With his long pole in his hand, he ascended to the top of the kiln.
After a moment's pause, he called to his son.

"Come up here, Joe!" said he.

So little Joe ran up the hillock, and stood by his father's side. The
marble was all burnt into perfect, snow-white lime. But on its
surface, in the midst of the circle,--snow-white too, and thoroughly
converted into lime,--lay a human skeleton, in the attitude of a
person who, after long toil, lies down to long repose. Within the
ribs--strange to say--was the shape of a human heart.

"Was the fellow's heart made of marble?" cried Bartram, in some
perplexity at this phenomenon. "At any rate, it is burnt into what
looks like special good lime; and, taking all the bones together, my
kiln is half a bushel the richer for him."

So saying, the rude lime-burner lifted his pole, and, letting it fall
upon the skeleton, the relics of Ethan Brand were crumbled into
fragments.


NOTES

[1] Written in 1848; published in Holden's _Dollar Magazine_ in 1851.

[2] 182:26 Delectable Mountains. A range of mountains referred to in
Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_.

[3] 190:22 ubiquitous. Being present everywhere.