The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-24

| cdPldtu oI the Bntp III WHICH IeBlW l had engaged passage, and, for once 1 she was thankful for the visible sig1 which divided her from those of he3 1 kind, in that 1t enabled this man h speak to her without being overheard ''This physician--chillingw hi calls himself--is minded to try my cabs in fare with you" he told her. "BA doubtless you knew of itf for he say he Is great friend of the gentlema1 you spoke of--he that is in dangea from these sour old Puritan rulers" Looking up, Hester saw old Roget Chillingworth gazing at her from
 distance with a look which conveyed secret and fearful meaning. By thu time Hester could collect her thought and regain her composure the process sion had passed and the opening prayed was being offered in the meeting house Soon were heard the accents of th{ Reverend Master Dimmesdale beginS ming the Election Sermon. It was ( great triumph. There was an under current of anguish and woe poured oul from heart sore tried vibrations ot unutterable anguish both from sin and sorrow; but, rising above all, the sona triumphant of a liberated soul tha} scared away beyond the bounds ot death and despair.
 Meantime Hester stood statuelike al the foot of the scaffold before the meet{ ing house until the eloquent voict which had carried the souls of the list teners aloft as on the waves of swelk ing sea came to a pause, and after al interval of silence the crowd began t surge through the door.
 As Dimmesdale made his appearanc( there arose great shout, a thunder ot approbation, which had hardly bee2 kept down even in the sacred precincta of the meeting house. But as he passed the weather -darkened scaffold, there al its foot stood Hester, holding littl9 Pearl by the hand. The clergyman't face, a moment before flushed, becama deadly pale. He tottered as if abow to fall. The crowd looked on with aw( and wonder. This earthly weaknesi was in their eyes but another evidencG of the minister's spirituality
 Perhaps there was something in Testers look that told him his chance of eeSape was gonei perhaps to see her standing there was a shock that cama too close upon his great exaltation. The emotions which he had undergone in the past few days and which had cui- minated with the strain of this day were too powerful for man affiioted as he was with a sorely ail.ng heart, physical as we'll as spiritual.
 He was a dying man, and felt hims self to be one. He turned toward tho scaffold and stretched forth his arms.
 Hester" said he, come hither. Come, my little Pearl"
 The child darted to him, and Hesten followed slowly and steadily, as If inns pelIed by Fate. But in that same in- stant old Roger Chillingworth was by his side, entreating, commanding:
 Cast off that child! Repel that wo- man! All may yet De we'll
 "Tempter, thou are too late" replied the clergyman. Come Hester, support me to wonder scaffold."
 So, amid the tumuIt of the crowds Hester, Pearl and pimmesdale made their way up to the scaRold. and, standing there, with his dying breath the wretched man confessed his sins ending with: The Scarlet Letter which Hester wears is but the shadow of what I bear upon my own breast; and this ,even this red stigma. is no more than a type of what has scared my heart Stand any here who question Gods judgment upon sinner. Be- holdi'
 He tore away the ministerial band from his breast, and there, exposed to the sight of all, was a scarlet A glows ing in the flesh ebove his heart.
 He sank upon the platform murmurs ing: q fear I fear! But God is merct- ful," and so expired
 Old Roger Chillingworth knelt beside the dying man, exclaiming: Thou hast escaped me! Thou hast escaped me!"t
 The clergyman's head was pillowed upon Testers lap as he died, and she was asking: Shall we meet againY
 After the death of Dimmesdals, Hess ter took up the daily burden of her life, It went on, to all outward ap- poaranceS, as 1t had done before Bue a great change came over the appear anoe of old Roger Chillingworth. All his strength and most of his intellect- nal force seemed to desert him. The very essence of his life had consisted in the pursuit of systematic revenge. ITnable to follow that any more, h@ was like a weed uprooted in the suns within the year he died and it waa found that in his will, stricken probap- ly by a late remorse, he d made ht~ tie Pearl heiress to all his wealth.
 When little Pearl came into her forts une. Hester and she left Boston ana went abroad. Years passed, aud then one day a woman was seen to pss'Ae ~ the door of the deserted cottage where once had lived Hester F'rynne.
 The next day they found Hester +bera clad in her gray robe and with the Scarlet Letter glowing on her bos- om. After a while there came rumorS from abroad that little Pearl was mar ried in some far-off land and was hap- py and a mother. ~ .
 Hester srent the end of her life in deeds of charity in the little colony which had witnessed her shame An9 her punishment When she oleo. snS directed that the only inserlpuon 9A hey tombstone should be the latter AH