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diff --git a/2275-0.txt b/2275-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29b2f51 --- /dev/null +++ b/2275-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18070 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pioneers, by James Fenimore Cooper + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Pioneers + Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna + +Author: James Fenimore Cooper + +Release Date: August, 2000 [EBook #2275] +Last Updated: March 11, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIONEERS *** + + + + +Produced by Gary Rezny and David Widger + + + + + + +THE PIONEERS + +Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna + +A Descriptive Tale + + +By J. Fenimore Cooper + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +As this work professes, in its title-page, to be a descriptive tale, +they who will take the trouble to read it may be glad to know how much +of its contents is literal fact, and how much is intended to represent +a general picture. The author is very sensible that, had he confined +himself to the latter, always the most effective, as it is the most +valuable, mode of conveying knowledge of this nature, he would have made +a far better book. But in commencing to describe scenes, and perhaps he +may add characters, that were so familiar to his own youth, there was +a constant temptation to delineate that which he had known, rather than +that which he might have imagined. This rigid adhesion to truth, an +indispensable requisite in history and travels, destroys the charm of +fiction; for all that is necessary to be conveyed to the mind by +the latter had better be done by delineations of principles, and of +characters in their classes, than by a too fastidious attention to +originals. + +New York having but one county of Otsego, and the Susquehanna but one +proper source, there can be no mistake as to the site of the tale. The +history of this district of country, so far as it is connected with +civilized men, is soon told. + +Otsego, in common with most of the interior of the province of New +York, was included in the county of Albany previously to the war of the +separation. It then became, in a subsequent division of territory, a +part of Montgomery; and finally, having obtained a sufficient population +of its own, it was set apart as a county by itself shortly after the +peace of 1783. It lies among those low spurs of the Alleghanies which +cover the midland counties of New York, and it is a little east of a +meridional line drawn through the centre of the State. As the waters +of New York flow either southerly into the Atlantic or northerly +into Ontario and its outlet, Otsego Lake, being the source of the +Susquehanna, is of necessity among its highest lands. The face of the +country, the climate as it was found by the whites, and the manners of +the settlers, are described with a minuteness for which the author has +no other apology than the force of his own recollections. + +Otsego is said to be a word compounded of Ot, a place of meeting, and +Sego, or Sago, the ordinary term of salutation used by the Indians of +this region. There is a tradition which says that the neighboring tribes +were accustomed to meet on the banks of the lake to make their treaties, +and otherwise to strengthen their alliances, and which refers the name +to this practice. As the Indian agent of New York had a log dwelling at +the foot of the lake, however, it is not impossible that the appellation +grew out of the meetings that were held at his council fires; the war +drove off the agent, in common with the other officers of the crown; +and his rude dwelling was soon abandoned. The author remembers it, a few +years later, reduced to the humble office of a smoke-house. + +In 1779 an expedition was sent against the hostile Indians, who dwelt +about a hundred miles west of Otsego, on the banks of the Cayuga. The +whole country was then a wilderness, and it was necessary to transport +the baggage of the troops by means of the rivers--a devious but +practicable route. One brigade ascended the Mohawk until it reached the +point nearest to the sources of the Susquehanna, whence it cut a lane +through the forest to the head of the Otsego. The boats and baggage +were carried over this “portage,” and the troops proceeded to the +other extremity of the lake, where they disembarked and encamped. The +Susquehanna, a narrow though rapid stream at its source, was much filled +with “flood wood,” or fallen trees; and the troops adopted a novel +expedient to facilitate their passage. The Otsego is about nine miles +in length, varying in breadth from half a mile to a mile and a half. The +water is of great depth, limpid, and supplied from a thousand springs. +At its foot the banks are rather less than thirty feet high the +remainder of its margin being in mountains, intervals, and points. The +outlet, or the Susquehanna, flows through a gorge in the low banks just +mentioned, which may have a width of two hundred feet. This gorge +was dammed and the waters of the lake collected: the Susquehanna was +converted into a rill. + +When all was ready the troops embarked, the damn was knocked away, the +Otsego poured out its torrent, and the boats went merrily down with the +current. + +General James Clinton, the brother of George Clinton, then governor of +New York, and the father of De Witt Clinton, who died governor of the +same State in 1827, commanded the brigade employed on this duty. During +the stay of the troops at the foot of the Otsego a soldier was shot +for desertion. The grave of this unfortunate man was the first place of +human interment that the author ever beheld, as the smoke-house was the +first ruin! The swivel alluded to in this work was buried and abandoned +by the troops on this occasion, and it was subsequently found in digging +the cellars of the authors paternal residence. + +Soon after the close of the war, Washington, accompanied by many +distinguished men, visited the scene of this tale, it is said with a +view to examine the facilities for opening a communication by water with +other points of the country. He stayed but a few hours. + +In 1785 the author's father, who had an interest in extensive tracts of +land in this wilderness, arrived with a party of surveyors. The manner +in which the scene met his eye is described by Judge Temple. At the +commencement of the following year the settlement began; and from that +time to this the country has continued to flourish. It is a singular +feature in American life that at the beginning of this century, when the +proprietor of the estate had occasion for settlers on a new settlement +and in a remote county, he was enabled to draw them from among the +increase of the former colony. + +Although the settlement of this part of Otsego a little preceded the +birth of the author, it was not sufficiently advanced to render it +desirable that an event so important to himself should take place in the +wilderness. Perhaps his mother had a reasonable distrust of the practice +of Dr Todd, who must then have been in the novitiate of his experimental +acquirements. Be that as it may, the author was brought an infant into +this valley, and all his first impressions were here obtained. He has +inhabited it ever since, at intervals; and he thinks he can answer for +the faithfulness of the picture he has drawn. Otsego has now become one +of the most populous districts of New York. It sends forth its emigrants +like any other old region, and it is pregnant with industry and +enterprise. Its manufacturers are prosperous, and it is worthy of remark +that one of the most ingenious machines known in European art is derived +from the keen ingenuity which is exercised in this remote region. + +In order to prevent mistake, it may be well to say that the incidents of +this tale are purely a fiction. The literal facts are chiefly connected +with the natural and artificial objects and the customs of the +inhabitants. Thus the academy, and court-house, and jail, and inn, and +most similar things, are tolerably exact. They have all, long since, +given place to other buildings of a more pretending character. There +is also some liberty taken with the truth in the description of the +principal dwelling; the real building had no “firstly” and “lastly.” + It was of bricks, and not of stone; and its roof exhibited none of the +peculiar beauties of the “composite order.” It was erected in an age +too primitive for that ambitious school of architecture. But the author +indulged his recollections freely when he had fairly entered the door. +Here all is literal, even to the severed arm of Wolfe, and the urn which +held the ashes of Queen Dido.* + + * Though forests still crown the mountains of Otsego, the bear, the + wolf, and the panther are nearly strangers to them. Even the innocent + deer is rarely seen bounding beneath their arches; for the rifle and + the activity of the settlers have driven them to other haunts. To + this change (which in some particulars is melancholy to one who knew + the country in its infancy), it may be added that the Otsego is + beginning to be a niggard of its treasures. + +The author has elsewhere said that the character of Leather-Stocking is +a creation, rendered probable by such auxiliaries as were necessary to +produce that effect. Had he drawn still more upon fancy, the lovers of +fiction would not have so much cause for their objections to his work. +Still, the picture would not have been in the least true without some +substitutes for most of the other personages. The great proprietor +resident on his lands, and giving his name to instead of receiving it +from his estates as in Europe, is common over the whole of New York. +The physician with his theory, rather obtained from than corrected +by experiments on the human constitution; the pious, self-denying, +laborious, and ill-paid missionary; the half-educated, litigious, +envious, and disreputable lawyer, with his counterpoise, a brother of +the profession, of better origin and of better character; the shiftless, +bargaining, discontented seller of his “betterments;” the plausible +carpenter, and most of the others, are more familiar to all who have +ever dwelt in a new country. + +It may be well to say here, a little more explicitly, that there was no +real intention to describe with particular accuracy any real characters +in this book. It has been often said, and in published statements, that +the heroine of this book was drawn after the sister of the writer, who +was killed by a fall from a horse now near half a century since. So +ingenious is conjecture that a personal resemblance has been discovered +between the fictitious character and the deceased relative! It is +scarcely possible to describe two females of the same class in life who +would be less alike, personally, than Elizabeth Temple and the sister of +the author who met with the deplorable fate mentioned. In a word, they +were as unlike in this respect as in history, character, and fortunes. + +Circumstances rendered this sister singularly dear to the author. After +a lapse of half a century, he is writing this paragraph with a pain that +would induce him to cancel it, were it not still more painful to have it +believed that one whom he regarded with a reverence that surpassed the +love of a brother was converted by him into the heroine of a work of +fiction. + +From circumstances which, after this Introduction, will be obvious to +all, the author has had more pleasure in writing “The Pioneers” than the +book will probably ever give any of its readers. He is quite aware of +its numerous faults, some of which he has endeavored to repair in this +edition; but as he has--in intention, at least--done his full share in +amusing the world, he trusts to its good-nature for overlooking this +attempt to please himself. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + “See, Winter comes, to rule the varied years, + Sullen and sad, with all his rising train; + Vapors, and clouds, and storms.”--Thomson. + +Near the centre of the State of New York lies an extensive district of +country whose surface is a succession of hills and dales, or, to speak +with greater deference to geographical definitions, of mountains and +valleys. It is among these hills that the Delaware takes its rise; and +flowing from the limpid lakes and thousand springs of this region the +numerous sources of the Susquehanna meander through the valleys until, +uniting their streams, they form one of the proudest rivers of the +United States. The mountains are generally arable to the tops, although +instances are not wanting where the sides are jutted with rocks that aid +greatly in giving to the country that romantic and picturesque character +which it so eminently possesses. The vales are narrow, rich, and +cultivated, with a stream uniformly winding through each. Beautiful and +thriving villages are found interspersed along the margins of the small +lakes, or situated at those points of the streams which are favorable +for manufacturing; and neat and comfortable farms, with every indication +of wealth about them, are scattered profusely through the vales, and +even to the mountain tops. Roads diverge in every direction from +the even and graceful bottoms of the valleys to the most rugged and +intricate passes of the hills. Academies and minor edifices of learning +meet the eye of the stranger at every few miles as he winds his way +through this uneven territory, and places for the worship of God abound +with that frequency which characterize a moral and reflecting people, +and with that variety of exterior and canonical government which flows +from unfettered liberty of conscience. In short, the whole district is +hourly exhibiting how much can be done, in even a rugged country and +with a severe climate, under the dominion of mild laws, and where every +man feels a direct interest in the prosperity of a commonwealth of which +he knows himself to form a part. The expedients of the pioneers who +first broke ground in the settlement of this country are succeeded +by the permanent improvements of the yeoman who intends to leave his +remains to moulder under the sod which he tills, or perhaps of the son, +who, born in the land, piously wishes to linger around the grave of +his father. Only forty years * have passed since this territory was a +wilderness. + + * Our tale begins in 1793, about seven years after the commencement of + one of the earliest of those settlements which have conduced to effect + that magical change in the power and condition of the State to which + we have alluded. + +Very soon after the establishment of the independence of the States by +the peace of 1783, the enterprise of their citizens was directed to +a development of the natural advantages of their widely extended +dominions. Before the war of the Revolution, the inhabited parts of the +colony of New York were limited to less than a tenth of its possessions, +A narrow belt of country, extending for a short distance on either side +of the Hudson, with a similar occupation of fifty miles on the banks of +the Mohawk, together with the islands of Nassau and Staten, and a few +insulated settlements on chosen land along the margins of streams, +composed the country, which was then inhabited by less than two +hundred thousand souls. Within the short period we have mentioned, the +population has spread itself over five degrees of latitude and seven of +longitude, and has swelled to a million and a half of inhabitants, who +are maintained in abundance, and can look forward to ages before the +evil day must arrive when their possessions shall become unequal to +their wants. + +It was near the setting of the sun, on a clear, cold day in December, +when a sleigh was moving slowly up one of the mountains in the district +we have described. The day had been fine for the season, and but two or +three large clouds, whose color seemed brightened by the light reflected +from the mass of snow that covered the earth, floated in a sky of the +purest blue. The road wound along the brow of a precipice, and on one +side was upheld by a foundation of logs piled one upon the other, while +a narrow excavation in the mountain in the opposite direction had made a +passage of sufficient width for the ordinary travelling of that day. But +logs, excavation, and everything that did not reach several feet above +the earth lay alike buried beneath the snow. A single track, barely wide +enough to receive the sleigh, * denoted the route of the highway, and +this was sunk nearly two feet below the surrounding surface. + + * Sleigh is the word used in every part of the United States to denote + a traineau. It is of local use in the west of England, whence it is + most probably derived by the Americans. The latter draw a distinction + between a sled, or sledge, and a sleigh, the sleigh being shod with + metal. Sleighs are also subdivided into two-horse and one-horse + sleighs. Of the latter, there are the cutter, with thills so arranged + as to permit the horse to travel in the side track; the “pung,” or + “tow-pung” which is driven with a pole; and the “gumper,” a rude + construction used for temporary purposes in the new countries. Many + of the American sleighs are elegant though the use of this mode of + conveyance is much lessened with the melioration of the climate + consequent to the clearing of the forests. + +In the vale, which lay at a distance of several hundred feet lower, +there was what, in the language of the country, was called a clearing, +and all the usual improvements of a new settlement; these even extended +up the hill to the point where the road turned short and ran across +the level land, which lay on the summit of the mountain; but the summit +itself remained in the forest. There was glittering in the atmosphere, +as if it was filled with innumerable shining particles; and the noble +bay horses that drew the sleigh were covered, in many parts with a coat +of hoar-frost. The vapor from their nostrils was seen to issue like +smoke; and every object in the view, as well as every arrangement of the +travellers, denoted the depth of a winter in the mountains. The harness, +which was of a deep, dull black, differing from the glossy varnishing +of the present day, was ornamented with enormous plates and buckles of +brass, that shone like gold in those transient beams of the sun which +found their way obliquely through the tops of the trees. Huge saddles, +studded with nails and fitted with cloth that served as blankets to the +shoulders of the cattle, supported four high, square-topped turrets, +through which the stout reins led from the mouths of the horses to the +hands of the driver, who was a negro, of apparently twenty years of +age. His face, which nature had colored with a glistening black, was now +mottled with the cold, and his large shining eyes filled with tears; +a tribute to its power that the keen frosts of those regions always +extracted from one of his African origin. Still, there was a smiling +expression of good-humor in his happy countenance, that was created +by the thoughts of home and a Christmas fireside, with its Christmas +frolics. The sleigh was one of those large, comfortable, old-fashioned +conveyances, which would admit a whole family within its bosom, but +which now contained only two passengers besides the driver. The color of +its outside was a modest green, and that of its inside a fiery red, The +latter was intended to convey the idea of heat in that cold climate. +Large buffalo-skins trimmed around the edges with red cloth cut into +festoons, covered the back of the sleigh, and were spread over its +bottom and drawn up around the feet of the travellers--one of whom was +a man of middle age and the other a female just entering upon womanhood. +The former was of a large stature; but the precautions he had taken to +guard against the cold left but little of his person exposed to view. +A great-coat, that was abundantly ornamented by a profusion of furs, +enveloped the whole of his figure excepting the head, which was covered +with a cap of marten skins lined with morocco, the sides of which were +made to fall, if necessary, and were now drawn close over the ears and +fastened beneath his chin with a black ribbon. The top of the cap was +surmounted with the tail of the animal whose skin had furnished the rest +of the materials, which fell back, not ungracefully, a few inches +behind the head. From beneath this mask were to be seen part of a fine, +manly face, and particularly a pair of expressive large blue eyes, that +promised extraordinary intellect, covert humor, and great benevolence. +The form of his companion was literally hid beneath the garments she +wore. There were furs and silks peeping from under a large camlet cloak +with a thick flannel lining, that by its cut and size was evidently +intended for a masculine wearer. A huge hood of black silk, that was +quilted with down, concealed the whole of her head, except at a small +opening in front for breath, through which occasionally sparkled a pair +of animated jet-black eyes. + +Both the father and daughter (for such was the connection between the +two travellers) were too much occupied with their reflections to break +a stillness that derived little or no interruption from the easy gliding +of the sleigh by the sound of their voices. The former was thinking of +the wife that had held this their only child to her bosom, when, four +years before, she had reluctantly consented to relinquish the society of +her daughter in order that the latter might enjoy the advantages of an +education which the city of New York could only offer at that period. A +few months afterward death had deprived him of the remaining companion +of his solitude; but still he had enough real regard for his child not +to bring her into the comparative wilderness in which he dwelt, until +the full period had expired to which he had limited her juvenile labors. +The reflections of the daughter were less melancholy, and mingled with +a pleased astonishment at the novel scenery she met at every turn in the +road. + +The mountain on which they were journeying was covered with pines that +rose without a branch some seventy or eighty feet, and which frequently +doubled that height by the addition of the tops. Through the innumerable +vistas that opened beneath the lofty trees, the eye could penetrate +until it was met by a distant inequality in the ground, or was stopped +by a view of the summit of the mountain which lay on the opposite side +of the valley to which they were hastening. The dark trunks of the trees +rose from the pure white of the snow in regularly formed shafts, until, +at a great height, their branches shot forth horizontal limbs, that were +covered with the meagre foliage of an evergreen, affording a melancholy +contrast to the torpor of nature below. To the travellers there seemed +to be no wind; but these pines waved majestically at their topmost +boughs, sending forth a dull, plaintive sound that was quite in +consonance with the rest of the melancholy scene. + +The sleigh had glided for some distance along the even surface, and the +gaze of the female was bent in inquisitive and, perhaps, timid glances +into the recesses of the forest, when a loud and continued howling was +heard, pealing under the long arches of the woods like the cry of a +numerous pack of hounds. The instant the sounds reached the ear of the +gentleman he cried aloud to the black: + +“Hol up, Aggy; there is old Hector; I should know his bay among ten +thousand! The Leather-Stocking has put his hounds into the hills this +clear day, and they have started their game. There is a deer-track a few +rods ahead; and now, Bess, if thou canst muster courage enough to stand +fire, I will give thee a saddle for thy Christmas dinner.” + +The black drew up, with a cheerful grin upon his chilled features, and +began thrashing his arms together in order to restore the circulation of +his fingers, while the speaker stood erect and, throwing aside his outer +covering, stepped from the sleigh upon a bank of snow which sustained +his weight without yielding. + +In a few moments the speaker succeeded in extricating a double-barrelled +fowling-piece from among a multitude of trunks and bandboxes. After +throwing aside the thick mittens which had encased his hands, there +now appeared a pair of leather gloves tipped with fur; he examined his +priming, and was about to move forward, when the light bounding noise of +an animal plunging through the woods was heard, and a fine buck darted +into the path a short distance ahead of him. The appearance of the +animal was sudden, and his flight inconceivably rapid; but the traveller +appeared to be too keen a sportsman to be disconcerted by either. As it +came first into view he raised the fowling-piece to his shoulder and, +with a practised eye and steady hand, drew a trigger. The deer dashed +forward undaunted, and apparently unhurt. Without lowering his piece, +the traveller turned its muzzle toward his victim, and fired again. +Neither discharge, however, seemed to have taken effect, + +The whole scene had passed with a rapidity that confused the female, +who was unconsciously rejoicing in the escape of the buck, as he rather +darted like a meteor than ran across the road, when a sharp, quick sound +struck her ear, quite different from the full, round reports of her +father's gun, but still sufficiently distinct to be known as the +concussion produced by firearms. At the same instant that she heard this +unexpected report, the buck sprang from the snow to a great height in +the air, and directly a second discharge, similar in sound to the first, +followed, when the animal came to the earth, failing head long and +rolling over on the crust with its own velocity. A loud shout was given +by the unseen marksman, and a couple of men instantly appeared from +behind the trunks of two of the pines, where they had evidently placed +themselves in expectation of the passage of the deer. + +“Ha! Natty, had I known you were in ambush, I should not have fired,” + cried the traveller, moving toward the spot where the deer lay--near to +which he was followed by the delighted black, with his sleigh; “but the +sound of old Hector was too exhilarating to be quiet; though I hardly +think I struck him, either.” + +“No--no----Judge,” returned the hunter, with an inward chuckle, and +with that look of exultation that indicates a consciousness of superior +skill, “you burnt your powder only to warm your nose this cold evening. +Did ye think to stop a full-grown buck, with Hector and the slut open +upon him within sound, with that pop-gun in your hand! There's plenty of +pheasants among the swamps; and the snow-birds are flying round your own +door, where you may feed them with crumbs, and shoot them at pleasure, +any day; but if you're for a buck, or a little bear's meat, Judge, +you'll have to take the long rifle, with a greased wadding, or you'll +waste more powder than you'll fill stomachs, I'm thinking.” + +As the speaker concluded he drew his bare hand across the bottom of his +nose, and again opened his enormous mouth with a kind of inward laugh. + +“The gun scatters well, Natty, And it has killed a deer before now,” + said the traveller, smiling good-humoredly. “One barrel was charged with +buckshot, but the other was loaded for birds only. Here are two hurts; +one through the neck, and the other directly through the heart. It is by +no means certain, Natty, but I gave him one of the two. + +“Let who will kill him.” said the hunter, rather surily. + +“I suppose the creature is to be eaten.” So saying, he drew a large +knife from a leathern sheath, which was stuck through his girdle, or +sash, and cut the throat of the animal, “If there are two balls through +the deer, I would ask if there weren't two rifles fired--besides, who +ever saw such a ragged hole from a smooth-bore as this through the neck? +And you will own yourself, Judge, that the buck fell at the last shot, +which was sent from a truer and a younger hand than your'n or mine +either; but, for my part, although I am a poor man I can live without +the venison, but I don't love to give up my lawful dues in a free +country. Though, for the matter of that, might often makes right here, +as well as in the old country, for what I can see.” + +An air of sullen dissatisfaction pervaded the manner of the hunter +during the whole of his speech; yet he thought it prudent to utter the +close of the sentence in such an undertone as to leave nothing audible +but the grumbling sounds of his voice. + +“Nay, Natty,” rejoined the traveller, with undisturbed good-humor, “it +is for the honor that I contend. A few dollars will pay for the venison; +but what will requite me for the lost honor of a buck's tail in my cap? +Think, Natty, how I should triumph over that quizzing dog, Dick Jones, +who has failed seven times already this season, and has only brought in +one woodchuck and a few gray squirrels.” + +“Ah! The game is becoming hard to find, indeed, Judge, with your +clearings and betterments,” said the old hunter, with a kind of +compelled resignation. “The time has been when I have shot thirteen deer +without counting the fa'ns standing in the door of my own hut; and for +bear's meat, if one wanted a ham or so, he had only to watch a-nights, +and he could shoot one by moonlight, through the cracks of the logs, no +fear of his oversleeping himself neither, for the howling of the wolves +was sartin to keep his eyes open. There's old Hector”--patting with +affection a tall hound of black and yellow spots, with white belly and +legs, that just then came in on the scent, accompanied by the slut he +had mentioned; “see where the wolves bit his throat, the night I druv +them from the venison that was smoking on the chimney top--that dog is +more to be trusted than many a Christian man; for he never forgets a +friend, and loves the hand that gives him bread.” + +There was a peculiarity in the manner of the hunter that attracted the +notice of the young female, who had been a close and interested observer +of his appearance and equipments, from the moment he came into view. He +was tall, and so meagre as to make him seem above even the six feet +that he actually stood in his stockings. On his head, which was +thinly covered with lank, sandy hair, he wore a cap made of fox-skin, +resembling in shape the one we have already described, although much +inferior in finish and ornaments. His face was skinny and thin al most +to emaciation; but yet it bore no signs of disease--on the contrary, it +had every indication of the most robust and enduring health. The cold +and exposure had, together, given it a color of uniform red. His gray +eyes were glancing under a pair of shaggy brows, that over hung them in +long hairs of gray mingled with their natural hue; his scraggy neck was +bare, and burnt to the same tint with his face; though a small part of +a shirt-collar, made of the country check, was to be seen above the +overdress he wore. A kind of coat, made of dressed deer-skin, with +the hair on, was belted close to his lank body by a girdle of colored +worsted. On his feet were deer-skin moccasins, ornamented with +porcupines' quills, after the manner of the Indians, and his limbs were +guarded with long leggings of the same material as the moccasins, +which, gartering over the knees of his tarnished buckskin breeches, had +obtained for him among the settlers the nickname of Leather-Stocking. +Over his left shoulder was slung a belt of deer-skin, from which +depended an enormous ox-horn, so thinly scraped as to discover the +powder it contained. The larger end was fitted ingeniously and securely +with a wooden bottom, and the other was stopped tight by a little plug. +A leathern pouch hung before him, from which, as he concluded his last +speech, he took a small measure, and, filling it accurately with powder, +he commenced reloading the rifle, which as its butt rested on the snow +before him reached nearly to the top of his fox-skin cap. + +The traveller had been closely examining the wounds during these +movements, and now, without heeding the ill-humor of the hunter's +manner, he exclaimed: + +“I would fain establish a right, Natty, to the honor of this death; and +surely if the hit in the neck be mine it is enough; for the shot in +the heart was unnecessary--what we call an act of supererogation, +Leather-Stocking.” + +“You may call it by what larned name you please, Judge,” said the +hunter, throwing his rifle across his left arm, and knocking up a brass +lid in the breech, from which he took a small piece of greased leather +and, wrapping a bail in it, forced them down by main strength on the +powder, where he continued to pound them while speaking. “It's far +easier to call names than to shoot a buck on the spring; but the creatur +came by his end from a younger hand than either your'n or mine, as I +said before.” + +“What say you, my friend,” cried the traveller, turning pleasantly to +Natty's companion; “shall we toss up this dollar for the honor, and you +keep the silver if you lose; what say you, friend?” + +“That I killed the deer,” answered the young man, with a little +haughtiness, as he leaned on another long rifle similar to that of +Natty. + +“Here are two to one, indeed,” replied the Judge with a smile; “I am +outvoted--overruled, as we say on the bench. There is Aggy, he can't +vote, being a slave; and Bess is a minor--so I must even make the best +of it. But you'll send me the venison; and the deuce is in it, but I +make a good story about its death.” + +“The meat is none of mine to sell,” said Leather-Stocking, adopting a +little of his companion's hauteur; “for my part, I have known animals +travel days with shots in the neck, and I'm none of them who'll rob a +man of his rightful dues.” + +“You are tenacious of your rights, this cold evening, Natty,” returned +the Judge with unconquerable good-nature; “but what say you, young man; +will three dollars pay you for the buck?” + +“First let us determine the question of right to the satisfaction of us +both,” said the youth firmly but respect fully, and with a pronunciation +and language vastly superior to his appearance: “with how many shot did +you load your gun?” + +“With five, sir,” said the Judge, a little struck with the other's +manner; “are they not enough to slay a buck like this?” + +“One would do it; but,” moving to the tree from be hind which he had +appeared, “you know, sir, you fired in this direction--here are four of +the bullets in the tree.” + +The Judge examined the fresh marks in the bark of the pine, and, shaking +his head, said with a laugh: + +“You are making out the case against yourself, my young advocate; where +is the fifth?” + +“Here,” said the youth, throwing aside the rough overcoat that he wore, +and exhibiting a hole in his under-garment, through which large drops of +blood were oozing. + +“Good God!” exclaimed the Judge, with horror; “have I been trifling +here about an empty distinction, and a fellow-creature suffering from my +hands without a murmur? But hasten--quick--get into my sleigh--it is but +a mile to the village, where surgical aid can be obtained--all shall +be done at my expense, and thou shalt live with me until thy wound is +healed, ay, and forever afterward.” + +“I thank you for your good intention, but I must decline your offer. +I have a friend who would be uneasy were he to hear that I am hurt and +away from him. The injury is but slight, and the bullet has missed the +bones; but I believe, sir, you will now admit me title to the venison.” + +“Admit it!” repeated the agitated Judge; “I here give thee a right to +shoot deer, or bears, or anything thou pleasest in my woods, forever. +Leather-Stocking is the only other man that I have granted the same +privilege to; and the time is coming when it will be of value. But I buy +your deer--here, this bill will pay thee, both for thy shot and my own.” + +The old hunter gathered his tall person up into an air of pride during +this dialogue, but he waited until the other had done speaking. + +“There's them living who say that Nathaniel Bumppo's right to shoot on +these hills is of older date than Marmaduke Temple's right to forbid +him,” he said. “But if there's a law about it at all, though who ever +heard of a law that a man shouldn't kill deer where he pleased!--but +if there is a law at all, it should be to keep people from the use of +smooth-bores. A body never knows where his lead will fly, when he pulls +the trigger of one of them uncertain firearms.” + +Without attending to the soliloquy of Natty, the youth bowed his head +silently to the offer of the bank-note, and replied: + +“Excuse me: I have need of the venison.” + +“But this will buy you many deer,” said the Judge; “take it, I entreat +you;” and, lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, “It is for a +hundred dollars.” + +For an instant only the youth seemed to hesitate, and then, blushing +even through the high color that the cold had given to his cheeks, as if +with inward shame at his own weakness, he again declined the offer. + +During this scene the female arose, and regardless of the cold air, she +threw back the hood which concealed her features, and now spoke, with +great earnestness. + +“Surely, surely--young man--sir--you would not pain my father so much +as to have him think that he leaves a fellow-creature in this wilderness +whom his own hand has injured. I entreat you will go with us, and +receive medical aid.” + +Whether his wound became more painful, or there was something +irresistible in the voice and manner of the fair pleader for her +father's feelings, we know not; but the distance of the young man's +manner was sensibly softened by this appeal, and he stood in apparent +doubt, as if reluctant to comply with and yet unwilling to refuse her +request. The Judge, for such being his office must in future be his +title, watched with no little interest the display of this singular +contention in the feelings of the youth; and, advancing, kindly took his +hand, and, as he pulled him gently toward the sleigh, urged him to enter +it. + +“There is no human aid nearer than Templeton,” he said, “and the hut +of Natty is full three miles from this--come, come, my young friend, go +with us, and let the new doctor look to this shoulder of thine. Here is +Natty will take the tidings of thy welfare to thy friend; and shouldst +thou require it, thou shalt return home in the morning.” The young man +succeeded in extricating his hand from the warm grasp of the Judge, but +he continued to gaze on the face of the female, who, regardless of the +cold, was still standing with her fine features exposed, which +expressed feeling that eloquently seconded the request of her father. +Leather-Stocking stood, in the meantime, leaning upon his long rifle, +with his head turned a little to one side, as if engaged in sagacious +musing; when, having apparently satisfied his doubts, by revolving the +subject in his mind, he broke silence. “It may be best to go, lad, after +all; for, if the shot hangs under the skin, my hand is getting too old +to be cutting into human flesh, as I once used to, Though some thirty +years agone, in the old war, when I was out under Sir William, I +travelled seventy miles alone in the howling wilderness, with a rifle +bullet in my thigh, and then cut it out with my own jack-knife. +Old Indian John knows the time well. I met him with a party of the +Delawares, on the trail of the Iroquois, who had been down and taken +five scalps on the Schoharie. But I made a mark on the red-skin that +I'll warrant he'll carry to his grave! I took him on the posteerum, +saving the lady's presence, as he got up from the ambushment, and +rattled three buckshot into his naked hide, so close that you might have +laid a broad joe upon them all”--here Natty stretched out his long +neck, and straightened his body, as he opened his mouth, which exposed +a single tusk of yellow bone, while his eyes, his face, even his whole +frame seemed to laugh, although no sound was emitted except a kind +of thick hissing, as he inhaled his breath in quavers. “I had lost my +bullet-mould in crossing the Oneida outlet, and had to make shift with +the buckshot; but the rifle was true, and didn't scatter like your +two-legged thing there, Judge, which don't do, I find, to hunt in +company with.” + +Natty's apology to the delicacy of the young lady was unnecessary, for, +while he was speaking, she was too much employed in helping her father +to remove certain articles of baggage to hear him. Unable to resist the +kind urgency of the travellers any longer, the youth, though still with +an unaccountable reluctance, suffered himself to be persuaded to enter +the sleigh. The black, with the aid of his master, threw the buck across +the baggage and entering the vehicle themselves, the Judge invited the +hunter to do so likewise. + +“No, no,” said the old roan, shaking his head; “I have work to do at +home this Christmas eve--drive on with the boy, and let your doctor look +to the shoulder; though if he will only cut out the shot, I have yarbs +that will heal the wound quicker than all his foreign 'intments.” He +turned, and was about to move off, when, suddenly recollecting himself, +he again faced the party, and added: “If you see anything of Indian +John, about the foot of the lake, you had better take him with you, and +let him lend the doctor a hand; for, old as he is, he is curious at cuts +and bruises, and it's likelier than not he'll be in with brooms to sweep +your Christmas ha'arths.” + +“Stop, stop,” cried the youth, catching the arm of the black as he +prepared to urge his horses forward; “Natty--you need say nothing of the +shot, nor of where I am going--remember, Natty, as you love me.” + +“Trust old Leather-Stocking,” returned the hunter significantly; “he +hasn't lived fifty years in the wilderness, and not larnt from the +savages how to hold his tongue--trust to me, lad; and remember old +Indian John.” + +“And, Natty,” said the youth eagerly, still holding the black by the +arm. “I will just get the shot extracted, and bring you up to-night a +quarter of the buck for the Christmas dinner.” + +He was interrupted by the hunter, who held up his finger with an +expressive gesture for silence. He then moved softly along the margin of +the road, keeping his eyes steadfastly fixed on the branches of a pine. +When he had obtained such a position as he wished, he stopped, and, +cocking his rifle, threw one leg far behind him, and stretching his left +arm to its utmost extent along the barrel of his piece, he began slowly +to raise its muzzle in a line with the straight trunk of the tree. The +eyes of the group in the sleigh naturally preceded the movement of the +rifle, and they soon discovered the object of Natty's aim. On a small +dead branch of the pine, which, at the distance of seventy feet from the +ground, shot out horizontally, immediately beneath the living members +of the tree, sat a bird, that in the vulgar language of the country was +indiscriminately called a pheasant or a partridge. In size, it was but +little smaller than a common barn-yard fowl. The baying of the dogs, and +the conversation that had passed near the root of the tree on which it +was perched, had alarmed the bird, which was now drawn up near the body +of the pine, with a head and neck so erect as to form nearly a straight +line with its legs. As soon as the rifle bore on the victim, Natty drew +his trigger, and the partridge fell from its height with a force that +buried it in the snow. + +“Lie down, you old villain,” exclaimed Leather-Stocking, shaking his +ramrod at Hector as he bounded toward the foot of the tree, “lie down, +I say.” The dog obeyed, and Natty proceeded with great rapidity, though +with the nicest accuracy, to reload his piece. When this was ended, he +took up his game, and, showing it to the party without a head, he cried: +“Here is a tidbit for an old man's Christmas--never mind the venison, +boy, and remember Indian John; his yarbs are better than all the foreign +'intments. Here, Judge,” holding up the bird again, “do you think a +smooth-bore would pick game off their roost, and not ruffle a feather?” + The old man gave another of his remarkable laughs, which partook so +largely of exultation, mirth, and irony, and, shaking his head, he +turned, with his rifle at a trail, and moved into the forest with steps +that were between a walk and a trot. At each movement he made his body +lowered several inches, his knees yielding with an inclination inward; +but, as the sleigh turned at a bend in the road, the youth cast his eyes +in quest of his old companion, and he saw that he was already nearly +concealed by the trunks of the tree; while his dogs were following +quietly in his footsteps, occasionally scenting the deer track, that +they seemed to know instinctively was now of no further use to them. +Another jerk was given to the sleigh, and Leather-Stocking was hid from +view. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + All places that the eye of heaven visits + Are to a wise man ports and happy havens: + Think not the king did banish thee: + But thou the king.--Richard II + +An ancestor of Marmaduke Temple had, about one hundred and twenty years +before the commencement of our tale, come to the colony of Pennsylvania, +a friend and co-religionist of its great patron. Old Marmaduke, for this +formidable prenomen was a kind of appellative to the race, brought with +him, to that asylum of the persecuted an abundance of the good things +of this life. He became the master of many thousands of acres of +uninhabited territory, and the supporter of many a score of dependents. +He lived greatly respected for his piety, and not a little distinguished +as a sectary; was intrusted by his associates with many important +political stations; and died just in time to escape the knowledge of his +own poverty. It was his lot to share the fortune of most of those +who brought wealth with them into the new settlements of the middle +colonies. + +The consequence of an emigrant into these provinces was generally to be +ascertained by the number of his white servants or dependents, and the +nature of the public situations that he held. Taking this rule as a +guide, the ancestor of our Judge must have been a man of no little note. + +It is, however, a subject of curious inquiry at the present day, to look +into the brief records of that early period, and observe how regular, +and with few exceptions how inevitable, were the gradations, on the one +hand, of the masters to poverty, and on the other, of their servants to +wealth. Accustomed to ease, and unequal to the struggles incident to an +infant society, the affluent emigrant was barely enabled to maintain +his own rank by the weight of his personal superiority and acquirements; +but, the moment that his head was laid in the grave, his indolent and +comparatively uneducated offspring were compelled to yield precedency to +the more active energies of a class whose exertions had been stimulated +by necessity. This is a very common course of things, even in the +present state of the Union; but it was peculiarly the fortunes of the +two extremes of society, in the peaceful and unenterprising colonies of +Pennsylvania and New Jersey, + +The posterity of Marmaduke did not escape the common lot of those who +depend rather on their hereditary possessions than on their own powers; +and in the third generation they had descended to a point below which, +in this happy country, it is barely possible for honesty, intellect +and sobriety to fall. The same pride of family that had, by its +self-satisfied indolence, conduced to aid their fail, now became a +principle to stimulate them to endeavor to rise again. The feeling, from +being morbid, was changed to a healthful and active desire to emulate +the character, the condition, and, peradventure, the wealth of their +ancestors also. It was the father of our new acquaintance, the Judge, +who first began to reascend in the scale of society; and in this +undertaking he was not a little assisted by a marriage, which aided in +furnishing the means of educating his only son in a rather better manner +than the low state of the common schools of Pennsylvania could promise; +or than had been the practice in the family for the two or three +preceding generations. + +At the school where the reviving prosperity of his father was enabled +to maintain him, young Marmaduke formed an intimacy with a youth whose +years were about equal to his own. This was a fortunate connection for +our Judge, and paved the way to most of his future elevation in life. + +There was not only great wealth but high court interest among the +connections of Edward Effingham. They were one of the few families then +resident in the colonies who thought it a degradation to its members +to descend to the pursuits of commerce; and who never emerged from the +privacy of domestic life unless to preside in the councils of the colony +or to bear arms in her defense. The latter had from youth been the only +employment of Edward's father. Military rank under the crown of Great +Britain was attained with much longer probation, and by much more +toilsome services, sixty years ago than at the present time. Years were +passed without murmuring, in the sub ordinate grades of the service; +and those soldiers who were stationed in the colonies felt, when they +obtained the command of a company, that they were entitled to receive +the greatest deference from the peaceful occupants of the soil. Any one +of our readers who has occasion to cross the Niagara may easily observe +not only the self importance, but the real estimation enjoyed by the hum +blest representative of the crown, even in that polar region of royal +sunshine. Such, and at no very distant period, was the respect paid to +the military in these States, where now, happily, no symbol of war is +ever seen, unless at the free and tearless voice of their people. When, +therefore, the father of Marmaduke's friend, after forty years' +service, retired with the rank of major, maintaining in his domestic +establishment a comparative splendor, he be came a man of the first +consideration in his native colony which was that of New York. He had +served with fidelity and courage, and having been, according to the +custom of the provinces, intrusted with commands much superior to those +to which he was entitled by rank, with reputation also. When Major +Effingham yielded to the claims of age, he retired with dignity, +refusing his half-pay or any other compensation for services that he +felt he could no longer perform. + +The ministry proffered various civil offices which yielded not only +honor but profit; but he declined them all, with the chivalrous +independence and loyalty that had marked his character through life. +The veteran soon caused this set of patriotic disinterestedness to be +followed by another of private munificence, that, however little it +accorded with prudence, was in perfect conformity with the simple +integrity of his own views. + +The friend of Marmaduke was his only child; and to this son, on his +marriage with a lady to whom the father was particularly partial, the +Major gave a complete conveyance of his whole estate, consisting of +money in the funds, a town and country residence, sundry valuable farms +in the old parts of the colony, and large tracts of wild land in the +new--in this manner throwing himself upon the filial piety of his +child for his own future maintenance. Major Effingham, in declining the +liberal offers of the British ministry, had subjected himself to the +suspicion of having attained his dotage, by all those who throng the +avenues to court patronage, even in the remotest corners of that vast +empire; but, when he thus voluntarily stripped himself of his great +personal wealth, the remainder of the community seemed instinctively to +adopt the conclusion also that he had reached a second childhood. +This may explain the fact of his importance rapidly declining; and, if +privacy was his object, the veteran had soon a free indulgence of his +wishes. Whatever views the world might entertain of this act of the +Major, to himself and to his child it seemed no more than a natural +gift by a father of those immunities which he could no longer enjoy or +improve, to a son, who was formed, both by nature and education, to +do both. The younger Effingham did not object to the amount of the +donation; for he felt that while his parent reserved a moral control +over his actions, he was relieving himself of a fatiguing burden: such, +indeed, was the confidence existing between them, that to neither did it +seem anything more than removing money from one pocket to another. + +One of the first acts of the young man, on coming into possession +of his wealth, was to seek his early friend, with a view to offer any +assistance that it was now in his power to bestow. + +The death of Marmaduke's father, and the consequent division of his +small estate, rendered such an offer extremely acceptable to the +young Pennsylvanian; he felt his own powers, and saw, not only the +excellences, but the foibles in the character of his friend. Effingham +was by nature indolent, confiding, and at times impetuous and +indiscreet; but Marmaduke was uniformly equable, penetrating, and full +of activity and enterprise. To the latter therefore, the assistance, or +rather connection that was proffered to him, seemed to produce a mutual +advantage. It was cheerfully accepted, and the arrangement of its +conditions was easily completed. A mercantile house was established +in the metropolis of Pennsylvania, with the avails of Mr. Effingham's +personal property; all, or nearly all, of which was put into the +possession of Temple, who was the only ostensible proprietor in +the concern, while, in secret, the other was entitled to an equal +participation in the profits. This connection was thus kept private for +two reasons, one of which, in the freedom of their intercourse, was +frankly avowed to Marmaduke, while the other continued profoundly hid +in the bosom of his friend, The last was nothing more than pride. To +the descend ant of a line of soldiers, commerce, even in that indirect +manner, seemed a degrading pursuit; but an insuperable obstacle to the +disclosure existed in the prejudices of his father. + +We have already said that Major Effingham had served as a soldier with +reputation. On one occasion, while in command on the western frontier +of Pennsylvania against a league of the French and Indians, not only his +glory, but the safety of himself and his troops were jeoparded by the +peaceful policy of that colony. To the soldier, this was an unpardonable +offence. He was fighting in their defense--he knew that the mild +principles of this little nation of practical Christians would be +disregarded by their subtle and malignant enemies; and he felt the +in jury the more deeply because he saw that the avowed object of the +colonists, in withholding their succors, would only have a tendency to +expose his command, without preserving the peace. The soldier succeeded, +after a desperate conflict, in extricating himself, with a handful of +his men, from their murderous enemy; but he never for gave the people +who had exposed him to a danger which they left him to combat alone. It +was in vain to tell him that they had no agency in his being placed on +their frontier at all; it was evidently for their benefit that he had +been so placed, and it was their “religious duty,” so the Major always +expressed it, “it was their religions duty to have supported him.” + +At no time was the old soldier an admirer of the peaceful disciples of +Fox. Their disciplined habits, both of mind and body, had endowed them +with great physical perfection; and the eye of the veteran was apt to +scan the fair proportions and athletic frames of the colonists with +a look that seemed to utter volumes of contempt for their moral +imbecility, He was also a little addicted to the expression of a +belief that, where there was so great an observance of the externals of +religion, there could not be much of the substance. It is not our task +to explain what is or what ought to be the substance of Christianity, +but merely to record in this place the opinions of Major Effingham. + +Knowing the sentiments of the father in relation to this people, it was +no wonder that the son hesitated to avow his connection with, nay, even +his dependence on the integrity of, a Quaker. + +It has been said that Marmaduke deduced his origin from the +contemporaries and friends of Penn. His father had married without +the pale of the church to which he belonged, and had, in this manner, +forfeited some of the privileges of his offspring. Still, as young +Marmaduke was educated in a colony and society where even the ordinary +intercourse between friends was tinctured with the aspect of this +mild religion, his habits and language were some what marked by its +peculiarities. His own marriage at a future day with a lady without not +only the pale, but the influence, of this sect of religionists, had a +tendency, it is true, to weaken his early impressions; still he +retained them in some degree to the hour of his death, and was observed +uniformly, when much interested or agitated, to speak in the language of +his youth. But this is anticipating our tale. + +When Marmaduke first became the partner of young Effingham, he was quite +the Quaker in externals; and it was too dangerous an experiment for +the son to think of encountering the prejudices of the father on this +subject. The connection, therefore, remained a profound secret to all +but those who were interested in it. + +For a few years Marmaduke directed the commercial operations of his +house with a prudence and sagacity that afforded rich returns. He +married the lady we have mentioned, who was the mother of Elizabeth, and +the visits of his friend were becoming more frequent. There was a speedy +prospect of removing the veil from their intercourse, as its advantages +became each hour more apparent to Mr. Effingham, when the troubles that +preceded the war of the Revolution extended themselves to an alarming +degree. + +Educated in the most dependent loyalty, Mr. Effingham had, from the +commencement of the disputes between the colonists and the crown, warmly +maintained what he believed to be the just prerogatives of his prince; +while, on the other hand, the clear head and independent mind of Temple +had induced him to espouse the cause of the people. Both might have +been influenced by early impressions; for, if the son of the loyal +and gallant soldier bowed in implicit obedience to the will of his +sovereign, the descendant of the persecuted followers of Penn looked +back with a little bitterness to the unmerited wrongs that had been +heaped upon his ancestors. + +This difference in opinion had long been a subject of amicable dispute +between them: but, Latterly, the contest was getting to be too important +to admit of trivial discussions on the part of Marmaduke, whose acute +discernment was already catching faint glimmerings of the important +events that were in embryo. The sparks of dissension soon kindled into a +blaze; and the colonies, or rather, as they quickly declared themselves, +THE STATES, became a scene of strife and bloodshed for years. + +A short time before the battle of Lexington, Mr. Effingham, already a +widower, transmitted to Marmaduke, for safe-keeping, all his valuable +effects and papers; and left the colony without his father. The war had, +however, scarcely commenced in earnest, when he reappeared in New York, +wearing the Livery of his king; and, in a short time, he took the +field at the head of a provincial corps. In the mean time Marmaduke had +completely committed himself in the cause, as it was then called, of the +rebel lion. Of course, all intercourse between the friends ceased--on +the part of Colonel Effingham it was unsought, and on that of Marmaduke +there was a cautious reserve. It soon became necessary for the latter to +abandon the capital of Philadelphia; but he had taken the precaution to +remove the whole of his effects beyond the reach of the royal forces, +including the papers of his friend also. There he continued serving his +country during the struggle, in various civil capacities, and always +with dignity and usefulness. While, however, he discharged his functions +with credit and fidelity, Marmaduke never seemed to lose sight of his +own interests; for, when the estates of the adherents of the crown fell +under the hammer, by the acts of confiscation, he appeared in New York, +and became the purchaser of extensive possessions at comparatively low +prices. + +It is true that Marmaduke, by thus purchasing estates that had been +wrested by violence from others, rendered himself obnoxious to the +censures of that Sect which, at the same time that it discards its +children from a full participation in the family union, seems ever +unwilling to abandon them entirely to the world. But either his success, +or the frequency of the transgression in others, soon wiped off this +slight stain from his character; and, although there were a few +who, dissatisfied with their own fortunes, or conscious of their own +demerits, would make dark hints concerning the sudden prosperity of +the unportioned Quaker, yet his services, and possibly his wealth, soon +drove the recollection of these vague conjectures from men's minds. When +the war ended, and the independence of the States was acknowledged, Mr. +Temple turned his attention from the pursuit of commerce, which was then +fluctuating and uncertain, to the settlement of those tracts of land +which he had purchased. Aided by a good deal of money, and directed by +the suggestions of a strong and practical reason, his enterprise throve +to a degree that the climate and rugged face of the country which he +selected would seem to forbid. His property increased in a tenfold +ratio, and he was already ranked among the most wealthy and important +of his countrymen. To inherit this wealth he had but one child--the +daughter whom we have introduced to the reader, and whom he was now +conveying from school to preside over a household that had too long +wanted a mistress. + +When the district in which his estates lay had become sufficiently +populous to be set off as a county, Mr. Temple had, according to +the custom of the new settlements, been selected to fill its highest +judicial station. This might make a Templar smile; but in addition +to the apology of necessity, there is ever a dignity in talents +and experience that is commonly sufficient, in any station, for the +protection of its possessor; and Marmaduke, more fortunate in his native +clearness of mind than the judge of King Charles, not only decided +right, but was generally able to give a very good reason for it. At all +events, such was the universal practice of the country and the times; +and Judge Temple, so far from ranking among the lowest of his judicial +contemporaries in the courts of the new counties, felt himself, and was +unanimously acknowledged to be, among the first. + +We shall here close this brief explanation of the history and character +of some of our personages leaving them in future to speak and act for +themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + “All that thou see'st is Natures handiwork; + Those rocks that upward throw their mossy brawl + Like castled pinnacles of elder times; + These venerable stems, that slowly rock + Their towering branches in the wintry gale; + That field of frost, which glitters in the sun, + Mocking the whiteness of a marble breast! + Yet man can mar such works with his rude taste, + Like some sad spoiler of a virgin's fame.” + --Duo. + +Some little while elapsed ere Marmaduke Temple was sufficiently +recovered from his agitation to scan the person of his new companion. He +now observed that he was a youth of some two or three and twenty years +of age, and rather above the middle height. Further observation was +prevented by the rough overcoat which was belted close to his form by a +worsted sash, much like the one worn by the old hunter. The eyes of the +Judge, after resting a moment on the figure of the stranger, were raised +to a scrutiny of his countenance. There had been a look of care visible +in the features of the youth, when he first entered the sleigh, that had +not only attracted the notice of Elizabeth, but which she had been much +puzzled to interpret. His anxiety seemed the strongest when he was enjoining his old companion to secrecy; and even when he had decided, and +was rather passively suffering himself to be conveyed to the village, +the expression of his eyes by no means indicated any great degree +of self-satisfaction at the step. But the lines of an uncommonly +prepossessing countenance were gradually becoming composed; and he now +sat silent, and apparently musing. The Judge gazed at him for some time +with earnestness, and then smiling, as if at his own forgetfulness, he +said: + +“I believe, my young friend, that terror has driven you from my +recollection; your face is very familiar, and yet, for the honor of a +score of bucks' tails in my cap, I could not tell your name.” + +“I came into the country but three weeks since,” returned the youth +coldly, “and I understand you have been absent twice that time.” + +“It will be five to-morrow. Yet your face is one that I have seen; +though it would not be strange, such has been my affright, should I see +thee in thy winding-sheet walking by my bedside to-night. What say'st +thou, Bess? Am I compos mentis or not? Fit to charge a grand jury, or, +what is just now of more pressing necessity, able to do the honors of +Christmas eve in the hall of Templeton?” + +“More able to do either, my dear father.” said a playful voice from +under the ample inclosures of the hood, “than to kill deer with a +smooth-bore.” A short pause followed, and the same voice, but in +a different accent, continued. “We shall have good reasons for our +thanksgiving to night, on more accounts than one.” + +The horses soon reached a point where they seemed to know by instinct +that the journey was nearly ended, and, bearing on the bits as they +tossed their heads, they rapidly drew the sleigh over the level land +which lay on the top of the mountain, and soon came to the point where +the road descended suddenly, but circuitously, into the valley. + +The Judge was roused from his reflections, when he saw the four columns +of smoke which floated above his own chimneys. As house, village, and +valley burst on his sight, he exclaimed cheerfully to his daughter: + +“See, Bess, there is thy resting-place for life! And thine too, young +man, if thou wilt consent to dwell with us.” + +The eyes of his auditors involuntarily met; and, if the color that +gathered over the face of Elizabeth was contradicted by the cold +expression of her eye, the ambiguous smile that again played about +the lips of the stranger seemed equally to deny the probability of his +consenting to form one of this family group. The scene was one, however, +which might easily warm a heart less given to philanthropy than that of +Marmaduke Temple. + +The side of the mountain on which our travellers were journeying, though +not absolutely perpendicular, was so steep as to render great care +necessary in descending the rude and narrow path which, in that early +day, wound along the precipices. The negro reined in his impatient +steeds, and time was given Elizabeth to dwell on a scene which was so +rapidly altering under the hands of man, that it only resembled in its +outlines the picture she had so often studied with delight in childhood. +Immediately beneath them lay a seeming plain, glittering without +in equality, and buried in mountains. The latter were precipitous, +especially on the side of the plain, and chiefly in forest. Here and +there the hills fell away in long, low points, and broke the sameness +of the outline, or setting to the long and wide field of snow, which, +without house, tree, fence, or any other fixture, resembled so much +spot less cloud settled to the earth. A few dark and moving spots were, +however, visible on the even surface, which the eye of Elizabeth knew to +be so many sleighs going their several ways to or from the village. On +the western border of the plain, the mountains, though equally high, +were less precipitous, and as they receded opened into irregular valleys +and glens, or were formed into terraces and hollows that admitted of +cultivation. Although the evergreens still held dominion over many +of the hills that rose on this side of the valley, yet the undulating +outlines of the distant mountains, covered with forests of beech and +maple, gave a relief to the eye, and the promise of a kinder soil. +Occasionally spots of white were discoverable amidst the forests of the +opposite hills, which announced, by the smoke that curled over the +tops of the trees, the habitations of man and the commencement of +agriculture. These spots were sometimes, by the aid of united labor, +enlarged into what were called settlements, but more frequently +were small and insulated; though so rapid were the changes, and so +persevering the labors of those who had cast their fortunes on the +success of the enterprise, that it was not difficult for the imagination +of Elizabeth to conceive they were enlarging under her eye while she was +gazing, in mute wonder, at the alterations that a few short years had +made in the aspect of the country. The points on the western side of +this remarkable plain, on which no plant had taken root, were both +larger and more numerous than those on its eastern, and one in +particular thrust itself forward in such a manner as to form beautifully +curved bays of snow on either side. On its extreme end an oak stretched +forward, as if to overshadow with its branches a spot which its roots +were forbidden to enter. It had released itself from the thraldom that +a growth of centuries had imposed on the branches of the surrounding +forest trees, and threw its gnarled and fantastic arms abroad, in +the wildness of liberty. A dark spot of a few acres in extent at the +southern extremity of this beautiful flat, and immediately under the +feet of our travellers, alone showed by its rippling surface, and the +vapors which exhaled from it, that what at first might seem a plain +was one of the mountain lakes, locked in the frosts of winter. A narrow +current rushed impetuously from its bosom at the open place we have +mentioned, and was to be traced for miles, as it wound its way toward +the south through the real valley, by its borders of hemlock and pine, +and by the vapor which arose from its warmer surface into the chill +atmosphere of the hills. The banks of this lovely basin, at its outlet, +or southern end, were steep, but not high; and in that direction the +land continued, far as the eye could reach, a narrow but graceful +valley, along which the settlers had scattered their humble habitations, +with a profusion that bespoke the quality of the soil and the +comparative facilities of intercourse, Immediately on the bank of the +lake and at its foot, stood the village of Templeton. It consisted of +some fifty buildings, including those of every description, chiefly +built of wood, and which, in their architecture, bore no great marks +of taste, but which also, by the unfinished appearance of most of the +dwellings, indicated the hasty manner of their construction, To the eye, +they presented a variety of colors. A few were white in both front and +rear, but more bore that expensive color on their fronts only, while +their economical but ambitious owners had covered the remaining sides +of the edifices with a dingy red. One or two were slowly assuming the +russet of age; while the uncovered beams that were to be seen through +the broken windows of their second stories showed that either the taste +or the vanity of their proprietors had led them to undertake a task +which they were unable to accomplish. The whole were grouped in a manner +that aped the streets of a city, and were evidently so arranged by the +directions of one who looked to the wants of posterity rather than to +the convenience of the present incumbents. Some three or four of the +better sort of buildings, in addition to the uniformity of their color, +were fitted with green blinds, which, at that season at least, were +rather strangely contrasted to the chill aspect of the lake, the +mountains, the forests, and the wide fields of snow. Before the doors +of these pretending dwellings were placed a few saplings, either without +branches or possessing only the feeble shoots of one or two summers' +growth, that looked not unlike tall grenadiers on post near the +threshold of princes. In truth, the occupants of these favored +habitations were the nobles of Templeton, as Marmaduke was its king. +They were the dwellings of two young men who were cunning in the law; an +equal number of that class who chaffered to the wants of the community +under the title of storekeepers; and a disciple of Aesculapius, who, for +a novelty, brought more subjects into the world than he sent out of it. +In the midst of this incongruous group of dwellings rose the mansion of +the Judge, towering above all its neighbors. It stood in the centre of +an inclosure of several acres, which was covered with fruit-trees. Some +of the latter had been left by the Indians, and began already to assume +the moss and inclination of age, therein forming a very marked contrast +to the infant plantations that peered over most of the picketed fences +of the village. In addition to this show of cultivation were two rows +of young Lombardy poplars, a tree but lately introduced into America, +formally lining either side of a pathway which led from a gate that +opened on the principal street to the front door of the building. The +house itself had been built entirely under the superintendence of a +certain Mr. Richard Jones, whom we have already mentioned, and who, from +his cleverness in small matters, and an entire willingness to exert his +talents, added to the circumstance of their being sisters' children, +ordinarily superintended all the minor concerns of Marmaduke Temple. +Richard was fond of saying that this child of invention consisted of +nothing more nor less than what should form the groundwork of every +clergyman's discourse, viz., a firstly and a lastly. He had commenced +his labors, in the first year of their residence, by erecting a tall, +gaunt edifice of wood, with its gable toward the highway. In this +shelter for it was little more, the family resided three years. By the +end of that period, Richard had completed his design. He had availed +himself, in this heavy undertaking, of the experience of a certain +wandering eastern mechanic, who, by exhibiting a few soiled plates of +English architecture, and talking learnedly of friezes, entablatures, +and particularly of the composite order, had obtained a very undue +influence over Richard's taste in everything that pertained to that +branch of the fine arts. Not that Mr. Jones did not affect to consider +Hiram Doolittle a perfect empiric in his profession, being in the +constant habit of listening to his treatises on architecture with a +kind of indulgent smile; yet, either from an inability to oppose them +by anything plausible from his own stores of learning or from secret +admiration, Richard generally submitted to the arguments of his +co-adjutor. Together, they had not only erected a dwelling for +Marmaduke, but they had given a fashion to the architecture of the whole +county. The composite order, Mr. Doolittle would contend, was an order +composed of many others, and was intended to be the most useful of all, +for it admitted into its construction such alterations as convenience +or circumstances might require. To this proposition Richard usually +assented; and when rival geniuses who monopolize not only all the +reputation but most of the money of a neighborhood, are of a mind, it +is not uncommon to see them lead the fashion, even in graver matters. +In the present instance, as we have already hinted, the castle, as +Judge Templeton's dwelling was termed in common parlance, came to be +the model, in some one or other of its numerous excellences, for every +aspiring edifice within twenty miles of it. + +The house itself, or the “lastly,” was of stone: large, square, and far +from uncomfortable. These were four requisites, on which Marmaduke +had insisted with a little more than his ordinary pertinacity. But +everything else was peaceably assigned to Richard and his associate. +These worthies found the material a little too solid for the tools of +their workmen, which, in General, were employed on a substance no harder +than the white pine of the adjacent mountains, a wood so proverbially +soft that it is commonly chosen by the hunters for pillows. But for this +awkward dilemma, it is probable that the ambitious tastes of our two +architects would have left us much more to do in the way of description. +Driven from the faces of the house by the obduracy of the material, they +took refuge in the porch and on the roof. The former, it was decided, +should be severely classical, and the latter a rare specimen of the +merits of the Composite order. + +A roof, Richard contended, was a part of the edifice that the ancients +always endeavored to conceal, it being an excrescence in architecture +that was only to be tolerated on account of its usefulness. Besides, as +he wittily added, a chief merit in a dwelling was to present a front on +whichever side it might happen to be seen; for, as it was exposed to +all eyes in all weathers, there should be no weak flank for envy or +unneighborly criticism to assail. It was therefore decided that the +roof should be flat, and with four faces. To this arrangement, Marmaduke +objected the heavy snows that lay for months, frequently covering the +earth to a depth of three or four feet. Happily the facilities of the +composite order presented themselves to effect a compromise, and the +rafters were lengthened, so as to give a descent that should carry +off the frozen element. But, unluckily, some mistake was made in the +admeasurement of these material parts of the fabric; and, as one of the +greatest recommendations of Hiram was his ability to work by the “square +rule,” no opportunity was found of discovering the effect until the +massive timbers were raised on the four walls of the building. Then, +indeed, it was soon seen that, in defiance of all rule, the roof was +by far the most conspicuous part of the whole edifice. Richard and his +associate consoled themselves with the relief that the covering would +aid in concealing this unnatural elevation; but every shingle that was +laid only multiplied objects to look at. Richard essayed to remedy +the evil with paint, and four different colors were laid on by his own +hands. The first was a sky-blue, in the vain expectation that the eye +might be cheated into the belief it was the heavens themselves that hung +so imposingly over Marmaduke's dwelling; the second was what he called +a “cloud-color,” being nothing more nor less than an imitation of smoke; +the third was what Richard termed an invisible green, an experiment that +did not succeed against a background of sky. Abandoning the attempt to +conceal, our architects drew upon their invention for means to ornament +the offensive shingles. + +After much deliberation and two or three essays by moonlight, Richard +ended the affair by boldly covering the whole beneath a color that he +christened “sunshine,” a cheap way, as he assured his cousin the Judge, +of always keeping fair weather over his head. The platform, as well as +the caves of the house, were surmounted by gaudily painted railings, and +the genius of Hiram was exerted in the fabrication of divers urns and +mouldings, that were scattered profusely around this part of their +labors. Richard had originally a cunning expedient, by which the +chimneys were intended to be so low, and so situated, as to resemble +ornaments on the balustrades; but comfort required that the chimneys +should rise with the roof, in order that the smoke might be carried off, +and they thus became four extremely conspicuous objects in the view. + +As this roof was much the most important architectural undertaking in +which Mr. Jones was ever engaged, his failure produced a correspondent +degree of mortification At first, he whispered among his acquaintances +that it proceeded from ignorance of the square rule on the part of +Hiram; but, as his eye became gradually accustomed to the object, he +grew better satisfied with his labors, and instead of apologizing for +the defects, he commenced praising the beauties of the mansion-house; +he soon found hearers, and, as wealth and comfort are at all times +attractive, it was, as has been said, made a model for imitation on +a small scale. In less than two years from its erection, he had the +pleasure of standing on the elevated platform, and of looking down on +three humble imitators of its beauty. Thus it is ever with fashion, +which even renders the faults of the great subjects of admiration. + +Marmaduke bore this deformity in his dwelling with great good-nature, +and soon contrived, by his own improvements, to give an air of +respectability and comfort to his place of residence. Still, there was +much of in congruity, even immediately about the mansion-house. Although +poplars had been brought from Europe to ornament the grounds, and +willows and other trees were gradually springing up nigh the dwelling, +yet many a pile of snow betrayed the presence of the stump of a pine; +and even, in one or two instances, unsightly remnants of trees that had +been partly destroyed by fire were seen rearing their black, glistening +columns twenty or thirty feet above the pure white of the snow, These, +which in the language of the country are termed stubs, abounded in the +open fields adjacent to the village, and were accompanied, occasionally, +by the ruin of a pine or a hemlock that had been stripped of its bark, +and which waved in melancholy grandeur its naked limbs to the blast, +a skeleton of its former glory. But these and many other unpleasant +additions to the view were unseen by the delighted Elizabeth, who, as +the horses moved down the side of the mountain, saw only in gross the +cluster of houses that lay like a map at her feet; the fifty smokes that +were curling from the valley to the clouds; the frozen lake as it lay +imbedded in mountains of evergreen, with the long shadows of the pines +on its white surface, lengthening in the setting sun; the dark ribbon +of water that gushed from the outlet and was winding its way toward the +distant Chesapeake--the altered, though still remembered, scenes of her +child hood. + +Five years had wrought greater changes than a century would produce in +countries where time and labor have given permanency to the works of +man. To our young hunter and the Judge the scene had less novelty; +though none ever emerge from the dark forests of that mountain, and +witness the glorious scenery of that beauteous valley, as it bursts +unexpectedly upon them, without a feeling of delight. The former cast +one admiring glance from north to south, and sank his face again beneath +the folds of his coat; while the latter contemplated, with philanthropic +pleasure, the prospect of affluence and comfort that was expanding +around him; the result of his own enterprise, and much of it the fruits +of his own industry. + +The cheerful sound of sleigh-bells, however, attracted the attention of +the whole party, as they came jingling up the sides of the mountain, +at a rate that announced a powerful team and a hard driver. The bushes +which lined the highway interrupted the view, and the two sleighs were +close upon each other before either was seen. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + “How now? whose mare's dead? what's the matter?” + --Falstaff + +A large lumber sleigh, drawn by four horses, was soon seen dashing +through the leafless bushes which fringed the road. The leaders were +of gray, and the pole-horses of a jet-black. Bells innumerable were +suspended from every part of the harness where one of the tinkling balls +could be placed, while the rapid movement of the equipage, in defiance +of the steep ascent, announced the desire of the driver to ring them to +the utmost. The first glance at this singular arrangement acquainted the +Judge with the character of those in the sleigh. It contained four male +figures. On one of those stools that are used at writing desks, lashed +firmly to the sides of the vehicle, was seated a little man, enveloped +in a great-coat fringed with fur, in such a manner that no part of +him was visible, except a face of an unvarying red color. There was +an habitual upward look about the head of this gentleman, as if +dissatisfied with its natural proximity to the earth; and the expression +of his countenance was that of busy care, He was the charioteer, and he +guided the mettled animals along the precipice with a fearless eye and a +steady hand, Immediately behind him, with his face toward the other two, +was a tall figure, to whose appearance not even the duplicate overcoats +which he wore, aided by the corner of a horse-blanket, could give the +appearance of strength. His face was protruding from beneath a woollen +night cap; and, when he turned to the vehicle of Marmaduke as the +sleighs approached each other, it seemed formed by nature to cut the +atmosphere with the least possible resistance. The eyes alone appeared +to create any obstacle, for from either side of his forehead their +light-blue, glassy balls projected. The sallow of his countenance was +too permanent to be affected even by the intense cold of the evening. +Opposite to this personage sat a solid, short, and square figure. No +part of his form was to be discovered through his overdress, but a face +that was illuminated by a pair of black eyes that gave the lie to every +demure feature in his countenance. A fair, jolly wig furnished a neat +and rounded outline to his visage, and he, well as the other two, wore +marten-skin caps. The fourth was a meek-looking, long-visaged man, +without any other protection from the cold than that which was furnished +by a black surcoat, made with some little formality, but which +was rather threadbare and rusty. He wore a hat of extremely decent +proportions, though frequent brushing had quite destroyed its nap. His +face was pale, and withal a little melancholy, or what might be termed +of a studious complexion. The air had given it, just now, a light +and somewhat feverish flush, The character of his whole appearance, +especially contrasted to the air of humor in his next companion, was +that of habitual mental care. No sooner had the two sleighs approached +within speaking distance, than the driver of this fantastic equipage +shouted aloud, + +“Draw up in the quarry--draw up, thou king of the Greeks; draw into the +quarry, Agamemnon, or I shall never be able to pass you. Welcome home, +Cousin 'Duke--welcome, welcome, black-eyed Bess. Thou seest, Marina duke +that I have taken the field with an assorted cargo, to do thee honor. +Monsieur Le Quoi has come out with only one cap; Old Fritz would not +stay to finish the bottle; and Mr. Grant has got to put the 'lastly' to +his sermon, yet. Even all the horses would come--by the-bye, Judge, I +must sell the blacks for you immediately; they interfere, and the nigh +one is a bad goer in double harness. I can get rid of them to--” + +“Sell what thou wilt, Dickon,” interrupted the cheerful voice of the +Judge, “so that thou leavest me my daughter and my lands. And Fritz, +my old friend, this is a kind compliment, indeed, for seventy to pay to +five-and-forty. Monsieur Le Quoi, I am your servant. Mr. Grant,” lifting +his cap, “I feel indebted to your attention. Gentlemen, I make you +acquainted with my child. Yours are names with which she is very +familiar.” + +“Velcome, velcome Tchooge,” said the elder of the party, with a strong +German accent. “Miss Petsy vill owe me a kiss.” + +“And cheerfully will I pay It, my good sir,” cried the soft voice of +Elizabeth; which sounded, in the clear air of the hills. Like tones of +silver, amid the loud cries of Richard. “I have always a kiss for my old +friend. Major Hartmann.” + +By this time the gentleman in the front seat, who had been addressed +as Monsieur Le Quoi, had arisen with some difficulty, owing to the +impediment of his overcoats, and steadying himself by placing one hand +on the stool of the charioteer, with the other he removed his cap, and +bowing politely to the Judge and profoundly to Elizabeth, he paid his +compliments. + +“Cover thy poll, Gaul, cover thy poll,” cried the driver, who was Mr. +Richard Jones; “cover thy poll, or the frost will pluck out the remnant +of thy locks. Had the hairs on the head of Absalom been as scarce as +thine, he might have been living to this day.” The jokes of Richard +never failed of exciting risibility, for he uniformly did honor to his +own wit; and he enjoyed a hearty laugh on the present occasion, while +Mr. Le Quoi resumed his seat with a polite reciprocation in his mirth. +The clergyman, for such was the office of Mr. Grant, modestly, though +quite affectionately, exchanged his greetings with the travellers also, +when Richard prepared to turn the heads of his horses homeward. + +It was in the quarry alone that he could effect this object, without +ascending to the summit of the mountain. A very considerable excavation +had been made in the side of the hill, at the point where Richard +had succeeded in stopping the sleighs, from which the stones used for +building in the village were ordinarily quarried, and in which he now +attempted to turn his team. Passing itself was a task of difficulty, and +frequently of danger, in that narrow road; but Richard had to meet +the additional risk of turning his four-in-hand. The black civilly +volunteered his services to take off the leaders, and the Judge very +earnestly seconded the measure with his advice. Richard treated both +proposals with great disdain. + +“Why, and wherefore. Cousin 'Duke?” he exclaimed, a little angrily; “the +horses are gentle as lambs. You know that I broke the leaders myself, +and the pole-horses are too near my whip to be restive. Here is Mr. Le +Quoi, now, who must know something about driving, because he has rode +out so often with me; I will leave it to Mr. Le Quoi whether there is +any danger.” + +It was not in the nature of the Frenchman to disappoint expectations +so confidently formed; although he cat looking down the precipice which +fronted him, as Richard turned his leaders into the quarry, with a pair +of eyes that stood out like those of lobsters. The German's muscles were +unmoved, but his quick sight scanned each movement. Mr. Grant placed his +hands on the side of the sleigh, in preparation for a spring, but moral +timidity deterred him from taking the leap that bodily apprehension +strongly urged him to attempt. + +Richard, by a sudden application of the whip, succeeded in forcing the +leaders into the snow-bank that covered the quarry; but the instant that +the impatient animals suffered by the crust, through which they broke +at each step, they positively refused to move an inch farther in that +direction. On the contrary, finding that the cries and blows of their +driver were redoubled at this juncture, the leaders backed upon the +pole-horses, who in their turn backed the sleigh. Only a single log lay +above the pile which upheld the road on the side toward the valley, and +this was now buried in the snow. The sleigh was easily breed across so +slight an impediment, and before Richard became conscious of his danger +one-half of the vehicle Was projected over a precipice, which fell +perpendicularly more than a hundred feet. The Frenchman, who by his +position had a full view of their threatened flight, instinctively threw +his body as far forward as possible, and cried, + +“Oh! mon cher Monsieur Deeck! mon Dieu! que faites vous!” + +“Donner und blitzen, Richart!” exclaimed the veteran German, looking +over the side of the sleigh with unusual emotion, “put you will preak +ter sleigh and kilt ter horses!” + +“Good Mr. Jones,” said the clergyman, “be prudent, good sir--be +careful.” + +“Get up, obstinate devils!” cried Richard, catching a bird's-eye view of +his situation, and in his eagerness to move forward kicking the stool +on which he sat--“get up, I say--Cousin 'Duke, I shall have to sell the +grays too; they are the worst broken horses--Mr. Le Quoi” Richard was +too much agitated to regard his pronunciation, of which he was commonly +a little vain: “Monsieur La Quoi, pray get off my leg; you hold my leg +so tight that it's no wonder the horses back.” + +“Merciful Providence!” exclaimed the Judge; “they will be all killed!” + Elizabeth gave a piercing shriek, and the black of Agamemnon's face +changed to a muddy white. + +At this critical moment, the young hunter, who during the salutations of +the parties had sat in rather sullen silence, sprang from the sleigh of +Marmaduke to the heads of the refractory leaders. The horses, which +were yet suffering under the injudicious and somewhat random blows +of Richard, were dancing up and down with that ominous movement that +threatens a sudden and uncontrollable start, still pressing backward. +The youth gave the leaders a powerful jerk, and they plunged aside, and +re-entered the road in the position in which they were first halted. +The sleigh was whirled from its dangerous position, and upset, with +the runners outward. The German and the divine were thrown, rather +unceremoniously, into the highway, but without danger to their bones. +Richard appeared in the air, describing the segment of a circle, of +which the reins were the radii, and landed, at the distance of some +fifteen feet, in that snow-bank which the horses had dreaded, right end +uppermost. Here, as he instinctively grasped the reins, as drowning +men seize at straws, he admirably served the purpose of an anchor. The +Frenchman, who was on his legs, in the act of springing from the sleigh, +took an aerial flight also, much in the attitude which boys assume when +they play leap-frog, and, flying off in a tangent to the curvature of +his course, came into the snow-bank head-foremost, where he remained, +exhibiting two lathy legs on high, like scarecrows waving in a +corn-field. Major Hartmann, whose self-possession had been admirably +preserved during the whole evolution, was the first of the party that +gained his feet and his voice. + +“Ter deyvel, Richart!” he exclaimed in a voice half serious, +half-comical, “put you unload your sleigh very hautily!” + +It may be doubtful whether the attitude in which Mr. Grant continued +for an instant after his overthrow was the one into which he had been +thrown, or was assumed, in humbling himself before the Power that he +reverenced, in thanksgiving at his escape. When he rose from his knees, +he began to gaze about him, with anxious looks, after the welfare of +his companions, while every joint in his body trembled with nervous +agitation. There was some confusion in the faculties of Mr. Jones also: +but as the mist gradually cleared from before his eyes, he saw that +all was safe, and, with an air of great self-satisfaction, he cried, +“Well--that was neatly saved, anyhow!--it was a lucky thought in me +to hold on to the reins, or the fiery devils would have been over the +mountain by this time. How well I recovered myself, 'Duke! Another +moment would have been too late; but I knew just the spot where to touch +the off-leader; that blow under his right flank, and the sudden jerk I +gave the rein, brought them round quite in rule, I must own myself.” * + + * The spectators, from immemorial usage, have a right to laugh at the + casualties of a sleigh ride; and the Judge was no sooner certain that + no one was done than he made full use of the privilege. + +“Thou jerk! thou recover thyself, Dickon!” he said; “but for that brave +lad yonder, thou and thy horses, or rather mine, would have been dashed +to pieces--but where is Monsieur Le Quoi?” + +“Oh! mon cher Juge! mon ami!” cried a smothered voice, “praise be God, I +live; vill you, Mister Agamemnon, be pleas come down ici, and help me on +my leg?” + +The divine and the negro seized the incarcerated Gaul by his legs and +extricated him from a snow-bank of three feet in depth, whence his voice +had sounded as from the tombs. The thoughts of Mr. Le Quoi, immediately +on his liberation, were not extremely collected; and, when he reached the +light, he threw his eyes upward, in order to examine the distance he +had fallen. His good-humor returned, however, with a knowledge of his +safety, though it was some little time before he clearly comprehended +the case. + +“What, monsieur,” said Richard, who was busily assisting the black +in taking off the leaders; “are you there? I thought I saw you flying +toward the top of the mountain just now.” + +“Praise be God, I no fly down into the lake,” returned the Frenchman, +with a visage that was divided between pain, occasioned by a few large +scratches that he had received in forcing his head through the crust, +and the look of complaisance that seemed natural to his pliable +features. + +“Ah! mon cher Mister Deeck, vat you do next?