The Ancestral Footstep (fragment) is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was an American author and short story writer. His works frequently concentrate on history, ethics, and religious conviction. Excerpt: "The father of these two sons, an aged man at the time, took much to heart their enmity; and after the catastrophe, he never held up his head again. He was not told that his son had perished, though such was the belief of the family; but imbibed the opinion that he had left his home and native land to become a wanderer on the face of the earth, and that some time or other he might return. In this idea he spent the remainder of his days; in this idea he died. It may be that the influence of this idea might be traced in the way in which he spent some of the latter years of his life, and a portion of the wealth which had become of little value in his eyes, since it had caused dissension and bloodshed between the sons of one household. It was a common mode of charity in those days—a common thing for rich men to do—to found an almshouse or a hospital, and endow it, for the support of a certain number of old and destitute men or women, generally such as had some claim of blood upon the founder, or at least were natives of the parish, the district, the county, where he dwelt."

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Ancestral Footstep by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Hawthorne includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘The Ancestral Footstep by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Hawthorne’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles