houses of the better sort,
guests crowded round the fire, forgot to be political, and told each
other with a secret gladness that the blast grew fiercer every minute.
Each humble tavern by the water-side, had its group of uncouth figures
round the hearth, who talked of vessels foundering at sea, and all hands
lost; related many a dismal tale of shipwreck and drowned men, and
hoped that some they knew were safe, and shook their heads in doubt.
In private dwellings, children clustered near the blaze; listening with
timid pleasure to tales of ghosts and goblins, and tall figures clad
in white standing by bed-sides, and people who had gone to sleep in old
churches and being overlooked had found themselves alone there at the
dead hour of the night: until they shuddered at the thought of the dark
rooms upstairs, yet loved to hear the wind moan too, and hoped it would
continue bravely. From time to time these happy indoor people stopped to
listen, or one held up his finger and cried 'Hark!' and then, above the
rumbling in the chimney, and the fast pattering on the glass, was heard
a wailing, rushing sound, which shook the walls as though a giant's hand
were on them; then a hoarse roar as if the sea had risen; then such a
whirl and tumult that the air seemed mad; and then, with a lengthened
howl, the waves of wind swept on, and left a moment's interval of rest.

Cheerily, though there were none abroad to see it, shone the Maypole
light that evening. Blessings on the red--deep, ruby, glowing red--old
curtain of the window; blending into one rich stream of brightness, fire
and candle, meat, drink, and company, and gleaming like a jovial
eye upon the bleak waste out of doors! Within, what carpet like its
crunching sand, what music merry as its crackling logs, what perfume
like its kitchen's dainty breath, what weather genial as its hearty
warmth! Blessings on the old house, how sturdily it stood! How did the
vexed wind chafe and roar about its stalwart roof; how did it pant
and strive with its wide chimneys, which still poured forth from their
hospitable throats, great clouds of smoke, and puffed defiance in its
face; how, above all, did it drive and rattle at the casement, emulous
to extinguish that cheerful glow, which would not be put down and seemed
the brighter for the conflict!

The profusion too, the rich and lavish bounty, of that goodly tavern! It
was not enough that one fire roared and sparkled on its spacious hearth;
i