The House of the Seven Gables

, the elephant, the camel, the dromedaries, and the locomotive. Having expended his private fortune, on the two preceding days, in the purchase of t

experience with the prophet of Nineveh, immediately began his progress down the same red pathway of fate whither so varied a caravan had preceded him. This remarkable urchin, in truth, was the very emblem of old F

d mumbled something to Phoebe, which, as the whale was b

y, my little fel

s more distinctly, "how Old Maid Pyncheon'

at this sudden explanation of the relationship between Hepzi

ng much of his time in the street. so soon learns to throw over his features, however unintelligent in thems

f his boots. His dark, square countenance, with its almost shaggy depth of eyebrows, was naturally impressive, and would, perhaps, have been rather stern, had not the gentleman considerately taken upon himself to mitigate the harsh effect by a look of exceeding good-humor and benevolence. Owing, however, to a somewhat massive accumulation of animal substance about the lower region of his face, the look was, perhaps, unctuous rather than spiritual, and had, so to speak, a kind of fleshly effulgence, not altogether so satisfactor

e grew as intense as if he had set his heart on counteracting the whole gloom of the atmosphere (besides any moral gloom pertaining to Hepzibah and her inmates) by the unassisted light of his countenanc

an, would have been gruff, but, by dint of careful training, was now sufficiently agreeable -"I was not aware th

sumption (for, civil as the gentleman was, he evidently took her to be a young

d; for, unless I am sadly mistaken, you are my own little kinswoman likewise! Let me see - Mary?- Dolly?- Phoebe?- yes, Phoebe is the name! Is it possible that you are Phoebe Pyncheon, only child o

f kissing the empty air. It was a modern parallel to the case of Ixion embracing a cloud, and was so much the more ridiculous as the Judge prided himself on eschewing all airy matter, and never mistaking a shadow for a substance. The truth was - and it is Phoebe's only excuse - that, although Judge Pyncheon's glowing benignity might not be absolutely unpleasant to the feminine beholder, with the width of a street, or even an ordinary-sized room, interposed between, yet it became quite too intense, when this dark, full-fed physiognomy (so roughly bearded, too, tha

r the difference of scale, as that betwixt a landscape under a broad sunshine and just before a thunder-storm; not tha

if there were nothing softer in him than a rock, nor milder than the east wind! I m

d, the settled temper of his life? And not merely so, but was it hereditary in him, and transmitted down, as a precious heirloom, from that bearded ancestor, in whose picture both the expression and, to a singular degree, the features of the modern Judge were shown as by a kind of prophecy? A deeper philosopher than Phoebe might have found something ver

rself quite overpowered by the sultry, dog-day heat, as it were, of benevolence, which this excellent man diffused out of his great heart into

much, my little cousin! You are a good child, and know how to take care of yourself. A y

ying to laugh the matter off,

founder of the House of the Seven Gables, and who had died so strangely in it - had now stept into the shop. In these days of off-hand equipment, the matter was easily enough arranged. On his arrival from the other world, he had merely found it necessary to spend a quarter of an hour at a barber's, who had trimmed down the Puritan's full beard into a pair of grizzled whiskers, the

ect of animal substance, and as favored with a remarkable degree of fundamental development, well adapting him for the judicial bench, we conceive that the modern Judge Pyncheon, if weighed in the same balance with his ancestor, would have required at least an old-fashioned fifty-six to keep the scale in equilibrio. Then the Judge's face had lost the ruddy English hue that showed its warmth through all the duskiness of the Colonel's weather-beaten cheek, and had taken a sallow shade, the established complexion of his countrymen. If we mistake not, moreover, a certain quality of nervousness had become more or less manifest, even in so solid a specimen of Pur

s he holds a place upon its page, assail the consistency and uprightness of his character. So also, as regards the Judge Pyncheon of to-day, neither clergyman, nor legal critic, nor inscriber of tombstones, nor historian of general or local politics, would venture a word against this eminent person's sincerity as a Christian, or respectability as a man, or integrity as a judge, or courage and faithfulness as the often-tried representative of his political party. But, besides these cold, formal, and empty words of the chisel that inscribes, the voice that speaks

glowed like a household fire in the drawing-rooms of his private acquaintance. The Puritan - if not belied by some singular stories, murmured, even at this day, under the narrator's breath - had fallen into certain transgressions to which men of his great animal development, whatever their faith or principles, must continue liable, until they put off impurity, along with the gross earthly substance that involves it. We must not stain our page with any contemporary scandal, to a similar purport, that may have been whispered against the Judge. The Puritan, again, an autocrat in his own household, had worn out three wives, and, merely

