The ScarLet Letter

The Interview 49 t r u t h , there was m u c h need of professional assistance, not merely for Hester herself, but still more urgently for the c h i l d ; who, drawing its sustenance f r o m the maternal bosom, seemed to have drank i n w i t h it all the t u r m o i l , the anguish, and despair, w h i c h pervaded the mother's system. I t now w r i t h e d in convulsions of pain, and was a forcible type, in its l i t t l e frame, of the moral agony w h i c h Hester Prynne had borne t h r o u g h o u t the day. Closely f o l l o w i n g the jailer i n t o the dismal apartment, appeared that i n d i v i d u a l , of singular aspect, whose presence i n the crowd had been of such deep interest to the wearer of the scarlet letter. He was lodged i n the p r i s o n , not as suspected of any offence, but as the most convenient and suitable mode of disposing of h i m , u n t i l the magistrates should have conferred w i t h the I n d i a n sagamores respecting his ransom. His name was announced as Roger C h i l l i n g w o r t h . T h e jailer, after ushering h i m i n t o the r o o m , remained a m o m e n t , m a r v e l l i n g at the comparative quiet that followed his entrance; for Hester P r y n n e had immediately become as still as death, although the child c o n t i n u e d to moan. " P r i t h e e , f r i e n d , leave me alone w i t h my p a t i e n t , " said the prac-t i t i o n e r . " T r u s t me, good jailer, you shall briefly have peace i n your house; and, I promise y o u , Mistress Prynne shall hereafter be more amenable to just a u t h o r i t y than you may have f o u n d her heretofore." " N a y , i f your worship can accomplish t h a t , " answered Master Brackett, " I shall own y o u for a man of skill indeed! V e r i l y , the woman hath been like a possessed one; and there lacks l i t t l e , that I should take in hand to drive Satan out of her with stripes." The stranger had entered the room w i t h t...