[The Complete PG Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]@TWC D-Link bookThe Complete PG Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION 237/419
The first was a series of marks called the "Devil's footsteps." These were patches of sand in the pastures, where no grass grew, where the low-bush blackberry, the "dewberry," as our Southern neighbors call it, in prettier and more Shakspearian language, did not spread its clinging creepers,--where even the pale, dry, sadly-sweet "everlasting" could not grow, but all was bare and blasted.
The second was a mark in one of the public buildings near my home,--the college dormitory named after a Colonial Governor.
I do not think many persons are aware of the existence of this mark,--little having been said about the story in print, as it was considered very desirable, for the sake of the Institution, to hush it up.
In the northwest corner, and on the level of the third or fourth story, there are signs of a breach in the walls, mended pretty well, but not to be mistaken.
A considerable portion of that corner must have been carried away, from within outward.
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