the boy darted away on his errand, to which ethan brand made no objection, nor seemed hardly to notice it. he sat on a log of wood, looking steadfastly at the iron door of the kiln. when the child was out of sight, and his swift and light footsteps ceased to be heard treading first on the fallen leaves and then on the rocky mountain-path, the lime-burner began to regret his departure. he felt that the little fellow's presence had been a barrier between his guest and himself, and that he must now deal, heart to heart, with a man who, on his own confession, had committed the one only crime for which heaven could afford no mercy. that crime, in its indistinct blackness, seemed to overshadow him, and made his memory riotous with a throng of evil shapes that asserted their kindred with the master sin, whatever it might be, which it was within the scope of man's corrupted nature to conceive and cherish. they were all of one family; they went to and fro between his breast and ethan brand's, and carried dark greetings from one to the other.