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+ <head>
+ <title>
+ The Project Gutenberg E-text of The White Old Maid, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
+ </title>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The White Old Maid (From "Twice Told Tales"), by
+Nathaniel Hawthorne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The White Old Maid (From "Twice Told Tales")
+
+Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
+
+Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9214]
+First Posted: August 23, 2003
+Last Updated: December 14, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHITE OLD MAID ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger and Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ TWICE TOLD TALES<br />
+ </h3>
+ <h2>
+ </h2>
+ <h3>
+ By Nathaniel Hawthorne<br />
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The moonbeams came through two deep and narrow windows, and showed a
+ spacious chamber, richly furnished in an antique fashion. From one
+ lattice, the shadow of the diamond panes was thrown upon the floor; the
+ ghostly light, through the other, slept upon a bed, falling between the
+ heavy silken curtains, and illuminating the face of a young man. But, how
+ quietly the slumberer lay! how pale his features! and how like a shroud
+ the sheet was wound about his frame! Yes; it was a corpse, in its
+ burial-clothes.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Suddenly, the fixed features seemed to move, with dark emotion. Strange
+ fantasy! It was but the shadow of the fringed curtain, waving betwixt the
+ dead face and the moonlight, as the door of the chamber opened, and a girl
+ stole softly to the bedside. Was there delusion in the moonbeams, or did
+ her gesture and her eye betray a gleam of triumph, as she bent over the
+ pale corpse-pale as itself&mdash;and pressed her living lips to the cold
+ ones of the dead? As she drew back from that long kiss, her features
+ writhed, as if a proud heart were fighting with its anguish. Again it
+ seemed that the features of the corpse had moved responsive to her own.
+ Still an illusion! The silken curtain had waved, a second time, betwixt
+ the dead face and the moonlight, as another fair young girl unclosed the
+ door, and glided, ghost-like, to the bedside. There the two maidens stood,
+ both beautiful, with the pale beauty of the dead between them. But she,
+ who had first entered, was proud and stately; and the other, a soft and
+ fragile thing.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Away!&rdquo; cried the lofty one. &ldquo;Thou hadst him living! The dead is mine!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Thine!&rdquo; returned the other, shuddering. &ldquo;Well hast thou spoken! The dead
+ is thine!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The proud girl started, and stared into her face, with a ghastly look. But
+ a wild and mournful expression passed across the features of the gentle
+ one; and, weak and helpless, she sank down on the bed, her head pillowed
+ beside that of the corpse, and her hair mingling with his dark locks. A
+ creature of hope and joy, the first draught of sorrow had bewildered her.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Edith!&rdquo; cried her rival.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Edith groaned, as with a sudden compression of the heart; and removing her
+ cheek from the dead youth&rsquo;s pillow, she stood upright, fearfully
+ encountering the eyes of the lofty girl.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Wilt thou betray me?&rdquo; said the latter, calmly.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Till the dead bid me speak, I will be silent,&rdquo; answered Edith. &ldquo;Leave us
+ alone together! Go, and live many years, and then return, and tell me of
+ thy life. He, too, will be here! Then, if thou tellest of sufferings more
+ than death, we will both forgive thee.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;And what shall be the token?&rdquo; asked the proud girl, as if her heart
+ acknowledged a meaning in these wild words.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;This lock of hair,&rdquo; said Edith, lifting one of the dark, clustering
+ curls, that lay heavily on the dead man&rsquo;s brow.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The two maidens joined their hands over the bosom of the corpse, and
+ appointed a day and hour, far, far in time to come, for their next meeting
+ in that chamber. The statelier girl gave one deep look at the motionless
+ countenance, and departed,&mdash;yet turned again and trembled, ere she
+ closed the door, almost believing that her dead lover frowned upon her.
+ And Edith, too! Was not her white form fading into the moonlight? Scorning
+ her own weakness, she went forth, and perceived that a negro slave was
+ waiting in the passage, with a wax light, which he held between her face
+ and his own, and regarded her, as she thought, with an ugly expression of
+ merriment. Lifting his torch on high, the slave lighted her down the
+ staircase, and undid the portal of the mansion. The young clergyman of the
+ town had just ascended the steps, and bowing to the lady, passed in
+ without a word.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Years, many years rolled on; the world seemed new again, so much older was
+ it grown, since the night when those pale girls had clasped their hands
+ across the bosom of the corpse. In the interval, a lonely woman had passed
+ from youth to extreme age, and was known by all the town, as the &ldquo;Old Maid
+ in the Winding-Sheet.&rdquo; A taint of insanity had affected her whole life,
+ but so quiet, sad, and gentle, so utterly free from violence, that she was
+ suffered to pursue her harmless fantasies, unmolested by the world, with
+ whose business or pleasures she had naught to do. She dwelt alone, and
+ never came into the daylight, except to follow funerals. Whenever a corpse
+ was borne along the street, in sunshine, rain, or snow, whether a pompous
+ train, of the rich and proud, thronged after it, or few and humble were
+ the mourners, behind them came the lonely woman, in a long, white garment,
+ which the people called her shroud. She took no place among the kindred or
+ the friends, but stood at the door to hear the funeral prayer, and walked
+ in the rear of the procession, as one whose earthly charge it was to haunt
+ the house of mourning, and be the shadow of affliction, and see that the
+ dead were duly buried. So long had this been her custom, that the
+ inhabitants of the town deemed her a part of every funeral, as much as the
+ coffin pall, or the very corpse itself, and augured ill of the sinner&rsquo;s
+ destiny, unless the &ldquo;Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet&rdquo; came gliding, like a
+ ghost, behind. Once, it is said, she affrighted a bridal party, with her
+ pale presence, appearing suddenly in the illuminated hall, just as the
+ priest was uniting a false maid to a wealthy man, before her lover had
+ been dead a year. Evil was the omen to that marriage! Sometimes she stole
+ forth by moonlight, and visited the graves of venerable Integrity, and
+ wedded Love, and virgin Innocence, and every spot where the ashes of a
+ kind and faithful heart were mouldering. Over the hillocks of those
+ favored dead would she stretch out her arms, with a gesture, as if she
+ were scattering seeds; and many believed that she brought them from the
+ garden of Paradise; for the graves, which she had visited, were green
+ beneath the snow, and covered with sweet flowers from April to November.
+ Her blessing was better than a holy verse upon the tombstone. Thus wore
+ away her long, sad, peaceful, and fantastic life, till few were so old as
+ she, and the people of later generations wondered how the dead had ever
+ been buried, or mourners had endured their grief, without the &ldquo;Old Maid in
+ the Winding Sheet.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Still, years went on, and still she followed funerals, and was not yet
+ summoned to her own festival of death. One afternoon, the great street of
+ the town was all alive with business and bustle, though the sun now gilded
+ only the upper half of the church-spire, having left the housetops and
+ loftiest trees in shadow. The scene was cheerful and animated, in spite of
+ the sombre shade between the high brick buildings. Here were pompous
+ merchants, in white wigs and laced velvet; the bronzed faces of
+ sea-captains; the foreign garb and air of Spanish creoles; and the
+ disdainful port of natives of Old England; all contrasted with the rough
+ aspect of one or two hack settlers, negotiating sales of timber, from
+ forests where axe had never sounded. Sometimes a lady passed, swelling
+ roundly forth in an embroidered petticoat, balancing her steps in
+ high-heeled shoes, and courtesying, with lofty grace, to the punctilious
+ obeisances of the gentlemen. The life of the town seemed to have its very
+ centre not far from an old mansion, that stood somewhat back from the
+ pavement, surrounded by neglected grass, with a strange air of loneliness,
+ rather deepened than dispelled by the throng so near it. Its site would
+ have been suitably occupied by a magnificent Exchange, or a brick block,
+ lettered all over with various signs; or the large house itself might have
+ made a noble tavern, with the &ldquo;King&rsquo;s Arms&rdquo; swinging before it, and guests
+ in every chamber, instead of the present solitude. But, owing to some
+ dispute about the right of inheritance, the mansion had been long without
+ a tenant, decaying from year to year, and throwing the stately gloom of
+ its shadow over the busiest part of the town. Such was the scene, and such
+ the time, when a figure, unlike any that have been described, was observed
+ at a distance down the street.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I espy a strange sail, yonder,&rdquo; remarked a Liverpool captain; &ldquo;that woman
+ in the long, white garment!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The sailor seemed much struck by the object, as were several others, who,
+ at the same moment, caught a glimpse of the figure that had attracted his
+ notice. Almost immediately, the various topics of conversation gave place
+ to speculations, in an undertone, on this unwonted occurrence.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Can there be a funeral, so late this afternoon?&rdquo; inquired some.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ They looked for the signs of death at every door,&mdash;the sexton, the
+ hearse, the assemblage of black-clad relatives,&mdash;all that makes up
+ the woeful pomp of funerals. They raised their eyes, also, to the sun-gilt
+ spire of the church, and wondered that no clang proceeded from its bell,
+ which had always tolled till now, when this figure appeared in the light
+ of day. But none had heard that a corpse was to be borne to its home that
+ afternoon, nor was there any token of a funeral, except the apparition of