--dere be noting you no +try.” + +“The next thing, I trust, will be to learn to drive,” said the Judge, +who bad busied himself in throwing the buck, together with several other +articles of baggage, from his own sleigh into the snow; “here are seats +for you all, gentlemen; the evening grows piercingly cold, and the hour +approaches for the service of Mr. Grant; we will leave friend Jones to +repair the damages, with the assistance of Agamemnon, and hasten to a +warm fire. Here, Dickon, are a few articles of Bess' trumpery, that you +can throw into your sleigh when ready; and there is also a deer of my +taking, that I will thank you to bring. Aggy! remember that there will +be a visit from Santa Claus * to-night.” + + * The periodical visits of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, as he is + termed, were never forgotten among the inhabitants of New York, until + the emigration from New England brought in the opinions and usages of + the Puritans, like the “bon homme de Noel.” he arrives at each + Christmas. + +The black grinned, conscious of the bribe that was offered him for +silence on the subject of the deer, while Richard, without in the least +waiting for the termination of his cousin's speech, began his reply: + +“Learn to drive, sayest thou, Cousin 'Duke? Is there a man in the county +who knows more of horse-flesh than myself? Who broke in the filly, that +no one else dare mount, though your coachman did pretend that he had +tamed her before I took her in hand; but anybody could see that he +lied--he was a great liar, that John--what's that, a buck?” Richard +abandoned the horses, and ran to the spot where Marmaduke had thrown the +deer, “It is a buck! I am amazed! Yes, here are two holes in him, he +has fired both barrels, and hit him each time, Egod! how Marmaduke will +brag! he is a prodigious bragger about any small matter like this now; +well, to think that 'Duke has killed a buck before Christmas! There will +be no such thing as living with him--they are both bad shots though, +mere chance--mere chance--now, I never fired twice at a cloven foot in +my life--it is hit or miss with me--dead or run away-had it been a bear, +or a wild-cat, a man might have wanted both barrels. Here! you Aggy! how +far off was the Judge when this buck was shot?” + +“Oh! massa Richard, maybe a ten rod,” cried the black, bending under one +of the horses, with the pretence of fastening a buckle, but in reality +to conceal the grin that opened a mouth from ear to ear. + +“Ten rod!” echoed the other; “way, Aggy, the deer I killed last winter +'was at twenty--yes! if anything it was nearer thirty than twenty. I +wouldn't shoot at a deer at ten rod: besides, you may remember, Aggy, I +only fired once.” + +“Yes, massa Richard, I 'member 'em! Natty Bumppo fire t'oder gun. You +know, sir, all 'e folks say Natty kill him.” + +“The folks lie, you black devil!” exclaimed Richard in great heat. “I +have not shot even a gray squirrel these four years, to which that old +rascal has not laid claim, or some one else for him. This is a damned +envious world that we live in--people are always for dividing the credit +at a thing, in order to bring down merit to their own level. Now they +have a story about the Patent,* that Hiram Doolittle helped to plan +the steeple to St. Paul's; when Hiram knows that it is entirely mine; +a little taken front a print of his namesake in London, I own; but +essentially, as to all points of genius, my own.” + + * The grants of land, made either by the crown or the state, were but + letters patent under the great seal, and the term “patent” is usually + applied to any district of extent thus conceded; though under the + crown, manorial rights being often granted with the soil, in the + older counties the word “manor” is frequently used. There are many + manors in New York though all political and judicial rights have + ceased. + +“I don't know where he come from,” said the black, losing every mark of +humor in an expression of admiration, “but eb'rybody say, he wounerful +handsome.” + +“And well they may say so, Aggy,” cried Richard, leaving the buck and +walking up to the negro with the air of a man who has new interest +awakened within him, “I think I may say, without bragging, that it is +the handsomest and the most scientific country church in America. I +know that the Connecticut settlers talk about their West Herfield +meeting-house; but I never believe more than half what they say, they +are such unconscionable braggers. Just as you have got a thing done, if +they see it likely to be successful, they are always for interfering; +and then it's tea to one but they lay claim to half, or even all of +the credit. You may remember, Aggy, when I painted the sign of the bold +dragoon for Captain Hollister there was that fellow, who was about town +laying brick-dust on the houses, came one day and offered to mix what +I call the streaky black, for the tail and mane; and then, because it +looks like horse-hair, he tells everybody that the sign was painted by +himself and Squire Jones. If Marmaduke don't send that fellow off the +Patent, he may ornament his village with his own hands for me,” Here +Richard paused a moment, and cleared his throat by a loud hem, while +the negro, who was all this time busily engaged in preparing the sleigh, +proceeded with his work in respectful silence. Owing to the religious +scruples of the Judge, Aggy was the servant of Richard, who had his +services for a time,* and who, of course, commanded a legal claim to the +respect of the young negro. But when any dispute between his lawful and +his real master occurred, the black felt too much deference for both to +express any opinion. + + * The manumission of the slaves in New York has been gradual. When + public opinion became strong in their favor, then grew up a custom of + buying the services of a slave, for six or eight years, with a + condition to liberate him at the end of the period. Then the law + provided that all born after a certain day should be free, the males + at twenty--eight and the females at twenty-five. After this the owner + was obliged to cause his servants to be taught to read and write + before they reached the age of eighteen, and, finally, the few that + remained were all unconditionally liberated in 1826, or after the + publication of this tale. It was quite usual for men more or less + connected with the Quakers, who never held slaves to adopt the first + expedient. + +In the mean while, Richard continued watching the negro as he fastened +buckle after buckle, until, stealing a look of consciousness toward the +other, he continued: “Now, if that young man who was in your sleigh is +a real Connecticut settler, he will be telling everybody how he saved my +horses, when, if he had let them alone for half a minute longer, I would +have brought them in much better, without upsetting, with the whip amid +rein--it spoils a horse to give him his heal, I should not wonder if +I had to sell the whole team, just for that one jerk he gave them,” + Richard paused and hemmed; for his conscience smote him a little for +censuring a man who had just saved his life. “Who is the lad, Aggy--I +don't remember to have seen him before?” + +The black recollected the hint about Santa Claus; and, while he briefly +explained how they had taken up the person in question on the top of +the mountain, he forbore to add anything concerning the accident or the +wound, only saying that he believed the youth was a stranger. It was so +usual for men of the first rank to take into their sleighs any one they +found toiling through the snow, that Richard was perfectly satisfied +with this explanation. He heard Aggy with great attention, and then +remarked: “Well, if the lad has not been spoiled by the people in +Templeton he may be a modest young man, and, as he certainly meant well, +I shall take some notice of him--perhaps he is land-hunting--I say, +Aggy, maybe he is out hunting?” + +“Eh! yes, massa Richard,” said the black, a little confused; for, as +Richard did all the flogging, he stood in great terror of his master, in +the main--“Yes, sir, I b'lieve he be.” + +“Had he a pack and an axe?” + +“No, sir, only he rifle.” + +“Rifle!” exclaimed Richard, observing the confusion of the negro, +which now amounted to terror. “By Jove, he killed the deer! I knew that +Marmaduke couldn't kill a buck on the jump--how was it, Aggy? Tell +me all about it, and I'll roast 'Duke quicker than he can roast his +saddle--how was it, Aggy? the lad shot the buck, and the Judge bought +it, ha! and he is taking the youth down to get the pay?” + +The pleasure of this discovery had put Richard in such a good humor, +that the negro's fears in some measure vanished, and he remembered the +stocking of Santa Claus. After a gulp or two, he made out to reply; + +“You forgit a two shot, sir?” + +“Don't lie, you black rascal!” cried Richard, stepping on the snow-bank +to measure the distance from his lash to the negro's back; “speak +truth, or I trounce you.” While speaking, the stock was slowly rising +in Richard's right hand, and the lash drawing through his left, in the +scientific manner with which drummers apply the cat; and Agamemnon, +after turning each side of himself toward his master, and finding both +equally unwilling to remain there, fairly gave in. In a very few words +he made his master acquainted with the truth, at the same time earnestly +conjuring Richard to protect him from the displeasure of the lodge +“I'll do it, boy, I'll do it,” cried the other, rubbing his hands with +delight; “say nothing, but leave me to manage Duke. I have a great mind +to leave the deer on the hill, and to make the fellow send for his own +carcass; but no, I will let Marmaduke tell a few bounces about it before +I come out upon him. Come, hurry in, Aggy, I must help to dress the +lad's wound; this Yankee* doctor knows nothing of surgery--I had to hold +out Milligan's leg for him, while he cut it off.” + + * In America the term Yankee is of local meaning. It is thought to be + derived from the manner in which the Indians of New England pronounced + the word “English,” or “Yengeese.” New York being originally a Dutch + province, the term of course was not known there, and Farther south + different dialects among the natives themselves probably produced a + different pronunciation Marmaduke and his cousin, being Pennsylvanians + by birth, were not Yankees in the American sense of the word. + +Richard was now seated on the stool again, and, the black taking the +hind seat, the steeds were put in motion toward home, As they dashed +down the hill on a fast trot, the driver occasionally turned his face to +Aggy, and continued speaking; for, notwithstanding their recent rupture, +the most perfect cordiality was again existing between them, “This goes +to prove that I turned the horses with the reins, for no man who is +shot in the right shoulder can have strength enough to bring round such +obstinate devils. I knew I did it from the first; but I did not want +to multiply words with Marmaduke about it.--Will you bite, you +villain?--hip, boys, hip! Old Natty, too, that is the best of it!--Well, +well--'Duke will say no more about my deer--and the Judge fired both +barrels, and hit nothing but a poor lad who was behind a pine-tree. I +must help that quack to take out the buckshot for the poor fellow.” In +this manner Richard descended the mountain; the bells ringing, and his +tongue going, until they entered the village, when the whole attention +of the driver was devoted to a display of his horsemanship, to the +admiration of all the gaping women and children who thronged the windows +to witness the arrival of their landlord and his daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + “Nathaniel's coat, sir, was not fully made, + And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i' th' heel; + There was no link to color Peter's hat, + And Walter's dagger was not come from sheathing; + There were none fine, but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory.” + --Shakespeare. + +After winding along the side of the mountain, the road, on reaching the +gentle declivity which lay at the base of the hill, turned at a right +angle to its former course, and shot down an inclined plane, directly +into the village of Templeton. The rapid little stream that we have +already mentioned was crossed by a bridge of hewn timber, which +manifested, by its rude construction and the unnecessary size of its +framework, both the value of Labor and the abundance of materials. This +little torrent, whose dark waters gushed over the limestones that +lined its bottom, was nothing less than one of the many sources of the +Susquehanna; a river to which the Atlantic herself has extended an arm +in welcome. It was at this point that the powerful team of Mr. Jones +brought him up to the more sober steeds of our travellers. A small hill +was risen, and Elizabeth found herself at once amidst the incongruous +dwellings of the village. The street was of the ordinary width, +notwithstanding the eye might embrace, in one view, thousands and tens +of thousands of acres, that were yet tenanted only by the beasts of the +forest. But such had been the will of her father, and such had also met +the wishes of his followers. To them the road that made the most rapid +approaches to the condition of the old, or, as they expressed it, the +down countries, was the most pleasant; and surely nothing could look +more like civilization than a city, even if it lay in a wilderness! The +width of the street, for so it was called, might have been one hundred +feet; but the track for the sleighs was much more limited. On either +side of the highway were piled huge heaps of logs, that were daily +increasing rather than diminishing in size, notwithstanding the enormous +fires that might be seen through every window. + +The last object at which Elizabeth gazed when they renewed their +journey, after their encountre with Richard, was the sun, as it expanded +in the refraction of the horizon, and over whose disk the dark umbrage +of a pine was stealing, while it slowly sank behind the western hills. +But his setting rays darted along the openings of the mountain he was +on, and lighted the shining covering of the birches, until their smooth +and glossy coats nearly rivalled the mountain sides in color. The +outline of each dark pine was delineated far in the depths of the +forest, and the rocks, too smooth and too perpendicular to retain the +snow that had fallen, brightened, as if smiling at the leave-taking of +the luminary. But at each step as they descended, Elizabeth observed +that they were leaving the day behind them. Even the heartless but +bright rays of a December sun were missed as they glided into the cold +gloom of the valley. Along the summits of the mountains in the eastern +range, it is true, the light still lingered, receding step by step from +the earth into the clouds that were gathering with the evening mist, +about the limited horizon, but the frozen lake lay without a shadow on +its bosom; the dwellings were becoming already gloomy and indistinct, +and the wood-cutters were shouldering their axes and preparing to +enjoy, throughout the long evening before them, the comforts of those +exhilarating fires that their labor had been supplying with fuel. +They paused only to gaze at the passing sleighs, to lift their caps to +Marmaduke, to exchange familiar nods with Richard, and each disappeared +in his dwelling. The paper curtains dropped behind our travellers in +every window, shutting from the air even the firelight of the cheerful +apartments, and when the horses of her father turned with a rapid whirl +into the open gate of the mansion-house, and nothing stood before her +but the cold dreary stone walls of the building, as she approached them +through an avenue of young and leafless poplars, Elizabeth felt as if +all the loveliness of the mountain-view had vanished like the fancies of +a dream. Marmaduke retained so much of his early habits as to reject +the use of bells, but the equipage of Mr. Jones came dashing through the +gate after them, sending its jingling sounds through every cranny of the +building, and in a moment the dwelling was in an uproar. + +On a stone platform, of rather small proportions, considering the size +of the building, Richard and Hiram had, conjointly, reared four little +columns of wood, which in their turn supported the shingled roofs of the +portico--this was the name that Mr. Jones had thought proper to give to +a very plain, covered entrance. The ascent to the platform was by five +or six stone steps, somewhat hastily laid together, and which the frost +had already begun to move from their symmetrical positions, But the +evils of a cold climate and a superficial construction did not end +here. As the steps lowered the platform necessarily fell also, and the +foundations actually left the superstructure suspended in the air, +leaving an open space of a foot between the base of the pillars and the +stones on which they had originally been placed. It was lucky for the +whole fabric that the carpenter, who did the manual part of the labor, +had fastened the canopy of this classic entrance so firmly to the side +of the house that, when the base deserted the superstructure in the +manner we have described, and the pillars, for the want of a foundation, +were no longer of service to support the roof, the roof was able to +uphold the pillars. Here was, indeed, an unfortunate gap left in the +ornamental part of Richard's column; but, like the window in Aladdin's +palace, it seemed only left in order to prove the fertility of its +master's resources. The composite order again offered its advantages, +and a second edition of the base was given, as the booksellers say, +with additions and improvements. It was necessarily larger, and it was +properly ornamented with mouldings; still the steps continued to yield, +and, at the moment when Elizabeth returned to her father's door, a few +rough wedges were driven under the pillars to keep them steady, and to +prevent their weight from separating them from the pediment which they +ought to have supported. + +From the great door which opened into the porch emerged two or three +female domestics, and one male. The latter was bareheaded, but evidently +more dressed than usual, and on the whole was of so singular a formation +and attire as to deserve a more minute description. He was about five +feet in height, of a square and athletic frame, with a pair of shoulders +that would have fitted a grenadier. His low stature was rendered the +more striking by a bend forward that he was in the habit of assuming, +for no apparent reason, unless it might be to give greater freedom +to his arms, in a particularly sweeping swing, that they constantly +practised when their master was in motion. His face was long, of a +fair complexion, burnt to a fiery red; with a snub nose, cocked into an +inveterate pug; a mouth of enormous dimensions, filled with fine teeth; +and a pair of blue eyes, that seemed to look about them on surrounding +objects with habitual contempt. His head composed full one-fourth of his +whole length, and the cue that depended from its rear occupied another. +He wore a coat of very light drab cloth, with buttons as large as +dollars, bearing the impression of a “foul anchor.” The skirts +were extremely long, reaching quite to the calf, and were broad in +proportion. Beneath, there were a vest and breeches of red plush, +somewhat worn and soiled. He had shoes with large buckles, and stockings +of blue and white stripes. + +This odd-looking figure reported himself to be a native of the county of +Cornwall, in the island of Great Britain. His boyhood had passed in +the neighborhood of the tin mines, and his youth as the cabin-boy of +a smuggler, between Falmouth and Guernsey. From this trade he had been +impressed into the service of his king, and, for the want of a better, +had been taken into the cabin, first as a servant, and finally as +steward to the captain. Here he acquired the art of making chowder, +lobster, and one or two other sea-dishes, and, as he was fond of saying, +had an opportunity of seeing the world. With the exception of one or two +outports in France, and an occasional visit to Portsmouth, Plymouth, and +Deal, he had in reality seen no more of mankind, however, than if he had +been riding a donkey in one of his native mines. But, being discharged +from the navy at the peace of '83, he declared that, as he had seen all +the civilized parts of the earth, he was inclined to make a trip to the +wilds of America We will not trace him in his brief wanderings, under +the influence of that spirit of emigration that some times induces a +dapper Cockney to quit his home, and lands him, before the sound +of Bow-bells is out of his ears, within the roar of the cataract of +Niagara; but shall only add that at a very early day, even before +Elizabeth had been sent to school, he had found his way into the family +of Marmaduke Temple, where, owing to a combination of qualities that +will be developed in the course of the tale, he held, under Mr. +Jones, the office of major-domo. The name of this worthy was Benjamin +Penguillan, according to his own pronunciation; but, owing to a +marvellous tale that he was in the habit of relating, concerning the +length of time he had to labor to keep his ship from sinking after +Rodney's victory, he had universally acquired the nick name of Ben Pump. + +By the side of Benjamin, and pressing forward as if a little jealous +of her station, stood a middle-aged woman, dressed in calico, rather +violently contrasted in color with a tall, meagre, shapeless figure, +sharp features, and a somewhat acute expression of her physiognomy. Her +teeth were mostly gone, and what did remain were of a tight yellow. The +skin of her nose was drawn tightly over the member, to hang in large +wrinkles in her cheeks and about her mouth. She took snuff in such +quantities as to create the impression that she owed the saffron of +her lips and the adjacent parts to this circumstance; but it was the +unvarying color of her whole face. She presided over the female part +of the domestic arrangements, in the capacity of housekeeper; was a +spinster, and bore the name of Remarkable Pettibone. To Elizabeth she +was an entire stranger, having been introduced into the family since the +death of her mother. + +In addition to these, were three or four subordinate menials, mostly +black, some appearing at the principal door, and some running from the +end of the building, where stood the entrance to the cellar-kitchen. + +Besides these, there was a general rush from Richard's kennel, +accompanied with every canine tone from the howl of the wolf-dog to +the petulant bark of the terrier. The master received their boisterous +salutations with a variety of imitations from his own throat, when the +dogs, probably from shame of being outdone, ceased their out-cry. One +stately, powerful mastiff, who wore round his neck a brass collar, +with “M. T.” engraved in large letters on the rim, alone was silent. +He walked majestically, amid the confusion, to the side of the Judge, +where, receiving a kind pat or two, he turned to Elizabeth, who even +stooped to kiss him, as she called him kindly by the name of “Old +Brave.” The animal seemed to know her, as she ascended the steps, +supported by Monsieur Le Quoi and her father, in order to protect +her from falling on the ice with which they were covered. He looked +wistfully after her figure, and when the door closed on the whole party, +he laid himself in a kennel that was placed nigh by, as if conscious +that the house contained some thing of additional value to guard. + +Elizabeth followed her father, who paused a moment to whisper a message +to one of his domestics, into a large hall, that was dimly lighted by +two candles, placed in high, old-fashioned, brass candlesticks. The door +closed, and the party were at once removed from an atmosphere that was +nearly at zero, to one of sixty degrees above. In the centre of the hall +stood an enormous stove, the sides of which appeared to be quivering +with heat; from which a large, straight pipe, leading through the +ceiling above, carried off the smoke. An iron basin, containing water, +was placed on this furnace, for such only it could be called, in order +to preserve a proper humidity in the apartment. The room was carpeted, +and furnished with convenient, substantial furniture, some of which was +brought from the city, the remainder having been manufactured by the +mechanics of Templeton. There was a sideboard of mahogany, inlaid with +ivory, and bearing enormous handles of glittering brass, and groaning +under the piles of silver plate. Near it stood a set of prodigious +tables, made of the wild cherry, to imitate the imported wood of the +sideboard, but plain and without ornament of any kind. Opposite to these +stood a smaller table, formed from a lighter-colored wood, through the +grains of which the wavy lines of the curled maple of the mountains +were beautifully undulating. Near to this, in a corner, stood a heavy, +old-fashioned, brass-faced clock, incased in a high box, of the dark +hue of the black walnut from the seashore. An enormous settee, or sofa, +covered with light chintz, stretched along the walls for nearly twenty +feet on one side of the hail; and chairs of wood, painted a light +yellow, with black lines that were drawn by no very steady hand, were +ranged opposite, and in the intervals between the other pieces of +furniture. A Fahrenheit's thermometer in a mahogany case, and with a +barometer annexed, was hung against the wall, at some little distance +from the stove, which Benjamin consulted, every half hour, with +prodigious exactitude. Two small glass chandeliers were suspended at +equal distances between the stove and outer doors, one of which opened +at each end of the hall, and gilt lustres were affixed to the frame +work of the numerous side-doors that led from the apartment. Some little +display in architecture had been made in constructing these frames and +casings, which were surmounted with pediments, that bore each a little +pedestal in its centre; on these pedestals were small busts in blacked +plaster-of-Paris. The style of the pedestals as well as the selection of +the busts were all due to the taste of Mr. Jones. On one stood Homer, a +most striking likeness, Richard affirmed, “as any one might see, for it +was blind,” Another bore the image of a smooth-visaged gentleman with a +pointed beard, whom he called Shakespeare. A third ornament was an +urn, which; from its shape, Richard was accustomed to say, intended to +represent itself as holding the ashes of Dido. A fourth was certainly +old Franklin, in his cap and spectacles. A fifth as surely bore +the dignified composure of the face of Washington. A sixth was a +nondescript, representing “a man with a shirt-collar open,” to use the +language of Richard, “with a laurel on his head-it was Julius Caesar or +Dr. Faustus; there were good reasons for believing either.” + +The walls were hung with a dark lead-colored English paper that +represented Britannia weeping over the tomb of Wolfe, The hero himself +stood at a little distance from the mourning goddess, and at the edge of +the paper. Each width contained the figure, with the slight exception of +one arm of the general, which ran over on the next piece, so that when +Richard essayed, with his own hands, to put together this delicate +outline, some difficulties occurred that prevented a nice conjunction; +and Britannia had reason to lament, in addition to the loss of her +favorite's life, numberless cruel amputations of his right arm. + +The luckless cause of these unnatural divisions now announced his +presence in the halt by a loud crack of his whip. + +“Why, Benjamin! you Ben Pump! is this the manner in which you receive +the heiress?” he cried. “Excuse him, Cousin Elizabeth. The arrangements +were too intricate to be trusted to every one; but now I am here, things +will go on better.--Come, light up, Mr. Penguillan, light up, light up, +and let us see One another's faces. Well, 'Duke, I have brought home +your deer; what is to be done with it, ha?” + +“By the Lord, squire,” commenced Benjamin, in reply, first giving his +mouth a wipe with the back of his hand, “if this here thing had been +ordered sum'at earlier in the day, it might have been got up, d'ye see, +to your liking. I had mustered all hands and was exercising candles, +when you hove in sight; but when the women heard your bells they started +an end, as if they were riding the boat swain's colt; and if-so-be there +is that man in the house who can bring up a parcel of women when they +have got headway on them, until they've run out the end of their rope, +his name is not Benjamin Pump. But Miss Betsey here must have altered +more than a privateer in disguise, since she has got on her woman's +duds, if she will take offence with an old fellow for the small matter +of lighting a few candles.” + +Elizabeth and her father continued silent, for both experienced the same +sensation on entering the hall. The former had resided one year in the +building before she left home for school, and the figure of its lamented +mistress was missed by both husband and child. + +But candles had been placed in the chandeliers and lustres, and the +attendants were so far recovered from surprise as to recollect their +use; the oversight was immediately remedied, and in a minute the +apartment was in a blaze of light. + +The slight melancholy of our heroine and her father was banished by +this brilliant interruption; and the whole party began to lay aside the +numberless garments they had worn in the air. + +During this operation Richard kept up a desultory dialogue with the +different domestics, occasionally throwing out a remark to the Judge +concerning the deer; but as his conversation at such moments was much +like an accompaniment on a piano, a thing that is heard without being +attended to, we will not undertake the task of recording his diffuse +discourse, + +The instant that Remarkable Pettibone had executed her portion of the +labor in illuminating, she returned to a position near Elizabeth, with +the apparent motive of receiving the clothes that the other threw aside, +but in reality to examine, with an air of curiosity--not unmixed with +jealousy--the appearance of the lady who was to supplant her in the +administration of their domestic economy. The housekeeper felt a little +appalled, when, after cloaks, coats, shawls, and socks had been taken +off in succession, the large black hood was removed, and the dark +ringlets, shining like the raven's wing, fell from her head, and left +the sweet but commanding features of the young lady exposed to +view. Nothing could be fairer and more spotless than the forehead of +Elizabeth, and preserve the appearance of life and health. Her nose +would have been called Grecian, but for a softly rounded swell, that +gave in character to the feature what it lost in beauty. Her mouth, +at first sight, seemed only made for love; but, the instant that its +muscles moved, every expression that womanly dignity could utter played +around it with the flexibility of female grace. It spoke not only to the +ear, but to the eye. So much, added to a form of exquisite proportions, +rather full and rounded for her years, and of the tallest medium height, +she inherited from her mother. Even the color of her eye, the arched +brows, and the long silken lashes, came from the same source; but +its expression was her father's. Inert and composed, it was soft, +benevolent, and attractive; but it could be roused, and that without +much difficulty. At such moments it was still beautiful, though it was a +little severe. As the last shawl fell aside, and she stood dressed in a +rich blue riding-habit, that fitted her form with the nicest exactness; +her cheeks burning with roses, that bloomed the richer for the heat +of the hall, and her eyes lightly suffused with moisture that rendered +their ordinary beauty more dazzling, and with every feature of her +speaking countenance illuminated by the lights that flared around her, +Remarkable felt that her own power had ended. + +The business of unrobing had been simultaneous. Marmaduke appeared in +a suit of plain, neat black; Monsieur Le Quoi in a coat of snuff-color, +covering a vest of embroidery, with breeches, and silk stockings, and +buckles--that were commonly thought to be of paste. Major Hartmann wore +a coat of sky-blue, with large brass buttons, a club wig, and boots; +and Mr. Richard Jones had set off his dapper little form in a frock of +bottle-green, with bullet-buttons, by one of which the sides were united +over his well-rounded waist, opening above, so as to show a jacket of +red cloth, with an undervest of flannel, faced with green velvet, and +below, so as to exhibit a pair of buckskin breeches, with long, soiled, +white top-boots, and spurs; one of the latter a little bent, from its +recent attacks on the stool. + +When the young lady had extricated herself from her garments, she was +at liberty to gaze about her, and to examine not only the household +over which she was to preside, but also the air and manner in which +the domestic arrangements were conducted. Although there was much +incongruity in the furniture and appearance of the hall, there was +nothing mean. The floor was carpeted, even in its remotest corners. +The brass candlesticks, the gilt lustres, and the glass chandeliers, +whatever might be their keeping as to propriety and taste, were +admirably kept as to all the purposes of use and comfort. They were +clean and glittering in the strong light of the apartment. + +Compared with the chill aspect of the December night without, the warmth +and brilliancy of the apartment produced an effect that was not unlike +enchantment. Her eye had not time to detect, in detail, the little +errors which in truth existed, but was glancing around her in delight, +when an object arrested her view that was in strong contrast to the +smiling faces and neatly attired person ages who had thus assembled to +do honor to the heiress of Templeton. + +In a corner of the hall near the grand entrance stood the young hunter, +unnoticed, and for the moment apparently forgotten. But even the +forgetfulness of the Judge, which, under the influence of strong +emotion, had banished the recollection of the wound of this stranger, +seemed surpassed by the absence of mind in the youth himself. On +entering the apartment, he had mechanically lifted his cap, and exposed +a head covered with hair that rivalled, in color and gloss, the locks of +Elizabeth. Nothing could have wrought a greater transformation than the +single act of removing the rough fox-skin cap. If there was much that +was prepossessing in the countenance of the young hunter, there was +something even noble in the rounded outlines of his head and brow. The +very air and manner with which the member haughtily maintained itself +over the coarse and even wild attire in which the rest of his frame was +clad, bespoke not only familiarity with a splendor that in those new +settlements was thought to be unequalled, but something very like +contempt also. + +The hand that held the cap rested lightly on the little ivory-mounted +piano of Elizabeth, with neither rustic restraint nor obtrusive +vulgarity. A single finger touched the instrument, as if accustomed to +dwell on such places. His other arm was extended to its utmost length, +and the hand grasped the barrel of his long rifle with something like +convulsive energy. The act and the attitude were both involuntary, +and evidently proceeded from a feeling much deeper than that of vulgar +surprise. His appearance, connected as it was with the rough exterior of +his dress, rendered him entirely distinct from the busy group that were +moving across the other end of the long hall, occupied in receiving the +travellers and exchanging their welcomes; and Elizabeth continued +to gaze at him in wonder. The contraction of the stranger's brows in +creased as his eyes moved slowly from one object to another. For moments +the expression of his countenance was fierce, and then again it seemed +to pass away in some painful emotion. The arm that was extended bent and +brought the hand nigh to his face, when his head dropped upon it, and +concealed the wonderfully speaking lineaments. + +“We forget, dear sir, the strange gentleman” (for her life Elizabeth +could not call him otherwise) “whom we have brought here for assistance, +and to whom we owe every attention.” + +All eyes were instantly turned in the direction of those of the speaker, +and the youth rather proudly elevated his head again, while he answered: + +“My wound is trifling, and I believe that Judge Temple sent for a +physician the moment we arrived.” + +“Certainly,” said Marmaduke: “I have not forgotten the object of thy +visit, young man, nor the nature of my debt. + +“Oh!” exclaimed Richard, with something of a waggish leer, “thou owest +the lad for the venison, I suppose that thou killed, Cousin 'Duke! +Marmaduke! Marmaduke! That was a marvellous tale of thine about the +buck! Here, young man, are two dollars for the deer, and Judge Temple +can do no less than pay the doctor. I shall charge you nothing for my +services, but you shall not fare the worst for that. Come, come, 'Duke, +don't be down hearted about it; if you missed the buck, you contrived to +shoot this poor fellow through a pine-tree. Now I own that you have beat +me; I never did such a thing in all my life.” + +“And I hope never will,” returned the Judge, “if you are to experience +the uneasiness that I have suffered; but be of good cheer, my young +friend, the injury must be small, as thou movest thy arm with apparent +freedom. + +“Don't make the matter worse, 'Duke, by pretending to talk about +surgery,” interrupted Mr. Jones, with a contemptuous wave of the hand: +“it is a science that can only be learned by practice. You know that my +grandfather was a doctor, but you haven't got a drop of medical blood +in your veins. These kind of things run in families. All my family by my +father's side had a knack at physic. 'There was my uncle that was killed +at Brandywine--he died as easy again as any other man the regiment, +just from knowing how to hold his breath naturally. Few men know how to +breathe naturally.” + +“I doubt not, Dickon,” returned the Judge, meeting the bright smile +which, in spite of himself, stole over the stranger's features, “that +thy family thoroughly understand the art of letting life slip through +their lingers.” + +Richard heard him quite coolly, and putting a hand in either pocket of +his surcoat, so as to press forward the skirts, began to whistle a tune; +but the desire to reply overcame his philosophy, and with great heat he +exclaimed: + +“You may affect to smile, Judge Temple, at hereditary virtues, if you +please; but there is not a man on your Patent who don't know better. +Here, even this young man, who has never seen anything but bears, and +deer, and woodchucks, knows better than to believe virtues are not +transmitted in families. Don't you, friend?” + +“I believe that vice is not,” said the stranger abruptly; his eye +glancing from the father to the daughter. + +“The squire is right, Judge,” observed Benjamin, with a knowing nod of +his head toward Richard, that bespoke the cordiality between them, “Now, +in the old country, the king's majesty touches for the evil, and that is +a disorder that the greatest doctor in the fleet, or for the matter of +that admiral either: can't cure; only the king's majesty or a man that's +been hanged. Yes, the squire is right; for if-so-be that he wasn't, how +is it that the seventh son always is a doctor, whether he ships for +the cockpit or not? Now when we fell in with the mounsheers, under De +Grasse, d'ye see, we hid aboard of us a doctor--” + +“Very well, Benjamin,” interrupted Elizabeth, glancing her eyes from the +hunter to Monsieur Le Quoi, who was most politely attending to what fell +from each individual in succession, “you shall tell me of that, and +all your entertaining adventures together; just now, a room must be +prepared, in which the arm of this gentleman can be dressed.” + +“I will attend to that myself, Cousin Elizabeth,” observed Richard, +somewhat haughtily. “The young man will not suffer because Marmaduke +chooses to be a little obstinate. Follow me, my friend, and I will +examine the hurt myself.” + +“It will be well to wait for the physician,” said the hunter coldly; “he +cannot be distant.” + +Richard paused and looked at the speaker, a little astonished at the +language, and a good deal appalled at the refusal. He construed the +latter into an act of hostility, and, placing his hands in the pockets +again, he walked up to Mr. Grant, and, putting his face close to the +countenance of the divine, said in an undertone: + +“Now, mark my words--there will be a story among the settlers, that all +our necks would have been broken but for that fellow--as if I did not +know how to drive. Why, you might have turned the horses yourself, +sir; nothing was easier; it was only pulling hard on the nigh rein, and +touching the off flank of the leader. I hope, my dear sir, you are not +at all hurt by the upset the lad gave us?” + +The reply was interrupted by the entrance of the village physician. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + “And about his shelves, + A beggarly account of empty boxes, + Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds. + Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses, + Were thinly scattered to make up a show.” + --Shakespeare. + +Doctor Elnathan Todd, for such was the name of the man of physic, was +commonly thought to be, among the settlers, a gentleman of great mental +endowments, and he was assuredly of rare personal proportions. In height +he measured, without his shoes, exactly six feet and four inches. +His hands, feet, and knees corresponded in every respect with this +formidable stature; but every other part of his frame appeared to have +been intended for a man several sizes smaller, if we except the length +of the limbs. His shoulders were square, in one sense at least, being in +a right line from one side to the other; but they were so narrow, that +the long dangling arms they supported seemed to issue out of his back. +His neck possessed, in an eminent degree, the property of length to +which we have alluded, and it was topped by a small bullet-head that +exhibited on one side a bush of bristling brown hair and on the other a +short, twinkling visage, that appeared to maintain a constant struggle +with itself in order to look wise. He was the youngest son of a farmer +in the western part of Massachusetts, who, being in some what easy +circumstances, had allowed this boy to shoot up to the height we +have mentioned, without the ordinary interruptions of field labor, +wood-chopping, and such other toils as were imposed on his brothers. +Elnathan was indebted for this exemption from labor in some measure +to his extraordinary growth, which, leaving him pale, inanimate, and +listless, induced his tender mother to pronounce him “a sickly boy, and +one that was not equal to work, but who might earn a living comfortably +enough by taking to pleading law, or turning minister, or doctoring, or +some such like easy calling.' Still, there was great uncertainty which +of these vocations the youth was best endowed to fill; but, having +no other employment, the stripling was constantly lounging about the +homestead,” munching green apples and hunting for sorrel; when the same +sagacious eye that had brought to light his latent talents seized upon +this circumstance as a clew to his future path through the turmoils +of the world. “Elnathan was cut out for a doctor, she knew, for he was +forever digging for herbs, and tasting all kinds of things that grow'd +about the lots. Then again he had a natural love for doctor-stuff, for +when she had left the bilious pills out for her man, all nicely covered +with maple sugar just ready to take, Nathan had come in and swallowed +them for all the world as if they were nothing, while Ichabod (her +husband) could never get one down without making such desperate faces +that it was awful to look on.” + +This discovery decided the matter. Elnathan, then about fifteen, was, +much like a wild colt, caught and trimmed by clipping his bushy locks; +dressed in a suit of homespun, dyed in the butternut bark; furnished +with a “New Testament” and a “Webster's Spelling Book,” and sent +to school. As the boy was by nature quite shrewd enough, and had +previously, at odd times, laid the foundations of reading, writing, and +arithmetic, he was soon conspicuous in the school for his learning. The +delighted mother had the gratification of hearing, from the lips of +the master, that her son was a “prodigious boy, and far above all +his class.” He also thought that “the youth had a natural love for +doctoring, as he had known him frequently advise the smaller children +against eating to much; and, once or twice, when the ignorant little +things had persevered in opposition to Elnathan's advice, he had known +her son empty the school-baskets with his own mouth, to prevent the +consequences.” + +Soon after this comfortable declaration from his school master, the lad +was removed to the house of the village doctor, a gentleman whose early +career had not been unlike that of our hero where he was to be seen +sometimes watering a horse, at others watering medicines, blue, yellow, +and red: then again he might be noticed lolling under an apple-tree, +with Ruddiman's Latin Grammar in his hand, and a corner of Denman's +Midwifery sticking out of a pocket; for his instructor held it absurd +to teach his pupil how to dispatch a patient regularly from this world, +before he knew how to bring him into it. + +This kind of life continued for a twelvemonth, when he suddenly appeared +at a meeting in a long coat (and well did it deserve the name!) of black +homespun, with little bootees, bound with an uncolored calf-skin for the +want of red morocco. + +Soon after he was seen shaving with a dull razor. Three or four months +had scarce elapsed before several elderly ladies were observed hastening +toward the house of a poor woman in the village, while others were +running to and fro in great apparent distress. One or two boys +were mounted, bareback, on horses, and sent off at speed in various +directions. Several indirect questions were put concerning the place +where the physician was last seen; but all would not do; and at length +Elnathan was seen issuing from his door with a very grave air, preceded +by a little white-headed boy, out of breath, trotting before him. The +following day the youth appeared in the street, as the highway was +called, and the neighborhood was much edified by the additional gravity +of his air. The same week he bought a new razor; and the succeeding +Sunday he entered the meeting-house with a red silk handkerchief in his +hand, and with an extremely demure countenance. In the evening he called +upon a young woman of his own class in life, for there were no others to +be found, and, when he was left alone with the fair, he was called, for +the first time in his life, Dr. Todd, by her prudent mother. The ice +once broken in this manner, Elnathan was greeted from every mouth with +his official appellation. + +Another year passed under the superintendence of the same master, +during which the young physician had the credit of “riding with the +old doctor,” although they were generally observed to travel different +roads. At the end of that period, Dr. Todd attained his legal majority. +He then took a jaunt to Boston to purchase medicines, and, as some +intimated, to walk the hospital; we know not how the latter might have +been, but, if true, he soon walked through it, for he returned within +a fortnight, bringing with him a suspicious-looking box, that smelled +powerfully of brimstone. + +The next Sunday he was married, and the following morning he entered +a one-horse sleigh with his bride, having before him the box we have +mentioned, with another filled with home-made household linen, a +paper-covered trunk with a red umbrella lashed to it, a pair of quite +new saddle-bags, and a handbox. The next intelligence that his friends +received of the bride and bridegroom was, that the latter was “settled +in the new countries, and well to do as a doctor in Templeton, in York +State!” + +If a Templar would smile at the qualifications of Marmaduke to fill the +judicial seat he occupied, we are certain that a graduate of Leyden +or Edinburgh would be extremely amused with this true narration of +the servitude of Elnathan in the temple of Aesculapius. But the same +consolation was afforded to both the jurist and the leech, for Dr. Todd +was quite as much on a level with his own peers of the profession in +that country, as was Marmaduke with his brethren on the bench. + +Time and practice did wonders for the physician. He was naturally +humane, but possessed of no small share of moral courage; or, in other +words, he was chary of the lives of his patients, and never tried +uncertain experiments on such members of society as were considered +useful; but, once or twice, when a luckless vagrant had come under his +care, he was a little addicted to trying the effects of every phial in +his saddle-bags on the strangers constitution. Happily their number was +small, and in most cases their natures innocent. By these means Elnathan +had acquired a certain degree of knowledge in fevers and agues, and +could talk with judgment concerning intermittents, remittents, tertians, +quotidians, etc. In certain cutaneous disorders very prevalent in new +settlements, he was considered to be infallible; and there was no woman +on the Patent but would as soon think of becoming a mother without a +husband as without the assistance of Dr. Todd. In short, he was rearing, +on this foundation of sand a superstructure cemented by practice, though +composed of somewhat brittle materials. He however, occasionally renewed +his elementary studies, and, with the observation of a shrewd mind, was +comfort ably applying his practice to his theory. + +In surgery, having the least experience, and it being a business that +spoke directly to the senses, he was most apt to distrust his own +powers; but he had applied oils to several burns, cut round the roots +of sundry defective teeth, and sewed up the wounds of numberless wood +choppers, with considerable éclat, when an unfortunate jobber suffered a +fracture of his leg by the tree that he had been felling. It was on this +occasion that our hero encountered the greatest trial his nerves and +moral feeling had ever sustained. In the hour of need, however, he was +not found wanting. Most of the amputations in the new settlements, and +they were quite frequent, were per formed by some one practitioner who, +possessing originally a reputation, was enabled by this circumstance to +acquire an experience that rendered him deserving of it; and Elnathan +had been present at one or two of these operations. But on the present +occasion the man of practice was not to be obtained, and the duty fell, +as a matter of course, to the share of Mr. Todd. He went to work with +a kind of blind desperation, observing, at the same time, all the +externals of decent gravity and great skill, The sufferer's name was +Milligan, and it was to this event that Richard alluded, when he spoke +of assisting the doctor at an amputation by holding the leg! The limb +was certainly cut off, and the patient survived the operation. It was, +however, two years before poor Milligan ceased to complain that they had +buried the leg in so narrow a box that it was straitened for room; +he could feel the pain shooting up from the inhumed fragment into the +living members. Marmaduke suggested that the fault might lie in the +arteries and nerves; but Richard, considering the amputation as part of +his own handiwork, strongly repelled the insinuation, at the same time +declaring that he had often heard of men who could tell when it was +about to rain, by the toes of amputated limbs, After two or three years, +notwithstanding, Milligan's complaints gradually diminished, the leg was +dug up, and a larger box furnished, and from that hour no one had heard +the sufferer utter another complaint on the subject. This gave the +public great confidence in Dr. Todd, whose reputation was hourly +increasing, and, luckily for his patients, his information also. + +Notwithstanding Dr. Todd's practice, and his success with the leg, he +was not a little appalled on entering the hall of the mansion-house. It +was glaring with the light of day; it looked so imposing, compared with +the hastily built and scantily furnished apartments which he frequented +in his ordinary practice, and contained so many well-dressed persons +and anxious faces, that his usually firm nerves were a good deal +discomposed. He had heard from the messenger who summoned him, that it +was a gun-shot wound, and had come from his own home, wading through +the snow, with his saddle-bags thrown over his arm, while separated +arteries, penetrated lungs, and injured vitals were whirling through his +brain, as if he were stalking over a field of battle, instead of Judge +Temple's peaceable in closure. + +The first object that met his eye, as he moved into the room, was +Elizabeth in her riding-habit, richly laced with gold cord, her fine +form bending toward him, and her face expressing deep anxiety in every +one of its beautiful features. The enormous knees of the physician +struck each other with a noise that was audible; for, in the absent +state of his mind, he mistook her for a general officer, perforated with +bullets, hastening from the field of battle to implore assistance. The +delusion, however, was but momentary, and his eye glanced rapidly from +the daughter to the earnest dignity of the father's countenance; thence +to the busy strut of Richard, who was cooling his impatience at the +hunter's indifference to his assistance, by pacing the hall and cracking +his whip; from him to the Frenchman, who had stood for several minutes +unheeded with a chair for the lady; thence to Major Hartmann, who was +very coolly lighting a pipe three feet long by a candle in one of the +chandeliers; thence to Mr. Grant, who was turning over a manuscript with +much earnestness at one of the lustres; thence to Remarkable, who stood, +with her arms demurely folded before her, surveying, with a look of +admiration and envy, the dress and beauty of the young lady; and from +her to Benjamin, who, with his feet standing wide apart, and his arms +akimbo, was balancing his square little body with the indifference of +one who is accustomed to wounds and bloodshed. All of these seemed to +be unhurt, and the operator began to breathe more freely; but, before he +had time to take a second look, the Judge, advancing, shook him kindly +by the hand, and spoke. + +“Thou art welcome, my good sir, quite welcome, indeed; here is a youth +whom I have unfortunately wounded in shooting a deer this evening, and +who requires some of thy assistance.” + +“Shooting at a deer, 'Duke,” interrupted Richard--“shooting at a deer. +Who do you think can prescribe, unless he knows the truth of the case? +It is always so with some people; they think a doctor can be deceived +with the same impunity as another man.” + +“Shooting at a deer, truly,” returned the Judge, smiling, “although it +is by no means certain that I did not aid in destroying the buck; but +the youth is injured by my hand, be that as it may; and it is thy skill +that must cure him, and my pocket shall amply reward thee for it.” + +“Two ver good tings to depend on,” observed Monsieur Le Quoi, bowing +politely, with a sweep of his head to the Judge and to the practitioner. + +“I thank you, monsieur,” returned the Judge; “but we keep the young +man in pain. Remarkable, thou wilt please to provide linen for lint and +bandages.” + +This remark caused a cessation of the compliments, and induced the +physician to turn an inquiring eye in the direction of his patient. +During the dialogue the young hunter had thrown aside his overcoat, and +now stood clad in a plain suit of the common, light-colored homespun of +the country, that was evidently but recently made. His hand was on the +lapels of his coat, in the attitude of removing the garment, when he +suddenly suspended the movement, and looked toward the commiserating +Elizabeth, who was standing in an unchanged posture, too much absorbed +with her anxious feelings to heed his actions. A slight color appeared +on the brow of the youth. + +“Possibly the sight of blood may alarm the lady; I will retire to +another room while the wound is dressing.” + +“By no means.” said Dr. Todd, who, having discovered that his patient +was far from being a man of importance, felt much emboldened to perform +the duty. “The strong light of these candles is favorable to the +operation, and it is seldom that we hard students enjoy good eyesight.” + +While speaking, Elnathan placed a pair of large iron-rimmed spectacles +on his face, where they dropped, as it were by long practice, to the +extremity of his slim pug nose; and, if they were of no service as +assistants to his eyes, neither were they any impediment to his vision; +for his little gray organs were twinkling above them like two stars +emerging from the envious cover of a cloud. The action was unheeded by +all but Remarkable, who observed to Benjamin: + +“Dr. Todd is a comely man to look on, and despu't pretty. How well he +seems in spectacles! I declare, they give a grand look to a body's face. +I have quite a great mind to try them myself.” + +The speech of the stranger recalled the recollection of Miss Temple, +who started as if from deep abstraction, and, coloring excessively, +she motioned to a young woman who served in the capacity of maid, and +retired with an air of womanly reserve. + +The field was now left to the physician and his patient, while the +different personages who remained gathered around the latter, with faces +expressing the various degrees of interest that each one felt in his +condition. Major Hartmann alone retained his seat, where he continued +to throw out vast quantities of smoke, now rolling his eyes up to the +ceiling, as if musing on the uncertainty of life, and now bending them +on the wounded man, with an expression that bespoke some consciousness +of his situation. + +In the mean time Elnathan, to whom the sight of a gun shot wound was a +perfect novelty, commenced his preparations with a solemnity and care +that were worthy of the occasion. An old shirt was procured by Benjamin, +and placed in the hand of the other, who tore divers bandages from it, +with an exactitude that marked both his own skill and the importance of +the operation. + +When this preparatory measure was taken, Dr. Todd selected a piece of +the shirt with great care, and handing to Mr. Jones, without moving a +muscle, said: “Here, Squire Jones, you are well acquainted with these +things; will you please to scrape the lint? It should be fine and soft, +you know, my dear sir; and be cautious that no cotton gets in, or it may +p'izen the wound. The shirt has been made with cotton thread, but you +can easily pick it out.” + +Richard assumed the office, with a nod at his cousin, that said quite +plainly, “You see this fellow can't get along without me;” and began to +scrape the linen on his knee with great diligence. + +A table was now spread with phials, boxes of salve, and divers surgical +instruments. As the latter appeared in succession, from a case of red +morocco, their owner held up each implement to the strong light of the +chandelier, near to which he stood, and examined it with the nicest +care. A red silk handkerchief was frequently applied to the glittering +steel, as if to remove from the polished surfaces the least impediment +which might exist to the most delicate operation. After the rather +scantily furnished pocket-case which contained these instruments was +exhausted, the physician turned to his saddle-bags, and produced various +phials, filled with liquids of the most radiant colors. These were +arranged in due order by the side of the murderous saws, knives, and +scissors, when Elnathan stretched his long body to its utmost elevation, +placing his hand on the small of his back as if for support, and looked +about him to discover what effect this display of professional skill was +likely to produce on the spectators. + +“Upon my wort, toctor,” observed Major Hartmann, with a roguish roll +of his little black eyes, but with every other feature of his face in a +state of perfect rest, “put you have a very pretty pocket-book of tools +tere, and your toctor-stuff glitters as if it was petter for ter eyes as +for ter pelly.” + +Elnathan gave a hem--one that might have been equally taken for that +kind of noise which cowards are said to make in order to awaken their +dormant courage, or for a natural effort to clear the throat; if for the +latter it was successful; for, turning his face to the veteran German, +he said: + +“Very true, Major Hartmann, very true, sir; a prudent man will always +strive to make his remedies agreeable to the eyes, though they may not +altogether suit the stomach. It is no small part of our art, sir,” and +he now spoke with the confidence of a man who understood his subject, +“to reconcile the patient to what is for his own good, though at the +same time it may be unpalatable.” + +“Sartain! Dr. Todd is right,” said Remarkable, “and has Scripter for +what he says. The Bible tells us how things may be sweet to the mouth, +and bitter to the inwards.” + +“True, true,” interrupted the Judge, a little impatiently; “but here is +a youth who needs no deception to lure him to his own benefit. I see, by +his eye, that he fears nothing more than delay.” + +The stranger had, without assistance, bared his own shoulder, when the +slight perforation produced by the pas sage of the buckshot was plainly +visible. The intense cold of the evening had stopped the bleeding, and +Dr. Todd, casting a furtive glance at the wound, thought it by no means +so formidable an affair as he had anticipated. Thus encouraged, he +approached his patient, and made some indication of an intention to +trace the route that had been taken by the lead. + +Remarkable often found occasions, in after days, to recount the minutiae +of that celebrated operation; and when she arrived at this point she +commonly proceeded as follows: “And then the doctor tuck out of the +pocket book a long thing, like a knitting-needle, with a button fastened +to the end on't; and then he pushed it into the wound and then the young +man looked awful; and then I thought I should have swaned away--I felt +in sitch a dispu't taking; and then the doctor had run it right through +his shoulder, and shoved the bullet out on tother side; and so Dr. Todd +cured the young man--Of a ball that the Judge had shot into him--for +all the world as easy as I could pick out a splinter with my +darning-needle.” + +Such were the impressions of Remarkable on the subject; and such +doubtless were the opinions of most of those who felt it necessary to +entertain a species of religious veneration for the skill of Elnathan; +but such was far from the truth. + +When the physician attempted to introduce the instrument described +by Remarkable, he was repulsed by the stranger, with a good deal of +decision, and some little contempt, in his manner. + +“I believe, sir,” he said, “that a probe is not necessary; the shot has +missed the bone, and has passed directly through the arm to the opposite +side, where it remains but skin deep, and whence, I should think, it +might be easily extracted.” + +“The gentleman knows best,” said Dr. Todd, laying down the probe with +the air of a man who had assumed it merely in compliance with forms; +and, turning to Richard, he fingered the lint with the appearance of +great care and foresight. “Admirably well scraped, Squire Jones: it is +about the best lint I have ever seen. I want your assistance, my good +sir, to hold the patient's arm while I make an incision for the ball. +Now, I rather guess there is not another gentleman present who could +scrape the lint so well as Squire Jones!” + +“Such things run in families,” observed Richard, rising with alacrity +to render the desired assistance. “My father, and my grandfather before +him, were both celebrated for their knowledge of surgery; they were not, +like Marmaduke here, puffed up with an accidental thing, such as the +time when he drew in the hip-joint of the man who was thrown from his +horse; that was the fall before you came into the settlement, doctor; +but they were men who were taught the thing regularly, spending half +their lives in learning those little niceties; though, for the matter of +that, my grandfather was a college-bred physician, and the best in the +colony, too--that is, in his neighborhood.” + +“So it goes with the world, squire,” cried Benjamin; “if so be that +a man wants to walk the quarter-deck with credit, d'ye see, and with +regular built swabs on his shoulders, he mustn't think to do it by +getting in at the cabin windows. There are two ways to get into a top, +besides the lubber-holes. The true way to walk aft is to begin forrard; +tho'f it be only in a humble way, like myself, d'ye see, which was from +being only a hander of topgallant sails, and a stower of the flying-jib, +to keeping the key of the captain's locker.” + +Benjamin speaks quite to the purpose,' continued Richard, “I dare say +that he has often seen shot extracted in the different ships in which he +has served; suppose we get him to hold the basin; he must be used to the +sight of blood.” + +“That he is, squire, that he is,” interrupted the cidevant steward; +“many's the good shot, round, double-headed, and grape, that I've +seen the doctors at work on. For the matter of that, I was in a boat, +alongside the ship, when they cut out the twelve-pound shot from the +thigh of the captain of the Foodyrong, one of Mounsheer Ler Quaw's +countrymen!” * + + * It is possible that the reader may start at this declaration of + Benjamin, but those who have lived in the new settlements of America + are too much accustomed to hear of these European exploits to doubt + it. + +“A twelve-pound ball from the thigh of a human being:” exclaimed Mr. +Grant, with great simplicity, dropping the sermon he was again reading, +and raising his spectacles to the top of his forehead. + +“A twelve-pounder!” echoed Benjamin, staring around him with much +confidence; “a twelve-pounder! ay! a twenty-four-pound shot can easily +be taken from a man's body, if so be a doctor only knows how, There's +Squire Jones, now, ask him, sir; he reads all the books; ask him if he +never fell in with a page that keeps the reckoning of such things.” + +“Certainly, more important operations than that have been performed,” + observed Richard; “the encyclopaedia mentions much more incredible +circumstances than that, as, I dare say, you know, Dr. Todd.” + +“Certainly, there are incredible tales told in the encyclopaedias,” + returned Elnathan, “though I cannot say that I have ever seen, myself, +anything larger than a musket ball extracted.” + +During this discourse an incision had been made through the skin of the +young hunter's shoulder, and the lead was laid bare. Elnathan took a +pair of glittering forceps, and was in the act of applying them to the +wound, when a sudden motion of the patient caused the shot to fall +out of itself, The long arm and broad hand of the operator were now of +singular service; for the latter expanded itself, and caught the lead, +while at the same time an extremely ambiguous motion was made by its +brother, so as to leave it doubtful to the spectators how great was its +agency in releasing the shot, Richard, however, put the matter at rest +by exclaiming: + +“Very neatly done, doctor! I have never seen a shot more neatly +extracted; and I dare say Benjamin will say the same.” + +“Why, considering,” returned Benjamin, “I must say that it was +ship-shape and Brister-fashion. Now all that the doctor has to do, is to +clap a couple of plugs in the holes, and the lad will float in any gale +that blows in these here hills.” + +“I thank you, sir, for what you have done,” said the youth, with a +little distance; “but here is a man who will take me under his care, and +spare you all, gentlemen, any further trouble on my account.” + +The whole group turned their heads in surprise, and beheld, standing at +one of the distant doors of the hall, the person of Indian John. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + “From Sesquehanna's utmost springs, + Where savage tribes pursue their game, + His blanket tied with yellow strings, + The shepherd of the forest came.”--Freneau. + +Before the Europeans, or, to use a more significant term, the +Christians, dispossessed the original owners of the soil, all that +section of country which contains the New England States, and those of +the Middle which lie east of the mountains, was occupied by two great +nations of Indians, from whom had descended numberless tribes. But, +as the original distinctions between these nations were marked by a +difference in language, as well as by repeated and bloody wars, they +were never known to amalgamate, until after the power and inroads of +the whites had reduced some of the tribes to a state of dependence that +rendered not only their political, but, considering the wants and habits +of a savage, their animal existence also, extremely precarious. + +These two great divisions consisted, on the one side, of the Five, or, +as they were afterward called, the Six Nations, and their allies; and, +on the other, of the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, with the numerous and +powerful tribes that owned that nation as their grandfather The former +was generally called, by the Anglo-Americans Iroquois, or the Six +Nations, and sometimes Mingoes. Their appellation among their rivals, +seems generally to have been the Mengwe, or Maqua. They consisted of +the tribes or, as their allies were fond of asserting, in order to raise +their consequence, of the several nations of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, +the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas; who ranked, in the confederation in +the order in which they are named. The Tuscaroras were admitted to this +union near a century after its foundation, and thus completed the number +of six. + +Of the Lenni Lenape, or as they were called by the whites, from the +circumstances of their holding their great council-fire on the banks +of that river, the Delaware nation, the principal tribes, besides that +which bore the generic name, were the Mahicanni, Mohicans, or Mohegans, +and the Nanticokes, or Nentigoes. Of these the latter held the country +along the waters of the Chesapeake and the seashore; while the Mohegans +occupied the district between the Hudson and the ocean, including much +of New England. Of course these two tribes were the first who were +dispossessed of their lands by the Europeans. + +The wars of a portion of the latter are celebrated among us as the wars +of King Philip; but the peaceful policy of William Penn, or Miquon, as +he was termed by the natives, effected its object with less difficulty, +though not with less certainty. As the natives gradually disappeared +from the country of the Mohegans, some scattering families sought a +refuge around the council-fire of the mother tribe, or the Delawares. + +This people had been induced to suffer themselves to be called women by +their old enemies, the Mingoes, or Iroquois. After the latter, having in +vain tried the effects of hostility, had recourse in artifice in +order to prevail over their rivals. According to this declaration, the +Delawares were to cultivate the arts of peace, and to intrust their +defence entirely to the men, or warlike tribes of the Six Nations. + +This state of things continued until the war of the Revolution. When +the Lenni Lenape formally asserted their independence, and fearlessly +declared that they were again men. But, in a government so peculiarly +republican as the Indian polity, it was not at all times an easy task to +restrain its members within the rules of the nation. Several fierce and +renowned warriors of the Mohegans, finding the conflict with the whites +to be in vain, sought a refuge with their grandfather, and brought with +them the feelings and principles that had so long distinguished them +in their own tribe. These chieftains kept alive, in some measure, the +martial spirit of the Delawares; and would, at times, lead small parties +against their ancient enemies, or such other foes as incurred their +resentment. + +Among these warriors was one race particularly famous for their prowess, +and for those qualities that render an Indian hero celebrated. But war, +time, disease, and want had conspired to thin their number; and the sole +representative of this once renowned family now stood in the hall of +Marmaduke Temple. He had for a long time been an associate of the white +men, particularly in their wars, and having been, at the season when his +services were of importance, much noticed and flattered, he had turned +Christian and was baptized by the name of John. He had suffered severely +in his family during the recent war, having had every soul to whom +he was allied cut off by an inroad of the enemy; and when the last +lingering remnant of his nation extinguished their fires, among the +hills of the Delaware, he alone had remained, with a determination of +laying his hones in that country where his fathers had so long lived and +governed. + +It was only, however, within a few months, that he had appeared among +the mountains that surrounded Templeton. To the hut of the old hunter +he seemed peculiarly welcome; and, as the habits of the Leather-Stocking +were so nearly assimilated to those of the savages, the conjunction of +their interests excited no surprise. They resided in the same cabin, ate +of the same food, and were chiefly occupied in the same pursuits. + +We have already mentioned the baptismal name of this ancient chief; but +in his conversation with Natty, held in the language of the Delawares, +he was heard uniformly to call himself Chingachgook, which, interpreted, +means the “Great Snake.” This name he had acquired in his youth, by his +skill and prowess in war; but when his brows began to wrinkle with time, +and he stood alone, the last of his family, and his particular tribe, +the few Delawares, who yet continued about the head-waters of their +river, gave him the mournful appellation of Mohegan. Perhaps there was +something of deep feeling excited in the bosom of this inhabitant of the +forest by the sound of a name that recalled the idea of his nation in +ruins, for he seldom used it himself--never, indeed, excepting on the +most solemn occasions; but the settlers had united, according to the +Christian custom, his baptismal with his national name, and to them +he was generally known as John Mohegan, or, more familiarly, as Indian +John. + +From his long association with the white men, the habits of Mohegan were +a mixture of the civilized and savage states, though there was certainly +a strong preponderance in favor of the latter. In common with all his +people, who dwelt within the influence of the Anglo-Americans, he +had acquired new wants, and his dress was a mixture of his native and +European fashions. Notwithstanding the in tense cold without, his head +was uncovered; but a profusion of long, black, coarse hair concealed his +forehead, his crown, and even hung about his cheeks, so as to convey +the idea, to one who knew his present amid former conditions, that he +encouraged its abundance, as a willing veil to hide the shame of a noble +soul, mourning for glory once known. His forehead, when it could be +seen, appeared lofty, broad, and noble. His nose was high, and of the +kind called Roman, with nostrils that expanded, in his seventieth year, +with the freedom that had distinguished them in youth. His mouth was +large, but compressed, and possessing a great share of expression and +character, and, when opened, it discovered a perfect set of short, +strong, and regular teeth. His chin was full, though not prominent; and +his face bore the infallible mark of his people, in its square, high +cheek-bones. The eyes were not large, but their black orbs glittered in +the rays of the candles, as he gazed intently down the hall, like two +balls of fire. + +The instant that Mohegan observed himself to be noticed by the group +around the young stranger, he dropped the blanket which covered the +upper part of his frame, from his shoulders, suffering it to fall over +his leggins of untanned deer-skin, where it was retained by a belt of +bark that confined it to his waist. + +As he walked slowly down the long hail, the dignified and deliberate +tread of the Indian surprised the spectators. + +His shoulders, and body to his waist, were entirely bare, with the +exception of a silver medallion of Washington, that was suspended from +his neck by a thong of buckskin, and rested on his high chest, amid many +scars. His shoulders were rather broad and full; but the arms, though +straight and graceful, wanted the muscular appearance that labor gives +to a race of men. The medallion was the only ornament he wore, although +enormous slits in the rim of either ear, which suffered the cartilages +to fall two inches below the members, had evidently been used for the +purposes of decoration in other days in his hand he held a small basket +of the ash-wood slips, colored in divers fantastical conceits, with red +and black paints mingled with the white of the wood. + +As this child of the forest approached them, the whole party stood +aside, and allowed him to confront the object of his visit. He did not +speak, however, but stood fixing his glowing eyes on the shoulder of the +young hunter, and then turning them intently on the countenance of the +Judge. The latter was a good deal astonished at this unusual departure +from the ordinarily subdued and quiet manner of the Indian; but he +extended his hand, and said: + +“Thou art welcome, John. This youth entertains a high opinion of thy +skill, it seems, for he prefers thee to dress his wound even to our good +friend, Dr. Todd.” + +Mohegan now spoke in tolerable English, but in a low, monotonous, +guttural tone; + +“The children of Miquon do not love the sight of blood; and yet the +Young Eagle has been struck by the hand that should do no evil!” + +“Mohegan! old John!” exclaimed the Judge, “thinkest thou that my hand +has ever drawn human blood willingly? For shame! for shame, old John! +thy religion should have taught thee better.” + +“The evil spirit sometimes lives in the best heart,” returned John, “but +my brother speaks the truth; his hand has never taken life, when awake; +no! not even when the children of the great English Father were making +the waters red with the blood of his people.” + +“Surely John,” said Mr. Grant, with much earnestness, “you remember +the divine command of our Saviour, 'Judge not, lest ye be judged.' What +motive could Judge Temple have for injuring a youth like this; one to +whom he is unknown, and from whom he can receive neither in jury nor +favor?” + +John listened respectfully to the divine, and, when he had concluded, he +stretched out his arm, and said with energy: + +“He is innocent. My brother has not done this.” + +Marmaduke received the offered hand of the other with a smile, that +showed, however he might be astonished at his suspicion, he had ceased +to resent it; while the wounded youth stood, gazing from his red friend +to his host, with interest powerfully delineated in his countenance. + +No sooner was this act of pacification exchanged, than John proceeded +to discharge the duty on which he had come. Dr. Todd was far from +manifesting any displeasure at this invasion of his rights, but made way +for the new leech with an air that expressed a willingness to gratify +the humors of his patient, now that the all-important part of the +business was so successfully performed, and nothing remained to be +done but what any child might effect, indeed, he whispered as much to +Monsieur Le Quoi, when he said: + +“It was fortunate that the ball was extracted before this Indian came +in; but any old woman can dress the wound. The young man, I hear, lives +with John and Natty Bumppo, and it's always best to humor a patient, +when it can be done discreetly--I say, discreetly, monsieur.” + +“Certainement,” returned the Frenchman; “you seem ver happy, Mister +Todd, in your pratice. I tink the elder lady might ver well finish vat +you so skeelfully begin.” + +But Richard had, at the bottom, a great deal of veneration for the +knowledge of Mohegan, especially in external wounds; and, retaining all +his desire for a participation in glory, he advanced nigh the Indian, +and said: “Sago, sago, Mohegan! sago my good fellow I am glad you have +come; give me a regular physician, like Dr. Todd to cut into flesh, and +a native to heal the wound. Do you remember, John, the time when I and +you set the bone of Natty Bumppo's little finger, after he broke it by +falling from the rock, when he was trying to get the partridge that +fell on the cliffs? I never could tell yet whether it was I or Natty who +killed that bird: he fired first, and the bird stooped, and then it +was rising again as I pulled trigger. I should have claimed it for a +certainty, but Natty said the hole was too big for shot, and he fired a +single ball from his rifle; but the piece I carried then didn't scatter, +and I have known it to bore a hole through a board, when I've been +shooting at a mark, very much like rifle bullets. Shall I help you, +John? You know I have a knack at these things.” + +Mohegan heard this disquisition quite patiently, and, when Richard +concluded, he held out the basket which contained his specifics, +indicating, by a gesture, that he might hold it. Mr. Jones was quite +satisfied with this commission; and ever after, in speaking of the +event, was used to say that “Dr. Todd and I cut out the bullet, and I +and Indian John dressed the wound.” + +The patient was much more deserving of that epithet while under the +hands of Mohegan, than while suffering under the practice of the +physician. Indeed, the Indian gave him but little opportunity for +the exercise of a forbearing temper, as he had come prepared for the +occasion. His dressings were soon applied, and consisted only of some +pounded bark, moistened with a fluid that he had expressed from some of +the simples of the woods. + +Among the native tribes of the forest there were always two kinds of +leeches to be met with. The one placed its whole dependence on the +exercise of a supernatural power, and was held in greater veneration +than their practice could at all justify; but the other was really +endowed with great skill in the ordinary complaints of the human body, +and was more particularly, as Natty had intimated, “curous” in cuts and +bruises. + +While John and Richard were placing the dressings on the wound, Elnathan +was acutely eyeing the contents of Mohegan's basket, which Mr. Jones, +in his physical ardor had transferred to the doctor, in order to hold +himself one end of the bandages. Here he was soon enabled to detect +sundry fragments of wood and bark, of which he quite coolly took +possession, very possibly without any intention of speaking at all upon +the subject; but, when he beheld the full blue eye of Marmaduke watching +his movements, he whispered to the Judge: + +“It is not to be denied, Judge Temple, but what the savages are knowing +in small matters of physic. They hand these things down in their +traditions. Now in cancers and hydrophoby they are quite ingenious. I +will just take this bark home and analyze it; for, though it can't +be worth sixpence to the young man's shoulder, it may be good for the +toothache, or rheumatism, or some of them complaints. A man should never +be above learning, even if it be from an Indian.” + +It was fortunate for Dr. Todd that his principles were so liberal, as, +coupled with his practice, they were the means by which he acquired all +his knowledge, and by which he was gradually qualifying himself for the +duties of his profession. The process to which he subjected the specific +differed, however, greatly from the ordinary rules of chemistry; +for instead of separating he afterward united the component parts of +Mohegan's remedy, and was thus able to discover the tree whence the +Indian had taken it. + +Some ten years after this event, when civilization and its refinements +had crept, or rather rushed, into the settlements among these wild +hills, an affair of honor occurred, and Elnathan was seen to apply a +salve to the wound received by one of the parties, which had the flavor +that was peculiar to the tree, or root, that Mohegan had used. Ten years +later still, when England and the United States were again engaged in +war, and the hordes of the western parts of the State of New York were +rushing to the field, Elnathan, presuming on the reputation obtained by +these two operations, followed in the rear of a brigade of militia as +its surgeon! + +When Mohegan had applied the bark, he freely relinquished to Richard the +needle and thread that were used in sewing the bandages, for these were +implements of which the native but little understood the use: and, step +ping back with decent gravity, awaited the completion of the business by +the other. + +“Reach me the scissors,” said Mr. Jones, when he had finished, and +finished for the second time, after tying the linen in every shape and +form that it could be placed; “reach me the scissors, for here is a +thread that must be cut off, or it might get under the dressings, and +inflame the wound. See, John, I have put the lint I scraped between +two layers of the linen; for though the bark is certainly best for the +flesh, yet the lint will serve to keep the cold air from the wound. If +any lint will do it good, it is this lint; I scraped it myself, and I +will not turn my back at scraping lint to any man on the Patent. I ought +to know how, if anybody ought, for my grandfather was a doctor, and my +father had a natural turn that way.” + +“Here, squire, is the scissors,” said Remarkable, producing from beneath +her petticoat of green moreen a pair of dull-looking shears; “well, upon +my say-so, you have sewed on the rags as well as a woman.” + +“As well as a woman!” echoed Richard with indignation; “what do women +know of such matters? and you are proof of the truth of what I say. +Who ever saw such a pair of shears used about a wound? Dr. Todd, I will +thank you for the scissors from the case, Now, young man, I think you'll +do. The shot has been neatly taken out, although, perhaps, seeing I had +a hand in it, I ought not to say so; and the wound is admirably dressed. +You will soon be well again; though the jerk you gave my leaders must +have a tendency to inflame the shoulder, yet you will do, you will do, +You were rather flurried, I suppose, and not used to horses; but +I forgive the accident for the motive; no doubt you had the best of +motives; yes, now you will do.” + +“Then, gentlemen,” said the wounded stranger, rising, and resuming his +clothes, “it will be unnecessary for me to trespass longer on your time +and patience. There remains but one thing more to be settled, and that +is, our respective rights to the deer, Judge Temple.” + +“I acknowledge it to be thine,” said. Marmaduke; “and much more deeply +am I indebted to thee than for this piece of venison. But in the morning +thou wilt call here, and we can adjust this, as well as more important +matters Elizabeth”--for the young lady, being apprised that the wound +was dressed, had re-entered the hall--“thou wilt order a repast for +this youth before we proceed to the church; and Aggy will have a sleigh +prepared to convey him to his friend.” + +“But, sir, I cannot go without a part of the deer,” returned the youth, +seemingly struggling with his own feelings; “I have already told you +that I needed the venison for myself.” + +“Oh, we will not be particular,” exclaimed Richard; “the Judge will pay +you in the morning for the whole deer; and, Remarkable, give the lad +all the animal excepting the saddle; so, on the whole, I think you may +consider yourself as a very lucky young man--you have been shot without +being disabled; have had the wound dressed in the best possible +manner here in the woods, as well as it would have been done in the +Philadelphia hospital, if not better; have sold your deer at a high +price, and yet can keep most of the carcass, with the skin in the +bargain. 'Marky, tell Tom to give him the skin too, and in the morning +bring the skin to me and I will give you half a dollar for it, or at +least three-and-sixpence. I want just such a skin to cover the pillion +that I am making for Cousin Bess.” + +“I thank you, sir, for your liberality, and, I trust, am also thankful +for my escape,” returned the stranger; “but you reserve the very part of +the animal that I wished for my own use. I must have the saddle myself.” + +“Must!” echoed Richard; “must is harder to be swallowed than the horns +of the buck.” + +“Yes, must,” repeated the youth; when, turning his head proudly around +him, as if to see who would dare to controvert his rights, he met the +astonished gaze of Elizabeth, and proceeded more mildly: “That is, if +a man is allowed the possession of that which his hand hath killed, and +the law will protect him in the enjoyment of his own.” + +“The law will do so,” said Judge Temple, with an air of mortification +mingled with surprise. “Benjamin, see that the whole deer is placed in +the sleigh; and have this youth conveyed to the hut of Leather Stocking. +But, young man thou hast a name, and I shall see you again, in order to +compensate thee for the wrong I have done thee?” + +“I am called Edwards,” returned the hunter; “Oliver Edwards, I am easily +to be seen, sir, for I live nigh by, and am not afraid to show my face, +having never injured any man.” + +“It is we who have injured you, sir,” said Elizabeth; “and the knowledge +that you decline our assistance would give my father great pain. He +would gladly see you in the morning.” + +The young hunter gazed at the fair speaker until his earnest look +brought the blood to her temples; when, recollecting himself, he bent +his head, dropping his eyes to the carpet, and replied: + +“In the morning, then, will I return, and see Judge Temple; and I will +accept his offer of the sleigh in token of amity.” + +“Amity!” repeated Marmaduke; “there was no malice in the act that +injured thee, young man; there should be none in the feelings which it +may engender.” + +“Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” + observed Mr. Grant, “is the language used by our Divine Master himself, +and it should be the golden rule with us, his humble followers.” + +The stranger stood a moment lost in thought, and then, glancing his +dark eyes rather wildly around the hall, he bowed low to the divine, and +moved from the apartment with an air that would not admit of detention. + +“'Tis strange that one so young should harbor such feelings of +resentment,” said Marmaduke, when the door closed behind the stranger; +“but while the pain is recent, and the sense of the injury so fresh, he +must feel more strongly than in cooler moments. I doubt not we shall see +him in the morning more tractable.” + +Elizabeth, to whom this speech was addressed, did not reply, but moved +slowly up the hall by herself, fixing her eyes on the little figure of +the English ingrain carpet that covered the floor; while, on the +other hand, Richard gave a loud crack with his whip, as the stranger +disappeared, and cried: + +“Well, 'Duke, you are your own master, but I would have tried law for +the saddle before I would have given it to the fellow. Do you not own +the mountains as well as the valleys? are not the woods your own? what +right has this chap, or the Leather-Stocking, to shoot in your woods +without your permission? Now, I have known a farmer in Pennsylvania +order a sportsman off his farm with as little ceremony as I would order +Benjamin to put a log in the stove--By-the-bye, Benjamin, see how the +thermometer stands.--Now, if a man has a right to do this on a farm of +a hundred acres, what power must a landlord have who owns sixty +thousand--ay, for the matter of that, including the late purchases, a +hundred thousand? There is Mohegan, to be sure, he may have some right, +being a native; but it's little the poor fellow can do now with his +rifle. How is this managed in France, Monsieur Le Quoi? Do you let +everybody run over your land in that country helter-skelter, as they do +here, shooting the game, so that a gentleman has but little or no chance +with his gun?” + +“Bah! diable, no, Meester Deeck,” replied the Frenchman; “we give, in +France, no liberty except to the ladi.” + +“Yes, yes, to the women, I know,” said Richard, “that is your Salic +law. I read, sir, all kinds of books; of France, as well as England; of +Greece, as well as Rome. But if I were in 'Duke's place, I would stick +up advertisements to-morrow morning, forbidding all persons to shoot, or +trespass in any manner, on my woods. I could write such an advertisement +myself, in an hour, as would put a stop to the thing at once.” + +“Richart,” said Major Hartmann, very coolly knocking the ashes from +his pipe into the spitting-box by his side, “now listen; I have livet +seventy-five years on ter Mohawk, and in ter woots. You had better +mettle as mit ter deyvel, as mit ter hunters, Tey live mit ter gun, and +a rifle is better as ter law.” + +“Ain't Marmaduke a judge?” said Richard indignantly. “Where is the +use of being a judge, or having a judge, if there is no law? Damn the +fellow! I have a great mind to sue him in the morning myself, before +Squire Doolittle, for meddling with my leaders. I am not afraid of his +rifle. I can shoot, too. I have hit a dollar many a time at fifty rods. + +“Thou hast missed more dollars than ever thou hast hit, Dickon,” + exclaimed the cheerful voice of the Judge. “But we will now take our +evening's repast, which I perseive, by Remarkable's physiognomy, is +ready. Monsieur Le Quoi, Miss Temple has a hand at your service. Will +you lead the way, my child?” + +“Ah! ma chere mam'selle, comme je suis enchante!” said the Frenchman. +“Il ne manque que les dames de faire un paradis de Templeton.” + +Mr. Grant and Mohegan continued in the hall, while the remainder of the +party withdrew to an eating parlor, if we except Benjamin, who civilly +remained to close the rear after the clergyman and to open the front +door for the exit of the Indian. + +“John,” said the divine, when the figure of Judge Temple disappeared, +the last of the group, “to-morrow is the festival of the nativity of +our blessed Redeemer, when the church has appointed prayers and +thanksgivings to be offered up by her children, and when all are invited +to partake of the mystical elements. As you have taken up the cross, and +become a follower of good and an eschewer of evil, I trust I shall see +you before the altar, with a contrite heart and a meek spirit.” + +“John will come,” said the Indian, betraying no surprise; though he did +not understand all the terms used by the other. + +“Yes,” continued Mr. Grant, laying his hand gently on the tawny shoulder +of the aged chief, “but it is not enough to be there in the body; you +must come in the spirit and in truth. The Redeemer died for all, for the +poor Indian as well as for the white man. Heaven knows no difference in +color; nor must earth witness a separation of the church. It is good +and profitable, John, to freshen the understanding, and support the +wavering, by the observance of our holy festivals; but all form is but +stench in the nostrils of the Holy One, unless it be accompanied by a +devout and humble spirit.” + +The Indian stepped back a little, and, raising his body to its utmost +powers of erection, he stretched his right arm on high, and dropped his +forefinger downward, as if pointing from the heavens; then, striking his +other band on his naked breast, he said, with energy: + +“The eye of the Great Spirit can see from the clouds--the bosom of +Mohegan is bare!” + +“It is well, John, and I hope you will receive profit and consolation +from the performance of this duty. The Great Spirit overlooks none of +his children; and the man of the woods is as much an object of his care +as he who dwells in a palace. I wish you a good-night, and pray God to +bless you.” + +The Indian bent his head, and they separated--the one to seek his hut, +and the other to join his party at the supper-table. While Benjamin was +opening the door for the passage of the chief, he cried, in a tone that +was meant to be encouraging: + +“The parson says the word that is true, John. If so be that they took +count of the color of the skin in heaven, why, they might refuse to +muster on their books a Christian-born, like myself, just for the matter +of a little tan, from cruising in warm latitudes; though, for the +matter of that, this damned norwester is enough to whiten the skin of a +blackamore. Let the reef out of your blanket, man, or your red hide will +hardly weather the night with out a touch from the frost.” