Page 50 - THE SCARLET LETTER

The Scarlet Letter

remainder may perhaps be applied to purposes equally
valuable hereafter, or not impossibly may be worked up,
so far as they go, into a regular history of Salem, should
my veneration for the natal soil ever impel me to so pious

a task. Meanwhile, they shall be at the command of any
gentleman, inclined and competent, to take the
unprofitable labour off my hands. As a final disposition I
contemplate depositing them with the Essex Historical
Society. But the object that most drew my attention to the
mysterious package was a certain affair of fine red cloth,
much worn and faded, There were traces about it of gold
embroidery, which, however, was greatly frayed and
defaced, so that none, or very little, of the glitter was left.
It had been wrought, as was easy to perceive, with
wonderful skill of needlework; and the stitch (as I am
assured by ladies conversant with such mysteries) gives
evidence of a now forgotten art, not to be discovered even
by the process of picking out the threads. This rag of
scarlet cloth—for time, and wear, and a sacrilegious moth
had reduced it to little other than a rag—on careful
examination, assumed the shape of a letter.
It was the capital letter A. By an accurate measurement,
each limb proved to be precisely three inches and a quarter
in length. It had been intended, there could be no doubt,

49 of 394