Before the minister could speak agin, the old docter called to him from across the square, “Mr. Dimmesdale, is that you?” He moved nearer to the platform and said, “We men of study have to be careful. We work too hard and walk in our sleep. Come, my dear friend, please. I will take you home.”
“How did you find me here?” the minister asked, afraid. “Did you follow me?”
“I was on my way home from Governor Winthrop’s house,” Chillingworth answered. “I was with him when he died. I saw you here on this platform when that strange light shone in the sky. Now come with me, or you will feel very sick tomorrow. Then you will have to stay in bed, and you will not speak in church.”
Without a word to Hester or to little Pearl, the young minister left the platform. He walked off into the night with Roger Chillingworth.
The next day Arthur Dimmesdale spoke in church. He spoke beautifully. When he came out of the church, everybody wanted to talk to him. “Did you see the sky last night?” one man asked. “There was a letter of fire in the sky a big. Red letter ‘A’. Did you see it”
“No, I did not,” the minister said. “I was asleep in bed.”