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + “For here the exile met from every clime, + And spoke, in friendship, every distant tongue.” + --Campbell. + +We have made our readers acquainted with some variety in character and +nations, in introducing the most important personages of this legend to +their notice; but, in order to establish the fidelity of our narrative, +we shall briefly attempt to explain the reason why we have been obliged +to present so motley a dramatis personae. + +Europe, at the period of our tale, was in the commencement of that +commotion which afterward shook her political institutions to the +centre. Louis the Sixteenth had been beheaded, and a nation once +esteemed the most refined among the civilized people of the world was +changing its character, and substituting cruelty for mercy, and subtlety +and ferocity for magnanimity and courage. Thousands of Frenchmen were +compelled to seek protection in distant lands. Among the crowds who fled +from France and her islands, to the United States of America, was the +gentleman whom we have already mentioned as Monsieur Le Quoi. He had +been recommended to the favor of Judge Temple by the head of an eminent +mercantile house in New York, with whom Marmaduke was in habits +of intimacy, and accustomed to exchange good offices. At his first +interview with the Frenchman, our Judge had discovered him to be a man +of breeding, and one who had seen much more prosperous days in his own +country. From certain hints that had escaped him, Monsieur Le Quoi was +suspected of having been a West-India planter, great numbers of whom had +fled from St. Domingo and the other islands, and were now living in the +Union, in a state of comparative poverty, and some in absolute want The +latter was not, however, the lot of Monsieur Le Quoi. He had but little, +he acknowledged; but that little was enough to furnish, in the language +of the country, an assortment for a store. + +The knowledge of Marmaduke was eminently practical, and there was no +part of a settler's life with which he was not familiar. Under his +direction, Monsieur Le Quoi made some purchases, consisting of a few +cloths; some groceries, with a good deal of gunpowder and tobacco; a +quantity of iron-ware, among which was a large proportion of Barlow's +jack-knives, potash-kettles, and spiders; a very formidable collection +of crockery of the coarsest quality and most uncouth forms; together +with every other common article that the art of man has devised for his +wants, not forgetting the luxuries of looking-glasses and Jew's-harps. +With this collection of valuables, Monsieur Le Quoi had stepped behind +a counter, and, with a wonderful pliability of temperament, had dropped +into his assumed character as gracefully as he had ever moved in any +other. The gentleness and suavity of his manners rendered him extremely +popular; besides this, the women soon discovered that he had taste. His +calicoes were the finest, or, in other words, the most showy, of any +that were brought into the country, and it was impossible to look at the +prices asked for his goods by “so pretty a spoken man,” Through +these conjoint means, the affairs of Monsieur Le Quoi were again in a +prosperous condition, and he was looked up to by the settlers as the +second best man on the “Patent.” * + + * The term “Patent” which we have already used, and for which we may + have further occasion, meant the district of country that had been + originally granted to old Major Effingham by the “king's letters + patent,” and which had now become, by purchase under the act of + confiscation, the property of Marmaduke Temple. It was a term in + common use throughout the new parts of the State; and was usually + annexed to the landlord's name, as “Temple's or Effingham's Patent.” + +Major Hartmann was a descendant of a man who, in company with a number +of his countrymen, had emigrated with their families from the banks of +the Rhine to those of the Mohawk. This migration had occurred as far +back as the reign of Queen Anne; and their descendants were now living, +in great peace and plenty, on the fertile borders of that beautiful +stream. + +The Germans, or “High Dutchers,” as they were called, to distinguish +them from the original or Low Dutch colonists, were a very peculiar +people. They possessed all the gravity of the latter, without any of +their phlegm; and like them, the “High Dutchers” were industrious, +honest, and economical, Fritz, or Frederick Hartmann, was an epitome of +all the vices and virtues, foibles and excellences, of his race. He +was passionate though silent, obstinate, and a good deal suspicious of +strangers; of immovable courage, in flexible honesty, and undeviating in +his friendships. In deed there was no change about him, unless it were +from grave to gay. He was serious by months, and jolly by weeks. He had, +early in their acquaintance, formed an attachment for Marmaduke Temple, +who was the only man that could not speak High Dutch that ever gained +his entire confidence Four times in each year, at periods equidistant, +he left his low stone dwelling on the banks of the Mohawk, and travelled +thirty miles, through the hills, to the door of the mansion-house in +Templeton. Here he generally stayed a week; and was reputed to spend +much of that time in riotous living, greatly countenanced by Mr. Richard +Jones. But every one loved him, even to Remarkable Pettibone, to whom he +occasioned some additional trouble, he was so frank, so sincere, and, at +times, so mirthful. He was now on his regular Christmas visit, and had +not been in the village an hour when Richard summoned him to fill a seat +in the sleigh to meet the landlord and his daughter. + +Before explaining the character and situation of Mr. Grant, it will +be necessary to recur to times far back in the brief history of the +settlement. + +There seems to be a tendency in human nature to endeavor to provide for +the wants of this world, before our attention is turned to the business +of the other. Religion was a quality but little cultivated amid the +stumps of Temple's Patent for the first few years of its settlement; +but, as most of its inhabitants were from the moral States of +Connecticut and Massachusetts, when the wants of nature were satisfied +they began seriously to turn their attention to the introduction of +those customs and observances which had been the principal care of their +fore fathers. There was certainly a great variety of opinions on the +subject of grace and free-will among the tenantry of Marmaduke; and, +when we take into consideration the variety of the religious instruction +which they received, it can easily be seen that it could not well be +otherwise. + +Soon after the village had been formally laid out into the streets and +blocks that resembled a city, a meeting of its inhabitants had been +convened, to take into consideration the propriety of establishing an +academy. This measure originated with Richard, who, in truth, was much +disposed to have the institution designated a university, or at least +a college. Meeting after meeting was held, for this purpose, year +after year. The resolutions of these as sembiages appeared in the most +conspicuous columns of a little blue-looking newspaper, that was already +issued weekly from the garret of a dwelling-house in the village, and +which the traveller might as often see stuck into the fissure of a +stake, erected at the point where the footpath from the log-cabin of +some settler entered the highway, as a post-office for an individual. +Sometimes the stake supported a small box, and a whole neighborhood +received a weekly supply for their literary wants at this point, where +the man who “rides post” regularly deposited a bundle of the precious +commodity. To these flourishing resolutions, which briefly recounted the +general utility of education, the political and geographical rights of +the village of Templeton to a participation in the favors of the regents +of the university, the salubrity of the air, and wholesomeness of the +water, together with the cheapness of food and the superior state of +morals in the neighbor hood, were uniformly annexed, in large Roman +capitals, the names of Marmaduke Temple as chairman and Richard Jones as +secretary. + +Happily for the success of this undertaking, the regents were not +accustomed to resist these appeals to their generosity, whenever +there was the smallest prospect of a donation to second the request. +Eventually Judge Temple concluded to bestow the necessary land, and to +erect the required edifice at his own expense. The skill of Mr., or, +as he was now called, from the circumstance of having received the +commission of a justice of the peace, Squire Doolittle, was again put in +requisition; and the science of Mr. Jones was once more resorted to. + +We shall not recount the different devices of the architects on the +occasion; nor would it be decorous so to do, seeing that there was a +convocation of the society of the ancient and honorable fraternity “of +the Free and Accepted Masons,” at the head of whom was Richard, in the +capacity of master, doubtless to approve or reject such of the plans as, +in their wisdom, they deemed to be for the best. The knotty point +was, however, soon decided; and, on the appointed day, the brotherhood +marched in great state, displaying sundry banners and mysterious +symbols, each man with a little mimic apron before him, from a most +cunningly contrived apartment in the garret of the “Bold Dragoon,” an +inn kept by one Captain Hollister, to the site of the intended edifice. +Here Richard laid the corner stone, with suitable gravity, amidst an +assemblage of more than half the men, and all the women, within ten +miles of Templeton. + +In the course of the succeeding week there was another meeting of the +people, not omitting swarms of the gentler sex, when the abilities of +Hiram at the “square rule” were put to the test of experiment. The frame +fitted well; and the skeleton of the fabric was reared without a single +accident, if we except a few falls from horses while the laborers were +returning home in the evening. From this time the work advanced with +great rapidity, and in the course of the season the Labor was completed; +the edifice Manding, in all its beauty and proportions, the boast of +the village, the study of young aspirants for architectural fame, and +the admiration of every settler on the Patent. + +It was a long, narrow house of wood, painted white, and more than +half windows; and, when the observer stood at the western side of the +building, the edifice offered but a small obstacle to a full view of the +rising sun. It was, in truth, but a very comfortless open place, through +which the daylight shone with natural facility. On its front were divers +ornaments in wood, designed by Richard and executed by Hiram; but a +window in the centre of the second story, immediately over the door or +grand entrance, and the “steeple” were the pride of the building. The +former was, we believe, of the composite order; for it included in its +composition a multitude of ornaments and a great variety of proportions. +It consisted of an arched compartment in the centres with a square and +small division on either side, the whole incased in heavy frames, deeply +and laboriously moulded in pine-wood, and lighted with a vast number of +blurred and green-looking glass of those dimensions which are commonly +called “eight by ten.” Blinds, that were intended to be painted green, +kept the window in a state of preservation, and probably might have +contributed to the effect of the whole, had not the failure in the +public funds, which seems always to be incidental to any undertaking of +this kind, left them in the sombre coat of lead-color with which they +had been originally clothed. The “steeple” was a little cupola, reared +on the very centre of the roof, on four tall pillars of pine that were +fluted with a gouge, and loaded with mouldings. On the tops of the +columns was reared a dome or cupola, resembling in shape an inverted +tea-cup without its bottom, from the centre of which projected a spire, +or shaft of wood, transfixed with two iron rods, that bore on their ends +the letters N. S. E. and W, in the same metal. The whole was surmounted +by an imitation of one of the finny tribe, carved in wood by the hands +of Richard, and painted what he called a “scale-color.” This animal Mr. +Jones affirmed to be an admirable resemblance of a great favorite of +the epicures in that country, which bore the title of “lake-fish,” and +doubtless the assertion was true; for, although intended to answer the +purposes of a weathercock, the fish was observed invariably to look with +a longing eye in the direction of the beautiful sheet of water that lay +imbedded in the mountains of Templeton. + +For a short time after the charter of the regents was received, the +trustees of this institution employed a graduate of one of the Eastern +colleges to instruct such youth as aspired to knowledge within the walls +of the edifice which we have described. The upper part of the building +was in one apartment, and was intended for gala-days and exhibitions; +and the lower contained two rooms that were intended for the great +divisions of education, viz., the Latin and the English scholars. The +former were never very numerous; though the sounds of “nominative, +pennaa--genitive, penny,” were soon heard to issue from the windows +of the room, to the great delight and manifest edification of the +passenger. + +Only one laborer in this temple of Minerva, however, was known to get so +far as to attempt a translation of Virgil. He, indeed, appeared at the +annual exhibition, to the prodigious exultation of all his relatives, +a farmer's family in the vicinity, and repeated the whole of the first +eclogue from memory, observing the intonations of the dialogue with much +judgment and effect. The sounds, as they proceeded from his mouth, of + + “Titty-ree too patty-lee ree-coo-bans sub teg-mi-nee faa-gy + Syl-ves-trem ten-oo-i moo-sam, med-i-taa-ris, aa-ve-ny.” + +were the last that had been heard in that building, as probably they +were the first that had ever been heard, in the same language, there +or anywhere else. By this time the trustees discovered that they had +anticipated the age and the instructor, or principal, was superseded by +a master, who went on to teach the more humble lesson of “the more haste +the worst speed,” in good plain English. + +From this time until the date of our incidents, the academy was a common +country school, and the great room of the building was sometimes used as +a court-room, on extraordinary trials; sometimes for conferences of the +religious and the morally disposed, in the evening; at others for a ball +in the afternoon, given under the auspices of Richard; and on Sundays, +invariably, as a place of public worship. + +When an itinerant priest of the persuasion of the Methodists, Baptists, +Universalists, or of the more numerous sect of the Presbyterians, +was accidentally in the neighborhood, he was ordinarily invited to +officiate, and was commonly rewarded for his services by a collection in +a hat, before the congregation separated. When no such regular minister +offered, a kind of colloquial prayer or two was made by some of the +more gifted members, and a sermon was usually read, from Sterne, by Mr. +Richard Jones. + +The consequence of this desultory kind of priesthood was, as we have +already intimated, a great diversity of opinion on the more abstruse +points of faith. Each sect had its adherents, though neither was +regularly organized and disciplined. Of the religious education of +Marmaduke we have already written, nor was the doubtful character of his +faith completely removed by his marriage. The mother of Elizabeth was +an Episcopalian, as indeed, was the mother of the Judge himself; and the +good taste of Marmaduke revolted at the familiar colloquies which +the leaders of the conferences held with the Deity, in their nightly +meetings. In form, he was certainly an Episcopalian, though not a +sectary of that denomination. On the other hand, Richard was as rigid in +the observance of the canons of his church as he was inflexible in +his opinions. Indeed, he had once or twice essayed to introduce the +Episcopal form of service, on the Sundays that the pulpit was vacant; +but Richard was a good deal addicted to carrying things to an excess, +and then there was some thing so papal in his air that the greater part +of his hearers deserted him on the second Sabbath--on the third his +only auditor was Ben Pump, who had all the obstinate and enlightened +orthodoxy of a high churchman. + +Before the war of the Revolution, the English Church was supported in +the colonies, with much interest, by some of its adherents in the mother +country, and a few of the congregations were very amply endowed. But, +for the season, after the independence of the States was established, +this sect of Christians languished for the want of the highest order of +its priesthood. Pious and suitable divines were at length selected, +and sent to the mother country, to receive that authority which, it is +understood, can only be transmitted directly from one to the other, and +thus obtain, in order to reserve, that unity in their churches which +properly belonged to a people of the same nation. But unexpected +difficulties presented themselves, in the oaths with which the policy of +England had fettered their establishment; and much time was spent before +a conscientious sense of duty would permit the prelates of Britain to +delegate the authority so earnestly sought. Time, patience, and zeal, +however, removed every impediment, and the venerable men who had been +set apart by the American churches at length returned to their expecting +dioceses, endowed with the most elevated functions of their earthly +church. Priests and deacons were ordained, and missionaries provided, +to keep alive the expiring flame of devotion in such members as +were deprived of the ordinary administrations by dwelling in new and +unorganized districts. + +Of this number was Mr. Grant. He had been sent into the county of which +Templeton was the capital, and had been kindly invited by Marmaduke, and +officiously pressed by Richard, to take up his abode in the village. A +small and humble dwelling was prepared for his family, and the divine +had made his appearance in the place but a few days previously to the +time of his introduction to the reader, As his forms were entirely new +to most of the inhabitants, and a clergyman of another denomination had +previously occupied the field, by engaging the academy, the first Sunday +after his arrival was allowed to pass in silence; but now that his +rival had passed on, like a meteor filling the air with the light of his +wisdom, Richard was empowered to give notice that “Public worship, after +the forms of the Protestant Episcopal Church, would be held on the night +before Christmas, in the long room of the academy in Templeton, by the +Rev. Mr. Grant.” + +This annunciation excited great commotion among the different sectaries. +Some wondered as to the nature of the exhibition; others sneered; but +a far greater part, recollecting the essays of Richard in that way, and +mindful of the liberality, or rather laxity, of Marmaduke's notions on +the subject of sectarianism, thought it most prudent to be silent. + +The expected evening was, however, the wonder of the hour; nor was the +curiosity at all diminished when Richard and Benjamin, on the morning of +the eventful day, were seen to issue from the woods in the neighborhood +of the village, each bearing on his shoulders a large bunch of +evergreens. This worthy pair was observed to enter the academy, and +carefully to fasten the door, after which their proceedings remained +a profound secret to the rest of the village; Mr. Jones, before he +commenced this mysterious business, having informed the school-master, +to the great delight of the white-headed flock he governed, that +there could be no school that day. Marmaduke was apprised of all these +preparations by letter, and it was especially arranged that he and +Elizabeth should arrive in season to participate in the solemnities of +the evening. + +After this digression, we shall return to our narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + “Now all admire, in each high-flavored dish + The capabilities of flesh--fowl--fish; + In order due each guest assumes his station, + Throbs high his breast with fond anticipation, + And prelibates the joys of mastication.” + --Heliogabaliad. + +The apartment to which Monsieur Le Quoi handed Elizabeth communicated +with the hall, through the door that led under the urn which was +supposed to contain the ashes of Dido. The room was spacious, and of +very just proportions; but in its ornaments and furniture the same +diversity of taste and imperfection of execution were to be observed +as existed in the hall. Of furniture, there were a dozen green, wooden +arm-chairs, with cushions of moreen, taken from the same piece as the +petticoat of Remarkable. The tables were spread, and their materials and +workmanship could not be seen; but they were heavy and of great size, An +enormous mirror, in a gilt frame, hung against the wall, and a cheerful +fire, of the hard or sugar maple, was burning on the hearth. The latter +was the first object that struck the attention of the Judge, who on +beholding it exclaimed, rather angrily, to Richard: + +“How often have I forbidden the use of the sugar maple in my dwelling! +The sight of that sap, as it exudes with the heat, is painful to me, +Richard, Really, it behooves the owner of woods so extensive as mine, to +be cautious what example he sets his people, who are already felling the +forests as if no end could be found to their treasures, nor any limits +to their extent. If we go on in this way, twenty years hence we shall +want fuel.” + +“Fuel in these hills, Cousin 'Duke!” exclaimed Richard, in +derision--“fuel! why, you might as well predict that the fish will die +for the want of water in the lake, because I intend, when the frost gets +out of the ground, to lead one or two of the spring; through logs, into +the village. But you are always a little wild on such subject; +Marmaduke.” + +“Is it wildness,” returned the Judge earnestly, “to condemn a practice +which devotes these jewels of the forest, these precious gifts of +nature, these mines of corn, forest and wealth, to the common uses of a +fireplace? But I must, and will, the instant the snow is off the earth, +send out a party into the mountains to explore for coal.” + +“Coal!” echoed Richard. “Who the devil do you think will dig for coal +when, in hunting for a bushel he would have to rip up more of trees +than would keep him in fuel for a twelvemonth? Poh! poh! Marmaduke: you +should leave the management of these things to me, who have a natural +turn that way. It was I that ordered this fire, and a noble one it is, +to warm the blood of my pretty Cousin Bess.” + +“The motive, then, must be your apology, Dick,” said the +Judge.--“But, gentlemen, we are waiting.--Elizabeth, my child, take the +head of the table; Richard, I see, means to spare me the trouble of +carving, by sitting opposite to you.” + +“To be sure I do,” cried Richard. “Here is a turkey to carve; and I +flatter myself that I understand carving a turkey, or, for that matter, +a goose, as well as any man alive.--Mr. Grant! Where's Mr. Grant? Will +you please to say grace, sir? Everything in getting cold. Take a thing +from the fire this cold weather, and it will freeze in five minutes. Mr. +Grant, we want you to say grace. 'For what we are about to receive, +the Lord make, us thankful Come, sit down, sit down. Do you eat wing or +breast, Cousin Bess?” + +But Elizabeth had not taken her seat, nor Was she in readiness to +receive either the wing or breast. Her Laughing eyes were glancing at +the arrangements of the table, and the quality and selection of the +food. The eyes of the father soon met the wondering looks of his +daughter, and he said, with a smile: + +“You perceive, my child, how much we are indebted to Remarkable for her +skill in housewifery. She has indeed provided a noble repast--such as +well might stop the cravings of hunger.” + +“Law!” said Remarkable, “I'm glad if the Judge is pleased; but I'm +notional that you'll find the sa'ce over done. I thought, as Elizabeth +was coming home, that a body could do no less than make things +agreeable.” + +“My daughter has now grown to woman's estate, and is from this moment +mistress of my house,” said the Judge; “it is proper that all who live +with me address her as Miss Temple. + +“Do tell!” exclaimed Remarkable, a little aghast; “well, who ever heerd +of a young woman's being called Miss? If the Judge had a wife now, I +shouldn't think of calling her anything but Miss Temple; but--” + +“Having nothing but a daughter you will observe that style to her, if +you please, in future,” interrupted Marmaduke. + +As the Judge looked seriously displeased, and, at such moments, carried +a particularly commanding air with him, the wary housekeeper made no +reply; and, Mr. Grant entering the room, the whole party were seated +at the table. As the arrangements of this repast were much in the +prevailing taste of that period and country, we shall endeavor to give a +short description of the appearance of the banquet. + +The table-linen was of the most beautiful damask, and the plates and +dishes of real china, an article of great luxury at this early period +of American commerce. The knives and forks were of exquisitely polished +steel, and were set in unclouded ivory. So much, being furnished by +the wealth of Marmaduke, was not only comfortable but even elegant. The +contents of the several dishes, and their positions, however, were the +result of the sole judgment of Remarkable. Before Elizabeth was placed +an enormous roasted turkey, and before Richard one boiled, in the centre +of the table stood a pair of heavy silver casters, surrounded by four +dishes: one a fricassee that consisted of gray squirrels; another +of fish fried; a third of fish boiled; the last was a venison steak. +Between these dishes and the turkeys stood, on the one side, a +prodigious chine of roasted bear's meat, and on the other a boiled leg +of delicious mutton. Interspersed among this load of meats was every +species of vegetables that the season and country afforded. The four +corners were garnished with plates of cake. On one was piled certain +curiously twisted and complicated figures, called “nut-cakes,” On +another were heaps of a black-looking substance, which, receiving +its hue from molasses, was properly termed “sweet-cake;” a wonderful +favorite in the coterie of Remarkable, A third was filled, to use the +language of the housekeeper, with “cards of gingerbread;” and the last +held a “plum-cake,” so called from the number of large raisins that were +showing their black heads in a substance of suspiciously similar color. +At each corner of the table stood saucers, filled with a thick fluid of +some what equivocal color and consistence, variegated with small dark +lumps of a substance that resembled nothing but itself, which Remarkable +termed her “sweetmeats.” At the side of each plate, which was placed +bottom upward, with its knife and fork most accurately crossed above +it, stood another, of smaller size, containing a motley-looking pie, +composed of triangular slices of apple, mince, pump kin, cranberry, and +custard so arranged as to form an entire whole, Decanters of brandy, +rum, gin, and wine, with sundry pitchers of cider, beer, and one hissing +vessel of “flip,” were put wherever an opening would admit of their +introduction. Notwithstanding the size of the tables, there was scarcely +a spot where the rich damask could be seen, so crowded were the dishes, +with their associated bottles, plates, and saucers. The object seemed to +be profusion, and it was obtained entirely at the expense of order and +elegance. + +All the guests, as well as the Judge himself, seemed perfectly familiar +with this description of fare, for each one commenced eating, with +an appetite that promised to do great honor to Remarkable's taste and +skill. What rendered this attention to the repast a little surprising, +was the fact that both the German and Richard had been summoned from +another table to meet the Judge; but Major Hartmann both ate and drank +without any rule, when on his excursions; and Mr. Jones invariably made +it a point to participate in the business in hand, let it be what it +would. The host seemed to think some apology necessary for the warmth +he had betrayed on the subject of the firewood, and when the party +were comfortably seated, and engaged with their knives and forks, he +observed: + +“The wastefulness of the settlers with the noble trees of this country +is shocking, Monsieur Le Quoi, as doubt less you have noticed. I have +seen a man fell a pine, when he has been in want of fencing stuff, and +roll his first cuts into the gap, where he left it to rot, though its +top would have made rails enough to answer his purpose, and its butt +would have sold in the Philadelphia market for twenty dollars.” + +“And how the devil--I beg your pardon, Mr. Grant,” interrupted Richard: +“but how is the poor devil to get his logs to the Philadelphia market, +pray? put them in his pocket, ha! as you would a handful of chestnuts, +or a bunch of chicker-berries? I should like to see you walking up High +Street, with a pine log in each pocket!--Poh! poh! Cousin 'Duke, there +are trees enough for us all, and some to spare. Why, I can hardly tell +which way the wind blows, when I'm out in the clearings, they are so +thick and so tall; I couldn't at all, if it wasn't for the clouds, and I +happen to know all the points of the compass, as it were, by heart.” + +“Ay! ay! squire,” cried Benjamin, who had now entered and taken his +place behind the Judge's chair, a little aside withal, in order to +be ready for any observation like the present; “look aloft, sir, look +aloft. The old seamen say, 'that the devil wouldn't make a sailor, +unless he looked aloft' As for the compass, why, there is no such thing +as steering without one. I'm sure I never lose sight of the main-top, as +I call the squire's lookout on the roof, but I set my compass, d'ye see, +and take the bearings and distance of things, in order to work out +my course, if so be that it should cloud up, or the tops of the trees +should shut out the light of heaven. The steeple of St. Paul's, now that +we have got it on end, is a great help to the navigation of the woods, +for, by the Lord Harry! as was--” + +“It is well, Benjamin,” interrupted Marmaduke, observing that his +daughter manifested displeasure at the major-domo's familiarity; “but +you forget there is a lady in company, and the women love to do most of +the talking themselves.” + +“The Judge says the true word,” cried Benjamin, with one of his +discordant laughs. “Now here is Mistress Remarkable Pettibones; just +take the stopper off her tongue, and you'll hear a gabbling worse +like than if you should happen to fall to leeward in crossing a French +privateer, or some such thing, mayhap, as a dozen monkeys stowed in one +bag.” + +It were impossible to say how perfect an illustration of the truth of +Benjamin's assertion the housekeeper would have furnished, if she had +dared; but the Judge looked sternly at her, and unwilling to incur his +resentment, yet unable to contain her anger, she threw herself out of +the room with a toss of the body that nearly separated her frail form in +the centre. + +“Richard,” said Marmaduke, observing that his displeasure had produced +the desired effect, “can you inform me of anything concerning the youth +whom I so unfortunately wounded? I found him on the mountain hunting in +company with the Leather-Stocking, as if they were of the same family; +but there is a manifest difference in their manners. The youth delivers +himself in chosen language, such as is seldom heard in these hills, +and such as occasions great surprise to me, how one so meanly clad, +and following so lowly a pursuit, could attain. Mohegan also knew him. +Doubtless he is a tenant of Natty's hut. Did you remark the language of +the lad. Monsieur Le Quoi?” + +“Certainement, Monsieur Temple,” returned the French man, “he deed +convairse in de excellent Anglaise.” + +“The boy is no miracle,” exclaimed Richard; “I've known children that +were sent to school early, talk much better before they were twelve +years old. There was Zared Coe, old Nehemiah's son, who first settled +on the beaver-dam meadow, he could write almost as good hand as myself, +when he was fourteen; though it's true, I helped to teach him a little +in the evenings. But this shooting gentleman ought to be put in the +stocks, if he ever takes a rein in his hand again. He is the most +awkward fellow about a horse I ever met with. I dare say he never drove +anything but oxen in his life.” + +“There, I think, Dickon, you do the lad injustice,” said the Judge; “he +uses much discretion in critical moments. Dost thou not think so, Bess?” + +There was nothing in this question particularly to excite blushes, but +Elizabeth started from the revery into which she had fallen, and colored +to her forehead as she answered: + +“To me, dear sir, he appeared extremely skilful, and prompt, and +courageous; but perhaps Cousin Richard will say I am as ignorant as the +gentleman himself.” + +“Gentleman!” echoed Richard; “do you call such chaps gentlemen, at +school, Elizabeth?” + +“Every man is a gentleman that knows how to treat a woman with respect +and consideration,” returned the young lady promptly, and a little +smartly. + +“So much for hesitating to appear before the heiress in his +shirt-sleeves,” cried Richard, winking at Monsieur Le Quoi, who returned +the wink with one eye, while he rolled the other, with an expression of +sympathy, toward the young lady. “Well, well, to me he seemed anything +but a gentleman. I must say, however, for the lad, that he draws a +good trigger, and has a true aim. He's good at shooting a buck, ha! +Marmaduke?” + +“Richart,” said Major Hartmann, turning his grave countenance toward +the gentleman he addressed, with much earnestness, “ter poy is goot. He +savet your life, and my life, and ter life of i'ominie Grant, and ter +life of ter Frenchman; and, Richard, he shall never vant a pet to sleep +in vile olt Fritz Hartmann has a shingle to cover his het mit.” + +“Well, well, as you please, old gentleman,” returned Mr. Jones, +endeavoring to look indifferent; “put him into your own stone house, if +you will, Major. I dare say the lad never slept in anything better than +a bark shanty in his life, unless it was some such hut as the cabin of +Leather-Stocking. I prophesy you will soon spoil him; any one could see +how proud he grew, in a short time, just because he stood by my horses' +heads while I turned them into the highway.” + +“No, no, my old friend,” cried Marmaduke, “it shall be my task to +provide in some manner for the youth; I owe him a debt of my own, +besides the service he has done me through my friends. And yet I +anticipate some little trouble in inducing him to accept of my services. +He showed a marked dislike, I thought, Bess, to my offer of a residence +within these walls for life.” + +“Really, dear sir,” said Elizabeth, projecting her beautiful under-lip, +“I have not studied the gentleman so closely as to read his feelings in +his countenance. I thought he might very naturally feel pain from his +wound, and therefore pitied him; but”--and as she spoke she glanced her +eye, with suppressed curiosity, toward the major-domo--“I dare say, +sir, that Benjamin can tell you something about him, he cannot have been +in the village, and Benjamin not have seen him often.” + +“Ay! I have seen the boy before,” said Benjamin, who wanted little +encouragement to speak; “he has been backing and filling in the wake of +Natty Bumppo, through the mountains, after deer, like a Dutch +long-boat in tow of an Albany sloop. He carries a good rifle, too, 'the +Leather-Stocking said, in my hearing, before Betty Hollister's bar-room +fire, no later than the Tuesday night, that the younger was certain +death to the wild beasts. If so be he can kill the wild-cat that has +been heard moaning on the lake-side since the hard frosts and deep snows +have driven the deer to herd, he will be doing the thing that is good. +Your wild-cat is a bad shipmate, and should be made to cruise out of the +track of Christian men.” + +“Lives he in the hut of Bumppo?” asked Marmaduke, with some interest. + +“Cheek by jowl; the Wednesday will be three weeks since he first hove +in sight, in company with Leather-Stocking. They had captured a wolf +between them, and had brought in his scalp for the bounty. That Mister +Bump-ho has a handy turn with him in taking off a scalp; and there's +them, in this here village, who say he l'arnt the trade by working +on Christian men. If so be that there is truth in the saying, and I +commanded along shore here, as your honor does, why, d'ye see, I'd +bring him to the gangway for it, yet. There's a very pretty post rigged +alongside of the stocks; and for the matter of a cat, I can fit one with +my own hands; ay! and use it too, for the want of a better.” + +“You are not to credit the idle tales you hear of Natty; he has a kind +of natural right to gain a livelihood in these mountains; and if the +idlers in the village take it into their heads to annoy him, as they +sometimes do reputed rogues, they shall find him protected by the strong +arm of the law.” + +“Ter rifle is petter as ter law,” said the Major sententiously. + +“That for his rifle!” exclaimed Richard, snapping his fingers; “Ben is +right, and I--” He was stopped by the sound of a common ship-bell, that +had been elevated to the belfry of the academy, which now announced, +by its incessant ringing, that the hour for the appointed service had +arrived. “'For this and every other instance of his goodness--' I beg +pardon, Mr. Grant, will you please to return thanks, sir? It is time we +should be moving, as we are the only Episcopalians in the neighborhood; +that is, I and Benjamin, and Elizabeth; for I count half--breeds, like +Marmaduke as bad as heretics.” + +The divine arose and performed the office meekly and fervently, and the +whole party instantly prepared themselves for the church--or rather +academy. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + “And calling sinful man to pray, + Loud, long, and deep the bell had tolled.” + --Scotts Burgher + +While Richard and Monsieur Le Quoi, attended by Benjamin, proceeded to +the academy by a foot-path through the snow, the judge, his daughter, +the divine, and the Major took a more circuitous route to the same place +by the streets of the village. + +The moon had risen, and its orb was shedding a flood of light over +the dark outline of pines which crowned the eastern mountain. In many +climates the sky would have been thought clear and lucid for a noontide. +The stars twinkled in the heavens, like the last glimmerings of distant +fire, so much were they obscured by the overwhelming radiance of the +atmosphere; the rays from the moon striking upon the smooth, white +surfaces of the lake and fields, reflecting upward a light that was +brightened by the spotless color of the immense bodies of snow which +covered the earth. + +Elizabeth employed herself with reading the signs, one of which appeared +over almost every door; while the sleigh moved steadily, and at an easy +gait, along the principal street. Not only new occupations, but names +that were strangers to her ears, met her gaze at every step they +proceeded. The very houses seemed changed. This had been altered by an +addition; that had been painted; another had been erected on the site +of an old acquaintance, which had been banished from the earth almost as +soon as it made its appearance on it. All were, however, pouring forth +their inmates, who uniformly held their way toward the point where the +expected exhibition of the conjoint taste of Richard and Benjamin was to +be made. + +After viewing the buildings, which really appeared to some advantage +under the bright but mellow light of the moon, our heroine turned her +eyes to a scrutiny of the different figures they passed, in search of +any form that she knew. But all seemed alike, as muffled in cloaks, +hoods, coats, or tippets, they glided along the narrow passages in the +snow which led under the houses, half hid by the bank that had been +thrown up in excavating the deep path in which they trod. Once or twice +she thought there was a stature or a gait that she recollected; but the +person who owned it instantly disappeared behind one of those enormous +piles of wood that lay before most of the doors, It was only as they +turned from the main street into another that intersected it at right +angles, and which led directly to the place of meeting, that she +recognized a face and building that she knew. + +The house stood at one of the principal corners in the village; and by +its well-trodden doorway, as well as the sign that was swinging with +a kind of doleful sound in the blasts that occasionally swept down the +lake, was clearly one of the most frequented inns in the place. The +building was only of one story; but the dormer-windows in the roof, the +paint, the window-shutters, and the cheerful fire that shone through the +open door, gave it an air of comfort that was not possessed by many of +its neighbors. The sign was suspended from a common ale-house post, and +represented the figure of a horseman, armed with sabre and pistols, +and surmounted by a bear-skin cap, with a fiery animal that he bestrode +“rampant.” All these particulars were easily to be seen by the aid of +the moon, together with a row of somewhat illegible writing in black +paint, but in which Elizabeth, to whom the whole was familiar, read with +facility, “The Bold Dragoon.” + +A man and a woman were issuing from the door of this habitation as the +sleigh was passing, The former moved with a stiff, military step, that +was a good deal heightened by a limp in one leg; but the woman advanced +with a measure and an air that seemed not particularly regardful of what +she might encounter. The light of the moon fell directly upon her full, +broad, and red visage, exhibiting her masculine countenance, under the +mockery of a ruffled cap that was intended to soften the lineamints of +features that were by no means squeamish. A small bonnet of black silk, +and of a slightly formal cut, was placed on the back of her head, but so +as not to shade her visage in the least. The face, as it encountered +the rays of the moon from the east, seemed not unlike sun rising in the +west. She advanced with masculine strides to intercept the sleigh; and +the Judge, directing the namesake of the Grecian king, who held the +lines, to check his horse, the parties were soon near to each other. + +“Good luck to ye, and a welcome home, Jooge,” cried the female, with a +strong Irish accent; “and I'm sure it's to me that ye're always welcome. +Sure! and there's Miss Lizzy, and a fine young woman she is grown. What +a heart-ache would she be giving the young men now, if there was sich +a thing as a rigiment in the town! Och! but it's idle to talk of sich +vanities, while the bell is calling us to mateing jist as we shall be +called away unexpictedly some day, when we are the laist calkilating. +Good-even, Major; will I make the bowl of gin toddy the night, or it's +likely ye'll stay at the big house the Christmas eve, and the very night +of yer getting there?” + +“I am glad to see you, Mrs. Hollister,” returned Elizabeth. “I have +been trying to find a face that I knew since we left the door of the +mansion-house; but none have I seen except your own. Your house, too, is +unaltered, while all the others are so changed that, but for the places +where they stand, they would be utter strangers. I observe you also keep +the dear sign that I saw Cousin Richard paint; and even the name at the +bottom, about which, you may remember, you had the disagreement.” + +“It is the bould dragoon, ye mane? And what name would he have, who +niver was known by any other, as my husband here, the captain, can +testify? He was a pleasure to wait upon, and was ever the foremost in +need. Och! but he had a sudden end! but it's to be hoped that he was +justified by the cause, And it's not Parson Grant there who'll gainsay +that same. Yes, yes; the squire would paint, and so I thought that we +might have his face up there, who had so often shared good and evil wid +us. The eyes is no so large nor so fiery as the captain's Own; but the +whiskers and the cap is as two paes. Well, well, I'll not keep ye in the +cowld, talking, but will drop in the morrow after sarvice, and ask ye +how ye do. It's our bounden duty to make the most of this present, and +to go to the house which is open to all; so God bless ye, and keep ye +from evil! Will I make the gin-twist the night, or no, Major?” + +To this question the German replied, very sententiously, in the +affirmative; and, after a few words had passed between the husband of +the fiery-faced hostess and the Judge, the sleigh moved on. It soon +reached the door of the academy, where the party alighted and entered +the building. + +In the mean time, Mr. Jones and his two companions, having a much +shorter distance to journey, had arrived before the appointed place some +minutes sooner than the party in the sleigh. Instead of hastening into +the room in order to enjoy the astonishment of the settlers, Richard +placed a hand in either pocket of his surcoat, and affected to walk +about, in front of the academy, like one to whom the ceremonies were +familiar. + +The villagers proceeded uniformly into the building, with a decorum and +gravity that nothing could move, on such occasions; but with a haste +that was probably a little heightened by curiosity. Those who came in +from the adjacent country spent some little time in placing certain blue +and white blankets over their horses before they proceeded to indulge +their desire to view the interior of the house. Most of these men +Richard approached, and inquired after the health and condition of their +families. The readiness with which he mentioned the names of even +the children, showed how very familiarly acquainted he was with their +circumstances; and the nature of the answers he received proved that he +was a general favorite. + +At length one of the pedestrians from the village stopped also, and +fixed an earnest gaze at a new brick edifice that was throwing a long +shadow across the fields of snow, as it rose, with a beautiful gradation +of light and shade, under the rays of a full moon. In front of the +academy was a vacant piece of ground, that was intended for a public +square. On the side opposite to Mr. Jones, the new and as yet unfinished +church of St. Paul's was erected, This edifice had been reared during +the preceding summer, by the aid of what was called a subscription; +though all, or nearly all, of the money came from the pockets of the +landlord. It had been built under a strong conviction of the necessity +of a more seemly place of worship than “the long room of the academy,” + and under an implied agreement that, after its completion, the question +should be fairly put to the people, that they might decide to what +denomination it should belong. Of course, this expectation kept alive +a strong excitement in some few of the sectaries who were interested +in its decision; though but little was said openly on the subject. Had +Judge Temple espoused the cause of any particular sect, the question +would have been immediately put at rest, for his influence was too +powerful to be opposed; but he declined interference in the matter, +positively refusing to lend even the weight of his name on the side of +Richard, who had secretly given an assurance to his diocesan that both +the building and the congregation would cheerfully come within the pale +of the Protestant Episcopal Church. But, when the neutrality of the +Judge was clearly ascertained, Mr. Jones discovered that he had to +contend with a stiff necked people. His first measure was to go among +them and commence a course of reasoning, in order to bring them round +to his own way of thinking. They all heard him patiently, and not a man +uttered a word in reply in the way of argument, and Richard thought, +by the time that he had gone through the settlement, the point was +conclusively decided in his favor. Willing to strike while the iron was +hot, he called a meeting, through the newspaper, with a view to decide +the question by a vote at once. Not a soul attended; and one of the most +anxious afternoons that he had ever known was spent by Richard in a +vain discussion with Mrs. Hollister, who strongly contended that the +Methodist (her own) church was the best entitled to and most deserving +of, the possession of the new tabernacle. Richard now perceived that he +had been too sanguine, and had fallen into the error of all those +who ignorantly deal with that wary and sagacious people. He assumed a +disguise himself--that is, as well as he knew how, and proceeded step by +step to advance his purpose. + +The task of erecting the building had been unanimously transferred +to Mr. Jones and Hiram Doolittle. Together they had built the +mansion-house, the academy, and the jail, and they alone knew how to +plan and rear such a structure as was now required. Early in the day, +these architects had made an equitable division of their duties. To the +former was assigned the duty of making all the plans, and to the latter +the labor of superintending the execution. + +Availing himself of this advantage, Richard silently determined that the +windows should have the Roman arch; the first positive step in effecting +his wishes. As the building was made of bricks, he was enabled to +conceal his design until the moment arrived for placing the frames; +then, indeed, it became necessary to act. He communicated his wishes +to Hiram with great caution; and, without in the least adverting to the +spiritual part of his project, he pressed the point a little warmly +on the score of architectural beauty. Hiram heard him patiently, and +without contradiction, but still Richard was unable to discover the +views of his coadjutor on this interesting subject. As the right to plan +was duly delegated to Mr. Jones, no direct objection was made in words. +but numberless unexpected difficulties arose in the execution. At first +there was a scarcity in the right kind of material necessary to form the +frames; but this objection was instantly silenced by Richard running his +pencil through two feet of their length at one stroke. Then the expense +was mentioned; but Richard reminded Hiram that his cousin paid, and that +he was treasurer. This last intimation had great weight, and after a +silent and protracted, but fruitless opposition, the work was suffered +to proceed on the original plan. + +The next difficulty occurred in the steeple, which Richard had modelled +after one of the smaller of those spires that adorn the great London +cathedral. The imitation was somewhat lame, it was true, the proportions +being but in differently observed; but, after much difficulty, Mr. +Jones had the satisfaction of seeing an object reared that bore in its +outlines, a striking resemblance to a vinegar-cruet. There was less +opposition to this model than to the windows; for the settlers were fond +of novelty, and their steeple was without a precedent. + +Here the labor ceased for the season, and the difficult question of the +interior remained for further deliberation. Richard well knew that, when +he came to propose a reading-desk and a chancel, he must unmask; for +these were arrangements known to no church in the country but his own. +Presuming, however, on the advantages he had already obtained, he boldly +styled the building St. Paul's, and Hiram prudently acquiesced in this +appellation, making, however, the slight addition of calling it “New +St. Paul's,” feeling less aversion to a name taken from the English +cathedral than from the saint. + +The pedestrian whom we have already mentioned, as pausing to contemplate +this edifice, was no other than the gentleman so frequently named as +Mr. or Squire Doolittle. He was of a tall, gaunt formation, with rather +sharp features, and a face that expressed formal propriety mingled with +low cunning. Richard approached him, followed by Monsieur Le Quoi and +the major-domo. + +“Good-evening, squire,” said Richard, bobbing his head, but without +moving his hands from his pockets. + +“Good-evening, squire,” echoed Hiram, turning his body in order to turn +his head also. + +“A cold night, Mr. Doolittle, a cold night, sir.” + +“Coolish; a tedious spell on't.” + +“What, looking at our church, ha! It looks well, by moonlight; how the +tin of the cupola glistens! I warrant you the dome of the other St. +Paul's never shines so in the smoke of London.” + +“It is a pretty meeting-house to look on,” returned Hiram, “and I +believe that Monshure Ler Quow and Mr. Penguilliam will allow it.” + +“Sairtainlee!” exclaimed the complaisant Frenchman, “it ees ver fine.” + +“I thought the monshure would say so. The last molasses that we had was +excellent good. It isn't likely that you have any more of it on hand?” + +“Ah! oui; ees, sair,” returned Monsieur Le Quoi, with a slight shrug of +his shoulder, and a trifling grimace, “dere is more. I feel ver happi +dat you love eet. I hope dat Madame Doleet' is in good 'ealth.” + +“Why, so as to be stirring,” said Hiram. “The squire hasn't finished the +plans for the inside of the meeting house yet?” + +“No--no--no,” returned Richard, speaking quickly, but making a +significant pause between each negative--.. “it requires reflection. +There is a great deal of room to fill up, and I am afraid we shall not +know how to dispose of it to advantage. There will be a large vacant +spot around the pulpit, which I do not mean to place against the wall, +like a sentry-box stuck up on the side of a fort.” + +“It is ruleable to put the deacons' box under the pulpit,” said Hiram; +and then, as if he had ventured too much, he added, “but there's +different fashions in different Countries.” + +“That there is,” cried Benjamin; “now, in running down the coast of +Spain and Portingall, you may see a nunnery stuck out on every headland, +with more steeples and outriggers such as dog-vanes and weathercocks, +than you'll find aboard of a three-masted schooner. If so be that a +well-built church is wanting, old England, after all, is the country +to go to after your models and fashion pieces. As to Paul's, thof I've +never seen it, being that it's a long way up town from Radcliffe Highway +and the docks, yet everybody knows that it's the grandest place in the +world Now, I've no opinion but this here church over there is as like +one end of it as a grampus is to a whale; and that's only a small +difference in bulk. Mounsheer Ler Quaw, here, has been in foreign parts; +and thof that is not the same as having been at home, yet he must have +seen churches in France too, and can form a small idee of what a church +should be; now I ask the mounsheer to his face if it is not a clever +little thing, taking it by and large.” + +“It ees ver apropos of saircumstance,” said the Frenchman--“ver +judgment--but it is in the catholique country dat dey build de--vat you +call--ah a ah-ha--la grande cathédrale--de big church. St. Paul, Londre, +is ver fine; ver belle; ver grand--vat you call beeg; but, Monsieur Ben, +pardonnez-moi, it is no vort so much as Notre Dame.” + +“Ha! mounsheer, what is that you say?” cried Benjamin; “St. Paul's +church is not worth so much as a damn! Mayhap you may be thinking too +that the Royal Billy isn't so good a ship as the Billy de Paris; but she +would have licked two of her any day, and in all weathers.” + +As Benjamin had assumed a very threatening kind of attitude, flourishing +an arm with a bunch at the end of it that was half as big as Monsieur Le +Quoi's head, Richard thought it time to interpose his authority. + +“Hush, Benjamin, hush,” he said; “you both misunderstand Monsieur Le +Quoi and forget yourself. But here comes Mr. Grant, and the service will +commence. Let us go in.” + +The Frenchman, who received Benjamin's reply with a well-bred good-humor +that would not admit of any feeling but pity for the other's ignorance, +bowed in acquiescence and followed his companion. + +Hiram and the major-domo brought up the rear, the latter grumbling as he +entered the building: + +“If so be that the king of France had so much as a house to live in that +would lay alongside of Paul's, one might put up with their jaw. It's +more than flesh and blood can bear to hear a Frenchman run down an +English church in this manner. Why, Squire Doolittle, I've been at the +whipping of two of them in one day--clean built, snug frigates +with standing royals and them new-fashioned cannonades on their +quarters--such as, if they had only Englishmen aboard of them, would +have fout the devil.” + +With this ominous word in his mouth Benjamin entered the church. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + “And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray.” + --Goldsmith. + +Notwithstanding the united labors of Richard and Benjamin, the “long +room” was but an extremely inartificial temple. Benches; made in the +coarsest manner, and entirely with a view to usefulness, were arranged +in rows for the reception of the Congregation; while a rough, unpainted +box was placed against the wall, in the centre of the length of the +apartment, as an apology for a pulpit. Something like a reading-desk +was in front of this rostrum; and a small mahogany table from the +mansion-house, covered with a spotless damask cloth, stood a little on +one side, by the way of an altar. Branches of pines and hemlocks were +stuck in each of the fissures that offered in the unseasoned and +hastily completed woodwork of both the building and its furniture; while +festoons and hieroglyphics met the eye in vast profusion along the brown +sides of the scratch-coated walls. As the room was only lighted by some +ten or fifteen miserable candles, and the windows were without shutters, +it would have been but a dreary, cheerless place for the solemnities of +a Christmas eve, had not the large fire that was crackling at each end +of the apartment given an air of cheerfulness to the scene, by throwing +an occasional glare of light through the vistas of bushes and faces. + +The two sexes were separated by an area in the centre of the room +immediately before the pulpit; amid a few benches lined this space, +that were occupied by the principal personages of the village and its +vicinity. This distinction was rather a gratuitous concession made by +the poorer and less polished part of the population than a right claimed +by the favored few. One bench was occupied by the party of Judge Temple, +including his daughter, and, with the exception of Dr. Todd, no one else +appeared willing to incur the imputation of pride, by taking a seat in +what was, literally, the high place of the tabernacle. + +Richard filled the chair that was placed behind another table, in the +capacity of clerk; while Benjamin, after heaping sundry logs on the +fire, posted himself nigh by, in reserve for any movement that might +require co-operation. + +It would greatly exceed our limits to attempt a description of the +congregation, for the dresses were as various as the individuals. Some +one article of more than usual finery, and perhaps the relic of other +days, was to be seen about most of the females, in connection with +the coarse attire of the woods. This wore a faded silk, that had +gone through at least three generations, over coarse, woollen black +stockings; that, a shawl, whose dyes were as numerous as those of the +rainbow, over an awkwardly fitting gown of rough brown “woman's wear.” + In short, each one exhibited some favorite article, and all appeared +in their best, both men and women; while the ground-works in dress, +in either sex, were the coarse fabrics manufactured within their own +dwellings. One man appeared in the dress of a volunteer company of +artillery, of which he had been a member in the “down countries,” + precisely for no other reason than because it was the best suit he had. +Several, particularly of the younger men, displayed pantaloons of +blue, edged with red cloth down the seams part of the equipments of the +“Templeton Light Infantry,” from a little vanity to be seen in “boughten +clothes.” There was also one man in a “rifle frock,” with its fringes +and folds of spotless white, striking a chill to the heart with the idea +of its coolness, although the thick coat of brown “home-made” that was +concealed beneath preserved a proper degree of warmth. + +There was a marked uniformity of expression in Countenance, especially +in that half of the congregation who did not enjoy the advantages of +the polish of the village. A sallow skin, that indicated nothing +but exposure, was common to all, as was an air of great decency and +attention, mingled, generally, with an expression of shrewdness, and in +the present instance of active curiosity. Now and then a face and dress +were to be seen among the congregation, that differed entirely from this +description. If pock-marked and florid, with gartered legs, and a coat +that snugly fitted the person of the wearer, it was surely an English +emigrant, who had bent his steps to this retired quarter of the globe. +If hard-featured and without color, with high cheek-bones, it was a +native of Scotland, in similar circumstances. + +The short, black-eyed man, with a cast of the swarthy Spaniard in his +face, who rose repeatedly to make room for the belles of the village as +they entered, was a son of Erin, who had lately left off his pack, and +become a stationary trader in Templeton. In short, half the nations in +the north of Europe had their representatives in this assembly, though +all had closely assimilated themselves to the Americans in dress and +appearance, except the English man. He, indeed, not only adhered to his +native customs in attire and living, but usually drove his plough among +the stumps in the same manner as he had before done on the plains of +Norfolk, until dear-bought experience taught him the useful lesson that +a sagacious people knew what was suited to their circumstances better +than a casual observer, or a sojourner who was, perhaps, too much +prejudiced to compare and, peradventure, too conceited to learn. + +Elizabeth soon discovered that she divided the attention of the +congregation with Mr. Grant. Timidity, therefore, confined her +observation of the appearances which we have described to stoles +glances; but, as the stamping of feet was now becoming less frequent, +and even the coughing, and other little preliminaries of a congregation +settling themselves down into reverential attention, were ceasing, she +felt emboldened to look around her. Gradually all noises diminished, +until the suppressed cough denoted that it was necessary to avoid +singularity, and the most profound stillness pervaded the apartment. +The snapping of the fires, as they threw a powerful heat into the room, +was alone heard, and each face and every eye were turned on the divine. + +At this moment, a heavy stamping of feet was heard in the passage +below, as if a new-comer was releasing his limbs from the snow that was +necessarily clinging to the legs of a pedestrian. It was succeeded by +no audible tread; but directly Mohegan, followed by the Leather-Stocking +and the young hunter, made his appearance. + +Their footsteps would not have been heard, as they trod the apartment in +their moccasins, but for the silence which prevailed. + +The Indian moved with great gravity across the floor, and, observing a +vacant seat next to the Judge, he took it, in a manner that manifested +his sense of his own dignity. Here, drawing his blanket closely around +him so as partly to conceal his countenance, he remained during the +service immovable, but deeply attentive. Natty passed the place that was +so freely taken by his red companion, and seated himself on one end of +a log that was lying near the fire, where he continued, with his rifle +standing between his legs, absorbed in reflections seemingly of no very +pleasing nature. The youth found a seat among the congregation, and +another silence prevailed. + +Mr. Grant now arose and commenced his service with the sublime +declaration of the Hebrew prophet: “The Lord is in His holy temple; let +all the earth keep silence before Him.” The example of Mr. Jones was +unnecessary to teach the congregation to rise; the solemnity of the +divine effected this as by magic. After a short pause, Mr. Grant +proceeded with the solemn and winning exhortation of his service. +Nothing was heard but the deep though affectionate tones of the reader, +as he went slowly through this exordium; until, something unfortunately +striking the mind of Richard as incomplete, he left his place and walked +on tiptoe from the room. + +When the clergyman bent his knees in prayer and confession, the +congregation so far imitated his example as to resume their seats; +whence no succeeding effort of the divine, during the evening, was able +to remove them in a body. Some rose at times; but by far the larger +part continued unbending; observant, it is true, but it was the kind +of observation that regarded the ceremony as a spectacle rather than a +worship in which they were to participate. Thus deserted by his clerk +Mr. Grant continued to read; but no response was audible. The short +and solemn pause that succeeded each petition was made; still no voice +repeated the eloquent language of the prayer. + +The lips of Elizabeth moved, but they moved in vain and accustomed +as she was to the service of the churches of the metropolis, she was +beginning to feel the awkwardness of the circumstance most painfully +when a soft, low female voice repeated after the priest, “We have left +undone those things which we ought to have done.” Startled at finding +one of her own sex in that place who could rise superior to natural +timidity, Miss Temple turned her eyes in the direction of the penitent. +She observed a young female on her knees, but a short distance from her, +with her meek face humbly bent over her book. + +The appearance of this stranger, for such she was, entirely, to +Elizabeth, was light and fragile. Her dress was neat and becoming; +and her countenance, though pale and slightly agitated, excited deep +interest by its sweet and melancholy expression. A second and third +response was made by this juvenile assistant, when the manly sounds of +a male voice proceeded from the opposite part of the room, Miss Temple +knew the tones of the young hunter instantly, and struggling to overcome +her own diffidence she added her low voice to the number. + +All this time Benjamin stood thumbing the leaves of a prayer-book with +great industry; but some unexpected difficulties prevented his finding +the place. Before the divine reached the close of the confession, +however, Richard reappeared at the door, and, as he moved lightly across +the room, he took up the response, in a voice that betrayed no other +concern than that of not being heard. In his hand he carried a small +open box, with the figures “8 by 10” written in black paint on one of +its sides; which, having placed in the pulpit, apparently as a footstool +for the divine, he returned to his station in time to say, sonorously, +“Amen.” The eyes of the congregation, very naturally, were turned to the +windows, as Mr. Jones entered with his singular load; and then, as if +accustomed to his “general agency,” were again bent on the priest, in +close and curious attention. + +The long experience of Mr. Grant admirably qualified him to perform his +present duty. He well understood the character of his listeners, who +were mostly a primitive people in their habits; and who, being a good +deal addicted to subtleties and nice distinctions in their religious +opinions, viewed the introduction of any such temporal assistance as +form into their spiritual worship not only with jealousy, but frequently +with disgust. He had acquired much of his knowledge from studying the +great book of human nature as it lay open in the world; and, knowing +how dangerous it was to contend with ignorance, uniformly endeavored +to avoid dictating where his better reason taught him it was the most +prudent to attempt to lead, His orthodoxy had no dependence on his +cassock; he could pray with fervor and with faith, if circumstances +required it, without the assistance of his clerk; and he had even been +known to preach a most evangelical sermon, in the winning manner of +native eloquence, without the aid of a cambric handkerchief. + +In the present instance he yielded, in many places, to the prejudices +of his congregation; and when he had ended, there was not one of his new +hearers who did not think the ceremonies less papal and offensive, and +more conformant to his or her own notions of devout worship, than they +had been led to expect from a service of forms, Richard found in the +divine, during the evening, a most powerful co-operator in his religious +schemes. In preaching, Mr. Grant endeavored to steer a middle course +between the mystical doctrines of those sublimated creeds which daily +involve their professors in the most absurd contradictions, and those +fluent roles of moral government which would reduce the Saviour to a +level with the teacher of a school of ethics. Doctrine it was necessary +to preach, for nothing less would have satisfied the disputatious people +who were his listeners, and who would have interpreted silence on his +part into a tacit acknowledgment of the superficial nature of his +creed. We have already said that, among the endless variety of religious +instructors, the settlers were accustomed to hear every denomination +urge its own distinctive precepts, and to have found one indifferent to +this Interesting subject would have been destructive to his influence. +But Mr. Grant so happily blended the universally received opinions of +the Christian faith with the dogmas of his own church that, although +none were entirely exempt from the influence of his reasons, very few +took any alarm at the innovation. + +“When we consider the great diversity of the human character, influenced +as it is by education, by opportunity, and by the physical and moral +conditions of the creature, my dear hearers,” he earnestly concluded “it +can excite no surprise that creeds so very different in their +tendencies should grow out of a religion revealed, it is true, but whose +revelations are obscured by the lapse of ages, and whose doctrines were, +after the fashion of the countries in which they were first promulgated, +frequently delivered in parables, and in a language abounding in +metaphors and loaded with figures. On points where the learned have, +in purity of heart, been compelled to differ, the unlettered will +necessarily be at variance. But, happily for us, my brethren, the +fountain of divine love flows from a source too pure to admit of +pollution in its course; it extends, to those who drink of its vivifying +waters, the peace of the righteous, and life everlasting; it endures +through all time, and it pervades creation. If there be mystery in its +workings, it is the mystery of a Divinity. With a clear knowledge of the +nature, the might, and the majesty of God, there might be conviction, +but there could be no faith. If we are required to believe in doctrines +that seem not in conformity with the deductions of human wisdom, let us +never forget that such is the mandate of a wisdom that is infinite. It +is sufficient for us that enough is developed to point our path aright, +and to direct our wandering steps to that portal which shall open on the +light of an eternal day. Then, indeed, it may be humbly hoped that the +film which has been spread by the subtleties of earthly arguments will +be dissipated by the spiritual light of Heaven; and that our hour of +probation, by the aid of divine grace, being once passed in triumph, +will be followed by an eternity of intelligence and endless ages of +fruition. All that is now obscure shall become plain to our expanded +faculties; and what to our present senses may seem irreconcilable to +our limited notions of mercy, of justice, and of love, shall stand +irradiated by the light of truth, confessedly the suggestions of +Omniscience, and the acts of an All-powerful Benevolence.” + +“What a lesson of humility, my brethren, might not each of us obtain +from a review of his infant hours, and the recollection of his juvenile +passions! How differently do the same acts of parental rigor appear +in the eyes of the suffering child and of the chastened man! When the +sophist would supplant, with the wild theories of his worldly wisdom, +the positive mandates of inspiration, let him remember the expansion of +his own feeble intellects, and pause--let him feel the wisdom of God +in what is partially concealed as well as that which is revealed; in +short, let him substitute humility for pride of reason--let him have +faith, and live!” + +“The consideration of this subject is full of consolation, my hearers, +and does not fail to bring with it lessons of humility and of profit, +that, duly improved, would both chasten the heart and strengthen the +feeble-minded man in his course. It is a blessed consolation to be able +to lay the misdoubtings of our arrogant nature at the threshold of the +dwelling-place of the Deity, from whence they shall be swept away, at +the great opening of the portal, like the mists of the morning before +the rising sun. It teaches us a lesson of humility, by impressing us +with the imperfection of human powers, and by warning us of the many +weak points where we are open to the attack of the great enemy of our +race; it proves to us that we are in danger of being weak, when our +vanity would fain soothe us into the belief that we are most strong; it +forcibly points out to us the vainglory of intellect, and shows us +the vast difference between a saving faith and the corollaries of a +philosophical theology; and it teaches us to reduce our self-examination +to the test of good works. By good works must be understood the fruits +of repentance, the chiefest of which is charity. Not that charity only +which causes us to help the needy and comfort the suffering, but that +feeling of universal philanthropy which, by teaching us to love, +causes us to judge with lenity all men; striking at the root of +self-righteousness, and warning us to be sparing of our condemnation of +others, while our own salvation is not yet secure.” + +“The lesson of expediency, my brethren, which I would gather from the +consideration of this subject, is most strongly inculcated by humility. +On the heading and essential points of our faith, there is but little +difference among those classes of Christians who acknowledge the +attributes of the Saviour, and depend on his mediation. But heresies +have polluted every church, and schisms are the fruit of disputation. In +order to arrest these dangers, and to insure the union of his followers, +it would seem that Christ had established his visible church and +delegated the ministry. Wise and holy men, the fathers of our religion, +have expended their labors in clearing what was revealed from the +obscurities of language, and the results of their experience and +researches have been embodied in the form of evangelical discipline +That this discipline must be salutary, is evident from the view of the +weakness of human nature that we have already taken; and that it may be +profitable to us, and all who listen to its precepts and its liturgy, +may God, in his infinite wisdom, grant!--And now to,” etc. + +With this ingenious reference to his own forms and ministry, Mr. Grant +concluded his discourse. The most profound attention had been paid to +the sermon during the whole of its delivery, although the prayers had +not been received with so perfect demonstration of respect. This was by +no means an intended slight of that liturgy to which the divine alluded, +but was the habit of a people who owed their very existence, as a +distinct nation, to the doctrinal character of their ancestors. Sundry +looks of private dissatisfaction were exchanged between Hiram and one +or two of the leading members of the conference, but the feeling went no +further at that time; and the congregation, after receiving the blessing +of Mr. Grant., dispersed in Silence, and with great decorum. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + “Your creeds and dogmas of a learned church + May build a fabric, fair with moral beauty; + But it would seem that the strong hand of God + Can, only, 'rase the devil from the heart.” + --Duo. + +While the congregation was separating, Mr. Grant approached the place +where Elizabeth and her father were seated, leading the youthful female +whom we have mentioned in the preceding chapter, and presented her as +his daughter. Her reception was as cordial and frank as the manners of +the country and the value of good society could render it; the two young +women feeling, instantly, that they were necessary to the comfort of +each other, The Judge, to whom the clergyman's daughter was also a +stranger, was pleased to find one who, from habits, sex, and years, +could probably contribute largely to the pleasures of his own child, +during her first privations on her removal from the associations of +a city to the solitude of Templeton; while Elizabeth, who had been +forcibly struck with the sweetness and devotion of the youthful +suppliant, removed the slight embarrassment of the timid stranger by the +ease of her own manners. They were at once acquainted; and, during +the ten minutes that the “academy” was clearing, engagements were made +between the young people, not only for the succeeding day, but they +would probably have embraced in their arrangements half of the winter, +had not the divine interrupted them by saying: + +“Gently, gently, my dear Miss Temple, or you will make my girl too +dissipated. You forget that she is my housekeeper, and that my domestic +affairs must remain unattended to, should Louisa accept of half the kind +offers you are so good as to make her.” + +“And why should they not be neglected entirely, sir?” interrupted +Elizabeth. “There are but two of you; and certain I am that my +father's house will not only contain you both, but will open its doors +spontaneously to receive such guests. Society is a good not to be +rejected on account of cold forms, in this wilderness, sir; and I have +often heard my father say, that hospitality is not a virtue in a new +country, the favor being conferred by the guest.” + +“The manner in which Judge Temple exercises its rites would confirm this +opinion; but we must not trespass too freely. Doubt not that you will +see us often, my child, particularly during the frequent visits that I +shall be compelled to make to the distant parts of the country. But to +obtain an influence with such a people,” he continued, glancing his +eyes toward the few who were still lingering, curious observers of the +interview, “a clergyman most not awaken envy or distrust by dwelling +under so splendid a roof as that of Judge Temple.” + +“You like the roof, then, Mr. Grant,” cried Richard, who had been +directing the extinguishment of the fires and other little necessary +duties, and who approached in time to hear the close of the divine's +speech. “I am glad to find one man of taste at last. Here's 'Duke now, +pretends to call it by every abusive name he can invent; but though +'Duke is a tolerable judge, he is a very poor carpenter, let me tell +him. Well, sir, well, I think we may say, without boasting, that the +service was as well per formed this evening as you often see; I think, +quite as well as I ever knew it to be done in old Trinity--that is, if +we except the organ. But there is the school-master leads the psalm with +a very good air. I used to lead myself, but latterly I have sung nothing +but bass. There is a good deal of science to be shown in the bass, and +it affords a fine opportunity to show off a full, deep voice. Benjamin, +too, sings a good bass, though he is often out in the words. Did you +ever hear Benjamin sing the 'Bay of Biscay,'?” + +“I believe he gave us part of it this evening,” said Marmaduke, +laughing. “There was, now and then, a fearful quaver in his voice, +and it seems that Mr. Penguillian is like most others who do one thing +particularly well; he knows nothing else. He has, certainly, a wonderful +partiality to one tune, and he has a prodigious self-confidence in that +one, for he delivers himself like a northwester sweeping across the +lake. But come, gentlemen, our way is clear, and the sleigh waits. +Good-evening, Mr. Grant. Good-night, young lady--remember you dine +beneath the Corinthian roof, to-morrow, with Elizabeth.” + +The parties separated, Richard holding a close dissertation with Mr. Le +Quoi, as they descended the stairs, on the subject of psalmody, which +he closed by a violent eulogium on the air of the “Bay of Biscay, O,” as +particularly connected with his friend Benjamin's execution. + +During the preceding dialogue, Mohegan retained his seat, with his head +shrouded in his blanket, as seemingly inattentive to surrounding objects +as the departing congregation was itself to the presence of the aged +chief, Natty, also, continued on the log where he had first placed +himself, with his head resting on one of his hands, while the other held +the rifle, which was thrown carelessly across his lap. His countenance +expressed uneasiness, and the occasional unquiet glances that he had +thrown around him during the service plainly indicated some unusual +causes for unhappiness. His continuing seated was, how ever, out of +respect to the Indian chief to whom he paid the utmost deference on all +occasions, although it was mingled with the rough manner of a hunter. + +The young companion of these two ancient inhabitants of the forest +remained also standing before the extinguished brands, probably from an +unwillingness to depart without his comrades. The room was now deserted +by all but this group, the divine, and his daughter. As the party from +the mansion-house disappeared, John arose, and, dropping the blanket +from his head, he shook back the mass of black hair from his face, and, +approaching Mr. Grant, he extended his hand, and said solemnly: + +“Father, I thank you. The words that have been said, since the rising +moon, have gone upward, and the Great Spirit is glad. What you have told +your children, they will remember, and be good.” He paused a moment, and +then, elevating himself with the grandeur of an Indian chief, he added: +“If Chingachgook lives to travel toward the setting sun, after his +tribe, and the Great Spirit carries him over the lakes and mountains +with the breath of his body, he will tell his people the good talk he +has heard; and they will believe him; for who can say that Mohegan has +ever lied?” + +“Let him place his dependence on the goodness of Divine mercy,” said Mr. +Grant, to whom the proud consciousness of the Indian sounded a little +heterodox, “and it never will desert him. When the heart is filled with +love to God, there is no room for sin. But, young man, to you I owe not +only an obligation, in common with those you saved this evening on +the mountain, but my thanks for your respectable and pious manner in +assisting in the service at a most embarrassing moment. I should +be happy to see you sometimes at my dwelling, when, perhaps, my +conversation may strengthen you in the path which you appear to have +chosen. It is so unusual to find one of your age and appearance, in +these woods, at all acquainted with our holy liturgy, that it lessens +at once the distance between us, and I feel that we are no longer +strangers. You seem quite at home in the service; I did not perceive +that you had even a book, although good Mr. Jones, had laid several in +different parts of the room.” + +“It would be strange if I were ignorant of the service of our church, +sir,” returned the youth modestly; “for I was baptized in its communion +and I have never yet attended public worship elsewhere. For me to use +the forms of any other denomination would be as singular as our own have +proved to the people here this evening.” + +“You give me great pleasure, my dear sir,” cried the divine, seizing the +other by the hand, and shaking it cordially. “You will go home with me +now--indeed you must--my child has yet to thank you for saving my life. +I will-listen to no apologies. This worthy Indian, and your friend, +there, will accompany us. Bless me! to think that' he has arrived at +manhood in this country, without entering a dissenting * meeting-house!” + + * The divines of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States + commonly call other denominations Dissenters, though there never was + an established church in their own country! + +“No, no,” interrupted the Leather-Stocking, “I must away to the wigwam; +there's work there that mustn't be forgotten for all your churchings and +merry-makings. Let the lad go with you in welcome; he is used to keeping +company with ministers, and talking of such matters; so is old John, who +was christianized by the Moravians abouts the time of the old war. But I +am a plain unlarned man, that has sarved both the king and his country, +in his day, agin' the French and savages, but never so much as looked +into a book, or larnt a letter of scholarship, in my born days. I've +never seen the use of much in-door work, though I have lived to be +partly bald, and in my time have killed two hundred beaver in a season, +and that without counting the other game. If you mistrust what I am +telling you, you can ask Chingachgook there, for I did it in the heart +of the Delaware country, and the old man is knowing to the truth of +every word I say.” + +“I doubt not, my friend, that you have been both a valiant soldier and +skilful hunter in your day,” said the divine; “but more is wanting to +prepare you for that end which approaches. You may have heard the maxim, +that 'young men may die, but that old men must'.” + +“I'm sure I never was so great a fool as to expect to live forever,” + said Natty, giving one of his silent laughs; “no man need do that who +trails the savages through the woods, as I have done, and lives, for the +hot months, on the lake streams. I've a strong constitution, I must say +that for myself, as is plain to be seen; for I've drunk the Onondaga +water a hundred times, while I've been watching the deer-licks, when the +fever-an'-agy seeds was to be seen in it as plain and as plenty as you +can see the rattle snakes on old Crumhorn. But then I never expected to +hold out forever; though there's them living who have seen the German +flats a wilderness; ay! and them that's larned, and acquainted with +religion, too; though you might look a week, now, and not find even the +stump of a pine on them; and that's a wood that lasts in the ground the +better part of a hundred years after the tree is dead.” + +“This is but time, my good friend,” returned Mr. Grant, who began to +take an interest in the welfare of his new acquaintance, “but I would +have you prepare for eternity. It is incumbent on you to attend places +of public worship, as I am pleased to see that you have done this +evening. Would it not be heedless in you to start on a day's toil of +hard hunting, and leave your ramrod and flint behind?” + +“It must be a young hand in the woods,” interrupted Natty, with another +laugh, “that didn't know how to dress a rod out of an ash sapling or +find a fire-stone in the mountains. No, no, I never expected to live +forever; but I see, times be altering in these mountains from what they +was thirty years ago, or, for that matter, ten years. But might makes +right, and the law is stronger than an old man, whether he is one that +has much laming, or only like me, that is better now at standing at the +passes than in following the hounds, as I once used to could. Heigh-ho! +I never know'd preaching come into a settlement but it made game scarce, +and raised the price of gunpowder; and that's a thing that's not as +easily made as a ramrod or an Indian flint.” + +The divine, perceiving that he had given his opponent an argument by his +own unfortunate selection of a comparison, very prudently relinquished +the controversy; although he was fully determined to resume it at a +more happy moment, Repeating his request to the young hunter with great +earnestness, the youth and Indian consented to accompany him and his +daughter to the dwelling that the care of Mr. Jones had provided for +their temporary residence. Leather-Stocking persevered in his intention +of returning to the hut, and at the door of the building they separated. + +After following the course of one of the streets of the village a short +distance. Mr. Grant, who led the way, turned into a field, through a +pair of open bars, and entered a footpath, of but sufficient width to +admit one person to walk in at a time. The moon had gained a height that +enabled her to throw her rays perpendicularly on the valley; and the +distinct shadows of the party flitted along on the banks of the silver +snow, like the presence of aerial figures, gliding to their appointed +place of meeting. The night still continued intensely cold, although not +a breath of wind was felt. The path was beaten so hard that the gentle +female, who made one of the party, moved with ease along its windings; +though the frost emitted a low creaking at the impression of even her +light footsteps. + +The clergyman in his dark dress of broadcloth, with his mild, benevolent +countenance occasionally turned toward his companions, expressing that +look of subdued care which was its characteristic, presented the first +object in this singular group. Next to him moved the Indian, his hair +falling about his face, his head uncovered, and the rest of his form +concealed beneath his blanket. As his swarthy visage, with its muscles +fixed in rigid composure, was seen under the light of the moon, which +struck his face obliquely, he seemed a picture of resigned old age, on +whom the storms of winter had beaten in vain for the greater part of a +century; but when, in turning his head, the rays fell directly on his +dark, fiery eyes, they told a tale of passions unrestrained, and of +thoughts free as air. The slight person of Miss Grant, which followed +next, and which was but too thinly clad for the severity of the season, +formed a marked contrast to the wild attire and uneasy glances of the +Delaware chief; and more than once during their walk, the young hunter, +himself no insignificant figure in the group, was led to consider the +difference in the human form, as the face of Mohegan and the gentle +countenance of Miss Grant, with eyes that rivalled the soft hue of the +sky, met his view at the instant that each turned to throw a glance at +the splendid orb which lighted their path. Their way, which led through +fields that lay at some distance in the rear of the houses, was cheered +by a conversation that flagged or became animated with the subject. The +first to speak was the divine. + +“Really,” he said, “it is so singular a circumstance to meet with one of +your age, that has not been induced by idle curiosity to visit any other +church than the one in which he has been educated, that I feel a strong +curiosity to know the history of a life so fortunately regulated. Your +education must have been excellent; as indeed is evident from your +manners and language. Of which of the States are you a native, Mr. +Edwards? for such, I believe, was the name that you gave Judge Temple.” + +“Of this.” + +“Of this! I was at a loss to conjecture, from your dialect, which does +not partake, particularly, of the peculiarities of any country with +which I am acquainted. You have, then, resided much in the cities, for +no other part of this country is so fortunate as to possess the constant +enjoyment of our excellent liturgy.” + +The young hunter smiled, as he listened to the divine while he so +clearly betrayed from what part of the country he had come himself; but, +for reasons probably connected with his present situation, he made no +answer. + +“I am delighted to meet with you, my young friend, for I think an +ingenuous mind, such as I doubt not yours must be, will exhibit all the +advantages of a settled doctrine and devout liturgy. You perceive how I +was compelled to bend to the humors of my hearers this evening. Good +Mr. Jones wished me to read the communion, and, in fact, all the morning +service; but, happily, the canons do not require this of an evening. +It would have wearied a new congregation; but to-morrow I purpose +administering the sacrament, Do you commune, my young friend?” + +“I believe not, sir,” returned the youth, with a little embarrassment, +that was not at all diminished by Miss Grant's pausing involuntarily, +and turning her eyes on him in surprise; “I fear that I am not +qualified; I have never yet approached the altar; neither would I wish +to do it while I find so much of the world clinging to my heart.” + +“Each must judge for himself,” said Mr. Grant; “though I should think +that a youth who had never been blown about by the wind of false +doctrines, and who has enjoyed the advantages of our liturgy for so +many years in its purity, might safely come. Yet, sir, it is a solemn +festival, which none should celebrate until there is reason to hope it +is not mockery. I observed this evening, in your manner to Judge Temple, +a resentment that bordered on one of the worst of human passions, We +will cross this brook on the ice; it must bear us all, I think, in +safety. Be careful not to slip, my child.” While speaking, he descended +a little bank by the path, and crossed one of the small streams that +poured their waters into the lake; and, turning to see his daughter +pass, observed that the youth had advanced, and was kindly directing her +footsteps. When all were safely over, he moved up the opposite bank, +and continued his discourse. “It was wrong, my dear sir, very wrong, to +suffer such feelings to rise, under any circumstances, and especially in +the present, where the evil was not intended.” + +“There is good in the talk of my father,” said Mohegan, stopping short, +and causing those who Were behind him to pause also; “it is the talk +of Miquon. The white man may do as his fathers have told him; but the +'Young Eagle' has the blood of a Delaware chief in his veins; it is +red, and the stain it makes can only be washed out with the blood of a +Mingo.” + +Mr. Grant was surprised by the interruption of the Indian, and, +stopping, faced the speaker. His mild features were confronted to the +fierce and determined looks of the chief, and expressed the horror he +felt at hearing such sentiments from one who professed the religion of +his Saviour. Raising his hands to a level with his head, he exclaimed: + +“John, John! is this the religion that you have learned from the +Moravians? But no--I will not be so uncharitable as to suppose it. They +are a pious, a gentle, and a mild people, and could never tolerate these +passions. Listen to the language of the Redeemer: 'But I say unto you, +love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate +you; pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.' This +is the command of God, John, and, without striving to cultivate such +feelings, no man can see Him.” + +The Indian heard the divine with attention; the unusual fire of his +eye gradually softened, and his muscles relaxed into their ordinary +composure; but, slightly shaking his head, he motioned with dignity +for Mr. Grant to resume his walk, and followed himself in silence, The +agitation of the divine caused him to move with unusual rapidity along +the deep path, and the Indian, without any apparent exertion, kept an +equal pace; but the young hunter observed the female to linger in her +steps, until a trifling distance intervened between the two former +and the latter. Struck by the circumstance, and not perceiving any +new impediment to retard her footstep, the youth made a tender of his +assistance. + +“You are fatigued, Miss Grant,” he said; “the snow yields to the foot, +and you are unequal to the strides of us men. Step on the crust, I +entreat you, and take the help of my arm, Yonder light is, I believe, +the house of your father; but it seems yet at some distance.” + +“I am quite equal to the walk,” returned a low, tremulous voice; “but I +am startled by the manner of that Indian, Oh! his eye was horrid, as he +turned to the moon, in speaking to my father. But I forgot, sir; he is +your friend, and by his language may be your relative; and yet of you I +do not feel afraid.” + +The young man stepped on the bank of snow, which firmly sustained his +weight, and by a gentle effort induced his companion to follow. Drawing +her arm through his own, he lifted his cap from his head, allowing the +dark locks to flow in rich curls over his open brow, and walked by her +side with an air of conscious pride, as if inviting an examination of +his utmost thoughts. Louisa took but a furtive glance at his person, and +moved quietly along, at a rate that was greatly quickened by the aid of +his arm. + +“You are but little acquainted with this peculiar people, Miss Grant,” + he said, “or you would know that revenge is a virtue with an Indian. +They are taught, from infancy upward, to believe it a duty never to +allow an injury to pass unrevenged; and nothing but the stronger claims +of hospitality can guard one against their resentments where they have +power.” + +“Surely, sir,” said Miss Grant, involuntarily withdrawing her arm from +his, “you have not been educated with such unholy sentiments?” + +“It might be a sufficient answer to your excellent father to say that I +was educated in the church,” he returned; “but to you I will add that +I have been taught deep and practical lessons of forgiveness. I believe +that, on this subject, I have but little cause to reproach myself; it +shall be my endeavor that there yet be less.” + +While speaking, he stopped, and stood with his arm again proffered to +her assistance. As he ended, she quietly accepted his offer, and they +resumed their walk. + +Mr. Grant and Mohegan had reached the door of the former's residence, +and stood waiting near its threshold for the arrival of their young +companions. The former was earnestly occupied in endeavoring to correct, +by his precepts, the evil propensities that he had discovered in the +Indian during their conversation; to which the latter listened in +Profound but respectful attention. On the arrival of the young hunter +and the lady, they entered the building. The house stood at some +distance from the village, in the centre of a field, surrounded by +stumps that were peering above the snow, bearing caps of pure white, +nearly two feet in thickness. Not a tree nor a shrub was nigh it; but +the house, externally, exhibited that cheer less, unfurnished aspect +which is so common to the hastily erected dwellings of a new country. +The uninviting character of its outside was, however, happily relieved +by the exquisite neatness and comfortable warmth within. + +They entered an apartment that was fitted as a parlor, though the large +fireplace, with its culinary arrangements, betrayed the domestic uses +to which it was occasionally applied. The bright blaze from the hearth +rendered the light that proceeded from the candle Louisa produced +unnecessary; for the scanty furniture of the room was easily seen and +examined by the former. The floor was covered in the centre by a carpet +made of rags, a species of manufacture that was then, and yet continues +to be, much in use in the interior; while its edges, that were exposed +to view, were of unspotted cleanliness. There was a trifling air +of better life in a tea-table and work-stand, as well as in an +old-fashioned mahogany bookcase; but the chairs, the dining-table, +and the rest of the furniture were of the plainest and cheapest +construction, Against the walls were hung a few specimens of needle-work +and drawing, the former executed with great neatness, though of somewhat +equivocal merit in their designs, while the latter were strikingly +deficient in both. + +One of the former represented a tomb, with a youthful female weeping +over it, exhibiting a church with arched windows in the background. On +the tomb were the names, with the dates of the births and deaths, of +several individuals, all of whom bore the name of Grant. An extremely +cursory glance at this record was sufficient to discover to the young +hunter the domestic state of the divine. He there read that he was +a widower; and that the innocent and timid maiden, who had been his +companion, was the only survivor of six children. The knowledge of the +dependence which each of these meek Christians had on the other +for happiness threw an additional charm around the gentle but kind +attentions which the daughter paid to the father. + +These observations occurred while the party were seating themselves +before the cheerful fire, during which time there was a suspension of +discourse. But, when each was comfortably arranged, and Louisa, after +laying aside a thin coat of faded silk, and a gypsy hat, that was more +becoming to her modest, ingenuous countenance than appropriate to the +season, had taken a chair between her father and the youth, the former +resumed the conversation. + +“I trust, my young friend,” he said, “that the education you have +received has eradicated most of those revengeful principles which you +may have inherited by descent, for I understand from the expressions +of John that you have some of the blood of the Delaware tribe. Do not +mistake me, I beg, for it is not color nor lineage that constitutes +merit; and I know not that he who claims affinity to the proper owners +of this soil has not the best right to tread these hills with the +lightest conscience.” + +Mohegan turned solemnly to the speaker, and, with the peculiarly +significant gestures of an Indian, he spoke: + +“Father, you are not yet past the summer of life; your limbs are young. +Go to the highest hill, and look around you. All that you see, from the +rising to the setting sun, from the head-waters of the great spring, to +where the 'crooked river' * is hid by the hills, is his. He has Delaware +blood, and his right is strong. + + * The Susquehannah means crooked river; “hannah,” or “hannock,” meant + river in many of the native dialects. Thus we find Rappahannock as + far south as Virginia. + +“But the brother of Miquon is just; he will cut the country in two parts, +as the river cuts the lowlands, and will say to the 'Young Eagle,' +'Child of the Delawares! take it--keep it; and be a chief in the land of +your fathers.'” + +“Never!” exclaimed the young hunter, with a vehemence that destroyed the +rapt attention with which the divine and his daughter were listening to +the Indian. “The wolf of the forest is not more rapacious for his prey +than that man is greedy of gold; and yet his glidings into wealth are +subtle as the movements of a serpent.” + +“Forbear, forbear, my son, forbear,” interrupted Mr. Grant. “These angry +passions most be subdued. The accidental injury you have received from +Judge Temple has heightened the sense of your hereditary wrongs. But +remember that the one was unintentional, and that the other is the +effect of political changes, which have, in their course, greatly +lowered the pride of kings, and swept mighty nations from the face of +the earth. Where now are the Philistines, who so often held the children +of Israel in bondage? or that city of Babylon, which rioted in luxury +and vice, and who styled herself the Queen of Nations in the drunkenness +of her pride? Remember the prayer of our holy litany, where we implore +the Divine Power--'that it may please thee to forgive our enemies, +persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts. The sin of the +wrongs which have been done to the natives is shared by Judge Temple +only in common with a whole people, and your arm will speedily be +restored to its strength.” + +“This arm!” repeated the youth, pacing the floor in violent agitation. +“Think you, sir, that I believe the man a murderer? Oh, no! he is too +wily, too cowardly, for such a crime. But let him and his daughter +riot in their wealth--a day of retribution will come. No, no, no,” he +continued, as he trod the floor more calmly--“it is for Mohegan to +suspect him of an intent to injure me; but the trifle is not worth a +second thought.” He seated himself, and hid his face between his hands, +as they rested on his knees. + +“It is the hereditary violence of a native's passion, my child,” said +Mr. Grant in a low tone to his affrighted daughter, who was clinging in +terror to his arm. “He is mixed with the blood of the Indians, you have +heard; and neither the refinements of education nor the advantages of +our excellent liturgy have been able entirely to eradicate the evil. But +care and time will do much for him yet.” + +Although the divine spoke in a low tone, yet what he uttered was +heard by the youth, who raised his head, with a smile of indefinite +expression, and spoke more calmly: + +“Be not alarmed, Miss Grant, at either the wildness of my manner or that +of my dress. I have been carried away by passions that I should struggle +to repress. I must attribute it, with your father, to the blood in my +veins, although I would not impeach my lineage willingly; for it is +all that is left me to boast of. Yes! I am proud of my descent from +a Delaware chief, who was a warrior that ennobled human nature. Old +Mohegan was his friend, and will vouch for his virtues.” + +Mr. Grant here took up the discourse, and, finding the young man +more calm, and the aged chief attentive, he entered into a full and +theological discussion of the duty of forgiveness. The conversation +lasted for more than an hour, when the visitors arose, and, after +exchanging good wishes with their entertainers, they departed. At the +door they separated, Mohegan taking the direct route to the village, +while the youth moved toward the lake. The divine stood at the entrance +of his dwelling, regarding the figure of the aged chief as it glided, +at an astonishing gait for his years, along the deep path; his black, +straight hair just visible over the bundle formed by his blanket, which +was sometimes blended with the snow, under the silvery light of the +moon. From the rear of the house was a window that overlooked the +lake; and here Louisa was found by her father, when he entered, gazing +intently on some object in the direction of the eastern mountain. He +approached the spot, and saw the figure of the young hunter, at the +distance of half a mile, walking with prodigious steps across the wide +fields of frozen snow that covered the ice, toward the point where +he knew the hut inhabited by the Leather-Stocking was situated on the +margin of the lake, under a rock that was crowned by pines and hemlocks. +At the next instant, the wild looking form entered the shadow cast from +the over-hanging trees, and was lost to view. + +“It is marvellous how long the propensities of the savage continue in +that remarkable race,” said the good divine; “but if he perseveres as +he has commenced, his triumph shall yet be complete. Put me in mind, +Louisa, to lend him the homily 'against peril of idolatry,' at his next +visit.” + +“Surety, father, you do not think him in danger of relapsing into the +worship of his ancestors?” + +“No, my child,” returned the clergyman, laying his hand affectionately +on her flaxen locks, and smiling; “his white blood would prevent it; but +there is such a thing as the idolatry of our passions.” