A reserved but ambitious young man traveling on foot through the Crawford Notch pass. Described as having a proud yet gentle spirit, he usually maintains a solitary existence due to his cautious nature. However, he feels an immediate kinship with the innkeeper's family, prompting him to share his deep desire to make a name for himself and build a lasting monument before he dies.

The pragmatic but humble head of the household who runs an inn and tavern at the lonely mountain pass. Though his face shows a sober gladness reflecting the hardship of his environment, he is careful not to appear overly greedy for profit when travelers pass by. Beneath his practical exterior, he harbors a quiet aspiration to move to a more sociable town, establish a good farm, and earn the respect of his neighbors.

A seventeen-year-old girl described as 'Happiness' and a 'mountain-nymph.' Despite her cheerful demeanor, she occasionally exhibits signs of loneliness living in the isolated mountain pass. In contrast to the traveler's hunger for worldly glory, she values contentment, comfort, and domestic companionship over anonymous fame.

An elderly matron who lives with the family at the mountain inn. Characterized as the image of old age and happiness, she is highly aware of her mortality. She holds onto old superstitions and focuses her desires on finding peace and propriety in her eventual rest, wishing to ensure she looks presentable when her time comes.

The matriarch of the family, helping to run the isolated inn in the White Mountains. She is protective and easily unsettled by the gloomy atmosphere outside the mountain pass. While others in the room vocalize their grand or peculiar wishes, she remains grounded in her maternal instincts, quickly calling out to her younger children when the conversation turns ominous.

One of the younger children living at the mountain inn. Inspired by the adults' conversation about the future, he expresses his own simple, immediate desire to visit the nearby brook, the Flume, to drink its water.