you find all well whn you come back."

"Amen!" cried Goodman Brown. "Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go
to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee."

So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being
about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back and
saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy
air, in spite of her pink ribbons.

"Poor little Faith!" thought he, for his heart smote him. "What a
wretch am I to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams,
too. Methought as she spoke there was trouble in her face, as if
a dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight. But no,
no; 't would kill her to think it. Well, she's a blessed angel on
earth; and after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and
follow her to heaven."

With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt
himself justified in making more haste on his present evil
purpose. He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the
gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let
the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It
was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in
such a solitude, that the traveller knows not who may be
concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs
overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing
through an unseen multitude.

"There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree," said Goodman