my kinsman major Molineux by Nathaniel Hogwart this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org reading by Matt Burrard my kinsmen major Mollie no after the kings of Great Britain had assumed the right of appointing the colonial governors the measures of the latter seldom met with the ready and generous approbation which had been paid to those of their predecessors under the original charters the people looked with most jealous scrutiny to the exercise of power which did not emanate from themselves and they usually rewarded their rulers with slender gratitude for the compliances by which in softening their instructions from beyond the sea they had incurred the reprehend of those who gave them the annals of Massachusetts Bay will inform us that of six governors in the space of about 40 years from the surrender of the old charter under james ii to were imprisoned by a popular insurrection a third as hutchinson inclines to believe was driven from the promise by the whizzing of a musket ball aimed forth in the opinion of the same historian who hastened to his grave by continual bickerings with a House of Representatives and the remaining two as well as their successors till the revolution were favored with few and brief intervals a peaceful sway the inferior members of the court party in times of high political excitement led scarcely a more desirable life these remarks may serve as a preface to the following adventures which chanced upon a summer night not far from of hundred years ago the reader in order to avoid a long and dry detail of colonial affairs is requested to dispense with an account of the terrain of circumstances that had caused much temporary inflammation of the popular mind it was near 9 o'clock of a moonlit evening when a boat crossed the ferry with a single passenger who had obtained his conveyance at that unusual hour by the promise of an extra fare while he stood on the landing place searching in either pocket for the means of fulfilling his agreement the ferryman lifted a lantern by the aid of which and the newly risen moon he took a very accurate survey of the strangers figure he was a youth of barely eighteen years evidently country bred and now as it should seem upon his first visit to town he was glad and of course great coat well worn but an excellent repair his undergarments were durably constructed of leather and fitted tight to a pair of serviceable and well shaped limbs his stockings a blue yarn were the incontrovertible work of a mother or a sister and on his head was a three-cornered hat which and his better days had perhaps sheltered the graver brow of the lads father under his left arm was a heavy cudgel formed of an oak sapling and retaining a part of the hardened root and his equipment was completed by a wallet not so abundantly stocked as to incommode the vigorous shoulders on which it hung brown curly hair well shaped features and bright cheerful eyes were nature's gifts and worth all that art could have done for his adornment the youth one of whose names was Robin finally drew from his pocket the half of a little province bill of five shillings which in the depreciation in that sort of currency did but satisfy the Ferryman's demand with a surplus of a singular piece of parchment valued at three pence he then walked forward into the town with as like a step as if his days journey had not already exceeded 30 miles and with as eager an eye as if he were entering London City instead of the little metropolis of an New England colony before Robin had proceeded for however it occurred to him that he knew not whether to direct his steps so he paused and looked up and down the narrow street scrutinizing the small and mean wooden buildings that were scattered on either side this low hovel cannot be my kinsman's dwelling thought he nor yonder old house where the moonlight enters at the broken casement and truly I see none hereabouts that might be worthy of him it would have been wise to inquire my way of the ferryman and doubtless he would have gone with me and earned a shilling from the major for his pains but the next man I meet will do as well he resumed his walk and was glad to perceive with the street now became wider and the house is more respectable in their appearance he soon discerned a figure moving on moderately in advance and hastened his steps to overtake it as Robin drew nigh he saw that the passenger was a man in years with a full Perry wig of gray hair a wide skirted coat of dark cloth and some stockings rolled above his knees he carried a long and polished cane which he struck down perpendicularly before him at every step and at regular intervals he uttered two successive hymns of a peculiarly solemn and suppo Kuril intonation having made these observations Robin laid hold of the skirt of the old man's coat just when the light from the oven door and windows of a barbershop fell upon both their figures good evening to you honored sir said he making a low bow and still retaining his hold of the skirt I pray you tell me whereabouts is the dwelling of my kinsman major Melina the youth question was uttered very low and one of the barbers whose razor was