<P> In about 1732 , Robin , a youth , arrives by ferry in Boston seeking his kinsman , Major Molineux , an official in the British Colonial government , who has promised him work . Yet no one in town tells him where the major is . A rich man threatens the youth with prison , and an innkeeper calls him a runaway bond - servant . At the inn , he meets a man with a face described as looking like the devil - two protrusions emanating from his forehead ( like horns ) , eyes burning like ' fire in a cave ' - who seems at the center of many evil things . Later , he runs into the man again , but this time his face is painted black and red . After blocking his path with a cudgel , he finally gets the answer that his kinsman will soon pass by . He waits at the spot on the steps of a church where he is greeted by the first polite gentleman he has met all night . Soon , the two men hear the roar of an approaching mob . At its head is the man with the red and black face and in its midst is Major Molineux , tarred and feathered . The crowd is in an uproar , and everyone is laughing . Soon , so is young Robin , as his eyes meet those of the Major , who knows him right away . Disillusioned , the youth asks the gentleman the way back to the ferry . Yet the latter restrains him , saying that it is still possible for him to thrive without his kinsman 's protection . </P>
who is the young man in hawthorne 's my kinsman major molineux
Robin , a youth