Page:In colonial days (1906).djvu/75

 "For some wise end," said the aged Selectman solemnly, "hath Providence scattered away the mist of years that had so long hid this dreadful effigy. Until this hour no living man hath seen what we behold!"

She snatched away the sable curtain.

Within the antique frame, which so recently had enclosed a sable waste of canvas, now appeared a visible picture, still dark, indeed, in its hues and shadings, but thrown forward in strong relief. It was a half-length figure of a gentleman in a rich but very old-fashioned dress of embroidered velvet, with a broad ruff and a beard, and wearing a hat, the brim of which overshadowed his forehead. Beneath this cloud the eyes had a peculiar glare which was almost life-like. The whole portrait started so distinctly out of the background that it had the effect of a person looking down from the wall at the astonished and awe-*stricken spectators. The expression of the face, if any words can convey an idea of it, was that of a wretch detected in some