descending on a well soaked Chen and another who was dressing a ramela's wig left their occupations and came to the door the citizen in the meantime turned a long favored countenance upon Robin and answered him in a tone of excessive anger and annoyance is to support all hymns however broke into the very center of his rebuke with most a singular effect like a thought of the cold grave of true ting among wrathful passions let go of my garment fellow I tell you I know not the man you speak of what I have authority I have in him Authority and if this be the respect usual for your betters your feet shall be brought acquainted with the stalks by daylight tomorrow morning Robin released the old man's skirt and hastened away pursued by an ill-mannered roar of laughter from the barbershop he was at first considerably surprised by the result of his question but being a shrewd youth soon thought himself able to account for the mystery this is some country representative was his conclusion who has never seen the inside of my kinsman's door and Lex the breeding to answer a stranger Sibley the man is old or verily I might be tempted to turn back and smite him on the nose ah Robin Robin even the barbers boys laugh at you for choosing such a guide you will be wiser in time friend Robin he now became entangled and as a session of crooked and narrow streets which crossed each other and meandered at no great distance from the waterside the smell of tar was obvious to his nostrils the mass of vessels pierced the moonlight above the tops of the buildings and the numerous signs which Robin paused to read informed him that he was near the centre of business but the streets were empty the shops were closed and lights were visible only in the second stories of a few dwelling houses Epling on the corner of a narrow lane through which he was passing he beheld the broad countenance of a British hero swinging before the door of an end whence proceeded the voices of many guests the casement of one of the lower windows was thrown back and a very thin curtain permitted Robin to distinguish a party at supper run a well furnished table the fragrance of the Good Cheer steamed forth into the outer air and the youth could not fail to recollect but the last remnant of his travelling stock of provision had yielded to his morning appetite and that noon had found and left him generous oh that a parchment three penny might give me a right to sit down at yonder table said Robin with a sigh but the major will make me welcome to the best of his victuals so I will even step boldly in and enquire my way to his dwelling he entered the tavern and was guided by the murmur of voices and the fumes of tobacco to the public room it was a long and low apartment with oaken walls grown dark in the continual smoke and a floor which was thickly sanded but have no immaculate purity a number of persons the larger part of home appeared to be Mariners or in some way connected with the sea occupied the wooden benches or leather bottom two chairs conversing on various matters and occasionally lending their attention to some a topic of general interest three or four little groups were draining as many bowls of punch which the West India trade had long since made a familiar drink in the colony others who had the appearance of men who lived by regular and laborious handicraft preferred the insulated bless of an unshared rotation and became more taciturn under its influence nearly all in short events a predilection for the good creature in some of its various shapes for this is advice to which as fast days sermons of a hundred years ago will testify we have a long hereditary claim the only guest to whom Robins sympathies inclined him were two or three sheepish countrymen who are using the end somewhat after the fashion of a Turkish Caravan sorry they had gotten themselves into the darkest corner of the room and heedless of anak ocean-atmosphere were subbing on the bread of their own ovens and the bacon cured in their own chimney smoke but though Robin felt a sort of brotherhood with these strangers his eyes were attracted from them to a person who stood near the door holding whispered conversation with a group of ill-dressed associates his features were separately striking almost to grotesqueness and the whole face left a deep impression on the memory the four had bulged out into a double prominence with a veil between the nose came boldly forth in an irregular curve and its bridge was of more than the fingers breadth the eyebrows were deep and Shaggy and the eyes glowed beneath them like fire in a cave while Robin deliberated of whom to enquire respecting his kinsman's dwelling it was accosted by the innkeeper a little man in a stained white apron who had come to pay his professional welcome to the stranger being in the second generation from a French Protestant he seemed to have inherited the courtesy of his parent nation but no variety of circumstances was ever known to change his voice from the one shrill note in which he now addressed Robin from the country I presume sir said he with a profound bow that need to congratulate you on your arrival and trust you intend a