his horse with firmness, and appeared
to anticipate his speed. He seemed dejected, and looked anxiously at
the passengers, particularly at the stage-driver and myself. In a
moment after he passed us, the horses' ears were up and bent
themselves forward so that they nearly met. "Who is that man?" said I;
"he seems in great trouble." "Nobody knows who is he, but his person
and the child are familiar to me. I have met them more than a hundred
times, and have been so often asked the way to Boston by that man,
even when he was travelling directly from that town, that of late I
have refused any communication with him, and that is the reason he
gave me such a fixed look." "But does he never stop anywhere?" "I have
never known him to stop anywhere longer than to inquire the way to
Boston; and, let him be where he may, he will tell you he cannot stay
a moment, for he must reach Boston that night."

We were now ascending a high hill in Walpole, and as we had a fair
view of the heavens, I was rather disposed to jeer the driver for
thinking of his surtout, as not a cloud as big as a marble could be
discerned. "Do you look," said he, "in the direction whence the man
came, that is the place to look; the storm never meets him, it follows
him." We presently approached another hill, and when at the height,
the driver pointed out in an eastern direction a little black speck as
big as a hat. "There," said he, "is the seed storm; we may possibly
reach Polley's before it reaches us, but the wanderer and his child
will go to Providence through rain, thunder, and lightning." And now
the horses, as though taught by instinct, hastened with increased
speed. The little black cloud came on rolling over the turnpike, and
doubled and trebled itself in all directions. The appearance of this
cloud attracted the notice of all the passengers; for after it had
spread itself to a great bulk, it suddenly became more limited in
circumference, grew more compact, dark, and consolidated. And now the
successive flashes of chain lightning caused the whole cloud to appear
like a sort of irregular network, and displayed a thousand fantastic
images. The driver bespoke my attention to a remarkable configuration
in the cloud; he said every flash of lightning near its centre
discovered to him distinctly the form of a man sitting in an open
carriage drawn by a black horse. But in truth I saw no such thing. The
man's fancy was doubtless at fault. It is a very common thi