The sailor seemed much struck by the object, as were several others,
who, at the same moment, caught a glimpse of the figure that had
attracted his notice. Almost immediately, the various topics of
conversation gave place to speculations, in an undertone, on this
unwonted occurrence.

"Can there be a funeral, so late this afternoon?" inquired some.

They looked for the signs of death at every door,--the sexton, the
hearse, the assemblage of black-clad relatives,--all that makes up the
woful pomp of funerals. They raised their eyes, also, to the sun-gilt
spire of the church, and wondered that no clang proceeded from its
bell, which had always tolled till now, when this figure appeared in
the light of day. But none had heard that a corpse was to be borne to
its home that afternoon, nor was there any token of a funeral, except
the apparition of the "Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet."

"What may this portend?" asked each man of his neighbor.

All smiled as they put the question, yet with a certain trouble in
their eyes, as if pestilence, or some other wide calamity, were
prognosticated by the untimely intrusion among the living, of one
whose presence had always been associated with death and woe. What a
comet is to the earth, was that sad woman to the town. Still she
moved on, while the hum of surprise was hushed at her approach, and
the proud and the humble stood aside, that her white garment might not
wave against them. It was a long, loose robe, of spotless purity.
Its wearer appeared very old, pale, emaciated, and feeble, yet glided
onward, without the unsteady pace of extreme age. At one point of her