there were, besides, many candles and lanterns burning in different
parts of the room, and casting their light upon a large party of young
men and women, who were dressed in breeches and ruffled shirts, and
hooped petticoats and towering head-dresses, such as he had only seen
in old pictures. They were mounted upon benches and ladders, and
boards laid along the tops of the pews, and were apparently just
completing the decoration of the church, which was already dressed
with green, with little trees in the corners, and with green letters
upon the walls, and great wreaths about the pillars. The whole party
appeared full of life and cheerfulness, while the old man whom Nathan
had seen enter stood near the door, looking quietly on, with a little
girl holding his hand.

It was not until Nathan Stoddard had looked for some little time upon
this spectacle that he began to feel that he was witness of any thing
more than natural. The whole party had so home-like an air, and
appeared so engaged with their pleasant occupation, that,
notwithstanding their quaint dress, Nathan only thought how much he
should like to share their company. But the more he studied their
faces, the more he was filled, for all their appearance of youth and
their simple manners, with a strange sort of veneration. The sweet and
cheerful faces of the young women seemed to grow awfully calm and
beautiful as they brought their task to a close, and their foreheads,
with the hair brought back in the old-fashioned way, to become more
and more serene and high. There was a strange beauty, too, about the
old man's face. He appeared to Nathan as if he felt that the group
before him only waited his command to fade away in the morning light
that struggled among the candles, but he could not bear to give the
word; and so they kept playing with the festoons, and stepping about
the pews to please him. Nathan felt a cold thrill, partly from