His two companions were elderly and respectable yeomen who , retaining an ante-Revolutionary reverence for rank and hereditary wealth , kept a little in the squire 's rear . As they approached along the pathway Ralph Cranfield sat in an oaken elbow-chair half unconsciously gazing at the three visitors and enveloping their homely figures in the misty romance that pervaded his mental world . `` Here , '' thought he , smiling at the conceit -- `` here come three elderly personages , and the first of the three is a venerable sage with a staff . What if this embassy should bring me the message of my fate ? '' While Squire Hawkwood and his colleagues entered , Ralph rose from his seat and advanced a few steps to receive them , and his stately figure and dark countenance as he bent courteously toward his guests had a natural dignity contrasting well with the bustling importance of the squire . The old gentleman , according to invariable custom , gave an elaborate preliminary flourish with his cane in the air , then removed his three-cornered hat in order to wipe his brow , and finally proceeded to make known his errand . `` My colleagues and myself , '' began the squire , `` are burdened with momentous duties , being jointly selectmen of this village . Our minds for the space of three days past have been laboriously bent on the selection of a suitable person to fill a most important office and take upon himself a charge and rule which , wisely considered , may be ranked no lower than those of kings and potentates . And whereas you , our native townsman , are of good natural intellect and well cultivated by foreign travel , and that certain vagaries and fantasies of your youth are doubtless long ago corrected , -- taking all these matters , I say , into due consideration , we are of opinion that Providence hath sent you hither at this juncture for our very purpose . '' During this harangue Cranfield gazed fixedly at the speaker , as if he beheld something mysterious and unearthly in his pompous little figure , and as if the squire had worn the flowing robes of an ancient sage instead of a square-skirted coat , flapped waistcoat , velvet breeches and silk stockings . Nor was his wonder without sufficient cause , for the flourish of the squire 's staff , marvellous to relate , had described precisely the signal in the air which was to ratify the message of the prophetic sage whom Cranfield had sought around the world . `` And what , '' inquired Ralph Cranfield , with a tremor in his voice -- `` what may this office be which is to equal me with kings and potentates ? '' `` No less than instructor of our village school , '' answered Squire Hawkwood , `` the office being now vacant by the death of the venerable Master Whitaker after a fifty years ' incumbency . '' `` I will consider of your proposal , '' replied Ralph Cranfield , hurriedly , `` and will make known my decision within three days . '' After a few more words the village dignitary and his companions took their leave . But to Cranfield 's fancy their images were still present , and became more and more invested with the dim awfulness of figures which had first appeared to him in a dream , and afterward had shown themselves in his waking moments , assuming homely aspects among familiar things . His mind dwelt upon the features of the squire till they grew confused with those of the visionary sage and one appeared but the shadow of the other . The same visage , he now thought , had looked forth upon him from the Pyramid of Cheops ; the same form had beckoned to him among the colonnades of the Alhambra ; the same figure had mistily revealed itself through the ascending steam of the Great Geyser . At every effort of his memory he recognized some trait of the dreamy messenger of destiny in this pompous , bustling , self-important , little-great man of the village . Amid such musings Ralph Cranfield sat all day in the cottage , scarcely hearing and vaguely answering his mother 's thousand questions about his travels and adventures .
At sunset he roused himself to XXXXX a stroll , and , passing the aged elm tree , his eye was again caught by the semblance of a hand pointing downward at the half-obliterated inscription .
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