Calico Illustrated Calssics: The House of the Seven Gables

Calico Illustrated Calssics: The House of the Seven Gables — page 9
and left undisturbed for many years as the family tried to forget such a blot on their history The Pyncheons were not shopkeepers And yet Miss Hepzibah had polished the floors and counters of the shop She had stocked it with trinkets and toys Gingerbread elephants tramped across the windowsill Tall barrels of flour apples and cornmeal stood in a neat row near the counter The antique scale was as polished as rust and ruin would allow Like many aging gentlewomen Miss Hepzibah was opening a shop She already had a small income from renting part of the house to a young photographer But that brought in so little she was forced to seek other income or starve Yet no occupation seemed less suited to the shy scowling woman than selling things Miss Hepzibah had considered her options Her hands trembled too much to be a seamstress She had toyed with the idea of opening a school but she simply did not like children They frightened her and she 12