long stay with us fine town here sir beautiful buildings and much that may interest a stranger may I hope for the honor of your commands in respect to supper the man sees a family likeness the rogue has guessed that I am related to the major buck Robin who had hitherto experienced little superfluous civility all eyes were now turned on the country lad standing at the door in his worn three-cornered hat gray coat leather breeches and blue yarn stockings leaning on an oaken cudgel and bearing a wallet on his back Robin replied to the courteous innkeeper with such an assumption of confidence as befitted the majors relative my honest friend he said I shall make it a point to patronize your house on some occasion when here he could not help lowering his voice when I may have more than a parchment treatments in my pocket my present business continued he speaking with lofty confidence is merely to inquire my way to the dwelling of my kinsman major Molineux there was a sudden and general movement and realm which Robin interpreted as expressing the eagerness of each individual to become his guide but the innkeeper turned his eyes to a written paper on the wall which he read or seemed to read with occasional recurrences to the young man's figure what have we here said he breaking his speech into little dry fragments left the house of the subscriber bound and servant ezekiah Mudge had on when he went away grey coat leather breeches master's third best hat one-pound currency reward to whosoever shall launch him in any jail of the Providence letter trudged boy better trudge Robin had begun to draw his hand towards the letter end of the oak cudgel but a strange hostility in every countenance induced him to relinquish his purpose of breaking the courteous innkeepers head as he turned to leave the room he encountered his nearing glance from the bulb featured personage whom he had before noticed and no sooner was he beyond the door then he heard a general laugh in which the innkeeper's voice might be distinguished like the dropping of small stones into a kettle now is it not strange that Robin with his usual screwed miss is it not strange that the confession of an empty pocket should outweigh the name of my kinsman major Milano oh if I had one of those grinning rascals in the woods where I and my oak sapling grew up together I would teach him that my arm is heavy though my purse the alight on turning the corner of the narrow lane Robin found himself in a spacious Street with an unbroken line of lofty houses on each side and a steeple building at the upper end whence the ringing of a bell announced the hour of nine the light of the moon and the lamps from the numerous shop windows discovered people promenade on the pavement and amongst them Robin had hoped to recognize his hitherto inscrutable relative the result of his former inquiries made him unwilling to hazard another in a scene of such publicity and he determined to walk slowly and silently up the street thrusting his face close to that of every elderly gentleman in search of the majors liniments in his progress Robin encountered many gay and gallant figures embroidered garments of showy colors enormous parry wigs gold-laced hats and silver Hilton swords glided past him and dazzle his optics troubled youths imitators of the European fine gentlemen of the period fraud jauntily along half dancin to the fashionable tones which they hummed and making poor Robin ashamed of his quiet and natural gait at length after many pauses to examine the gorgeous display of goods in the shop windows and after suffering some rebukes for the impertinence of his scrutiny into people's faces the majors kinsman found himself near the steeple building still unsuccessful in his search and yet however he had seen only one side of the thronged Street Sir Robin crossed and continued the same sort of Inquisition down the opposite pavement with stronger hopes than the philosophers sinking in honest man but with no better fortune he arrived about midway towards the lower end from which his course began when he overheard the approach of someone who struck down a cane on the flood stones at every step uttering at regular intervals to sepulcro hems mercy on us quoth Robin recognizing the sound turning a corner which chance to be closed at his right hand he hastened to pursue his researches in some other part of the town his patience now was wearing low and he seemed to feel more fatigued from his rambles since he crossed the ferry then from his journey of several days on the other side hunger also pleaded loudly within him and Robin began to balance the propriety of demanding violently and with lifted cudgel the necessary guidance from the first solitary passenger whom he should meet while a resolution to this effect was gaining strength he entered a street of mean appearance on either side of which a row of ilk built houses was straggling towards the harbour the moonlight fell upon no passenger along the whole extent but in the third domicile which Robin passed there was a half open door and his keen glance detected a woman's garment within My Luck may be better here said he to himself accordingly