with an iron hammer, wherewith the visitor's hand may give a thundering
rat-a-tat.

The timber framework of these houses, as compared with those of recent
date, is like the skeleton of an old giant, beside the frail bones of a
modern man of fashion. Many of them, by the vast strength and soundness
of their oaken substance, have been preserved through a length of time
which would have tried the stability of brick and stone; so that, in all
the progressive decay and continual reconstruction of the street, down
our own days, we shall still behold these old edifices occupying their
long-accustomed sites. For instance, on the upper corner of that green
lane which shall hereafter be North Street, we see the Curwen House,
newly built, with the carpenters still at work on the roof nailing down
the last sheaf of shingles. On the lower corner stands another
dwelling,--destined, at some period of its existence, to be the abode of
an unsuccessful alchemist,--which shall likewise survive to our own
generation, and perhaps long outlive it. Thus, through the medium of
these patriarchal edifices, we have now established a sort of kindred and
hereditary acquaintance with the Main Street.

Great as is the transformation produced by a short term of years, each
single day creeps through the Puritan settlement sluggishly enough. It
shall pass before your eyes, condensed into the space of a few moments.
The gray light of early morning is slowly diffusing itself over the
scene; and the bellman, whose office it is to cry the hour at the street-
corners, rings the last peal upon his hand bell, and goes wearily
homewards, with the owls, the bats, and other creatures of the night.
Lattices are thrust back on their hinges, as if the town were opening its
eyes, in the summer morning. Forth stumbles the still drowsy cowherd,
with his horn; putting which to his lips, it emits a bellowing bray,