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + “And I'll drink out of the quart pot-- + Here's a health to the barley mow. + “--Drinking Song. + +On one of the corners, where the two principal streets of Templeton +intersected each other, stood, as we have already mentioned, the inn +called the “Bold Dragoon”. In the original plan it was ordained that +the village should stretch along the little stream that rushed down +the valley; and the street which led from the lake to the academy +was intended to be its western boundary. But convenience frequently +frustrates the best-regulated plans. The house of Mr., or as, in +consequence of commanding the militia of that vicinity, he was called, +Captain Hollister, had, at an early day, been erected directly facing +the main street, and ostensibly interposed a barrier to its further +progress. Horsemen, and subsequently teamsters, however, availed +themselves of an opening, at the end of the building, to shorten their +passage westward, until in time the regular highway was laid out along +this course, and houses were gradually built on either side, so as +effectually to prevent any subsequent correction of the evil. + +Two material consequences followed this change in the regular plans of +Marmaduke. The main street, after running about half its length, was +suddenly reduced for precisely that difference in its width; and “Bold +Dragoon” became, next to the mansion-house, by far the most conspicuous +edifice in the place. + +This conspicuousness, aided by the characters of the host and hostess, +gave the tavern an advantage over all its future competitors that no +circumstances could conquer. An effort was, however, made to do so; +and at the corner diagonally opposite, stood a new building that was in +tended, by its occupants, to look down all opposition. It was a house of +wood, ornamented in the prevailing style of architecture, and about +the roof and balustrades was one of the three imitators of the +mansion-house. The upper windows were filled with rough boards secured +by nails, to keep out the cold air--for the edifice was far from +finished, although glass was to be seen in the lower apartments, and +the light of the powerful fires within de noted that it was already +inhabited. The exterior was painted white on the front and on the end +which was exposed to the street; but in the rear, and on the side which +was intended to join the neighboring house, it was coarsely smeared with +Spanish brown. Before the door stood two lofty posts, connected at the +top by a beam, from which was suspended an enormous sign, ornamented +around its edges with certain curious carvings in pine boards, and on +its faces loaded with Masonic emblems. Over these mysterious figures was +written, in large letters, “The Templeton Coffee-house, and Traveller's +Hotel,” and beneath them, “By Habakkuk Foote and Joshua Knapp.” This +was a fearful rival to the “Bold Dragoon,” as our readers will the more +readily perceive when we add that the same sonorous names were to be +seen over a newly erected store in the village, a hatter's shop, and the +gates of a tan-yard. But, either because too much was attempted to be +executed well, or that the “Bold Dragoon” had established a reputation +which could not be easily shaken, not only Judge Temple and his friends, +but most of the villagers also, who were not in debt to the powerful +firm we have named, frequented the inn of Captain Hollister on all +occasions where such a house was necessary. + +On the present evening the limping veteran and his consort were hardly +housed after their return from the academy, when the sounds of stamping +feet at their threshold announced the approach of visitors, who were +probably assembling with a view to compare opinions on the subject of +the ceremonies they had witnessed. + +The public, or as it was called, the “bar-room,” of the “Bold Dragoon,” + was a spacious apartment, lined on three sides with benches and on the +fourth by fireplaces. Of the latter there were two of such size as +to occupy, with their enormous jambs, the whole of that side of the +apartment where they were placed, excepting room enough for a door +or two, and a little apartment in one corner, which was protected by +miniature palisades, and profusely garnished with bottles and glasses. +In the entrance to this sanctuary Mrs. Hollister was seated, with great +gravity in her air, while her husband occupied himself with stirring the +fires, moving the logs with a large stake burnt to a point at one end. + +“There, sargeant, dear,” said the landlady, after she thought the +veteran had got the logs arranged in the most judicious manner, “give +over poking, for it's no good ye'll be doing, now that they burn so +convaniently. There's the glasses on the table there, and the mug +that the doctor was taking his cider and ginger in, before the fire +here--just put them in the bar, will ye? for we'll be having the jooge, +and the Major, and Mr. Jones down the night, without reckoning Benjamin +Poomp, and the lawyers; so yell be fixing the room tidy; and put both +flip irons in the coals; and tell Jude, the lazy black baste, that if +she's no be cleaning up the kitchen I'll turn her out of the house, and +she may live wid the jontlemen that kape the 'Coffee house,' good luck +to 'em. Och! sargeant, sure it's a great privilege to go to a mateing +where a body can sit asy, without joomping up and down so often, as this +Mr. Grant is doing that same.” + +“It's a privilege at all times, Mrs. Hollister, whether we stand or +be seated; or, as good Mr. Whitefleld used to do after he had made a +wearisome day's march, get on our knees and pray, like Moses of old, +with a flanker to the right and left to lift his hands to heaven,” + returned her husband, who composedly performed what she had directed to +be done. “It was a very pretty fight, Betty, that the Israelites had on +that day with the Amalekites, It seams that they fout on a plain, for +Moses is mentioned as having gone on the heights to overlook the battle, +and wrestle in prayer; and if I should judge, with my little larning, +the Israelites depended mainly on their horse, for it was written 'that +Joshua cut up the enemy with the edge of the sword; from which I infer, +not only that they were horse, but well diseiplyned troops. Indeed, it +says as much as that they were chosen men; quite likely volunteers; for +raw dragoons seldom strike with the edge of their swords, particularly +if the weapon be any way crooked.” + +“Pshaw! why do ye bother yourself wid texts, man, about so small a +matter?” interrupted the landlady; “sure, it was the Lord who was with +'em; for he always sided with the Jews, before they fell away; and it's +but little matter what kind of men Joshua commanded, so that he was +doing the right bidding. Aven them cursed millaishy, the Lord forgive me +for swearing, that was the death of him, wid their cowardice, would have +carried the day in old times. There's no rason to be thinking that the +soldiers were used to the drill.” + +“I must say, Mrs. Hollister, that I have not often seen raw troops fight +better than the left flank of the militia, at the time you mention. +They rallied handsomely, and that without beat of drum, which is no +easy thing to do under fire, and were very steady till he fell. But the +Scriptures contain no unnecessary words; and I will maintain that +horse, who know how to strike with the edge of the sword, must be well +disoiplyned. Many a good sarmon has been preached about smaller matters +than that one word! If the text was not meant to be particular, +why wasn't it written with the sword, and not with the edge? Now, a +back-handed stroke, on the edge, takes long practice. Goodness! what an +argument would Mr. Whitefield make of that word edge! As to the captain, +if he had only called up the guard of dragoons when he rallied the +foot, they would have shown the inimy what the edge of a sword was; for, +although there was no commissioned officer with them, yet I think I must +say,” the veteran continued, stiffening his cravat about his throat, and +raising himself up with the air of a drill-sergeant, “they were led by +a man who knowed how to bring them on, in spite of the ravine.” + +“Is it lade on ye would,” cried the landlady, “when ye know yourself, +Mr. Hollister, that the baste he rode was but little able to joomp from +one rock to another, and the animal was as spry as a squirrel? Och! but +it's useless to talk, for he's gone this many a year. I would that he +had lived to see the true light; but there's mercy for a brave sowl, +that died in the saddle, fighting for the liberty. It is a poor +tombstone they have given him, anyway, and many a good one that died +like himself; but the sign is very like, and I will be kapeing it up, +while the blacksmith can make a hook for it to swing on, for all the +'coffee-houses' betwane this and Albany.” + +There is no saying where this desultory conversation would have led the +worthy couple, had not the men, who were stamping the snow off their +feet on the little platform before the door, suddenly ceased their +occupation, and entered the bar-room. + +For ten or fifteen minutes the different individuals, who intended +either to bestow or receive edification before the fires of the “Bold +Dragoon” on that evening, were collecting, until the benches were +nearly filled with men of different occupations. Dr. Todd and a +slovenly-looking, shabby-genteel young man, who took tobacco profusely, +wore a coat of imported cloth cut with something like a fashionable air, +frequently exhibited a large French silver watch, with a chain of woven +hair and a silver key, and who, altogether, seemed as much above the +artisans around him as he was himself inferior to the real gentle man, +occupied a high-back wooden settee, in the most comfortable corner in +the apartment. + +Sundry brown mugs, containing cider or beer, were placed between +the heavy andirons, and little groups were found among the guests as +subjects arose or the liquor was passed from one to the other. No man +was seen to drink by himself, nor in any instance was more than one +vessel considered necessary for the same beverage; but the glass or the +mug was passed from hand to hand until a chasm in the line or a regard +to the rights of ownership would regularly restore the dregs of the +potation to him who de frayed the cost. + +Toasts were uniformly drunk; and occasionally some one who conceived +himself peculiarly endowed by Nature to shine in the way of wit would +attempt some such sentiment as “hoping that he” who treated “might make +a better man than his father;” or “live till all his friends wished him +dead;” while the more humble pot-companion contented himself by saying, +with a most composing gravity in his air, “Come, here's luck,” or by +expressing some other equally comprehensive desire. In every instance +the veteran landlord was requested to imitate the custom of the +cupbearers to kings, and taste the liquor he presented, by the +invitation of “After you is manners,” with which request he ordinarily +complied by wetting his lips, first expressing the wish of “Here's +hoping,” leaving it to the imagination of the hearers to fill the vacuum +by whatever good each thought most desirable. During these movements the +landlady was busily occupied with mixing the various compounds required +by her customers, with her own hands, and occasionally exchanging +greetings and inquiries concerning the conditions of their respective +families, with such of the villagers as approached the bar. + +At length the common thirst being in some measure assuaged, conversation +of a more general nature became the order of the hour. The physician +and his companion, who was one of the two lawyers of the village, +being considered the best qualified to maintain a public discourse with +credit, were the principal speakers, though a remark was hazarded, now +and then, by Mr. Doolittle, who was thought to be their inferior only in +the enviable point of education. A general silence was produced on all +but the two speakers, by the following observation from the practitioner +of the law: + +“So, Dr. Todd, I understand that you have been per forming an important +operation this evening by cutting a charge of buckshot from the shoulder +of the son of Leather-Stocking?” + +“Yes, sir,” returned other, elevating his little head with an air of +importance. “I had a small job up at the Judge's in that way; it was, +however, but a trifle to what it might have been, had it gone through +the body. The shoulder is not a very vital part; and I think the young +man will soon be well. But I did not know that the patient was a son of +Leather-Stocking; it is news to me to hear that Natty had a wife.” + +“It is by no means a necessary consequence,” returned the other, winking, +with a shrewd look around the bar room; “there is such a thing, I +suppose you know, in law as a filius nullius.” + +“Spake it out, man,” exclaimed the landlady; “spake it out in king's +English; what for should ye be talking Indian in a room full of +Christian folks, though it is about a poor hunter, who is but little +better in his ways than the wild savages themselves? Och! it's to be +hoped that the missionaries will, in his own time, make a conversion +of the poor devils; and then it will matter little of what color is the +skin, or wedder there be wool or hair on the head.” + +“Oh! it is Latin, not Indian, Miss Hollister!” returned the lawyer, +repeating his winks and shrewd looks; “and Dr. Todd understands Latin, +or how would he read the labels on his gallipots and drawers? No, no, +Miss Hollis ter, the doctor understands me; don't you, doctor?” + +“Hem--why, I guess I am not far out of the way,” returned Elnathan, +endeavoring to imitate the expression of the other's countenance, by +looking jocular. “Latin is a queer language, gentlemen; now I rather +guess there is no one in the room, except Squire Lippet, who can believe +that 'Far. Av.' means oatmeal, in English.” + +The lawyer in his turn was a good deal embarrassed by this display of +learning; for, although he actually had taken his first degree at one of +the eastern universities, he was somewhat puzzled with the terms used +by his companion. It was dangerous, however, to appear to be out done +in learning in a public bar-room, and before so many of his clients; he +therefore put the best face on the matter, and laughed knowingly as if +there were a good joke concealed under it, that was understood only +by the physician and himself. All this was attentively observed by the +listeners, who exchanged looks of approbation; and the expressions of +“tonguey mati,” and “I guess Squire Lippet knows if anybody does,” were +heard in different parts of the room, as vouchers for the admiration +of his auditors. Thus encouraged, the lawyer rose from his chair, and +turning his back to the fire, and facing the company, he continued: + +“The son of Natty, or the son of nobody, I hope the young man is not +going to let the matter drop. This is a country of law; and I should +like to see it fairly tried, whether a man who owns, or says he owns, a +hundred thousand acres of land, has any more right to shoot a body than +another. What do you think of it, Dr. Todd?” + +“Oh, sir, I am of opinion that the gentleman will soon be well, as I said +before; the wound isn't in a vital part; and as the ball was extracted +so soon, and the shoulder was what I call well attended to, I do not +think there is as much danger as there might have been.” + +“I say, Squire Doolittle,” continued the attorney, raising his voice, +“you are a magistrate, and know what is law and what is not law. I ask +you, sir, if shooting a man is a thing that is to be settled so very +easily? Suppose, sir, that the young man had a wife and family; and +suppose that he was a mechanic like yourself, sir; and suppose that his +family depended on him for bread; and suppose that the ball, instead of +merely going through the flesh, had broken the shoulder-blade, and +crippled him forever; I ask you all, gentlemen, supposing this to be the +case, whether a jury wouldn't give what I call handsome damages?” + +As the close of this supposititious case was addressed to the company +generally, Hiram did not at first consider himself called on for a +reply; but finding the eyes of the listeners bent on him in expectation, +he remembered his character for judicial discrimination, and spoke, +observing a due degree of deliberation and dignity. + +“Why, if a man should shoot another,” he said, “and if he should do it +on purpose and if the law took notice on't, and if a jury should find +him guilty, it would be likely to turn out a state-prison matter.” + +“It would so, sir,” returned the attorney. “The law, gentlemen, is no +respecter of persons in a free country. It is one of the great blessings +that has been handed down to us from our ancestors, that all men are +equal in the eye of the laws, as they are by nater. Though some may get +property, no one knows how, yet they are not privileged to transgress +the laws any more than the poorest citizen in the State. This is my +notion, gentlemen: and I think that it a man had a mind to bring this +matter up, something might be made out of it that would help pay for the +salve--ha! doctor!” + +“Why, sir,” returned the physician, who appeared a little uneasy at the +turn the conversation was taking, “I have the promise of Judge Temple +before men--not but what I would take his word as soon as his note of +hand--but it was before men. Let me see--there was Mounshier Ler Quow, +and Squire Jones, and Major Hartmann, and Miss Pettibone, and one or two +of the blacks by, when he said that his pocket would amply reward me for +what I did.” + +“Was the promise made before or after the service was performed?” asked +the attorney. + +“It might have been both,” returned the discreet physician; “though I'm +certain he said so before I undertook the dressing.” + +“But it seems that he said his pocket should reward you, doctor,” + observed Hiram. “Now I don't know that the law will hold a man to such +a promise; he might give you his pocket with sixpence in't, and tell you +to take your pay out on't.” + +“That would not be a reward in the eye of the law,” interrupted the +attorney--“not what is called a 'quid pro quo;' nor is the pocket to be +considered as an agent, but as part of a man's own person, that is, +in this particular. I am of opinion that an action would lie on that +promise, and I will undertake to bear him out, free of costs, if he +don't recover.” + +To this proposition the physician made no reply; but he was observed to +cast his eyes around him, as if to enumerate the witnesses, in order +to substantiate this promise also, at a future day, should it prove +necessary. A subject so momentous as that of suing Judge Temple was not +very palatable to the present company in so public a place; and a short +silence ensued, that was only interrupted by the opening of the door, +and the entrance of Natty himself. + +The old hunter carried in his hand his never-failing companion, the +rifle; and although all of the company were uncovered excepting the +lawyer, who wore his hat on one side, with a certain dam'me air, Natty +moved to the front of one of the fires without in the least altering +any part of his dress or appearance. Several questions were addressed +to him, on the subject of the game he had killed, which he answered +readily, and with some little interest; and the landlord, between whom +and Natty there existed much cordiality, on account of their both having +been soldiers in youth, offered him a glass of a liquid which, if +we might judge from its reception, was no unwelcome guest. When the +forester had got his potation also, he quietly took his seat on the end +of one of the logs that lay nigh the fires, and the slight interruption +produced by his entrance seemed to be forgotten. + +“The testimony of the blacks could not be taken, sir,” continued the +lawyer, “for they are all the property of Mr. Jones, who owns their +time. But there is a way by which Judge Temple, or any other man, might +be made to pay for shooting another, and for the cure in the bargain. +There is a way, I say, and that without going into the 'court of +errors,' too.” + +“And a mighty big error ye would make of it, Mister Todd,” cried the +landlady, “should ye be putting the matter into the law at all, with +Joodge Temple, who has a purse as long as one of them pines on the hill, +and who is an asy man to dale wid, if yees but mind the humor of him. +He's a good man is Joodge Temple, and a kind one, and one who will be no +the likelier to do the pratty thing, becase ye would wish to tarrify +him wid the law. I know of but one objaction to the same, which is +an over-careless ness about his sowl. It's neither a Methodie, nor a +Papish, nor Parsbetyrian, that he is, but just nothing at all; and it's +hard to think that he, 'who will not fight the good fight, under the +banners of a rig'lar church, in this world, will be mustered among the +chosen in heaven,' as my husband, the captain there, as ye call him, +says--though there is but one captain that I know, who desarves the +name. I hopes, Lather-Stocking, ye'll no be foolish, and putting the boy +up to try the law in the matter; for 'twill be an evil day to ye both, +when ye first turn the skin of so paceable an animal as a sheep into a +bone of contention, The lad is wilcome to his drink for nothing, until +his shoulther will bear the rifle agin.” + +“Well, that's gin'rous,” was heard from several mouths at once, for this +was a company in which a liberal offer was not thrown away; while the +hunter, instead 'of expressing any of that indignation which he might +be supposed to feel, at hearing the hurt of his young companion +alluded to, opened his mouth, with the silent laugh for which he was so +remarkable; and after he had indulged his humor, made this reply: + +“I knowed the Judge would do nothing with his smooth bore when he got +out of his sleigh. I never saw but one smooth-bore that would carry at +all, and that was a French ducking-piece, upon the big lakes; it had a +barrel half as long agin as my rifle, and would throw fine shot into a +goose at one hundred yards; but it made dreadful work with the game, +and you wanted a boat to carry it about in. When I went with Sir William +agin' the French, at Fort Niagara, all the rangers used the rifle; and +a dreadful weapon it is, in the hands of one who knows how to charge it, +and keep a steady aim. The captain knows, for he says he was a soldier +in Shirley's; and, though they were nothing but baggonet-men, he must +know how we cut up the French and Iroquois in the skrimmages in that +war. Chingachgook, which means 'Big Sarpent' in English, old John +Mohegan, who lives up at the hut with me, was a great warrior then, and +was out with us; he can tell all about it, too; though he was overhand +for the tomahawk, never firing more than once or twice, before he was +running in for the scalps. Ah! times is dreadfully altered since then. +Why, doctor, there was nothing but a foot path, or at the most a track +for pack-horses, along the Mohawk, from the Jarman Flats up to the +forts. Now, they say, they talk of running one of them wide roads with +gates on it along the river; first making a road, and then fencing +it up! I hunted one season back of the Kaatskills, nigh-hand to the +settlements, and the dogs often lost the scent, when they came to them +highways, there was so much travel on them; though I can't say that the +brutes was of a very good breed. Old Hector will wind a deer, in the +fall of the year, across the broadest place in the Otsego, and that is +a mile and a half, for I paced it my self on the ice, when the tract was +first surveyed, under the Indian grant.” + +“It sames to me, Natty, but a sorry compliment to call your comrad after +the evil one,” said the landlady; “and it's no much like a snake that +old John is looking now, Nimrod would be a more becoming name for the +lad, and a more Christian, too, seeing that it conies from the Bible. +The sargeant read me the chapter about him, the night before my +christening, and a mighty asement it was to listen to anything from the +book.” + +“Old John and Chingachgook were very different men to look on,” returned +the hunter, shaking his head at his melancholy recollections. “In the +'fifty-eighth war' he was in the middle of manhood, and taller than +now by three inches. If you had seen him, as I did, the morning we beat +Dieskau, from behind our log walls, you would have called him as comely +a redskin as ye ever set eyes on. He was naked all to his breech-cloth +and leggins; and you never seed a creatur' so handsomely painted. One +side of his face was red and the other black. His head was shaved +clean, all to a few hairs on the crown, where he wore a tuft of eagle's +feathers, as bright as if they had come from a peacock's tail. He had +colored his sides so that they looked like anatomy, ribs and all, for +Chingachgook had a great taste in such things, so that, what with his +bold, fiery countenance, his knife, and his tomahawk, I have never seen +a fiercer warrior on the ground. He played his part, too, like a man, +for I saw him next day with thirteen scalps on his pole. And I will say +this for the 'Big Snake,' that he always dealt fair, and never scalped +any that he didn't kill with his own hands.” + +“Well, well!” cried the landlady, “fighting is fighting anyway, and +there is different fashions in the thing; though I can't say that I +relish mangling a body after the breath is out of it; neither do I think +it can be uphild by doctrine. I hope, sargeant, ye niver was helping +in sich evil worrek.” + +“It was my duty to keep my ranks, and to stand or fall by the baggonet +or lead,” returned the veteran. “I was then in the fort, and seldom +leaving my place, saw but little of the savages, who kept on the flanks +or in front, skrimmaging. I remember, howsomever, to have heard mention +made of the 'Great Snake,' as he was called, for he was a chief of +renown; but little did I ever expect to see him enlisted in the cause of +Christianity, and civilized like old John.” + +“Oh! he was Christianized by the Moravians, who were always +over-intimate with the Delawares,” said Leather-Stocking. “It's my +opinion that, had they been left to themselves, there would be no such +doings now about the head-waters of the two rivers, and that these hills +mought have been kept as good hunting-ground by their right owner, +who is not too old to carry a rifle, and whose sight is as true as a +fish-hawk hovering--” + +He was interrupted by more stamping at the door, and presently the party +from the mansion-house entered, followed by the Indian himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + “There's quart-pot, pint-pot. + Mit-pint, Gill-pot, half-gill, nipperkin. + And the brown bowl-- + Here's a health to the barley mow, + My brave boys, + Here's a health to the barley mow.” + --Drinking Song. + +Some little commotion was produced by the appearance of the new guests, +during which the lawyer slunk from the room. Most of the men approached +Marmaduke, and shook his offered hand, hoping “that the Judge was well;” + while Major Hartmann having laid aside his hat and wig, and substituted +for the latter a warm, peaked woollen nightcap, took his seat very +quietly on one end of the settee, which was relinquished by its former +occupant. His tobacco-box was next produced, and a clean pipe was handed +him by the landlord. When he had succeeded in raising a smoke, the Major +gave a long whiff, and, turning his head toward the bar, he said: + +“Petty, pring in ter toddy.” + +In the mean time the Judge had exchanged his salutations with most of +the company, and taken a place by the side of the Major, and Richard had +bustled himself into the most comfortable seat in the room. Mr. Le Quoi +was the last seated, nor did he venture to place his chair finally, +until by frequent removals he had ascertained that he could not possibly +intercept a ray of heat front any individual present. Mohegan found a +place on an end of one of the benches, and somewhat approximated to the +bar. + +When these movements had subsided, the Judge remarked pleasantly: “Well, +Betty, I find you retain your popularity through all weathers, against +all rivals, and among all religions. How liked you the sermon?” + +“Is it the sarmon?” exclaimed the landlady. “I can't say but it was +rasonable; but the prayers is mighty unasy. It's no small a matter for a +body in their fifty-nint' year to be moving so much in church. Mr. Grant +sames a godly man, any way, and his garrel a hommble on; and a devout. +Here, John, is a mug of cider, laced with whiskey. An Indian will drink +cider, though he niver be athirst.” + +“I must say,” observed Hiram, with due deliberation, “that it was a +tongney thing; and I rather guess that it gave considerable +satisfaction, There was one part, though, which might have been left +out, or something else put in; but then I s'pose that, as it was a +written discourse, it is not so easily altered as where a minister +preaches without notes.” + +“Ày! there's the rub, Joodge,” cried the landlady. “How can a man stand +up and be preaching his word, when all that he is saying is written +down, and he is as much tied to it as iver a thaving dragoon was to the +pickets?” + +“Well, well,” cried Marmaduke, waving his hand for silence, “there is +enough said; as Mr. Grant told us, there are different sentiments on +such subjects, and in my opinion he spoke most sensibly. So, Jotham, I +am told you have sold your betterments to a new settler, and have moved +into the village and opened a school. Was it cash or dicker?” + +The man who was thus addressed occupied a seat immediately behind +Marmaduke, and one who was ignorant of the extent of the Judge's +observation might have thought he would have escaped notice. He was of +a thin, shapeless figure, with a discontented expression of countenance, +and with something extremely shiftless in his whole air, Thus spoken to, +after turning and twisting a little, by way of preparation, he made a +reply: + +“Why part cash and part dicker. I sold out to a Pumfietman who was +so'thin' forehanded. He was to give me ten dollar an acre for the +clearin', and one dollar an acre over the first cost on the woodland, +and we agreed to leave the buildin's to men. So I tuck Asa Montagu, and +he tuck Absalom Bement, and they two tuck old Squire Napthali Green. And +so they had a meetin', and made out a vardict of eighty dollars for +the buildin's. There was twelve acres of clearin' at ten dollars, and +eighty-eight at one, and the whole came to two hundred and eighty-six +dollars and a half, after paying the men.” + +“Hum,” said Marmaduke, “what did you give for the place?” + +“Why, besides what's comin' to the Judge, I gi'n my brother Tim a +hundred dollars for his bargain; but then there's a new house on't, that +cost me sixty more, and I paid Moses a hundred dollars for choppin', and +loggin', and sowin', so that the whole stood to me in about two hundred +and sixty dollars. But then I had a great crop oft on't, and as I got +twenty-six dollars and a half more than it cost, I conclude I made a +pretty good trade on't.” + +“Yes, but you forgot that the crop was yours without the trade, and you +have turned yourself out of doors for twenty-six dollars.” + +“Oh! the Judge is clean out,” said the man with a look of sagacious +calculation; “he turned out a span of horses, that is wuth a hundred and +fifty dollars of any man's money, with a bran-new wagon; fifty dollars +in cash, and a good note for eighty more; and a side-saddle that was +valued at seven and a half--so there was jist twelve shillings betwixt +us. I wanted him to turn out a set of harness, and take the cow and the +sap troughs. He wouldn't--but I saw through it; he thought I should have +to buy the tacklin' afore I could use the wagon and horses; but I knowed +a thing or two myself; I should like to know of what use is the tacklin' +to him! I offered him to trade back agin for one hundred and fifty-five. +But my woman said she wanted to churn, so I tuck a churn for the +change.” + +“And what do you mean to do with your time this winter? You must +remember that time is money.” + +“Why, as master has gone down country to see his mother, who, they say, +is going to make a die on't, I agreed to take the school in hand till he +comes back, It times doesn't get worse in the spring, I've some notion +of going into trade, or maybe I may move off to the Genesee; they say +they are carryin' on a great stroke of business that-a-way. If the wust +comes to the wust, I can but work at my trade, for I was brought up in a +shoe manufactory.” + +It would seem that Marmaduke did not think his society of sufficient +value to attempt inducing him to remain where he was, for he addressed +no further discourse to the man, but turned his attention to other +subjects. After a short pause, Hiram ventured a question: + +“What news does the Judge bring us from the Legislature? It's not likely +that Congress has done much this session; or maybe the French haven't +fit any more battles lately?” + +“The French, since they have beheaded their king, have done nothing but +fight,” returned the Judge. “The character of the nation seems changed. +I knew many French gentlemen during our war, and they all appeared to +me to be men of great humanity and goodness of heart; but these Jacobins +are as blood thirsty as bull-dogs.” + +“There was one Roshambow wid us down at Yorrektown,” cried the landlady +“a mighty pratty man he was too; and their horse was the very same. It +was there that the sargeant got the hurt in the leg from the English +batteries, bad luck to 'em.” + +“Oh! mon pauvre roil” muttered Monsieur Le Quoi. + +“The Legislature have been passing laws,” continued Marmaduke, “that +the country much required. Among others, there is an act prohibiting the +drawing of seines, at any other than proper seasons, in certain of our +streams and small lakes; and another, to prohibit the killing of deer +in the teeming months. These are laws that were loudly called for by +judicious men; nor do I despair of getting an act to make the unlawful +felling of timber a criminal offence.” + +The hunter listened to this detail with breathless attention, and, when +the Judge had ended, he laughed in open derision. + +“You may make your laws, Judge,” he cried, “but who will you find to +watch the mountains through the long summer days, or the lakes at night? +Game is game, and he who finds may kill; that has been the law in these +mountains for forty years to my sartain knowledge; and I think one old +law is worth two new ones. None but a green one would wish to kill a doe +with a fa'n by its side, unless his moccasins were getting old, or his +leggins ragged, for the flesh is lean and coarse. But a rifle rings +among the rocks along the lake shore, sometimes, as if fifty pieces were +fired at once--it would be hard to tell where the man stood who pulled +the trigger.” + +“Armed with the dignity of the law, Mr. Bumppo,” returned the Judge, +gravely, “a vigilant magistrate can prevent much of the evil that has +hitherto prevailed, and which is already rendering the game scarce. I +hope to live to see the day when a man's rights in his game shall be as +much respected as his title to his farm.” + +“Your titles and your farms are all new together,” cried Natty; “but +laws should be equal, and not more for one than another. I shot a +deer, last Wednesday was a fort night, and it floundered through the +snow-banks till it got over a brush fence; I catched the lock of my +rifle in the twigs in following, and was kept back, until finally the +creature got off. Now I want to know who is to pay me for that deer; and +a fine buck it was. If there hadn't been a fence I should have gotten +another shot into it; and I never drawed upon anything that hadn't wings +three times running, in my born days. No, no, Judge, it's the farmers +that makes the game scarce, and not the hunters.” + +“Ter teer is not so plenty as in tee old war, Pumppo,” said the Major, +who had been an attentive listener, amid clouds of smoke; “put ter lant +is not mate as for ter teer to live on, put for Christians.” + +“Why, Major, I believe you're a friend to justice and the right, though +you go so often to the grand house; but it's a hard case to a man to +have his honest calling for a livelihood stopped by laws, and that, too, +when, if right was done, he mought hunt or fish on any day in the week, +or on the best flat in the Patent, if he was so minded.” + +“I unterstant you, Letter-Stockint,” returned the Major, fixing his +black eyes, with a look of peculiar meaning, on the hunter: “put you +didn't use to be so prutent as to look ahet mit so much care.” + +“Maybe there wasn't so much occasion,” said the hunter, a little +sulkily; when he sank into a silence from which he was not roused for +some time. + +“The Judge was saying so'thin' about the French,” Hiram observed when +the pause in the conversation had continued a decent time. + +“Yes, sir,” returned Marmaduke, “the Jacobins of France seem rushing +from one act of licentiousness to an other, They continue those murders +which are dignified by the name of executions. You have heard that they +have added the death of their queen to the long list of their crimes.” + +“Les monstres!” again murmured Monsieur Le Quoi, turning himself +suddenly in his chair, with a convulsive start. + +“The province of La Vendée is laid waste by the troops of the republic, +and hundreds of its inhabitants, who are royalists in their sentiments, +are shot at a time. La Vendée is a district in the southwest of +France, that continues yet much attached to the family of the Bourbons; +doubtless Monsieur Le Quoi is acquainted with it, and can describe it +more faithfully.” + +“Non, non, non, mon cher ami,” returned the Frenchman in a suppressed +voice, but speaking rapidly, and gesticulating with his right hand, as +if for mercy, while with his left he concealed his eyes. + +“There have been many battles fought lately,” continued Marmaduke, +“and the infuriated republicans are too often victorious. I cannot +say, however, that I am sorry that they have captured Toulon from the +English, for it is a place to which they have a just right.” + +“Ah--ha!” exclaimed Monsieur Le Quoi, springing on his feet and +flourishing both arms with great animation; “ces Anglais!” + +The Frenchman continued to move about the room with great alacrity for a +few minutes, repeating his exclamations to himself; when overcome by the +contrary nature of his emotions, he suddenly burst out of the house, and +was seen wading through the snow toward his little shop, waving his arms +on high, as if to pluck down honor from the moon. His departure excited +but little surprise, for the villagers were used to his manner; but +Major Hartmann laughed outright, for the first during his visit, as he +lifted the mug, and observed: + +“Ter Frenchman is mat--put he is goot as for noting to trink: he is +trunk mit joy.” + +“The French are good soldiers,” said Captain Hollis ter; “they stood +us in hand a good turn at Yorktown; nor do I think, although I am an +ignorant man about the great movements of the army, that his excellency +would have been able to march against Cornwallis without their +reinforcements.” + +“Ye spake the trot', sargeant,” interrupted his wife, “and I would iver +have ye be doing the same. It's varry pratty men is the French; and jist +when I stopt the cart, the time when ye was pushing on in front it was, +to kape the riglers in, a rigiment of the jontlemen marched by, and so +I dealt them out to their liking. Was it pay I got? Sure did I, and +in good solid crowns; the divil a bit of continental could they muster +among them all, for love nor money. Och! the Lord forgive me for +swearing and spakeing of such vanities; but this I will say for the +French, that they paid in good silver; and one glass would go a great +way wid 'em, for they gin'rally handed it back wid a drop in the cup; +and that's a brisk trade, Joodge, where the pay is good, and the men not +over-partic'lar.” + +“A thriving trade, Mrs. Hollister,” said Marmaduke. “But what has become +of Richard? he jumped up as soon as seated, and has been absent so long +that I am really fearful he has frozen.” + +“No fear of that, Cousin 'Duke,” cried the gentleman himself; “business +will sometimes keep a man warm the coldest night that ever snapt in the +mountains. Betty, your husband told me, as we came out of church, that +your hogs were getting mangy, and so I have been out to take a look at +them, and found it true. I stepped across, doctor, and got your boy to +weigh me out a pound of salts, and have been mixing it with their swill. +I'll bet a saddle of venison against a gray squirrel that they are +better in a week. And now, Mrs. Hollister, I'm ready for a hissing mug +of flip.” + +“Sure I know'd ye'd be wanting that same,” said the landlady; “it's fixt +and ready to the boiling. Sargeant, dear, be handing up the iron, will +ye?--no, the one on the far fire, it's black, ye will see. Ah! you've +the thing now; look if it's not as red as a cherry.” The beverage was +heated, and Richard took that kind of draught which men are apt to +indulge in who think that they have just executed a clever thing, +especially when they like the liquor. + +“Oh! you have a hand. Betty, that was formed to mix flip,” cried +Richard, when he paused for breath. “The very iron has a flavor in it. +Here, John, drink, man, drink! I and you and Dr. Todd have done a good +thing with the shoulder of that lad this very night. 'Duke, I made a +song while you were gone--one day when I had nothing to do; so I'll sing +you a verse or two, though I haven't really determined on the tune yet. + +“What is life but a scene of care, Where each one must toil in his way? +Then let us be jolly, and prove that we are A set of good fellows, who +seem very rare, And can laugh and sing all the day. Then let us be jolly +And cast away folly, For grief turns a black head to gray.” + +“There, 'Duke, what do you think of that? There is another verse of +it, all but the last line. I haven't got a rhyme for the last line yet. +Well, old John, what do you think of the music? as good as one of your +war-songs, ha?” + +“Good!” said Mohegan, who had been sharing deeply in the potations of +the landlady, besides paying a proper respect to the passing mugs of the +Major and Marmaduke. + +“Bravo! pravo! Richart,” cried the Major, whose black eyes were +beginning to swim in moisture; “pravisimo his a goot song; put Natty +Pumppo has a petter. Letter-Stockint, vilt sing? say, olt poy, vilt sing +ter song as apout ter wools?” + +“No, no, Major,” returned the hunter, with a melancholy shake of the +head, “I have lived to see what I thought eyes could never behold in +these hills, and I have no heart left for singing. If he that has a +right to be master and ruler here is forced to squinch his thirst, +when a-dry, with snow-Water, it ill becomes them that have lived by +his bounty to be making merry, as if there was nothing in the world but +sunshine and summer.” + +When he had spoken, Leather-Stocking again dropped his head on his +knees, and concealed his hard and wrinkled features with his hands. +The change from the excessive cold without to the heat of the bar-room, +coupled with the depth and frequency of Richard's draughts, had already +levelled whatever inequality there might have existed between him and +the other guests, on the score of spirits; and he now held out a pair of +swimming mugs of foaming flip toward the hunter, as he cried: + +“Merry! ay! merry Christmas to you, old boy! Sun shine and summer! no! +you are blind, Leather-Stocking, 'tis moonshine and winter--take these +spectacles, and open your eyes-- + + So let us be jolly, + And cast away folly, + For grief turns a black head to gray. + +--Hear how old John turns his quavers. What damned dull music an Indian +song is, after all, Major! I wonder if they ever sing by note.” + +While Richard was singing and talking, Mohegan was uttering dull, +monotonous tones, keeping time by a gentle motion of his head and body. +He made use of but few words, and such as he did utter were in his +native language, and consequently only understood by himself and Natty. +Without heeding Richard, he continued to sing a kind of wild, melancholy +air, that rose, at times, in sudden and quite elevated notes, and then +fell again into the low, quavering sounds that seemed to compose the +character of his music. + +The attention of the company was now much divided, the men in the rear +having formed themselves into little groups, where they were discussing +various matters; among the principal of which were the treatment of +mangy hogs and Parson Grant's preaching; while Dr. Todd was endeavoring +to explain to Marmaduke the nature of the hurt received by the young +hunter. Mohegan continued to sing, while his countenance was becoming +vacant, though, coupled with his thick, bushy hair, it was assuming +an expression very much like brutal ferocity. His notes were gradually +growing louder, and soon rose to a height that caused a general +cessation in the discourse. The hunter now raised his head again, and +addressed the old warrior warmly in the Delaware language, which, for +the benefit of our readers, we shall render freely into English. + +“Why do you sing of your battles, Chingachgook, and of the warriors you +have slain, when the worst enemy of all is near you, and keeps the Young +Eagle from his rights? I have fought in as many battles as any warrior +in your tribe, but cannot boast of my deeds at such a time as this.” + +“Hawk-eye,” said the Indian, tottering with a doubtful step from his +place, “I am the Great Snake of the Delawares; I can track the Mingoes +like an adder that is stealing on the whip-poor-will's eggs, and +strike them like the rattlesnake dead at a blow. The white man made the +tomahawk of Chingachgook bright as the waters of Otsego, when the last +sun is shining; but it is red with the blood of the Maquas.” + +“And why have you slain the Mingo warriors? Was it not to keep these +hunting-grounds and lakes to your father's children? and were they not +given in solemn council to the Fire-eater? and does not the blood of a +warrior run in the veins of a young chief, who should speak aloud where +his voice is now too low to be heard?” + +The appeal of the hunter seemed in some measure to recall the confused +faculties of the Indian, who turned his face toward the listeners and +gazed intently on the Judge. He shook his head, throwing his hair +back from his countenance, and exposed eyes that were glaring with an +expression of wild resentment. But the man was not himself. His hand +seemed to make a fruitless effort to release his tomahawk, which was +confined by its handle to his belt, while his eyes gradually became +vacant. Richard at that instant thrusting a mug before him, his features +changed to the grin of idiocy, and seizing the vessel with both hands, +he sank backward on the bench and drank until satiated, when he made an +effort to lay aside the mug with the helplessness of total inebriety. + +“Shed not blood!” exclaimed the hunter, as he watched the countenance +of the Indian in its moment of ferocity; “but he is drunk and can do no +harm. This is the way with all the savages; give them liquor, and they +make dogs of themselves. Well, well--the day will come when right will +be done; and we must have patience.” + +Natty still spoke in the Delaware language, and of course was not +understood. He had hardly concluded before Richard cried: + +“Well, old John is soon sewed up. Give him a berth, captain, in the +barn, and I will pay for it. I am rich to night, ten times richer than +'Duke, with all his lands, and military lots, and funded debts, and +bonds, and mortgages, + + 'Come, let us be jolly, + And cast away folly, For grief---' + +“Drink, King Hiram--drink, Mr. Doo-nothing---drink, sir, I say. This is a +Christmas eve, which comes, you know, but once a year.” + +“He! he! he! the squire is quite moosical to-night,” said Hiram, whose +visage began to give marvellous signs of relaxation. “I rather guess we +shall make a church on't yet, squire?” + +“A church, Mr. Doolittle! we will make a cathedral of it! bishops, +priests, deacons, wardens, vestry, and choir; organ, organist, amid +bellows! By the Lord Harry, as Benjamin says, we will clap a steeple on +the other end of it, and make two churches of it. What say you, 'Duke, +will you pay? ha! my cousin Judge, wilt pay?” + +“Thou makest such a noise, Dickon,” returned Marmaduke, “it is +impossible that I can hear what Dr. Todd is saying. I think thou +observedst, it is probable the wound will fester, so as to occasion +danger to the limb in this cold weather?” + +“Out of nater, sir, quite out of nater,” said Elnathan, attempting to +expectorate, but succeeding only in throwing a light, frothy substance, +like a flake of snow, into the fire--“quite out of nater that a wound +so well dressed, and with the ball in my pocket, should fester. I +s'pose, as the Judge talks of taking the young man into his house, it +will be most convenient if I make but one charge on't.” + +“I should think one would do,” returned Marmaduke, with that arch smile +that so often beamed on his face; leaving the beholder in doubt whether +he most enjoyed the character of his companion or his own covert humor. +The landlord had succeeded in placing the Indian on some straw in one +of his outbuildings, where, covered with his own blanket, John continued +for the remainder of the night. + +In the mean time, Major Hartmann began to grow noisy and jocular; glass +succeeded glass, and mug after mug was introduced, until the carousal +had run deep into the night, or rather morning; when the veteran German +expressed an inclination to return to the mansion-house. Most of the +party had already retired, but Marmaduke knew the habits of his friend +too well to suggest an earlier adjournment. So soon, however, as the +proposal was made, the Judge eagerly availed himself of it, and the trio +prepared to depart. Mrs. Hollister attended them to the door in person, +cautioning her guests as to the safest manner of leaving her premises. + +“Lane on Mister Jones, Major,” said she “he's young and will be a +support to ye. Well, it's a charming sight to see ye, anyway, at the +Bould Dragoon; and sure it's no harm to be kaping a Christmas eve wid a +light heart, for it's no telling when we may have sorrow come upon +us. So good-night, Joodge, and a merry Christmas to ye all tomorrow +morning.” + +The gentlemen made their adieus as well as they could, and taking the +middle of the road, which was a fine, wide, and well-beaten path, they +did tolerably well until they reached the gate of the mansion-house: +but on entering the Judge's domains they encountered some slight +difficulties. We shall not stop to relate them, but will just mention +that in the morning sundry diverging paths were to be seen in the snow; +and that once during their progress to the door, Marmaduke, missing his +companions, was enabled to trace them by one of these paths to a spot +where he discovered them with nothing visible but their heads, Richard +singing in a most vivacious strain: + +“Come, let us be jolly, And cast away folly, For grief turns a black +head to gray.” + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + “As she lay, on that day, in the Bay of Biscay, O!” + +Previously to the occurrence of the scene at the “Bold Dragoon,” + Elizabeth had been safely reconducted to the mansion-house, where she +was left as its mistress, either to amuse or employ herself during the +evening as best suited her own inclinations. Most of the lights were +extinguished; but as Benjamin adjusted with great care and regularity +four large candles, in as many massive candlesticks of brass, in a +row on the sideboard, the hall possessed a peculiar air of comfort and +warmth, contrasted with the cheerless aspect of the room she had left in +the academy. + +Remarkable had been one of the listeners to Mr. Grant, and returned with +her resentment, which had been not a little excited by the language +of the Judge, somewhat softened by reflection and the worship. She +recollected the youth of Elizabeth, and thought it no difficult task, +under present appearances, to exercise that power indirectly which +hitherto she had enjoyed undisputed. The idea of being governed, or +of being compelled to pay the deference of servitude, was absolutely +intolerable; and she had already determined within herself, some half +dozen times, to make an effort that should at once bring to an issue the +delicate point of her domestic condition. But as often as she met the +dark, proud eye of Elizabeth, who was walking up and down the apartment, +musing on the scenes of her youth and the change in her condition, and +perhaps the events of the day, the housekeeper experienced an awe that +she would not own to herself could be excited by anything mortal. It, +however, checked her advances, and for some time held her tongue-tied. +At length she determined to commence the discourse by entering on a +subject that was apt to level all human distinctions, and in which she +might display her own abilities. + +“It was quite a wordy sarmon that Parson Grant gave us to-night,” said +Remarkable. “The church ministers be commonly smart sarmonizers, but +they write down their idees, which is a great privilege. I don't think +that, by nater, they are as tonguey speakers, for an off-hand discourse, +as the standing-order ministers.” + +“And what denomination do you distinguish as the standing-order?” + inquired Miss Temple, with some surprise. + +“Why, the Presbyter'ans and Congregationals, and Baptists, too, for-til' +now; and all sitch as don't go on their knees to prayer.” + +“By that rule, then, you would call those who belong' to the persuasion +of my father, the sitting-order,” observed Elizabeth. “I'm sure I've +never heard 'em spoken of by any other' name than Quakers, so called,” + returned Remarkable, betraying a slight uneasiness; “I should be the +last to call them otherwise, for I never in my life used a disparaging' +tarm of the Judge, or any of his family. I've always set store by the +Quakers, they are so pretty-spoken, clever people, and it's a wonderment +to me how your father come to marry into a church family; for they are +as contrary in religion as can be. One sits still, and, for the most +part; says nothing, while the church folks practyse all kinds of ways, +so that I sometimes think it quite moosical to see them; for I went to a +church-meeting once before, down country.” + +“You have found an excellence in the church liturgy that has hitherto +escaped me. I will thank you to inquire whether the fire in my room +burns; I feel fatigued with my journey, and will retire.” + +Remarkable felt a wonderful inclination to tell the young mistress +of the mansion that by opening a door she might see for herself; but +prudence got the better of resentment, and after pausing some little +time, as a salve to her dignity, she did as desired. The report was +favorable, and the young lady, wishing Benjamin, who was filling the +stove with wood, and the housekeeper, each a good-night, withdrew. + +The instant the door closed on Miss Temple, Remarkable commenced a +sort of mysterious, ambiguous discourse, that was neither abusive nor +commendatory of the qualities of the absent personage, but which +seemed to be drawing nigh, by regular degrees, to a most dissatisfied +description. The major-domo made no reply, but continued his occupation +with great industry, which being happily completed, he took a look at +the thermometer, and then opening a drawer of the sideboard, he produced +a supply of stimulants that would have served to keep the warmth in +his system without the aid of the enormous fire he had been building. A +small stand was drawn up near the stove, and the bottles and the glasses +necessary for convenience were quietly arranged. Two chairs were placed +by the side of this comfortable situation, when Benjamin, for the first +time, appeared to observe his companion. + +“Come,” he cried, “come, Mistress Remarkable, bring yourself to an +anchor on this chair. It's a peeler without, I can tell you, good woman; +but what cares I? blow high or blow low, d'ye see, it's all the same +thing to Ben. The niggers are snug stowed below before a fire that would +roast an ox whole. The thermometer stands now at fifty-five, but if +there's any vartue in good maple wood, I'll weather upon it, before one +glass, as much as ten points more, so that the squire, when he comes +home from Betty Hollister's warm room, will feel as hot as a hand that +has given the rigging a lick with bad tar. Come, mistress, bring up in +this here chair, and tell me how you like our new heiress.” + +“Why, to my notion, Mr. Penguillum----” + +“Pump, Pump,” interrupted Benjamin; “it's Christmas eve, Mistress +Remarkable, and so, d'ye see, you had better call me Pump. It's a shorter +name, and as I mean to pump this here decanter till it sucks, why, you +may as well call me Pump.” + +“Did you ever!” cried Remarkable, with a laugh that seemed to unhinge +every joint in her body. “You're a moosical creature, Benjamin, when the +notion takes you. But, as I was saying, I rather guess that times will +be altered now in this house.” + +“Altered!” exclaimed the major-domo, eyeing the bottle, that was +assuming the clear aspect of cut glass with astonishing rapidity; “it +don't matter much, Mistress Remarkable, so long as I keep the keys of +the lockers in my pocket.” + +“I can't say,” continued the housekeeper, “but there's good eatables +and drinkables enough in the house for a body's content--a little +more sugar, Benjamin, in the glass--for Squire Jones is an excellent +provider. But new lords, new laws; and I shouldn't wonder if you and I +had an unsartain time on't in footer.” + +“Life is as unsartain as the wind that blows,” said Benjamin, with a +moralizing air; “and nothing is more varible than the wind, Mistress +Remarkable, unless you happen to fall in with the trades, d'ye see, +and then you may run for the matter of a month at a time, with +studding-sails on both sides, alow and aloft, and with the cabin-boy at +the wheel.” + +“I know that life is disp'ut unsartain,” said Remarkable, compressing +her features to the humor of her companion; “but I expect there will +be great changes made in the house to rights; and that you will find +a young man put over your head, as there is one that wants to be over +mine; and after having been settled as long as you have, Benjamin, I +should judge that to be hard.” + +“Promotion should go according to length of sarvice,” said the +major-domo; “and if-so-be that they ship a hand for my berth, or place +a new steward aft, I shall throw up my commission in less time than you +can put a pilot-boat in stays. The Squire Dickon”--this was a common +misnomer with Benjamin--“is a nice gentleman, and as good a man to sail +with as heart could wish, yet I shall tel the squire, d'ye see, in plain +English, and that's my native tongue, that if-so-be he is thinking +of putting any Johnny Raw over my head, why, I shall resign. I began +forrard, Mistress Prettybones, and worked my way aft, like a man. I +was six months aboard a Garnsey lugger, hauling in the slack of the +lee-sheet and coiling up rigging. From that I went a few trips in a +fore-and-after, in the same trade, which, after all, was but a blind +kind of sailing in the dark, where a man larns but little, excepting +how to steer by the stars. Well, then, d'ye see, I larnt how a topmast +should be slushed, and how a topgallant-sail was to be becketted; and +then I did small jobs in the cabin, such as mixing the skipper's grog. +'Twas there I got my taste, which, you must have often seen, is excel +lent. Well, here's better acquaintance to us.” Remarkable nodded a +return to the compliment, and took a sip of the beverage before her; +for, provided it was well sweetened, she had no objection to a small +potation now and then, After this observance of courtesy between the +worthy couple, the dialogue proceeded. + +“You have had great experiences in life, Benjamin; for, as the Scripter +says, 'They that go down to the sea in ships see the works of the +Lord.'” + +“Ay! for that matter, they in brigs and schooners, too; and it mought +say, the works of the devil. The sea, Mistress Remarkable, is a great +advantage to a man, in the way of knowledge, for he sees the fashions of +nations and the shape of a country. Now, I suppose, for myself here, who +is but an unlarned man to some that follows the seas, I suppose that, +taking the coast from Cape Ler Hogue as low down as Cape Finish-there, +there isn't so much as a headland, or an island, that I don't know +either the name of it or something more or less about it. Take enough, +woman, to color the water. Here's sugar. It's a sweet tooth, that fellow +that you hold on upon yet, Mistress Prettybones. But, as I was saying, +take the whole coast along, I know it as well as the way from here to +the Bold Dragoon; and a devil of acquaintance is that Bay of Biscay. +Whew! I wish you could but hear the wind blow there. It sometimes takes +two to hold one man's hair on his head. Scudding through the bay is +pretty much the same thing as travelling the roads in this country, up +one side of a mountain and down the other.” + +“Do tell!” exclaimed Remarkable; “and does the sea run as high as +mountains, Benjamin?” + +“Well, I will tell; but first let's taste the grog. Hem! it's the right +kind of stuff, I must say, that you keep in this country; but then +you're so close aboard the West Indies, you make but a small run of it. +By the Lord Harry, woman, if Garnsey only lay somewhere between Cape +Hatteras and the bite of Logann, but you'd see rum cheap! As to the +seas, they runs more in uppers in the Bay of Biscay, unless it may be in +a sow-wester, when they tumble about quite handsomely; thof it's not in +the narrow sea that you are to look for a swell; just go off the Western +Islands, in a westerly blow, keeping the land on your larboard +hand, with the ship's head to the south'ard, and bring to, under +a close-reefed topsail; or, mayhap, a reefed foresail, with a +fore-topmast-staysail and mizzen staysail to keep her up to the sea, +if she will bear it; and ay there for the matter of two watches, if +you want to see mountains. Why, good woman, I've been off there in the +Boadishey frigate, when you could see nothing but some such matter as a +piece of sky, mayhap, as big as the main sail; and then again, there +was a hole under your lee-quarter big enough to hold the whole British +navy.” + +“Oh! for massy's sake! and wa'n't you afeard, Benjamin? and how did you +get off?” + +“Afeard! who the devil do you think was to be frightened at a little +salt water tumbling about his head? As for getting off, when we had +enough of it, and had washed our decks down pretty well, we called all +hands, for, d'ye see, the watch below was in their hammocks, all the +same as if they were in one of your best bedrooms; and so we watched for +a smooth time, clapt her helm hard a weather, let fall the foresail, +and got the tack aboard; and so, when we got her afore it, I ask you, +Mistress Prettybones, if she didn't walk? didn't she? I'm no liar, good +woman, when I say that I saw that ship jump from the top of one sea to +another, just like one of these squirrels that can fly jumps from tree +to tree.” + +“What! clean out of the water?” exclaimed Remarkable, lifting her two +lank arms, with their bony hands spread in astonishment. + +“It was no such easy matte: to get out of the water, good woman; for the +spray flew so that you couldn't tell which was sea or which was cloud. +So there we kept her afore it for the matter of two glasses. The first +lieutenant he cun'd the ship himself, and there was four quarter masters +at the wheel, besides the master with six forecastle men in the gun-room +at the relieving tackles. But then she behaved herself so well! Oh! she +was a sweet ship, mistress! That one frigate was well worth more, to +live in, than the best house in the island. If I was king of England +I'd have her hauled up above Lon'on bridge, and fit her up for a palace; +because why? if anybody can afford to live comfortably, his majesty +can.” + +“Well! but, Benjamin,” cried the listener, who was in an ecstasy of +astonishment at this relation of the steward's dangers, “what did you +do?” + +“Do! why, we did our duty like hearty fellows. Now if the countrymen of +Monnsheer Ler Quaw had been aboard of her, they would have just struck +her ashore on some of them small islands; but we run along the land +until we found her dead to leeward off the mountains of Pico, and dam'me +if I know to this day how we got there--whether we jumped over the +island or hauled round it; but there we was, and there we lay, under +easy sail, fore-reaching first upon one tack and then upon t'other, so +as to poke her nose out now and then and take a look to wind'ard till +the gale blowed its pipe out.” + +“I wonder, now!” exclaimed Remarkable, to whom most of the terms used by +Benjamin were perfectly unintelligible, but who had got a confused idea +of a raging tempest. “It must be an awful life, that going to sea! and I +don't feel astonishment that you are so affronted with the thoughts, of +being forced to quit a comfortable home like this. Not that a body cares +much for't, as there's more houses than one to live in. Why, when the +Judge agreed with me to come and live with him, I'd no more notion +of stopping any time than anything. I happened in just to see how the +family did, about a week after Mrs. Temple died, thinking to be back +home agin' night; but the family was in such a distressed way that I +couldn't but stop awhile and help em on. I thought the situation a good +one, seeing that I was an unmarried body, and they were so much in want +of help; so I tarried.” + +“And a long time you've left your anchors down in the same place, +mistress. I think yo' must find that the ship rides easy.” + +“How you talk, Benjamin! there's no believing a word you say. I must say +that the Judge and Squire Jones have both acted quite clever, so long; +but I see that now we shall have a specimen to the contrary. I heern say +thats the Judge was gone a great 'broad, and that he meant to bring his +darter hum, but I didn't calculate on sich carrins on. To my notion, +Benjamin, she's likely to turn out a desp'ut ugly gal.” + +“Ugly!” echoed the major-domo, opening eyes that were beginning to close +in a very suspicious sleepiness, in wide amazement. “By the Lord Harry, +woman, I should as soon think of calling the Boadishey a clumsy frigate. +What the devil would you have? Arn't her eyes as bright as the morning +and evening stars? and isn't her hair as black and glistening as rigging +that has just had a lick of tar? doesn't she move as stately as a +first-rate in smooth water, on a bowline? Why, woman, the figure-head +of the Boadishey was a fool to her, and that, as I've often heard the +captain say, was an image of a great queen; and arn't queens always +comely, woman? for who do you think would be a king, and not choose a +handsome bedfellow?” + +“Talk decent, Benjamin,” said the housekeeper, “Or I won't keep your +company. I don't gainsay her being comely to look on, but I will +maintain that she's likely to show poor conduct. She seems to think +herself too good to talk to a body. From what Squire Jones had telled +me, I some expected to be quite captivated by her company. Now, to my +reckoning, Lowizy Grant is much more pritty behaved than Betsey Temple. +She wouldn't so much as hold discourse with me when I wanted to ask her +how she felt on coming home and missing her mammy.” + +“Perhaps she didn't understand you, woman; you are none of the best +linguister; and then Miss Lizzy has been exercising the king's English +under a great Lon'on lady, and, for that matter, can talk the language +almost as well as myself, or any native-born British subject. You've +forgot your schooling, and the young mistress is a great scollard.” + +“Mistress!” cried Remarkable; “don't make one out to be a nigger, +Benjamin. She's no mistress of mine, and never will be. And as to +speech, I hold myself as second to nobody out of New England. I was born +and raised in Essex County; and I've always heern say that the Bay State +was provarbal for pronounsation!” + +“I've often heard of that Bay of State,” said Benjamin, “but can't say +that I've ever been in it, nor do I know exactly whereaway it is that it +lays; but I suppose there is good anchorage in it, and that it's no bad +place for the taking of ling; but for size it can't be so much as a yawl +to a sloop of war compared with the Bay of Biscay, or, mayhap, Torbay. +And as for language, if you want to hear the dictionary overhauled like +a log-line in a blow, you must go to Wapping and listen to the Lon'oners +as they deal out their lingo. Howsomever, I see no such mighty matter +that Miss Lizzy has been doing to you, good woman; so take another drop +of your brews and forgive and forget, like an honest soul.” + +“No, indeed! and I shan't do sitch a thing, Benjamin. This treatment is +a newity to me, and what I won't put up with. I have a hundred and fifty +dollars at use, besides a bed and twenty sheep, to good; and I don't +crave to live in a house where a body mustn't call a young woman by her +given name to her face. I will call her Betsey as much as I please; +it's a free country, and no one can stop me. I did intend to stop while +summer, but I shall quit to-morrow morning; and I will talk just as I +please.” + +“For that matter, Mistress Remarkable,” said Benjamin, “there's none +here who will contradict you; for I'm of opinion that it would be as +easy to stop a hurricane with a Barcelony handkerchy as to bring up your +tongue when the stopper is off. I say, good woman, do they grow many +monkeys along the shores of that Bay of State?” + +“You're a monkey yourself, Mr. Penguillum,” cried the enraged +housekeeper, “or a bear--a black, beastly bear! and ain't fit for a +decent woman to stay with. I'll never, keep your company agin, sir, if +I should live thirty years with the Judge. Sitch talk is more befitting +the kitchen than the keeping-room of a house of one who is well-to-do in +the world.” + +“Look you, Mistress Pitty--Patty------Prettybones, mayhap I'm some such +matter as a bear, as they will find who come to grapple with me; but +dam'me if I'm a monkey--a thing that chatters without knowing a word of +what it says--a parrot; that will hold a dialogue, for what an honest +man knows, in a dozen languages; mayhap in the Bay of State lingo; +mayhap in Greek or High Dutch. But dost it know what it means itself? +canst answer me that, good woman? Your midshipman can sing out, and pass +the word, when the captain gives the order, but just send him adrift by +himself, and let him work the ship of his own head, and stop my grog if +you don't find all the Johnny Raws laughing at him.” + +“Stop your grog, indeed!” said Remarkable, rising with great +indignation, and seizing a candle; “you're groggy now, Benjamin and +I'll quit the room before I hear any misbecoming words from you.” The +housekeeper retired, with a manner but little less dignified, as she +thought, than the air of the heiress, muttering as she drew the door +after her, with a noise like the report of a musket, the opprobrious +terms of “drunkard,” “sot,” and “beast.” + +“Who's that you say is drunk?” cried Benjamin fiercely, rising and +making a movement toward Remarkable. “You talk of mustering yourself +with a lady you're just fit to grumble and find fault. Where the devil +should you larn behavior and dictionary? in your damned Bay of State, +ha?” + +Benjamin here fell back in his chair, and soon gave vent to certain +ominous sounds, which resembled not a little the growling of his +favorite animal the bear itself. Before, however, he was quite +locked--to use the language that would suit the Della-cruscan humor of +certain refined minds of the present day--“in the arms of Morpheus,” he +spoke aloud, observing due pauses between his epithets, the impressive +terms of “monkey,” “parrot,” “picnic,” “tar pot,” and “linguisters” + +We shall not attempt to explain his meaning nor connect his sentences; +and our readers must be satisfied with our informing them that they were +expressed with all that coolness of contempt that a man might well be +supposed to feel for a monkey. + +Nearly two hours passed in this sleep before the major domo was awakened +by the noisy entrance of Richard, Major Hartmann, and the master of the +mansion. Benjamin so far rallied his confused faculties as to shape +the course of the two former to their respective apartments, when he +disappeared himself, leaving the task of securing the house to him +who was most interested in its safety. Locks and bars were but little +attended to in the early days of that settlement, and so soon as +Marmaduke had given an eye to the enormous fires of his dwelling he +retired. With this act of prudence closes the first night of our tale. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + “Watch (aside). + Some treason, masters-- + Yet stand close.” + --Much Ado About Nothing. + +It was fortunate for more than one of the bacchanalians who left the +“Bold Dragoon” late in the evening that the severe cold of the season +was becoming rapidly less dangerous as they threaded the different mazes +through the snow-banks that led to their respective dwellings. Then +driving clouds began toward morning to flit across the heavens, and the +moon set behind a volume of vapor that was impelled furiously toward the +north, carrying with it the softer atmosphere from the distant ocean. +The rising sun was obscured by denser and increasing columns of +clouds, while the southerly wind that rushed up the valley brought the +never-failing symptoms of a thaw. + +It was quite late in the morning before Elizabeth, observing the faint +glow which appeared on the eastern mountain long after the light of the +sun had struck the opposite hills, ventured from the house, with a view +to gratify her curiosity with a glance by daylight at the surrounding +objects before the tardy revellers of the Christmas eve should make +their appearance at the breakfast-table. While she was drawing the folds +of her pelisse more closely around her form, to guard against a cold +that was yet great though rapidly yielding, in the small inclosure that +opened in the rear of the house on a little thicket of low pines that +were springing up where trees of a mightier growth had lately stood, she +was surprised at the voice of Mr. Jones. + +“Merry Christmas, merry Christmas to you, Cousin Bess,” he shouted. “Ah, +ha! an early riser, I see; but I knew I should steal a march on you. I +never was in a house yet where I didn't get the first Christmas greeting +on every soul in it, man, woman, and child--great and small--black, +white, and yellow. But stop a minute till I can just slip on my coat. +You are about to look at the improvements, I see, which no one can +explain so well as I, who planned them all. It will be an hour +before 'Duke and the Major can sleep off Mrs. Hollister's confounded +distillations, and so I'll come down and go with you.” + +Elizabeth turned and observed her cousin in his night cap, with his head +out of his bedroom window, where his zeal for pre-eminence, in defiance +of the weather, had impelled him to thrust it. She laughed, and +promising to wait for his company re-entered the house, making her +appearance again, holding in her hand a packet that was secured by +several large and important seals, just in time to meet the gentleman. + +“Come, Bessy, come,” he cried, drawing one of her arms through his own; +“the snow begins to give, but it will bear us yet. Don't you snuff +old Pennsylvania in the very air? This is a vile climate, girl; now at +sunset, last evening, it was cold enough to freeze a man's zeal, and +that, I can tell you, takes a thermometer near zero for me; then about +nine or ten it began to moderate; at twelve it was quite mild, and here +all the rest of the night I have been so hot as not to bear a blanket on +the bed.--Holla! Aggy--merry Christmas, Aggy--I say, do you hear me, you +black dog! there's a dollar for you; and if the gentle men get up before +I come back, do you come out and let me know. I wouldn't have 'Duke get +the start of me for the worth of your head.” + +The black caught the money from the snow, and promising a due degree of +watchfulness, he gave the dollar a whirl of twenty feet in the air, +and catching it as it fell in the palm of his hand, he withdrew to the +kitchen, to exhibit his present, with a heart as light as his face was +happy in its expression. + +“Oh, rest easy, my dear coz,” said the young lady; “I took a look in at +my father, who is likely to sleep an hour; and by using due vigilance +you will secure all the honors of the season.” + +“Why, Duke is your father, Elizabeth; but 'Duke is a man who likes to +be foremost, even in trifles. Now, as for myself, I care for no such +things, except in the way of competition; for a thing which is of no +moment in itself may be made of importance in the way of competition. So +it is with your father--he loves to be first; but I only; struggle with +him as a competitor.” + +“It's all very clear, sir,” said Elizabeth; “you would not care a fig +for distinction if there were no one in the world but yourself; but as +there happens to be a great many others, why, you must struggle with +them all--in the way of competition.” + +“Exactly so; I see you are a clever girl, Bess, and one who does credit +to her masters. It was my plan to send you to that school; for when your +father first mentioned the thing, I wrote a private letter for advice to +a judicious friend in the city, who recommended the very school you went +to. 'Duke was a little obstinate at first, as usual, but when he heard +the truth he was obliged to send you.” + +“Well, a truce to 'Duke's foibles, sir; he is my father, and if you knew +what he has been doing for you while we were in Albany, you would deal +more tenderly with his character.” + +“For me!” cried Richard, pausing a moment in his walk to reflect. “Oh! +he got the plans of the new Dutch meeting-house for me, I suppose; but +I care very little about it, for a man of a certain kind of talent +is seldom aided by any foreign suggestions; his own brain is the best +architect.” + +“No such thing,” said Elizabeth, looking provokingly knowing. + +“No! let me see--perhaps he had my name put in the bill for the new +turnpike, as a director.” + +“He might possibly; but it is not to such an appointment that I allude.” + +“Such an appointment!” repeated Mr. Jones, who began to fidget with +curiosity; “then it is an appointment. If it is in the militia, I won't +take it. + +“No, no, it is not in the militia,” cried Elizabeth, showing the packet +in her hand, and then drawing it back with a coquettish air; “it is an +office of both honor and emolument.” + +“Honor and emolument!” echoed Richard, in painful suspense; “show me the +paper, girl. Say, is it an office where there is anything to do?” + +“You have hit it, Cousin Dickon; it is the executive office of the +county; at least so said my father when he gave me this packet to offer +you as a Christmas-box. Surely, if anything will please Dickon,' he +said, 'it will be to fill the executive chair of the county.'” + +“Executive chair! what nonsense!” cried the impatient gentleman, +snatching the packet from her hand; “there is no such office in the +county. Eh! what! it is, I declare, a commission, appointing Richard +Jones, Esquire, sheriff of the county. Well, this is kind in 'Duke, +positively. I must say 'Duke has a warm heart, and never forgets his +friends. Sheriff! High Sheriff of--! it sounds well, Bess, but it shall +execute better. 'Duke is a judicious man after all, and knows human +nature thoroughly, I'm much obliged to him,” continued Richard, using +the skirt of his coat unconsciously to wipe his eyes; “though I would +do as much for him any day, as he shall see, if I have an opportunity to +perform any of the duties of my office on him. It shall be done, Cousin +Bess----it shall be done, I say. How this cursed south wind makes one's +eyes water!” + +“Now, Richard,” said the laughing maiden, “now I think you will find +something to do. I have often heard you complain of old that there was +nothing to do in this new country, while to my eyes it seemed as if +everything remained to be done.” + +“Do!” echoed Richard, who blew his nose, raised his little form to its +greatest elevation, and looked serious. “Everything depends on system, +girl. I shall sit down this afternoon and systematize the county. I must +have deputies, you know. I will divide the county into districts, over +which I will place my deputies; and I will have one for the village, +which I will call my home department. Let me see--ho! Benjamin! yes, +Benjamin will make a good deputy; he has been naturalized, and would +answer admirably if he could only ride on horseback.” + +“Yes, Mr. Sheriff,” said his companion; “and as he understands ropes so +well, he would be very expert, should occasion happen for his services +in another way.” + +“No,” interrupted the other; “I flatter myself that no man could hang a +man better than--that is--ha!--oh! yes, Benjamin would do extremely well +in such an unfortunate dilemma, if he could be persuaded to attempt it. +But I should despair of the thing. I never could induce him to hang, or +teach him to ride on horseback. I must seek another deputy.” + +“Well, sir, as you have abundant leisure for all these important +affairs, I beg that you will forget that you are high sheriff, and +devote some little of your time to gallantry. Where are the beauties and +improvements which you were to show me?” + +“Where? why, everywhere! Here I have laid out some new streets; and when +they are opened, and the trees felled, and they are all built up, will +they not make a fine town? Well, 'Duke is a liberal-hearted fellow, +with all his stubbornness. Yes, yes; I must have at least four deputies, +besides a jailer.” + +“I see no streets in the direction of our walk,” said Elizabeth, “unless +you call the short avenues through these pine bushes by that name. +Surely you do not contemplate building houses, very soon, in that forest +before us, and in those swamps.” + +“We must run our streets by the compass, coz, and disregard trees, hills, +ponds, stumps, or, in fact, anything but posterity. Such is the will of +your father, and your father, you know----” + +“Had you made sheriff, Mr. Jones,” interrupted the lady, with a tone +that said very plainly to the gentleman that he was touching a forbidden +subject. + +“I know it, I know it,” cried Richard; “and if it were in my power, +I'd make 'Duke a king. He is a noble hearted fellow, and would make an +excellent king; that is, if he had a good prime minister. But who have +we here? voices in the bushes--a combination about mischief, I'll wager +my commission. Let us draw near and examine a little into the matter.” + +During this dialogue, as the parties had kept in motion, Richard and his +cousin advanced some distance from the house into the open space in the +rear of the village, where, as may be gathered from the conversation, +streets were planned and future dwellings contemplated; but where, in +truth, the only mark of improvement that was to be seen was a neglected +clearing along the skirt of a dark forest of mighty pines, over which +the bushes or sprouts of the same tree had sprung up to a height that +interspersed the fields of snow with little thickets of evergreen. The +rushing of the wind, as it whistled through the tops of these mimic +trees, prevented the footsteps of the pair from being heard, while the +branches concealed their persons. Thus aided, the listeners drew nigh +to a spot where the young hunter, Leather-Stocking, and the Indian chief +were collected in an earnest consultation. The former was urgent in his +manner, and seemed to think the subject of deep importance, while Natty +appeared to listen with more than his usual attention to what the other +was saying. Mohegan stood a little on one side, with his head sunken +on his chest, his hair falling forward so as to conceal most of his +features, and his whole attitude expressive of deep dejection, if not of +shame. “Let us withdraw,” whispered Elizabeth; “we are intruders, and can +have no right to listen to the secrets of these men.” + +“No right!” returned Richard a little impatiently, in the same tone, and +drawing her arm so forcibly through his own as to prevent her retreat; +“you forget, cousin, that it is my duty to preserve the peace of the +county and see the laws executed, these wanderers frequently commit +depredations, though I do not think John would do anything secretly. +Poor fellow! he was quite boozy last night, and hardly seems to be over +it yet. Let us draw nigher and hear what they say.” + +Notwithstanding the lady's reluctance, Richard, stimulated doubtless by +his sense of duty, prevailed; and they were soon so near as distinctly +to hear sounds. + +“The bird must be had,” said Natty, “by fair means or foul. Heigho! I've +known the time, lad, when the wild turkeys wasn't over-scarce in the +country; though you must go into the Virginia gaps if you want them now. +'to be sure, there is a different taste to a partridge and a well-fatted +turkey; though, to my eating, beaver's tail and bear's ham make the +best of food. But then every one has his own appetite. I gave the last +farthing, all to that shilling, to the French trader, this very morning, +as I came through the town, for powder; so, as you have nothing, we can +have but one shot for it. I know that Billy Kirby is out, and means to +have a pull of the trigger at that very turkey. John has a true eye for +a single fire, and, some how, my hand shakes so whenever I have to do +anything extrawnary, that I often lose my aim. Now, when I killed the +she-bear this fall, with her cubs, though they were so mighty ravenous, +I knocked them over one at a shot, and loaded while I dodged the trees +in the bargain; but this is a very different thing, Mr. Oliver.” + +“This,” cried the young man, with an accent that sounded as if he took +a bitter pleasure in his poverty, while he held a shilling up before his +eyes, “this is all the treasure that I possess--this and my rifle! +Now, indeed, I have become a man of the woods, and must place my sole +dependence on the chase. Come, Natty, let us stake the last penny for +the bird; with your aim, it cannot fail to be successful.” + +“I would rather it should be John, lad; my heart jumps into my mouth, +because you set your mind so much out; and I'm sartain that I shall miss +the bird. Them Indians can shoot one time as well as another; nothing +ever troubles them. I say, John, here's a shilling; take my rifle, and +get a shot at the big turkey they've put up at the stump. Mr. Oliver is +over-anxious for the creatur', and I'm sure to do nothing when I have +over-anxiety about it.” + +The Indian turned his head gloomily, and after looking keenly for a +moment, in profound silence, at his companions, he replied: + +“When John was young, eyesight was not straighter than his bullet. The +Mingo squaws cried out at the sound of his rifle. The Mingo warriors +were made squaws. When did he ever shoot twice? The eagle went above +the clouds when he passed the wigwam of Chingachgook; his feathers were +plenty with the women. But see,” he said, raising his voice from +the low, mournful tones in which he had spoken to a pitch of keen +excitement, and stretching forth both hands, “they shake like a deer at +the wolf's howl. Is John old? When was a Mohican a squaw with seventy +winters? No! the white man brings old age with him--rum is his +tomahawk!” + +“Why, then, do you use it, old man?” exclaimed the young hunter; “why +will one, so noble by nature, aid the devices of the devil by making +himself a beast?” + +“Beast! is John a beast?” replied the Indian slowly; “yes; you say no +lie, child of the Fire-eater! John is a beast. The smokes were once +few in these hills, The deer would lick the hand of a white man and the +birds rest on his head. They were strangers to him. My fathers came from +the shores of the salt lake. They fled before rum. They came to their +grandfather, and they lived in peace; or, when they did raise the +hatchet, it was to strike it into the brain of a Mingo. They gathered +around the council fire, and what they said was done. Then John was a +man. But warriors and traders with light eyes followed them. One brought +the long knife and one brought rum. They were more than the pines on the +mountains; and they broke up the councils and took the lands, The evil +spirit was in their jugs, and they let him loose. Yes yes--you say no +lie, Young Eagle; John is a Christian beast.” + +“Forgive me, old warrior,” cried the youth, grasping his hand; “I should +be the last to reproach you. The curses of Heaven light on the cupidity +that has destroyed such a race. Remember, John, that I am of your +family, and it is now my greatest pride.” + +The muscles of Mohegan relaxed a little, and he said, more mildly: + +“You are a Delaware, my son; your words are not heard--John cannot +shoot.” + +“I thought that lad had Indian blood in him,” whispered Richard, “by the +awkward way he handled my horses last night. You see, coz, they never +use harness. But the poor fellow shall have two shots at the turkey, +if he wants it, for I'll give him another shilling myself; though, +perhaps, I had better offer to shoot for him. They have got up their +Christmas sports, I find, in the bushes yonder, where you hear the +laughter--though it is a queer taste this chap has for turkey; not but +what it is good eating, too.” + +“Hold, Cousin Richard,” exclaimed Elizabeth, clinging to his arm; “would +it be delicate to offer a shilling to that gentleman?” + +“Gentleman, again! Do you think a half-breed, like him, will refuse +money? No, no, girl, he will take the shilling; ay! and even rum too, +notwithstanding he moralizes so much about it, But I'll give the lad a +chance for his turkey; for that Billy Kirby is one of the best marksmen +in the country; that is, if we except the--the gentleman.” + +“Then,” said Elizabeth, who found her strength unequal to her will, +“then, sir, I will speak.” She advanced, with an air of determination, +in front of her cousin, and entered the little circle of bushes that +surrounded the trio of hunters. Her appearance startled the youth, who +at first made an unequivocal motion toward retiring, but, recollecting +himself, bowed, by lifting his cap, and resumed his attitude of leaning +on his rifle. Neither Natty nor Mohegan betrayed any emotion, though the +appearance of Elizabeth was so entirely unexpected. + +“I find,” she said, “that the old Christmas sport of shooting the turkey +is yet in use among you. I feel inclined to try my chance for a bird. +Which of you will take this money, and, after paying my fee, give me the +aid of his rifle?” + +“Is this a sport for a lady?” exclaimed the young hunter, with an +emphasis that could not well be mistaken, and with a rapidity that +showed he spoke without consulting anything but feeling. “Why not, sir? +If it be inhuman the sin is not confined to one sex only. But I have +my humor as well as others. I ask not your assistance, but”--turning +to Natty, and dropping a dollar in his hand--“this old veteran of the +forest will not be so ungallant as to refuse one fire for a lady.” + +Leather-Stocking dropped the money into his pouch, and throwing up the +end of his rifle he freshened his priming; and first laughing in his +usual manner, he threw the piece over his shoulder, and said: + +“If Billy Kirby don't get the bird before me, and the Frenchman's powder +don't hang fire this damp morning, you'll see as fine a turkey dead, in +a few minutes, as ever was eaten in the Judge's shanty. I have knowed +the Dutch women, on the Mohawk and Schoharie, count greatly on coming +to the merry-makings; and so, lad, you shouldn't be short with the lady. +Come, let us go forward, for if we wait the finest bird will be gone.” + +“But I have a right before you, Natty, and shall try on my own luck +first. You will excuse me, Miss Temple; I have much reason to wish that +bird, and may seem ungallant, but I must claim my privileges.” + +“Claim anything that is justly your own, sir,” returned the lady; “we +are both adventurers; and this is my knight. I trust my fortune to his +hand and eye. Lead on, Sir Leather-Stocking, and we will follow.” + +Natty, who seemed pleased with the frank address of the young and +beauteous Elizabeth, who had so singularly intrusted him with such a +commission, returned the bright smile with which she had addressed him, +by his own peculiar mark of mirth, and moved across the snow toward +the spot whence the sounds of boisterous mirth proceeded, with the +long strides of a hunter. His companions followed in silence, the youth +casting frequent and uneasy glances toward Elizabeth, who was detained +by a motion from Richard. + +“I should think, Miss Temple,” he said, so soon as the others were out +of hearing, “that if you really wished a turkey, you would not have +taken a stranger for the office, and such a one as Leather-Stocking. +But I can hardly believe that you are serious, for I have fifty, at this +moment, shut up in the coops, in every stage of fat, so that you might +choose any quality you pleased. There are six that I am trying an +experiment on, by giving them brick-bats with--” + +“Enough, Cousin Dickon,” interrupted the lady; “I do wish the bird, and +it is because I so wish that I commissioned this Mr. Leather-Stocking.” + +“Did you ever hear of the great shot that I made at the wolf, Cousin +Elizabeth, who was carrying off your father's sheep?” said Richard, +drawing himself up with an air of displeasure. “He had the sheep on his +hack; and, had the head of the wolf been on the other side, I should +have killed him dead; as it was--” + +“You killed the sheep--I know it all, dear coz. Hut would it have been +decorous for the High Sheriff of--to mingle in such sports as these?” + “Surely you did not think that I intended actually to fire with my own +hands?” said Mr. Jones. “But let us follow, and see the shooting. There +is no fear of anything unpleasant occurring to a female in this new +country, especially to your father's daughter, and in my presence.” + +“My father's daughter fears nothing, sir, more especially when escorted +by the highest executive officer in the county.” + +She took his arm, and he led her through the mazes of the bushes to the +spot where most of the young men of the village were collected for +the sports of shooting a Christmas match, and whither Natty and his +Companions had already preceded them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + “I guess, by all this quaint array, + The burghers hold their sports to-day.” + --Scott. + +The ancient amusement of shooting the Christmas turkey is one of the +few sports that the settlers of a new country seldom or never neglect to +observe. It was connected with the daily practices of a people who often +laid aside the axe or the scythe to seize the rifle, as the deer glided +through the forests they were felling, or the bear entered their rough +meadows to scent the air of a clearing, and to scan, with a look of +sagacity, the progress of the invader. + +On the present occasion, the usual amusement of the day had been a +little hastened, in order to allow a fair opportunity to Mr. Grant, whose +exhibition was not less a treat to the young sportsmen than the one +which engaged their present attention. The owner of the birds was a free +black, who had prepared for the occasion a collection of game that was +admirably qualified to inflame the appetite of an epicure, and was well +adapted to the means and skill of the different competitors, who were of +all ages. He had offered to the younger and more humble marks men divers +birds of an inferior quality, and some shooting had already taken place, +much to the pecuniary advantage of the sable owner of the game. The +order of the sports was extremely simple, and well understood. The +bird was fastened by a string to the stump of a large pine, the side +of which, toward the point where the marksmen were placed, had been +flattened with an axe, in order that it might serve the purpose of a +target, by which the merit of each individual might be ascertained. The +distance between the stump and shooting-stand was one hundred measured +yards; a foot more or a foot less being thought an invasion of the right +of one of the parties. The negro affixed his own price to every bird, +and the terms of the chance; but, when these were once established, he +was obliged, by the strict principles of public justice that prevailed +in the country, to admit any adventurer who might offer. + +The throng consisted of some twenty or thirty young men, most of whom +had rifles, and a collection of all the boys in the village. The little +urchins, clad in coarse but warm garments, stood gathered around +the more distinguished marksmen, with their hands stuck under their +waistbands, listening eagerly to the boastful stories of skill that had +been exhibited on former occasions, and were already emulating in their +hearts these wonderful deeds in gunnery. + +The chief speaker was the man who had been mentioned by Natty as Billy +Kirby. This fellow, whose occupation, when he did labor, was that of +clearing lands, or chopping jobs, was of great stature, and carried in +his very air the index of his character. He was a noisy, boisterous, +reckless lad, whose good-natured eye contradicted the bluntness and +bullying tenor of his speech. For weeks he would lounge around the +taverns of the county, in a state of perfect idleness, or doing small +jobs for his liquor and his meals, and cavilling with applicants about +the prices of his labor; frequently preferring idleness to