And a blessing be upon your labors ; so that the time may hasten on when the mission of Mother Ann shall have wrought its full effect , when children shall no more be born and die , and the last survivor of mortal race -- some old and weary man like me -- shall see the sun go down nevermore to rise on a world of sin and sorrow . '' The aged father sank back exhausted , and the surrounding elders deemed , with good reason , that the hour was come when the new heads of the village must enter on their patriarchal duties . In their attention to Father Ephraim their eyes were turned from Martha Pierson , who grew paler and paler , unnoticed even by Adam Colburn . He , indeed , had withdrawn his hand from hers and folded his arms with a sense of satisfied ambition . But paler and paler grew Martha by his side , till , like a corpse in its burial-clothes , she sank down at the feet of her early lover ; for , after many trials firmly borne , her heart could endure the weight of its desolate agony no longer . NIGHT-SKETCHES , BENEATH AN UMBRELLA . Pleasant is a rainy winter 's day within-doors . The best study for such a day -- or the best amusement : call it what you will -- is a book of travels describing scenes the most unlike that sombre one which is mistily presented through the windows . I have experienced that Fancy is then most successful in imparting distinct shapes and vivid colors to the objects which the author has spread upon his page , and that his words become magic spells to summon up a thousand varied pictures . Strange landscapes glimmer through the familiar walls of the room , and outlandish figures thrust themselves almost within the sacred precincts of the hearth . Small as my chamber is , it has space enough to contain the ocean-like circumference of an Arabian desert , its parched sands tracked by the long line of a caravan with the camels patiently journeying through the heavy sunshine . Though my ceiling be not lofty , yet I can pile up the mountains of Central Asia beneath it till their summits shine far above the clouds of the middle atmosphere . And with my humble means -- a wealth that is not taxable -- I can transport hither the magnificent merchandise of an Oriental bazaar , and call a crowd of purchasers from distant countries to pay a fair profit for the precious articles which are displayed on all sides . True it is , however , that amid the bustle of traffic , or whatever else may seem to be going on around me , the raindrops will occasionally be heard to patter against my window-panes , which look forth upon one of the quietest streets in a New England town . After a time , too , the visions vanish , and will not appear again at my bidding . Then , it being nightfall , a gloomy sense of unreality depresses my spirits , and impels me to venture out before the clock shall strike bedtime to satisfy myself that the world is not entirely made up of such shadowy materials as have busied me throughout the day . A dreamer may dwell so long among fantasies that the things without him will seem as unreal as those within . When eve has fairly set in , therefore , I sally forth , tightly buttoning my shaggy overcoat and hoisting my umbrella , the silken dome of which immediately resounds with the heavy drumming of the invisible raindrops . Pausing on the lowest doorstep , I contrast the warmth and cheerfulness of my deserted fireside with the drear obscurity and chill discomfort into which I am about to plunge . Now come fearful auguries innumerable as the drops of rain .
Did not my manhood cry shame upon me , I should turn back XXXXX , resume my elbow-chair , my slippers and my book , pass such an evening of sluggish enjoyment as the day has been , and go to bed inglorious .
Ann Arabian England Oriental auguries burial-clothes drear summits window-panes within-doors