He ascends the steps -- heavily , for twenty years have stiffened his legs since he came down , but he knows it not . -- Stay , Wakefield ! Would you go to the sole home that is left you ? Then step into your grave . -- The door opens . As he passes in we have a parting glimpse of his visage , and recognize the crafty smile which was the precursor of the little joke that he has ever since been playing off at his wife 's expense . How unmercifully has he quizzed the poor woman ! Well , a good night 's rest to Wakefield ! This happy event -- supposing it to be such -- could only have occurred at an unpremeditated moment . We will not follow our friend across the threshold . He has left us much food for thought , a portion of which shall lend its wisdom to a moral and be shaped into a figure . Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system , and systems to one another and to a whole , that by stepping aside for a moment a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place for ever . Like Wakefield , he may become , as it were , the outcast of the universe . A RILL FROM THE TOWN-PUMP . -LRB- SCENE , the corner of two principal streets , -LSB- 1 -RSB- the TOWN-PUMP talking through its nose . -RRB- Noon by the north clock ! Noon by the east ! High noon , too , by these hot sunbeams , which full , scarcely aslope , upon my head and almost make the water bubble and smoke in the trough under my nose . Truly , we public characters have a tough time of it ! And among all the town-officers chosen at March meeting , where is he that sustains for a single year the burden of such manifold duties as are imposed in perpetuity upon the town-pump ?
The title XXXXX `` town-treasurer '' is rightfully mine , as guardian of the best treasure that the town has .
Amid FROM Like as into of since that through upon