else why the old man haunt it so, and frighten a poor nigga, As he does?”

“Well, well, friend Scipio; let your master know that I’m coming,” said the carpenter with a laugh.

“For a fair, workmanlike job, he’ll find me his man. And so the house is haunted, is it? It will take a tighter workman than I am to keep the spirits out of the Seven Gables. Even if the Colonel would be quiet,” he added, muttering to himself, “my old grandfather, the wizard, will be pretty sure to stick to the Pyncheons as long as their walls hold together.”

“What’s that you mutter to yourself, Matthew Maule?” asked Scipio. “And what for do you look so black at me?”