Nathaniel Hawthorne

True Stories of History and Biography Nathaniel Hawthorne

Grandfather had been sitting in his old arm-chair, all that pleasant afternoon, while thechildren were pursuing their various sports, far off or near at hand. Sometimes you would havesaid, "Grandfather is asleep;" but still, even when his eyes were closed, his thoughts were withthe young people, playing among the flowers and shrubbery of the garden. He heard the voice of Laurence, who had taken possession of a heap of decayed brancheswhich the gardener had lopped from the fruit trees, and was building a little hut for his cousinClara and himself.