The minister turned to Hester smiling and said, "Isn't this better than what we had dreamed of in the forest?" "I don't know!"she relpid. "Better? Are we both to die here along with little Pearl?" "If God wills is so," he said, "But I must do what he has told me to. Hester, I am dying. So, let me quickly take my shame upon me."

When they reached the top of the scaffold, Dimmesdale turned to the crowd. "Fellow citizens of Boston!" he shouted. "You that have loved me and have thought I stand on the spot where I shold have stood with this woman seven years ago!"

Dimmesdale gathered all of his remaining strength and walked forward by himself, a few steps away from the woman and the child. "God's eye saw it! The angels and the Devil were forever pointing at it! But he hid it from all of you. Now, on the verge of death, he stands before you! He asks you to look again at Hester's scarlet letter!