"And well I may be," said the stranger; "for I followed the same craft many
a long year, and here, too, on this very spot. But you are a newcomer in these
parts. Did you never hear of Ethan Brand?"
"The man that went in search of the Unpardonable Sin?" asked Bartram, with
a laugh.
"The same," answered the stranger. "He has found what he sought, and therefore
he comes back again."
"What! then you are Ethan Brand himself?" cried the lime-burner, in amazement.
"I am a newcomer here, as you say, and they call it eighteen years since you
left the foot of Gray-lock.
But, I can tell you, the good folks still talk about Ethan Brand, in the
village yonder, and what a strange errand took him away from his lime-kiln.
Well, and so you have found the Unpardonable Sin?"
"Even so!" said the stranger, calmly.
"If the question is a fair one," proceeded Bartram, "where might it be?"
Ethan Brand laid his finger on his own heart.
"Here!" replied he.
