"no," said the yeoman, sullenly; "for then you would not have seen me here. i have labored hard for years; and my means have been growing narrower, and my living poorer, and my heart colder and heavier, all the time; till at last i could bear it no longer. i set myself down to calculate whether i had best go on the oregon expedition, or come here to the shaker village; but i had not hope enough left in me to begin the world over again; and, to make my story short, here i am. and now, youngster, take my advice, and turn back; or else, some few years hence, you'll have to climb this hill, with as heavy a heart as mine."