It was nearly noon when she looked forth from the door and descried three personages of note coming along the street through the hot sunshine and the masses of elm-tree shade . At length they reached her gate and undid the latch . `` See , Ralph ! '' exclaimed she , with maternal pride ; `` here is Squire Hawkwood and the two other selectmen coming on purpose to see you . Now , do tell them a good long story about what you have seen in foreign parts . '' The foremost of the three visitors , Squire Hawkwood , was a very pompous but excellent old gentleman , the head and prime-mover in all the affairs of the village , and universally acknowledged to be one of the sagest men on earth . He wore , according to a fashion even then becoming antiquated , a three-cornered hat , and carried a silver-headed cane the use of which seemed to be rather for flourishing in the air than for assisting the progress of his legs . His two companions were elderly and respectable yeomen who , retaining an ante-Revolutionary reverence for rank and hereditary wealth , kept a little in the squire 's rear . As they approached along the pathway Ralph Cranfield sat in an oaken elbow-chair half unconsciously gazing at the three visitors and enveloping their homely figures in the misty romance that pervaded his mental world . `` Here , '' thought he , smiling at the conceit -- `` here come three elderly personages , and the first of the three is a venerable sage with a staff . What if this embassy should bring me the message of my fate ? '' While Squire Hawkwood and his colleagues entered , Ralph rose from his seat and advanced a few steps to receive them , and his stately figure and dark countenance as he bent courteously toward his guests had a natural dignity contrasting well with the bustling importance of the squire . The old gentleman , according to invariable custom , gave an elaborate preliminary flourish with his cane in the air , then removed his three-cornered hat in order to wipe his brow , and finally proceeded to make known his errand . `` My colleagues and myself , '' began the squire , `` are burdened with momentous duties , being jointly selectmen of this village . Our minds for the space of three days past have been laboriously bent on the selection of a suitable person to fill a most important office and take upon himself a charge and rule which , wisely considered , may be ranked no lower than those of kings and potentates . And whereas you , our native townsman , are of good natural intellect and well cultivated by foreign travel , and that certain vagaries and fantasies of your youth are doubtless long ago corrected , -- taking all these matters , I say , into due consideration , we are of opinion that Providence hath sent you hither at this juncture for our very purpose . '' During this harangue Cranfield gazed fixedly at the speaker , as if he beheld something mysterious and unearthly in his pompous little figure , and as if the squire had worn the flowing robes of an ancient sage instead of a square-skirted coat , flapped waistcoat , velvet breeches and silk stockings . Nor was his wonder without sufficient cause , for the flourish of the squire 's staff , marvellous to relate , had described precisely the signal in the air which was to ratify the message of the prophetic sage whom Cranfield had sought around the world . `` And what , '' inquired Ralph Cranfield , with a tremor in his voice -- `` what may this office be which is to equal me with kings and potentates ? '' `` No less than instructor of our village school , '' answered Squire Hawkwood , `` the office being now vacant by the death of the venerable Master Whitaker after a fifty years ' incumbency . ''
`` I will consider of your proposal , '' replied Ralph Cranfield , hurriedly , `` and will make known my decision within three XXXXX . ''
Hawkwood Providence conceit days incumbency noon potentates prime-mover years yeomen