he approached the doors and beheld it shut closer as he did so yet an open space remained so far soon for the fair occupant to observe the stranger without a corresponding display on her part all that Robin could discern was a strip of scarlet petticoat and the occasional sparkle of an eye as if the moonbeams were trembling on some bright thing pretty mistress or I may call her so with a good conscience thought the truth youth says I know nothing too contrary my sweet pretty mistress will you be kind enough to tell me whereabouts I must seek the dwelling of my kinsman major Mullen Oh Robins boys was plaintiff and winning and the female seeing nothing to be shunned in the handsome country youth thrust opened the door and came forth into the moonlight she was a dainty little figure with a white neck round arms and a slender waist at the extremity of which her scarlet petticoat jutted out over a hoop as if she were stemming in a balloon moreover her face was oval and pretty her hair dark beneath the little cap and her bright eyes possessed us live freedom which triumphed over those of Robin major molyneux dwells here said this fair woman now her voice was the sweetest Robin had heard that night yet he could not help doubting whether that sweet voice spoke gospel truth he looked up and down the Main Street and then surveyed the house before which they stood it was a small dark edifice of two storeys the second of which projected over the lower floor and the front apartment had the aspect of a shop for petty commodities now truly I am in luck replied Robin cunningly and so indeed is my kinsman the major and having so pretty a housekeeper but I prithee troubled him too stuck to the door I will deliver him a message from his friends in the country and then go back to my lodgings at the end nay the major has been Abed this hour or more said the lady of the Scarlet petticoat and it would be to a little purpose to disturb him tonight seeing his evening draw was it the strongest but he is a kind-hearted man and it would be as much as my life's worth to let a kinsman of his turn away from the door you are the good old gentleman's Barry picture and I could swear that was his rainy weather hot also he has garments very much resembling those leathers small clothes but come in I pray for I bid you hearty welcome in his name so saying the fair and hospitable Dame took our hero by the hand and the touch was light and the force was gentleness and though Robin red in her eyes what he did not hear in her words yet the slender-waisted woman in the Scarlet petticoat proved stronger than the athletic country youth she had drawn his half willing footsteps nearly to the threshold when the opening of a door in the neighbourhood startled the majors housekeeper and leaving the majors kinsmen she vanished speedily into her own domicile a heavy yawn preceded the appearance of a man who liked the moonshine of Pyramus and Thisbe carried a lantern needlessly aiding his sister luminary in the heavens as he walked sleepily up the street he turned his broad dull face on Robin and displayed a long staff spun at the end home vagabond home said the watchman in accents that seemed to fall asleep as soon as they were uttered home I'll set you in the stocks by peep of day this is the second hint of the kind thought Robin I wish they would end my difficulties by setting me there tonight nevertheless the youth felt an instinctive antipathy towards the guardian of midnight order which it first prevented him from asking his usual question but just when the man was about to vanish behind the corner Robin resolved not to lose the opportunity and shouted lustily after him I say friend will you guide me to the that my kinsmen major Milano the watchman made no reply but turned the corner and was gone and yet Robin seemed to hear the sound of drowsy laughter stealing along the solitary Street at that moment also a pleasant titter saluted him from the open window above his head he looked up and copped the sparkle of a saucy eye a round arm beckoned to him and next he heard light footsteps descending the staircase with them but Robin being of the household of a New England clergyman was a good youth as well as a shrewd one so he resisted temptation and fled away he now roamed desperately and at random through the town almost ready to believe that his Bell was on him like that by which a wizard of his country had once kept three pursuers laundering a whole winter night within twenty paces of the cottage which they sought the streets lay before him strange and desolate and the lights were extinguished in almost every house twice however little parties of men among whom Robin distinguished individuals and outlandish attire came hurrying along but though on both occasions they paused to address him such intercourse did not at all enlighten his perplexity they did but utter a few words in some language of which Robin knew nothing and perceiving his inability to answer bestowed a curse upon him in plain English and hastened away finally the lab determined to knock at the door of every mansion that might appear worthy to be occupied by his kinsmen trusting that