es. We shall only add, therefore, that the Puritan - so, at least, says chimney-corner tradition, which often preserves traits of character with marvellous fidelity - was bold, imperious, relentless, crafty; laying his purposes deep, and following them out w

pular notion, that this miraculous blood might now and then be heard gurgling in their throats. The latter scandal - as became a person of sense, and, more especially, a member of the Pyncheon family - Phoebe had set down for the absurdity which it unquestionably was. But ancient superstitions, after being steeped in human hearts and embodied in human breath, and passing from lip to ear in manifold repetition, through a series of generations, become imbued with an effect of homely truth. The smoke of the domestic hearth has scented them through and through. By long transmission among ho

le to show her discomposure to the individual most concerned in it. But the incident chimed in so oddly with her

said Judge Pyncheon, giving her one of his

with a little laugh of vexation at herself. "But perhaps y

Phoebe, does not agree with your good, wholesome country habits. Or has anything happened to disturb you?- anything remarkable in Cousin Hepzibah's family?-

elieve to be Cousin Hepzibah's brother. I am afraid (but you, sir, will know better than I) that he is not quite in his sound senses; but so mild and quiet he seems to

when we were boys and young men together, I had a great affection for him, and still feel a tender interest in all his concerns.

erved Phoebe, "can hav

a very proper regard for the good name of the family with which she connected herself. Believe the best you can of this unfortunate person, and hope the best! It is a rule which Christians should always follow, in

uct the entrance of so affectionate a kinsman into the private regions of the house. "Her brother seemed to be just fa

with the vivacity of a person whose movements unconsciously answer to her thought

ry cousin put herself to the trouble of announcing me!"- in these latter words, by the bye, there were symptoms of a change from his sudden harshness into his previous benignity of manner. "I am at home here, Phoebe, you must recollect, and you are the stranger. I wi

an enchanted beauty. The habitual scowl of her brow was undeniably too fierce, at this moment, to pass itself off on the innocent score of near-sightedness; and it was bent on Judge Pyncheon in a way that seemed to confound, if not alarm him, so inadequately had he estimated the moral force of a deeply grounded antipathy. She made a repelli

roach his cousin with outstretched hand; adopting the sensible precaution, however, to cover his advance with a smile, so broad and sultry, that, had it been only half as warm as it looked, a t

had yesterday. I have lost no time in hastening to offer any assistance in my power towards making Clifford comfortable. He belongs to us all. I know how much he requires - how much he used to require - with his delicate t

uivering too painfully to allow of

se. Come at once to my house. The country air, and all the conveniences - I may say luxuries - that I have gathered about me, will do wonders for him. And you and I, dear Hepzibah, will consult

g up to Judge Pyncheon, and giving him, of her own accord, the kiss from which she had so recently shrunk away. It was quite otherwise wit

tated to utter more than an abrupt s

is matter. I stand here with an open heart, willing and anxious to receive yourself and Clifford into it. Do not refuse my good offices - my earnest propositions for your welfare! They are such, in all respects, as

lifford," said Hepziba

er resources? Nay, I suspected as much! Take care, Hepzibah, take care! Clifford is on the brink of as black

s so much terror and agitation in her heart. But Judge Pyncheon's evident purpose of forcing a passage was interrupted by a voice from the inn

our knees to him! Kiss his feet! Entreat him not to

a red fire kindled in his eyes, and he made a quick pace forward, with something inexpressibly fierce and grim darkening forth, as it were, out of the whole man. To know Judge Pyncheon was to see him at that moment. After such a revelation, let him smile with what sultriness he would, he could much

ble to appreciate them. He will await their better mood, and hold himself as ready to assist them then as at this moment. As he draws back from the door, an all-comprehensive benignity blazes from his visage,

hink better of me. Of course, our poor Clifford being in so unhappy a state of mind, I cannot think of urging an interview at present. But I shall watch over his welfare as if he were my own beloved brother; nor d

nd elevated station, by a free and hearty manner towards those who knew him; putting off the more of his dignity in due proportion with the humbleness of the man whom he saluted, and thereby proving a haughty consciousness of his advantages as irrefragably as if he had marched forth preceded by

deadly white, and, staggering towards Phoebe,

fe! Shall I never, never have the courage - will my voice never

asked Phoebe. "Yet his o

alk to Clifford! Amuse and keep him quiet! It would disturb him wretchedly to see m

im, orderly, and limit-loving class, in which we find our little country-girl. Dispositions more boldly speculative may derive a stern enjoyment from the discovery, since there must be evil in the world, that a high man is as likely to grasp his share of it as a low one. A wider scope of view, and a deeper insight, may see rank, dignity, and station, all proved illusory, so far as regards their claim to human reverence, and yet not feel as if the u