Opening paragraphs

Nathaniel Hawthorne's house    Salem, MA

A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray,
steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing
hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a
wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with
oak, and studded with iron spikes.

Nathaniel Hawthorne,  The Scarlet Letter