perseverance would overcome the fatality that had hitherto hoarded him firm in this result he was passing beneath the walls of a church which formed the corner of two streets when as he turned into the shade of its steeple he encountered a bulky stranger muffled and a close look the man was proceeding with the speed of earnest business but Robin planted himself full before him holding the oak cudgel with both hands across his body as a bar to further passage halt honest man and answer me a question said he very resolutely tell me this instant whereabouts is a dwelling of my kinsman major mala no keep your tongue between your teeth fool and let me pass said a deep gruff voice which Robin portly remembered let me pass or I'll strike you to the earth no no neighbor cried Robin flourishing his cudgel and then thrusting its larger end close to the man's muffled face no no I'm not the fool you take me for nor do you pass till I have an answer to my question where abouts is a dwelling of my kinsman major mala no the stranger instead of attempting to force his passage step back into the moonlight unmuffled his face and stared full and to that of Robin watch here an hour and major Milano will pass by said he Robin gazed with dismay and astonishment on the unprecedented physiognomies of the speaker the forehead with its double prominence the broad hooked nose the shaggy eyebrows and fiery eyes were those which he had noticed at the end but the man's complexion had undergone a singular or more properly a two-fold change one side of the face blazed an intense red while the other was black as midnight the division line being in the broad bridge of the nose and a mouth which seemed to extend from ear to ear was black or red in contrast to the color of the cheek the effect was as if to individual Devils a fiend of fire and a fiend of darkness that United themselves to form this infernal visit the stranger grinned in Robins face muffled his parti-colored features and out of sight in a moment strange things we travelers see ejaculated Robin he seated himself however upon the steps of the church door resolving to wait the appointed time for his kinsman a few moments were consumed in philosophical speculations upon the species of men who had just loved him but having settled this point shrewdly rationally and satisfactorily he was compelled to look elsewhere for his amusement and first he threw his eyes along the street it was a more respectable appearance than most of those into which he had wandered and a moon creating like the imaginative power of beautiful strangeness in familiar objects gave something of romance to a scene that might not have possessed it in the light of day the irregular and often quaint architecture of the houses some of whose rooms were broken into numerous little peaks while others ascended steep and narrow into a single point and others again were square the pure snow-white of some of their complexions the age of darkness of others and the thousand spark lines reflected from bright substances in the walls of many these matters engaged Robin's attention for a while and then began to grow wearisome next endeavor to define the forms of distant objects starting away with almost ghostly in distinctness just as his eye appeared to grasp them and finally it took a minut survey of an edifice which stood on the opposite side of the street directly in front of the church door where he was stationed it was a large square mansion distinguished from its neighbors by a balcony which rested on tall pillars and by an elaborate gothic window communicating their width perhaps this is the very house I have been seeking thought Robin then Stroeve to speed away the time by listening to a murmur which swept continuously along the street yet was scarcely audible except to an unaccustomed air like his it was a low dull dreamy sound compounded of many noises each of which was a too great a distance to be separately heard Robin marveled at the snore of a sleeping town and marveled more whenever his continuity was broken by now and then a distant shout apparently loud where it are originated but altogether it was a sleep inspiring sound and to shake off its drowsy influence Robin arose inclined a window frame that he might view the interior of the church there the moonbeams came trembling in and fell down upon the deserted pews and extended along the quiet aisles a fainter yet more awful radiance was hovering around the pulpit and one solitary Ray had dared to rest upon the open page of the great Bible at nature in that deep hour become a worshipper in the house which man had built it or was that heavenly light the visible sanctity of the place visible because no earthly and impure feet were within the walls the scene made Robin's heart sugar with a sensation of loneliness stronger than he had ever felt in the remotest depths of his native woods so he turned away and sat down again before the door there were graves around the church and now an uneasy thought obtrude it into Robins breasts what if the object of his search which had been so often and so strangely thwarted were all the time moldering in his shroud what if his