CHAPTER II
THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES
The visitor to Salem has no difficulty in finding the House of the Seven Gables, for any one can direct him there, and he is waylaid by boys who wish to guide him to it.
His way lies through what was once the court end of the town. This quarter, long since deserted by fashion—its fine old houses are now turned into tenements—still retains enough of its ancient state to arouse the visitor's interest. So his mind is in a most receptive mood when a final corner takes him into Turner Street, and he descries at its very end the rear of the ancient mansion, embowered by trees, the long sweep of its lean-to crowned by a cluster of chimneys.
Plate V.—The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Mass.
The House of the Seven Gables is most pleasantly situated, overlooking Salem harbor, with a view across the water and of Marblehead in the distance. The house faces the south. Its east end borders on Turner Street, crowding down so close to the narrow sidewalk that the picturesque sign over the shop door swings just over the heads of the passers-by. At the back of the house the lean-to already mentioned slopes down to the yard, while to the west the land extends beyond the garden to the next street.
The steeply sloping roof of the ancient mansion, its sharp, pointed gables, its gray, weather-beaten clapboards, the faded red of its brick chimneys, all attract the visitor. Romance speaks to him from the tiny casements and, dreaming that he shall find Miss Hepzibah herself behind the counter, he opens the shop door and hurriedly enters. The bell over the door jangles his welcome.