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Tales of the White Hills; Legends of New England
Tales of the White Hills Legends of New England Author:Nathaniel Hawthorne General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1879 Subjects: Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.co... more »m where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: THE AMBITIOUS GUEST. NE September night, a family had gathered round their hearth, and piled it high with the drift-wood of mountain streams, the dry cones of the pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees, that had come crashing down the precipice. Up the chimney roared the fire, and brightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the father and mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldest daughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen: and the aged grandmother, who sat knitting in the wannest place, was the image of Happiness grown old. They had found the " herb, heart's-ease," in the bleakest spot of all New England. This family were situated in the Notch of the WhiteHills, where the wind was sharp throughout the year, and pitilessly cold in the winter, -- giving their cottage all its fresh inclemency, before it descended on the valley of the Saco. They dwelt in a cold spot and a dangerous one; for a mountain towered above their heads, so steep, that the stones would often rumble down its sides, and startle them at midnight. The daughter had just uttered some simple jest, that filled tliem all with mirth, when the wind came through the Notch and seemed to pause before their cottage, -- rattling the door, with a sound of wailmg and lamentation, before it passed into the valley. For a moment, it saddened them, though there was nothing unusual in the tones. But the family were glad again, when they perceived that the latch was lifted by some traveller, whose footsteps had been unheard amid the dreary blast, which heralded h...« less