“He may nod at thee, if he will; for thou art clad in gray, and wearest the scarlet letter. But see, mother, how many faces of strange people, and Indians among them, and sailors! What have they all come to do, here in the market-place?”

“They wait to see the procession pass,” said Hester. “For the Governor and the magistrates are to go by, and the ministers, and all the great people and good people, with the music and the soldiers marching before them.

“

“And will the minister be there?” asked Pearl. “And will he hold out both his hands to me, as when thou led’st me to him from the brook-side?”

“He will be there, child,” answered her mother,