One afternoon the great street of the town was all alive with business and bustle , though the sun now gilded only the upper half of the church-spire , having left the housetops and loftiest trees in shadow . The scene was cheerful and animated in spite of the sombre shade between the high brick buildings . Here were pompous merchants in white wigs and laced velvet , the bronzed faces of sea-captains , the foreign garb and air of Spanish Creoles , and the disdainful port of natives of Old England , all contrasted with the rough aspect of one or two back-settlers negotiating sales of timber from forests where axe had never sounded . Sometimes a lady passed , swelling roundly forth in an embroidered petticoat , balancing her steps in high-heeled shoes and courtesying with lofty grace to the punctilious obeisances of the gentlemen . The life of the town seemed to have its very centre not far from an old mansion that stood somewhat back from the pavement , surrounded by neglected grass , with a strange air of loneliness rather deepened than dispelled by the throng so near it . Its site would have been suitably occupied by a magnificent Exchange or a brick block lettered all over with various signs , or the large house itself might have made a noble tavern with the `` King 's Arms '' swinging before it and guests in every chamber , instead of the present solitude . But , owing to some dispute about the right of inheritance , the mansion had been long without a tenant , decaying from year to year and throwing the stately gloom of its shadow over the busiest part of the town . Such was the scene , and such the time , when a figure unlike any that have been described was observed at a distance down the street . `` I espy a strange sail yonder , '' remarked a Liverpool captain -- `` that woman in the long white garment . '' The sailor seemed much struck by the object , as were several others who at the same moment caught a glimpse of the figure that had attracted his notice . Almost immediately the various topics of conversation gave place to speculations in an undertone on this unwonted occurrence . `` Can there be a funeral so late this afternoon ? '' inquired some . They looked for the signs of death at every door -- the sexton , the hearse , the assemblage of black-clad relatives , all that makes up the woeful pomp of funerals . They raised their eyes , also , to the sun-gilt spire of the church , and wondered that no clang proceeded from its bell , which had always tolled till now when this figure appeared in the light of day . But none had heard that a corpse was to be borne to its home that afternoon , nor was there any token of a funeral except the apparition of the Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet . `` What may this portend ? '' asked each man of his neighbor . All smiled as they put the question , yet with a certain trouble in their eyes , as if pestilence , or some other wide calamity , were prognosticated by the untimely intrusion among the living of one whose presence had always been associated with death and woe . What a comet is to the earth was that sad woman to the town .
Still she moved on , while the hum of surprise was hushed XXXXX her approach , and the proud and the humble stood aside that her white garment might not wave against them .
as at by down except of that though till unlike