Betimes in the forenoon, when the principal street of theneighboring town was just at its acme of life and bustle, a strangerof very distinguished figure was seen on the sidewalk. His port aswell as his garments betokened nothing short of nobility. He wore arichly-embroidered plum-colored coat, a waistcoat of costly velvet,magnificently adorned with golden foliage, a pair of splendidscarlet breeches, and the finest and glossiest of white silkstockings. His head was covered with a peruke, so daintily powderedand adjusted that it would have been sacrilege to disorder it with ahat; which, therefore (and it was a gold-laced hat, set off with asnowy feather), he carried beneath his arm. On the breast of hiscoat glistened a star. He managed his gold-headed cane with an airygrace, peculiar to the fine gentlemen of the period; and, to givethe highest possible finish to his equipment, he had lace ruffles athis wrist, of a most ethereal delicacy, sufficiently avouching howidle and aristocratic must be the hands which they half concealed.
It was a remarkable point in the accoutrement of this brilliantpersonage that he held in his left hand a fantastic kind of a pipe,with an exquisitely painted bowl and an amber mouthpiece. This heapplied to his lips as often as every five or six paces, and inhaled adeep whiff of smoke, which, after being retained a moment in hislungs, might be seen to eddy gracefully from his mouth and nostrils.
As may well be supposed, the street was all astir to find out thestranger's name.
"It is some great nobleman, beyond question," said one of thetowns-people. "Do you see the star at his breast?""Nay; it is too bright to be seen," said another. "Yes; he mustneeds be a nobleman, as you say. But by what conveyance, think you,can his lordship have voyaged or travelled hither? There has been novessel from the old country for a month past; and if he have arrivedoverland from the southward, pray where are his attendants andequipage?""He needs no equipage to set off his rank," remarked a third. "Ifhe came among us in rags, nobility would shine through a hole in hiselbow. I never saw such dignity of aspect. He has the old Norman bloodin his veins, I warrant him.""I rather take him to be a Dutchman, or one of your highGermans," said another citizen. "The men of those countries havealways the pipe at their mouths.""And so has a Turk," answered his companion. "But, in myjudgment, this stranger hath been bred at the French court, and haththere learned politeness and grace of manner, which none understand sowell as the nobility of France. That gait, now! A vulgar spectatormight deem it stiff- he might call it a hitch and jerk- but, to myeye, it hath an unspeakable majesty, and must have been acquired byconstant observation of the deportment of the Grand Monarque. Thestranger's character and office are evident enough. He is a Frenchambassador, come to treat with our rulers about the cession ofCanada.""More probably a Spaniard," said another, "and hence his yellowcomplexion; or, most likely, he is from the Havana, or from someport on the Spanish Main, and comes to make investigation about thepiracies which our government is thought to connive at. Those settlersin Peru and Mexico have skins as yellow as the gold which they dig outof their mines.""Yellow or not," cried a lady, "he is a beautiful man! so tall,so slender! such a fine, noble face, with so well-shaped a nose, andall that delicacy of expression about the mouth! And, bless me, howbright his star is! It positively shoots out flames!""So do your eyes, fair lady," said the stranger, with a bow and aflourish of his pipe; for he was just passing at the instant. "Upon myhonor, they have quite dazzled me.""Was ever so original and exquisite a compliment?" murmured thelady, in an ecstasy of delight.
Amid the general admiration excited by the stranger's appearance,there were only two dissenting voices. One was that of animpertinent cur, which, after snuffing at the heels of theglistening figure, put its tail between its legs and skulked intoits master's back yard, vociferating an execrable howl. The otherdissentient was a young child, who squalled at the fullest stretchof his lungs, and babbled some unintelligible nonsense about apumpkin.
Feathertop meanwhile pursued his way along the street. Except forthe few complimentary words to the lady, and now and then a slightinclination of the head in requital of the profound reverences ofthe bystanders, he seemed wholly absorbed in his pipe. There needed noother proof of his rank and consequence than the perfect equanimitywith which he comported himself, while the curiosity and admiration ofthe town swelled almost into clamor around him. With a crowd gatheringbehind his footsteps, he finally reached the mansion-house of theworshipful Justice Gookin, entered the gate, ascended the steps of thefront door, and knocked. In the interim, before his summons wasanswered, the stranger was observed to shake the ashes out of hispipe.
"What did he say in that sharp voice?" inquired one of thespectators.
