He was
uncommonly tall, and one thing which added much to the oddity of his
appearance was the inequality of length in his legs, one being shorter
by several inches than the other, and, to make up for the deficiency, he
wore on the short leg a boot with a very high heel. He seemed to be past
middle age, his complexion was sallow and unhealthy, he was squint-eyed,
and his hair, which had once been of a reddish hue, was then a grizzly
gray. Taken all together he was a strange looking object, and I soon
perceived that his mind wandered. At first I felt inclined to hurry
onward as quickly as possible, but, as he seemed harmless and inclined
to talk to me, I lingered for a few moments to listen to him. "I do not
wonder," said he, "that you look upon me with pity, for it is a sad
thing for one to be crazy." Surprised to find him so sensible of his own
situation I said: "As you seem so well aware that you are crazy, perhaps
you can inform me what caused you to become so." "Oh yes," replied he,
"I can soon tell you that: first my father died, then my mother, and
soon after my only sister hung herself to the limb of a tree with a
skein of worsted yarn; and last, and worst of all, my wife, Dorcas Jane,
drowned herself in Otter Creek.
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