the schooner has thrust her bulky carcass through the chasm ; the draw descends ; horse and foot pass onward , and leave the bridge vacant from end to end . `` And thus , '' muses the toll-gatherer , `` have I found it with all stoppages , even though the universe seemed to be at a stand . '' The sage old man ! Far westward now , the reddening sun throws a broad sheet of splendor across the flood , and to the eyes of distant boatmen gleams brightly among the timbers of the bridge . Strollers come from the town to quaff the freshening breeze . One or two let down long lines , and haul up flapping flounders ? or cunners , or small cod , or perhaps an eel . Others , and fair girls among them , with the flush of the hot day still on their cheeks , bend over the railing and watch the heaps of sea-weed floating upward with the flowing tide . The horses now tramp heavily along the bridge , and wistfully bethink them of their stables . Rest , rest , thou weary world ! for tomorrow 's round of toil and pleasure will be as wearisome as to-day 's has been ; yet both shall bear thee onward a day 's march of eternity . Come ! another log upon the hearth . True , our little parlor is comfortable , especially here , where the old man sits in his old arm-chair ; but on Thanksgiving night the blaze should dance high up the chimney , and send a shower of sparks into the outer darkness . Toss on an armful of those dry oak chips , the last relics of the Mermaid 's knee-timbers , the bones of your namesake , Susan . Higher yet , and clearer be the blaze , till our cottage windows glow the ruddiest in the village , and the light of our household mirth flash far across the bay to Nahant . And now , come , Susan , come , my children , draw your chairs round me , all of you . There is a dimness over your figures ! You sit quivering indistinctly with each motion of the blaze , which eddies about you like a flood , so that you all have the look of visions , or people that dwell only in the fire light , and will vanish from existence , as completely as your own shadows , when the flame shall sink among the embers . Hark !
let me listen for the swell of the surf ; it should be audible a mile inland , on a XXXXX like this .
Susan arm-chair day dimness flood knee-timbers night relics ruddiest toll-gatherer