Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-08-06

know not how lonely I am, and how
frightened to be alone behind my
black veil! Do not leave me in this
miserable obscurity forever"
Lift the veil but once and look
me in the face" said she.
| "Never!" 1t cannot be-" replied
Mr.. Hooper.
"Then FAREWELL" said Elizabeth.
She withdrew her arm from his
grasp and slowly departed. pausing
at the door to give one long, shud-
dering gaze that seemed almost to
penetrate the mystery of the black
veil. But even amid his grief Mr..
Hooper smiled to think that only a
material emblem had separated him
from happiness, though the horrors
drawn darkly between the fondest
lovers.
From that time no attempts were.
made to remove Mr.. Hoopers black
veil or by direct appeal to discover
the secret which 1t was supposed to
hide. By persons who claimed q su-
periority to popular prejudice 1t was
| reckoned merely an eccentric whim,
such as often mingles with the sober
actions Of men otherwise rational
and tinges them all with its own
semblance Of insanity. But with the
multitudes good Mr.. Hooper was ir-
reparably q bugbear. He could not
walk the street with any peace of
mind, so conscious was he that the
gentle and timid would turn aside
to avoid him. and the others would
make 1t a point Of hardihood to throw
themselves In his way. The imperti-
nence Of the latter claB compelled
him to give up his customary walk
at sunset to the burial ground; for
when he leaned pensively on ne gate
there would always be faces behind
the gravestones peeping at his black
veil. A fable went the rounds that
the stare Of the dead people drove him
thence. 1t grieved him to the very
depth Of his kind heart to observe
/
proach, breaking up their merriest
sports while his melancholy figure
was yet afar off. Their instructive
dread caused him to feel more strong
ly than aught else that the preternat-
ural horror was interviewer with the
| threads Of the black Grape. In
truth, his own antipathy to the veil
was known to be so great that he
never willingly passed before mirror
nor stopped to drink at a still foun-
tain lest in its peaceful bosom he
should be affrighted by himself. This
was what gave plausibility to the
crime too horrible to be entirely con-
science tortured him for some great
crime too horrible to be entirely con-
cealed or otherwise than so obscurely
intimated. Thus from beneath the
black veil there rolled q cloud into
the sunshine, an ambiguity Of sin or
sorrow, which enveloped the poor
minister, 80 that love or sympathy
could never reach him. It was said
| that ghost and fiend consorted with
him there. With self-shuddering and
outward terrors he walked continu-
ally in its shadow, cropping darkly
within his own soul or gazing through
a medium that saddened the whole
world. Even the lawless wind, 1t
was believed, respected his dreadful
secret and never blew aside the veil.
But still good Mr.. Hooper sadly
smiled at the pale visages Of the
worldly throng as he passed by.
Among all its bad influences the
| black veil had the one desirable ef-
| feet of making its wearer a very eff
cient clergyman. BY the aid Of his
| mysterious emblem-for there was
no other apparent cause-he became
man of awful power over souls that
| were in agony or sin. His converts
always regarded him with a dread
peculiar to themselves, affirming,
though but figuratively, that before
he brought them to celestial light they
| had been with him behind the black
| veil. It's gloom, indeed enabled him
to sympathize with all dark affec-
tions. Dying sinners cried aloud for
Mr.. Hooper and would not yield
their breath until he appeared,
though ever, as he stopped to whis-
per consolation, they shuddered at
the yelled face so near their own.
Such were the terrors Of the black
veil even when death had barred his
visage. Strangers came long distances
to attend service at his church
with the mere idle purpose Of gaz-
ing at his figure because it was for
| hidden them to behold his face. But
many were made to quake ere they
departed. Once, during Governor
Belcher's administration, Mr.. Hooper
was appointed to preach the election
sermon. Covered with his black veil
he stood before the chief magistrate.
the council and the representatives,
and wrought so deep an impression
that the legislative measures of that
year were characterized by all the
gloom and piety Of our earliest an
cestral sway.
In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a
long life, irreproachable in outward
act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicious;
kind and loving, though unloved
and dimly feared; man apart from
men, Stunned in their health and JOY
but ever summoned to their aid In
mortal anguish. AS years wore on,
shedding their SHOWS above his sable
veil, he acquired a name throughout
New England churches and they
called him Father Hooper. Nearly
all of his parishioners who were of
mature age when he was settled had
been borne away by many funeral;
he had one congregation in the church
and a more crowded one in the
church-yard; and, having wrought 80
late to the evening and done his
work so we'll, it was now good Faith
er Hooper's turn to rest.
Several persons were visible by the
| shaded candle light in the death