and the old man disappeared within.

It was not without a creeping feeling of awe, mingled with his
astonishment, that Nathan gazed upon the door through which this
silent figure had vanished. But he was not easily to be daunted. He
did not care to follow the steps of the stranger into the church; but
he remembered a shed so placed against the building, near the farther
end, that he had often, when a child, at some peril indeed, climbed
upon its top, and looked into the church through a little window at
one side of the pulpit. For this he started; but he did not fail to
run across the square and leap over the church-gate at the top of his
speed, in order to gather warmth and courage for the attempt.

When Nathan Stoddard climbed upon the old shed and pressed his face
against the glass of the little church-window, he had at first only a
confused impression of many lamps and many figures in all parts of the
church. But as his vision grew more clear, he beheld a sight which
could not amaze him less than the apparition that startled Tam o'
Shanter as he glared through the darkness into the old Kirk of
Alloway. The great chandelier of the church was partly lighted, and
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 strang