+ the &ldquo;Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What may this portend?&rdquo; asked each man of his neighbor.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ All smiled as they put the question, yet with a certain trouble in their
+ eyes, as if pestilence, or some other wide calamity, were prognosticated
+ by the untimely intrusion among the living, of one whose presence had
+ always been associated with death and woe. What a comet is to the earth,
+ was that sad woman to the town. Still she moved on, while the hum of
+ surprise was hushed at her approach, and the proud and the humble stood
+ aside, that her white garment might not wave against them. It was a long,
+ loose robe, of spotless purity. Its wearer appeared very old, pale,
+ emaciated, and feeble, yet glided onward, without the unsteady pace of
+ extreme age. At one point of her course, a littly rosy boy burst forth
+ from a door, and ran, with open arms, towards the ghostly woman, seeming
+ to expect a kiss from her bloodless lips. She made a slight pause, fixing
+ her eye upon him with an expression of no earthly sweetness, so that the
+ child shivered and stood awe-struck, rather than affrighted, while the Old
+ Maid passed on. Perhaps her garment might have been polluted even by an
+ infant&rsquo;s touch; perhaps her kiss would have been death to the sweet boy,
+ within a year.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;She is but a shadow,&rdquo; whispered the superstitious. &ldquo;The child put forth
+ his arms and could not grasp her robe!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The wonder was increased, when the Old Maid passed beneath the porch of
+ the deserted mansion, ascended the moss-covered steps, lifted the iron
+ knocker, and gave three raps. The people could only conjecture, that some
+ old remembrance, troubling her bewildered brain, had impelled the poor
+ woman hither to visit the friends of her youth; all gone from their home,
+ long since and forever, unless their ghosts still haunted it,&mdash;fit
+ company for the &ldquo;Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet.&rdquo; An elderly man approached
+ the steps, and reverently uncovering his gray locks, essayed to explain
+ the matter.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;None, Madam,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;have dwelt in this house these fifteen years
+ agone,&mdash;no, not since the death of old Colonel Fenwicke, whose
+ funeral you may remember to have followed. His heirs being ill-agreed
+ among themselves, have let the mansion-house go to ruin.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The Old Maid looked slowly round, with a slight gesture of one hand, and a
+ finger of the other upon her lip, appearing more shadow-like than ever, in
+ the obscurity of the porch. But again she lifted the hammer, and gave,
+ this time, a single rap. Could it be that a footstep was now heard, coming
+ down the staircase of the old mansion, which all conceived to have been so
+ long untenanted? Slowly, feebly, yet heavily, like the pace of an aged and
+ infirm person, the step approached, more distinct on every downward stair,
+ till it reached the portal. The bar fell on the inside; the door was
+ opened. One upward glance, towards the church-spire, whence the sunshine
+ had just faded, was the last that the people saw of the &ldquo;Old Maid in the
+ Winding-Sheet.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Who undid the door?&rdquo; asked many.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This question, owing to the depth of shadow beneath the porch, no one
+ could satisfactorily answer. Two or three aged men, while protesting
+ against an inference, which might be drawn, affirmed that the person
+ within was a negro, and bore a singular resemblance to old Caesar,
+ formerly a slave in the house, but freed by death some thirty years
+ before.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Her summons has waked up a servant of the old family,&rdquo; said one, half
+ seriously.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Let us wait here,&rdquo; replied another. &ldquo;More guests will knock at the door,
+ anon. But the gate of the graveyard should be thrown open!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Twilight had overspread the town, before the crowd began to separate, or
+ the comments on this incident were exhausted. One after another was
+ wending his way homeward, when a coach&mdash;no common spectacle in those
+ days&mdash;drove slowly into the street. It was an old-fashioned equipage,
+ hanging close to the ground, with arms on the panels, a footman behind,
+ and a grave, corpulent coachman seated high in front,&mdash;the whole
+ giving an idea of solemn state and dignity. There was something awful, in
+ the heavy rumbling of the wheels. The coach rolled down the street, till,
+ coming to the gateway of the deserted mansion, it drew up, and the footman
+ sprang to the ground.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Whose grand coach is this?&rdquo; asked a very inquisitive body.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The footman made no reply, but ascended the steps of the old house, gave
+ three raps with the iron hammer, and returned to open the coach-door. An
+ old man possessed of the heraldic lore so common in that day examined the
+ shield of arms on the panel.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Azure, a lion&rsquo;s head erased, between three flower-deluces,&rdquo; said he; then
+ whispered the name of the family to whom these bearings belonged. The last
+ inheritor of its honors was recently dead, after a long residence amid the
+ splendor of the British court, where his birth and wealth had given him no
+ mean station. &ldquo;He left no child,&rdquo; continued the herald, &ldquo;and these arms,
+ being in a lozenge, betoken that the coach appertains to his widow.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Further disclosures, perhaps, might have been made, had not the speaker
+ suddenly been struck dumb, by the stern eye of an ancient lady, who thrust
+ forth her head from the coach, preparing to descend. As she emerged, the
+ people saw that her dress was magnificent, and her figure dignified, in
+ spite of age and infirmity,&mdash;a stately ruin, but with a look, at
+ once, of pride and wretchedness. Her strong and rigid features had an awe
+ about them, unlike that of the white Old Maid, but as of something evil.