an abatement +of a little of his independence, or a cent in his wages. But, when these +embarrassing points were satisfactorily arranged, he would shoulder his +axe and his rifle, slip his arms through the straps of his pack, and +enter the woods with the tread of a Hercules. His first object was to +learn his limits, round which he would pace, occasionally freshening, +with a blow of his axe, the marks on the boundary trees; and then he +would proceed, with an air of great deliberation, to the centre of his +premises, and, throwing aside his superfluous garments, measure, with +a knowing eye, one or two of the nearest trees that were towering +apparently into the very clouds as he gazed upward. Commonly selecting +one of the most noble for the first trial of his power, he would +approach it with a listless air, whistling a low tune; and wielding his +axe with a certain flourish, not unlike the salutes of a fencing-master, +he would strike a light blow into the bark, and measure his distance. +The pause that followed was ominous of the fall of the forest which had +flourished there for centuries. The heavy and brisk blows that he struck +were soon succeeded by the thundering report of the tree, as it came, +first cracking and threatening with the separation of its own last +ligaments, then threshing and tearing with its branches the tops of its +surrounding brethren, and finally meeting the ground with a shock but +little inferior to an earthquake. From that moment the sounds of the +axe were ceaseless, while the failing of the trees was like a distant +cannonading; and the daylight broke into the depths of the woods with +the suddenness of a winter morning. + +For days, weeks, nay months, Billy Kirby would toil with an ardor that +evinced his native spirit, and with an effect that seemed magical, +until, his chopping being ended, his stentorian lungs could be heard +emitting sounds, as he called to his patient oxen, which rang through +the hills like the cries of an alarm. He had been often heard, on a +mild summer' evening, a long mile across the vale of Templeton; when the +echoes from the mountains would take up his cries, until they died away +in the feeble sounds from the distant rocks that overhung the lake. His +piles, or, to use the language of the country, his logging ended, with a +dispatch that could only accompany his dexterity and herculean strength, +the jobber would collect together his implements of labor, light the +heaps of timber, and march away under the blaze of the prostrate forest, +like the conqueror of some city who, having first prevailed over his +adversary, applies the torch as the finishing blow to his conquest. +For a long time Billy Kirby would then be seen sauntering around the +taverns, the rider of scrub races, the bully of cock-fights, and not +infrequently the hero of such sports as the one in hand. + +Between him and the Leather-Stocking there had long existed a jealous +rivalry on the point of skill with the rifle. Notwithstanding the long +practice of Natty, it was commonly supposed that the steady nerves +and the quick eye of the wood-chopper rendered him his equal. The +competition had, however, been confined hitherto to boasting, and +comparisons made from their success in various hunting excursions; but +this was the first time they had ever come in open collision. A good +deal of higgling about the price of the choicest bird had taken place +between Billy Kirby and its owner before Natty and his companions +rejoined the sportsmen It had, however, been settled at one shilling * +a shot, which was the highest sum ever exacted, the black taking care to +protect himself from losses, as much as possible, by the conditions of +the sport. + + * Before the Revolution, each province had its own money of account + though neither coined any but copper pieces. In New York the Spanish + dollar was divided into eight shillings, each of the value of a + fraction more than sixpence sterling. At present the Union has + provided a decimal system, with coins to represent it. + +The turkey was already fastened at the “mark,” but its body was entirely +hid by the surrounding snow, nothing being visible but its red swelling +head and its long neck. If the bird was injured by any bullet that +struck below the snow, it was to continue the property of its present +owner; but if a feather was touched in a visible part, the animal became +the prize of the successful adventurer. + +These terms were loudly proclaimed by the negro, who was seated in +the snow, in a somewhat hazardous vicinity to his favorite bird, when +Elizabeth and her cousin approached the noisy sportsmen. The sounds of +mirth and contention sensibly lowered at this unexpected visit; but, +after a moment's pause, the curious interest exhibited in the face of +the young lady, together with her smiling air, restored the freedom +of the morning; though it was somewhat chastened, both in language and +vehemence, by the presence of such a spectator. + +“Stand out of the way there, boys!” cried the wood-chopper, who was +placing himself at the shooting-point--stand out of the way, you little +rascals, or I will shoot through you. Now, Brom, take leave of your +turkey. + +“Stop!” cried the young hunter; “I am a candidate for a chance. Here is +my shilling, Brom; I wish a shot too.” + +“You may wish it in welcome,” cried Kirby, “but if I ruffle the +gobbler's feathers, how are you to get it? Is money so plenty in your +deer-skin pocket, that you pay for a chance that you may never have?” + +“How know you, sir, how plenty money is in my pocket?” said the youth +fiercely. “Here is my shilling, Brom, and I claim a right to shoot.” + +“Don't be crabbed, my boy,” said the other, who was very coolly fixing +his flint. “They say you have a hole in your left shoulder yourself, so +I think Brom may give you a fire for half-price. It will take a keen one +to hit that bird, I can tell you, my lad, even if I give you a chance, +which is what I have no mind to do.” + +“Don't be boasting, Billy Kirby,” said Natty, throwing the breech of his +rifle into the snow, and leaning on its barrel; “you'll get but one +shot at the creatur', for if the lad misses his aim, which wouldn't be +a wonder if he did, with his arm so stiff and sore, you'll find a good +piece and an old eye coming a'ter you. Maybe it's true that I can't +shoot as I used to could, but a hundred yards is a short distance for a +long rifle.” + +“What, old Leather-Stocking, are you out this morning?” cried his +reckless opponent. “Well, fair play's a jewel. I've the lead of you, old +fellow; so here goes for a dry throat or a good dinner.” + +The countenance of the negro evinced not only all the interest which his +pecuniary adventure might occasion, but also the keen excitement that +the sport produced in the others, though with a very different wish as +to the result. While the wood-chopper was slowly and steadily raising +his rifle, he bawled; + +“Fair play, Billy Kirby--stand back--make 'em stand back, boys--gib a +nigger fair play--poss-up,--gobbler; shake a head, fool; don't you see +'em taking aim?” + +These cries, which were intended as much to distract the attention of +the marksman as for anything else, were fruitless. + +The nerves of the wood-chopper were not so easily shaken, and he took +his aim with the utmost deliberation. Stillness prevailed for a moment, +and he fired. The head of the turkey was seen to dash on one side, and +its wings were spread in momentary fluttering; but it settled itself +down calmly into its bed of snow, and glanced its eyes uneasily around. +For a time long enough to draw a deep breath, not a sound was heard. +The silence was then broken by the noise of the negro, who laughed, and +shook his body with all kinds of antics, rolling over in the snow in the +excess of delight. + +“Well done, a gobbler,” he cried, jumping up and affecting to embrace +his bird; “I tell 'em to poss-up, and you see 'em dodge. Gib anoder +shillin', Billy, and halb anoder shot.” + +“No--the shot is mine,” said the young hunter; “you have my money +already. Leave the mark, and let me try my luck.” + +“Ah! it's but money thrown away, lad,” said Leather-Stocking. “A +turkey's head and neck is but a small mark for a new hand and a lame +shoulder. You'd best let me take the fire, and maybe we can make some +settlement with the lady about the bird.” + +“The chance is mine,” said the young hunter. “Clear the ground, that I +may take it.” + +The discussions and disputes concerning the last shot were now abating, +it having been determined that if the turkey's head had been anywhere +but just where it was at that moment, the bird must certainly have been +killed. There was not much excitement produced by the preparations of +the youth, who proceeded in a hurried manner to take his aim, and was in +the act of pulling the trigger, when he was stopped by Natty. + +“Your hand shakes, lad,” he said, “and you seem over eager. +Bullet-wounds are apt to weaken flesh, and to my judgment you'll not +shoot so well as in common. If you will fire, you should shoot quick, +before there is time to shake off the aim.” + +“Fair play,” again shouted the negro; “fair play--gib a nigger fair +play. What right a Nat Bumppo advise a young man? Let 'em shoot--clear a +ground.” + +The youth fired with great rapidity, but no motion was made by the +turkey; and, when the examiners for the ball returned from the “mark,” + they declared that he had missed the stump. + +Elizabeth observed the change in his countenance, and could not help +feeling surprise that one so evidently superior to his companions should +feel a trifling loss so sensibly. But her own champion was now preparing +to enter the lists. + +The mirth of Brom, which had been again excited, though in a much +smaller degree than before, by the failure of the second adventurer, +vanished the instant Natty took his stand. His skin became mottled +with large brown spots, that fearfully sullied the lustre of his native +ebony, while his enormous lips gradually compressed around two rows of +ivory that had hitherto been shining in his visage like pearls set in +jet. His nostrils, at all times the most conspicuous feature of his +face, dilated until they covered the greater part of the diameter of his +countenance; while his brown and bony hands unconsciously grasped the +snow-crust near him, the excitement of the moment completely overcoming +his native dread of cold. + +While these indications of apprehension were exhibited in the sable +owner of the turkey, the man who gave rise to this extraordinary emotion +was as calm and collected as if there was not to be a single spectator +of his skill. + +“I was down in the Dutch settlements on the Schoharie,” said Natty, +carefully removing the leather guard from the lock of his rifle, “just +before the breaking out of the last war, and there was a shooting-match +among the boys; so I took a hand. I think I opened a good many Dutch +eyes that day; for I won the powder-horn, three bars of lead, and a +pound of as good powder as ever flashed in pan. Lord! how they did swear +in Jarman! They did tell me of one drunken Dutchman who said he'd have +the life of me before I got back to the lake agin. But if he had put his +rifle to his shoulder with evil intent God would have punished him for +it; and even if the Lord didn't, and he had missed his aim, I know one +that would have given him as good as he sent, and better too, if good +shooting could come into the 'count.” By this time the old hunter was +ready for his business, and throwing his right leg far behind him, and +stretching his left arm along the barrel of his piece, he raised it +toward the bird, Every eye glanced rapidly from the marks man to the +mark; but at the moment when each ear was expecting the report of the +rifle, they were disappointed by the ticking sound of the flint. + +“A snap, a snap!” shouted the negro, springing from his crouching +posture like a madman, before his bird. “A snap good as fire--Natty +Bumppo gun he snap--Natty Bumppo miss a turkey!” + +“Natty Bumppo hit a nigger,” said the indignant old hunter, “if you don't +get out of the way, Brom. It's contrary to the reason of the thing, boy, +that a snap should count for a fire, when one is nothing more than a +fire-stone striking a steel pan, and the other is sudden death; so get +out of my way, boy, and let me show Billy Kirby how to shoot a Christmas +turkey.” + +“Gib a nigger fair play!” cried the black, who continued resolutely to +maintain his post, and making that appeal to the justice of his auditors +which the degraded condition of his caste so naturally suggested. +“Eberybody know dat snap as good as fire. Leab it to Massa Jone--leab it +to lady.” + +“Sartain,” said the wood-chopper; “it's the law of the game in this part +of the country, Leather-Stocking. If you fire agin you must pay up the +other shilling. I b'lieve I'll try luck once more myself; so, Brom, +here's my money, and I take the next fire.” + +“It's likely you know the laws of the woods better than I do, Billy +Kirby,” returned Natty. “You come in with the settlers, with an ox-goad +in your hand, and I come in with moccasins on my feet, and with a good +rifle on my shoulders, so long back as afore the old war. Which is +likely to know the best? I say no man need tell me that snapping is as +good as firing when I pull the trigger.” + +“Leab it to Massa Jone,” said the alarmed negro; “he know eberyting.” + This appeal to the knowledge of Richard was too flattering to be +unheeded. He therefore advanced a little from the spot whither the +delicacy of Elizabeth had induced her to withdraw, and gave the +following opinion, with the gravity that the subject and his own rank +demanded: + +“There seems to be a difference in opinion,” he said, “on the subject of +Nathaniel Bumppo's right to shoot at Abraham Freeborn's turkey without +the said Nathaniel paying one shilling for the privilege.” The fact was +too evident to be denied, and after pausing a moment, that the audience +might digest his premises, Richard proceeded: “It seems proper that I +should decide this question, as I am bound to preserve the peace of +the county; and men with deadly weapons in their hands should not be +heedlessly left to contention and their own malignant passions. It +appears that there was no agreement, either in writing or in words, on +the disputed point; therefore we must reason from analogy, which is, +as it were, comparing one thing with another. Now, in duels, where both +parties shoot, it is generally the rule that a snap is a fire; and if +such is the rule where the party has a right to fire back again, it +seems to me unreasonable to say that a man may stand snapping at a +defenceless turkey all day. I therefore am of the opinion that Nathaniel +Bumppo has lost his chance, and must pay another shilling before he +renews his right.” + +As this opinion came from so high a quarter, and was delivered with +effect, it silenced all murmurs--for the whole of the spectators had +begun to take sides with great warmth--except from the Leather-Stocking +himself. + +“I think Miss Elizabeth's thoughts should be taken,” said Natty. “I've +known the squaws give very good counsel when the Indians had been +dumfounded. If she says that I ought to lose, I agree to give it up.” + +“Then I adjudge you to be a loser for this time,” said Miss Temple; “but +pay your money and renew your chance; unless Brom will sell me the bird +for a dollar. I will give him the money, and save the life of the poor +victim.” + +This proposition was evidently but little relished by any of the +listeners, even the negro feeling the evil excitement of the chances. In +the mean while, as Billy Kirby was preparing himself for another shot, +Natty left the stand, with an extremely dissatisfied manner, muttering: + +“There hasn't been such a thing as a good flint sold at the foot of the +lake since the Indian traders used to come into the country; and, if a +body should go into the flats along the streams in the hills to hunt for +such a thing, it's ten to one but they will be all covered up with the +plough. Heigho! it seems to me that just as the game grows scarce, and +a body wants the best ammunition to get a livelihood, everything that's +bad falls on him like a judgment. But I'll change the stone, for Billy +Kirby hasn't the eye for such a mark, I know.” + +The wood-chopper seemed now entirely sensible that his reputation +depended on his care; nor did he neglect any means to insure success. He +drew up his rifle, and renewed his aim again and again, still appearing +reluctant to fire, No sound was heard from even Brom, during these +portentous movements, until Kirby discharged his piece, with the same +want of success as before. Then, indeed, the shouts of the negro rang +through the bushes and sounded among the trees of the neighboring forest +like the outcries of a tribe of Indians. He laughed, rolling his head +first on one side, then on the other, until nature seemed exhausted with +mirth. He danced until his legs were wearied with motion in the snow; +and, in short, he exhibited all that violence of joy that characterizes +the mirth of a thoughtless negro. + +The wood-chopper had exerted all his art, and felt a proportionate +degree of disappointment at the failure. He first examined the bird with +the utmost attention, and more than once suggested that he had touched +its feathers; but the voice of the multitude was against him, for it +felt disposed to listen to the often-repeated cries of the black to “gib +a nigger fair play.” + +Finding it impossible to make out a title to the bird, Kirby turned +fiercely to the black and said: + +“Shut your oven, you crow! Where is the man that can hit a turkey's head +at a hundred yards? I was a fool for trying. You needn't make an uproar +like a falling pine-tree about it. Show me the man who can do it.” + +“Look this a-way, Billy Kirby,” said Leather-Stocking, “and let them +clear the mark, and I'll show you a man who's made better shots afore +now, and that when he's been hard pressed by the savages and wild +beasts.” + +“Perhaps there is one whose rights come before ours, Leather-Stocking,” + said Miss Temple. “If so, we will waive our privilege.” + +“If it be me that you have reference to,” said the young hunter, “I +shall decline another chance. My shoulder is yet weak, I find.” + +Elizabeth regarded his manner, and thought that she could discern a +tinge on his cheek that spoke the shame of conscious poverty. She said +no more, but suffered her own champion to make a trial. Although Natty +Bumppo had certainly made hundreds of more momentous shots at his +enemies or his game, yet he never exerted himself more to excel. He +raised his piece three several times: once to get his range; once +to calculate his distance; and once because the bird, alarmed by the +death-like stillness, turned its head quickly to examine its foes. But +the fourth time he fired. The smoke, the report, and the momentary shock +prevented most of the spectators from instantly knowing the result; but +Elizabeth, when she saw her champion drop the end of his rifle in the +snow and open his mouth in one of its silent laughs, and then proceed +very coolly to recharge his piece, knew that he had been successful. The +boys rushed to the mark, and lifted the turkey on high, lifeless, and +with nothing but the remnant of a head. “Bring in the creatur',” said +Leather-Stocking, “and put it at the feet of the lady. I was her deputy +in the matter, and the bird is her property.” + +“And a good deputy you have proved yourself,” returned +Elizabeth--“so good, Cousin Richard, that I would advise you to remember +his qualities.” She paused, and the gayety that beamed on her face gave +place to a more serious earnestness. She even blushed a little as she +turned to the young hunter, and with the charm of a woman's manner +added: “But it was only to see an exhibition of the far-famed skill of +Leather-Stocking, that I tried my fortunes. Will you, sir, accept the +bird as a small peace offering for the hurt that prevented your own +success?” + +The expression with which the youth received this present was +indescribable, He appeared to yield to the blandishment of her air, in +opposition to a strong inward impulse to the contrary. He bowed, and +raised the victim silently from her feet, but continued silent. + +Elizabeth handed the black a piece of silver as a remuneration for his +loss, which had some effect in again unbending his muscles, and then +expressed to her companion her readiness to return homeward. + +“Wait a minute, Cousin Bess,” cried Richard; “there is an uncertainty +about the rules of this sport that it is proper I should remove. If you +will appoint a committee, gentlemen, to wait on me this morning, I +will draw up in writing a set of regulations--' He stopped, with some +indignation, for at that instant a hand was laid familiarly on the +shoulder of the High Sheriff of--. + +“A merry Christmas to you, Cousin Dickon,” said Judge Temple, who had +approached the party unperceived: “I must have a vigilant eye to my +daughter, sir, if you are to be seized daily with these gallant fits. I +admire the taste which would introduce a lady to such scenes!” + +“It is her own perversity, 'Duke,” cried the disappointed sheriff, who +felt the loss of the first salutation as grievously as many a man would +a much greater misfortune; “and I must say that she comes honestly by +it. I led her out to show her the improvements, but away she scampered, +through the snow, at the first sound of fire-arms, the same as if she +had been brought up in a camp, instead of a first-rate boarding-school. +I do think, Judge Temple, that such dangerous amusements should be +suppressed, by statute; nay, I doubt whether they are not already +indictable at common law.” + +“Well, sir, as you are sheriff of the county, it becomes your duty to +examine into the matter,” returned the smiling Marmaduke, “I perceive +that Bess has executed her commission, and I hope it met with a +favorable reception.” Richard glanced his eye at the packet which +he held in his hand, and the slight anger produced by disappointment +vanished instantly. + +“Ah! 'Duke, my dear cousin,” he said, “step a little on one side; I have +something I would say to you.” + +Marmaduke complied, and the sheriff led him to a little distance in the +bushes, and continued: “First, 'Duke, let me thank you for your friendly +interest with the Council and the Governor, without which I am confident +that the greatest merit would avail but little. But we are sisters' +children--we are sisters' children, and you may use me like one of your +horses; ride me or drive me, 'Duke, I am wholly yours. But in my humble +opinion, this young companion of Leather-Stocking requires looking +after. He has a very dangerous propensity for turkey.” + +“Leave him to my management, Dickon,” said the Judge, “and I will cure +his appetite by indulgence. It is with him that I would speak. Let us +rejoin the sportsmen.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + + “Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, + If she had been in presence there, + In his wan face, and sunburnt hair, + She had not known her child.” + --Scott. + +It diminished, in no degree, the effect produced by the conversation +which passed between Judge Temple and the I young hunter, that the +former took the arm of his daughter and drew it through his own, when +he advanced from the spot whither Richard had led him to that where the +youth was standing, leaning on his rifle, and contemplating the dead +bird at his feet. The presence of Marmaduke did not interrupt the +sports, which were resumed by loud and clamorous disputes concerning the +conditions of a chance that involved the life of a bird of much inferior +quality to the last. Leather-Stocking and Mohegan had alone drawn aside +to their youthful companion; and, although in the immediate vicinity of +such a throng, the following conversation was heard only by those who +were interested in it. + +“I have greatly injured you, Mr. Edwards,” said the Judge; but the +sudden and inexplicable start with which the person spoken to received +this unexpected address, caused him to pause a moment. As no answer was +given, and the strong emotion exhibited in the countenance of the youth +gradually passed away, he continued: “But fortunately it is in some +measure in my power to compensate you for what I have done. My kinsman, +Richard Jones, has received an appointment that will, in future, deprive +me of his assistance, and leave me, just now, destitute of one who might +greatly aid me with his pen. Your manner, notwithstanding appearances, +is a sufficient proof of your education, nor will thy shoulder suffer +thee to labor, for some time to come.” (Marmaduke insensibly relapsed +into the language of the Friends as he grew warm.) “My doors are open +to thee, my young friend, for in this infant country we harbor no +suspicions; little offering to tempt the cupidity of the evil-disposed. +Be come my assistant, for at least a season, and receive such +compensation as thy services will deserve.” + +There was nothing in the manner of the offer of the Judge to justify the +reluctance, amounting nearly to loathing, with which the youth listened +to his speech; but, after a powerful effort for self-command, he +replied: + +“I would serve you, sir, or any other man, for an honest support, for I +do not affect to conceal that my necessities are very great, even beyond +what appearances would indicate; but I am fearful that such new duties +would interfere too much with more important business; so that I must +decline your offer, and depend on my rifle, as before, for subsistence.” + +Richard here took occasion to whisper to the young lady, who had shrunk +a little from the foreground of the picture: + +“This, you see, Cousin Bess, is the natural reluctance of a half-breed +to leave the savage state. Their attachment to a wandering life is, I +verily believe, unconquerable.” + +“It is a precarious life,” observed Marmaduke, without hearing the +sheriff's observation, “and one that brings more evils with it than +present suffering. Trust me, young friend, my experience is greater than +thine, when I tell thee that the unsettled life of these hunters is of +vast disadvantage for temporal purposes, and it totally removes one from +the influence of more sacred things.” + +“No, no, Judge,” interrupted the Leather-Stocking, who was hitherto +unseen, or disregarded; “take him into your shanty in welcome, but tell +him truth. I have lived in the woods for forty long years, and have +spent five at a time without seeing the light of a clearing bigger than +a window in the trees; and I should like to know where you'll find a +man, in his sixty-eighth year, who can get an easier living, for all +your betterments and your deer laws; and, as for honesty, or doing +what's right between man and man, I'll not turn my back to the +longest-winded deacon on your Patent.” + +“Thou art an exception, Leather-Stocking,” returned the Judge, nodding +good-naturedly at the hunter; “for thou hast a temperance unusual in thy +class, and a hardihood exceeding thy years. But this youth is made of +materials too precious to be wasted in the forest--I entreat thee to +join my family, if it be but till thy arm is healed. My daughter here, +who is mistress of my dwelling, wilt tell thee that thou art welcome.” + +“Certainly,” said Elizabeth, whose earnestness was a little checked +by female reserve. “The unfortunate would be welcome at any time, but +doubly so when we feel that we have occasioned the evil ourselves,” + “Yes,” said Richard, “and if you relish turkey, young man, there are +plenty in the coops, and of the best kind, I can assure you.” + +Finding himself thus ably seconded, Marmaduke pushed his advantage to +the utmost. He entered into a detail of the duties that would attend +the situation, and circumstantially mentioned the reward, and all those +points which are deemed of importance among men of business. The youth +listened in extreme agitation. There was an evident contest in his +feelings; at times he appeared to wish eagerly for the change, and +then again the incomprehensible expression of disgust would cross his +features, like a dark cloud obscuring a noonday sun. + +The Indian, in whose manner the depression of self-abasement was most +powerfully exhibited, listened to the offers of the Judge with an +interest that increased with each syllable. Gradually he drew nigher to +the group and when, with his keen glance, he detected the most marked +evidence of yielding in the countenance of his young companion, he +changed at once from his attitude and look of shame to the front of an +Indian warrior, and moving, with great dignity, closer to the parties, +he spoke. + +“Listen to your father,” he said; “his words are old. Let the Young +Eagle and the Great Land Chief eat together; let them sleep, without +fear, near each other. The children of Miquon love not blood: they are +just, and will do right. The sun must rise and set often, Before men +can make one family; it is not the work of a day, but of many winters. +The Mingoes and the Delawares are born enemies; their blood can never +mix in the wigwam; it never will run in the same stream in the battle. +What makes the brother of Miquon and the Young Eagle foes? They are of +the same tribe; their fathers and mothers are one. Learn to wait, my +son, you are a Delaware, and an Indian warrior knows how to be patient.” + +This figurative address seemed to have great weight with the young +man, who gradually yielded to the representations of Marmaduke, +and eventually consented to his proposal. It was, however, to be an +experiment only; and, if either of the parties thought fit to rescind +the engagement, it was left at his option so to do. The remarkable and +ill-concealed reluctance of the youth to accept of an offer, which +most men in his situation would consider as an unhoped-for elevation, +occasioned no little surprise in those to whom he was a stranger; and +it left a slight impression to his disadvantage. When the parties +separated, they very naturally made the subject the topic of a +conversation, which we shall relate; first commencing with the Judge, +his daughter, and Richard, who were slowly pursuing the way back to the +mansion-house. + +“I have surely endeavored to remember the holy man dates of our +Redeemer, when he bids us 'love them who despitefully use you,' in my +intercourse with this incomprehensible boy,” said Marmaduke. “I know not +what there is in my dwelling to frighten a lad of his years, unless it +may he thy presence and visage, Bess.” + +“No, no,” said Richard, with great simplicity, “it is not Cousin +Bess. But when did you ever know a half-breed, 'Duke, who could +bear civilization? For that matter, they are worse than the savages +themselves! Did you notice how knock-kneed he stood, Elizabeth, and what +a wild look he had in his eyes?” + +“I heeded not his eyes, nor his knees, which would be all the better +for a little humbling. Really, my dear sir, I think you did exercise +the Christian virtue of patience to the utmost. I was disgusted with his +airs, long before he consented to make one of our family. Truly we are +much honored by the association! In what apartment is he to be placed, +sir; and at what table is he to receive his nectar and ambrosia?” + +“With Benjamin and Remarkable,” interrupted Mr. Jones; “you sorely would +not make the youth eat with the blacks! He is part Indian, it is true; +but the natives hold the negroes in great contempt. No, no; he would +starve before he would break a crust with the negroes.” + +“I am but too happy, Dickon, to tempt him to eat with ourselves,” said +Marmaduke, “to think of offering even the indignity you propose.” + +“Then, sir,” said Elizabeth, with an air that was slightly affected, as +if submitting to her father's orders in opposition to her own will, “it +is your pleasure that he be a gentleman.” + +“Certainly; he is to fill the station of one. Let him receive the +treatment that is due to his place, until we find him unworthy of it.” + +“Well, well, 'Duke,” cried the sheriff, “you will find it no easy matter +to make a gentleman of him. The old proverb says that 'it takes three +generations to make a gentleman.' There was my father whom everybody +knew my grandfather was an M.D., and his father a D.D.; and his father +came from England, I never could come at the truth of his origin; but +he was either a great mer chant in London, or a great country lawyer, or +the youngest son of a bishop.” + +“Here is a true American genealogy for you,” said Marmaduke, laughing. +“It does very well till you get across the water, where, as everything +is obscure, it is certain to deal in the superlative. You are sure that +your English progenitor was great, Dickon, whatever his profession might +have been?” + +“To be sure I am,” returned the other. “I have heard my old aunt talk of +him by the month. We are of a good family, Judge Temple, and have never +filled any but honorable stations in life.” + +“I marvel that you should be satisfied with so scanty a provision of +gentility in the olden time, Dickon. Most of the American genealogists +commence their traditions like the stories for children, with three +brothers, taking especial care that one of the triumvirate shall be +the progenitor of any of the same name who may happen to be better +furnished with worldly gear than themselves. But, here, all are equal +who know how to conduct themselves with propriety; and Oliver Edwards +comes into my family on a footing with both the high sheriff and the +judge.” + +“Well, 'Duke, I call this democracy, not republicanism; but I say +nothing; only let him keep within the law, or I shall show him that the +freedom of even this country is under wholesome restraint.” + +“Surely, Dickon, you will not execute till I condemn! But what says Bess +to the new inmate? We must pay a deference to the ladies in this matter, +after all.” + +“Oh, sir!” returned Elizabeth, “I believe I am much like a certain Judge +Temple in this particular--not easily to be turned from my opinion. But, +to be serious, although I must think the introduction of a demi-savage +into the family a somewhat startling event, whomsoever you think proper +to countenance may be sure of my respect.” + +The Judge drew her arm more closely in his own and smiled, while Richard +led the way through the gate of the little court-yard in the rear of +the dwelling, dealing out his ambiguous warnings with his accustomed +loquacity. + +On the other hand, the foresters--for the three hunters, notwithstanding +their difference in character, well deserved this common name--pursued +their course along the skirts of the village in silence. It was not +until they had reached the lake, and were moving over its frozen surface +toward the foot of the mountain, where the hut stood, that the youth +exclaimed: + +“Who could have foreseen this a month since! I have consented to serve +Marmaduke Temple--to be an inmate in the dwelling of the greatest enemy +of my race; yet what better could I do? The servitude cannot be long; +and, when the motive for submitting to it ceases to exist, I will shake +it off like the dust from my feet.” + +“Is he a Mingo, that you will call him enemy?” said Mohegan. “The +Delaware warrior sits still, and waits the time of the Great Spirit. He +is no woman, to cry out like a child.” + +“Well, I'm mistrustful, John,” said Leather-Stocking, in whose air there +had been, during the whole business, a strong expression of doubt and +uncertainty. “They say that there's new laws in the land, and I'm sartin +that there's new ways in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes and +streams, they've altered the country so much. I must say I'm mistrustful +of such smooth speakers; for I've known the whites talk fair when +they wanted the Indian lands most. This I will say, though I'm a white +myself, and was born nigh York, and of honest parents, too.” + +“I will submit,” said the youth; “I will forget who I am. Cease to +remember, old Mohegan, that I am the descendant of a Delaware chief, who +once was master of these noble hills, these beautiful vales, and of this +water, over which we tread. Yes, yes; I will become his bonds man--his +slave, Is it not an honorable servitude, old man?” + +“Old man!” repeated the Indian solemnly, and pausing in his walk, as +usual, when much excited; “yes, John is old. Son of my brother! if +Mohegan was young, when would his rifle be still? Where would the deer +hide, and he not find him? But John is old; his hand is the hand of a +squaw; his tomahawk is a hatchet; brooms and baskets are his enemies--he +strikes no other. Hunger and old age come together. See Hawk-eye! when +young, he would go days and eat nothing; but should he not put the brush +on the fire now, the blaze would go out. Take the son of Miquon by the +hand, and he will help you.” + +“I'm not the man I was, I'll own, Chingachgook,” returned the +Leather-Stocking; “but I can go without a meal now, on occasion. When +we tracked the Iroquois through the 'Beech-woods,' they drove the +game afore them, for I hadn't a morsel to eat from Monday morning come +Wednesday sundown, and then I shot as fat a buck, on the Pennsylvany +line, as ever mortal laid eyes on. It would have done your heart good to +have seen the Delaware eat; for I was out scouting and skrimmaging with +their tribe at the time. Lord! The Indians, lad, lay still, and just +waited till Providence should send them their game, but I foraged about, +and put a deer up, and put him down too, afore he had made a dozen +jumps. I was too weak and too ravenous to stop for his flesh, so I took +a good drink of his blood, and the Indians ate of his meat raw. John was +there, and John knows. But then starvation would be apt to be too much +for me now, I will own, though I'm no great eater at any time.” + +“Enough is said, my friend,” cried the youth. “I feel that everywhere +the sacrifice is required at my hands, and it shall be made; but say no +more, I entreat you; I can not bear this subject now.” + +His companions were silent; and they soon reached the hut, which they +entered, after removing certain complicated and ingenious fastenings, +that were put there apparently to guard a property of but very little +value. Immense piles of snow lay against the log walls of this secluded +habitation on one side; while fragments of small trees, and branches +of oak and chestnut, that had been torn from their parent stems by the +winds, were thrown into a pile on the other. A small column of smoke +rose through a chimney of sticks, cemented with clay, along the side of +the rock, and had marked the snow above with its dark tinges, in a wavy +line, from the point of emission to an other, where the hill receded +from the brow of a precipice, and held a soil that nourished trees of a +gigantic growth, that overhung the little bottom beneath. + +The remainder of the day passed off as such days are commonly spent in a +new country. The settlers thronged to the academy again, to witness the +second effort of Mr. Grant; and Mohegan was one of his hearers. But, not +withstanding the divine fixed his eyes intently on the Indian when he +invited his congregation to advance to the table, the shame of last +night's abasement was yet too keen in the old chief to suffer him to +move. + +When the people were dispersing, the clouds that had been gathering +all the morning were dense and dirty, and before half of the curious +congregation had reached their different cabins, that were placed in +every glen and hollow of the mountains, or perched on the summits of the +hills themselves, the rain was falling in torrents. The dark edges of +the stumps began to exhibit themselves, as the snow settled rapidly; +the fences of logs and brush, which before had been only traced by long +lines of white mounds, that ran across the valley and up the mountains, +peeped out from their covering, and the black stubs were momentarily +becoming more distinct, as large masses of snow and ice fell from their +sides, under the influence of the thaw. + +Sheltered in the warm hall of her father's comfortable mansion, +Elizabeth, accompanied by Louisa Grant, looked abroad with admiration +at the ever-varying face of things without. Even the village, which +had just before been glittering with the color of the frozen element, +reluctantly dropped its mask, and the houses exposed their dark roofs +and smoked chimneys. The pines shook off the covering of snow, and +everything seemed to be assuming its proper hues with a transition that +bordered on the supernatural. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + + “And yet, poor Edwin was no vulgar boy.” + --Beattie. + +The close of Christmas Day, A.D. 1793, was tempestuous, but +comparatively warm. When darkness had again hid the objects in the +village from the gaze of Elizabeth, she turned from the window, where +she had remained while the least vestige of light lingered over the +tops of the dark pines, with a curiosity that was rather excited than +appeased by the passing glimpses of woodland scenery that she had caught +during the day. + +With her arm locked in that of Miss Grant, the young mistress of the +mansion walked slowly up and down the hall, musing on scenes that were +rapidly recurring to her memory, and possibly dwelling, at times, in the +sanctuary of her thoughts, on the strange occurrences that had led +to the introduction to her father's family of one whose Manners so +singularly contradicted the inferences to be drawn from his situation. +The expiring heat of the apartment--for its great size required a day +to reduce its temperature--had given to her cheeks a bloom that exceeded +their natural color, while the mild and melancholy features of Louisa +were brightened with a faint tinge, that, like the hectic of disease, +gave a painful interest to her beauty. + +The eyes of the gentlemen, who were yet seated around the rich wines of +Judge Temple, frequently wandered from the table, that was placed at one +end of the hall, to the forms that were silently moving over its length. +Much mirth, and that, at times, of a boisterous kind, proceeded from the +mouth of Richard; but Major Hartmann was not yet excited to his pitch +of merriment, and Marmaduke respected the presence of his clerical guest +too much to indulge in even the innocent humor that formed no small +ingredient in his character. + +Such were, and such continued to be, the pursuits of the party, for +half an hour after the shutters were closed, and candles were placed in +various parts of the hall, as substitutes for departing daylight. The +appearance of Benjamin, staggering under the burden of an armful of +wood, was the first interruption to the scene. + +“How now, Master Pump!” roared the newly appointed sheriff; “is there +not warmth enough in 'Duke's best Madeira to keep up the animal heat +through this thaw? Remember, old boy, that the Judge is particular +with his beech and maple, beginning to dread already a scarcity of +the precious articles. Ha! ha! ha! 'Duke, you are a good, warm-hearted +relation, I will own, as in duty bound, but you have some queer notions +about you, after all. 'Come, let us be jolly, and cast away folly.” + +The notes gradually sank into a hum, while the major-domo threw down +his load, and, turning to his interrogator with an air of earnestness, +replied: + +“Why, look you, Squire Dickon, mayhap there's a warm latitude round +about the table there, thof it's not the stuff to raise the heat in my +body, neither; the raal Jamaiky being the only thing to do that, +besides good wood, or some such matter as Newcastle coal. But, if I know +anything of the weather, d'ye see, it's time to be getting all snog, and +for putting the ports in and stirring the fires a bit. Mayhap I've not +followed the seas twenty-seven years, and lived another seven in these +here woods, for nothing, gemmen.” + +“Why, does it bid fair for a change in the weather, Benjamin?” inquired +the master of the house. + +“There's a shift of wind, your honor,” returned the steward; “and when +there's a shift of wind, you may look for a change in this here climate. +I was aboard of one of Rodney's fleet, d'ye see, about the time we licked +De Grasse, Mounsheer Lor Quaw's countryman, there; and the wind was here +at the south'ard and east'ard; and I was below, mixing a toothful of hot +stuff for the captain of marines, who dined, d'ye see, in the cabin, that +there very same day; and I suppose he wanted to put out the captain's +fire with a gun-room ingyne; and so, just as I got it to my own liking, +after tasting pretty often, for the soldier was difficult to please, +slap came the foresail agin' the mast, whiz went the ship round on her +heel, like a whirligig. And a lucky thing was it that our helm was down; +for as she gathered starnway she paid off, which was more than every +ship in the fleet did, or could do. But she strained herself in the +trough of the sea, and she shipped a deal of water over her quarter. I +never swallowed so much clear water at a time in my life as I did then, +for I was looking up the after-hatch at the instant.” + +“I wonder, Benjamin, that you did not die with a dropsy!” said +Marmaduke. + +“I mought, Judge,” said the old tar, with a broad grin; “but there was +no need of the medicine chest for a cure; for, as I thought the brew was +spoilt for the marine's taste, and there was no telling when another +sea might come and spoil it for mine. I finished the mug on the spot. +So then all hands was called to the pumps, and there we began to ply the +pumps--” + +“Well, but the weather?” interrupted Marmaduke; “what of the weather +without doors?” + +“Why here the wind has been all day at the south, and now there's a +lull, as if the last blast was out of the bellows; and there's a streak +along the mountains, to the northard, that, just now, wasn't wider than +the bigness of your hand; and then the clouds drive afore it as you'd +brail a mainsail, and the stars are heaving in sight, like so many +lights and beacons, put there to warn us to pile on the wood; and, if +so be that I'm a judge of weather, it's getting to be time to build on +a fire, or you'll have half of them there porter bottles, and them +dimmyjohns of wine, in the locker here, breaking with the frost, afore +the morning watch is called.” + +“Thou art a prudent sentinel,” said the Judge. “Act thy pleasure with +the forests, for this night at feast.” + +Benjamin did as he was ordered; nor had two hours elapsed, before the +prudence of his precautions became very visible. The south wind had, +indeed, blown itself out, and it was succeeded by the calmness that +usually gave warning of a serious change in the weather. Long before the +family retired to rest, the cold had become cuttingly severe; and when +Monsieur Le Quoi sallied forth under a bright moon, to seek his own +abode, he was compelled to beg a blanket, in which he might envelop c +his form, in addition to the numerous garments that his sagacity had +provided for the occasion. The divine and his daughter remained as +inmates of the mansion-house during the night, and the excess of last +night's merriment induced the gentlemen to make an early retreat to +their several apartments. Long before midnight, the whole family were +invisible. + +Elizabeth and her friend had not yet lost their senses in sleep, and +the howlings of the northwest wind were heard around the buildings, and +brought with them that exquisite sense of comfort that is ever excited +under such circumstances, in an apartment where the fire has not yet +ceased to glimmer, and curtains, and shutters, and feathers unite to +preserve the desired temperature. Once, just as her eyes had opened, +apparently in the last stage of drowsiness, the roaring winds brought +with them a long and plaintive howl, that seemed too wild for a dog, and +yet resembled the cries of that faithful animal, when night awakens his +vigilance, and gives sweetness and solemnity to its charms. The form of +Louis Grant instinctively pressed nearer to that of the young heiress, +who, finding her companion was yet awake, said in a low tone, as if +afraid to break a charm with her voice: + +“Those distant cries are plaintive, and even beautiful. Can they be the +hounds from the hut of Leather-Stocking?” + +“They are wolves, who have ventured from the mountain, on the lake,” + whispered Louisa, “and who are only kept from the village by the lights. +One night, since we have been here, hunger drove them to our very door. +Oh, what a dreadful night it was! But the riches of Judge Temple have +given him too many safeguards, to leave room for fear in this house.” + +“The enterprise of Judge Temple is taming the very forests!” exclaimed +Elizabeth, throwing off the covering, and partly rising in the bed. “How +rapidly is civilization treading on the foot of Nature!” she continued, +as her eye glanced over not only the comforts, but the luxuries of her +apartment, and her ear again listened to the distant, but often repeated +howls from the lake. Finding, how-ever, that the timidity of her +companion rendered the sounds painful to her, Elizabeth resumed her +place, and soon forgot the changes in the country, with those in her own +condition, in a deep sleep. + +The following morning, the noise of the female servant, who entered the +apartment to light the fire, awoke the females. They arose, and finished +the slight preparations of their toilets in a clear, cold atmosphere, +that penetrated through all the defences of even Miss Temple's warm +room. When Elizabeth was attired, she approached a window and drew its +curtain, and throwing open its shutters she endeavored to look abroad +on the village and the lake. But a thick covering of frost on the glass, +while it admitted the light, shut out the view. She raised the sash, and +then, indeed, a glorious scene met her delighted eye. + +The lake had exchanged its covering of unspotted snow for a face of dark +ice, that reflected the rays of the rising sun like a polished mirror. +The houses clothed in a dress of the same description, but which, owing +to its position, shone like bright steel; while the enormous icicles +that were pendent from every roof caught the brilliant light, apparently +throwing it from one to the other, as each glittered, on the side next +the luminary, with a golden lustre that melted away, on its opposite, +into the dusky shades of a background. But it was the appearance of the +boundless forests that covered the hills as they rose in the distance, +one over the other, that most attracted the gaze of Miss Temple. The +huge branches of the pines and hemlocks bent with the weight of the ice +they supported, while their summits rose above the swelling tops of the +oaks, beeches, and maples, like spires of burnished silver issuing from +domes of the same material. The limits of the view, in the west, were +marked by an undulating outline of bright light, as if, reversing the +order of nature, numberless suns might momentarily he expected to heave +above the horizon. In the foreground of the picture, along the shores +of the lake, and near to the village, each tree seemed studded with +diamonds. Even the sides of the mountains where the rays of the sun +could not yet fall, were decorated with a glassy coat, that presented +every gradation of brilliancy, from the first touch of the luminary to +the dark foliage of the hemlock, glistening through its coat of crystal. +In short, the whole view was one scene of quivering radiancy, as lake, +mountains, village, and woods, each emitted a portion of light, tinged +with its peculiar hue, and varied by its position and its magnitude. + +“See!” cried Elizabeth; “see, Louisa; hasten to the window, and observe +the miraculous change!” + +Miss Grant complied; and, after bending for a moment in silence from the +opening, she observed, in a low tone, as if afraid to trust the sound of +her voice: + +“The change is indeed wonderful! I am surprised that he should be able +to effect it so soon.” + +Elizabeth turned in amazement, to hear so skeptical a sentiment from one +educated like her companion; but was surprised to find that, instead of +looking at the view, the mild blue eyes of Miss Grant were dwelling on +the form of a well-dressed young man, who was standing before the door +of the building, in earnest conversation with her father. A second look +was necessary before she was able to recognize the person of the young +hunter in a plain, but assuredly the ordinary, garb of a gentleman. + +“Everything in this magical country seems to border on the marvellous,” + said Elizabeth; “and, among all the changes, this is certainly not the +least wonderful, The actors are as unique as the scenery.” + +Miss Grant colored and drew in her head. + +“I am a simple country girl, Miss Temple, and I am afraid you will find +me but a poor companion,” she said. “I--I am not sure that I understand +all you say. But I really thought that you wished me to notice the +alteration in Mr. Edwards, Is it not more wonderful when we recollect +his origin? They say he is part Indian.” + +“He is a genteel savage; but let us go down, and give the sachem his +tea; for I suppose he is a descendant of King Philip, if not a grandson +of Pocahontas.” + +The ladies were met in the hall by Judge Temple, who took his daughter +aside to apprise her of that alteration in the appearance of their new +inmate, with which she was already acquainted. + +“He appears reluctant to converse on his former situation,” continued +Marmaduke “but I gathered from his discourse, as is apparent from his +manner, that he has seen better days; and I am really inclining to the +opinion of Richard, as to his origin; for it was no unusual thing for +the Indian agents to rear their children in a laudable manner, and--” + +“Very well, my dear sir,” interrupted his daughter, laughing and +averting her eyes; “it is all well enough, I dare say; but, as I do not +understand a word of the Mohawk language he must be content to speak +English; and as for his behavior, I trust to your discernment to control +it.” + +“Ay! but, Bess,” cried the judge, detaining her gently by the hand, +“nothing must be said to him of his past life. This he has begged +particularly of me, as a favor, He is, perhaps, a little soured, just +now, with his wounded arm; the injury seems very light, and another time +he may be more communicative.” + +“Oh! I am not much troubled, sir, with that laudable thirst after +knowledge that is called curiosity. I shall believe him to be the +child of Corn-stalk, or Corn-planter, or some other renowned chieftain; +possibly of the Big Snake himself; and shall treat him as such until he +sees fit to shave his good-looking head, borrow some half-dozen pair of +my best earrings, shoulder his rifle again, and disappear as suddenly +as he made his entrance. So come, my dear sir, and let us not forget the +rites of hospitality, for the short time he is to remain with us.” + +Judge Temple smiled at the playfulness of his child, and taking her arm +they entered the breakfast parlor, where the young hunter was seated +with an air that showed his determination to domesticate himself in the +family with as little parade as possible. + +Such were the incidents that led to this extraordinary increase in the +family of Judge Temple, where, having once established the youth, the +subject of our tale requires us to leave him for a time, to pursue with +diligence and intelligence the employments that were assigned him by +Marmaduke. + +Major Hartmann made his customary visit, and took his leave of the party +for the next three months. Mr. Grant was compelled to be absent most of +his time, in remote parts of the country, and his daughter became almost +a constant visitor at the mansion-house. Richard entered, with his +constitutional eagerness, on the duties of his new office; and, as +Marmaduke was much employed with the constant applications of adventures +for farms, the winter passed swiftly away. The lake was the principal +scene for the amusements of the young people; where the ladies, in +their one-horse cutter, driven by Richard, and attended, when the snow +would admit of it, by young Edwards on his skates, spent many hours +taking the benefit of exercise in the clear air of the hills. The +reserve of the youth gradually gave way to time and his situation, +though it was still evident, to a close observer, that he had frequent +moments of bitter and intense feeling. + +Elizabeth saw many large openings appear in the sides of the mountains +during the three succeeding months, where different settlers had, in the +language of the country “made their pitch,” while the numberless sleighs +that passed through the village, loaded with wheat and barrels of +potashes, afforded a clear demonstration that all these labors were +not undertaken in vain. In short, the whole country was exhibiting the +bustle of a thriving settlement, where the highways were thronged with +sleighs, bearing piles of rough household furniture, studded, here +and there, with the smiling faces of women and children, happy in the +excitement of novelty; or with loads of produce, hastening to the common +market at Albany, that served as so many snares to induce the emigrants +to enter into those wild mountains in search of competence and +happiness. + +The village was alive with business, the artisans increasing in wealth +with the prosperity of the country, and each day witnessing some nearer +approach to the manners and usages of an old-settled town. The man who +carried the mail or “the post,” as he was called, talked much of running +a stage, and, once or twice during the winter, he was seen taking a +single passenger, in his cutter, through the snow-banks, toward the +Mohawk, along which a regular vehicle glided, semi-weekly, with the +velocity of lightning, and under the direction of a knowing whip from +the “down countries,” Toward spring, divers families, who had been into +the “old States” to see their relatives, returned in time to save +the snow, frequently bringing with them whole neighborhoods, who were +tempted by their representations to leave the farms of Connecticut and +Massachusetts, to make a trial of fortune in the woods. + +During all this time, Oliver Edwards, whose sudden elevation excited no +surprise in that changeful country, was earnestly engaged in the service +of Marmaduke, during the days; but his nights were often spent in the +hut of Leather-Stocking. The intercourse between the three hunters was +maintained with a certain air of mystery, it is true, but with much zeal +and apparent interest to all the parties. Even Mohegan seldom came to +the mansion-house, and Natty never; but Edwards sought every leisure +moment to visit his former abode, from which he would often return in +the gloomy hours of night through the snow, or, if detained beyond the +time at which the family retired to rest, with the morning sun. These +visits certainly excited much speculation in those to whom they were +known, but no comments were made, excepting occasionally in whispers +from Richard, who would say: + +“It is not at all remarkable; a half-breed can never be weaned from +the savage ways--and, for one of his lineage, the boy is much nearer +civilization than could, in reason, be expected.” + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + + “Away! nor let me loiter in my song, + For we have many a mountain-path to tread.” + --Byron. + +As the spring gradually approached, the immense piles of snow that, by +alternate thaws and frosts, and repeated storms, had obtained a firmness +which threatened a tiresome durability, began to yield to the influence +of milder breezes and a warmer sun. The gates of heaven at times seemed +to open, and a bland air diffused itself over the earth, when animate +and inanimate nature would awaken, and, for a few hours, the gayety of +spring shone in every eye and smiled on every field. But the shivering +blasts from the north would carry their chill influence over the scene +again, and the dark and gloomy clouds that intercepted the rays of the +sun were not more cold and dreary than the reaction. These struggles +between the seasons became daily more frequent, while the earth, like +a victim to contention, slowly lost the animated brilliancy of winter, +without obtaining the aspect of spring. + +Several weeks were consumed in this cheerless manner, during which the +inhabitants of the country gradually changed their pursuits from the +social and bustling movements of the time of snow to the laborious and +domestic engagements of the coming season, The village was no longer +thronged with visitors; the trade that had enlivened the shops for +several months, began to disappear; the highways lost their shining +coats of beaten snow in impassable sloughs, and were deserted by the +gay and noisy travellers who, in sleighs, had, during the winter, glided +along their windings; and, in short, everything seemed indicative of +a mighty change, not only in the earth, but in those who derived their +sources of comfort and happiness from its bosom. + +The younger members of the family in the mansion house, of which Louisa +Grant was now habitually one, were by no means indifferent observers of +these fluctuating and tardy changes. While the snow rendered the roads +passable, they had partaken largely in the amusements of the winter, +which included not only daily rides over the mountains, and through +every valley within twenty miles of them, but divers ingenious and +varied sources of pleasure on the bosom of their frozen lake. There had +been excursions in the equipage of Richard, when with his four horses +he had outstripped the winds, as it flew over the glassy ice which +invariably succeeded a thaw. Then the exciting and dangerous “whirligig” + would be suffered to possess its moment of notice. Cutters, drawn by a +single horse, and handsleds, impelled by the gentlemen on skates, would +each in turn be used; and, in short, every source of relief against the +tediousness of a winter in the mountains was resorted to by the family, +Elizabeth was compelled to acknowledge to her father, that the season, +with the aid of his library, was much less irksome than she had +anticipated. + +As exercise in the open air was in some degree necessary to the habits +of the family, when the constant recurrence of frosts and thaws rendered +the roads, which were dangerous at the most favorable times, utterly +impassable for wheels, saddle-horses were used as substitutes for other +conveyances. Mounted on small and sure-footed beasts, the ladies would +again attempt the passages of the mountains and penetrate into every +retired glen where the enterprise of a settler had induced him to +establish himself. In these excursions they were attended by some one +or all of the gentlemen of the family, as their different pursuits +admitted. Young Edwards was hourly becoming more familiarized to his +situation, and not infrequently mingled in the parties with an +unconcern and gayety that for a short time would expel all unpleasant +recollections from his mind. Habit, and the buoyancy of youth, seemed +to be getting the ascendency over the secret causes of his uneasiness; +though there were moments when the same remarkable expression of disgust +would cross his intercourse with Marmaduke, that had distinguished their +conversations in the first days of their acquaintance. + +It was at the close of the month of March, that the sheriff succeeded in +persuading his cousin and her young friend to accompany him in a ride +to a hill that was said to overhang the lake in a manner peculiar to +itself. + +“Besides, Cousin Bess,” continued the indefatigable Richard, “we will +stop and see the 'sugar bush' of Billy Kirby; he is on the east end of +the Ransom lot, making sugar for Jared Ransom. There is not a better +hand over a kettle in the county than that same Kirby. You remember, +'Duke, that I had him his first season in our camp; and it is not a +wonder that he knows something of his trade.” + +“He's a good chopper, is Billy,” observed Benjamin, who held the bridle +of the horse while the sheriff mounted; “and he handles an axe much the +same as a forecastleman does his marling-spike, or a tailor his goose. +They say he'll lift a potash-kettle off the arch alone, though I can't +say that I've ever seen him do it with my own eyes; but that is the say. +And I've seen sugar of his making, which, maybe, wasn't as white as an +old topgallant sail, but which my friend, Mistress Pettibones, within +there, said had the true molasses smack to it; and you are not the one, +Squire Dickens, to be told that Mistress Remarkable has a remarkable +tooth for sweet things in her nut-grinder.” + +The loud laugh that succeeded the wit of Benjamin, and in which +he participated with no very harmonious sounds himself, very fully +illustrated the congenial temper which existed between the pair. Most of +its point was, however, lost on the rest of the party, who were either +mounting their horses or assisting the ladies at the moment. When all +were safely in their saddles, they moved through the village in great +order. They paused for a moment before the door of Monsieur Le Quoi, +until he could bestride his steed, and then, issuing from the little +cluster of houses, they took one of the principal of those highways that +centred in the village. + +As each night brought with it a severe frost, which the heat of the +succeeding day served to dissipate, the equestrians were compelled +to proceed singly along the margin of the road, where the turf, and +firmness of the ground, gave the horses a secure footing. Very trifling +indications of vegetation were to be seen, the surface of the earth +presenting a cold, wet, and cheerless aspect that chilled the blood. The +snow yet lay scattered over most of those distant clearings that were +visible in different parts of the mountains; though here and there +an opening might be seen where, as the white covering yielded to the +season, the bright and lively green of the wheat served to enkindle the +hopes of the husbandman. Nothing could be more marked than the contrast +between the earth and the heavens; for, while the former presented the +dreary view that we have described, a warm and invigorating sun was +dispensing his heats from a sky that contained but a solitary cloud, and +through an atmosphere that softened the colors of the sensible horizon +until it shone like a sea of blue. + +Richard led the way on this, as on all other occasions that did not +require the exercise of unusual abilities; and as he moved along, he +essayed to enliven the party with the sounds of his experienced voice. + +“This is your true sugar weather, 'Duke,” he cried; “a frosty night and +a sunshiny day. I warrant me that the sap runs like a mill-tail up the +maples this warm morning. It is a pity, Judge, that you do not introduce +a little more science into the manufactory of sugar among your tenants. +It might be done, sir, without knowing as much as Dr. Franklin--it might +be done, Judge Temple.” + +“The first object of my solicitude, friend Jones,” returned Marmaduke, +“is to protect the sources of this great mine of comfort and wealth from +the extravagance of the people themselves. When this important point +shall be achieved, it will be in season to turn our attention to +an improvement in the manufacture of the article, But thou knowest, +Richard, that I have already subjected our sugar to the process of the +refiner, and that the result has produced loaves as white as the snow on +yon fields, and possessing the saccharine quality in its utmost purity.” + +“Saccharine, or turpentine, or any other 'ine, Judge Temple, you have +never made a loaf larger than a good-sized sugar-plum,” returned the +sheriff. “Now, sir, I assert that no experiment is fairly tried, until +it be reduced to practical purposes. If, sir, I owned a hundred, or, +for that matter, two hundred thousand acres of land, as you do. I would +build a sugar house in the village; I would invite learned men to an +investigation of the subject--and such are easily to be found, sir; yes, +sir, they are not difficult to find--men who unite theory with practice; +and I would select a wood of young and thrifty trees; and, instead of +making loaves of the size of a lump of candy, dam'me, 'Duke, but I'd +have them as big as a haycock.” + +“And purchase the cargo of one of those ships that they say are going +to China,” cried Elizabeth; “turn your potash-kettles into teacups, the +scows on the lake into saucers, bake your cake in yonder lime-kiln, +and invite the county to a tea-party. How wonderful are the projects of +genius! Really, sir, the world is of opinion that Judge Temple has tried +the experiment fairly, though he did not cause his loaves to be cast in +moulds of the magnitude that would suit your magnificent conceptions.” + +“You may laugh, Cousin Elizabeth--you may laugh, madam,” retorted +Richard, turning himself so much in his saddle as to face the party, and +making dignified gestures with his whip; “but I appeal to common sense, +good sense, or, what is of more importance than either, to the sense of +taste, which is one of the five natural senses, whether a big loaf of +sugar is not likely to contain a better illustration of a proposition +than such a lump as one of your Dutch women puts under her tongue when +she drinks her tea. There are two ways of doing everything, the right +way and the wrong way. You make sugar now, I will admit, and you may, +possibly, make loaf-sugar; but I take the question to be, whether you +make the best possible sugar, and in the best possible loaves.” + +“Thou art very right, Richard,” observed Marmaduke, with a gravity in +his air that proved how much he was interested in the subject. “It is +very true that we manufacture sugar, and the inquiry is quite useful, +how much? and in what manner? I hope to live to see the day when farms +and plantations shall be devoted to this branch of business. Little is +known concerning the properties of the tree itself, the source of all +this wealth; how much it may be improved by cultivation, by the use of +the hoe and plough.” + +“Hoe and plough!” roared the sheriff; “would you set a man hoeing round +the root of a maple like this?” pointing to one of the noble trees that +occur so frequently in that part of the country. “Hoeing trees! are you +mad, 'Duke? This is next to hunting for coal! Poh! poh! my dear cousin, +hear reason, and leave the management of the sugar-bush to me. Here is +Mr. Le Quoi--he has been in the West Indies, and has seen sugar made. +Let him give an account of how it is made there, and you will hear the +philosophy of the thing. Well, monsieur, how is it that you make sugar +in the West Indies; anything in Judge Temples fashion?” + +The gentleman to whom this query was put was mounted on a small horse, +of no very fiery temperament, and was riding with his stirrups so short +as to bring his knees, while the animal rose a small ascent in the +wood-path they were now travelling, into a somewhat hazardous vicinity +to his chin. There was no room for gesticulation or grace in the +delivery of his reply, for the mountain was steep and slippery; and, +although the Frenchman had an eye of uncommon magnitude on either side +of his face, they did not seem to be half competent to forewarn him +of the impediments of bushes, twigs, and fallen trees, that were +momentarily crossing his path. With one hand employed in averting these +dangers, and the other grasping his bridle to check an untoward speed +that his horse was assuming, the native of France responded as follows: + +“Sucre! dey do make sucre in Martinique; mais--mais ce n'est pas one +tree--ah--ah--vat you call--je voudrois que ces chemins fussent au +diable--vat you call--steeck pour la promenade?” + +“Cane,” said Elizabeth, smiling at the imprecation which the wary +Frenchman supposed was understood only by himself. “Oui, mam'selle, +cane.” + +“Yes, yes,” cried Richard, “cane is the vulgar name for it, but the real +term is saccharum officinarum; and what we call the sugar, or hard +maple, is acer saccharinum. These are the learned names, monsieur, and +are such as, doubtless, you well understand.” + +“Is this Greek or Latin, Mr. Edwards?” whispered Elizabeth to the youth, +who was opening a passage for herself and her companions through +the bushes, “or perhaps it is a still more learned language, for an +interpretation of which we must look to you.” + +The dark eye of the young man glanced toward the speaker, but its +resentful expression changed in a moment. + +“I shall remember your doubts, Miss Temple, when next I visit my old +friend Mohegan, and either his skill, or that of Leather-Stocking, shall +solve them.” + +“And are you, then, really ignorant of their language?” + +“Not absolutely; but the deep learning of Mr. Jones is more familiar to +me, or even the polite masquerade of Monsieur Le Quoi.” + +“Do you speak French?” said the lady, with quickness. + +“It is a common language with the Iroquois, and through the Canadas,” he +answered, smiling. + +“Ah! but they are Mingoes, and your enemies.” + +“It will be well for me if I have no worse,” said the youth, dashing +ahead with his horse, and putting an end to the evasive dialogue. + +The discourse, however, was maintained with great vigor by Richard, +until they reached an open wood on the summit of the mountain, where the +hemlocks and pines totally disappeared, and a grove of the very trees +that formed the subject of debate covered the earth with their tall, +straight trunks and spreading branches, in stately pride. The underwood +had been entirely removed from this grove, or bush, as, in conjunction +with the simple arrangements for boiling, it was called, and a wide +space of many acres was cleared, which might be likened to the dome of +a mighty temple, to which the maples formed the columns, their tops +composing the capitals and the heavens the arch. A deep and careless +incision had been made into each tree, near its root, into which little +spouts, formed of the bark of the alder, or of the sumach, were +fastened; and a trough, roughly dug out of the linden, or basswood, was +lying at the root of each tree, to catch the sap that flowed from this +extremely wasteful and inartificial arrangement. + +The party paused a moment, on gaining the flat, to breathe their horses, +and, as the scene was entirely new to several of their number, to view +the manner of collecting the fluid. A fine, powerful voice aroused +them from their momentary silence, as it rang under the branches of the +trees, singing the following words of that inimitable doggerel, whose +verses, if extended, would reach from the Caters of the Connecticut to +the shores of Ontario. The tune was, of course, a familiar air which, +although it is said to have been first applied to this nation in +derision, circumstances have since rendered so glorious that no American +ever hears its jingling cadence without feeling a thrill at his heart: + +“The Eastern States be full of men, The Western Full of woods, sir, The +hill be like a cattle-pen, The roads be full of goods, sir! Then flow +away, my sweety sap, And I will make you boily; Nor catch a wood man's +hasty nap, For fear you should get roily. The maple-tree's a precious +one, 'Tis fuel, food, and timber; And when your stiff day's work is +done, Its juice will make you limber, Then flow away, etc. + +“And what's a man without his glass. His wife without her tea, sir? But +neither cup nor mug will pass, Without his honey-bee, sir! Then flow +away,” etc. + +During the execution of this sonorous doggerel, Richard kept time with +his whip on the mane of his charger, accompanying the gestures with a +corresponding movement of his head and body. Toward the close of the +song, he was overheard humming the chorus, and, at its last repetition, +to strike in at “sweety sap,” and carry a second through, with a +prodigious addition to the “effect” of the noise, if not to that of the +harmony. + +“Well done us!” roared the sheriff, on the same key with the tune; +“a very good song, Billy Kirby, and very well sung. Where got you the +words, lad? Is there more of it, and can you furnish me with a copy?” + The sugar-boiler, who was busy in his “camp,” at a short distance from +the equestrians, turned his head with great indifference, and surveyed +the party, as they approached, with admirable coolness. To each +individual, as he or she rode close by him, he gave a nod that was +extremely good-natured and affable, but which partook largely of the +virtue of equality, for not even to the ladies did he in the least vary +his mode of salutation, by touching the apology for a hat that he wore, +or by any other motion than the one we have mentioned. + +“How goes it, how goes it, sheriff?” said the wood-chopper; “what's the +good word in the village?” + +“Why, much as usual, Billy,” returned Richard. “But how is this? where +are your four kettles, and your troughs, and your iron coolers? Do you +make sugar in this slovenly way? I thought you were one of the best +sugar-boilers in the county.” + +“I'm all that, Squire Jones,” said Kirby, who continued his occupation; +“I'll turn my back to no man in the Otsego hills for chopping and +logging, for boiling down the maple sap, for tending brick-kiln, +splitting out rails, making potash, and parling too, or hoeing corn; +though I keep myself pretty much to the first business, seeing that the +axe comes most natural to me.” + +“You be von Jack All-trade, Mister Beel,” said Monsieur Le Quoi. + +“How?” said Kirby, looking up with a simplicity which, coupled with his +gigantic frame and manly face, was a little ridiculous, “if you be for +trade, mounsher, here is some as good sugar as you'll find the season +through. It's as clear from dirt as the Jarman Flats is free from +stumps, and it has the raal maple flavor. Such stuff would sell in York +for candy.” + +The Frenchman approached the place where Kirby had deposited his cake of +sugar, under the cover of a bark roof, and commenced the examination of +the article with the eye of one who well understood its value. Marmaduke +had dismounted, and was viewing the works and the trees very closely, +and not without frequent expressions of dissatisfaction at the careless +manner in which the manufacture was conducted. + +“You have much experience in these things, Kirby,” he said; “what course +do you pursue in making your sugar? I see you have but two kettles.” + +“Two is as good as two thousand, Judge. I'm none of your polite +sugar-makers, that boils for the great folks; but if the raal sweet +maple is wanted, I can answer your turn. First, I choose, and then I tap +my trees; say along about the last of February, or in these mountains +maybe not afore the middle of March; but anyway, just as the sap begins +to cleverly run--” + +“Well, in this choice,” interrupted Marmaduke, “are you governed by any +outward signs that prove the quality of the tree?” + +“Why, there's judgment in all things,” said Kirby, stirring the liquor +in his kettles briskly. “There's some thing in knowing when and how to +stir the pot. It's a thing that must be larnt. Rome wasn't built in a +day, nor for that matter Templeton either, though it may be said to be a +quick-growing place. I never put my axe into a stunty tree, or one +that hasn't a good, fresh-looking bark: for trees have disorders, like +creatur's; and where's the policy of taking a tree that's sickly, any +more than you'd choose a foundered horse to ride post, or an over heated +ox to do your logging?” + +“All that is true. But what are the signs of illness? how do you +distinguish a tree that is well from one that is diseased?” + +“How does the doctor tell who has fever and who colds?” interrupted +Richard. “By examining the skin, and feeling the pulse, to be sure.” + +“Sartain,” continued Billy; “the squire ain't far out of the way. It's +by the look of the thing, sure enough. Well, when the sap begins to +get a free run, I hang over the kettles, and set up the bush. My first +boiling I push pretty smartly, till I get the virtue of the sap; but +when it begins to grow of a molasses nater, like this in the kettle, one +mustn't drive the fires too hard, or you'll burn the sugar; and burny +sugar is bad to the taste, let it be never so sweet. So you ladle +out from one kettle into the other till it gets so, when you put the +stirring-stick into it, that it will draw into a thread--when it takes +a kerful hand to manage it. There is a way to drain it off, after it has +grained, by putting clay into the pans; bitt it isn't always practised; +some doos and some doosn't. Well, mounsher, be we likely to make a +trade?” + +“I will give you, Mister Etel, for von pound, dix sous.” + +“No, I expect cash for it; I never dicker my sugar, But, seeing that +it's you, mounsher,” said Billy, with a Coaxing smile, “I'll agree to +receive a gallon of rum, and cloth enough for two shirts if you'll take +the molasses in the bargain. It's raal good. I wouldn't deceive you or +any man and to my drinking it's about the best molasses that come out of +a sugar-bush.” + +“Mr. Le Quoi has offered you ten pence,” said young Edwards. + +The manufacturer stared at the speaker with an air of great freedom, but +made no reply. + +“Oui,” said the Frenchman, “ten penny. Jevausraner cie, monsieur: ah! +mon Anglois! je l'oublie toujours.” + +The wood-chopper looked from one to the other with some displeasure; and +evidently imbibed the opinion that they were amusing themselves at his +expense. He seized the enormous ladle, which was lying on one of his +kettles, and began to stir the boiling liquid with great diligence. +After a moment passed in dipping the ladle full, and then raising it +on high, as the thick rich fluid fell back into the kettle, he suddenly +gave it a whirl, as if to cool what yet remained, and offered the bowl +to Mr. Le Quoi, saying: + +“Taste that, mounsher, and you will say it is worth more than you offer. +The molasses itself would fetch the money.” + +The complaisant Frenchman, after several timid efforts to trust his +lips in contact with the howl of the ladle, got a good swallow of the +scalding liquid. He clapped his hands on his breast, and looked most +piteously at the ladies, for a single instant; and then, to use the +language of Billy, when he afterward recounted the tale, “no drumsticks +ever went faster on the skin of a sheep than the Frenchman's legs, for +a round or two; and then such swearing and spitting in French you never +saw. But it's a knowing one, from the old countries, that thinks to get +his jokes smoothly over a wood-chopper.” + +The air of innocence with which Kirby resumed the occupation of +stirring the contents of his kettles would have completely deceived the +spectators as to his agency in the temporary sufferings of Mr. Le Quoi, +had not the reckless fellow thrust his tongue into his cheek, and cast +his eyes over the party, with a simplicity of expression that was too +exquisite to be natural. Mr. Le Quoi soon recovered his presence of mind +and his decorum; and he briefly apologized to the ladies for one or +two very intemperate expressions that had escaped him in a moment of +extraordinary excitement, and, remounting his horse, he continued in the +background during the remainder of the visit, the wit of Kirby putting +a violent termination, at once, to all negotiations on the subject of +trade. During all this time, Marmaduke had been wandering about the +grove, making observations on his favorite trees, and the wasteful +manner in which the wood-chopper conducted his manufacture. + +“It grieves me to witness the extravagance that pervades this country,” + said the Judge, “where the settlers trifle with the blessings they +might enjoy, with the prodigality of successful adventurers. You are not +exempt from the censure yourself, Kirby, for you make dreadful wounds +in these trees where a small incision would effect the same object. I +earnestly beg you will remember that they are the growth of centuries, +and when once gone none living will see their loss remedied.” + +“Why, I don't know, Judge,” returned the man he ad dressed; “it seems to +me, if there's plenty of anything in this mountaynious country, it's the +trees. If there's any sin in chopping them, I've a pretty heavy account +to settle; for I've chopped over the best half of a thousand acres, with +my own hands, counting both Varmount and York States; and I hope to +live to finish the whull, before I lay up my axe. Chopping comes quite +natural to me, and I wish no other employment; but Jared Ransom said +that he thought the sugar was likely to be source this season, seeing +that so many folks was coming into the settlement, and so I concluded +to take the 'bush' on sheares for this one spring. What's the best news, +Judge, consarning ashes? do pots hold so that a man can live by them +still? I s'pose they will, if they keep on fighting across the water.” + +“Thou reasonest with judgment, William,” returned Marmaduke. “So long as +the Old Worm is to be convulsed with wars, so long will the harvest of +America continue.” + +“Well, it's an ill wind, Judge, that blows nobody any good. I'm sure the +country is in a thriving way; and though I know you calkilate greatly +on the trees, setting as much store by them as some men would by their +children, yet to my eyes they are a sore sight any time, unless I'm +privileged to work my will on them: in which case I can't say but they +are more to my liking. I have heard the settlers from the old countries +say that their rich men keep great oaks and elms, that would make a +barrel of pots to the tree, standing round their doors and humsteds and +scattered over their farms, just to look at. Now, I call no country much +improved that is pretty well covered with trees. Stumps are a different +thing, for they don't shade the land; and, besides, you dig them--they +make a fence that will turn anything bigger than a hog, being grand for +breachy cattle.” + +“Opinions on such subjects vary much in different countries,” said +Marmaduke; “but it is not as ornaments that I value the noble trees of +this country; it is for their usefulness We are stripping the forests, +as if a single year would replace what we destroy. But the hour +approaches when the laws will take notice of not only the woods, but the +game they contain also.” + +With this consoling reflection, Marmaduke remounted, and the equestrians +passed the sugar-camp, on their way to the promised landscape of +Richard. The wood-chop-per was left alone, in the bosom of the forest, +to pursue his labors. Elizabeth turned her head, when they reached the +point where they were to descend the mountain, and thought that the slow +fires that were glimmering under his enormous kettles, his little brush +shelter, covered with pieces of hemlock bark, his gigantic size, as +he wielded his ladle with a steady and knowing air, aided by the +back-ground of stately trees, with their spouts and troughs, formed, +altogether, no unreal picture of human life in its first stages of +civilization. Perhaps whatever the scene possessed of a romantic +character was not injured by the powerful tones of Kirby's voice ringing +through the woods as he again awoke his strains to another tune, which +was but little more scientific than the former. All that she understood +of the words were: + +“And when the proud forest is falling, To my oxen cheerfully calling, +From morn until night I am bawling, Whoa, back there, and haw and gee; +Till our labor is mutually ended, By my strength and cattle befriended, +And against the mosquitoes defended By the bark of the walnut-trees. +Away! then, you lads who would buy land; Choose the oak that grows +on the high land, or the silvery pine on the dry land, it matters but +little to me.