kinsmen should light through yonder gate and nod and smile damned in dimly passing by oh that any breathing thing were here with me said Robin recalling his thoughts from this uncomfortable track he sent them over Forest Hill and stream and attempted to imagine how that evening of ambiguity and weariness had been spent by his father's household he pictured them assembled at the door beneath the tree the great old tree which had been spared for its huge twisted trunk and vulnerable shade and when a thousand leafy brethren fell there at the going down of the Summer Sun it was his father's custom to perform domestic worship that the neighbors might come and join with him like brothers of the family and that the wave ferryman might pause to drink at that fountain and keep his heart pure by refreshing the memory of home robbing distinguished the seat of every individual of the little audience he saw the good man in the midst holding the scriptures in the golden light that fell from the western clouds he beheld him close the book and all rose up to pray he heard the old Thanksgivings for daily mercies the old supplications for the continuance to which he had so often listened in weariness but which were know among his dear remembrances he perceived the slight inequality of his father's voice when he came to speak of the absent one he noted how his mother turned her face to the broad and knotted trunk how his older brother scorned because the beard was rough upon his upper lip to permit his features to be moved how the younger sister drew down and low-hanging branch before her eyes and how the little one of all this sports had hitherto broken the decorum of the scene understood the prayer for her playmate and burst into clamorous grief then he saw them go in at the door and when Robin would have entered also the latch tinkled into its place and he was excluded from his home am I here or there cried Robin starting for all at once when his thoughts had become visible audible in a dream the long wide solitary Street shona before him he aroused himself and endeavored to fix his attention steadily upon the large edifice which he had surveyed before but still his mind kept vibrating between fantasy and reality by turns the pillars of the balcony lengthened into the tall bare stems of pines Wendel down to human figures settled again into their truth shape and size and then commenced a new succession of changes for a single moment when he deemed himself awake he could have sworn that a village one which he seemed to remember yet could not absolutely name as his kinsman's was looking towards him from the gothic window a deeper sleep wrestled whip and nearly overcame him but fled at the sound of footsteps along the opposite pavement Robin rubbed his eyes discerned a man passing at the foot of the balcony and addressed him and allowed peevish and lamentable cry hello friend must I wait her all night for my kinsman major mama no the sleeping echoes awoke and answered the voice and the passenger barely able to discern a figure sitting in the oblique shade of the staple traversed the street to obtain a nearer view he was himself a gentleman in his prime of open intelligent cheerful and altogether free possessing countenance perceiving a country youth apparently homeless and without friends he accosted him in a tone of real kindness which had become strange to Robins ears well my good lad why are you sitting here inquired he can I be of service to you in any way I'm afraid not sir replied Robin desponding Lee yet I shall take it kindly if you'll answer me a single question I've been searching half the night for one major molyneux now sir is there such a person in these parts or am I dreaming major Molineux the name is not altogether strange to me said the gentleman smiling have you any objection to telling me the nature of your business with him then Robin briefly related that his father was a clergyman settled on a small salary at a long distance back in the country and that he and major Milano were brothers children the major having inherited riches and acquired civil and military rank had visited his cousin in great pomp a year or two before had manifested much interest in Robin and an elder brother and being childless himself and thrown out hence respecting the future establishment of one of them in life the elder brother was destined to succeed to the farm which has bothered cultivated in the interval of sacred duties it was therefore determined that Robin should profit by his kinsman's generous intentions especially as he seemed to be rather the favorite and was thought to possess other necessary endowments for I have the name of being a shrewd youth observed Robin in this part of his story I doubt not you deserve it replied his new friend good-naturedly but pray proceed well sir being nearly 18 years old and well grown as you seen continued Robin drawing himself up to his full height I thought it had time to begin in the world so my mother and sister put me in handsome trim and my father gave me half the remnant of his last year's salary and five days ago I started for this place to pay the major a visit but would you