+ She passed up the steps, leaning on a gold-headed cane; the door swung
+ open, as she ascended,&mdash;and the light of a torch glittered on the
+ embroidery of her dress, and gleamed on the pillars of the porch. After a
+ momentary pause&mdash;a glance backwards&mdash;and then a desperate effort&mdash;she
+ went in. The decipherer of the coat of arms had ventured up the lowest
+ step, and shrinking back immediately, pale and tremulous, affirmed that
+ the torch was held by the very image of old Caesar.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;But, such a hideous grin,&rdquo; added he, &ldquo;was never seen on the face of
+ mortal man, black or white! It will haunt me till my dying day.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Meantime, the coach had wheeled round, with a prodigious clatter on the
+ pavement, and rumbled up the street, disappearing in the twilight, while
+ the ear still tracked its course. Scarcely was it gone, when the people
+ began to question whether the coach and attendants, the ancient lady, the
+ spectre of old Caesar, and the Old Maid herself, were not all a strangely
+ combined delusion, with some dark purport in its mystery. The whole town
+ was astir, so that, instead of dispersing, the crowd continually
+ increased, and stood gazing up at the windows of the mansion, now silvered
+ by the brightening moon. The elders, glad to indulge the narrative
+ propensity of age, told of the long-faded splendor of the family, the
+ entertainments they had given, and the guests, the greatest of the land,
+ and even titled and noble ones from abroad, who had passed beneath that
+ portal. These graphic reminiscences seemed to call up the ghosts of those
+ to whom they referred. So strong was the impression, on some of the more
+ imaginative hearers, that two or three were seized with trembling fits, at
+ one and the same moment, protesting that they had distinctly heard three
+ other raps of the iron knocker.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Impossible!&rdquo; exclaimed others. &ldquo;See! The moon shines beneath the porch,
+ and shows every part of it, except in the narrow shade of that pillar.