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + + “Speed! Malise, speed! such cause of haste + Thine active sinews never braced.” + --Scott. + +The roads of Otsego, if we except the principal high ways, were, at the +early day of our tale, but little better than wood-paths. The high trees +that were growing on the very verge of the wheel-tracks excluded the +sun's rays, unless at meridian; and the slowness of the evaporation, +united with the rich mould of vegetable decomposition that covered +the whole country to the depth of several inches, occasioned but an +indifferent foundation for the footing of travellers. Added to these +were the inequalities of a natural surface, and the constant recurrence +of enormous and slippery roots that were laid bare by the removal of the +light soil, together with stumps of trees, to make a passage not +only difficult but dangerous. Yet the riders among these numerous +obstructions, which were such as would terrify an unpracticed eye, +gave no demonstrations of uneasiness as their horses toiled through the +sloughs or trotted with uncertain paces along the dark route. In many +places the marks on the trees were the only indications of a road, with +perhaps an occasional remnant of a pine that, by being cut close to the +earth, so as to leave nothing visible but its base of roots, spreading +for twenty feet in every direction, was apparently placed there as a +beacon to warn the traveller that it was the centre of a highway. + +Into one of these roads the active sheriff led the way, first striking +out of the foot-path, by which they had descended from the sugar-bush, +across a little bridge, formed of round logs laid loosely on sleepers of +pine, in which large openings of a formidable width were frequent. The +nag of Richard, when it reached one of these gaps, laid its nose along +the logs and stepped across the difficult passage with the sagacity of a +man; but the blooded filly which Miss Temple rode disdained so humble a +movement. She made a step or two with an unusual caution, and then, +on reaching the broadest opening, obedient to the curt and whip of +her fearless mistress, she bounded across the dangerous pass with the +activity of a squirrel. + +“Gently, gently, my child,” said Marmaduke, who was following in the +manner of Richard; “this is not a country for equestrian feats. Much +prudence is requisite to journey through our rough paths with safety. +Thou mayst practise thy skill in horsemanship on the plains of New +Jersey with safety; but in the hills of Otsego they may be suspended for +a time.” + +“I may as well then relinquish my saddle at once, dear sir,” returned +his daughter; “for if it is to be laid aside until this wild country be +improved, old age will overtake me, and put an end to what you term my +equestrian feats.” + +“Say not so, my child,” returned her father; “but if thou venturest +again as in crossing this bridge, old age will never overtake thee, but +I shall be left to mourn thee, cut off in thy pride, my Elizabeth. If +thou hadst seen this district of country, as I did, when it lay in the +sleep of nature, and had witnessed its rapid changes as it awoke to +supply the wants of man, thou wouldst curb thy impatience for a little +time, though thou shouldst not check thy steed.” + +“I recollect hearing you speak of your first visit to these woods, +but the impression is faint, and blended with the confused images of +childhood. Wild and unsettled as it may yet seem, it must have been a +thousand times more dreary then. Will you repeat, dear sir, what you +then thought of your enterprise, and what you felt?” + +During this speech of Elizabeth, which was uttered with the fervor of +affection, young Edwards rode more closely to the side of the Judge, and +bent his dark eyes on his countenance with an expression that seemed to +read his thoughts. + +“Thou wast then young, my child, but must remember when I left thee and +thy mother, to take my first survey of these uninhabited mountains,” + said Marmaduke. “But thou dost not feel all the secret motives that can +urge a man to endure privations in order to accumulate wealth. In my +case they have not been trifling, and God has been pleased to smile +on my efforts. If I have encountered pain, famine, and disease in +accomplishing the settlement of this rough territory, I have not the +misery of failure to add to the grievances.” + +“Famine!” echoed Elizabeth; “I thought this was the land of abundance! +Had you famine to contend with?” + +“Even so, my child,” said her father. “Those who look around them now, +and see the loads of produce that issue out of every wild path in these +mountains during the season of travelling, will hardly credit that no +more than five years have elapsed since the tenants of these woods were +compelled to eat the scanty fruits of the forest to sustain life, and, +with their unpracticed skill, to hunt the beasts as food for their +starving families.” + +“Ay!” cried Richard, who happened to overhear the last of this speech +between the notes of the wood-chopper's song, which he was endeavoring +to breathe aloud; “that was the starving-time,* Cousin Bess. I grew +as lank as a weasel that fall, and my face was as pale as one of your +fever-and-ague visages. Monsieur Le Quoi, there, fell away like a +pumpkin in drying; nor do I think you have got fairly over it yet, +monsieur. Benjamin, I thought, bore it with a worse grace than any of +the family; for he swore it was harder to endure than a short allowance +in the calm latitudes. Benjamin is a sad fellow to swear if you starve +him ever so little. I had half a mind to quit you then, 'Duke, and to +go into Pennsylvania to fatten; but, damn it, thinks I, we are sisters' +children, and I will live or die with him, after all.” + + * The author has no better apology for interrupting the interest of a + work of fiction by these desultory dialogues than that they have ref- + erence to facts. In reviewing his work, after so many years, he is + compelled to confess it is injured by too many allusions to incidents + that are not at all suited to satisfy the just expectations of the + general reader. One of these events is slightly touched on in the + commencement of this chapter. + +More than thirty years since a very near and dear relative of the +writer, an elder sister and a second mother, was killed by a fall from a +horse in a ride among the very mountains mentioned in this tale. Few +of her sex and years were more extensively known or more universally +beloved than the admirable woman who thus fell a victim to the chances +of the wilderness. “I do not forget thy kindness,” said Marmaduke, “nor +that we are of one blood.” + +“But, my dear father,” cried the wondering Elizabeth, “was there actual +suffering? Where were the beautiful and fertile vales of the Mohawk? +Could they not furnish food for your wants?” + +“It was a season of scarcity; the necessities of life commanded a high +price in Europe, and were greedily sought after by the speculators. The +emigrants from the East to the West invariably passed along the valley +of the Mohawk, and swept away the means of subsistence like a swarm of +locusts, Nor were the people on the Flats in a much better condition. +They were in want themselves, but they spared the little excess of +provisions that nature did not absolutely require, with the justice +of the German character. There was no grinding of the poor. The word +speculator was then unknown to them. I have seen many a stout man, +bending under the load of the bag of meal which he was carrying from the +mills of the Mohawk, through the rugged passes of these mountains, to +feed his half-famished children, with a heart so light, as he approached +his hut, that the thirty miles he had passed seemed nothing. Remember, +my child, it was in our very infancy; we had neither mills, nor grain, +nor roads, nor often clearings; we had nothing of increase but the +mouths that were to be fed: for even at that inauspicious moment the +restless spirit of emigration was not idle; nay, the general +scarcity which extended to the East tended to increase the number of +adventurers.” + +“And how, dearest father, didst thou encounter this dreadful evil?” + said Elizabeth, unconsciously adopting the dialect of her parent in the +warmth of her sympathy. “Upon thee must have fallen the responsibility, +if not the suffering.” + +“It did, Elizabeth,” returned the Judge, pausing for a single moment, as +if musing on his former feelings. “I had hundreds at that dreadful time +daily looking up to me for bread. The sufferings of their families and +the gloomy prospect before them had paralyzed the enterprise and efforts +of my settlers; hunger drove them to the woods for food, but despair +sent them at night, enfeebled and wan, to a sleepless pillow. It was not +a moment for in action. I purchased cargoes of wheat from the granaries +of Pennsylvania; they were landed at Albany and brought up the Mohawk in +boats; from thence it was transported on pack-horses into the wilderness +and distributed among my people. Seines were made, and the lakes and +rivers were dragged for fish. Something like a miracle was wrought +in our favor, for enormous shoals of herrings were discovered to have +wandered five hundred miles through the windings of the impetuous +Susquehanna, and the lake was alive with their numbers. These were at +length caught and dealt out to the people, with proper portions of salt, +and from that moment we again began to prosper.” * + + * All this was literally true. + +“Yes,” cried Richard, “and I was the man who served out the fish and +salt. When the poor devils came to receive their rations, Benjamin, who +was my deputy, was obliged to keep them off by stretching ropes around +me, for they smelt so of garlic, from eating nothing but the wild onion, +that the fumes put me out often in my measurement. You were a child +then, Bess, and knew nothing of the matter, for great care was observed +to keep both you and your mother from suffering. That year put me back +dreadfully, both in the breed of my hogs and of my turkeys.” + +“No, Bess,” cried the Judge, in a more cheerful tone, disregarding the +interruption of his cousin, “he who hears of the settlement of a country +knows but little of the toil and suffering by which it is accomplished. +Unimproved and wild as this district now seems to your eyes, what was +it when I first entered the hills? I left my party, the morning of +my arrival, near the farms of the Cherry Valley, and, following a +deer-path, rode to the summit of the mountain that I have since called +Mount Vision; for the sight that there met my eyes seemed to me as the +deceptions of a dream. The fire had run over the pinnacle, and in a +great measure laid open the view. The leaves were fallen, and I mounted +a tree and sat for an hour looking on the silent wilderness. Not an +opening was to be seen in the boundless forest except where the lake +lay, like a mirror of glass. The water was covered by myriads of the +wild-fowl that migrate with the changes in the season; and while in +my situation on the branch of the beech, I saw a bear, with her cubs, +descend to the shore to drink. I had met many deer, gliding through the +woods, in my journey; but not the vestige of a man could I trace during +my progress, nor from my elevated observatory. No clearing, no hut, none +of the winding roads that are now to be seen, were there; nothing but +mountains rising behind mountains; and the valley, with its surface of +branches enlivened here and there with the faded foliage of some tree +that parted from its leaves with more than ordinary reluctance. Even the +Susquehanna was then hid by the height and density of the forest.” + +“And were you alone?” asked Elizabeth: “passed you the night in that +solitary state?” + +“Not so, my child,” returned the father. “After musing on the scene for +an hour, with a mingled feeling of pleasure and desolation, I left my +perch and descended the mountain. My horse was left to browse on the +twigs that grew within his reach, while I explored the shores of the +lake and the spot where Templeton stands. A pine of more than ordinary +growth stood where my dwelling is now placed! A wind--row had been +opened through the trees from thence to the lake, and my view was but +little impeded. Under the branches of that tree I made my solitary +dinner. I had just finished my repast as I saw smoke curling from +under the mountain, near the eastern bank of the lake. It was the only +indication of the vicinity of man that I had then seen. After much +toil I made my way to the spot, and found a rough cabin of logs, built +against the foot of a rock, and bearing the marks of a tenant, though I +found no one within it--” + +“It was the hut of Leather-Stocking,” said Edwards quickly. + +“It was; though I at first supposed it to be a habitation of the +Indians. But while I was lingering around the spot Natty made his +appearance, staggering under the carcass of a buck that he had slain. +Our acquaintance commenced at that time; before, I had never heard that +such a being tenanted the woods. He launched his bark canoe and set me +across the foot of the lake to the place where I had fastened my horse, +and pointed out a spot where he might get a scanty browsing until +the morning; when I returned and passed the night in the cabin of the +hunter.” + +Miss Temple was so much struck by the deep attention of young Edwards +during this speech that she forgot to resume her interrogations; but the +youth himself continued the discourse by asking: + +“And how did the Leather-Stocking discharge the duties of a host sir?” + +“Why, simply but kindly, until late in the evening, when he discovered +my name and object, and the cordiality of his manner very sensibly +diminished, or, I might better say, disappeared. He considered the +introduction of the settlers as an innovation on his rights, I believe +for he expressed much dissatisfaction at the measure, though it was in +his confused and ambiguous manner. I hardly understood his objections +myself, but supposed they referred chiefly to an interruption of the +hunting.” + +“Had you then purchased the estate, or were you examining it with an +intent to buy?” asked Edwards, a little abruptly. + +“It had been mine for several years. It was with a view to People the +land that I visited the lake. Natty treated me hospitably, but coldly, +I thought, after he learned the nature of my journey. I slept on his own +bear--skin, however, and in the morning joined my surveyors again.” + +“Said he nothing of the Indian rights, sir? The Leather-Stocking is much +given to impeach the justice of the tenure by which the whites hold the +country.” + +“I remember that he spoke of them, but I did not nearly comprehend +him, and may have forgotten what he said; for the Indian title was +extinguished so far back as the close of the old war, and if it had not +been at all, I hold under the patents of the Royal Governors, confirmed +by an act of our own State Legislature, and no court in the country +can affect my title.” + +“Doubtless, sir, your title is both legal and equitable,” returned the +youth coldly, reining his horse back and remaining silent till the +subject was changed. + +It was seldom Mr. Jones suffered any conversation to continue for a +great length of time without his participation. It seems that he was +of the party that Judge Temple had designated as his surveyors; and +he embraced the opportunity of the pause that succeeded the retreat of +young Edwards to take up the discourse, and with a narration of their +further proceedings, after his own manner. As it wanted, however, the +interest that had accompanied the description of the Judge, we must +decline the task of committing his sentences to paper. + +They soon reached the point where the promised view was to be seen. +It was one of those picturesque and peculiar scenes that belong to the +Otsego, but which required the absence of the ice and the softness of a +summer's landscape to be enjoyed in all its beauty. Marmaduke had +early forewarned his daughter of the season, and of its effect on the +prospect; and after casting a cursory glance at its capabilities, the +party returned homeward, perfectly satisfied that its beauties would +repay them for the toil of a second ride at a more propitious season. + +“The spring is the gloomy time of the American year,” said the Judge, +“and it is more peculiarly the case in these mountains. The winter seems +to retreat to the fast nesses of the hills, as to the citadel of its +dominion, and is only expelled after a tedious siege, in which either +party, at times, would seem to be gaining the victory.” + +“A very just and apposite figure, Judge Temple,” observed the sheriff; +“and the garrison under the command of Jack Frost make formidable +sorties--you understand what I mean by sorties, monsieur; sallies, in +English--and sometimes drive General Spring and his troops back again +into the low countries.” + +“Yes sair,” returned the Frenchman, whose prominent eyes were watching +the precarious footsteps of the beast he rode, as it picked its +dangerous way among the roots of trees, holes, log bridges, and sloughs +that formed the aggregate of the highway. “Je vous entends; de low +countrie is freeze up for half de year.” + +The error of Mr. Le Quoi was not noticed by the sheriff; and the rest of +the party were yielding to the influence of the changeful season, which +was already teaching the equestrians that a continuance of its +mildness was not to be expected for any length of time. Silence and +thoughtfulness succeeded the gayety and conversation that had prevailed +during the commencement of the ride, as clouds began to gather about +the heavens, apparently collecting from every quarter, in quick motion, +without the agency of a breath of air, + +While riding over one of the cleared eminencies that occurred in their +route, the watchful eye of Judge Temple pointed out to his daughter the +approach of a tempest. Flurries of snow already obscured the mountain +that formed the northern boundary of the lake, and the genial sensation +which had quickened the blood through their veins was already succeeded +by the deadening influence of an approaching northwester. + +All of the party were now busily engaged in making the best of their +way to the village, though the badness of the roads frequently compelled +them to check the impatience of their animals, which often carried them +over places that would not admit of any gait faster than a walk. + +Richard continued in advance, followed by Mr. Le Quoi; next to whom rode +Elizabeth, who seemed to have imbibed the distance which pervaded the +manner of young Edwards since the termination of the discourse between +the latter and her father. Marmaduke followed his daughter, giving her +frequent and tender warnings as to the management of her horse. It +was, possibly, the evident dependence that Louisa Grant placed on his +assistance which induced the youth to continue by her side, as they +pursued their way through a dreary and dark wood, where the rays of the +sun could but rarely penetrate, and where even the daylight was obscured +and rendered gloomy by the deep forests that surrounded them. No wind +had yet reached the spot where the equestrians were in motion, but that +dead silence that often precedes a storm contributed to render their +situation more irksome than if they were already subject to the fury of +the tempest. Suddenly the voice of young Edwards was heard shouting +in those appalling tones that carry alarm to the very soul, and which +curdle the blood of those that hear them. + +“A tree! a tree! Whip--spur for your lives! a tree! a tree.” + +“A tree! a tree!” echoed Richard, giving his horse a blow that caused +the alarmed beast to jump nearly a rod, throwing the mud and water into +the air like a hurricane. + +“Von tree! von tree!” shouted the Frenchman, bending his body on the +neck of his charger, shutting his eyes, and playing on the ribs of his +beast with his heels at a rate that caused him to be conveyed on the +crupper of the sheriff with a marvellous speed. + +Elizabeth checked her filly and looked up, with an unconscious but +alarmed air, at the very cause of their danger, while she listened to +the crackling sounds that awoke the stillness of the forest; but the +next instant her bridlet was seized by her father, who cried, “God +protect my child!” and she felt herself hurried onward, impelled by the +vigor of his nervous arm. + +Each one of the party bowed to his saddle-bows as the tearing of +branches was succeeded by a sound like the rushing of the winds, which +was followed by a thundering report, and a shock that caused the very +earth to tremble as one of the noblest ruins of the forest fell directly +across their path. + +One glance was enough to assure Judge Temple that his daughter and those +in front of him were safe, and he turned his eyes, in dreadful anxiety, +to learn the fate of the others. Young Edwards was on the opposite side +of the tree, his form thrown back in his saddle to its utmost distance, +his left hand drawing up his bridle with its greatest force, while the +right grasped that of Miss Grant so as to draw the head of her horse +under its body. Both the animals stood shaking in every joint with +terror, and snorting fearfully. Louisa herself had relinquished her +reins, and, with her hands pressed on her face, sat bending forward +in her saddle, in an attitude of despair, mingled strangely with +resignation. + +“Are you safe?” cried the Judge, first breaking the awful silence of the +moment. + +“By God's blessing,” returned the youth; “but if there had been branches +to the tree we must have been lost--” + +He was interrupted by the figure of Louisa slowly yielding in her +saddle, and but for his arm she would have sunk to the earth. Terror, +however, was the only injury that the clergyman's daughter had +sustained, and, with the aid of Elizabeth, she was soon restored to her +senses. After some little time was lost in recovering her strength, the +young lady was replaced in her saddle, and supported on either side +by Judge Temple and Mr. Edwards she was enabled to follow the party in +their slow progress. + +“The sudden fallings of the trees,” said Marmaduke, “are the most +dangerous accidents in the forest, for they are not to be foreseen, +being impelled by no winds, nor any extraneous or visible cause against +which we can guard.” + +“The reason of their falling, Judge Temple, is very obvious,” said the +sheriff. “The tree is old and decayed, and it is gradually weakened by +the frosts, until a line drawn from the centre of gravity falls without +its base, and then the tree comes of a certainty; and I should like +to know what greater compulsion there can be for any thing than a +mathematical certainty. I studied math--” + +“Very true, Richard,” interrupted Marmaduke; “thy reasoning is true, +and, if my memory be not over-treacherous, was furnished by myself on a +former occasion, But how is one to guard against the danger? Canst thou +go through the forests measuring the bases and calculating the centres +of the oaks? Answer me that, friend Jones, and I will say thou wilt do +the country a service.” + +“Answer thee that, friend Temple!” returned Richard; “a well-educated +man can answer thee anything, sir. Do any trees fall in this manner but +such as are decayed? Take care not to approach the roots of a rotten +tree, and you will be safe enough.” + +“That would be excluding us entirely from the forests,” said Marmaduke. +“But, happily, the winds usually force down most of these dangerous +ruins, as their currents are admitted into the woods by the surrounding +clearings, and such a fall as this has been is very rare.” + +Louisa by this time had recovered so much strength as to allow the party +to proceed at a quicker pace, but long before they were safely housed +they were overtaken by the storm; and when they dismounted at the +door of the mansion-house, the black plumes of Miss Temple's hat were +drooping with the weight of a load of damp snow, and the coats of the +gentlemen were powdered with the same material. + +While Edwards was assisting Louisa from her horse, the warm-hearted girl +caught his hand with fervor and whispered: + +“Now, Mr. Edwards, both father and daughter owe their lives to you.” + +A driving northwesterly storm succeeded, and before the sun was set +every vestige of spring had vanished; the lake, the mountains, the +village, and the fields being again hidden under one dazzling coat of +snow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + “Men, boys, and girls + Desert the unpeopled village; and wild crowds + Spread o'er the plain, by the sweet phrensy driven.” + --Somerville. + +From this time to the close of April the weather continued to be a +succession of neat and rapid changes. One day the soft airs of +spring seemed to be stealing along the valley, and, in unison with an +invigorating sun, attempting covertly to rouse the dormant powers of +the vegetable world, while, on the next, the surly blasts from the north +would sweep across the lake and erase every impression left by their +gentle adversaries. The snow, however, finally disappeared, and the +green wheat fields were seen in every direction, spotted with the dark +and charred stumps that had, the preceding season, supported some of +the proudest trees of the forest. Ploughs were in motion, wherever those +useful implements could be used, and the smokes of the sugar-camps were +no longer seen issuing from the woods of maple. The lake had lost the +beauty of a field of ice, but still a dark and gloomy covering concealed +its waters, for the absence of currents left them yet hidden under a +porous crust, which, saturated with the fluid, barely retained enough +strength to preserve the continuity of its parts. Large flocks of wild +geese were seen passing over the country, which hovered, for a +time, around the hidden sheet of water, apparently searching for a +resting-place; and then, on finding themselves excluded by the chill +covering, would soar away to the north, filling the air with discordant +screams, as if venting their complaints at the tardy operations of +Nature. + +For a week, the dark covering of the Otsego was left to the undisturbed +possession of two eagles, who alighted on the centre of its field, and +sat eyeing their undisputed territory. During the presence of these +monarchs of the air, the flocks of migrating birds avoided crossing +the plain of ice by turning into the hills, apparently seeking the +protection of the forests, while the white and bald heads of the tenants +of the lake were turned upward, with a look of contempt. But the time +had come when even these kings of birds were to be dispossessed. An +opening had been gradually increasing at the lower extremity of the +lake, and around the dark spot where the current of the river prevented +the formation of ice during even the coldest weather; and the fresh +southerly winds, that now breathed freely upon the valley, made an +impression on the waters. Mimic waves began to curl over the margin of +the frozen field, which exhibited an outline of crystallizations that +slowly receded toward the north. At each step the power of the winds +and the waves increased, until, after a struggle of a few hours, the +turbulent little billows succeeded in setting the whole field in motion, +when it was driven beyond the reach of the eye, with a rapidity that was +as magical as the change produced in the scene by this expulsion of the +lingering remnant of winter. Just as the last sheet of agitated ice was +disappearing in the distance, the eagles rose, and soared with a wide +sweep above the clouds, while the waves tossed their little caps of +snow in the air, as if rioting in their release from a thraldom of five +minutes' duration. + +The following morning Elizabeth was awakened by the exhilarating sounds +of the martens, who were quarrelling and chattering around the little +boxes suspended above her windows, and the cries of Richard, who was +calling in tones animating as signs of the season itself: + +“Awake! awake! my fair lady! the gulls are hovering over the lake +already, and the heavens are alive with pigeons. You may look an hour +before you can find a hole through which to get a peep at the sun. +Awake! awake! lazy ones' Benjamin is overhauling the ammunition, and +we only wait for our breakfasts, and away for the mountains and +pigeon-shooting.” + +There was no resisting this animated appeal, and in a few minutes Miss +Temple and her friend descended to the parlor. The doors of the hall +were thrown open, and the mild, balmy air of a clear spring morning was +ventilating the apartment, where the vigilance of the ex-steward +had been so long maintaining an artificial heat with such unremitted +diligence. The gentlemen were impatiently waiting for their morning's +repast, each equipped in the garb of a sportsman. Mr. Jones made many +visits to the southern door, and would cry: + +“See, Cousin Bess! see, 'Duke, the pigeon-roosts of the south have +broken up! They are growing more thick every instant, Here is a flock +that the eye cannot see the end of. There is food enough in it to keep +the army of Xerxes for a month, and feathers enough to make beds for the +whole country. Xerxes, Mr. Edwards, was a Grecian king, who--no, he was +a Turk, or a Persian, who wanted to conquer Greece, just the same as +these rascals will overrun our wheat fields, when they come back in the +fall. Away! away! Bess; I long to pepper them.” + +In this wish both Marmaduke and young Edwards seemed equally to +participate, for the sight was exhilarating to a sportsman; and the +ladies soon dismissed the party after a hasty breakfast. + +If the heavens were alive with pigeons, the whole village seemed equally +in motion with men, women, and children. Every species of firearm, from +the French ducking gun, with a barrel near six feet in length, to the +common horseman's pistol, was to be seen in the hands of the men and +boys; while bows and arrows, some made of the simple stick of walnut +sapling and others in a rude imitation of the ancient cross-bows, were +carried by many of the latter. + +The houses and the signs of life apparent in the village drove +the alarmed birds from the direct line of their flight, toward the +mountains, along the sides and near the bases of which they were +glancing in dense masses, equally wonderful by the rapidity of their +motion and their incredible numbers. + +We have already said that, across the inclined plane which fell from the +steep ascent of the mountain to the banks of the Susquehanna, ran the +highway on either side of which a clearing of many acres had been made +at a very early day. Over those clearings, and up the eastern mountain, +and along the dangerous path that was cut into its side, the different +individuals posted themselves, and in a few moments the attack +commenced. + +Among the sportsmen was the tall, gaunt form of Leather-Stocking, +walking over the field, with his rifle hanging on his arm, his dogs at +his heels; the latter now scenting the dead or wounded birds that were +beginning to tumble from the flocks, and then crouching under the +legs of their master, as if they participated in his feelings at this +wasteful and unsportsmanlike execution. + +The reports of the firearms became rapid, whole volleys rising from the +plain, as flocks of more than ordinary numbers darted over the opening, +shadowing the field like a cloud; and then the light smoke of a single +piece would issue from among the leafless bushes on the mountain, as +death was hurled on the retreat of the affrighted birds, who were rising +from a volley, in a vain effort to escape. Arrows and missiles of every +kind were in the midst of the flocks; and so numerous were the birds, +and so low did they take their flight, that even long poles in the hands +of those on the sides of the mountain were used to strike them to the +earth. + +During all this time Mr. Jones, who disdained the humble and ordinary +means of destruction used by his companions, was busily occupied, +aided by Benjamin, in making arrangements for an assault of more +than ordinarily fatal character. Among the relics of the old military +excursions, that occasionally are discovered throughout the different +districts of the western part of New York, there had been found in +Templeton, at its settlement, a small swivel, which would carry a ball +of a pound weight. It was thought to have been deserted by a war-party +of the whites in one of their inroads into the Indian settlements, when, +perhaps, convenience or their necessity induced them to leave such an +incumberance behind them in the woods. This miniature cannon had been +released from the rust, and being mounted on little wheels was now in +a state for actual service. For several years it was the sole organ for +extraordinary rejoicings used in those mountains. On the mornings of +the Fourth of July it would be heard ringing among the hills; and even +Captain Hollister, who was the highest authority in that part of +the country on all such occasions, affirmed that, considering its +dimensions, it was no despicable gun for a salute. It was somewhat the +worse for the service it had performed, it is true, there being but a +trifling difference in size between the touch-hole and the muzzle Still, +the grand conceptions of Richard had suggested the importance of such +an instrument in hurling death at his nimble enemies. The swivel was +dragged by a horse into a part of the open space that the sheriff +thought most eligible for planning a battery of the kind, and Mr. Pump +proceeded to load it. Several handfuls of duck-shot were placed on top +of the powder, and the major-domo announced that his piece was ready for +service. + +The sight of such an implement collected all the idle spectators to the +spot, who, being mostly boys, filled the air with cries of exultation +and delight The gun was pointed high, and Richard, holding a coal of +fire in a pair of tongs, patiently took his seat on a stump, awaiting +the appearance of a flock worthy of his notice. + +So prodigious was the number of the birds that the scattering fire of +the guns, with the hurling of missiles and the cries of the boys, had no +other effect than to break off small flocks from the immense masses that +continued to dart along the valley, as if the whole of the feathered +tribe were pouring through that one pass. None pretended to collect the +game, which lay scattered over the fields in such profusion as to cover +the very ground with fluttering victims. + +Leather-Stocking was a silent but uneasy spectator of all these +proceedings, but was able to keep his sentiments to himself until he saw +the introduction of the swivel into the sports. + +“This comes of settling a country!” he said. “Here have I known the +pigeon to fly for forty long years, and, till you made your clearings, +there was nobody to skeart or to hurt them, I loved to see them come +into the woods, for they were company to a body, hurting nothing--being, +as it was, as harmless as a garter-snake. But now it gives me sore +thoughts when I hear the frighty things whizzing through the air, for I +know it's only a motion to bring out all the brats of the village. Well, +the Lord won't see the waste of his creatures for nothing, and right +will be done to the pigeons, as well as others, by and by. There's Mr. +Oliver as bad as the rest of them, firing into the flocks as if he was +shooting down nothing but Mingo warriors.” Among the sportsmen was Billy +Kirby, who, armed with an old musket, was loading, and, without even +looking into the air, was firing and shouting as his victims fell even +on his own person. He heard the speech of Natty, and took upon himself +to reply: + +“What! old Leather-Stocking,” he cried, “grumbling at the loss of a few +pigeons! If you had to sow your wheat twice, and three times, as I have +done, you wouldn't be so massyfully feeling toward the divils. Hurrah, +boys! scatter the feathers! This is better than shooting at a turkey's +head and neck, old fellow.” + +“It's better for you, maybe, Billy Kirby,” replied the indignant +old hunter, “and all them that don't know how to put a ball down a +rifle-barrel, or how to bring it up again with a true aim; but it's +wicked to be shooting into flocks in this wasty manner, and none to do +it who know how to knock over a single bird. If a body has a craving +for pigeon's flesh, why, it's made the same as all other creatures, for +man's eating; but not to kill twenty and eat one. When I want such a +thing I go into the woods till I find one to my liking, and then I shoot +him off the branches, without touching the feather of another, though +there might be a hundred on the same tree. You couldn't do such a thing, +Billy Kirby--you couldn't do it if you tried.” + +“What's that, old corn-stalk! you sapless stub!” cried the wood-chopper. +“You have grown wordy, since the affair of the turkey; but if you are +for a single shot, here goes at that bird which comes on by himself.” + +The fire from the distant part of the field had driven a single pigeon +below the flock to which it belonged, and, frightened with the constant +reports of the muskets, it was approaching the spot where the disputants +stood, darting first from One side and then to the other, cutting the +air with the swiftness of lightning, and making a noise with its wings +not unlike the rushing of a bullet. Unfortunately for the wood-chopper, +notwithstanding his vaunt, he did not see this bird until it was too +late to fire as it approached, and he pulled the trigger at the unlucky +moment when it was darting immediately over his head. The bird continued +its course with the usual velocity. + +Natty lowered his rifle from his arm when the challenge was made, and +waiting a moment, until the terrified victim had got in a line with his +eye, and had dropped near the bank of the lake, he raised it again with +uncommon rapidity, and fired. It might have been chance, or it might +have been skill, that produced the result; it was probably a union of +both; but the pigeon whirled over in the air, and fell into the lake +with a broken wing At the sound of his rifle, both his dogs started from +his feet, and in a few minutes the “slut” brought out the bird, still +alive. + +The wonderful exploit of Leather-Stocking was noised through the field +with great rapidity, and the sportsmen gathered in, to learn the truth +of the report. + +“What” said young Edwards, “have you really killed a pigeon on the wing, +Natty, with a single ball?” + +“Haven't I killed loons before now, lad, that dive at the flash?” + returned the hunter. “It's much better to kill only such as you want, +without wasting your powder and lead, than to be firing into God's +creatures in this wicked manner. But I came out for a bird, and you know +the reason why I like small game, Mr. Oliver, and now I have got one +Twill go home, for I don't relish to see these wasty ways that you are +all practysing, as if the least thing wasn't made for use, and not to +destroy.” + +“Thou sayest well, Leather-Stocking,” cried Marmaduke, “and I begin to +think it time to put an end to this work of destruction.” + +“Put an ind, Judge, to your clearings. Ain't the woods His work as well +as the pigeons? Use, but don't waste. Wasn't the woods made for the +beasts and birds to harbor in? and when man wanted their flesh, their +skins, or their feathers, there's the place to seek them. But I'll go +to the hut with my own game, for I wouldn't touch one of the harmless +things that cover the ground here, looking up with their eyes on me, as +if they only wanted tongues to say their thoughts.” With this sentiment +in his month, Leather-Stocking threw his rifle over his arm, and, +followed by his dogs, stepped across the clearing with great caution, +taking care not to tread on one of the wounded birds in his path. He +soon entered the bushes on the margin of the lake and was hid from view. + +Whatever impression the morality of Natty made on the Judge, it was +utterly lost on Richard. He availed himself of the gathering of the +sportsmen, to lay a plan for one “fell swoop” of destruction. The +musket-men were drawn up in battle array, in a line extending on each +side of his artillery, with orders to await the signal of firing from +himself. + +“Stand by, my lads,” said Benjamin, who acted as an aid de-camp on this +occasion, “stand by, my hearties, and when Squire Dickens heaves out the +signal to begin firing, d'ye see, you may open upon them in a broadside. +Take care and fire low, boys, and you'll be sure to hull the flock.” + +“Fire low!” shouted Kirby; “hear the old fool! If we fire low, we may +hit the stumps, but not ruffle a pigeon.” + +“How should you know, you lubber?” cried Benjamin, with a very +unbecoming heat for an officer on the eve of battle--“how should you +know, you grampus? Haven't I sailed aboard of the Boadishy for five +years? and wasn't it a standing order to fire low, and to hull your +enemy! Keep silence at your guns, boys and mind the order that is +passed.” + +The loud laughs of the musket-men were silenced by the more +authoritative voice of Richard, who called for attention and obedience +to his signals. + +Some millions of pigeons were supposed to have already passed, that +morning, over the valley of Templeton; but nothing like the flock that +was now approaching had been seen before. It extended from mountain to +mountain in one solid blue mass, and the eye looked in vain, over the +southern hills, to find its termination. The front of this living column +was distinctly marked by a line but very slightly indented, so +regular and even was the flight. Even Marmaduke forgot the morality of +Leather-Stocking as it approached, and, in common with the rest, brought +his musket to a poise. + +“Fire!” cried the sheriff, clapping a coal to the priming of the cannon. +As half of Benjamin's charge escaped through the touch-hole, the whole +volley of the musketry preceded the report of the swivel. On receiving +this united discharge of small-arms, the front of the flock darted +upward, while, at the same instant, myriads of those in the rear rushed +with amazing rapidity into their places, so that, when the column of +white smoke gushed from the mouth of the little cannon, an accumulated +mass of objects was gliding over its point of direction. The roar of the +gun echoed along the mountains, and died away to the north, like distant +thunder, while the whole flock of alarmed birds seemed, for a moment, +thrown into one disorderly and agitated mass. The air was filled with +their irregular flight, layer rising above layer, far above the tops +of the highest pines, none daring to advance beyond the dangerous pass; +when, suddenly, some of the headers of the feathered tribes shot across +the valley, taking their flight directly over the village, and hundreds +of thousands in their rear followed the example, deserting the eastern +side of the plain to their persecutors and the slain. + +“Victory!” shouted Richard, “victory! we have driven the enemy from the +field.” + +“Not so, Dickon,” said Marmaduke; “the field is covered with them; and, +like the Leather-Stocking, I see nothing but eyes, in every direction, +as the innocent sufferers turn their heads in terror. Full one-half of +those that have fallen are yet alive; and I think it is time to end the +sport, if sport it be.” + +“Sport!” cried the sheriff; “it is princely sport! There are some +thousands of the blue-coated boys on the ground, so that every old woman +in the village may have a pot-pie for the asking.” + +“Well, we have happily frightened the birds from this side of the +valley,” said Marmaduke, “and the carnage must of necessity end for the +present. Boys, I will give you sixpence a hundred for the pigeons' heads +only; so go to work, and bring them into the village.” + +This expedient produced the desired effect, for every urchin on the +ground went industriously to work to wring the necks of the wounded +birds. Judge Temple retired toward his dwelling with that kind of +feeling that many a man has experienced before him, who discovers, after +the excitement of the moment has passed, that he has purchased pleasure +at the price of misery to others. Horses were loaded with the dead; and, +after this first burst of sporting, the shooting of pigeons became a +business, with a few idlers, for the remainder of the season, Richard, +however, boasted for many a year of his shot with the “cricket;” and +Benjamin gravely asserted that he thought they had killed nearly as many +pigeons on that day as there were Frenchmen destroyed on the memorable +occasion of Rodney's victory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + + “Help, masters, help; here's a fish hangs in the net, like a poor + Man's right in the law.” + --Pericles of Tyre. + +The advance of the season now became as rapid as its first approach +had been tedious and lingering. The days were uniformly mild, while +the nights, though cool, were no longer chilled by frosts. The +whip-poor-will was heard whistling his melancholy notes along the margin +of the lake, and the ponds and meadows were sending forth the music of +their thousand tenants. The leaf of the native poplar was seen quivering +in the woods; the sides of the mountains began to lose their hue of +brown, as the lively green of the different members of the forest +blended their shades with the permanent colors of the pine and hemlock; +and even the buds of the tardy oak were swelling with the promise of the +coming summer. The gay and fluttering blue-bird, the social robin, and +the industrious little wren were all to be seen enlivening the fields +with their presence and their songs; while the soaring fish-hawk was +already hovering over the waters of the Otsego, watching with native +voracity for the appearance of his prey. + +The tenants of the lake were far-famed for both their quantities and +their quality, and the ice had hardly disappeared before numberless +little boats were launched from the shores, and the lines of the +fishermen were dropped into the inmost recesses of its deepest caverns, +tempting the unwary animals with every variety of bait that the +ingenuity or the art of man had invented. But the slow though certain +adventures with hook and line were ill suited to the profusion and +impatience of the settlers. More destructive means were resorted to; +and, as the season had now arrived when the bass fisheries were allowed +by the provisions of the law that Judge Temple had procured, the sheriff +declared his intention, by availing himself of the first dark night, to +enjoy the sport in person. + +“And you shall be present, Cousin Bess,” he added, when he announced +this design, “and Miss Grant, and Mr. Edwards; and I will show you what +I call fishing not nibble, nibble, nibble, as 'Duke does when he goes +after the salmon-trout. There he will sit for hours, in a broiling sun +or, perhaps, over a hole in the lee, in the coldest days in winter, +under the lee of a few bushes, and not a fish will he catch, after all +this mortification of the flesh. No, no--give me a good seine that's +fifty or sixty fathoms in length, with a jolly parcel of boatmen to +crack their jokes the while, with Benjamin to steer, and let us haul +them in by thousands; I call that fishing.” + +“Ah! Dickon,” cried Marmaduke, “thou knowest but little of the pleasure +there is in playing with the hook and line, or thou wouldst be more +saving of the game. I have known thee to leave fragments enough behind +thee, when thou hast headed a night party on the lake, to feed a dozen +famishing families.” + +“I shall not dispute the matter, Judge Temple; this night will I go; and +I invite the company to attend, and then let them decide between us.” + +Richard was busy during most of the afternoon, making his preparations +for the important occasion. Just as the light of the settling sun had +disappeared, and a new moon had begun to throw its shadows on the earth, +the fisher-men took their departure, in a boat, for a point that was +situated on the western shore of the lake, at the distance of rather +more than half a mile from the village. The ground had become settled, +and the walking was good and dry. Marmaduke, with his daughter, her +friend, and young Edwards, continued on the high grassy banks at the +outlet of the placid sheet of water, watching the dark object that was +moving across the lake, until it entered the shade of the western hills, +and was lost to the eye. The distance round by land to the point of +destination was a mile, and he observed: + +“It is time for us to be moving; the moon will be down ere we reach the +point, and then the miraculous hauls of Dickon will commence.” + +The evening was warm, and, after the long and dreary winter from which +they had just escaped, delightfully invigorating. Inspirited by the +scene and their anticipated amusement, the youthful companions of the +Judge followed his steps, as he led them along the shores of the Otsego, +and through the skirts of the village. + +“See!” said young Edwards, “they are building their fire already; it +glimmers for a moment, and dies again like the light of a firefly.” + +“Now it blazes,” cried Elizabeth; “you can perceive figures moving +around the light. Oh! I would bet my jewels against the gold beads of +Remarkable, that my impatient Cousin Dickon had an agency in raising +that bright flame; and see! it fades again, like most of his brilliant +schemes.” + +“Thou hast guessed the truth, Bess,” said her father; “he has thrown an +armful of brush on the pile, which has burnt out as soon as lighted. +But it has enabled them to find a better fuel, for their fire begins to +blaze with a more steady flame. It is the true fisherman's beacon now; +observe how beautifully it throw s its little circle of light on the +water!” + +The appearance of the fire urged the pedestrians on, for even the ladies +had become eager to witness the miraculous draught. By the time they +reached the bank, which rose above the low point where the fishermen had +landed, the moon had sunk behind the top of the western pines, and, as +most of the stars were obscured by clouds, there was but little other +light than that which proceeded from the fire. At the suggestion of +Marmaduke, his companions paused to listen to the conversation of those +below them, and examine the party for a moment before they descended to +the shore. + +The whole group were seated around the fire, with the exception of +Richard and Benjamin; the former of whom occupied the root of a decayed +stump, that had been drawn to the spot as part of their fuel, and the +latter was standing, with his arms akimbo, so near to the flame that the +smoke occasionally obscured his solemn visage, as it waved around the +pile in obedience to the night airs that swept gently over the water. + +“Why, look you, squire, said the major-domo. You may call a lake-fish +that will weigh twenty or thirty pounds a serious matter, but to a man +who has hauled in a shovel-nosed shirk, d'ye see, it's but a poor kind +of fishing after all.” + +“I don't know, Benjamin,” returned the sheriff; “a haul of one thousand +Otsego bass, without counting pike, pickerel, perch, bull-pouts, +salmon-trouts, and suckers, is no bad fishing, let me tell you. There +may he sport in sticking a shark, but what is he good for after you have +got him? Now, any one of the fish that I have named is fit to set before +a king.” + +“Well, squire,” returned Benjamin, “just listen to the philosophy of +the thing. Would it stand to reason, that such a fish should live and be +catched in this here little pond of water, where it's hardly deep enough +to drown a man, as you'll find in the wide ocean, where, as every +body knows that is, everybody that has followed the seas, whales and +grampuses are to be seen, that are as long as one of the pine-trees on +yonder mountain?” + +“Softly, softly, Benjamin,” said the sheriff, as if he wished to save +the credit of his favorite; “why, some of the pines will measure two +hundred feet, and even more.” + +“Two hundred or two thousand, it's all the same thing,” cried Benjamin, +with an air which manifested that he was not easily to be bullied out of +his opinion, on a subject like the present. “Haven't I been there, and +haven't I seen? I have said that you fall in with whales as long as one +of them there pines: and what I have once said I'll stand to!” + +During this dialogue, which was evidently but the close of much longer +discussion, the huge frame of Billy Kirby was seen extended on one side +of the fire, where he was picking his teeth with splinters of the chips +near him, and occasionally shaking his head with distrust of Benjamin's +assertions. + +“I've a notion,” said the wood-chopper, “that there's water in this lake +to swim the biggest whale that ever was invented; and, as to the pines, +I think I ought to know so'thing consarning them; I have chopped many +a one that was sixty times the length of my helve, without counting +the eye; and I believe, Benny, that if the old pine that stands in the +hollow of the Vision Mountain just over the village--you may see the +tree itself by looking up, for the moon is on its top yet--well, now I +believe, if that same tree was planted out in the deepest part of the +lake, there would be water enough for the biggest ship that ever was +built to float over it, without touching its upper branches, I do.” + +“Did'ee ever see a ship, Master Kirby?” roared the steward, “did'ee ever +see a ship, man? or any craft bigger than a lime-scow, or a wood-boat, +on this here small bit of fresh water?” + +“Yes, I have,” said the wood-chopper stoutly; “I can say that I have, +and tell no lie.” + +“Did'ee ever see a British ship, Master Kirby? an English line-of-battle +ship, boy? Where did'ee ever fall in with a regular built vessel, with +starn-post and cutwater, gar board-streak and plank-shear, gangways, +and hatchways, and waterways, quarter-deck, and forecastle, ay, and +flush-deck?--tell me that, man, if you can; where away did'ee ever fall +in with a full-rigged, regular-built, necked vessel?” + +The whole company were a good deal astounded with this overwhelming +question, and even Richard afterward remarked that it “was a thousand +pities that Benjamin could not read, or he must have made a valuable +officer to the British marine. It is no wonder that they overcame the +French so easily on the water, when even the lowest sailor so well +understood the different parts of a vessel.” But Billy Kirby was a +fearless wight, and had great jealousy of foreign dictation; he had +risen on his feet, and turned his back to the fire, during the voluble +delivery of this interrogatory; and when the steward ended, contrary to +all expectation, he gave the following spirited reply: + +“Where! why, on the North River, and maybe on Champlain. There's sloops +on the river, boy, that would give a hard time on't to the stoutest +vessel King George owns. They carry masts of ninety feet in the clear of +good solid pine, for I've been at the chopping of many a one in +Varmount State. I wish I was captain in one of them, and you was in +that Board-dish that you talk so much about, and we'd soon see what good +Yankee stuff is made on, and whether a Varmounter's hide ain't as thick +as an Englishman's.” The echoes from the opposite hills, which were more +than half a mile from the fishing point, sent back the discordant laugh +that Benjamin gave forth at this challenge; and the woods that covered +their sides seemed, by the noise that issued from their shades, to be +full of mocking demons. + +“Let us descend to the shore,” whispered Marmaduke, “or there will soon +be ill-blood between them. Benjamin is a fearless boaster; and Kirby, +though good-natured, is a careless son of the forest, who thinks one +American more than a match for six Englishmen. I marvel that Dickon is +silent, where there is such a trial of skill in the superlative!” + +The appearance of Judge Temple and the ladies produced, if not a +pacification, at least a cessation of hostilities. Obedient to the +directions of Mr. Jones the fishermen prepared to launch their boat, +which had been seen in the background of the view, with the net +carefully disposed on a little platform in its stern, ready for service. +Richard gave vent to his reproaches at the tardiness of the pedestrians, +when all the turbulent passions of the party were succeeded by a calm, +as mild and as placid as that which prevailed over the beautiful sheet +of water that they were about to rifle of its best treasures. + +The night had now become so dark as to render objects, without the +reach of the light of the fire, not only indistinct, but in most cases +invisible. For a little distance the water was discernible, glistening, +as the glare from the fire danced over its surface, touching it here and +there with red quivering streaks; but, at a hundred feet from the +shore, there lay a boundary of impenetrable gloom. One or two stars were +shining through the openings of the clouds, and the lights were seen in +the village, glimmering faintly, as if at an immeasurable distance. At +times, as the fire lowered, or as the horizon cleared, the outline of +the mountain, on the other side of the lake, might be traced by its +undulations; but its shadow was cast, wide and dense, on the bosom of +the water, rendering the darkness in that direction trebly deep. + +Benjamin Pump was invariably the coxswain and net caster of Richard's +boat, unless the sheriff saw fit to preside in person: and, on the +present occasion, Billy Kirby, and a youth of about half his strength, +were assigned to the oars. The remainder of the assistants were +stationed at the drag-ropes. The arrangements were speedily made, and +Richard gave the signal to “shove off.” + +Elizabeth watched the motion of the batteau as it pulled from the +shore, letting loose its rope as it went, but it soon disappeared in the +darkness, when the ear was her only guide to its evolutions. There was +great affectation of stillness during all these manoeuvers, in order, as +Richard assured them, “not to frighten the bass, who were running into +the shoal waters, and who would approach the light if not disturbed by +the sounds from the fishermen.” + +The hoarse voice of Benjamin was alone heard issuing out of the gloom, +as he uttered, in authoritative tones, “Pull larboard oar,” “Pull +starboard,” “Give way together, boys,” and such other indicative +mandates as were necessary for the right disposition of his seine. A +long time was passed in this necessary part of the process, for Benjamin +prided himself greatly on his skill in throwing the net, and, in +fact, most of the success of the sport depended on its being done with +judgment. At length a loud splash in the water, as he threw away the +“staff,” or “stretcher,” with a hoarse call from the steward of “Clear,” + announced that the boat was returning; when Richard seized a brand +from the fire, and ran to a point as far above the centre of the +fishing-ground, as the one from which the batteau had started was below +it. + +“Stick her in dead for the squire, boys,” said the steward, “and we'll +have a look at what grows in this here pond.” + +In place of the falling net were now to be heard the quick strokes of +the oars, and the noise of the rope running out of the boat. Presently +the batteau shot into the circle of light, and in an instant she was +pulled to the shore. Several eager hands were extended to receive the +line, and, both ropes being equally well manned, the fishermen commenced +hauling in with slow, and steady drags, Richard standing to the centre, +giving orders, first to one party, and then to the other, to increase +or slacken their efforts, as occasion required. The visitors were posted +near him, and enjoyed a fair view of the whole operation, which was +slowly advancing to an end. + +Opinions as to the result of their adventure were now freely hazarded by +all the men, some declaring that the net came in as light as a feather, +and others affirming that it seemed to be full of logs. As the ropes +were many hundred feet in length, these opposing sentiments were thought +to be of little moment by the sheriff, who would go first to one line, +and then to the other, giving each small pull, in order to enable him to +form an opinion for himself. + +“Why, Benjamin,” he cried, as he made his first effort in this way, “you +did not throw the net clear. I can move it with my little finger. The +rope slackens in my hand.” + +“Did you ever see a whale, squire?” responded the steward: “I say that, +if that there net is foul, the devil is in the lake in the shape of +a fish, for I cast it as far as ever rigging was rove over the +quarter-deck of a flag-ship.” + +But Richard discovered his mistake, when he saw Billy Kirby before him, +standing with his feet in the water, at an angle of forty-five degrees, +inclining southward, and expending his gigantic strength in sustaining +himself in that posture. He ceased his remonstrances, and proceeded to +the party at the other line. + +“I see the 'staffs,'” shouted Mr. Jones--“gather in boys, and away +with it; to shore with her!--to shore with her!” + +At this cheerful sound, Elizabeth strained her eyes and saw the ends of +the two sticks on the seine emerging from the darkness, while the men +closed near to each other, and formed a deep bag of their net. The +exertions of the fishermen sensibly increased, and the voice of Richard +was heard encouraging them to make their greatest efforts at the present +moment. + +“Now's the time, my lads,” he cried; “let us get the ends to land, and +all we have will be our own--away with her!” + +“Away with her, it is,” echoed Benjamin!--“hurrah! ho-a-hay, ho-a-hoy, +ho-a!” + +“In with her,” shouted Kirby, exerting himself in a manner that left +nothing for those in his rear to do, but to gather up the slack of the +rope which passed through his hands. + +“Staff, ho!” shouted the steward. + +“Staff, ho!” echoed Kirby, from the other rope. The men rushed to the +water's edge, some seizing the upper rope, and some the lower or +lead rope, and began to haul with great activity and zeal, A deep +semicircular sweep of the little balls that supported the seine in its +perpendicular position was plainly visible to the spectators, and, as +it rapidly lessened in size, the bag of the net appeared, while +an occasional flutter on the water announced the uneasiness of the +prisoners it contained. + +“Haul in, my lads,” shouted Richard--“I can see the dogs kicking to get +free. Haul in, and here's a cast that will pay for the labor.” Fishes of +various sorts were now to be seen, entangled in the meshes of the net, +as it was passed through the hands of the laborers; and the water, at +a little distance from the shore, was alive with the movements of the +alarmed victims. Hundreds of white sides were glancing up to the surface +of the water, and glistening in the fire light, when, frightened at +the uproar and the change, the fish would again dart to the bottom, in +fruitless efforts for freedom. “Hurrah!” shouted Richard: “one or two +more heavy drags, boys, and we are safe.” + +“Cheerily, boys, cheerily!” cried Benjamin; “I see a salmon-trout that +is big enough for a chowder.” + +“Away with you, you varmint!” said Billy Kirby, plucking a bullpout from +the meshes, and casting the animal back into the lake with contempt. +“Pull, boys, pull; here's all kinds, and the Lord condemn me for a liar, +if there ain't a thousand bass!” + +Inflamed beyond the bounds of discretion at the sight, and forgetful of +the season, the wood-chopper rushed to his middle into the water, +and began to drive the reluctant animals before him from their native +element. + +“Pull heartily, boys,” cried Marmaduke, yielding to the excitement of +the moment, and laying his hands to the net, with no trifling addition +to the force. Edwards had preceded him; for the sight of the immense +piles of fish, that were slowly rolling over on the gravelly beach, had +impelled him also to leave the ladies and join the fishermen. + +Great care was observed in bringing the net to land, and, after much +toil, the whole shoal of victims was safely deposited in a hollow of the +bank, where they were left to flutter away their brief existence in the +new and fatal element. + +Even Elizabeth and Louisa were greatly excited and highly gratified by +seeing two thousand captives thus drawn from the bosom of the lake, and +laid prisoners at their feet. But when the feelings of the moment +were passing away, Marmaduke took in his hands a bass, that might have +weighed two pounds, and after viewing it a moment, in melancholy musing, +he turned to his daughter, and observed: + +“This is a fearful expenditure of the choicest gifts of Providence. +These fish, Bess, which thou seest lying in such piles before thee, and +which by to-morrow evening will be rejected food on the meanest table in +Templeton, are of a quality and flavor that, in other countries, would +make them esteemed a luxury on the tables of princes or epicures. The +world has no better fish than the bass of Otsego; it unites the richness +of the shad* to the firmness of the salmon.” + + * Of all the fish the writer has ever tasted, he thinks the one in + question the best. + +“But surely, dear sir,” cried Elizabeth, “they must prove a great +blessing to the country, and a powerful friend to the poor.” + +“The poor are always prodigal, my child, where there is plenty, and +seldom think of a provision against the morrow. But, if there can be any +excuse for destroying animals in this manner, it is in taking the +bass. During the winter, you know, they are entirely protected from our +assaults by the ice, for they refuse the hook; and during the hot months +they are not seen. It is supposed they retreat to the deep and cool +waters of the lake, at that season; and it is only in the spring and +autumn that, for a few days, they are to be found around the points +where they are within the reach of a seine. But, like all the other +treasures of the wilderness, they already begin to disappear before the +wasteful extravagance of man.” + +“Disappear, Duke! disappear!” exclaimed the sheriff “if you don't call +this appearing, I know not what you will. Here are a good thousand of +the shiners, some hundreds of suckers, and a powerful quantity of other +fry. But this is always the way with you, Marmaduke: first it's the +trees, then it's the deer; after that it's the maple sugar, and so on +to the end of the chapter. One day you talk of canals through a country +where there's a river or a lake every half-mile, just because the water +won't run the way you wish it to go; and, the next, you say some thing +about mines of coal, though any man who has good eyes like myself--I +say, with good eyes--can see more wood than would keep the city of +London in fuel for fifty years; wouldn't it, Benjamin?” + +“Why, for that, squire,” said the steward, “Lon'on is no small place. +If it was stretched an end, all the same as a town on one side of the +river, it would cover some such matter as this here lake. Thof I dar'st +to say, that the wood in sight might sarve them a good turn, seeing that +the Lon'oners mainly burn coal.” + +“Now we are on the subject of coal, Judge Temple,” interrupted the +sheriff, “I have a thing of much importance to communicate to you; but +I will defer it--until tomorrow. I know that you intend riding into the +eastern part of the Patent, and I will accompany you, and conduct you to +a spot where some of your projects may be realized. We will say no +more now, for there are listeners; but a secret has this evening been +revealed to me, 'Duke, that is of more consequence to your welfare than +all your estate united.” + +Marmaduke laughed at the important intelligence, to which in a variety +of shapes he was accustomed, and the sheriff, with an air of great +dignity, as if pitying his want of faith, proceeded in the business more +immediately Before them. As the labor of drawing the net had been very +great, he directed one party of his men to commence throwing the fish +into piles, preparatory to the usual division, while another, under the +superintendence of Benjamin, prepared the seine for a second haul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + + “While from its margin, terrible to tell, + Three sailors with their gallant boatswain fell.” + --Falconer. + +While the fishermen were employed in making the preparations for an +equitable division of the spoil, Elizabeth and her friend strolled +a short distance from the group, along the shore of the lake. After +reaching a point to which even the brightest of the occasional gleams +of the fire did not extend, they turned, and paused a moment, in +contemplation of the busy and lively party they had left, and of the +obscurity which, like the gloom of oblivion, seemed to envelop the rest +of the creation. + +“This is indeed a subject for the pencil!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “Observe +the countenance of that woodchopper, while he exults in presenting a +larger fish than common to my cousin sheriff; and see, Louisa, how hand +some and considerate my dear father looks, by the light of that fire, +where he stands viewing the havoc of the game. He seems melancholy, as +if he actually thought that a day of retribution was to follow this hour +of abundance and prodigality! Would they not make a picture, Louisa?” + +“You know that I am ignorant of all such accomplishments, Miss Temple.” + +“Call me by my Christian name,” interrupted Elizabeth; “this is not a +place, neither is this a scene, for forms.” + +“Well, then, if I may venture an opinion,” said Louisa timidly, “I +should think it might indeed make a picture. The selfish earnestness of +that Kirby over his fish would contrast finely with the--the--expression +of Mr. Edwards' face. I hardly know what to call it; but it +is--a--is--you know what I would say, dear Elizabeth.” + +“You do me too much credit, Miss Grant,” said the heiress; “I am no +diviner of thoughts, or interpreter of expressions.” + +There was certainly nothing harsh or even cold in the manner of the +speaker, but still it repressed the conversation, and they continued +to stroll still farther from the party, retaining each other's arm, +but observing a profound silence. Elizabeth, perhaps conscious of the +improper phraseology of her last speech, or perhaps excited by the new +object that met her gaze, was the first to break the awkward cessation +in the discourse, by exclaiming: + +“Look, Louisa! we are not alone; there are fishermen lighting a fire on +the other side of the lake, immediately opposite to us; it must be in +front of the cabin of Leather-Stocking!” + +Through the obscurity, which prevailed most immediately under the +eastern mountain, a small and uncertain light was plainly to be seen, +though, as it was occasionally lost to the eye, it seemed struggling +for existence. They observed it to move, and sensibly to lower, as it +carried down the descent of the bank to the shore. Here, in a very short +time, its flame gradually expanded, and grew brighter, until it became +of the size of a man's head, when it continued to shine a steady ball of +fire. Such an object, lighted as it were by magic, under the brow of +the mountain, and in that retired and unfrequented place, gave double +interest to the beauty and singularity of its appearance. It did not at +all resemble the large and unsteady light of their own fire, being much +more clear and bright, and retaining its size and shape with perfect +uniformity. + +There are moments when the best-regulated minds are more or less +subjected to the injurious impressions which few have escaped in +infancy; and Elizabeth smiled at her own weakness, while she remembered +the idle tales which were circulated through the village, at the expense +of the Leather-Stocking. The same ideas seized her companion, and at the +same instant, for Louisa pressed nearer to her friend, as she said in +a low voice, stealing a timid glance toward the bushes and trees that +overhung the bank near them: + +“Did you ever hear the singular ways of this Natty spoken of, Miss +Temple? They say that, in his youth, he was an Indian warrior; or, +what is the same thing, a white man leagued with the savages; and it +is thought he has been concerned in many of their inroads, in the old +wars.” + +“The thing is not at all improbable,” returned Elizabeth; “he is not +alone in that particular.” + +“No, surely; but is it not strange that he is so cautious with his hut? +He never leaves it, without fastening it in a remarkable manner; and in +several instances, when the children, or even the men of the village, +have wished to seek a shelter there from the storms, he has been known +to drive them from his door with rudeness and threats. That surely is +singular to this country!” + +“It is certainly not very hospitable; but we must remember his aversion +to the customs of civilized life. You heard my father say, a few days +since, how kindly he was treated by him on his first visit to his +place.” Elizabeth paused, and smiled, with an expression of peculiar +archness, though the darkness hid its meaning from her companion, as +she continued: “Besides, he certainly admits the visits of Mr. Edwards, +whom we both know to be far from a savage.” + +To this speech Louisa made no reply, but continued gazing on the object +which had elicited her remarks. In addition to the bright and circular +flame, was now to be seen a fainter, though a vivid light, of an equal +diameter to the other at the upper end, but which, after extending +downward for many feet, gradually tapered to a point at its lower +extremity. A dark space was plainly visible between the two, and the +new illumination was placed beneath the other, the whole forming an +appearance not unlike an inverted note of admiration. It was soon +evident that the latter was nothing but the reflection, from the water, +of the former, and that the object, whatever it might be, was advancing +across, or rather over the lake, for it seemed to be several feet above +its surface, in a direct line with themselves. Its motion was amazingly +rapid, the ladies having hardly discovered that it was moving at all, +before the waving light of a flame was discerned, losing its regular +shape, while it increased in size, as it approached. + +“It appears to be supernatural!” whispered Louisa, beginning to retrace +her steps toward the party. + +“It is beautiful!” exclaimed Elizabeth, + +A brilliant though waving flame was now plainly visible, gracefully +gliding over the lake, and throwing its light on the water in such a +manner as to tinge it slightly though in the air, so strong was the +contrast, the darkness seemed to have the distinctness of material +substances, as if the fire were imbedded in a setting of ebony. This +appearance, however, gradually wore off, and the rays from the torch +struck out, and enlightened the atmosphere in front of it, leaving the +background in a darkness that was more impenetrable than ever. + +“Ho! Natty, is that you?” shouted the sheriff. “Paddle in, old boy, and +I'll give you a mess of fish that is fit to place before the governor.” + +The light suddenly changed its direction, and a long and slightly +built boat hove up out of the gloom, while the red glare fell on the +weather-beaten features of the Leather-Stocking, whose tall person +was seen erect in the frail vessel, wielding, with the grace of an +experienced boatman, a long fishing-spear, which he held by its centre, +first dropping one end and then the other into the water, to aid in +propelling the little canoe of bark, we will not say through, but over, +the water. At the farther end of the vessel a form was faintly seen, +guiding its motions, and using a paddle with the ease of one who felt +there was no necessity for exertion. The Leather-Stocking struck his +spear lightly against the short staff which up held, on a rude grating +framed of old hoops of iron, the knots of pine that composed the fuel, +and the light, which glared high, for an instant fell on the swarthy +features and dark, glancing eyes of Mohegan. + +The boat glided along the shore until it arrived opposite the +fishing-ground, when it again changed its direction and moved on to the +land, with a motion so graceful, and yet so rapid, that it seemed to +possess the power of regulating its own progress. The water in front of +the canoe was hardly ruffled by its passage and no sound betrayed the +collision, when the light fabric shot on the gravelly beach for nearly +half its length, Natty receding a step or two from its bow, in order to +facilitate the landing. + +“Approach, Mohegan,” said Marmaduke; “approach, Leather-Stocking, and +load your canoe with bass. It would be a shame to assail the animals +with the spear, when such multitudes of victims lie here, that will be +lost as food for the want of mouths to consume them.” + +“No, no, Judge,” returned Natty, his tall figure stalking over the narrow +beach, and ascending to the little grassy bottom where the fish were +laid in piles; “I eat of no man's wasty ways. I strike my spear into the +eels or the trout, when I crave the creatur'; but I wouldn't be helping +to such a sinful kind of fishing for the best rifle that was ever +brought out from the old countries. If they had fur, like the beaver, or +you could tan their hides, like a buck, something might be said in favor +of taking them by the thousand with your nets; but as God made them for +man's food, and for no other disarnable reason, I call it sinful and +wasty to catch more than can be eat.” + +“Your reasoning is mine; for once, old hunter, we agree in opinion; and +I heartily wish we could make a convert of the sheriff. A net of half +the size of this would supply the whole village with fish for a week at +one haul.” + +The Leather-Stocking did not relish this alliance in sentiment; and he +shook his head doubtingly as he answered; + +“No, no; we are not much of one mind, Judge, or you'd never turn good +hunting-grounds into stumpy pastures. And you fish and hunt out of rule; +but, to me, the flesh is sweeter where the creatur' has some chance for +its life; for that reason, I always use a single ball, even if it be at +a bird or a squirrel. Besides, it saves lead; for, when a body knows +how to shoot, one piece of lead is enough for all, except hard-lived +animals.” + +The sheriff heard these opinions with great indignation; and when he +completed the last arrangement for the division, by carrying with his +own hands a trout of a large size, and placing it on four different +piles in succession, as his vacillating ideas of justice required, gave +vent to his spleen. + +“A very pretty confederacy, indeed! Judge Temple, the landlord and owner +of a township, with Nathaniel Bumppo a lawless squatter, and professed +deer-killer, in order to preserve the game of the county! But, 'Duke, +when I fish I fish; so, away, boys, for another haul, and we'll send out +wagons and carts in the morning to bring in our prizes.” + +Marmaduke appeared to understand that all opposition to the will of the +sheriff would be useless, and he strolled from the fire to the place +where the canoe of the hunters lay, whither the ladies and Oliver +Edwards had already preceded him. + +Curiosity induced the females to approach this spot; but it was a +different motive that led the youth thither. Elizabeth examined the +light ashen timbers and thin bark covering of the canoe, in admiration +of its neat but simple execution, and with wonder that any human being +could be so daring as to trust his life in so frail a vessel. But the +youth explained to her the buoyant properties of the boat, and its +perfect safety when under proper management; adding, in such glowing +terms, a description of the manner in which the fish were struck with +the spear, that she changed suddenly, from an apprehension of the danger +of the excursion, to a desire to participate in its pleasures. She even +ventured a proposition to that effect to her father, laughing at the +same time at her own wish, and accusing herself of acting under a +woman's caprice. + +“Say not so, Bess,” returned the Judge; “I would have you above the +idle fears of a silly girl. These canoes are the safest kind of boats to +those who have skill and steady nerves. I have crossed the broadest part +of the Oneida in one much smaller than this.” + +“And I the Ontary,” interrupted the Leather-Stocking; “and that with +squaws in the canoe, too. But the Delaware women are used to the paddle, +and are good hands in a boat of this natur', If the young lady would +like to see an old man strike a trout for his breakfast, she is welcome +to a seat. John will say the same, seeing that he built the canoe, which +was only launched yesterday; for I'm not over-curious at such small work +as brooms, and basket-making, and other like Indian trades.” + +Natty gave Elizabeth one of his significant laughs, with a kind nod of +the head, when he concluded his invitation but Mohegan, with the native +grace of an Indian, approached, and taking her soft white hand into his +own swarthy and wrinkled palm, said: + +“Come, granddaughter of Miquon, and John will be glad. Trust the Indian; +his head is old, though his hand is not steady. The Young Eagle will go, +and see that no harm hurts his sister.” + +“Mr. Edwards,” said Elizabeth, blushing slightly, “your friend Mohegan +has given a promise for you. Do you redeem the pledge?” + +“With my life, if necessary, Miss Temple,” cried the youth, with fervor. +“The sight is worth some little apprehension; for of real danger +there is none, I will go with you and Miss Grand, however, to save +appearances.” + +“With me!” exclaimed Louisa. “No, not with me, Mr. Edwards; nor, surely, +do you mean to trust yourself in that slight canoe.” + +“But I shall; for I have no apprehensions any longer,” said Elizabeth, +stepping into the boat, and taking a seat where the Indian directed. +“Mr. Edwards, you may remain, as three do seem to be enough for such an +egg shell.” + +“It shall hold a fourth,” cried the young man, springing to her side, +with a violence that nearly shook the weak fabric of the vessel asunder. +“Pardon me, Miss Temple, that I do not permit these venerable Charons to +take you to the shades unattended by your genius.” + +“Is it a good or evil spirit?” asked Elizabeth. + +“Good to you.” + +“And mine,” added the maiden, with an air that strangely blended pique +with satisfaction. But the motion of the canoe gave rise to new ideas, +and fortunately afforded a good excuse to the young man to change the +discourse. + +It appeared to Elizabeth that they glided over the water by magic, so +easy and graceful was the manner in which Mohegan guided his little +bark. A slight gesture with his spear indicated the way in which +Leather-Stocking wished to go, and a profound silence was preserved by +the whole party, as the precaution necessary to the success of their +fishery. At that point of the lake the water shoaled regularly +differing in this particular altogether from those parts where the +mountains rose nearly in perpendicular precipices from the beach. There +the largest vessels could have lain, with their yards interlocked with +the pines; while here a scanty growth of rushes lifted their tops above +the lake, gently curling the waters, as their bending heads waved with +the passing breath of the night air. It was at the shallow points only +that the bass could be found, or the net cast with success. + +Elizabeth saw thousands of these fish swimming in shoals along the +shallow and warm waters of the shore; for the flaring light of their +torch laid bare the mysteries of the lake, as plainly as if the limpid +sheet of the Otsego was but another atmosphere. Every instant she +expected to see the impending spear of Leather-Stocking darting into the +thronging hosts that were rushing beneath her, where it would seem that +a blow could not go amiss; and where, as her father had already said, +the prize that would be obtained was worthy any epicure. But Natty had +his peculiar habits, and, it would seem, his peculiar tastes also. + +His tall stature, and his erect posture, enabled him to see much farther +than those who were seated in the bottom of the canoe; and he turned his +head warily in every direction, frequently bending his body forward, +and straining his vision, as if desirous of penetrating the water that +surrounded their boundary of light. At length his anxious scrutiny was +rewarded with success, and, waving his spear from the shore, he said in +a cautious tone: + +“Send her outside the bass, John; I see a laker there, that has run out +of the school. It's seldom one finds such a creatur' in shallow water, +where a spear can touch it.” + +Mohegan gave a wave of assent with his hand, and in the next instant the +canoe was without the “run of the bass,” and in water nearly twenty feet +in depth. A few additional knots were laid on the grating, and the light +penetrated to the bottom, Elizabeth then saw a fish of unusual size +floating above small pieces of logs and sticks. The animal was only +distinguishable, at that distance, by a slight but almost imperceptible +motion of its fins and tail. The curiosity excited by this unusual +exposure of the secrets of the lake seemed to be mutual between +the heiress of the land and the lord of these waters, for the +“salmon-trout” soon announced his interest by raising his head and body +for a few degrees above a horizontal line, and then dropping them again +into a horizontal position. + +“Whist! whist!” said Natty, in a low voice, on hearing a slight sound +made by Elizabeth in bending over the side of the canoe in curiosity; +“'tis a skeary animal, and it's a far stroke for a spear. My handle is +but fourteen foot, and the creator' lies a good eighteen from the top of +the water: but I'll try him, for he's a ten--pounder.” + +While speaking, the Leather-Stocking was poising and directing his +weapon. Elizabeth saw the bright, polished tines, as they slowly and +silently entered the water, where the refraction pointed them many +degrees from the true direction of the fish; and she thought that the +intended victim saw them also, as he seemed to increase the play of his +tail and fins, though without moving his station. At the next instant +the tall body of Natty bent to the water's edge, and the handle of his +spear disappeared in the lake. The long, dark streak of the gliding +weapon, and the little bubbling vortex which followed its rapid flight, +were easily to be seen: but it was not until the handle snot again into +the air by its own reaction, and its master catching it in his hand, +threw its tines uppermost, that Elizabeth was acquainted with the +success of the blow. A fish of great size was transfixed by the barbed +steel, and was very soon shaken from its impaled situation into the +bottom of the canoe. + +“That will do, John,” said Natty, raising his prize by one of his +fingers, and exhibiting it before the torch; “I shall not strike another +blow to-night.” + +The Indian again waved his hand, and replied with the simple and +energetic monosyllable of: + +“Good.” + +Elizabeth was awakened from the trance created by this scene, and by +gazing in that unusual manner at the bot tom of the lake, be the hoarse +sounds of Benjamin's voice, and the dashing of oars, as the heavier boat +of the seine-drawers approached the spot where the canoe lay, dragging +after it the folds of the net. + +“Haul off, haul off, Master Bumppo,” cried Benjamin, “your top-light +frightens the fish, who see the net and sheer off soundings. A fish +knows as much as a horse, or, for that matter, more, seeing that it's +brought up on the water. Haul oil, Master Bumppo, haul off, I say, and +give a wide berth to the seine.” + +Mohegan guided their little canoe to a point where the movements of the +fishermen could be observed, without interruption to the business, and +then suffered it to lie quietly on the water, looking like an imaginary +vessel floating in air. There appeared to be much ill-humor among the +party in the batteau, for the directions of Benjamin were not only +frequent, but issued in a voice that partook largely of dissatisfaction. + +“Pull larboard oar, will ye, Master Kirby?” cried the old seaman; “pull +larboard best. It would puzzle the oldest admiral in their British +fleet to cast this here net fair, with a wake like a corkscrew. Full +starboard, boy, pull starboard oar, with a will.” + +“Harkee, Mister Pump,” said Kirby, ceasing to row, and speaking with +sonic spirit; “I'm a man that likes civil language and decent treatment, +such as is right 'twixt man and man. If you want us to go hoy, say so, +and hoy I'll go, for the benefit of the company; but I'm not used to +being ordered about like dumb cattle.” + +“Who's dumb cattle?” echoed Benjamin, fiercely, turning his forbidding +face to the glare of light from the canoe, and exhibiting every feature +teeming with the expression of disgust. “If you want to come aft and con +the boat round, come and be damned, and pretty steerage you'll make of +it. There's but another heave of the net in the stern-sheets, and we're +clear of the thing. Give way, will ye? and shoot her ahead for a fathom +or two, and if you catch me afloat again with such a horse-marine as +yourself, why, rate me a ship's jackass, that's all.” + +Probably encouraged by the prospect of a speedy termination to his +labor, the wood-chopper resumed his oar, and, under strong excitement, +gave a stroke that not only cleared the boat of the net but of the +steward at the same instant. Benjamin had stood on the little platform +that held the seine, in the stern of the boat, and the violent whirl +occasioned by the vigor of the wood-chopper's arm completely destroyed +his balance. The position of the lights rendered objects in the batteau +distinguishable, both from the canoe and the shore; and the heavy fall +on the water drew all eyes to the steward, as he lay struggling, for a +moment, in sight. + +A loud burst of merriment, to which the lungs of Kirby contributed +no small part, broke out like a chorus of laughter, and ran along the +eastern mountain, in echoes, until it died away in distant, mocking +mirth, among the rocks and woods. The body of the steward was seen +slowly to disappear, as was expected; but when the light waves, which +had been raised by his fall, began to sink in calmness, and the water +finally closed over his head, unbroken and still, a very different +feeling pervaded the spectators. + +“How fare you, Benjamin?” shouted Richard from the shore. + +“The dumb devil can't swim a stroke!” exclaimed Kirby, rising, and +beginning to throw aside his clothes. + +“Paddle up, Mohegan,” cried young Edwards, “the light will show us where +he lies, and I will dive for the body.” + +“Oh! save him! for God's sake, save him!” exclaimed Elizabeth, bowing +her head on the side of the canoe in horror. + +A powerful and dexterous sweep of Mohegan's paddle sent the canoe +directly over the spot where the steward had fallen, and a loud shout +from the Leather-Stocking announced that he saw the body. + +“Steady the boat while I dive,” again cried Edwards. + +“Gently, lad, gently,” said Natty; “I'll spear the creatur' up in half +the time, and no risk to anybody.” + +The form of Benjamin was lying about half-way to the bottom, grasping +with both hands some broken rushes. The blood of Elizabeth curdled to +her heart, as she saw the figure of a fellow-creature thus extended +under an immense sheet of water, apparently in motion by the undulations +of the dying waves, with its face and hands, viewed by that light, and +through the medium of the fluid, already colored with hues like death. + +At the same instant, she saw the shining tines of Natty's spear +approaching the head of the sufferer, and entwinning themselves, rapidly +and dexterously, in the hairs of his cue and the cape of his coat. The +body was now raised slowly, looking ghastly and grim as its features +turned upward to the light and approached the surface. The arrival of +the nostrils of Benjamin into their own atmosphere was announced by a +breathing that would have done credit to a porpoise. For a moment, Natty +held the steward suspended, with his head just above the water, while +his eyes slowly opened and stared about him, as if he thought that he +had reached a new and unexplored country. + +As all the parties acted and spoke together, much less time was consumed +in the occurrence of these events than in their narration. To bring the +batteau to the end of the spear, and to raise the form of Benjamin into +the boat, and for the whole party to regain the shore, required but a +minute. Kirby, aided by Richard, whose anxiety induced him to run into +the water to meet his favorite assistant, carried the motionless steward +up the bank, and seated him before the fire, while the sheriff proceeded +to order the most approved measures then in use for the resuscitation of +the drowned. + +“Run, Billy,” he cried, “to the village, and bring up the rum-hogshead +that lies before the door, in which I am making vinegar, and be quick, +boy, don't stay to empty the vinegar, and stop at Mr. Le Quoi's, and buy +a paper of tobacco and half a dozen pipes; and ask Remarkable for some +salt, and one of her flannel petticoats; and ask Dr. Todd to send his +lancet, and to come himself; and--ha! 'Duke, what are you about? would +you strangle a man who is full of water, by giving him rum? Help me to +open his hand, that I may pat it.” + +All this time Benjamin sat, with his muscles fixed, his mouth shut, and +his hands clinching the rushes which he had seized in the confusion of +the moment and which, as he held fast, like a true seaman, had been the +means of preventing his body from rising again to the surface. His eyes, +however, were open, and stared wildly on the group about the fire, while +his lungs were playing like a blacksmith's bellows, as if to compensate +themselves for the minute of inaction to which they had been subjected. +As he kept his lips compressed, with a most inveterate determination, +the air was compelled to pass through his nostrils, and he rather +snorted than breathed, and in such a manner that nothing but the +excessive agitation of the sheriff could at all justify his precipitous +orders. + +The bottle, applied to the steward's lips by Marmaduke, acted like a +charm. His mouth opened instinctively; his hands dropped the rushes, +and seized the glass; his eyes raised from their horizontal stare to the +heavens; and the whole man was lost, for a moment, in a new sensation. +Unhappily for the propensity of the steward, breath was as necessary +after one of these draughts as after his submersion, and the time at +length arrived when he was compelled to let go the bottle. + +“Why, Benjamin!” roared the sheriff; “you amaze me! for a man of your +experience in drownings to act so foolishly! Just now, you were half +full of water, and now you are--” + +“Full of grog,” interrupted the steward, his features settling down, +with amazing flexibility, into their natural economy. “But, d'yesee, +squire, I kept my hatches chose, and it's but little water that ever +gets into my scuttle-butt. Harkee, Master Kirby! I've followed the +salt-water for the better part of a man's life, and have seen some +navigation on the fresh; but this here matter I will say in your favor, +and that is, that you're the awk'ardest green 'un that ever straddled a +boat's thwart. Them that likes you for a shipmate, may sail with you and +no thanks; but dam'me if I even walk on the lake shore in your company. +For why? you'd as lief drown a man as one of them there fish; not to +throw a Christian creature so much as a rope's end when he was adrift, +and no life-buoy in sight! Natty Bumppo, give us your fist. There's them +that says you're an Indian, and a scalper, but you've served me a good +turn, and you may set me down for a friend; thof it would have been more +ship shape like to lower the bight of a rope or running bowline below +me, than to seize an old seaman by his head-lanyard; but I suppose you +are used to taking men by the hair, and seeing you did me good instead +of harm thereby, why, it's the same thing, d'ye see?” + +Marmaduke prevented any reply, and assuming the action of matters with +a dignity and discretion that at once silenced all opposition from his +cousin, Benjamin was dispatched to the village by land, and the net +was hauled to shore in such a manner that the fish for once escaped its +meshes with impunity. + +The division of the spoils was made in the ordinary manner, by placing +one of the party with his hack to the game, who named the owner of each +pile. Bill Kirby stretched his large frame on the grass by the side +of the fire, as sentinel until morning, over net and fish; and the +remainder of the party embarked in the batteau, to return to the +village. + +The wood-chopper was seen broiling his supper on the coals as they lost +sight of the fire, and when the boat approached the shore, the torch +of Mohegan's canoe was shining again under the gloom of the eastern +mountain. Its motion ceased suddenly; a scattering of brands was in the +air, and then all remained dark as the conjunction of night, forest, and +mountain could render the scene. + +The thoughts of Elizabeth wandered from the youth, who was holding a +canopy of shawls over herself and Louisa, to the hunter and the Indian +warrior; and she felt an awakening curiosity to visit a hut where men of +such different habits and temperament were drawn together as by common +impulse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + + “Cease all this parlance about hills and dales. + None listen to thy scenes of boyish frolic. + Fond dotard! with such tickled ears as thou dost + Come to thy tale.” + --Duo. + +Mr. Jones arose on the following morning with the sun, and, ordering +his own and Marmaduke's steeds to be saddled, he proceeded, with a +countenance big with some business of unusual moment to the apartment +of the Judge. The door was unfastened, and Richard entered, with the +freedom that characterized not only the intercourse between the cousins, +but the ordinary manners of the sheriff. + +“Well, 'Duke, to horse,” he cried, “and I will explain to you my meaning +in the allusions I made last night. David says, in the Psalms--no, it +was Solomon, but it was all in the family--Solomon said there was a time +for all things; and, in my humble opinion, a fishing-party is not the +moment for discussing important subjects. Ha! why, what the devil ails +you, Marmaduke? Ain't you well? Let me feel your pulse; my grandfather, +you know--” + +“Quite well in the body, Richard,” interrupted the Judge, repulsing his +cousin, who was about to assume the functions that rightly belonged to +Dr. Todd; “but ill at heart. I received letters by the post last night, +after we returned from the point, and this among the number.” + +The sheriff took the letter, but without turning his eyes on the +writing, for he was examining the appearance of the other with +astonishment. From the face of his cousin the gaze of Richard wandered +to the table, which was covered with letters, packets, and newspapers; +then to the apartment and all it contained. On the bed there was the +impression that had been made by a human form, but the coverings were +unmoved, and everything indicated that the occupant of the room had +passed a sleepless night. The candles had burned to the sockets, and had +evidently extinguished themselves in their own fragments Marmaduke had +drawn his curtains, and opened both the shutters and the sashes, to +admit the balmy air “of a spring morning; but his pale cheek, his +quivering lip, and his sunken eye presented altogether so very different +an appearance from the usual calm, manly, and cheerful aspect of the +Judge, that the sheriff grew each moment more and more bewildered with +astonishment. At length Richard found time to cast his eyes on the +direction of the letter, which he still held unopened, crumpling it in +his hand. + +“What! a ship-letter!” he exclaimed; “and from England, ha! 'Duke, there +must be news of importance! indeed!” + +“Read it,” said Marmaduke, pacing the floor in excessive agitation. + +Richard, who commonly thought aloud, was unable to read a letter without +suffering part of its contents to escape him in audible sounds. So much +of the epistle as was divulged in that manner, we shall lay before the +reader, accompanied by the passing remarks of the sheriff: + +“'London, February 12, 1793.' What a devil of a passage she had! +but the wind has been northwest for six weeks, until within the last +fortnight. Sir, your favors of August 10th, September 23d, and of +December 1st, were received in due season, and the first answered by +return of packet. Since the receipt of the last, I' “--here a long +passage was rendered indistinct by a kind of humming noise by the +sheriff--” 'I grieve to say that '--hum, hum, bad enough to be sure--' +but trusts that a merciful Providence has seen fit'--hum, hum, hum seems +to be a good, pious sort of a man, 'Duke; belongs to the Established +Church, I dare say; hum, hum--' vessel sailed from Falmouth on or about +the 1st September of last year, and'--hum, hum, hum, 'If anything should +transpire on this afflicting subject shall not fail'--hum, hum; really a +good-hearted man, for a lawyer--'but Can communicate nothing further at +present'--hum, hum. 'The national convention'--hum, hum--'unfortunate +Louis'--hum, hum--'example of your Washington'--a very sensible man, +I declare, and none of your crazy democrats. Hum, hum--'our gallant +navy'--hum, hum--'under our most excellent monarch'--ay, a good man +enough, that King George, but bad advisers: hum, hum--'I beg to conclude +with assurances of my perfect respect.'--hum, hum--'Andrew Holt. +'--Andrew Holt, a very sensible, feeling man, this Mr. Andrew Holt--but +the writer of evil tidings. What will you do next, Cousin Marmaduke?” + +“What can I do, Richard, but trust to time, and the will of Heaven? Here +is another letter from Connecticut, but it only repeats the substance of +the last. There is but one consoling reflection to be gathered from the +English news, which is, that my last letter was received by him before +the ship sailed.” + +“This is bad enough, indeed! 'Duke, bad enough, indeed! and away go +all my plans, of putting wings to the house, to the devil. I had +made arrangements for a ride to introduce you to something of a very +important nature. You know how much you think of mines--” + +“Talk not of mines,” interrupted the Judge: “there is a sacred duty to +be performed, and that without delay, I must devote this day to writing; +and thou must be my assistant, Richard; it will not do to employ Oliver +in a matter of such secrecy and interest.” + +“No, no, 'Duke,” cried the sheriff, squeezing his hand, “I am your man, +just now; we are sister's children, and blood, after all, is the best +cement to make friendship stick together. Well, well, there is no hurry +about the silver mine, just now; another time will do as well. We shall +want Dirky Van, I suppose?” + +Marmaduke assented to this indirect question, and the sheriff +relinquished all his intentions on the subject of the ride, and, +repairing to the breakfast parlor, he dispatched a messenger to require +the immediate presence of Dirck Van der School. + +The village of Templeton at that time supported but two lawyers, one +of whom was introduced to our readers in the bar-room of the “Bold +Dragoon.” and the other was the gentleman of whom Richard spoke by +the friendly yet familiar appellation of Dirck, or Dirky Van. Great +good-nature, a very tolerable share of skill in his profession, and, +considering the circumstances, no contemptible degree of honesty, were +the principal ingredients in the character of this man, who was known to +the settlers as Squire Van der School, and sometimes by the flattering +though anomalous title of the “Dutch” or “honest lawyer.” + +We would not wish to mislead our readers in their conceptions of any +of our characters, and we therefore feel it necessary to add that the +adjective, in the preceding agnomen of Mr. Van der School, was used in +direct reference to its substantive. Our orthodox friends need not be +told that all the merit in this world is comparative; and, once for +all, we desire to say that, where anything which involves qualities +or characters is asserted, we must be understood to mean, “under the +circumstances.” + +During the remainder of the day, the Judge was closeted with his cousin +and his lawyer; and no one else was admitted to his apartment, excepting +his daughter. The deep distress that so evidently affected Marmaduke was +in some measure communicated to Elizabeth also; for a look of dejection +shaded her intelligent features, and the buoyancy of her animated +spirits was sensibly softened. Once on that day, young Edwards, who was +a wondering and observant spectator of the sudden alteration produced +in the heads of the family, detected a tear stealing over the cheek of +Elizabeth, and suffusing her bright eyes with a softness that did not +always belong to their expression. + +“Have any evil tidings been received, Miss Temple?” he inquired, with an +interest and voice that caused Louisa Grant to raise her head from her +needlework, with a quickness at which she instantly blushed herself. +“I would offer my services to your father, if, as I suspect, he needs an +agent in some distant place, and I thought it would give you relief.” + +“We have certainly heard bad news,” returned Elizabeth, “and it may be +necessary that my father should leave home for a short period; unless +I can persuade him to trust my cousin Richard with the business, whose +absence from the country, just at this time, too, might be inexpedient.” + +The youth paused a moment, and the blood gathered slowly to his temples +as he continued: + +“If it be of a nature that I could execute-” + +“It is such as can only be confided to one we know--one of ourselves.” + +“Surely, you know me, Miss Temple!” he added, with a warmth that he +seldom exhibited, but which did some times escape him in the moments of +their frank communications. “Have I lived five months under your roof to +be a stranger?” + +Elizabeth was engaged with her needle also, and she bent her head to +one side, affecting to arrange her muslin; but her hand shook, her +color heightened, and her eyes lost their moisture in an expression of +ungovernable interest, as she said: + +“How much do we know of you, Mr. Edwards?” + +“How much!” echoed the youth, gazing from the speaker to the mild +countenance of Louisa, that was also illuminated with curiosity; “how +much Have I been so long an inmate with you and not known?” + +The head of Elizabeth turned slowly from its affected position, and the +look of confusion that had blended so strongly with an expression of +interest changed to a smile. + +“We know you, sir, indeed; you are called Mr. Oliver Edwards. I +understand that you have informed my friend Miss Grant that you are a +native--” + +“Elizabeth!” exclaimed Louisa, blushing to the eyes, and trembling like +an aspen; “you misunderstood me, dear Miss Temple; I--I--it was only a +conjecture. Besides, if Mr. Edwards is related to the natives why should +we reproach him? In what are we better? at least I, who am the child of +a poor and unsettled clergyman?” + +Elizabeth shook her head doubtingly, and even laughed, but made no +reply, until, observing the melancholy which pervaded the countenance of +her companion, who was thinking of the poverty and labors of her father, +she continued: + +“Nay, Louisa, humility carries you too far. The daughter of a minister +of the church can have no superiors. Neither I nor Mr. Edwards is quite +your equal, unless,” she added, again smiling, “he is in secret a king.” + +“A faithful servant of the King of kings, Miss Temple, is inferior to +none on earth,” said Louisa; “but his honors are his own; I am only the +child of a poor and friendless man, and can claim no other distinction. +Why, then, should I feel myself elevated above Mr. Edwards, +because--because--perhaps he is only very, very distantly related to +John Mohegan?” + +Glances of a very comprehensive meaning were exchanged between the +heiress and the young man, as Louisa betrayed, while vindicating his +lineage, the reluctance with which she admitted his alliance with the +old warrior; but not even a smile at the simplicity of their companion +was indulged in by either. + +“On reflection, I must acknowledge that my situation here is somewhat +equivocal,” said Edwards, “though I may be said to have purchased it +with my blood.” + +“The blood, too, of one of the native lords of the soil!” cried +Elizabeth, who evidently put little faith in his aboriginal descent. + +“Do I bear the marks of my lineage so very plainly impressed on my +appearance? I am dark, but not very red--not more so than common?” + +“Rather more so, just now.” + +“I am sure, Miss Temple,” cried Louisa, “you cannot have taken much +notice of Mr. Edwards. His eyes are not so black as Mohegan's or even +your own, nor is his hair.” + +“Very possibly, then, I can lay claim to the same de scent It would be a +great relief to my mind to think so, for I own that I grieve when I see +old Mohegan walking about these lands like the ghost of one of their +ancient possessors, and feel how small is my own right to possess them.” + +“Do you?” cried the youth, with a vehemence that startled the ladies + +“I do, indeed,” returned Elizabeth, after suffering a moment to pass in +surprise; “but what can I do--what can my father do? Should we offer the +old man a home' and a maintenance, his habits would compel him to refuse +us. Neither were we so silly as to wish such a thing, could we +convert these clearings and farms again into hunting grounds, as the +Leather-Stocking would wish to see them.” + +“You speak the truth, Miss Temple,” said Edwards. “What can you do +indeed? But there is one thing that I am certain you can and will do, +when you become the mistress of these beautiful valleys--use your wealth +with indulgence to the poor, and charity to the needy; indeed, you can +do no more.” + +“And That will be doing a good deal,” said Louisa, smiling in her turn. +“But there will, doubtless, be one to take the direction of such things +from her hands.” + +“I am not about to disclaim matrimony, like a silly girl, who dreams of +nothing else from morn till night; but I am a nun here, without the vow +of celibacy. Where shall I find a husband in these forests?” + +“There is none, Miss Temple,” said Edwards quickly; “there is none who +has a right to aspire to you, and I know that you will wait to be sought +by your equal; or die, as you live, loved, respected, and admired by all +who know you.” + +The young man seemed to think that he had said all that was required +by gallantry, for he arose, and, taking his hat, hurried from the +apartment. Perhaps Louisa thought that he had said more than was +necessary, for she sighed, with an aspiration so low that it was +scarcely audible to herself, and bent her head over her work again. +And it is possible that Miss Temple wished to hear more, for her eyes +continued fixed for a minute on the door through which the young man had +passed, then glanced quickly toward her companion, when the long silence +that succeeded manifested how much zest may be given to the conversation +of two maidens under eighteen, by the presence of a youth of +three-and-twenty. + +The first person encountered by Mr. Edwards, as he rather rushed than +walked from the house, was the little square-built lawyer, with a large +bundle of papers under his arm, a pair of green spectacles on his nose, +with glasses at the sides, as if to multiply his power of detecting +frauds by additional organs of vision. + +Mr. Van der School was a well-educated man, but of slow comprehension, +who had imbibed a wariness in his speeches and actions, from having +suffered by his collisions with his more mercurial and apt brethren who +had laid the foundations of their practice in the Eastern courts, and +who had sucked in shrewdness with their mother's milk. The caution of +this gentleman was exhibited in his actions, by the utmost method +and punctuality, tinctured with a good deal of timidity; and in his +speeches, by a parenthetical style, that frequently left to his auditors +a long search after his meaning. + +“A good-morning to you, Mr. Van der School,” said Edwards; “it seems to +be a busy day with us at the mansion-house.” + +“Good-morning, Mr. Edwards (if that is your name [for, being a stranger, +we have no other evidence of the fact than your own testimony], as I +understand you have given it to Judge Temple), good-morning, sir. It +is, apparently a busy day (but a man of your discretion need not be told +[having, doubtless, discovered it of your own accord], that appearances +are often deceitful) up at the mansion-house.” + +“Have you papers of consequence that will require copying? Can I be of +assistance in any way?” + +“There are papers (as doubtless you see [for your eyes are young] by the +outsides) that require copying.” + +“Well, then, I will accompany you to your office, and receive such as +are most needed, and by night I shall have them done if there be much +haste.” + +“I shall always be glad to see you, sir, at my office (as in duty bound, +not that it is obligatory to receive any man within your dwelling +unless so inclined), which is a castle, according to the forms of +politeness, or at any other place; but the papers are most strictly +confidential (and, as such, cannot be read by any one), unless so +directed (by Judge Temple's solemn injunctions), and are invisible to +all eyes; excepting those whose duties (I mean assumed duties) require +it of them.” + +“Well, sir, as I perceive that I can be of no service, I wish you +another good-morning; but beg you will remember that I am quite idle +just now, and I wish you would intimate as much to Judge Temple, +and make him a ten der of my services in any part of the world, \ +unless--unless--it be far from Templeton.” + +“I will make the communication, sir, in your name (with your own +qualifications), as your agent. Good morning, sir. But stay proceedings, +Mr. Edwards (so called), for a moment. Do you wish me to state the offer +of travelling as a final contract (for which consideration has been +received at former dates [by sums advanced], which would be binding), or +as a tender of services for which compensation is to be paid (according +to future agreement between the parties), on performance of the +conditions?” + +“Any way, any way,” said Edwards; “he seems in distress, and I would +assist him.” + +“The motive is good, sir (according to appearances which are often +deceitful] on first impressions), and does you honor. I will mention +your wish, young gentleman (as you now seem), and will not fail to +communicate the answer by five o'clock P.M. of this present day (God +willing), if you give me an opportunity so to do.” + +The ambiguous nature of the situation and character of Mr. Edwards had +rendered him an object of peculiar suspicion to the lawyer, and the +youth was consequently too much accustomed to similar equivocal and +guarded speeches to feel any unusual disgust at the present dialogue. He +saw at once that it was the intention of the practitioner to conceal the +nature of his business, even from the private secretary of Judge Temple; +and he knew too well the difficulty of comprehending the meaning of Mr. +Van der School, when the gentleman most wished to be luminous in his +discourse, not to abandon all thoughts of a discovery, when he perceived +that the attorney was endeavoring to avoid anything like an approach to +a cross-examination. They parted at the gate, the lawyer walking with +an important and hurried air toward his office, keeping his right hand +firmly clinched on the bundle of papers. + +It must have been obvious to all our readers, that the youth entertained +an unusual and deeply seated prejudice against the character of the +Judge; but owing to some counteracting cause, his sensations were +now those of powerful interest in the state of his patron's present +feelings, and in the cause of his secret uneasiness. He remained gazing +after the lawyer until the door closed on both the bearer and the +mysterious packet, when he returned slowly to the dwelling, and +endeavored to forget his curiosity in the usual avocations of his +office. + +When the Judge made his reappearance in the circles of his family, his +cheerfulness was tempered by a shade of melancholy that lingered for +many days around his manly brow; but the magical progression of the +season aroused him from his temporary apathy, and his smiles returned +with the summer. + +The heats of the days, and the frequent occurrence of balmy showers, had +completed in an incredibly short period the growth of plants which +the lingering spring had so long retarded in the germ; and the woods +presented every shade of green that the American forests know. The +stumps in the cleared fields were already hidden beneath the wheat that +was waving with every breath of the sum mer air, shining and changing +its hues like velvet. + +During the continuance of his cousin's dejection, Mr. Jones forebore, +with much consideration, to press on his attention a business that each +hour was drawing nearer to the heart of the sheriff, and which, if any +opinion could be formed by his frequent private conferences with the man +who was introduced in these pages by the name of Jotham, at the bar-room +of the Bold Dragoon, was becoming also of great importance. + +At length the sheriff ventured to allude again to the subject; and +one evening, in the beginning of July, Marmaduke made him a promise of +devoting the following day to the desired excursion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + + “Speak on, my dearest father! + Thy words are like the breezes of the west.” + --Milman. + +It was a mild and soft morning, when Marmaduke and Richard mounted their +horses and proceeded on the expedition that had so long been uppermost +in the thoughts of the latter; and Elizabeth and Louisa appeared at the +same instant in the hall, attired for an excursion on foot. + +The head of Miss Grant was covered by a neat little hat of green silk, +and her modest eyes peered from under its shade, with the soft languor +that characterized her whole appearance; but Miss Temple trod her +father's wide apartments with the step of their mistress, holding in her +hands, dangling by one of its ribbons, the gypsy that was to conceal +the glossy locks that curled around her polished fore head in rich +profusion. + +“What? are you for a walk, Bess?” cried the Judge, suspending his +movements for a moment to smile, with a father's fondness, at the +display of womanly grace and beauty that his child presented. “Remember +the heats of July, my daughter; nor venture further than thou canst +retrace before the meridian. Where is thy parasol, girl? thou wilt lose +tine polish of that brow, under this sun and southern breeze, unless +thou guard it with unusual care.” + +“I shall then do more honor to my connections,” returned the smiling +daughter. “Cousin Richard has a bloom that any lady might envy. At +present the resemblance between us is so trifling that no stranger would +know us to be 'sisters' children.” + +“Grandchildren, you mean, Cousin Bess,” said the sheriff. “But on, Judge +Temple; time and tide wait for no man; and if you take my counsel, +sir, in twelve months from this day you may make an umbrella for your +daughter of her camel's-hair shawl, and have its frame of solid silver. +I ask nothing for myself, 'Duke; you have been a good friend to me +already; besides, all that I have will go to Bess there, one of these +melancholy days, so it's as long as it's short, whether I or you +leave it. But we have a day's ride before us, sir; so move forward, or +dismount, and say you won't go at once.” + +“Patience, patience, Dickon,” returned the Judge, checking his horse +and turning again to his daughter. “If thou art for the mountains, love, +stray not too deep into the forest. I entreat thee; for, though it is +done often with impunity, there is sometimes danger.” + +“Not at this season, I believe, sir,” said Elizabeth; “for, I will +confess, it is the intention of Louisa and myself to stroll among the +hills.” + +“Less at this season than in the winter, dear; but still there may be +danger in venturing too far. But though thou art resolute, Elizabeth, +thou art too much like thy mother not to be prudent.” + +The eyes of the parent turned reluctantly from his child, and the Judge +and sheriff rode slowly through the gateway, and disappeared among the +buildings of the village. + +During this short dialogue, young Edwards stood, an attentive listener, +holding in his hand a fishing-rod, the day and the season having tempted +him also to desert the house for the pleasure of exercise in the air. +As the equestrians turned through the gate, he approached the young +females, who were already moving toward the street, and was about to +address them, as Louisa paused, and said quickly: + +“Mr. Edwards would speak to us, Elizabeth.” + +The other stopped also, and turned to the youth, politely but with a +slight coldness in her air, that sensibly checked the freedom with which +he had approached them, + +“Your father is not pleased that you should walk unattended in the +hills, Miss Temple. If I might offer my self as a protector--” + +“Does my father select Mr. Oliver Edwards as the organ of his +displeasure?” interrupted the lady. + +“Good Heaven! you misunderstood my meaning; I should have said uneasy or +not pleased. I am his servant, madam, and in consequence yours. I repeat +that, with your consent, I will change my rod for a fowling-piece, and +keep nigh you on the mountain.” + +“I thank you, Mr. Edwards; but where there is no danger, no protection +is required. We are not yet reduced to wandering among these free hills +accompanied by a body guard. If such a one is necessary there he is, +however.