Chapter 16 Summary

And so, as she has promised herself, Hester sets forth in the forest to meet Dimmesdale and warn him about his physician/friend. She is afraid of telling him in his study because of the possible interference by Chillingworth. So, hearing that he has gone to visit the Apostle Eliot, who lives with his Indian converts, she conspires to meet him on his trip home.

The child is, of course, playful, dwelling in her conversation on the legendary Black Man, who dwells in the forest with his witches. Young Pearl has heard the stories of old Mistress Hibbins and now hears that her mother, herself, consorts with him at midnight. Hester draws her back to reality, but then tells her that she had met him once- and the scarlet letter is "his mark." Then, Hester sees Dimmesdale, dismissing Pearl's mistaken notion that the...