+ There is no one there!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Did not the door open?&rdquo; whispered one of these fanciful persons.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Didst thou see it, too?&rdquo; said his companion, in a startled tone.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But the general sentiment was opposed to the idea, that a third visitant
+ had made application at the door of the deserted house. A few, however,
+ adhered to this new marvel, and even declared that a red gleam, like that
+ of a torch, had shone through the great front window, as if the negro were
+ lighting a guest up the staircase. This, too, was pronounced a mere
+ fantasy. But, at once, the whole multitude started, and each man beheld
+ his own terror painted in the faces of all the rest.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What an awful thing is this!&rdquo; cried they.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ A shriek, too fearfully distinct for doubt, had been heard within the
+ mansion, breaking forth suddenly, and succeeded by a deep stillness, as if
+ a heart had burst in giving it utterance. The people knew not whether to
+ fly from the very sight of the house, or to rush trembling in, and search
+ out the strange mystery. Amid their confusion and affright, they were
+ somewhat reassured by the appearance of their clergyman, a venerable
+ patriarch, and equally a saint, who had taught them and their fathers the
+ way to heaven, for more than the space of an ordinary lifetime. He was a
+ reverend figure, with long, white hair upon his shoulders, a white beard
+ upon his breast, and a back so bent over his staff, that he seemed to be
+ looking downward, continually, as if to choose a proper grave for his
+ weary frame. It was some time before the good old man, being deaf, and of
+ impaired intellect, could be made to comprehend such portions of the
+ affair as were comprehensible at all. But, when possessed of the facts,
+ his energies assumed unexpected vigor.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Verily,&rdquo; said the old gentleman, &ldquo;it will be fitting that I enter the
+ mansion-house of the worthy Colonel Fenwicke, lest any harm should have
+ befallen that true Christian woman, whom ye call the &lsquo;Old Maid in the
+ Winding-Sheet.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Behold, then, the venerable clergyman ascending the steps of the mansion,
+ with a torch-bearer behind him. It was the elderly man, who had spoken to
+ the Old Maid, and the same who had afterwards explained the shield of
+ arms, and recognized the features of the negro. Like their predecessors,
+ they gave three raps, with the iron hammer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Old Caesar cometh not,&rdquo; observed the priest. &ldquo;Well, I wot, he no longer
+ doth service in this mansion.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Assuredly, then, it was something worse, in old Caesar&rsquo;s likeness!&rdquo; said
+ the other adventurer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Be it as God wills,&rdquo; answered the clergyman. &ldquo;See! my strength, though it
+ be much decayed, hath sufficed to open this heavy door. Let us enter, and
+ pass up the staircase.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Here occurred a singular exemplification of the dreamy state of a very old
+ man&rsquo;s mind. As they ascended the wide flight of stairs, the aged clergyman
+ appeared to move with caution, occasionally standing aside, and oftener
+ bending his head, as it were in salutation, thus practising all the
+ gestures of one who makes his way through a throng. Reaching the head of
+ the staircase, he looked around, with sad and solemn benignity, laid aside
+ his staff, bared his hoary locks, and was evidently on the point of
+ commencing a prayer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Reverend Sir,&rdquo; said his attendant, who conceived this a very suitable
+ prelude to their further search, &ldquo;would it not be well, that the people
+ join with us in prayer?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well-a-day!&rdquo; cried the old clergyman, staring strangely around him. &ldquo;Art
+ thou here with me, and none other? Verily, past times were present to me,
+ and I deemed that I was to make a funeral prayer, as many a time
+ heretofore, from the head of this staircase.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Of a truth, I saw the shades of many that are gone. Yea, I have prayed at
+ their burials, one after another, and the &lsquo;Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet&rsquo;
+ hath seen them to their graves!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Being now more thoroughly awake to their present purpose, he took his
+ staff, and struck forcibly on the floor, till there came an echo from each
+ deserted chamber, but no menial, to answer their summons. They therefore
+ walked along the passage, and again paused, opposite to the great front
+ window, through which was seen the crowd, in the shadow and partial
+ moonlight of the street beneath. On their right hand was the open door of
+ a chamber, and a closed one on their left. The clergyman pointed his cane
+ to the carved oak panel of the latter.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Within that chamber,&rdquo; observed he, &ldquo;a whole lifetime since, did I sit by
+ the death-bed of a goodly young man, who, being now at the last gasp&mdash;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Apparently, there was some powerful excitement in the ideas which had now
+ flashed across his mind. He snatched the torch from his companion&rsquo;s hand,
+ and threw open the door with such sudden violence, that the flame was
+ extinguished, leaving them no other light than the moonbeams, which fell
+ through two windows into the spacious chamber. It was sufficient to
+ discover all that could be known. In a high-backed oaken arm-chair,
+ upright, with her hands clasped across her breast, and her head thrown
+ back, sat the &ldquo;Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet.&rdquo; The stately dame had fallen
+ on her knees, with her forehead on the holy knees of the Old Maid, one
+ hand upon the floor, and the other pressed convulsively against her heart.
+ It clutched a lock of hair, once sable, now discolored with a greenish
+ mould. As the priest and layman advanced into the chamber, the Old Maid&rsquo;s
+ features assumed such a resemblance of shifting expression, that they
+ trusted to hear the whole mystery explained, by a single word. But it was
+ only the shadow of a tattered curtain, waving betwixt the dead face and
+ the moonlight.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Both dead!&rdquo; said the venerable man. &ldquo;Then who shall divulge the secret?
+ Methinks it glimmers to and fro in my mind, like the light and shadow
+ across the Old Maid&rsquo;s face. And now&rsquo;t is gone!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+ </body>
+</html>