Calico Illustrated Calssics: The House of the Seven Gables
at the group But then the colonel’s young grandson darted into the room He made his way halfway to the glaring figure when he stopped and began screaming Pyncheon’s beard was soaked through with blood and more blood ran down his collar The iron-hearted old Puritan was dead A single sentence passed among the group in whispered awe God hath given him blood to drink Now the heirs of Colonel Pyncheon received his house and wealth but one thing they did not get as they expected The colonel had spoken often of his ownership of a great piece of land in Maine This land would be of enormous worth but the paperwork to support it was never found Over the years it became less and less likely such papers would be honored even if they were found But the story of this great land was handed down from Pyncheon to Pyncheon to be dreamed about and longed for 8
The Pyncheon wealth seemed to grow less with each generation while misfortune increased One elderly Pyncheon had the misfortune of being murdered by his own nephew or so the courts decided before sending the young man to prison Finally there remained only one truly wealthy Pyncheon heir This heir was a lawyer with the same grasping nature of the original ancestor Such a grand family was reduced to a lawyer a murderer a young country cousin and the sole inhabitant of the Pyncheon house an elderly spinster And it is with her that we begin 9
2 The Little Shop Window Before sunrise Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon stood in front of her mirror and glared at her image She was a pale thin rusty-jointed maiden of sixty years But she was no more unhappy with her appearance than she had been at any hour of her life Her scowl was habit not anger Miss Hepzibah’s vision was poor and the constant scowl came from her efforts to see beyond the end of her own nose Though she looked hard and bitter nothing could be further from the truth She was tender-hearted and devoted to her brother though he was far away and in horrible 10
circumstance Her only character flaws were shyness and more than a little family pride Hepzibah glanced at a miniature of her gentle beautiful brother Don’t be ashamed of me she whispered I’m doing this for you She hurried through the darkened passages of the house pausing only once in a shadowy parlor The room contained some antique tables and uncomfortable chairs scattered about on the worn carpet There were only three truly noteworthy pieces a framed map of the mythic Pyncheon holdings in Maine a fine oak chair and the portrait of old Colonel Pyncheon Miss Hepzibah glared up at the portrait and then bowed her head What would Colonel Pyncheon think of what she was about to do She shook herself and hurried on to her destination On the lowest level in a gable facing the street a Pyncheon had set up a shop nearly a century before The shop was closed soon after 11