believe it sir I crossed the ferry a little after dark and have yet found nobody that would show me the way to his dwelling only an hour or two cents I was told to wait here and major Molineux would pass by can you describe the men who told you this inquired the gentleman oh he was a very favorite fellow sir I replied Robin with two great bumps on his forehead a hook nose fiery eyes and what struck me as his strangest his face was at two different colors do you happen to know such a man sir not intimately answered the stranger but a chance to meet him a little time previous to your stopping me I believe you may trust his word and that the major will very shortly pass through the street in the meantime as I have a singular curiosity to witness your meaning I will sit down here upon the steps and bear you company he seated himself accordingly and soon engaged his companion in animated discourse it was but a brief continuance however for a noise of shouting which had long been remotely audible drew so much nearer that Robin inquired its cause what may be the meaning of this uproar Asti truly if your tone be always as noisy I shall find little sleep while I am an inhabitant why indeed friend Robin there do appear to be three or four riotous bellows abroad tonight replied the gentleman you must not expect all the stillness of your native woods here in our streets but the watch will shortly be at the hills of these lads and I and set them in the stocks by peep of day interrupted Robin recollecting his own encounter with the drowsy Lantern bearer but dear sir yes I may trust my ears an army of Watchmen would never make head against such a multitude of rioters there were at least a thousand voices went up to make that one shout sit down again may not a man have several voices Robin as well as two complexions said his friend perhaps a man may but heaven forbid that a woman should responded the shrewd you were thinking of the seductive tones of the majors housekeeper the sounds of a trumpet and some neighboring Street now became so evident and continual that Robin's curiosity was strongly excited in addition to the show he heard frequent bursts from many instruments of discord and a wild and confused laughter filled up the intervals Robin rose from the steps and looked wistfully toward a point whither people seemed to be hastening surely some prodigious merrymaking is going on exclaimed he I have left very little since I left home sir and should be sorry to lose an opportunity shall we step round the corner by that darkish house and take our share the fun sit down good Robin replied the gentleman laying his hand on the skirt of the gray coat you forget that we must wait here for your kinsman and there is reason to believe that he will pass by in the course of a very few moments the near approach of the uproar had now disturbed the neighborhood windows flew open on all sides and many heads in the attire of the pillow and confused by sleep suddenly broken were protruded to the gaze of whoever had leisure to observe them eager voices hailed each other from house to house all demanding the explanation which not a soul can get half dressed men hurried towards the unknown commotion stumbling as they went over the stone steps that thrusts themselves into the narrow foot walk the shouts the laughter and the toneless pray the Antipodes of music came on words with increasing dem tells scattered individuals and then denser bodies began to appear round a corner at the distance of a hundred yards will you recognize your kinsman if he passes in this crowd inquired the gentleman indeed I can't warrant it sir but I'll take my stand here and keep a bright lookout answered Robin descending to the outer edge of the pavement a muddy stream of people now emptied into the street and came rolling slowly towards the church a single horseman wheeled the corner in the midst of them and closed behind him came a band of fearful wind instruments sending forth a fresher discord now that no intervening buildings kept it from the ear then a redder light disturbed the moonbeams and a dense multitude of torches shown along the street concealing by the glare whatever object they illuminated the single horsemen cloud in a military dress and barring a drawn sword rode onward as the leader and by his fierce and variegated countenance appeared like war personified the red of one cheek was an emblem of fire and sword the blackness of the other they token the morning that attends them in his train were wild figures in the Indian dress and many fantastic shapes without a model giving the whole March a visionary air as if a dream had broken forth from some feverish brain and were sweeping visibly through the midnight streets a mass of people inactive except as applauding spectators and the procession end and several women ran along the sidewalk piercing the confusion of heavier sounds with their shrill voices of mirth or terror the double faced fellow has his eye upon me muttered Robin with an indefinite but an uncomfortable idea that he was himself to bear a part in the pageantry the leader turned himself in the saddle and fixed his glance full upon the