| "Of
the two, reverend sir," said the voice
like the deacon's, "I had rather miss
an ordination dinner than to-night's meeting.
They tell me that some of our community are
to be here from Falmouth and beyond, and
others from Connecticut and Rhode Island,
besides several of the Indian powwows, who,
after their fashion, know almost as much
deviltry as the best of us. Moreover, there
is a goodly young woman to be taken into
communion."
"Mighty well, Deacon Gookin!" replied
the solemn old tones of the minister. "Spur
up, or we shall be late. Nothing can be
done, you know, until I get on the ground."
The hoofs clattered again; and the voices,
talking so strangely in the empty air,
passed on through the forest, where no
church had ever been gathered or solitary
Christian prayed. Whither, then, could
these holy men be journeying so deep into
the heathen wilderness? Young Goodman Brown
caught hold of a tree for support, being
ready to sink down on the ground, faint
and overburdened with the heavy sickness
of his heart. He looked up to the sky,
doubting whether there really was a heaven
above him. Yet there was the blue arch,
and the stars brightening in it.
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