomorrow"
Pearl laughed and attempted to pul
, away her hand. But the minister held
fast.
"a moment longer, my childF sal
he.
'But wilt thou promise. asked Pear
, ''tO take my hand and mothers hand tt
, morrow noontideSo