country youth as the steed went slowly by when Robin had freed his eyes from those fiery ones the musicians were passing before him and the torches were close at hand but the unsteady brightness of the ladder formed a veil which he could not penetrate the rattling of wheels over the stones sometimes found its way to his ear and Confused traces of a human form appeared at intervals and then melted into the vivid light a movement more and the leader thundered a command to halt the trumpets vomited a horrid breath and then held their peace the shots and laughter the people died away and there remained only a universal allied to silence right before Robyn's eyes was an uncovered cart there the torches blazed the brightest there the moon shone out like day and there in tar and feather II dignity said his kinsman major Malin oh he was an elderly man of large and majestic person and strong square features the token in a steady soul but study as it was his enemies had found means to shake it his face was pale as death and far more ghastly the broad forehead was contracted in his agony so that his eyebrows formed one grizzled line his eyes were red and wild and the foam hung white upon his quivering lip his whole frame was agitated by a quick and continual tremor which is pride stroked quell even in those circumstances of overwhelming humiliation but perhaps the bitterest pang of all was when his eyes met those of Robin for he evidently knew him on the instant as the youth stood witnessing the foul disgrace of a head grown gray in honor they stared at each other in silence and Robin's knees shook and his hair bristled with a mixture of pity and terror soon however a bewildering excitement began to seize upon his mind the preceding Adventures of the night the unexpected appearance of the crowd the torches the confused den and the hush that followed the spectre of his kinsmen reviled by that great multitude all this and more than all a perception of tremendous ridicule in the whole scene affected him with a sort of mental inbreeding at that moment a voice of sluggish merriment saluted Robins ears he turned instinctively and just behind the corner of the church stood the lantern bearer rubbing his eyes and drowsily enjoying the lads amazement then he heard a peal of laughter like the ringing of silvery bells a woman twitched his arm a saucy I'm at his and he saw the lady of the Scarlet petticoat a sharp dry cotton nation appeal to his memory and standing on tiptoe in the crowd with his white apron over his head he beheld the courteous little innkeeper and lastly there sold over the heads of the multitude a great fraud laughs broken in the myths by two simple hymns thus ha ha ha ha ha the sound proceeded from the balcony of the opposite edifice and thither Robin turned his eyes in front of the Gothic window stood the old citizen wrapped in a white gown his great parry wig exchanged for a night cap which was thrust back from his forehead and his silk stockings hanging about his legs he supported himself on his polished cane in a fit of convulsive merriment which manifested itself on his solemn old features like a funny inscription on a tombstone then Robin seemed to hear the voices of the barbers of the guests of the end and of all who had made sport of him that night the contagion was spreading among the multitude when all at once it seized on Robin and he sent forth a shout of laughter that echoed through the street every man shook his sides every man emptied his lungs but Robin shout was the loudest there the clown spirits peeped from their silvery islands as the congregated mirth went roaring up the sky the man in the moon heard the fart bellow a ho both he the old Earth is frogs and tonight when there was a momentary calm and that tempestuous sea of sound the leader gave the sign the procession resumed its march on they went like fiends the throng in mockery have brought some dead potentate mighty no more but majestic still in his agony on they went in counterfeited pomp in senseless uproar in frenzied merriment trampling all on an old man's heart unswept the tumult and left the Sun Street behind well Robin are you dreaming inquired the gentleman laying his hand on the shoulder Robin started and withdrew his arm from the stone post to which he had instinctively clunked as a living stream rolled by him his cheek was somewhat pale and his eye not quite as lively as in the earlier part of the evening will you be kind enough to show me the way to the fairy said he after a moment's pause you have them adopted to a new subject of inquiry observed his companion with a smile why yes sir replied Robin rather dryly thanks to you and to my other friends I have at last met my Ken's mom and he will scarce desire to see my face again I began to grow weary of a town life sir will you show me the way to the ferry no my good friend Robin not tonight at least said the gentleman some few days hence if you wish it I will speed you on your journey or if you prefer to remain with us perhaps as you are a shrewd you may rise in the world without the help of your kinsmen matron mala no end of my kinsmen major mala no by Nathaniel Hawthorne