--Here, Brave--Brave----my noble Brave!” The huge mastif +that has been already mentioned, appeared from his kennel, gaping and +stretching himself with pampered laziness; but as his mistress again +called: + +“Come, dear Brave; once you have served your master well; let us see how +you can do your duty by his daughter”--the dog wagged his tail, as if he +understood her language, walked with a stately gait to her side, where +he seated himself, and looked up at her face, with an intelligence but +little inferior to that which beamed in her own lovely countenance. + +She resumed her walk, but again paused, after a few steps, and added, in +tones of conciliation: + +“You can be serving us equally, and, I presume, more agreeably to +yourself, Mr. Edwards, by bringing us a string of your favorite perch +for the dinner-table.” + +When they again began to walk Miss Temple did not look back to see how +the youth bore this repulse; but the head of Louisa was turned several +times before they reached the gate on that considerate errand. + +“I am afraid, Elizabeth,” she said, “that we have mortified Oliver. +He is still standing where we left him, leaning on his rod. Perhaps he +thinks us proud.” + +“He thinks justly,” exclaimed Miss Temple, as if awaking from a deep +musing; “he thinks justly, then. We are too proud to admit of such +particular attentions from a young man in an equivocal situation. What! +make him the companion of our most private walks! It is pride, Louisa, +but it is the pride of a woman.” + +It was several minutes before Oliver aroused himself from the abstracted +position in which he was standing when Louisa last saw him; but when he +did, he muttered something rapidly and incoherently, and, throwing his +rod over his shoulder, he strode down the walk through the gate +and along one of the streets of the village, until he reached the +lake-shore, with the air of an emperor. At this spot boats were kept for +the use of Judge Temple and his family. The young man threw himself into +a light skiff, and, seizing the oars, he sent it across the lake toward +the hut of Leather-Stocking, with a pair of vigorous arms. By the time +he had rowed a quarter of a mile, his reflections were less bitter; +and when he saw the bushes that lined the shore in front of Natty's +habitation gliding by him, as if they possessed the motion which +proceeded from his own efforts, he was quite cooled in mind, though +somewhat heated in body. It is quite possible that the very same reason +which guided the conduct of Miss Temple suggested itself to a man of +the breeding and education of the youth; and it is very certain that, if +such were the case, Elizabeth rose instead of falling in the estimation +of Mr. Edwards. + +The oars were now raised from the water, and the boat shot close in to +the land, where it lay gently agitated by waves of its own creating, +while the young man, first casting a cautious and searching glance +around him in every direction, put a small whistle to his mouth, and +blew a long, shrill note that rang among the echoing rocks behind the +hut. At this alarm, the hounds of Natty rushed out of their bark kennel, +and commenced their long, piteous howls, leaping about as if half +frantic, though restrained by the leashes of buckskin by which they were +fastened. + +“Quiet, Hector, quiet,” said Oliver, again applying his whistle to his +mouth, and drawing out notes still more shrill than before. No reply +was made, the dogs having returned to their kennel at the sound of his +voice. + +Edwards pulled the bows of the boat on the shore, and landing, ascended +the beach and approached the door of the cabin. The fastenings were +soon undone, and he entered, closing the door after him, when all was as +silent, in that retired spot, as if the foot of man had never trod the +wilderness. The sounds of the hammers, that were in incessant motion +in the village, were faintly heard across the water; but the dogs had +crouched into their lairs, satisfied that none but the privileged had +approached the forbidden ground. + +A quarter of an hour elapsed before the youth reappeared, when he +fastened the door again, and spoke kindly to the hounds. The dogs +came out at the well-known tones, and the slut jumped upon his person, +whining and barking as if entreating Oliver to release her from prison. +But old Hector raised his nose to the light current of air, and opened +a long howl, that might have been heard for a mile. “Ha! what do you +scent, old veteran of the woods?” cried Edwards. “If a beast, it is a +bold one; and if a man, an impudent.” + +He sprang through the top of a pine that had fallen near the side of the +hut, and ascended a small hillock that sheltered the cabin to the south, +where he caught a glimpse of the formal figure of Hiram Doolittle, as it +vanished, with unusual rapidity for the architect, amid the bushes. + +“What can that fellow be wanting here?” muttered Oliver. “He has no +business in this quarter, unless it be curiosity, which is an endemic in +these woods. But against that I will effectually guard, though the dogs +should take a liking to his ugly visage, and let him pass.” The youth +returned to the door, while giving vent to this soliloquy, and completed +the fastenings by placing a small chain through a staple, and securing +it there by a padlock. “He is a pettifogger, and surely must know that +there is such a thing as feloniously breaking into a man's house.” + +Apparently well satisfied with this arrangement, the youth again spoke +to the hounds; and, descending to the shore, he launched his boat, and +taking up his oars, pulled off into the lake. + +There were several places in the Otsego that were celebrated +fishing-ground for perch. One was nearly opposite to the cabin, and +another, still more famous, was near a point, at the distance of a mile +and a half above it, under the brow of the mountain, and on the same +side of the lake with the hut. Oliver Edwards pulled his little skiff to +the first, and sat, for a minute, undecided whether to continue there, +with his eyes on the door of the cabin, or to change his ground, with +a view to get superior game. While gazing about him, he saw the +light-colored bark canoe of his old companions riding on the water, at +the point we have mentioned, and containing two figures, that he at once +knew to be Mohegan and the Leather-Stocking. This decided the matter, +and the youth pulled, in a very few minutes, to the place where his +friends were fishing, and fastened his boat to the light vessel of the +Indian. + +The old men received Oliver with welcoming nods, but neither drew his +line from the water nor in the least varied his occupation. When Edwards +had secured his own boat, he baited his hook and threw it into the lake, +with out speaking. + +“Did you stop at the wigwam, lad, as you rowed past?” asked Natty. + +“Yes, and I found all safe; but that carpenter and justice of the peace, +Mr., or as they call him, Squire, Doolittle, was prowling through the +woods. I made sure of the door before I left the hut, and I think he is +too great a coward to approach the hounds.” + +“There's little to be said in favor of that man,” said Natty, while he +drew in a perch and baited his hook. “He craves dreadfully to come into +the cabin, and has as good as asked me as much to my face; but I put him +off with unsartain answers, so that he is no wiser than Solo mon. +This comes of having so many laws that such a man may be called on to +intarpret them.” + +“I fear he is more knave than fool,” cried Edwards; “he makes a tool of, +that simple man, the sheriff; and I dread that his impertinent curiosity +may yet give us much trouble.” + +“If he harbors too much about the cabin, lad, I'll shoot the creatur',” + said the Leather-Stocking, quite simply. + +“No, no, Natty, you must remember the law,” said Edwards, “or we shall +have you in trouble; and that, old man, would be an evil day and sore +tidings to us all.” + +“Would it, boy?” exclaimed the hunter, raising his eyes, with a look of +friendly interest, toward the youth. “You have the true blood in your +veins, Mr. Oliver; and I'll support it to the face of Judge Temple or in +any court in the country. How is it, John? Do I speak the true word? Is +the lad stanch, and of the right blood?” + +“He is a Delaware,” said Mohegan, “and my brother. The Young Eagle is +brave, and he will be a chief. No harm can come.” + +“Well, well,” cried the youth impatiently, “say no more about it, my +good friends; if I am not all that your partiality would make me, I am +yours through life, in prosperity as in poverty. We will talk of other +matters.” + +The old hunters yielded to his wish, which seemed to be their law. For a +short time a profound silence prevailed, during which each man was +very busy with his hook and line, but Edwards, probably feeling that it +remained with him to renew the discourse, soon observed, with the air of +one who knew not what he said: + +“How beautifully tranquil and glassy the lake is! Saw you it ever more +calm and even than at this moment, Natty?” + +“I have known the Otsego water for five-and-forty years,” said +Leather--Stocking, “and I will say that for it, which is, that a cleaner +spring or better fishing is not to be found in the land. Yes, yes; I had +the place to myself once, and a cheerful time I had of it. The game was +plenty as heart could wish; and there was none to meddle with the ground +unless there might have been a hunting party of the Delawares crossing +the hills, or, maybe, a rifling scout of them thieves, the Iroquois. +There was one or two Frenchmen that squatted in the flats further west, +and married squaws; and some of the Scotch-Irishers, from the Cherry +Valley, would come on to the lake, and borrow my canoe to take a mess +of parch, or drop a line for salmon-trout; but, in the main, it was a +cheerful place, and I had but little to disturb me in it. John would +come, and John knows.” Mohegan turned his dark face at this appeal; and, +moving his hand forward with graceful motion of assent, he spoke, using +the Delaware language: + +“The land was owned by my people; we gave it to my brother in +council--to the Fire-eater; and what the Delawares give lasts as long as +the waters run. Hawk-eye smoked at that council, for we loved him.” + +“No, no, John,” said Natty, “I was no chief, seeing that I knowed +nothing of scholarship, and had a white skin. But it was a comfortable +hunting-ground then, lad, and would have been so this day, but for the +money of Marmaduke Temple, and the twisty ways of the law.” + +“It must have been a sight of melancholy pleasure in deed,” said +Edwards, while his eye roved along the shores and over the hills, where +the clearings, groaning with the golden corn, were cheering the forest +with the signs of life, “to have roamed over these mountains and along +this sheet of beautiful water, without a living soul to speak to, or to +thwart your humor.” + +“Haven't I said it was cheerful?” said Leather-Stocking. “Yes, yes, when +the trees began to be covered with leaves, and the ice was out of +the hake, it was a second paradise. I have travelled the woods for +fifty-three years, and have made them my home for more than forty, and +I can say that I have met but one place that was more to my liking; and +that was only to eyesight, and not for hunting or fishing.” + +“And where was that?” asked Edwards. + +“Where! why, up on the Catskills. I used often to go up into the +mountains after wolves' skins and bears; once they paid me to get them +a stuffed painter, and so I often went. There's a place in them hills +that I used to climb to when I wanted to see the carryings on of the +world, that would well pay any man for a barked shin or a torn moccasin. +You know the Catskills, lad; for you must have seen them on your left, +as you followed the river up from York, looking as blue as a piece of +clear sky, and holding the clouds on their tops, as the smoke curls +over the head of an Indian chief at the council fire. Well, there's the +High-peak and the Round-top, which lay back like a father and mother +among their children, seeing they are far above all the other hills. But +the place I mean is next to the river, where one of the ridges juts out +a little from the rest, and where the rocks fall, for the best part of +a thousand feet, so much up and down, that a man standing on their edges +is fool enough to think he can jump from top to bottom.” + +“What see you when you get there?” asked Edwards, + +“Creation,” said Natty, dropping the end of his rod into the water, and +sweeping one hand around him in a circle, “all creation, lad. I was +on that hill when Vaughan burned 'Sopus in the last war; and I saw the +vessels come out of the Highlands as plain as I can see that lime-scow +rowing into the Susquehanna, though one was twenty times farther from me +than the other. The river was in sight for seventy miles, looking like +a curled shaving under my feet, though it was eight long miles to its +banks. I saw the hills in the Hampshire grants, the highlands of the +river, and all that God had done, or man could do, far as eye could +reach--you know that the Indians named me for my sight, lad; and from +the flat on the top of that mountain, I have often found the place where +Albany stands. And as for 'Sopus, the day the royal troops burnt +the town, the smoke seemed so nigh, that I thought I could hear the +screeches of the women.” + +“It must have been worth the toil to meet with such a glorious view.” + +“If being the best part of a mile in the air and having men's farms and +houses your feet, with rivers looking like ribbons, and mountains bigger +than the 'Vision seeming to be hay-stacks of green grass under you, +gives any satisfaction to a man, I can recommend the spot. When I first +came into the woods to live, I used to have weak spells when I felt +lonesome: and then I would go into the Catskills, and spend a few days +on that hill to look at the ways of man; but it's now many a year since +I felt any such longings, and I am getting too old for rugged rocks. But +there's a place, a short two miles back of that very hill, that in late +times I relished better than the mountains: for it was more covered with +the trees, and natural.” + +“And where was that?” inquired Edwards, whose curiosity was strongly +excited by the simple description of the hunter. + +“Why, there's a fall in the hills where the water of two little ponds. +that lie near each other, breaks out of their bounds and runs over the +rocks into the valley. The stream is, maybe, such a one as would turn +a mill, if so useless thing was wanted in the wilderness. But the hand +that made that 'Leap' never made a mill. There the water comes crooking +and winding among the rocks, first so slow that a trout could swim in +it, and then starting and running like a creatur' that wanted to make a +far spring, till it gets to where the mountain divides, like the cleft +hoof of a deer, leaving a deep hollow for the brook to tumble into. The +first pitch is nigh two hundred feet, and the water looks like flakes +of driven snow afore it touches the bottom; and there the stream gathers +itself together again for a new start, and maybe flutters over fifty +feet of flat rock before it falls for another hundred, when it jumps +about from shelf to shelf, first turning this-away and then turning +that-away, striving to get out of the hollow, till it finally comes to +the plain.” + +“I have never heard of this spot before; it is not mentioned in the +books.” + +“I never read a book in my life,” said Leather-Stocking; “and how should +a man who has lived in towns and schools know anything about the wonders +of the woods? No, no, lad; there has that little stream of water been +playing among the hills since He made the world, and not a dozen white +men have ever laid eyes on it. The rock sweeps like mason-work, in a +half-round, on both sides of the fall, and shelves over the bottom for +fifty feet; so that when I've been sitting at the foot of the first +pitch, and my hounds have run into the caverns behind the sheet of +water, they've looked no bigger than so many rabbits. To my judgment, +lad, it's the best piece of work that I've met with in the woods; and +none know how often the hand of God is seen in the wilderness, but them +that rove it for a man's life.” + +“What becomes of the water? In which direction does it run? Is it a +tributary of the Delaware?” + +“Anan!” said Natty. + +“Does the water run into the Delaware?” + +“No, no; it's a drop for the old Hudson, and a merry time it has till +it gets down off the mountain. I've sat on the shelving rock many a long +hour, boy, and watched the bubbles as they shot by me, and thought +how long it would be before that very water, which seemed made for the +wilderness, would be under the bottom of a vessel, and tossing in the +salt sea. It is a spot to make a man solemnize. You go right down into +the valley that lies to the east of the High Peak, where, in the fall of +the year, thousands of acres of woods are before your eyes, in the deep +hollow, and along the side of the mountain, painted like ten thousand +rainbows, by no hand of man, though without the ordering of God's +providence.” + +“You are eloquent, Leather-Stocking,” exclaimed the youth. + +“Anan!” repeated Natty. + +“The recollection of the sight has warmed your blood, old man. How many +years is it since you saw the place?” + +The hunter made no reply; but, bending his ear near the water, he sat +holding his breath, and listening attentively as if to some distant +sound. At length he raised his head, and said: + +“If I hadn't fastened the hounds with my own hands, with a fresh leash +of green buckskin, I'd take a Bible oath that I heard old Hector ringing +his cry on the mountain.” + +“It is impossible,” said Edwards; “it is not an hour since I saw him in +his kennel.” + +By this time the attention of Mohegan was attracted to the sounds; but, +notwithstanding the youth was both silent and attentive, he could hear +nothing but the lowing of some cattle from the western hills. He looked +at the old men, Natty sitting with his hand to his ear, like a trumpet, +and Mohegan bending forward, with an arm raised to a level with his +face, holding the forefinger elevated as a signal for attention, and +laughed aloud at what he deemed to be imaginary sounds. + +“Laugh if you will, boy,” said Leather-Stocking, “the hounds be out, and +are hunting a deer, No man can deceive me in such a matter. I wouldn't +have had the thing happen for a beaver's skin. Not that I care for the +law; but the venison is lean now, and the dumb things run the flesh off +their own bones for no good. Now do you hear the hounds?” + +Edwards started, as a full cry broke on his ear, changing from the +distant sounds that were caused by some intervening hill, to confused +echoes that rang among the rocks that the dogs were passing, and then +directly to a deep and hollow baying that pealed under the forest under +the Lake shore. These variations in the tones of the hounds passed with +amazing rapidity; and, while his eyes were glancing along the margin of +the water, a tearing of the branches of the alder and dogwood caught +his attention, at a spot near them and at the next moment a noble buck +sprang on the shore, and buried himself in the lake. A full-mouthed +cry followed, when Hector and the slut shot through the opening in the +bushes, and darted into the lake also, bearing their breasts gallantly +against the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + + “Oft in the full descending flood he tries + To lose the scent, and lave his burning sides.” + --Thomson. + +“I knowed it--I knowed it!” cried Natty, when both deer and hounds were +in full view; “the buck has gone by them with the wind, and it has been +too much for the poor rogues; but I must break them of these tricks, +or they'll give me a deal of trouble. He-ere, he-ere--shore with you, +rascals--shore with you--will ye? Oh! off with you, old Hector, or I'll +hackle your hide with my ramrod when I get ye.” + +The dogs knew their master's voice, and after swimming in a circle, as +if reluctant to give over the chase, and yet afraid to persevere, they +finally obeyed, and returned to the land, where they filled the air with +their cries. + +In the mean time the deer, urged by his fears, had swum over half the +distance between the shore and the boats, before his terror permitted +him to see the new danger. But at the sounds of Natty's voice, he turned +short in his course and for a few moments seemed about to rush back +again, and brave the dogs. His retreat in this direction was, however, +effectually cut off, and, turning a second time, he urged his course +obliquely for the centre of the lake, with an intention of landing on +the western shore. As the buck swam by the fishermen, raising his nose +high into the air, curling the water before his slim neck like the beak +of a galley, the Leather-Stocking began to sit very uneasy in his canoe. + +“'Tis a noble creatur'!” he exclaimed; “what a pair of horns! a man +might hang up all his garments on the branches. Let me see--July is the +last month, and the flesh must be getting good.” While he was talking, +Natty had instinctively employed himself in fastening the inner end of +the bark rope, that served him for a cable, to a paddle, and, rising +suddenly on his legs, he cast this buoy away, and cried; “Strike out, +John! let her go. The creatur's a fool to tempt a man in this way.” + +Mohegan threw the fastening of the youth's boat from the canoe, and +with one stroke of his paddle sent the light bark over the water like a +meteor. + +“Hold!” exclaimed Edwards. “Remember the law, my old friends. You are in +plain sight of the village, and I know that Judge Temple is determined +to prosecute all, indiscriminately, who kill deer out of season.” + +The remonstrance came too late; the canoe was already far from the +skiff, and the two hunters were too much engaged in the pursuit to +listen to his voice. + +The buck was now within fifty yards of his pursuers, cutting the water +gallantly, and snorting at each breath with terror and his exertions, +while the canoe seemed to dance over the waves as it rose and fell with +the undulations made by its own motion. Leather-Stocking raised his +rifle and freshened the priming, but stood in suspense whether to slay +his victim or not. + +“Shall I, John or no?” he said. “It seems but a poor advantage to take +of the dumb thing, too. I won't; it has taken to the water on its own +natur', which is the reason that God has given to a deer, and I'll give +it the lake play; so, John, lay out your arm, and mind the turn of the +buck; it's easy to catch them, but they'll turn like a snake.” + +The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, but continued to send +the canoe forward with a velocity' that proceeded much more from skill +than his strength. Both of the old men now used the language of the +Delawares when they spoke. + +“Hugh!” exclaimed Mohegan; “the deer turns his head. Hawk-eye, lift your +spear.” + +Natty never moved abroad without taking with him every implement that +might, by possibility, be of service in his pursuits. From his rifle he +never parted; and although intending to fish with the line, the canoe +was invariably furnished with all of its utensils, even to its grate +This precaution grew out of the habits of the hunter, who was often led, +by his necessities or his sports, far beyond the limits of his original +destination. A few years earlier than the date of our tale, the +Leather-Stocking had left his hut on the shores of the Otsego, with his +rifle and his hounds, for a few days' hunting in the hills; but before +he returned he had seen the waters of Ontario. One, two, or even three +hundred miles had once been nothing to his sinews, which were now a +little stiffened by age. The hunter did as Mohegan advised, and prepared +to strike a blow with the barbed weapon into the neck of the buck. + +“Lay her more to the left, John,” he cried, “lay her more to the left; +another stroke of the paddle and I have him.” + +While speaking he raised the spear, and darted it front him like an +arrow. At that instant the buck turned, the long pole glanced by him, +the iron striking against his horn, and buried itself harmlessly in the +lake. + +“Back water,” cried Natty, as the canoe glided over the place where the +spear had fallen; “hold water, John.” + +The pole soon reappeared, shooting up from the lake, and, as the hunter +seized it in his hand, the Indian whirled the light canoe round, and +renewed the chase. But this evolution gave the buck a great advantage; +and it also allowed time for Edwards to approach the scene of action. + +“Hold your hand, Natty!” cried the youth, “hold your hand; remember it +is out of season.” + +This remonstrance was made as the batteau arrived close to the place +where the deer was struggling with the water, his back now rising to the +surface, now sinking beneath it, as the waves curled from his neck, the +animal still sustaining itself nobly against the odds, + +“Hurrah!” shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond prudence at the sight; “mind +him as he doubles--mind him as he doubles; sheer more to the right, +Mohegan, more to the right, and I'll have him by the horns; I'll throw +the rope over his antlers.” + +The dark eye of the old warrior was dancing in his head with a wild +animation, and the sluggish repose in which his aged frame had been +resting in the canoe was now changed to all the rapid inflections of +practiced agility. The canoe whirled with each cunning evolution of the +chase, like a bubble floating in a whirlpool; and when the direction of +the pursuit admitted of a straight course the little bark skimmed the +lake with a velocity that urged the deer to seek its safety in some new +turn. + +It was the frequency of these circuitous movements that, by confining +the action to so small a compass, enabled the youth to keep near his +companions. More than twenty times both the pursued and the pursuer +glided by him, just without the reach of his oars, until he thought the +best way to view the sport was to remain stationary, and, by watching a +favorable opportunity, assist as much as he could in taking the victim. + +He was not required to wait long, for no sooner had he adopted this +resolution, and risen in the boat, than he saw the deer coming bravely +toward him, with an apparent intention of pushing for a point of land at +some distance from the hounds, who were still barking and howling on +the shore. Edwards caught the painter of his skiff, and, making a noose, +cast it from him with all his force, and luckily succeeded in drawing +its knot close around one of the antlers of the buck. + +For one instant the skiff was drawn through the water, but in the next +the canoe glided before it, and Natty, bending low, passed his knife +across the throat of the animal, whose blood followed the wound, dyeing +the waters. The short time that was passed in the last struggles of the +animal was spent by the hunters in bringing their boats together and +securing them in that position, when Leather-Stocking drew the deer +from the water and laid its lifeless form in the bottom of the canoe. He +placed his hands on the ribs, and on different parts of the body of his +prize, and then, raising his head, he laughed in his peculiar manner. + +“So much for Marmaduke Temple's law!” he said, “This warms a body's +blood, old John: I haven't killed a buck in the lake afore this, sin' +many a year. I call that good venison, lad: and I know them that will +relish the creatur's steaks for all the betterments in the land.” + +The Indian had long been drooping with his years, and perhaps under the +calamities of his race, but this invigorating and exciting sport caused +a gleam of sunshine to cross his swarthy face that had long been absent +from his features. It was evident the old man enjoyed the chase more as +a memorial of his youthful sports and deeds than with any expectation of +profiting by the success. He felt the deer, however, lightly, his hand +already trembling with the reaction of his unusual exertions, and smiled +with a nod of approbation, as he said, in the emphatic and sententious +manner of his people: + +“Good.” + +“I am afraid, Natty,” said Edwards, when the heat of the moment had +passed, and his blood began to cool, “that we have all been equally +transgressors of the law. But keep your own counsel, and there are +none here to betray us. Yet how came those dogs at large? I left them +securely fastened, I know, for I felt the thongs and examined the knots +when I was at the hunt.” + +“It has been too much for the poor things,” said Natty, “to have such +a buck take the wind of them. See, lad, the pieces of the buckskin are +hanging from their necks yet. Let us paddle up, John, and I will call +them in and look a little into the matter.” + +When the old hunter landed and examined the thongs that were yet fast +to the hounds, his countenance sensibly changed, and he shook his head +doubtingly. + +“Here has been a knife at work,” he said; “this skin was never torn, nor +is this the mark of a hound's tooth. No, no--Hector is not in fault, as +I feared.” + +“Has the leather been cut?” cried Edwards. + +“No, no--I didn't say it had been cut, lad; but this is a mark that was +never made by a jump or a bite.” + +“Could that rascally carpenter have dared!” + +“Ay! he durst do anything when there is no danger,” said Natty; “he is +a curious body, and loves to be helping other people on with their +consarns. But he had best not harbor so much near the wigwam!” + +In the mean time, Mohegan had been examining, with an Indian's sagacity, +the place where the leather thong had been separated. After scrutinizing +it closely, he said, in Delaware: + +“It was cut with a knife--a sharp blade and a long handle--the man was +afraid of the dogs.” + +“How is this, Mohegan?” exclaimed Edwards; “you saw it not! how can you +know these facts?” + +“Listen, son,” said the warrior. “The knife was sharp, for the cut was +smooth; the handle was long, for a man's arm would not reach from this +gash to the cut that did not go through the skin; he was a coward, or he +would have cut the thongs around the necks of the hounds.” + +“On my life,” cried Natty, “John is on the scent! It was the carpenter; +and he has got on the rock back of the kennel and let the dogs loose by +fastening his knife to a stick. It would be an easy matter to do it +where a man is so minded.” + +“And why should he do so?” asked Edwards; “who has done him wrong, that +he should trouble two old men like you?” + +“It's a hard matter, lad, to know men's ways, I find, since the settlers +have brought in their new fashions, But is there nothing to be found +out in the place? and maybe he is troubled with his longings after other +people's business, as he often is.” + +“Your suspicions are just. Give me the canoe; I am young and strong, and +will get down there yet, perhaps, in time to interrupt his plans. Heaven +forbid that we should be at the mercy of such a man!” + +His proposal was accepted, the deer being placed in the skiff in order +to lighten the canoe, and in less than five minutes the little vessel of +bark was gilding over the glassy lake, and was soon hid by the points of +land as it shot close along the shore. + +Mohegan followed slowly with the skiff, while Natty called his hounds to +him, bade them keep close, and, shouldering his rifle, he ascended the +mountain, with an intention of going to the hut by land. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + + “Ask me not what the maiden feels, + Left in that dreadful hour alone: + Perchance, her reason stoops, or reel! + Perchance, a courage not her own + Braces her mind to desperate tone.” + --Scott. + +While the chase was occurring on the lake, Miss Temple and her companion +pursued their walk on the mountain. Male attendants on such excursions +were thought to be altogether unnecessary, for none were even known to +offer insult to a female who respected herself. After the embarrassment +created by the parting discourse with Edwards had dissipated, the +girls maintained a conversation that was as innocent and cheerful as +themselves. + +The path they took led them but a short distance above the hut of +Leather-Stocking, and there was a point in the road which commanded a +bird's-eye view of the sequestered spot. + +From a feeling that might have been, natural, and must have been +powerful, neither of the friends, in their frequent and confidential +dialogues, had ever trusted herself to utter one syllable concerning +the equivocal situation in which the young man who was now so intimately +associated with them had been found. If judge Temple had deemed it +prudent to make any inquiries on the subject, he had also thought it +proper to keep the answers to him self; though it was so common an +occurrence to find the well-educated youth of the Eastern States in +every stage of their career to wealth, that the simple circumstance of +his intelligence, connected with his poverty, would not, at that day +and in that country, have excited any very powerful curiosity. With his +breeding, it might have been different; but the youth himself had so +effectually guarded against surprise on this subject, by his cold and +even, in some cases, rude deportment, that when his manners seemed to +soften by time, the Judge, if he thought about it at all, would have +been most likely to imagine that the improvement was the result of his +late association. But women are always more alive to such subjects +than men; and what the abstraction of the father had overlooked, the +observation of the daughter had easily detected. In the thousand little +courtesies of polished life she had early discovered that Edwards was +not wanting, though his gentleness was so often crossed by marks of what +she conceived to be fierce and uncontrollable passions. It may, perhaps, +be unnecessary to tell the reader that Louisa Grant never reasoned so +much after the fashions of the world. The gentle girl, however, had +her own thoughts on the subject, and, like others, she drew her own +conclusions. + +“I would give all my other secrets, Louisa,” exclaimed Miss Temple, +laughing, and shaking back her dark locks, with a look of childish +simplicity that her intelligent face seldom expressed, “to be mistress +of all that those rude logs have heard and witnessed.” + +They were both looking at the secluded hut at the instant, and Miss +Grant raised her mild eyes as she answered: + +“I am sure they would tell nothing to the disadvantage of Mr. Edwards.” + +“Perhaps not; but they might, at least, tell who he is.” + +“Why, dear Miss Temple, we know all that already. I have heard it all +very rationally explained by your cousin--” + +“The executive chief! he can explain anything. His ingenuity will one +day discover the philosopher's stone. But what did he say?” + +“Say!” echoed Louisa, with a look of surprise; “why, everything that +seemed to me to be satisfactory, and I now believed it to be true. He +said that Natty Bumppo had lived most of his life in the woods and among +the Indians, by which means he had formed an acquaintance with old John, +the Delaware chief.” + +“Indeed! that was quite a matter-of-fact tale for Cousin Dickon. What +came next?” + +“I believe he accounted for their close intimacy by some story about the +Leather-Stocking saving the life of John in a battle.” + +“Nothing more likely,” said Elizabeth, a little impatiently; “but what +is all this to the purpose?” + +“Nay, Elizabeth, you must bear with my ignorance, and I will repeat all +that I remember to have overheard for the dialogue was between my father +and the sheriff, so lately as the last time they met, He then added +that the kings of England used to keep gentlemen as agents among the +different tribes of Indians, and sometimes officers in the army, who +frequently passed half their lives on the edge of the wilderness.” + +“Told with wonderful historical accuracy! And did he end there?” + +“Oh! no--then he said that these agents seldom married; and--and--they +must have been wicked men, Elizabeth! but I assure you he said so.” + +“Never mind,” said Miss Temple, blushing and smiling, though so slightly +that both were unheeded by her companion; “skip all that.” + +“Well, then, he said that they often took great pride in the education +of their children, whom they frequently sent to England, and even to the +colleges; and this is the way that he accounts for the liberal manner +in which Mr. Edwards has been taught; for he acknowledges that he knows +almost as much as your father--or mine--or even himself.” + +“Quite a climax in learning'. And so he made Mohegan the granduncle or +grandfather of Oliver Edwards.” + +“You have heard him yourself, then?” said Louisa. + +“Often; but not on this subject. Mr. Richard Jones, you know, dear, has +a theory for everything; but has he one which will explain the reason +why that hut is the only habitation within fifty miles of us whose door +is not open to every person who may choose to lift its latch?” + +“I have never heard him say anything on this subject,” returned the +clergyman's daughter; “but I suppose that, as they are poor, they very +naturally are anxious to keep the little that they honestly own. It is +sometimes dangerous to be rich, Miss Temple; but you cannot know how +hard it is to be very, very poor.” + +“Nor you, I trust, Louisa; at least I should hope that, in this land +of abundance, no minister of the church could be left in absolute +suffering.” + +“There cannot be actual misery,” returned the other, in a low and humble +tone, “where there is a dependence on our Maker; but there may be such +suffering as will cause the heart to ache.” + +“But not you--not you,” said the impetuous Elizabeth--“not you, dear +girl, you have never known the misery that is connected with poverty.” + +“Ah! Miss Temple, you little understand the troubles of this life, +I believe. My father has spent many years as a missionary in the new +countries, where his people were poor, and frequently we have been +without bread; unable to buy, and ashamed to beg, because we would not +disgrace his sacred calling. But how often have I seen him leave his +home, where the sick and the hungry felt, when he left them, that they +had lost their only earthly friend, to ride on a duty which could not +be neglected for domes tic evils! Oh! how hard it must be to preach +consolation to others when your own heart is bursting with anguish!” + +“But it is all over now! your father's income must now be equal to his +wants--it must be--it shall be--” + +“It is,” replied Louisa, dropping her head on her bosom to conceal the +tears which flowed in spite of her gentle Christianity--“for there are +none left to be supplied but me.” + +The turn the conversation had taken drove from the minds of the young +maidens all other thoughts but those of holy charity; and Elizabeth +folded her friend in her arms, when the latter gave vent to her +momentary grief in audible sobs. When this burst of emotion had +subsided, Louisa raised her mild countenance, and they continued their +walk in silence. + +By this time they had gained the summit of the mountain, where they left +the highway, and pursued their course under the shade of the stately +trees that crowned the eminence. The day was becoming warm, and +the girls plunged more deeply into the forest, as they found its +invigorating coolness agreeably contrasted to the excessive heat +they had experienced in the ascent. The conversation, as if by mutual +consent, was entirely changed to the little incidents and scenes of +their walk, and every tall pine, and every shrub or flower, called forth +some simple expression of admiration. + +In this manner they proceeded along the margin of the precipice, +catching occasional glimpses of the placid Otsego, or pausing to listen +to the rattling of wheels and the sounds of hammers that rose from +the valley, to mingle the signs of men with the scenes of nature, when +Elizabeth suddenly started, and exclaimed: + +“Listen! there are the cries of a child on this mountain! Is there a +clearing near us, or can some little one have strayed from its parents?” + +“Such things frequently happen,” returned Louisa. “Let us follow the +sounds; it may be a wanderer starving on the hill.” + +Urged by this consideration, the females pursued the low, mournful +sounds, that proceeded from the forest, with quick and impatient steps. +More than once, the ardent Elizabeth was on the point of announcing that +she saw the sufferer, when Louisa caught her by the arm, and pointing +behind them, cried: + +“Look at the dog!” + +Brave had been their companion, from the time the voice of his young +mistress lured him from his kennel, to the present moment. His +advanced age had long before deprived him of his activity; and when his +companions stopped to view the scenery, or to add to their bouquets, +the mastiff would lay his huge frame on the ground and await their +movements, with his eyes closed, and a listlessness in his air that ill +accorded with the character of a protector. But when, aroused by this +cry from Louisa, Miss Temple turned, she saw the dog with his eyes +keenly set on some distant object, his head bent near the ground, and +his hair actually rising on his body, through fright or anger. It +was most probably the latter, for he was growling in a low key, and +occasionally showing his teeth, in a manner that would have terrified +his mistress, had she not so well known his good qualities. + +“Brave!” she said, “be quiet, Brave! What do you see, fellow?” + +At the sounds of her voice, the rage of the mastiff, instead of being at +all diminished, was very sensibly increased. He stalked in front of the +ladies, and seated himself at the feet of his mistress, growling louder +than before, and occasionally giving vent to his ire by a short, surly +barking. + +“What does he see?” said Elizabeth; “there must be some animal in +sight.” + +Hearing no answer from her companion, Miss Temple turned her head and +beheld Louisa, standing with her face whitened to the color of death, +and her finger pointing upward with a sort of flickering, convulsed +motion. The quick eye of Elizabeth glanced in the direction indicated by +her friend, where she saw the fierce front and glaring eyes of a female +panther, fixed on them in horrid malignity, and threatening to leap. + +“Let us fly,” exclaimed Elizabeth, grasping the arm of Louisa, whose +form yielded like melting snow. + +There was not a single feeling in the temperament of Elizabeth Temple +that could prompt her to desert a companion in such an extremity. She +fell on her knees by the side of the inanimate Louisa, tearing from +the person of her friend, with instinctive readiness, such parts of +her dress as might obstruct her respiration, and encouraging their only +safeguard, the dog, at the same time, by the sounds of her voice. + +“Courage, Brave!” she cried, her own tones beginning to tremble, +“courage, courage, good Brave!” + +A quarter-grown cub, that had hitherto been unseen, now appeared, +dropping from the branches of a sapling that grew under the shade of the +beech which held its dam. This ignorant but vicious creature approached +the dog, imitating the actions and sounds of its parent, but exhibiting +a strange mixture of the playfulness of a kitten with the ferocity of +its race. Standing on its hind-legs, it would rend the bark of a tree +with its fore-paws, and play the antics of a cat; and then, by lashing +itself with its tail, growling, and scratching the earth, it would at +tempt the manifestations of anger that rendered its parent so terrific. + +All this time Brave stood firm and undaunted, his short tail erect, +his body drawn backward on its haunches, and his eyes following the +movements of both dam and cub. At every gambol played by the latter, it +approached nigher to the dog, the growling of the three becoming +more horrid at each moment, until the younger beast, over-leaping its +intended bound, fell directly before the mastiff. There was a moment of +fearful cries and struggles, but they ended almost as soon as commenced, +by the cub appearing in the air, hurled from the jaws of Brave, with +a violence that sent it against a tree so forcibly as to render it +completely senseless. Elizabeth witnessed the short struggle, and her +blood was warming with the triumph of the dog, when she saw the form of +the old panther in the air, springing twenty feet from the branch of the +beech to the back of the mastiff. No words of ours can describe the fury +of the conflict that followed. It was a confused struggle on the dry +leaves, accompanied by loud and terrific cries. Miss Temple continued +on her knees, bending over the form of Louisa, her eyes fixed on the +animals with an interest so horrid, and yet so intense, that she almost +forgot her own stake in the result. So rapid and vigorous were the +bounds of the inhabitant of the forest, that its active frame seemed +constantly in the air, while the dog nobly faced his foe at each +successive leap. When the panther lighted on the shoulders of the +mastiff, which was its constant aim, old Brave, though torn with her +talons, and stained with his own blood, that already flowed from a dozen +wounds, would shake off his furious foe like a feather, and, rearing +on his hind-legs, rush to the fray again, with jaws distended, and a +dauntless eye. But age, and his pampered life, greatly disqualified the +noble mastiff for such a struggle. In everything but courage, he was +only the vestige of what he had once been. A higher bound than ever +raised the wary and furious beast far beyond the reach of the dog, +who was making a desperate but fruitless dash at her, from which she +alighted in a favorable position, on the back of her aged foe. For a +single moment only could the panther remain there, the great strength of +the dog returning with a convulsive effort. But Elizabeth saw, as Brave +fastened his teeth in the side of his enemy, that the collar of brass +around his neck, which had been glittering throughout the fray, was +of the color of blood, and directly that his frame was sinking to the +earth, where it soon lay prostrate and helpless. Several mighty efforts +of the wild-cat to extricate herself from the jaws of the dog followed, +but they were fruitless, until the mastiff turned on his back, his +lips collapsed, and his teeth loosened, when the short convulsions and +stillness that succeeded announced the death of poor Brave. + +Elizabeth now lay wholly at the mercy of the beast. There is said to be +something in the front of the image of the Maker that daunts the hearts +of the inferior beings of his creation; and it would seem that some such +power, in the present instance, suspended the threatened blow. The eyes +of the monster and the kneeling maiden met for an instant, when the +former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next, to scent her luckless +cub. From the latter examination it turned, however, with its eyes +apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail lashing its sides +furiously, and its claws projecting inches from her broad feet. + +Miss Temple did not or could not move. Her hands were clasped in the +attitude of prayer, but her eyes were still drawn to her terrible +enemy--her cheeks were blanched to the whiteness of marble, and her lips +were slightly separated with horror. + +The moment seemed now to have arrived for the fatal termination, and the +beautiful figure of Elizabeth was bowing meekly to the stroke, when a +rustling of leaves behind seemed rather to mock the organs than to meet +her ears. + +“Hist! hist!” said a low voice, “stoop lower, gal; your bonnet hides the +creatur's head.” + +It was rather the yielding of nature than a compliance with this +unexpected order, that caused the head of our heroine to sink on her +bosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the +bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was rolling over on the +earth, biting its own flesh, and tearing the twigs and branches within +its reach. At the next instant the form of the Leather-Stocking rushed +by her, and he called aloud: + +“Come in, Hector! come in, old fool; 'tis a hard-lived animal, and may +jump agin.” + +Natty fearlessly maintained his position in front of the females, +notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded +panther, which gave several indications of returning strength and +ferocity, until his rifle was again loaded, when he stepped up to the +enraged animal, and, placing the muzzle close to its head, every spark +of life was extinguished by the discharge. + +The death of her terrible enemy appeared to Elizabeth like a +resurrection from her own grave. There was an elasticity in the mind of +our heroine that rose to meet the pressure of instant danger, and the +more direct it had been, the more her nature had struggled to overcome +them. But still she was a woman. Had she been left to herself in her +late extremity, she would probably have used her faculties to the +utmost, and with discretion, in protecting her person; but, encumbered +with her inanimate friend, retreat was a thing not to be attempted. +Notwithstanding the fearful aspect of her foe, the eye of Elizabeth had +never shrunk from its gaze, and long after the event her thoughts would +recur to her passing sensations, and the sweetness of her midnight sleep +would be disturbed, as her active fancy conjured, in dreams, the most +trifling movements of savage fury that the beast had exhibited in its +moment of power. + +We shall leave the reader to imagine the restoration of Louisa's senses, +and the expressions of gratitude which fell from the young women. The +former was effected by a little water, that was brought from one of the +thousand springs of those mountains, in the cap of the Leather-Stocking; +and the latter were uttered with the warmth that might be expected from +the character of Elizabeth. Natty received her vehement protestations of +gratitude with a simple expression of good-will, and with indulgence for +her present excitement, but with a carelessness that showed how little +he thought of the service he had rendered. + +“Well, well,” he said, “be it so, gal; let it be so, if you wish +it--we'll talk the thing over another time. Come, come--let us get into +the road, for you've had terror enough to make you wish yourself in your +father's house agin.” + +This was uttered as they were proceeding, at a pace that was adapted to +the weakness of Louisa, toward the highway; on reaching which the ladies +separated from their guide, declaring themselves equal to the remainder +of the walk without his assistance, and feeling encouraged by the sight +of the village which lay beneath their feet like a picture, with its +limpid lake in front, the winding stream along its margin, and its +hundred chimneys of whitened bricks. + +The reader need not be told the nature of the emotions which two +youthful, ingenuous, and well-educated girls would experience at their +escape from a death so horrid as the one which had impended over them, +while they pursued their way in silence along the track on the side of +the mountain; nor how deep were their mental thanks to that Power which +had given them their existence, and which had not deserted them in +their extremity; neither how often they pressed each other's arms as +the assurance of their present safety came, like a healing balm, athwart +their troubled spirits, when their thoughts were recurring to the recent +moments of horror. + +Leather-Stocking remained on the hill, gazing after their retiring +figures, until they were hidden by a bend in the road, when he whistled +in his dogs, and shouldering his rifle, he returned into the forest. + +“Well, it was a skeary thing to the young creatur's,” said Natty, while +he retrod the path toward the plain. “It might frighten an older woman, +to see a she-painter so near her, with a dead cub by its side. I wonder +if I had aimed at the varmint's eye, if I shouldn't have touched the +life sooner than in the forehead; but they are hard-lived animals, and +it was a good shot, consid'ring that I could see nothing but the head +and the peak of its tail. Hah! who goes there?” + +“How goes it, Natty?” said Mr. Doolittle, stepping out of the bushes, +with a motion that was a good deal accelerated by the sight of the +rifle, that was already lowered in his direction. “What! shooting this +warm day! Mind, old man, the law don't get hold on you.” + +“The law, squire! I have shook hands with the law these forty year,” + returned Natty; “for what has a man who lives in the wilderness to do +with the ways of the law?” + +“Not much, maybe,” said Hiram; “but you sometimes trade in venison. I +s'pose you know, Leather-Stocking, that there is an act passed to lay +a fine of five pounds currency, or twelve dollars and fifty cents, by +decimals, on every man who kills a deer betwixt January and August. The +Judge had a great hand in getting the law through.” + +“I can believe it,” returned the old hunter; “I can believe that or +anything of a man who carries on as he does in the country.” + +“Yes, the law is quite positive, and the Judge is bent on putting it +in force--five pounds penalty. I thought I heard your hounds out on the +scent of so'thing this morning; I didn't know but they might get you in +difficulty.” + +“They know their manners too well,” said Natty carelessly. “And how much +goes to the State's evidence, squire?” + +“How much?” repeated Hiram, quailing under the honest but sharp look +of the hunter; “the informer gets half, I--I believe--yes, I guess it's +half. But there's blood on your sleeve, man--you haven't been shooting +anything this morning?” + +“I have, though,” said the hunter, nodding his head significantly to the +other, “and a good shot I made of it.” + +“H-e-m!” ejaculated the magistrate; “and where is the game? I s'pose it's +of a good natur', for your dogs won't hunt anything that isn't choice.” + +“They'll hunt anything I tell them to, squire,” cried Natty, favoring +the other with his laugh. “They'll hunt you, if I say so. He-e-e-re, +he-e-e-re, Hector--he-e-e-re, slut--come this a-way, pups--come this +a-way---come hither.” + +“Oh! I have always heard a good character of the dogs,” returned Mr. +Doolittle, quickening his pace by raising each leg in rapid succession, +as the hounds scented around his person. “And where is the game, +Leather-Stocking?” + +During this dialogue, the speakers had been walking at a very fast gait, +and Natty swung the end of his rifle round, pointing through the bushes, +and replied: “There lies one. How do you like such meat?” + +“This!” exclaimed Hiram; “why, this is Judge Temple's dog Brave. Take +care, Leather-Stocking, and don't make an enemy of the Judge. I hope you +haven't harmed the animal?” + +“Look for yourself, Mr. Doolittle,” said Natty, drawing his knife from +his girdle, and wiping it in a knowing manner, once or twice across his +garment of buckskin; “does his throat look as if I had cut it with this +knife?” + +“It is dreadfully torn! it's an awful wound--no knife ever did this +deed. Who could have done it?” + +“The painters behind you, squire.” + +“Painters!” echoed Hiram, whirling on his heel with an agility that +would have done credit to a dancing' master. + +“Be easy, man,” said Natty; “there's two of the venomous things; but the +dog finished one, and I have fastened the other's jaws for her; so don't +be frightened, squire; they won't hurt you.” + +“And where's the deer?” cried Hiram, staring about him with a bewildered +air. + +“Anan? deer!” repeated Natty. “Sartain; an't there venison here, or +didn't you kill a buck?” + +“What! when the law forbids the thing, squire!” said the old hunter, “I +hope there's no law agin' killing the painters.” + +“No! there's a bounty on the scalps--but--will your dogs hunt painters, +Natty?” + +“Anything; didn't I tell you they would hunt a man? He-e-re, he-e-re, +pups--” + +“Yes, yes, I remember. Well, they are strange dogs, I must say--I am +quite in a wonderment.” + +Natty had seated himself on the ground, and having laid the grim head +of his late ferocious enemy in his lap, was drawing his knife with a +practiced hand around the ears, which he tore from the head of the beast +in such a manner as to preserve their connection, when he answered; + +“What at, squire? did you never see a painter's scalp afore? Come, you +are a magistrate, I wish you'd make me out an order for the bounty.” + +“The bounty!” repeated Hiram, holding the ears on the end of his finger +for a moment, as if uncertain how to proceed. “Well, let us go down to +your hut, where you can take the oath, and I will write out the order, I +suppose you have a Bible? All the law wants is the four evangelists and +the Lord's prayer.” + +“I keep no books,” said Natty, a little coldly; “not such a Bible as the +law needs.” + +“Oh! there's but one sort of Bible that's good in law,” returned +the magistrate, “and your'n will do as well as another's. Come, the +carcasses are worth nothing, man; let us go down and take the oath.” + +“Softly, softly, squire,” said the hunter, lifting his trophies very +deliberately from the ground, and shouldering his rifle; “why do you +want an oath at all, for a thing that your own eyes has seen? Won't you +believe yourself, that another man must swear to a fact that you know +to be true? You have seen me scalp the creatur's, and if I must swear to +it, it shall be before Judge Temple, who needs an oath.” + +“But we have no pen or paper here, Leather-Stocking; we must go to the +hut for them, or how can I write the order?” + +Natty turned his simple features on the cunning magistrate with another +of his laughs, as he said: + +“And what should I be doing with scholars' tools? I want no pens or +paper, not knowing the use of either; and I keep none. No, no, I'll +bring the scalps into the village, squire, and you can make out the +order on one of your law-books, and it will be all the better for it. +The deuce take this leather on the neck of the dog, it will strangle the +old fool. Can you lend me a knife, squire?” + +Hiram, who seemed particularly anxious to be on good terms with his +companion, unhesitatingly complied. Natty cut the thong from the neck +of the hound, and, as he returned the knife to its owner, carelessly +remarked: + +“'Tis a good bit of steel, and has cut such leather as this very same, +before now, I dare say.” + +“Do you mean to charge me with letting your hounds loose?” exclaimed +Hiram, with a consciousness that disarmed his caution. + +“Loose!” repeated the hunter--“I let them loose myself. I always let +them loose before I leave the hut.” + +The ungovernable amazement with which Mr. Doolittle listened to this +falsehood would have betrayed his agency in the liberation of the +dogs, had Natty wanted any further confirmation; and the coolness and +management of the old man now disappeared in open indignation. + +“Look you here, Mr. Doolittle,” he said, striking the breech of his +rifle violently on the ground; “what there is in the wigwam of a poor +man like me, that one like you can crave, I don't know; but this I tell +you to your face, that you never shall put foot under the roof of my +cabin with my consent, and that, if you harbor round the spot as you +have done lately, you may meet with treatment that you will little +relish.” + +“And let me tell you, Mr. Bumppo,” said Hiram, retreating, however, +with a quick step, “that I know you've broke the law, and that I'm a +magistrate, and will make you feel it too, before you are a day older.” + +“That for you and your law, too,” cried Natty, snap ping his fingers at +the justice of the peace; “away with you, you varmint, before the devil +tempts me to give you your desarts. Take care, if I ever catch your +prowling face in the woods agin, that I don't shoot it for an owl.” + +There is something at all times commanding in honest indignation, +and Hiram did not stay to provoke the wrath of the old hunter to +extremities. When the intruder was out of sight, Natty proceeded to the +hut, where he found all quiet as the grave. He fastened his dogs, and +tapping at the door, which was opened by Edwards, asked; + +“Is all safe, lad?” + +“Everything,” returned the youth. “Some one attempted the lock, but it +was too strong for him.” + +“I know the creatur',” said Natty, “but he'll not trust himself within +the reach of my rifle very soon----” What more was uttered by the +Leather-Stocking, in his vexation, was rendered inaudible by the closing +of the door of the cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + + “It is noised, he hath a mass of treasure.” + --Timon of Athens. + +When Marmaduke Temple and his cousin rode through the gate of the +former, the heart of the father had been too recently touched with +the best feelings of our nature, to leave inclination for immediate +discourse. There was an importance in the air of Richard, which would +not have admitted of the ordinary informal conversation of the sheriff, +without violating all the rules of consistency; and the equestrians +pursued their way with great diligence, for more than a mile, in +profound silence. At length the soft expression of parental affection +was slowly chased from the handsome features of the Judge, and was +gradually supplanted by the cast of humor and benevolence that was +usually seated on his brow. + +“Well, Dickon,” he said, “since I have yielded myself so far implicitly +to your guidance, I think the moment has arrived when I am entitled to +further confidence. Why and wherefore are we journeying together in this +solemn gait?” + +The sheriff gave a loud hem, that rang far in the forest, and keeping +his eyes fixed on objects before him like a man who is looking deep into +futurity: + +“There has always been one point of difference between us, Judge Temple, +I may say, since our nativity,” he replied; “not that I would insinuate +that you are at all answerable for the acts of Nature; for a man is no +more to be condemned for the misfortunes of his birth, than he is to be +commended for the natural advantages he may possess; but on one point +we may be said to have differed from our births, and they, you know, +occurred within two days of each other.” + +“I really marvel, Richard, what this one point can be, for, to my eyes, +we seem to differ so materially, and so often--” + +“Mere consequences, sir,” interrupted the sheriff; “all our minor +differences proceed from one cause, and that is, our opinions of the +universal attainments of genius.” + +“In what, Dickon?” + +“I speak plain English, I believe, Judge Temple: at least I ought; for +my father, who taught me, could speak----” + +“Greek and Latin,” interrupted Marmaduke. “I well know the +qualifications of your family in tongues, Dickon. But proceed to the +point; why are we travelling over this mountain to-day?” + +“To do justice to any subject, sir, the narrator must be suffered to +proceed in his own way,” continued the sheriff. “You are of opinion, +Judge Temple, that a man is to be qualified by nature and education to +do only one thing well, whereas I know that genius will supply the +place of learning, and that a certain sort of man can do anything and +everything.” + +“Like yourself, I suppose,” said Marmaduke, smiling. + +“I scorn personalities, sir, I say nothing of myself; but there are +three men on your Patent, of the kind that I should term talented by +nature for her general purposes though acting under the influence of +different situations.” + +“We are better off, then, than I had supposed. Who are these triumviri?” + +“Why, sir, one is Hiram Doolittle; a carpenter by trade, as you +know--and I need only point to the village to exhibit his merits. Then +he is a magistrate, and might shame many a man, in his distribution of +justice, who has had better opportunities.” + +“Well, he is one,” said Marmaduke, with the air of a man that was +determined not to dispute the point. + +“Jotham Riddel is another.” + +“Who?” + +“Jotham Riddel.” + +“What, that dissatisfied, shiftless, lazy, speculating fellow! he who +changes his county every three years, his farm every six months, and his +occupation every season! an agriculturist yesterday, a shoemaker to-day, +and a school master to-morrow! that epitome of all the unsteady and +profitless propensities of the settlers without one of their good +qualities to counterbalance the evil! Nay, Richard, this is too bad for +even--but the third.” + +“As the third is not used to hearing such comments on his character, +Judge Temple, I shall not name him.” + +“The amount of all this, then, Dickon, is that the trio, of which you +are one, and the principal, have made some important discovery.” + +“I have not said that I am one, Judge Temple. As I told you before, say +nothing egotistical. But a discovery has been made, and you are deeply +interested in it.” + +“Proceed--I am all ears.” + +“No, no, 'Duke, you are bad enough, I own, but not so bad as that, +either; your ears are not quite full grown.” + +The sheriff laughed heartily at his own wit, and put himself in good +humor thereby, when he gratified his patient cousin with the following +explanation: + +“You know, 'Duke, there is a man living on your estate that goes by the +name of Natty Bumppo. Here has this man lived, by what I can learn, for +more than forty years--by himself, until lately; and now with strange +companions.” + +“Part very true, and all very probable,” said the Judge. + +“All true, sir; all true. Well, within these last few months have +appeared as his companions an old Indian chief, the last, or one of the +last of his tribe that is to be found in this part of the country, and a +young man, who is said to be the son of some Indian agent, by a squaw.” + +“Who says that?” cried Marmaduke, with an interest; that he had not +manifested before. + +“Who? why, common sense--common report--the hue and cry. But listen till +you know all. This youth has very pretty talents--yes, what I call very +pretty talents--and has been well educated, has seen very tolerable +company, and knows how to behave himself when he has a mind to. Now, +Judge Temple, can you tell me what has brought three such men as Indian +John, Natty Bumppo, and Oliver Edwards together?” Marmaduke turned his +countenance, in evident surprise, to his cousin, and replied quickly: + +“Thou hast unexpectedly hit on a subject, Richard, that has often +occupied my mind. But knowest thou anything of this mystery, or are they +only the crude conjectures of--” + +“Crude nothing, 'Duke, crude nothing: but facts, stubborn facts. You +know there are mines in these mountains; I have often heard you say that +you believed in their existence.” + +“Reasoning from analogy, Richard, but not with any certainty of the +fact.” + +“You have heard them mentioned, and have seen specimens of the ore, +sir; you will not deny that! and, reasoning from analogy, as you say, +if there be mines in South America, ought there not to be mines in North +America too?” + +“Nay, nay, I deny nothing, my cousin. I certainly have heard many rumors +of the existence of mines in these hills: and I do believe that I have +seen specimens of the precious metals that have been found here. It +would occasion me no surprise to learn that tin and silver, or what I +consider of more consequence, good coal--” + +“Damn your coal,” cried the sheriff; “who wants to find coal in these +forests? No, no--silver, 'Duke; silver is the one thing needful, and +silver is to be found. But listen: you are not to be told that the +natives have long known the use of gold and silver; now who so likely to +be acquainted where they are to be found as the ancient inhabitants of a +country? I have the best reasons for believing that both Mohegan and the +Leather-Stocking have been privy to the existence of a mine in this very +mountain for many years.” + +The sheriff had now touched his cousin in a sensitive spot; and +Marmaduke lent a more attentive ear to the speaker, who, after waiting a +moment to see the effect of this extraordinary development, proceeded: + +“Yes, sir, I have my reasons, and at a proper time you shall know them.” + +“No time is so good as the present.” + +“Well, well, be attentive,” continued Richard, looking cautiously about +him, to make certain that no eavesdropper was hid in the forest, +though they were in constant motion. “I have seen Mohegan and the +Leather-Stocking, with my own eyes--and my eyes are as good as anybody's +eyes--I have seen them, I say, both going up the mountain and coming +down it, with spades and picks; and others have seen them carrying +things into their hut, in a secret and mysterious manner, after dark. Do +you call this a fact of importance?” + +The Judge did not reply, but his brow had contracted, with a +thoughtfulness that he always wore when much interested, and his eyes +rested on his cousin in expectation of hearing more. Richard continued: + +“It was ore. Now, sir, I ask if you can tell me who this Mr. Oliver +Edwards is, that has made a part of your household since Christmas?” + +Marmaduke again raised his eyes, but continued silent, shaking his head +in the negative. + +“That he is a half-breed we know, for Mohegan does not scruple to call +him openly his kinsman; that he is well educated we know. But as to his +business here--do you remember that about a month before this young man +made his appearance among us, Natty was absent from home several days? +You do; for you inquired for him, as you wanted some venison to take to +your friends, when you went for Bess. Well, he was not to be found. Old +John was left in the hut alone, and when Natty did appear, although he +came on in the night, he was seen drawing one of those jumpers that they +carry their grain to mill in, and to take out something with great care, +that he had covered up under his bear-skins. Now let me ask you, Judge +Temple, what motive could induce a man like the Leather-Stocking to make +a sled, and toil with a load over these mountains, if he had nothing but +his rifle or his ammunition to carry?” + +“They frequently make these jumpers to convey their game home, and you +say he had been absent many days.” + +“How did he kill it? His rifle was in the village, to be mended. No, +no--that he was gone to some unusual place is certain; that he brought +back some secret utensils is more certain; and that he has not allowed a +soul to approach his hut since is most certain of all.” + +“He was never fond of intruders------” + +“I know it,” interrupted Richard; “but did he drive them from his cabin +morosely? Within a fortnight of his return, this Mr. Edwards appears. +They spend whole days in the mountains, pretending to be shooting, but +in reality exploring; the frosts prevent their digging at that time, +and he avails himself of a lucky accident to get into good quarters. +But even now, he is quite half of his time in that hut--many hours every +night. They are smelting, 'Duke they are smelting, and as they grow +rich, you grow poor.” + +“How much of this is thine own, Richard, and how much comes from others? +I would sift the wheat from the chaff.” + +“Part is my own, for I saw the jumper, though it was broken up and burnt +in a day or two. I have told you that I saw the old man with his spades +and picks. Hiram met Natty, as he was crossing the mountain, the night +of his arrival with the sled, and very good-naturedly offered--Hiram is +good-natured--to carry up part of his load, for the old man had a heavy +pull up the back of the mountain, but he wouldn't listen to the thing, +and repulsed the offer in such a manner that the squire said he had half +a mind to swear the peace against him. Since the snow has been off, +more especially after the frosts got out of the ground, we have kept a +watchful eye on the gentle man, in which we have found Jotham useful.” + Marmaduke did not much like the associates of Richard in this business; +still he knew them to be cunning and ready expedients; and as there was +certainly something mysterious, not only in the connection between the +old hunters and Edwards, but in what his cousin had just related, +he began to revolve the subject in his own mind with more care. +On reflection, he remembered various circumstances that tended to +corroborate these suspicions, and, as the whole business favored one of +his infirmities, he yielded the more readily to their impression. The +mind of Judge Temple, at all times comprehensive, had received from +his peculiar occupations a bias to look far into futurity, in his +speculations on the improvements that posterity were to make in his +lands. To his eye, where others saw nothing but a wilderness, towns, +manufactories, bridges, canals, mines, and all the other resources of an +old country were constantly presenting themselves, though his good sense +suppressed, in some degree, the exhibition of these expectations. + +As the sheriff allowed his cousin full time to reflect on what he had +heard, the probability of some pecuniary adventure being the connecting +link in the chain that brought Oliver Edwards into the cabin of +Leather-Stocking appeared to him each moment to be stronger. But +Marmaduke was too much in the habit of examining both sides of a subject +not to perceive the objections, and he reasoned with himself aloud: + +“It cannot be so, or the youth would not be driven so near the verge of +poverty.” + +“What so likely to make a man dig for money as being poor?” cried the +sheriff. + +“Besides, there is an elevation of character about Oliver that proceeds +from education, which would forbid so clandestine a proceeding.” + +“Could an ignorant fellow smelt?” continued Richard. + +“Bess hints that he was reduced even to his last shilling when we took +him into our dwelling.” + +“He had been buying tools. And would he spend his last sixpence for a +shot at a turkey had he not known where to get more?” + +“Can I have possibly been so long a dupe? His manner has been rude to me +at times, but I attributed it to his conceiving himself injured, and to +his mistaking the forms of the world.” + +“Haven't you been a dupe all your life, 'Duke, and an't what you call +ignorance of forms deep cunning, to conceal his real character?” + +“If he were bent on deception, he would have concealed his knowledge, +and passed with us for an inferior man.” + +“He cannot. I could no more pass for a fool, myself, than I could fly. +Knowledge is not to be concealed, like a candle under a bushel.” + +“Richard,” said the Judge, turning to his cousin, “there are many +reasons against the truth of thy conjectures, but thou hast awakened +suspicions which must be satisfied. But why are we travelling here?” + +“Jotham, who has been much in the mountain latterly, being kept there by +me and Hiram, has made a discovery, which he will not explain, he says, +for he is bound by an oath; but the amount is, that he knows where the +ore lies, and he has this day begun to dig. I would not consent to the +thing, 'Duke, without your knowledge, for the land is yours; and now you +know the reason of our ride. I call this a countermine, ha!” + +“And where is the desirable spot?” asked the Judge with an air half +comical, half serious. + +“At hand; and when we have visited that, I will show you one of the +places that we have found within a week, where our hunters have been +amusing themselves for six months past.” + +The gentlemen continued to discuss the matter, while their horses picked +their way under the branches of the trees and over the uneven ground of +the mountain. They soon arrived at the end of their journey, where, in +truth, they found Jotham already buried to his neck in a hole that he +had been digging. + +Marmaduke questioned the miner very closely as to his reasons for +believing in the existence of the precious metals near that particular +spot; but the fellow maintained an obstinate mystery in his answers. He +asserted that he had the best of reasons for what he did, and inquired +of the judge what portion of the profits would fall to his own share, in +the event of success, with an earnestness that proved his faith. After +spending an hour near the place, examining the stones, and searching for +the usual indications of the proximity of ore, the Judge remounted and +suffered his cousin to lead the way to the place where the mysterious +trio had been making their excavation. + +The spot chosen by Jotham was on the back of the mountain that overhung +the hut of Leather-Stocking, and the place selected by Natty and his +companions was on the other side of the same hill, but above the road, +and, of course, in an opposite direction to the route taken by the +ladies in their walk. + +“We shall be safe in approaching the place now,” said Richard, while +they dismounted and fastened their horses; “for I took a look with the +glass, and saw John and Leather-Stocking in their canoe fishing before +we left home, and Oliver is in the same pursuit; but these may be +nothing but shams to blind our eye; so we will be expeditious, for it +would not be pleasant to be caught here by them.” + +“Not on my own land?” said Marmaduke sternly. “If it be as you suspect, +I will know their reasons for making this excavation.” + +“Mum,” said Richard, laying a finger on his lip, and leading the way +down a very difficult descent to a sort of natural cavern, which was +found in the face of the rock, and was not unlike a fireplace in shape. +In front of this place lay a pile of earth, which had evidently been +taken from the recess, and part of which was yet fresh. An examination +of the exterior of the cavern left the Judge in doubt whether it was one +of Nature's frolics that had thrown it into that shape, or whether it +had been wrought by the hands of man, at some earlier period. But +there could be no doubt that the whole of the interior was of recent +formation, and the marks of the pick were still visible where the soft, +lead-colored rock had opposed itself to the progress of the miners. The +whole formed an excavation of about twenty feet in width, and nearly +twice that distance in depth. The height was much greater than was +required for the ordinary purposes of experiment, but this was evidently +the effect of chance, as the roof of the cavern was a natural stratum of +rock that projected many feet beyond the base of the pile. Immediately +in front of the recess, or cave, was a little terrace, partly formed by +nature, and partly by the earth that had been carelessly thrown aside +by the laborers. The mountain fell off precipitously in front of the +terrace, and the approach by its sides, under the ridge of the rocks, +was difficult and a little dangerous. The whole was wild, rude, and +apparently incomplete; for, while looking among the bushes, the sheriff +found the very implements that had been used in the work. + +When the sheriff thought that his cousin had examined the spot +sufficiently, he asked solemnly: + +“Judge Temple, are you satisfied?” + +“Perfectly, that there is something mysterious and perplexing in this +business. It is a secret spot, and cunningly devised, Richard; yet I see +no symptoms of ore.” + +“Do you expect, sir, to find gold and silver lying like pebbles on the +surface of the earth?--dollars and dimes ready coined to your hands? No, +no--the treasure must be sought after to be won. But let them mine; I +shall countermine.” + +The Judge took an accurate survey of the place, and noted in his +memorandum-book such marks as were necessary to find it again in the +event of Richard's absence; when the cousins returned to their horses. + +On reaching the highway they separated, the sheriff to summon +twenty-four “good men and true,” to attend as the inquest of the county, +on the succeeding Monday, when Marmaduke held his stated court of +“common pleas and general sessions of the peace,” and the Judge to +return, musing deeply on what he had seen and heard in the course of the +morning. + +When the horse of the latter reached the spot where the highway fell +toward the valley, the eye of Marmaduke rested, it is true, on the same +scene that had, ten minutes before, been so soothing to the feelings +of his daughter and her friend, as they emerged from the forest; but +it rested in vacancy. He threw the reins to his sure footed beast, and +suffered the animal to travel at his own gait, while he soliloquized as +follows: + +“There may be more in this than I at first supposed. I have suffered +my feelings to blind my reason, in admitting an unknown youth in this +manner to my dwelling; yet this is not the land of suspicion. I will +have Leather-Stocking before me, and, by a few direct questions, extract +the truth from the simple old man.” + +At that instant the Judge caught a glimpse of the figures of Elizabeth +and Louisa, who were slowly descending the mountain, short distance +before him. He put spurs to his horse, and riding up to them, +dismounted, and drove his steed along the narrow path. While the +agitated parent was listening to the vivid description that his daughter +gave of her recent danger, and her unexpected escape, all thoughts of +mines, vested rights, and examinations were absorbed in emotion; and +when the image of Natty again crossed his recollection, it was not as a +law Less and depredating squatter, but as the preserver of his child. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + + “The court awards it, and the law doth give it.” + --Merchant of Venice. + +Remarkable Pettibone, who had forgotten the wound received by her pride, +in contemplation of the ease and comforts of her situation, and who +still retained her station in the family of judge Temple, was dispatched +to the humble dwelling which Richard already styled “The Rectory,” in +attendance on Louisa, who was soon consigned to the arms of her father. + +In the mean time, Marmaduke and his daughter were closeted for more than +an hour, nor shall we invade the sanctuary of parental love, by relating +the conversation. When the curtain rises on the reader, the Judge is +seen walking up and down the apartment, with a tender melancholy in his +air, and his child reclining on a settee, with a flushed cheek, and her +dark eyes seeming to float in crystals. + +“It was a timely rescue! it was, indeed, a timely rescue, my child!” + cried the Judge. “Then thou didst not desert thy friend, my noble Bess?” + +“I believe I may as well take the credit of fortitude,” said Elizabeth, +“though I much doubt if flight would have availed me anything, had I +even courage to execute such an intention. But I thought not of the +expedient.” + +“Of what didst thou think, love? where did thy thoughts dwell most, at +that fearful moment?” + +“The beast! the beast!” cried Elizabeth, veiling her face with her hand. +“Oh! I saw nothing, I thought of nothing but the beast. I tried to think +of better things, but the horror was too glaring, the danger too much +before my eyes.” + +“Well, well, thou art safe, and we will converse no more on the +unpleasant subject. I did not think such an animal yet remained in +our forests; but they will stray far from their haunts when pressed by +hunger, and--” + +A loud knocking at the door of the apartment interrupted what he was +about to utter, and he bid the applicant enter. The door was opened by +Benjamin, who came in with a discontented air, as if he felt that he had +a communication to make that would be out of season. + +“Here is Squire Doolittle below, sir,” commenced the major-domo. “He has +been standing off and on in the door-yard for the matter of a glass; +and he has summat on his mind that he wants to heave up, d'ye see; but I +tells him, says I, man, would you be coming aboard with your complaints, +said I, when the judge has gotten his own child, as it were, out of the +jaws of a lion? But damn the bit of manners has the fellow, any more +than if he was one of them Guineas down in the kitchen there; and so as +he was sheering nearer, every stretch he made toward the house, I +could do no better than to let your honor know that the chap was in the +offing.” + +“He must have business of importance,” said Marmaduke: “something in +relation to his office, most probably, as the court sits so shortly.” + +“Ay, ay, you have it, sir,” cried Benjamin; “it's summat about a +complaint that he has to make of the old Leather-Stocking, who, to my +judgment, is the better man of the two. It's a very good sort of a man +is this Master Bumppo, and he has a way with a spear, all the same as +if he was brought up at the bow-oar of the captain's barge, or was born +with a boat-hook in his hand.” + +“Against the Leather-Stocking!” cried Elizabeth, rising from her +reclining posture. + +“Rest easy, my child; some trifle, I pledge you; I believe I am already +acquainted with its import Trust me, Bess, your champion shall be safe +in my care. Show Mr. Doolittle in, Benjamin.” + +Miss Temple appeared satisfied with this assurance, but fastened +her dark eyes on the person of the architect, who profited by the +permission, and instantly made his appearance. + +All the impatience of Hiram seemed to vanish the instant he entered the +apartment. After saluting the Judge and his daughter, he took the chair +to which Marmaduke pointed, and sat for a minute, composing his straight +black hair, with a gravity of demeanor that was in tended to do honor to +his official station. At length he said: + +“It's likely, from what I hear, that Miss Temple had a narrow chance +with the painters, on the mountain.” + +Marmaduke made a gentle inclination of his head, by way of assent, but +continued silent. + +“I s'pose the law gives a bounty on the scalps,” continued Hiram, “in +which case the Leather-Stocking will make a good job on't.” + +“It shall be my care to see that he is rewarded,” returned the Judge. + +“Yes, yes, I rather guess that nobody hereabouts doubts the Judge's +generosity. Does he know whether the sheriff has fairly made up his mind +to have a reading desk or a deacon's pew under the pulpit?” + +“I have not heard my cousin speak on that subject, lately,” replied +Marmaduke. “I think it's likely that we will have a pretty dull court +on't, from what I can gather. I hear that Jotham Riddel and the man who +bought his betterments have agreed to leave their difference to men, and +I don't think there'll be more than two civil cases in the calendar.” + +“I am glad of it,” said the judge; “nothing gives me more pain than to +see my settlers wasting their time and substance in the unprofitable +struggles of the law. I hope it may prove true, sir.” + +“I rather guess 'twill be left out to men,” added Hiram, with an air +equally balanced between doubt and assurance, but which judge Temple +understood to mean certainty; “I some think that I am appointed a +referee in the case myself; Jotham as much as told me that he should +take me. The defendant, I guess, means to take Captain Hollister, and we +two have partly agreed on Squire Jones for the third man.” + +“Are there any criminals to be tried?” asked Marmaduke. + +“There's the counterfeiters,” returned the magistrate, “as they were +caught in the act, I think it likely that they'll be indicted, in which +case it's probable they'll be tried.” + +“Certainly, sir; I had forgotten those men. There are no more, I hope.” + “Why, there is a threaten to come forward with an assault that happened +at the last independence day; but I'm not sartain that the law'll take +hold on't. There was plaguey hard words passed, but whether they struck +or not I haven't heard. There's some folks talk of a deer or two being +killed out of season, over on the west side of the Patent, by some of +the squatters on the 'Fractions.'” + +“Let a complaint be made, by all means,” said the Judge; “I am +determined to see the law executed to the letter, on all such +depredators.” + +“Why, yes, I thought the judge was of that mind; I came partly on such a +business myself.” + +“You!” exclaimed Marmaduke, comprehending in an instant how completely +he had been caught by the other's cunning; “and what have you to say, +sir?” + +“I some think that Natty Bumppo has the carcass of a deer in his hut +at this moment, and a considerable part of my business was to get a +search-warrant to examine.” + +“You think, sir! do you know that the law exacts an oath, before I can +issue such a precept? The habitation of a citizen is not to be idly +invaded on light suspicion.” + +“I rather think I can swear to it myself,” returned the immovable Hiram; +“and Jotham is in the street, and as good as ready to come in and make +oath to the same thing.” + +“Then issue the warrant thyself; thou art a magistrate, Mr. Doolittle; +why trouble me with the matter?” + +“Why, seeing it's the first complaint under the law, and knowing the +judge set his heart on the thing, I thought it best that the authority +to search should come from himself. Besides, as I'm much in the woods, +among the timber, I don't altogether like making an enemy of the Leather +Stocking. Now, the Judge has a weight in the county that puts him above +fear.” + +Miss Temple turned her face to the callous Architect as she said' “And +what has any honest person to dread from so kind a man as Bumppo?” + +“Why, it's as easy, miss, to pull a rifle trigger on a magistrate as on +a painter. But if the Judge don't conclude to issue the warrant, I must +go home and make it out myself.” + +“I have not refused your application, sir,” said Marmaduke, perceiving +at once that his reputation for impartiality was at stake; “go into my +office, Mr. Doolittle, where I will join you, and sign the warrant.” + Judge Temple stopped the remonstrances which Elizabeth was about to +utter, after Hiram had withdrawn, by laying his hand on her mouth, and +saying: + +“It is more terrible in sound than frightful in reality, my child. I +suppose that the Leather-Stocking has shot a deer, for the season is +nearly over, and you say that he was hunting with his dogs when he came +so timely to your assistance. But it will be only to examine his cabin, +and find the animal, when you can pay the penalty out of your own +pocket, Bess. Nothing short of the twelve dollars and a half will +satisfy this harpy, I perceive; and surely my reputation as judge is +worth that trifle.” + +Elizabeth was a good deal pacified with this assurance, and suffered her +father to leave her, to fulfil his promise to Hiram. + +When Marmaduke left his office after executing his disagreeable duty, +he met Oliver Edwards, walking up the gravelled walk in front of the +mansion-house with great strides, and with a face agitated by feeling. +On seeing judge Temple, the youth turned aside, and with a warmth in his +manner that was not often exhibited to Marmaduke, he cried: + +“I congratulate you, sir; from the bottom of my soul, I congratulate +you, Judge Temple. Oh! it would have been too horrid to have recollected +for a moment! I have just left the hut, where, after showing me his +scalps, old Natty told me of the escape of the ladies, as the thing to +be mentioned last. Indeed, indeed, sir, no words of mine can express +half of what I have felt “--the youth paused a moment, as if suddenly +recollecting that he was overstepping prescribed limits, and concluded +with a good deal of embarrassment--“what I have felt at this danger to +Miss--Grant, and--and your daughter, sir.” + +But the heart of Marmaduke was too much softened to admit his cavilling +at trifles, and, without regarding the confusion of the other, he +replied: + +“I thank thee, thank thee, Oliver; as thou sayest, it is almost too +horrid to be remembered. But come, let us hasten to Bess, for Louisa has +already gone to the rectory.” + +The young man sprang forward, and, throwing open a door, barely +permitted the Judge to precede him, when he was in the presence of +Elizabeth in a moment. + +The cold distance that often crossed the demeanor of the heiress, in her +intercourse with Edwards, was now entirely banished, and two hours were +passed by the party, in the free, unembarrassed, and confiding manner +of old and esteemed friends. Judge Temple had forgotten the suspicions +engendered during his morning's ride, and the youth and maiden +conversed, laughed, and were sad by turns, as impulse directed. + +At length, Edwards, after repeating his intention to do so for the third +time, left the mansion-house to go to the rectory on a similar errand of +friendship. + +During this short period, a scene was passing at the hut that completely +frustrated the benevolent intentions of Judge Temple in favor of the +Leather-Stocking, and at once destroyed the short-lived harmony between +the youth and Marmaduke. + +When Hiram Doolittle had obtained his search-warrant, his first business +was to procure a proper officer to see it executed. The sheriff was +absent, summoning in person the grand inquest for the county; the deputy +who resided in the village was riding on the same errand, in a different +part of the settlement; and the regular constable of the township had +been selected for his station from motives of charity, being lame of a +leg. Hiram intended to accompany the officer as a spectator, but he felt +no very strong desire to bear the brunt of the battle. It was, however, +Saturday, and the sun was already turning the shadows of the pines +toward the east; on the morrow the conscientious magistrate could not +engage in such an expedition at the peril of his soul and long before +Monday, the venison, and all vestiges of the death of the deer, might be +secreted or destroyed. Happily, the lounging form of Billy Kirby met his +eye, and Hiram, at all time fruitful in similar expedients, saw his way +clear at once. Jotham, who was associated in the whole business, and who +had left the mountain in consequence of a summons from his coadjutor, +but who failed, equally with Hiram, in the unfortunate particular of +nerve, was directed to summon the wood-chopper to the dwelling of the +magistrate. + +When Billy appeared, he was very kindly invited to take the chair in +which he had already seated himself, and was treated in all respects as +if he were an equal. + +“Judge Temple has set his heart on putting the deer law in force,” said +Hiram, after the preliminary civilities were over, “and a complaint +has been laid before him that a deer has been killed. He has issued a +search-warrant, and sent for me to get somebody to execute it.” + +Kirby, who had no idea of being excluded from the deliberative part +of any affair in which he was engaged, drew up his bushy head in a +reflecting attitude, and after musing a moment, replied by asking a few +questions, + +“The sheriff has gone out of the way?” + +“Not to be found.” + +“And his deputy too?” + +“Both gone on the skirts of the Patent.” + +“But I saw the constable hobbling about town an hour ago.” + +“Yes, yes,” said Hiram, with a coaxing smile and knowing nod, “but this +business wants a man--not a cripple.” + +“Why,” said Billy, laughing, “will the chap make fight?” + +“He's a little quarrelsome at times, and thinks he's the best man in the +country at rough and tumble.” + +“I heard him brag once,” said Jotham, “that there wasn't a man 'twixt +the Mohawk Flats and the Pennsylvany line that was his match at a close +hug.” + +“Did you?” exclaimed Kirby, raising his huge frame in his seat, like +a lion stretching in his lair; “I rather guess he never felt a +Varmounter's knuckles on his backbone-But who is the chap?” + +“Why,” said Jotham, “it's--” + +“It's agin' law to tell,” interrupted Hiram, “unless you'll qualify to +sarve. You'd be the very man to take him, Bill, and I'll make out a +special deputation in a minute, when you will get the fees.” + +“What's the fees?” said Kirby, laying his large hand on the leaves of +a statute-book that Hiram had opened in order to give dignity to +his office, which he turned over in his rough manner, as if he were +reflecting on a subject about which he had, in truth, already decided; +“will they pay a man for a broken head?” + +“They'll be something handsome,” said Hiram. + +“Damn the fees,” said Billy, again laughing--“does the fellow think +he's the best wrestler in the county, though? what's his inches?” + +“He's taller than you be,” said Jotham, “and one of the biggest--” + +Talkers, he was about to add, but the impatience of Kirby interrupted +him. The wood-chopper had nothing fierce or even brutal in his +appearance; the character of his expression was that of good-natured +vanity. It was evident he prided himself on the powers of the physical +man, like all who have nothing better to boast of; and, stretching +out his broad hand, with the palm downward, he said, keeping his eyes +fastened on his own bones and sinews: + +“Come, give us a touch of the book. I'll swear, and you'll see that I'm +a man to keep my oath.” + +Hiram did not give the wood-chopper time to change his mind, but +the oath was administered without unnecessary delay. So soon as this +preliminary was completed, the three worthies left the house, and +proceeded by the nearest road toward the hut. They had reached the bank +of the lake, and were diverging from the route of the highway, before +Kirby recollected that he was now entitled to the privilege of the +initiated, and repeated his question as to the name of the offender, + +“Which way, which way, squire?” exclaimed the hardy wood-chopper; “I +thought it was to search a house that you wanted me, not the woods. +There is nobody lives on this side of the lake, for six miles, unless +you count the Leather-Stocking and old John for settlers. Come, tell me +the chap's name, and I warrant me that I lead you to his clearing by a +straighter path than this, for I know every sapling that grows within +two miles of Templeton.” + +“This is the way,” said Hiram, pointing forward and quickening his step, +as if apprehensive that Kirby would desert, “and Bumppo is the man.” + +Kirby stopped short, and looked from one of his companions to the other +in astonishment. He then burst into a loud laugh, and cried: + +“Who? Leather-Stocking! He may brag of his aim and his rifle, for he has +the best of both, as I will own myself, for sin' he shot the pigeon I +knock under to him; but for a wrestle! why, I would take the creatur' +between my finger and thumb, and tie him in a bow-knot around my neck +for a Barcelony. The man is seventy, and was never anything particular +for strength.” + +“He's a deceiving man,” said Hiram, “like all the hunters; he is +stronger than he seems; besides, he has his rifle.” + +“That for his rifle!” cried Billy; “he'd no more hurt me with his rifle +than he'd fly. He's a harmless creatur', and I must say that I think he +has as good right to kill deer as any man on the Patent. It's his main +support, and this is a free country, where a man is privileged to follow +any calling he likes.” + +“According to that doctrine,” said Jotham, “anybody may shoot a deer.” + +“This is the man's calling, I tell you,” returned Kirby, “and the law was +never made for such as he.” + +“The law was made for all,” observed Hiram, who began to think that +the danger was likely to fall to his own share, notwithstanding his +management; “and the law is particular in noticing parjury.” + +“See here, Squire Doolittle,” said the reckless woodchopper; “I don't +care the valie of a beetlering for you and your parjury too. But as I +have come so far, I'll go down and have a talk with the old man, and +maybe we'll fry a steak of the deer together.” + +“Well, if you can get in peaceably, so much the better,” said the +magistrate. “To my notion, strife is very unpopular; I prefar, at all +times, clever conduct to an ugly temper.” + +As the whole party moved at a great pace, they soon reached the hut, +where Hiram thought it prudent to halt on the outside of the top of the +fallen pine, which formed a chevaux-de-frise, to defend the approach +to the fortress, on the side next the village. The delay was little +relished by Kirby, who clapped his hands to his mouth, and gave a loud +halloo that brought the dogs out of their kennel, and, almost at the +same instant, the scantily-covered head of Natty from the door. + +“Lie down, old fool,” cried the hunter; “do you think there's more +painters about you?” + +“Ha! Leather-Stocking, I've an arrand with you,” cried Kirby; “here's +the good people of the State have been writing you a small letter, and +they've hired me to ride post.” + +“What would you have with me, Billy Kirby?” said Natty, stepping across +his threshold, and raising his hand over his eyes, to screen them from +the rays of the setting sun, while he took a survey of his visitor. +“I've no land to clear, and Heaven knows I would set out six trees afore +I would cut down one.--Down, Hector, I say; into your kennel with ye.” + +“Would you, old boy?” roared Billy; “then so much the better for me. But +I must do my arrand. Here's a letter for you, Leather-Stocking. If you +can read it, it's all well, and if you can't, here's Squire Doolittle at +hand, to let you know what it means. It seems you mistook the twentieth +of July for the first of August, that's all.” + +By this time Natty had discovered the lank person of Hiram, drawn up +under the cover of a high stump; and all that was complacent in his +manner instantly gave way to marked distrust and dissatisfaction. He +placed his head within the door of his hut, and said a few words in an +undertone, when he again appeared, and continued: + +“I've nothing for ye; so away, afore the Evil One tempts me to do you +harm. I owe you no spite, Billy Kirby, and what for should you trouble +an old man who has done you no harm?” + +Kirby advanced through the top of the pine, to within a few feet of +the hunter, where he seated himself on the end of a log, with great +composure, and began to examine the nose of Hector, with whom he was +familiar, from their frequently meeting in the woods, where he sometimes +fed the dog from his own basket of provisions. + +“You've outshot me, and I'm not ashamed to say it,” said the +wood-chopper; “but I don't owe you a grudge for that, Natty! though it +seems that you've shot once too often, for the story goes that you've +killed a buck.” + +“I've fired but twice to-day, and both times at the painters,” returned +the Leather-Stocking; “see, here are the scalps! I was just going in +with them to the Judge's to ask the bounty.” + +While Natty was speaking, he tossed the ears to Kirby, who continued +playing with them with a careless air, holding them to the dogs, and +laughing at their movements when they scented the unusual game. + +But Hiram, emboldened by the advance of the deputed constable, now +ventured to approach also, and took up the discourse with the air of +authority that became his commission. His first measure was to read the +warrant aloud, taking care to give due emphasis to the most material +parts, and concluding with the name of the Judge in very audible and +distinct tones. + +“Did Marmaduke Temple put his name to that bit of paper?” said Natty, +shaking his head; “well, well, that man loves the new ways, and his +betterments, and his lands, afore his own flesh and blood. But I won't +mistrust the gal; she has an eye like a full-grown buck! poor thing, she +didn't choose her father, and can't help it. I know but little of +the law, Mr. Doolittle; what is to be done, now you've read your +commission?” + +“Oh! it's nothing but form, Natty,” said Hiram, endeavoring to assume a +friendly aspect. “Let's go in, and talk the thing over in reason; I dare +to say that the money can be easily found, and I partly conclude, from +what passed, that Judge Temple will pay it himself.” + +The old hunter had kept a keen eye on the movements of his three +visitors, from the beginning, and had maintained his position, just +without the threshold of the cabin, with a determined manner, that +showed he was not to be easily driven from his post. When Hiram drew +nigher, as if expecting his proposition would be accepted, Natty lifted +his hand, and motioned for him to retreat. + +“Haven't I told you more than once, not to tempt me?” he said. “I +trouble no man; why can't the law leave me to myself? Go back--go back, +and tell your Judge that he may keep his bounty; but I won't have his +wasty ways brought into my hut.” + +This offer, however, instead of appeasing the curiosity of Hiram, seemed +to inflame it the more; while Kirby cried: + +“Well, that's fair, squire; he forgives the county his demand, and the +county should forgive him the fine; it's what I call an even trade, and +should be concluded on the spot. I like quick dealings, and what's fair +'twixt man and man.” + +“I demand entrance into this house,” said Hiram, summoning all the +dignity he could muster to his assistance, “in the name of the people; +and by virtue of this warrant, and of my office, and with this peace +officer.” + +“Stand back, stand back, squire, and don't tempt me,” said the +Leather-Stocking, motioning him to retire, with great earnestness. + +“Stop us at your peril,” continued Hiram. “Billy! Jotham! close up--I +want testimony.” + +Hiram had mistaken the mild but determined air of Natty for submission, +and had already put his foot on the threshold to enter, when he was +seized unexpectedly by his shoulders, and hurled over the little bank +toward the lake, to the distance of twenty feet. The suddenness of the +movement, and the unexpected display of strength on the part of Natty, +created a momentary astonishment in his invaders, that silenced all +noises; but at the next instant Billy Kirby gave vent to his mirth in +peals of laughter, that he seemed to heave up from his very soul. + +“Well done, old stub!” he shouted; “the squire knowed you better than I +did. Come, come, here's a green spot; take it out like men, while Jotham +and I see fair play.” + +“William Kirby, I order you to do your duty,” cried Hiram, from under +the bank; “seize that man; I order you to seize him in the name of the +people.” + +But the Leather-Stocking now assumed a more threatening attitude; +his rifle was in his hand, and its muzzle was directed toward the +wood-chopper. + +“Stand off, I bid ye,” said Natty; “you know my aim, Billy Kirby; I +don't crave your blood, but mine and your'n both shall turn this green +grass red, afore you put foot into the hut.” + +While the affair appeared trifling, the wood-chopper seemed disposed +to take sides with the weaker party; but, when the firearms were +introduced, his manner very sensibly changed. He raised his large frame +from the log, and, facing the hunter with an open front, he replied: + +“I didn't come here as your enemy, Leather-Stocking; but I don't value +the hollow piece of iron in your hand so much as a broken axe-helve; so, +squire, say the word, and keep within the law, and we'll soon see who's +the best main of the two.” + +But no magistrate was to be seen! The instant the rifle was produced +Hiram and Jotham vanished; and when the wood-chopper bent his eyes about +him in surprise at receiving no answer, he discovered their retreating +figures moving toward the village at a rate that sufficiently indicated +that they had not only calculated the velocity of a rifle-bullet, but +also its probable range. + +“You've scared the creatur's off,” said Kirby, with great contempt +expressed on his broad features; “but you are not going to scare me; so, +Mr. Bumppo, down with your gun, or there'll be trouble 'twixt us.” Natty +dropped his rifle, and replied: + +“I wish you no harm, Billy Kirby; but I leave it to yourself, whether an +old man's hut is to be run down by such varmint. I won't deny the buck +to you, Billy, and you may take the skin in, if you please, and show it +as testimony. The bounty will pay the fine, and that ought to satisfy +any man.” + +“Twill, old boy, 'twill,” cried Kirby, every shade of displeasure +vanishing from his open brow at the peace-offering; “throw out the hide, +and that shall satisfy the law.” + +Natty entered the hut, and soon reappeared, bringing with him the +desired testimonial; and the wood-chopper departed, as thoroughly +reconciled to the hunter as if nothing had happened. As he paced along +the margin of the lake he would burst into frequent fits of laughter, +while he recollected the summerset of Hiram: and, on the whole, he +thought the affair a very capital joke. + +Long before Billy' reached the village, however, the news of his danger, +and of Natty's disrespect of the law, and of Hiram's discomfiture, were +in circulation. A good deal was said about sending for the sheriff; some +hints were given about calling out the posse comitatus to avenge the +insulted laws; and many of the citizens were collected, deliberating how +to proceed. The arrival of Billy with the skin, by removing all grounds +for a search, changed the complexion of things materially. Nothing now +remained but to collect the fine and assert the dignity of the people; +all of which, it was unanimously agreed, could be done as well on the +succeeding Monday as on Saturday night--a time kept sacred by large +portion of the settlers. Accordingly, all further proceedings were +suspended for six-and-thirty hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + + “And dar'st thou then + To beard the lion in his den, + The Douglas in his hall.” + --Marmion. + +The commotion was just subsiding, and the inhabitants of the village had +begun to disperse from the little groups that had formed, each retiring +to his own home, and closing his door after him, with the grave air of a +man who consulted public feeling in his exterior deportment, when Oliver +Edwards, on his return from the dwelling of Mr. Grant, encountered the +young lawyer, who is known to the reader as Mr. Lippet. There was very +little similarity in the manners or opinions of the two; but as they +both belonged to the more intelligent class of a very small community, +they were, of course, known to each other, and as their meeting was at a +point where silence would have been rudeness, the following conversation +was the result of their interview: + +“A fine evening, Mr. Edwards,” commenced the lawyer, whose +disinclination to the dialogue was, to say the least, very doubtful; “we +want rain sadly; that's the worst of this climate of ours, it's either +a drought or a deluge. It's likely you've been used to a more equal +temperature?” + +“I am a native of this State,” returned Edwards, coldly. + +“Well. I've often heard that point disputed; but it's so easy to get a +man naturalized, that it's of little consequence where he was born. I +wonder what course the Judge means to take in this business of Natty +Bumppo!” + +“Of Natty Bumppo!” echoed Edwards; “to what do you allude, sir?” + +“Haven't you heard!” exclaimed the other, with a look of surprise, so +naturally assumed as completely to deceive his auditor; “it may turn out +an ugly business. It seems that the old man has been out in the hills, +and has shot a buck this morning, and that, you know, is a criminal +matter in the eyes of Judge Temple.” + +“Oh! he has, has he?” said Edwards, averting his face to conceal the +color that collected in his sunburnt cheek. “Well, if that be all, he +must even pay the fine.” + +“It's five pound currency,” said the lawyer; “could Natty muster so much +money at once?” + +“Could he!” cried the youth. “I am not rich, Mr. Lippet; far from it--I +am poor, and I have been hoarding my salary for a purpose that lies near +my heart; but, Before that old man should lie one hour in a jail, I +would spend the last cent to prevent it. Besides, he has killed two +panthers, and the bounty will discharge the fine many times over.” + +“Yes, yes,” said the lawyer, rubbing his hands together, with an +expression of pleasure that had no artifice about it; “we shall make it +out; I see plainly we shall make it out.” + +“Make what out, sir? I must beg an explanation.” + +“Why, killing the buck is but a small matter compared to what took place +this afternoon,” continued Mr. Lippet, with a confidential and friendly +air that won upon the youth, little as he liked the man. “It seems that +a complaint was made of the fact, and a suspicion that there was venison +in the hut was sworn to, all which is provided for in the statute, when +Judge Temple granted the search warrant.” + +“A search-warrant!” echoed Edwards, in a voice of horror, and with a +face that should have been again averted to conceal its paleness; “and +how much did they discover? What did they see?” + +“They saw old Bumppo's rifle; and that is a sight which will quiet most +men's curiosity in the woods.” + +“Did they! did they!” shouted Edwards, bursting into a convulsive laugh; +“so the old hero beat them back beat them back! did he?” The lawyer +fastened his eyes in astonishment on the youth, but, as his wonder +gave way to the thoughts that were commonly uppermost in his mind, he +replied: + +“It is no laughing matter, let me tell you, sir; the forty dollars of +bounty and your six months of salary will be much reduced before you can +get the matter fairly settled. Assaulting a magistrate in the execution +of his duty, and menacing a constable with firearms at the same time, +is a pretty serious affair, and is punishable with both fine and +imprisonment.” + +“Imprisonment!” repeated Oliver; “imprison the Leather-Stocking! no, no, +sir; it would bring the old man to his grave. They shall never imprison +the Leather-Stocking.” + +“Well, Mr. Edwards,” said Lippet, dropping all reserve from his manner, +“you are called a curious man; but if you can tell me how a jury is to +be prevented from finding a verdict of guilty, if this case comes fairly +before them, and the proof is clear, I shall acknowledge that you +know more law than I do, who have had a license in my pocket for three +years.” + +By this time the reason of Edwards was getting the ascendency of his +feelings, and, as he began to see the real difficulties of the case, +he listened more readily to the conversation of the lawyer. The +ungovernable emotion that escaped the youth, in the first moments of his +surprise, entirely passed away; and, although it was still evident that +he continued to be much agitated by what he had heard, he succeeded in +yielding forced attention to the advice which the other uttered. + +Notwithstanding the confused state of his mind, Oliver soon discovered +that most of the expedients of the lawyer were grounded in cunning, +and plans that required a time to execute them that neither suited his +disposition nor his necessities. After, however, giving Mr. Lippet to +under stand that he retained him in the event of a trial, an assurance +that at once satisfied the lawyer, they parted, one taking his course +with a deliberate tread in the direction of the little building that +had a wooden sign over its door, with “Chester Lippet, Attorney-at-law,” + painted on it; and the other pacing over the ground with enormous +strides toward the mansion-house. We shall take leave of the attorney +for the present, and direct the attention of the reader to the client. + +When Edwards entered the hall, whose enormous doors were opened to the +passage of the air of a mild evening, he found Benjamin engaged in some +of his domestic avocations, and in a hurried voice inquired where Judge +Temple was to be found. + +“Why, the Judge has stepped into his office, with that master carpenter, +Mister Doolittle; but Miss Lizzy is in that there parlor. I say, Master +Oliver, we'd like to have had a bad job of that panther, or painter's +work--some calls it one, and some calls it t'other--but I know little +of the beast, seeing that it is not of British growth. I said as much as +that it was in the hills the last winter for I heard it moaning on the +lake shore one evening in the fall, when I was pulling down from the +fishing-point in the skiff. Had the animal come into open water, where a +man could see where and how to work his vessel, I would have engaged the +thing myself; but looking aloft among the trees is all the same to me as +standing on the deck of one ship, and looking at another vessel's tops. +I never can tell one rope from another--” + +“Well, well,” interrupted Edwards; “I must see Miss Temple.” + +“And you shall see her, sir,” said the steward; “she's in this here +room. Lord, Master Edwards, what a loss she'd have been to the Judge! +Dam'me if I know where he would have gotten such another daughter; that +is, full grown, d'ye see. I say, sir, this Master Bumppo is a worthy +man, and seems to have a handy way with him, with firearms and +boat-hooks. I'm his friend, Master Oliver, and he and you may both set +me down as the same.” + +“We may want your friendship, my worthy fellow,” cried Edwards, +squeezing his hand convulsively; “we may want your friendship, in which +case you shall know it.” + +Without waiting to hear the earnest reply that Benjamin meditated, the +youth extricated himself from the vigorous grasp of the steward, and +entered the parlor. + +Elizabeth was alone, and still reclining on the sofa, where we last left +her. A hand, which exceeded all that the ingenuity of art could model, +in shape and color, veiled her eyes; and the maiden was sitting as if +in deep communion with herself. Struck by the attitude and loveliness +of the form that met his eye, the young man checked his impatience, and +approached her with respect and caution. + +“Miss Temple--Miss Temple,” he said, “I hope I do not intrude; but I am +anxious for an interview, if it be only for a moment.” + +Elizabeth raised her face, and exhibited her dark eyes swimming in +moisture. + +“Is it you, Edwards?” she said, with a sweetness in her voice, and a +softness in her air, that she often used to her father, but which, from +its novelty to himself, thrilled on every nerve of the youth; “how left +you our poor Louisa?” + +“She is with her father, happy and grateful,” said Oliver, “I never +witnessed more feeling than she manifested, when I ventured to express +my pleasure at her escape. Miss Temple, when I first heard of your +horrid situation, my feelings were too powerful for utterance; and I did +not properly find my tongue, until the walk to Mr. Grant's had given +me time to collect myself. I believe--I do believe, I acquitted myself +better there, for Miss Grant even wept at my silly speeches.” For a +moment Elizabeth did not reply, but again veiled her eyes with her hand. +The feeling that caused the action, however, soon passed away, and, +raising her face again to his gaze, she continued with a smile: + +“Your friend, the Leather-Stocking, has now become my friend, Edwards; +I have been thinking how I can best serve him; perhaps you, who know his +habits and his wants so well, can tell me----” + +“I can,” cried the youth, with an impetuosity that startled his +companion. “I can, and may Heaven reward you for the wish, Natty has +been so imprudent as to for get the law, and has this day killed a deer. +Nay, I believe I must share in the crime and the penalty, for I was an +accomplice throughout. A complaint has been made to your father, and he +has granted a search--” + +“I know it all,” interrupted Elizabeth; “I know it all. The forms of the +law must be complied with, however; the search must be made, the deer +found, and the penalty paid. But I must retort your own question. Have +you lived so long in our family not to know us? Look at me, Oliver +Edwards. Do I appear like one who would permit the man that has just +saved her life to linger in a jail for so small a sum as this fine? No, +no, sir; my father is a judge, but he is a man and a Christian. It is +all under stood, and no harm shall follow.” + +“What a load of apprehension do your declarations remove!” exclaimed +Edwards: “He shall not be disturbed again! your father will protect him! +I have assurance, Miss Temple, that he will, and I must believe it.” + +“You may have his own, Mr. Edwards,” returned Elizabeth, “for here he +comes to make it.” + +But the appearance of Marmaduke, who entered the apartment, contradicted +the flattering anticipations of his daughter. His brow was contracted, +and his manner disturbed. Neither Elizabeth nor the youth spoke; but +the Judge was allowed to pace once or twice across the room without +interruption, when he cried: + +“Our plans are defeated, girl; the obstinacy of the Leather-Stocking has +brought down the indignation of the law on his head, and it is now out +of my power to avert it.” + +“How? in what manner?” cried Elizabeth; “the fine is nothing surely--” + +“I did not--I could not anticipate that an old, a friendless man like +him, would dare to oppose the officers of justice,” interrupted the +Judge, “I supposed that he would submit to the search, when the fine +could have been paid, and the law would have been appeased; but now he +will have to meet its rigor.” + +“And what must the punishment be, sir?” asked Edwards, struggling to +speak with firmness. + +Marmaduke turned quickly to the spot where the youth had withdrawn, and +exclaimed: + +“You here! I did not observe you. I know not what it will be, sir; it +is not usual for a judge to decide until he has heard the testimony, and +the jury have convicted. Of one thing, however, you may be assured, +Mr. Edwards; it shall be whatever the law demands, notwithstanding any +momentary weakness I may have exhibited, because the luckless man has +been of such eminent service to my daughter.” + +“No one, I believe, doubts the sense of justice which Judge Temple +entertains!” returned Edwards bitterly. + +“But let us converse calmly, sir. Will not the years, the habits, +nay, the ignorance of my old friend, avail him any thing against this +charge?” + +“Ought they? They may extenuate, but can they ac quit? Would any society +be tolerable, young man, where the ministers of justice are to be +opposed by men armed with rifles? Is it for this that I have tamed the +wilderness?” + +“Had you tamed the beasts that so lately threatened the life of Miss +Temple, sir, your arguments would apply better.” + +“Edwards!” exclaimed Elizabeth. + +“Peace, my child,” interrupted the father; “the youth is unjust; but I +have not given him cause. I overlook thy remark, Oliver, for I know +thee to be the friend of Natty, and zeal in his behalf has overcome thy +discretion.” + +“Yes, he is my friend,” cried Edwards, “and I glory in the title. He is +simple, unlettered, even ignorant; prejudiced, perhaps, though I feel +that his opinion of the world is too true; but he has a heart, Judge +Temple, that would atone for a thousand faults; he knows his friends, +and never deserts them, even if it be his dog.” + +“This is a good character, Mr. Edwards,” returned Marmaduke, mildly; +“but I have never been so fortunate as to secure his esteem, for to me +he has been uniformly repulsive; yet I have endured it, as an old man's +whim, However, when he appears before me, as his judge, he shall find +that his former conduct shall not aggravate, any more than his recent +services shall extenuate, his crime.” + +“Crime!” echoed Edwards: “is it a crime to drive a prying miscreant from +his door? Crime! Oh, no, sir; if there be a criminal involved in this +affair, it is not he.” + +“And who may it be, sir?” asked Judge Temple, facing the agitated youth, +his features settled to their usual composure. + +This appeal was more than the young man could bear. Hitherto he had +been deeply agitated by his emotions; but now the volcano burst its +boundaries. + +“Who! and this to me!” he cried; “ask your own conscience, Judge Temple. +Walk to that door, sir, and look out upon the valley, that placid lake, +and those dusky mountains, and say to your own heart, if heart you have, +whence came these riches, this vale, those hills, and why am I their +owner? I should think, sir, that the appearance of Mohegan and the +Leather-Stocking, stalking through the country, impoverished and +forlorn, would wither your sight.” + +Marmaduke heard this burst of passion, at first, with deep amazement; +but when the youth had ended, he beckoned to his impatient daughter for +silence, and replied: + +“Oliver Edwards, thou forgettest in whose presence thou standest. I have +heard, young man, that thou claimest descent from the native owners of +the soil; but surely thy education has been given thee to no effect, if +it has not taught thee the validity of the claims that have transferred +the title to the whites. These lands are mine by the very grants of +thy ancestry, if thou art so descended; and I appeal to Heaven for a +testimony of the uses I have put them to. After this language, we must +separate. I have too long sheltered thee in my dwelling; but the time +has arrived when thou must quit it. Come to my office, and I will +discharge the debt I owe thee. Neither shall thy present intemperate +language mar thy future fortunes, if thou wilt hearken to the advice of +one who is by many years thy senior.” + +The ungovernable feeling that caused the violence of the youth had +passed away, and he stood gazing after the retiring figure of Marmaduke, +with a vacancy in his eye that denoted the absence of his mind. At +length he recollected himself, and, turning his head slowly around the +apartment, he beheld Elizabeth, still seated on the sofa, but with her +head dropped on her bosom, and her face again concealed by her hands. + +“Miss Temple,” he said--all violence had left his manner--“Miss +Temple--I have forgotten myself--forgotten you. You have heard what your +father has decreed, and this night I leave here. With you, at least, I +would part in amity.” + +Elizabeth slowly raised her face, across which a momentary expression +of sadness stole; but as she left her seat, her dark eyes lighted with +their usual fire, her cheek flushed to burning, and her whole air seemed +to belong to another nature. + +“I forgive you, Edwards, and my father will forgive you,” she said, when +she reached the door. “You do not know us, but the time may come when +your opinions shall change--” + +“Of you! never!” interrupted the youth; “I--” + +“I would speak, sir, and not listen. There is something in this affair +that I do not comprehend; but tell the Leather-Stocking he has friends +as well as judges in us. Do not let the old man experience unnecessary +uneasiness at this rupture. It is impossible that you could increase +his claims here; neither shall they be diminished by any thing you have +said. Mr. Edwards, I wish you happiness, and warmer friends.” + +The youth would have spoken, but she vanished from the door so rapidly, +that when he reached the hall her form was nowhere to be seen. He +paused a moment, in stupor, and then, rushing from the house, instead +of following Marmaduke in his “office,” he took his way directly for the +cabin of the hunters. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + + “Who measured earth, described the starry spheres, + And traced the long records of lunar years.” + --Pope. + +Richard did not return from the exercise of his official duties until +late in the evening of the following day. It had been one portion of his +business to superintend the arrest of part of a gang of counterfeiters, +that had, even at that early period, buried themselves in the woods, to +manufacture their base coin, which they afterward circulated from +one end of the Union to the other. The expedition had been completely +successful, and about midnight the sheriff entered the village, at the +head of a posse of deputies and constables, in the centre of whom rode, +pinioned, four of the malefactors. At the gate of the mansion-house they +separated, Mr. Jones directing his assistants to proceed with their +charge to the county jail, while he pursued his own way up the gravel +walk, with the kind of self-satisfaction that a man of his organization +would feel, who had really for once done a very clever thing. + +“Holla! Aggy!” shouted the sheriff, when he reached the door; “where are +you, you black dog? will you keep me here in the dark all night? Holla! +Aggy! Brave! Brave! hoy, hoy--where have you got to, Brave? Off his +watch! Everybody is asleep but myself! Poor I must keep my eyes open, +that others may sleep in safety. Brave! Brave! Well, I will say this for +the dog, lazy as he's grown, that it is the first time I ever knew him +to let any one come to the door after dark, without having a smell to +know whether it was an honest man or not. He could tell by his nose, +almost as well as I could myself by looking at them. Holla! you +Agamemnon! where are you? Oh! here comes the dog at last.” + +By this time the sheriff had dismounted, and observed a form, which he +supposed to be that of Brave, slowly creeping out of the kennel; when, +to his astonishment, it reared itself on two legs instead of four, and +he was able to distinguish, by the starlight, the curly head and dark +visage of the negro. + +“Ha! what the devil are you doing there, you black rascal?” he cried. +“Is it not hot enough for your Guinea blood in the house this warm +night, but you must drive out the poor dog, and sleep in his straw?” + +By this time the boy was quite awake, and, with a blubbering whine, he +attempted to reply to his master. + +“Oh! masser Richard! masser Richard! such a ting! such a ting! I nebber +tink a could 'appen! neber tink he die! Oh, Lor-a-gor! ain't bury--keep +'em till masser Richard get back--got a grabe dug--” Here the feelings +of the negro completely got the mastery, and, instead of making any +intelligible explanation of the causes of his grief, he blubbered aloud. + +“Eh! what! buried! grave! dead!” exclaimed Richard, with a tremor in +his voice; “nothing serious? Nothing has happened to Benjamin, I hope? I +know he has been bilious, but I gave him--” + +“Oh, worser 'an dat! worser 'an dat!” sobbed the negro. “Oh! de Lor! +Miss 'Lizzy an' Miss Grant--walk--mountain--poor Bravy '--kill a +lady--painter---Oh, Lor, Lor!--Natty Bumppo--tare he troat open--come a +see, masser Richard--here he be--here he be.” + +As all this was perfectly inexplicable to the sheriff, he was very glad +to wait patiently until the black brought a lantern from the kitchen, +when he followed Aggy to the kennel, where he beheld poor Brave, indeed, +lying in his blood, stiff and cold, but decently covered with the great +coat of the negro. He was on the point of demanding an explanation; but +the grief of the black, who had fallen asleep on his voluntary watch, +having burst out afresh on his waking, utterly disqualified the lad +from giving one. Luckily, at this moment the principal door of the +house opened, and the coarse features of Benjamin were thrust over the +threshold, with a candle elevated above them, shedding its dim rays +around in such a manner as to exhibit the lights and shadows of his +countenance. Richard threw his bridle to the black, and, bidding him +look to the horse, he entered the hall. “What is the meaning of the dead +dog?” he cried. + +“Where is Miss Temple?” + +Benjamin made one of his square gestures, with the thumb of his left +hand pointing over his right shoulder, as he answered: + +“Turned in.” + +“Judge Temple--where is he?” + +“In his berth.” + +“But explain; why is Brave dead? and what is the cause of Aggy's grief?” + +“Why, it's all down, squire,” said Benjamin, pointing to a slate that +lay on the table, by the side of a mug of toddy, a short pipe in which +the tobacco was yet burning, and a prayer-book. + +Among the other pursuits of Richard, he had a passion to keep a register +of all passing events; and his diary, which was written in the manner +of a journal, or log-book, embraced not only such circumstances +as affected himself, but observations on the weather, and all the +occurrences of the family, and frequently of the village. Since his +appointment to the office of sheriff and his consequent absences from +home, he had employed Benjamin to make memoranda on a slate, of whatever +might be thought worth remembering, which, on his return, were regularly +transferred to the journal with proper notations of the time, manner, +and other little particulars. There was, to be sure, one material +objection to the clerkship of Benjamin, which the ingenuity of no +one but Richard could have overcome. The steward read nothing but his +prayer-book, and that only in particular parts, and by the aid of a good +deal of spelling, and some misnomers; but he could not form a +single letter with a pen. This would have been an insuperable bar +to journalizing with most men; but Richard invented a kind of +hieroglyphical character, which was intended to note all the ordinary +occurrences of a day, such as how the wind blew, whether the sun shone, +or whether it rained, the hours, etc.; and for the extraordinary, after +giving certain elementary lectures on the subject, the sheriff was +obliged to trust to the ingenuity of the major-domo. The reader will +at once perceive, that it was to this chronicle that Benjamin pointed, +instead of directly answering the sheriff's interrogatory. + +When Mr. Jones had drunk a glass of toddy, he brought forth from its +secret place his proper journal, and, seating himself by the table, he +prepared to transfer the contents of the slate to the paper, at the same +time that he appeased his curiosity. Benjamin laid one hand on the back +of the sheriff's chair, in a familiar manner, while he kept the other at +liberty to make use of a forefinger, that was bent like some of his own +characters, as an index to point out his meaning. + +The first thing referred to by the sheriff was the diagram of a compass, +cut in one corner of the slate for permanent use. The cardinal points +were plainly marked on it, and all the usual divisions were indicated +in such a manner that no man who had ever steered a ship could mistake +them. + +“Oh!” said the sheriff, seating himself down comfort ably in his chair, +“you'd the wind southeast, I see, all last night I thought it would have +blown up rain.” + +“Devil the drop, sir,” said Benjamin; “I believe that the scuttle-butt +up aloft is emptied, for there hasn't so much water fell in the country +for the last three weeks as would float Indian John's canoe, and that +draws just one inch nothing, light.” + +“Well but didn't the wind change here this morning? there was a change +where I was.” + +“To be sure it did, squire; and haven't I logged it as a shift of wind?” + +“I don't see where, Benjamin--” + +“Don't see!” interrupted the steward, a little crustily; “ain't there a +mark agin' east-and-by-nothe-half-nothe, with summat like a rising sun +at the end of it, to show 'twas in the morning watch?” + +“Yes, yes, that is very legible; but where is the change noted?” + +“Where! why doesn't it see this here tea-kettle, with a mark run +from the spout straight, or mayhap a little crooked or so, into +west-and-by-southe-half-southe? now I call this a shift of wind, squire. +Well, do you see this here boar's head that you made for me, alongside +of the compass--” + +“Ay, ay--Boreas-----I see. Why, you've drawn lines from its mouth, +extending from one of your marks to the other.” + +“It's no fault of mine, Squire Dickens; 'tis your d----d climate. The wind +has been at all them there marks this very day, and that's all round the +compass, except a little matter of an Irishman's hurricane at meridium, +which you'll find marked right up and down. Now, I've known a sow-wester +blow for three weeks, in the channel, with a clean drizzle, in which you +might wash your face and hands without the trouble of hauling in water +from alongside.” + +“Very well, Benjamin,” said the sheriff, writing in his journal; “I +believe I have caught the idea. Oh! here's a cloud over the rising +sun--so you had it hazy in the morning?” + +“Ay, ay, sir,” said Benjamin. + +“Ah it's Sunday, and here are the marks for the length of the +sermon--one, two, three, four--what! did Mr. Grant preach forty +minutes?” + +“Ay, summat like it; it was a good half-hour by my own glass, and then +there was the time lost in turning it, and some little allowance for +leeway in not being over-smart about it.” + +“Benjamin, this is as long as a Presbyterian; you never could have been +ten minutes in turning the glass!” + +“Why, do you see, Squire, the parson was very solemn, and I just closed +my eyes in order to think the better with myself, just the same as you'd +put in the dead-lights to make all snug, and when I opened them agin I +found the congregation were getting under way for home, so I calculated +the ten minutes would cover the leeway after the glass was out. It was +only some such matter as a cat's nap.” + +“Oh, ho! Master Benjamin, you were asleep, were you? but I'll set down +no such slander against an orthodox divine.” Richard wrote twenty-nine +minutes in his journal, and continued: “Why, what's this you've got +opposite ten o'clock A.M.? A full moon! had you a moon visible by day? +I have heard of such portents before now, but--eh! what's this alongside +of it? an hour-glass?” + +“That!” said Benjamin, looking coolly over the sheriff's shoulder, and +rolling the tobacco about in his mouth with a jocular air; “why, +that's a small matter of my own. It's no moon, squire, but only Betty +Hollister's face; for, d'ye see, sir, hearing all the same as if she had +got up a new cargo of Jamaiky from the river, I called in as I was going +to the church this morning--ten A.M. was it?--just the time--and tried a +glass; and so I logged it, to put me in mind of calling to pay her like +an honest man.” + +“That was it, was it?” said the sheriff, with some displeasure at this +innovation on his memoranda; “and could you not make a better glass than +this? it looks like a death's-head and an hour-glass.” + +“Why, as I liked the stuff, squire,” returned the steward, “I turned in, +homeward bound, and took t'other glass, which I set down at the bottom +of the first, and that gives the thing the shape it has. But as I was +there again to-night, and paid for the three at once, your honor may as +well run the sponge over the whole business.” + +“I will buy you a slate for your own affairs, Benjamin,” said the +sheriff; “I don't like to have the journal marked over in this manner.” + +“You needn't--you needn't, squire; for, seeing that I was likely to +trade often with the woman while this barrel lasted. I've opened a fair +account with Betty, and she keeps her marks on the back of her bar-door, +and I keeps the tally on this here bit of a stick.” As Benjamin +concluded he produced a piece of wood, on which five very large, honest +notches were apparent. The sheriff cast his eyes on this new ledger for +a moment, and continued: + +“What have we here! Saturday, two P.M.--Why here's a whole family piece! +two wine-glasses upside-down!” + +“That's two women; the one this a-way is Miss 'Lizzy, and t'other is the +parson's young'un.” + +“Cousin Bess and Miss Grant!” exclaimed the sheriff, in amazement; “what +have they to do with my journal?” + +“They'd enough to do to get out of the jaws of that there painter or +panther,” said the immovable steward. “This here thingumy, squire, that +maybe looks summat like a rat, is the beast, d'ye see; and this here +t'other thing, keel uppermost, is poor old Brave, who died nobly, all +the same as an admiral fighting for his king and country; and that +there--” + +“Scarecrow,” interrupted Richard. + +“Ay, mayhap it do look a little wild or so,” continued the steward; “but +to my judgment, squire, it's the best image I've made, seeing it's most +like the man himself; well, that's Natty Bumppo, who shot this here +painter, that killed that there dog, who would have eaten or done worse +to them here young ladies.” + +“And what the devil does all this mean?” cried Richard, impatiently. + +“Mean!” echoed Benjamin; “it is as true as the Boadishey's log book--” + He was interrupted by the sheriff, who put a few direct questions to +him, that obtained more intelligible answers, by which means he became +possessed of a tolerably correct idea of the truth, When the wonder, +and we must do Richard the justice to say, the feelings also, that were +created by this narrative, had in some degree subsided, the sheriff +turned his eyes again on his journal, where more inexplicable +hieroglyphics met his view. + +“What have we here?” he cried; “two men boxing! Has there been a breach +of the peace? Ah, that's the way, the moment my back is turned--.” + +“That's the Judge and young Master Edwards,” interrupted the steward, +very cavalierly. + +“How! 'Duke fighting with Oliver! what the devil has got into you all? +More things have happened within the last thirty-six hours than in +the preceding six months.” + +“Yes, it's so indeed, squire,” returned the steward, “I've known a smart +chase, and a fight at the tail of it, where less has been logged than +I've got on that there slate. Howsomever, they didn't come to facers, +only passed a little jaw fore and aft.” + +“Explain! explain!” cried Richard; “it was about the mines, ha! Ay, ay, +I see it, I see it; here is a man with a pick on his shoulder. So you +heard it all, Benjamin?” + +“Why, yes, it was about their minds, I believe, squire,” returned the +steward; “and, by what I can learn, they spoke them pretty plainly to +one another. Indeed, I may say that I overheard a small matter of it +myself, seeing that the windows was open, and I hard by. But this here +is no pick, but an anchor on a man's shoulder; and here's the other +fluke down his back, maybe a little too close, which signifies that the +lad has got under way and left his moorings.” + +“Has Edwards left the house?” + +“He has.” + +Richard pursued this advantage; and, after a long and close examination, +he succeeded in getting out of Benjamin all that he knew, not only +concerning the misunderstanding, but of the attempt to search the hut, +and Hiram's discomfiture. The sheriff was no sooner possessed of these +facts, which Benjamin related with all possible tenderness to the +Leather-Stocking, than, snatching up his hat, and bidding the astonished +steward secure the doors and go to his bed, he left the house. + +For at least five minutes, after Richard disappeared, Benjamin stood +with his arms akimbo, and his eyes fastened on the door; when, having +collected his astonished faculties, he prepared to execute the orders he +had received. + +It has been already said that the “court of common pleas and general +sessions of the peace,” or, as it is commonly called, the “county +court,” over which Judge Temple presided, held one of its stated +sessions on the following morning. The attendants of Richard were +officers who had come to the village, as much to discharge their usual +duties at this court, as to escort the prisoners and the sheriff knew +their habits too well, not to feel confident that he should find most, +if not all of them, in the public room of the jail, discussing the +qualities of the keeper's liquors. Accordingly he held his way through +the silent streets of the village, directly to the small and insecure +building that contained all the unfortunate debt ors and some of the +criminals of the county, and where justice was administered to such +unwary applicants as were so silly as to throw away two dollars in order +to obtain one from their neighbors. The arrival of four malefactors in +the custody of a dozen officers was an event, at that day, in Templeton; +and, when the sheriff reached the jail, he found every indication that +his subordinates in tended to make a night of it. + +The nod of the sheriff brought two of his deputies to the door, who +in their turn drew off six or seven of the constables. With this force +Richard led the way through the village, toward the bank of the lake, +undisturbed by any noise, except the barking of one or two curs, who +were alarmed by the measured tread of the party, and by the low murmurs +that ran through their own numbers, as a few cautious questions and +answers were exchanged, relative to the object of their expedition. When +they had crossed the little bridge of hewn logs that was thrown over the +Susquehanna, they left the highway, and struck into that field which had +been the scene of the victory over the pigeons. From this they followed +their leader into the low bushes of pines and chestnuts which had sprung +up along the shores of the lake, where the plough had not succeeded +the fall of the trees, and soon entered the forest itself. Here Richard +paused and collected his troop around him. + +“I have required your assistance, my friends,” he cried, in a low +voice, “in order to arrest Nathaniel Bumppo, commonly called the +Leather-Stocking He has assaulted a magistrate, and resisted the +execution of a search-warrant, by threatening the life of a constable +with his rifle. In short, my friends, he has set an example of rebellion +to the laws, and has become a kind of outlaw. He is suspected of other +misdemeanors and offences against private rights; and I have this night +taken on myself, by the virtue of my office as sheriff, to arrest the +said Bumppo, and bring him to the county jail, that he may be present +and forthcoming to answer to these heavy charges before the court +to-morrow morning. In executing this duty, friends and fellow-citizens, +you are to use courage and discretion; courage, that you may not be +daunted by any lawless attempt that this man may make with his rifle +and his dogs to oppose you; and discretion, which here means caution and +prudence, that he may not escape from this sudden attack--and for other +good reasons that I need not mention. You will form yourselves in a +complete circle around his hut, and at the word 'advance,' called aloud +by me, you will rush forward and, without giving the criminal time for +deliberation, enter his dwelling by force, and make him your prisoner. +Spread yourselves for this purpose, while I shall descend to the shore +with a deputy, to take charge of that point; and all communications +must be made directly to me, under the bank in front of the hut, where I +shall station myself and remain, in order to receive them.” + +This speech, which Richard had been studying during his walk, had the +effect that all similar performances produce, of bringing the dangers +of the expedition immediately before the eyes of his forces. The men +divided, some plunging deeper into the forest, in order to gain their +stations without giving an alarm, and others Continuing to advance, at +a gait that would allow the whole party to go in order; but all +devising the best plan to repulse the attack of a dog, or to escape a +rifle-bullet. It was a moment of dread expectation and interest. + +When the sheriff thought time enough had elapsed for the different +divisions of his force to arrive at their stations, he raised his voice +in the silence of the forest, and shouted the watchword. The sounds +played among the arched branches of the trees in hollow cadences; but +when the last sinking tone was lost on the ear, in place of the expected +howls of the dogs, no other noises were returned but the crackling of +torn branches and dried sticks, as they yielded before the advancing +steps of the officers. Even this soon ceased, as if by a common consent, +when the curiosity and impatience of the sheriff getting the complete +ascendency over discretion, he rushed up the bank, and in a moment stood +on the little piece of cleared ground in front of the spot where Natty +had so long lived, To his amazement, in place of the hut he saw only its +smouldering ruins. + +The party gradually drew together about the heap of ashes and the ends +of smoking logs; while a dim flame in the centre of the ruin, which +still found fuel to feed its lingering life, threw its pale light, +flickering with the passing currents of the air, around the circle--now +showing a face with eyes fixed in astonishment, and then glancing to +another countenance, leaving the former shaded in the obscurity of +night. Not a voice was raised in inquiry, nor an exclamation made in +astonishment. The transition from excitement to disappointment was too +powerful for Speech; and even Richard lost the use of an organ that was +seldom known to fail him. + +The whole group were yet in the fullness of their surprise, when a tall +form stalked from the gloom into the circle, treading down the hot ashes +and dying embers with callous feet; and, standing over the light, lifted +his cap, and exposed the bare head and weather-beaten features of +the Leather-Stocking. For a moment he gazed at the dusky figures who +surrounded him, more in sorrow than in anger before he spoke. + +“What would ye with an old and helpless man?” he said, “You've driven +God's creatur's from the wilderness, where His providence had put them +for His own pleasure; and you've brought in the troubles and diviltries +of the law, where no man was ever known to disturb another. You have +driven me, that have lived forty long years of my appointed time in this +very spot, from my home and the shelter of my head, lest you should put +your wicked feet and wasty ways in my cabin. You've driven me to burn +these logs, under which I've eaten and drunk--the first of Heaven's +gifts, and the other of the pure springs--for the half of a hundred +years; and to mourn the ashes under my feet, as a man would weep and +mourn for the children of his body. You've rankled the heart of an old +man, that has never harmed you or your'n, with bitter feelings toward +his kind, at a time when his thoughts should be on a better world; and +you've driven him to wish that the beasts of the forest, who never feast +on the blood of their own families, was his kindred and race; and now, +when he has come to see the last brand of his hut, before it is incited +into ashes, you follow him up, at midnight, like hungry hounds on the +track of a worn-out and dying deer. What more would ye have? for I am +here--one too many. I come to mourn, not to fight; and, if it is God's +pleasure, work your will on me.” + +When the old man ended he stood, with the light glimmering around his +thinly covered head, looking earnestly at the group, which receded +from the pile with an involuntary movement, without the reach of the +quivering rays, leaving a free passage for his retreat into the bushes, +where pursuit in the dark would have been fruit less. Natty seemed not +to regard this advantage, but stood facing each individual in the circle +in succession, as if to see who would be the first to arrest him. After +a pause of a few moments Richard began to rally his confused faculties, +and, advancing, apologized for his duty, and made him his prisoner. The +party flow collected, and, preceded by the sheriff, with Natty in their +centre, they took their way toward the village. + +During the walk, divers questions were put to the prisoner concerning +his reasons for burning the hut, and whither Mohegan had retreated; +but to all of them he observed a profound silence, until, fatigued with +their previous duties, and the lateness of the hour, the sheriff and his +followers reached the village, and dispersed to their several places +of rest, after turning the key of a jail on the aged and apparently +friendless Leather-Stocking. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + + “Fetch here the stocks, ho! + You stubborn ancient knave, you reverend bragget, + We'll teach you.” + --Lear. + +The long days and early sun of July allowed time for a gathering of the +interested, before the little bell of the academy announced that the +appointed hour had arrived for administering right to the wronged, and +punishment to the guilty. Ever since the dawn of day, the highways and +woodpaths that, issuing from the forests, and winding among the sides of +the mountains, centred in Templeton, had been thronged with equestrians +and footmen, bound to the haven of justice. There was to be seen a +well-clad yeoman, mounted on a sleek, switch-tailed steed, rambling +along the highway, with his red face elevated in a manner that said, “I +have paid for my land, and fear no man;” while his bosom was swelling +with the pride of being one of the grand inquest for the county. At his +side rode a companion, his equal in independence of feeling, perhaps, +but his inferior in thrift, as in property and consideration. This was +a professed dealer in lawsuits--a man whose name appeared in every +calendar--whose substance, gained in the multifarious expedients of a +settler's change able habits, was wasted in feeding the harpies of the +courts. He was endeavoring to impress the mind of the grand juror with +the merits of a cause now at issue, Along with these was a pedestrian, +who, having thrown a rifle frock over his shirt, and placed his best +wool hat above his sunburnt visage, had issued from his retreat in the +woods by a footpath, and was striving to keep company with the others, +on his way to hear and to decide the disputes of his neighbors, as a +petit juror. Fifty similar little knots of countrymen might have been +seen, on that morning, journeying toward the shire-town on the same +errand. + +By ten o'clock the streets of the village were filled with busy faces; +some talking of their private concerns, some listening to a popular +expounder of political creeds; and others gaping in at the open +stores, admiring the finery, or examining scythes, axes, and such other +manufactures as attracted their curiosity or excited their admiration. +A few women were in the crowd, most carrying infants, and followed, at +a lounging, listless gait, by their rustic lords and masters. There was +one young couple, in whom connubial love was yet fresh, walking at a +respectful distance from each other; while the swain directed the timid +steps of his bride, by a gallant offering of a thumb. + +At the first stroke of the bell, Richard issued from the door of the +“Bold Dragoon,” flourishing a sheathed sword, that he was fond of saying +his ancestors had carried in one of Cromwell's victories, and crying, in +an authoritative tone, to “clear the way for the court.” The order was +obeyed promptly, though not servilely, the members of the crowd nodding +familiarly to the members of the procession as it passed. A party of +constables with their staves followed the sheriff, preceding Marmaduke +and four plain, grave-looking yeomen, who were his associates on the +bench. There was nothing to distinguish these Subordinate judges from +the better part of the spectators, except gravity, which they affected a +little more than common, and that one of their number was attired in an +old-fashioned military coat, with skirts that reached no lower than the +middle of his thighs, and bearing two little silver epaulets, not half +so big as a modern pair of shoulder-knots. This gentleman was a colonel +of the militia, in attendance on a court-martial, who found leisure to +steal a moment from his military to attend to his civil jurisdiction; +but this incongruity excited neither notice nor comment. Three or four +clean-shaved lawyers followed, as meek as if they were lambs going to +the slaughter. One or two of their number had contrived to obtain an air +of scholastic gravity by wearing spectacles. The rear was brought up +by another posse of constables, and the mob followed the whole into the +room where the court held its sitting. + +The edifice was composed of a basement of squared logs, perforated here +and there with small grated windows, through which a few wistful faces +were gazing at the crowd without. Among the captives were the guilty, +downcast countenances of the counterfeiters, and the simple but honest +features of the Leather-Stocking. The dungeons were to be distinguished, +externally, from the debtors' apartments only by the size of the +apertures, the thickness of the grates, and by the heads of the spikes +that were driven into the logs as a protection against the illegal use +of edge-tools. The upper story was of frame work, regularly covered with +boards, and contained one room decently fitted up for the purpose of +justice. A bench, raised on a narrow platform to the height of a man +above the floor, and protected in front by a light railing, ran along +one of its sides. In the centre was a seat, furnished with rude arms, +that was always filled by the presiding judge. In front, on a level with +the floor of the room, was a large table covered with green baize, and +surrounded by benches; and at either of its ends were rows of seats, +rising one over the other, for jury-boxes. Each of these divisions was +surrounded by a railing. The remainder of the room was an open square, +appropriated to the spectators. + +When the judges were seated, the lawyers had taken possession of +the table, and the noise of moving feet had ceased in the area, the +proclamations were made in the usual form, the jurors were sworn, the +charge was given, and the court proceeded to hear the business before +them. + +We shall not detain the reader with a description of the captious +discussions that occupied the court for the first two hours, Judge +Temple had impressed on the jury, in his charge, the necessity for +dispatch on their part, recommending to their notice, from motives +of humanity, the prisoners in the jail as the first objects of their +attention. Accordingly, after the period we have mentioned had elapsed, +the cry of the officer to “clear the way for the grand jury,” announced +the entrance of that body. The usual forms were observed, when the +foreman handed up to the bench two bills, on both of which the Judge +observed, at the first glance of his eye, the name of Nathaniel Bumppo. +It was a leisure moment with the court; some low whispering passed +between the bench and the sheriff, who gave a signal to his officers, +and in a very few minutes the silence that prevailed was interrupted +by a general movement in the outer crowd, when presently the +Leather-Stocking made his appearance, ushered into the criminal's bar +under the custody of two constables, The hum ceased, the people closed +into the open space again, and the silence soon became so deep that the +hard breathing of the prisoner was audible. + +Natty was dressed in his buckskin garments, without his coat, in place +of which he wore only a shirt of coarse linen-cheek, fastened at his +throat by the sinew of a deer, leaving his red neck and weather-beaten +face exposed and bare. It was the first time that he had ever crossed +the threshold of a court of justice, and curiosity seemed to be strongly +blended with his personal feelings. He raised his eyes to the bench, +thence to the jury-boxes, the bar, and the crowd without, meeting +everywhere looks fastened on himself. After surveying his own person, as +searching the cause of this unusual attraction, he once more turned his +face around the assemblage, and opened his mouth in one of his silent +and remarkable laughs. + +“Prisoner, remove your cap,” said Judge Temple. + +The order was either unheard or unheeded. + +“Nathaniel Bumppo, be uncovered,” repeated the Judge. + +Natty started at the sound of his name, and, raising his face earnestly +toward the bench, he said: + +“Anan!” + +Mr. Lippet arose from his seat at the table, and whispered in the ear +of the prisoner; when Natty gave him a nod of assent, and took the +deer-skin covering from his head. + +“Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, “the prisoner is ready; we wait +for the indictment.” + +The duties of public prosecutor were discharged by Dirck Van der School, +who adjusted his spectacles, cast a cautious look around him at his +brethren of the bar, which he ended by throwing his head aside so as to +catch one glance over the glasses, when he proceeded to read the bill +aloud. It was the usual charge for an assault and battery on the person +of Hiram Doolittle, and was couched in the ancient language of such +instruments, especial care having been taken by the scribe not to omit +the name of a single offensive weapon known to the law. When he had +done, Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, which he closed and +placed in his pocket, seemingly for the pleasure of again opening and +replacing them on his nose, After this evolution was repeated once or +twice, he handed the bill over to Mr. Lippet, with a cavalier air, that +said as much as “Pick a hole in that if you can.” + +Natty listened to the charge with great attention, leaning forward +toward the reader with an earnestness that denoted his interest; and, +when it was ended, he raised his tall body to the utmost, and drew a +long sigh. All eyes were turned to the prisoner, whose voice was vainly +expected to break the stillness of the room. + +“You have heard the presentment that the grand jury have made, Nathaniel +Bumppo,” said the Judge; “what do you plead to the charge?” + +The old man drooped his head for a moment in a reflecting attitude, and +then, raising it, he laughed before he answered: + +“That I handled the man a little rough or so, is not to be denied; but +that there was occasion to make use of all the things that the gentleman +has spoken of is downright untrue. I am not much of a wrestler, seeing +that I'm getting old; but I was out among the Scotch-Irishers--let me +see--it must have been as long ago as the first year of the old war--” + +“Mr. Lippet, if you are retained for the prisoner,” interrupted Judge +Temple, “instruct your client how to plead; if not, the court will +assign him counsel.” + +Aroused from studying the indictment by this appeal, the attorney +got up, and after a short dialogue with the hunter in a low voice, he +informed the court that they were ready to proceed. + +“Do you plead guilty or not guilty?” said the Judge. + +“I may say not guilty, with a clean conscience,” returned Natty; “for +there's no guilt in doing what's right; and I'd rather died on the spot, +than had him put foot in the hut at that moment.” + +Richard started at this declaration and bent his eyes significantly on +Hiram, who returned the look with a slight movement of his eyebrows. + +“Proceed to open the cause, Mr. District Attorney,” continued the Judge. +“Mr. Clerk, enter the plea of not guilty.” + +After a short opening address from Mr. Van der School, Hiram was +summoned to the bar to give his testimony. It was delivered to the +letter, perhaps, but with all that moral coloring which can be conveyed +under such expressions as, “thinking no harm,” “feeling it my bounden +duty as a magistrate,” and “seeing that the constable was back'ard in +the business.” When he had done, and the district attorney declined +putting any further interrogatories, Mr. Lippet arose, with an air of +keen investigation, and asked the following questions: + +“Are you a constable of this county, sir?” + +“No, sir,” said Hiram, “I'm only a justice-peace.” + +“I ask you, Mr. Doolittle, in the face of this court, putting it to +your conscience and your knowledge of the law, whether you had any right +to enter that man's dwelling?” + +“Hem!” said Hiram, undergoing a violent struggle between his desire +for vengeance, and his love of legal fame: “I do suppose--that in--that +is--strict law--that supposing--maybe I hadn't a real--lawful right; +but as the case was--and Billy was so back'ard--I thought I might come +for'ard in the business.” + +“I ask you again, sir,” continued the lawyer, following up his success, +“whether this old, this friendless old man, did or did not repeatedly +forbid your entrance?” + +“Why, I must say,” said Hiram, “that he was considerable cross-grained; +not what I call clever, seeing that it was only one neighbor wanting to +go into the house of another.” + +“Oh! then you own it was only meant for a neighborly visit on your part, +and without the sanction of law. Remember, gentlemen, the words of the +witness, 'one neighbor wanting to enter the house of another.' Now, sir, +I ask you if Nathaniel Bumppo did not again and again order you not to +enter?” + +“There was some words passed between us,” said Hiram, “but I read the +warrant to him aloud.” + +“I repeat my question; did he tell you not to enter his habitation?” + +“There was a good deal passed betwixt us--but I've the warrant in my +pocket; maybe the court would wish to see it?” + +“Witness,” said Judge Temple, “answer the question directly; did or did +not the prisoner forbid your entering his hut?” + +“Why, I some think--” + +“Answer without equivocation,” continued the Judge sternly. + +“He did.” + +“And did you attempt to enter after his order?” + +“I did; but the warrant was in my hand.” + +“Proceed, Mr. Lippet, with your examination.” + +But the attorney saw that the impression was in favor of his client, and +waving his hand with a supercilious manner, as if unwilling to insult +the understanding of the jury with any further defence, he replied: + +“No, sir; I leave it for your honor to charge; I rest my case here.” + +“Mr. District Attorney,” said the Judge, “have you anything to say?” + +Mr. Van der School removed his spectacles, folded them and, replacing +them once more on his nose, eyed the other bill which he held in his +hand, and then said, looking at the bar over the top of his glasses; +“I shall rest the prosecution here, if the court please.” + +Judge Temple arose and began the charge. + +“Gentlemen of the jury,” he said, “you have heard the testimony, and I +shall detain you but a moment. If an officer meet with resistance in the +execution of a process, he has an undoubted right to call any citizen +to his assistance; and the acts of such assistant come within the +protection of the law. I shall leave you to judge, gentlemen, from the +testimony, how far the witness in this prosecution can be so considered, +feeling less reluctance to submit the case thus informally to your +decision, because there is yet another indictment to be tried, which +involves heavier charges against the unfortunate prisoner.” + +The tone of Marmaduke was mild and insinuating, and, as his sentiments +were given with such apparent impartiality, they did not fail of +carrying due weight with the jury. The grave-looking yeomen who composed +this tribunal laid their heads together for a few minutes, without +leaving the box, when the foreman arose, and, after the forms of the +court were duly observed, he pronounced the prisoner to be “Not guilty.” + +“You are acquitted of this charge, Nathaniel Bumppo,” said the Judge. + +“Anan!” said Natty. + +“You are found not guilty of striking and assaulting Mr. Doolittle.” + +“No, no, I'll not deny but that I took him a little roughly by the +shoulders,” said Natty, looking about him with great simplicity, “and +that I--” + +“You are acquitted,” interrupted the Judge, “and there is nothing +further to be said or done in the matter.” + +A look of joy lighted up the features of the old man, who now +comprehended the case, and, placing his cap eagerly on his head again, +he threw up the bar of his little prison, and said, feelingly: + +“I must say this for you, Judge Temple, that the law has not been so +hard on me as I dreaded. I hope God will bless you for the kind things +you've done to me this day.” + +But the staff of the constable was opposed to his egress, and Mr. Lippet +whispered a few words in his ear, when the aged hunter sank back into +his place, and, removing his cap, stroked down the remnants of his gray +and sandy locks, with an air of mortification mingled with submission. + +“Mr. District Attorney,” said Judge Temple, affecting to busy himself +with his minutes, “proceed with the second indictment.” + +Mr. Van der School took great care that no part of the presentment, +which he now read, should be lost on his auditors. It accused the +prisoner of resisting the execution of a search-warrant, by force of +arms, and particularized in the vague language of the law, among a +variety of other weapons, the use of the rifle. This was indeed a more +serious charge than an ordinary assault and battery, and a corresponding +degree of interest was manifested by the spectators in its result. The +prisoner was duly arraigned, and his plea again demanded. Mr. Lippet had +anticipated the answers of Natty, and in a whisper advised him how to +plead. But the feelings of the old hunter were awakened by some of +the expressions in the indictment, and, forgetful of his caution, he +exclaimed: + +“'Tis a wicked untruth; I crave no man's blood. Them thieves, the +Iroquois, won't say it to any face that I ever thirsted after man's +blood, I have fou't as soldier that feared his Maker and his officer, +but I never pulled trigger on any but a warrior that was up and awake. +No man can say that I ever struck even a Mingo in his blanket. I believe +there's some who thinks there's no God in a wilderness!” + +“Attend to your plea, Bumppo,” said the Judge; “you hear that you are +accused of using your rifle against an officer of justice? Are you +guilty or not guilty?” + +By this time the irritated feelings of Natty had found vent: and he +rested on the bar for a moment, in a musing posture, when he lifted his +face, with his silent laugh, and, pointing to where the wood-chopper +stood, he said: + +“Would Billy Kirby be standing there, d'ye think, if I had used the +rifle?” + +“Then you deny it,” said Mr. Lippet; “you plead not guilty?” + +“Sartain,” said Natty; “Billy knows that I never fired at all. Billy, do +you remember the turkey last winter? Ah me! that was better than common +firing; but I can't shoot as I used to could.” + +“Enter the plea of not guilty,” said Judge Temple, strongly affected by +the simplicity of the prisoner. + +Hiram was again sworn, and his testimony given on the second charge. +He had discovered his former error, and proceeded more cautiously +than before. He related very distinctly and, for the man, with amazing +terseness, the suspicion against the hunter, the complaint, the issuing +of the warrant, and the swearing in of Kirby; all of which, he affirmed, +were done in due form of law. He then added the manner in which the +constable had been received; and stated, distinctly, that Natty had +pointed the rifle at Kirby, and threatened his life if he attempted to +execute his duty. All this was confirmed by Jotham, who was observed to +adhere closely to the story of the magistrate. Mr. Lippet conducted an +artful cross-examination of these two witnesses, but, after consuming +much time, was compelled to relinquish the attempt to obtain any +advantage, in despair. + +At length the District Attorney called the wood-chopper to the bar, +Billy gave an extremely confused account of the whole affair, although +he evidently aimed at the truth, until Mr. Van der School aided him, by +asking some direct questions: + +“It appears from examining the papers, that you demanded admission +into the hut legally; so you were put in bodily fear by his rifle and +threats?” + +“I didn't mind them that, man,” said Billy, snapping his fingers; “I +should be a poor stick to mind old Leather-Stocking.” + +“But I understood you to say (referring to your previous words [as +delivered here in court] in the commencement of your testimony) that you +thought he meant to shoot you?” + +“To be sure I did; and so would you, too, squire, if you had seen a +chap dropping a muzzle that never misses, and cocking an eye that has +a natural squint by long practice I thought there would be a dust on't, +and my back was up at once; but Leather-Stocking gi'n up the skin, and +so the matter ended.” + +“Ah! Billy,” said Natty, shaking his head, “'twas a lucky thought in +me to throw out the hide, or there might have been blood spilt; and I'm +sure, if it had been your'n, I should have mourned it sorely the little +while I have to stay.” + +“Well, Leather-Stocking,” returned Billy, facing the prisoner with a +freedom and familiarity that utterly disregarded the presence of the +court, “as you are on the subject it may be that you've no--” + +“Go on with your examination, Mr. District Attorney.” + +That gentleman eyed the familiarity between his witness and the prisoner +with manifest disgust, and indicated to the court that he was done. + +“Then you didn't feel frightened, Mr. Kirby?” said the counsel for the +prisoner. + +“Me! no,” said Billy, casting his eyes oven his own huge frame with +evident self-satisfaction; “I'm not to be skeared so easy.” + +“You look like a hardy man; where were you born, sir?” + +“Varmount State; 'tis a mountaynious place, but there's a stiff soil, +and it's pretty much wooded with beech and maple.” + +“I have always heard so,” said Mr. Lippet soothingly. “You have been +used to the rifle yourself in that country.” + +“I pull the second best trigger in this county. I knock under to Natty +Bumppo, there, sin' he shot the pigeon.” + +Leather-Stocking raised his head, and laughed again, when he abruptly +thrust out a wrinkled hand, and said: + +“You're young yet, Billy, and haven't seen the matches that I have; but +here's my hand; I bear no malice to you, I don't.” + +Mr. Lippet allowed this conciliatory offering to be accepted, and +judiciously paused, while the spirit of peace was exercising its +influence over the two; but the Judge interposed his authority. + +“This is an improper place for such dialogues,” he said; “proceed with +your examination of this witness, Mr. Lippet, or I shall order the +next.” + +The attorney started, as if unconscious of any impropriety, and +continued: + +“So you settled the matter with Natty amicably on the spot, did you?” + +“He gi'n me the skin, and I didn't want to quarrel with an old man; for +my part, I see no such mighty matter in shooting a buck!” + +“And you parted friends? and you would never have thought of bringing +the business up before a court, hadn't you been subpoenaed?” + +“I don't think I should; he gi'n the skin, and I didn't feel a hard +thought, though Squire Doolittle got some affronted.” + +“I have done, sir,” said Mr. Lippet, probably relying on the charge of +the Judge, as he again seated himself, with the air of a main who felt +that his success was certain. + +When Mr. Van der School arose to address the jury, he commenced by +saying: + +“Gentlemen of the jury, I should have interrupted the leading questions +put by the prisoner's counsel (by leading questions I mean telling him +what to say), did I not feel confident that the law of the land was +superior to any advantages (I mean legal advantages) which he might +obtain by his art. The counsel for the prisoner, gentlemen, has +endeavored to persuade you, in opposition to your own good sense, to +believe that pointing a rifle at a constable (elected or deputed) is +a very innocent affair; and that society (I mean the commonwealth, +gentlemen) shall not be endangered thereby. But let me claim your +attention, while we look over the particulars of this heinous offence.” + Here Mr. Vain der School favored the jury with an abridgment of +the testimony, recounted in such a manner as utterly to confuse the +faculties of his worthy listeners. After this exhibition he closed as +follows: “And now, gentlemen, having thus made plain to your senses the +crime of which this unfortunate man has been guilty (unfortunate both on +account of his ignorance and his guilt), I shall leave you to your own +consciences; not in the least doubting that you will see the importance +(notwithstanding the prisoner's counsel [doubtless relying on your +former verdict] wishes to appear so confident of success) of punishing +the offender, and asserting the dignity of the laws.” + +It was now the duty of the Judge to deliver his charge. It consisted +of a short, comprehensive summary of the testimony, laying bare the +artifice of the prisoner's counsel, and placing the facts in so obvious +a light that they could not well be misunderstood. “Living as we do, +gentlemen,” he concluded, “on the skirts of society, it becomes doubly +necessary to protect the ministers of the law. If you believe the +witnesses, in their construction of the acts of the prisoner, it is your +duty to convict him; but if you believe that the old man, who this day +appears before you, meant not to harm the constable, but was acting more +under the influence of habit than by the instigations of malice, it will +be your duty to judge him, but to do it with lenity.” + +As before, the jury did not leave their box; but, after a consultation +of some little time, their foreman arose, and pronounced the prisoner +Guilty. + +There was but little surprise manifested in the courtroom at this +verdict, as the testimony, the greater part of which we have omitted, +was too clear and direct to be passed over. The judges seemed to have +anticipated this sentiment, for a consultation was passing among them +also, during the deliberation of the jury, and the preparatory movements +of the “bench” announced the coming sentence. + +“Nathaniel Bumppo,” commenced the Judge, making the customary pause. + +The old hunter, who had been musing again, with his head on the bar, +raised himself, and cried, with a prompt, military tone: + +“Here.” + +The Judge waved his hand for silence, and proceeded: + +“In forming their sentence, the court have been governed as much by the +consideration of your ignorance of the laws as by a strict sense of the +importance of punishing such outrages as this of which you have been +found guilty. They have therefore passed over the obvious punishment of +whipping on the bare back, in mercy to your years; but, as the dignity +of the law requires an open exhibition of the consequences of your +crime, it is ordered that you be conveyed from this room to the public +stocks, where you are to be confined for one hour; that you pay a fine +to the State of one hundred dollars; and that you be imprisoned in the +jail of this county for one calendar month, and, furthermore, that your +imprisonment do not cease until the said fine shall be paid. I feel it +my duty, Nathaniel Bumppo--” + +“And where should I get the money?” interrupted the Leather-Stocking +eagerly; “where should I get the money? you'll take away the bounty on +the painters, because I cut the throat of a deer; and how is an old man +to find so much gold or silver in the woods? No, no, Judge; think better +of it, and don't talk of shutting me up in a jail for the little time I +have to stay.” + +“If you have anything to urge against the passing of the sentence, the +court will yet hear you,” said the Judge, mildly. + +“I have enough to say agin' it,” cried Natty, grasping the bar on which +his fingers were working with a convulsed motion. “Where am I to get +the money? Let me out into the woods and hills, where I've been used to +breathe the clear air, and though I'm threescore and ten, if you've left +game enough in the country, I'll travel night and day but I'll make you +up the sum afore the season is over. Yes, yes--you see the reason of the +thing, and the wicked ness of shutting up an old man that has spent his +days, as one may say, where he could always look into the windows of +heaven.” + +“I must be governed by the law--” + +“Talk not to me of law, Marmaduke Temple,” interrupted the hunter. +“Did the beast of the forest mind your laws, when it was thirsty and +hungering for the blood of your own child? She was kneeling to her God +for a greater favor than I ask, and he heard her; and if you now say no +to my prayers, do you think he will be deaf?” + +“My private feelings must not enter into--” + +“Hear me, Marmaduke Temple,” interrupted the old man, with melancholy +earnestness, “and hear reason. I've travelled these mountains when you +was no judge, but an infant in your mother's arms; and I feel as if I +had a right and a privilege to travel them agin afore I die. Have you +forgot the time that you come on to the lake shore, when there wasn't +even a jail to lodge in: and didn't I give you my own bear-skin to sleep +on, and the fat of a noble buck to satisfy the cravings of your hunger? +Yes, yes--you thought it no sin then to kill a deer! And this I did, +though I had no reason to love you, for you had never done anything but +harm to them that loved and sheltered me. And now, will you shut me up +in your dungeons to pay me for my kindness? A hundred dollars! Where +should I get the money? No, no--there's them that says hard things of +you, Marmaduke Temple, but you ain't so bad as to wish to see an old man +die in a prison, because he stood up for the right. Come, friend, let me +pass; it's long sin' I've been used to such crowds, and I crave to be in +the woods agin. Don't fear me, Judge--I bid you not to fear me; for if +there's beaver enough left on the streams, or the buckskins will sell +for a shilling apiece, you shall have the last penny of the fine. Where +are ye, pups? come away, dogs, come away! we have a grievous toil to do +for our years, but it shall be done--yes, yes, I've promised it, and it +shall be done!” + +It is unnecessary to say that the movement of the Leather-Stocking was +again intercepted by the constable; but, before he had time to speak, a +bustling in the crowd, and a loud hem, drew all eyes to another part of +the room. + +Benjamin had succeeded in edging his way through the people, and was now +seen balancing his short body, with one foot in a window and the other +on a railing of the jury-box. To the amazement of the whole court, +the steward was evidently preparing to speak. After a good deal of +difficulty, he succeeded in drawing from his pocket a small bag, and +then found utterance. + +“If-so-be,” he said, “that your honor is agreeable to trust the poor +fellow out on another cruise among the beasts, here's a small matter +that will help to bring down the risk, seeing that there's just +thirty-five of your Spaniards in it; and I wish, from the bottom of my +heart, that they was raal British guineas, for the sake of the old boy. +But 'tis as it is; and if Squire Dickens will just be so good as to +overhaul this small bit of an account, and take enough from the bag to +settle the same, he's welcome to hold on upon the rest, till such time +as the Leather-Stocking can grapple with them said beaver, or, for that +matter, forever, and no thanks asked.” + +As Benjamin concluded, he thrust out the wooden register of his arrears +to the “Bold Dragoon” with one hand, while he offered his bag of dollars +with the other. Astonishment at this singular interruption produced +a profound stillness in the room, which was only interrupted by the +sheriff, who struck his sword on the table, and cried: “Silence!” + +“There must be an end to this,” said the Judge, struggling to overcome +his feelings. “Constable, lead the prisoner to the stocks. Mr. Clerk, +what stands next on the calendar?” + +Natty seemed to yield to his destiny, for he sank his head on his chest, +and followed the officer from the court room in silence. The crowd moved +back for the passage of the prisoner, and when his tall form was seen +descending from the outer door, a rush of the people to the scene of his +disgrace followed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + + “Ha! ha! look! he wears cruel garters!”--Lear. + + +The punishments of the common law were still known, at the time of +our tale, to the people of New York; and the whipping-post, and its +companion, the stocks, were not yet supplanted by the more merciful +expedients of the public prison. Immediately in front of the jail those +relics of the older times were situated, as a lesson of precautionary +justice to the evil-doers of the settlement. + +Natty followed the constables to this spot, bowing his head in +submission to a power that he was unable to oppose, and surrounded by +the crowd that formed a circle about his person, exhibiting in their +countenances strong curiosity. A constable raised the upper part of the +stocks, and pointed with his finger to the holes where the old man was +to place his feet. Without making the least objection to the punishment, +the Leather-Stocking quietly seated himself on the ground, and suffered +his limbs to be laid in the openings, without even a murmur; though he +cast one glance about him, in quest of that sympathy that human +nature always seems to require under suffering but he met no direct +manifestations of pity, neither did he see any unfeeling exultation, or +hear a single reproachful epithet. The character of the mob, if it could +be called by such a name, was that of attentive subordination. + +The constable was in the act of lowering the upper plank, when Benjamin, +who had pressed close to the side of the prisoner, said, in his hoarse +tone, as if seeking for some cause to create a quarrel: + +“Where away, master constable, is the use of clapping a man in them here +bilboes? It neither stops his grog nor hurts his back; what for is it +that you do the thing?” + +“'Tis the sentence of the court, Mr. Penguillium, and there's law for +it, I s'pose.” + +“Ay, ay, I know that there's law for the thing; but where away do you +find the use, I say? it does no harm, and it only keeps a man by the +heels for the small matter of two glasses.” + +“Is it no harm, Benny Pump,” said Natty, raising his eyes with a piteous +look in the face of the steward--“is it no harm to show off a man in +his seventy-first year, like a tame bear, for the settlers to look on? +Is it no harm to put an old soldier, that has served through the war +of 'fifty-six, and seen the enemy in the 'seventy-six business, into a +place like this, where the boys can point at him and say, I have known +the time when he was a spectacle for the county? Is it no harm to bring +down the pride of an honest man to be the equal of the beasts of the +forest?” + +Benjamin stared about him fiercely, and could he have found a single +face that expressed contumely, he would have been prompt to quarrel +with its owner; but meeting everywhere with looks of sobriety, and +occasionally of commiseration, he very deliberately seated himself by +the side of the hunter, and, placing his legs in the two vacant holes of +the stocks, he said: + +“Now lower away, master constable, lower away, I tell ye! If-so-be +there's such a thing hereabouts, as a man that wants to see a bear, let +him look and be d--d, and he shall find two of them, and mayhap one of +the same that can bite as well as growl.” + +“But I have no orders to put you in the stocks, Mr. Pump,” cried the +constable; “you must get up and let me do my duty.” + +“You've my orders, and what do you need better to meddle with my own +feet? so lower away, will ye, and let me see the man that chooses to +open his mouth with a grin on it.” + +“There can't be any harm in locking up a creatur' that will enter the +pound,” said the constable, laughing, and closing the stocks on them +both. + +It was fortunate that this act was executed with decision, for the whole +of the spectators, when they saw Benjamin assume the position he took, +felt an inclination for merriment, which few thought it worth while to +suppress. The steward struggled violently for his liberty again, with +an evident intention of making battle on those who stood nearest to him; +but the key was already turned, and all his efforts were vain. + +“Hark ye, master constable,” he cried, “just clear away your bilboes for +the small matter of a log-glass, will ye, and let me show some of them +there chaps who it is they are so merry about.” + +“No, no, you would go in, and you can't come out,” returned the officer, +“until the time has expired that the Judge directed for the keeping of +the prisoner.” + +Benjamin, finding that his threats and his struggles were useless, had +good sense enough to learn patience from the resigned manner of his +companion, and soon settled himself down by the side of Natty, with +a contemptuousness expressed in his hard features, that showed he +had substituted disgust for rage. When the violence of the steward's +feelings had in some measure subsided, he turned to his fellow-sufferer, +and, with a motive that might have vindicated a worse effusion, he +attempted the charitable office of consolation, + +“Taking it by and large, Master Bump-ho, it's but a small matter after +all,” he said. “Now, I've known very good sort of men, aboard of the +Boadishey, laid by the heels, for nothing, mayhap, but forgetting that +they'd drunk their allowance already, when a glass of grog has come +in their way. This is nothing more than riding with two anchors ahead, +waiting for a turn in the tide, or a shift of wind, d'ye see, with a +soft bottom and plenty of room for the sweep of your hawse. Now I've +seen many a man, for over-shooting his reckoning, as I told ye moored +head and starn, where he couldn't so much as heave his broadside round, +and mayhap a stopper clapped on his tongue too, in the shape of a +pump-bolt lashed athwartship his jaws, all the same as an outrigger +along side of a taffrel-rail.” + +The hunter appeared to appreciate the kind intentions of the other, +though he could not understand his eloquence, and, raising his humbled +countenance, he attempted a smile, as he said: + +“Anan!” + +“'Tis nothing, I say, but a small matter of a squall that will soon blow +over,” continued Benjamin. “To you that has such a length of keel, it +must be all the same as nothing; thof, seeing that I am little short in +my lower timbers, they've triced my heels up in such a way as to give me +a bit of a cant. But what cares I, Master Bump-ho, if the ship strains +a little at her anchor? it's only for a dog-watch, and dam'me but she'll +sail with you then on that cruise after them said beaver. I'm not much +used to small arms, seeing that I was stationed at the ammunition-boxes, +being summat too low-rigged to see over the hammock-cloths; but I can +carry the game, d'ye see, and mayhap make out to lend a hand with the +traps; and if so, be you're any way so handy with them as ye be with +your boat-hook, 'twill be but a short cruise after all, I've squared the +yards with Squire Dickens this morning, and I shall send him word that +he needn't bear my name on the books again till such time as the cruise +is over.” + +“You're used to dwell with men, Benny,” said Leather-Stocking, +mournfully, “and the ways of the woods would be hard on you, if----” + +“Not a bit--not a bit,” cried the steward; “I'm none of your +fair-weather chaps, Master Bump-ho, as sails only in smooth water. When +I find a friend, I sticks by him, d'ye see. Now, there's no better man +a-going than Squire Dickens, and I love him about the same as I loves +Mistress Hollister's new keg of Jamaiky.” The steward paused, and +turning his uncouth visage on the hunter, he surveyed him with a roguish +leer of his eye, and gradually suffered the muscles of his hard features +to relax, until his face was illuminated by the display of his +white teeth, when he dropped his voice, and added; “I say, Master +Leather-Stocking, 'tis fresher and livelier than any Hollands you'll get +in Garnsey. But we'll send a hand over and ask the woman for a taste, +for I'm so jammed in these here bilboes that I begin to want summat to +lighten my upper works.” + +Natty sighed, and gazed about him on the crowd, that already began to +disperse, and which had now diminished greatly, as its members scattered +in their various pursuits. He looked wistfully at Benjamin, but did not +reply; a deeply-seated anxiety seeming to absorb every other sensation, +and to throw a melancholy gloom over his wrinkled features, which were +working with the movements of his mind. + +The steward was about to act on the old principle, that silence gives +consent, when Hiram Doolittle, attended by Jotham, stalked out of the +crowd, across the open space, and approached the stocks. The magistrate +passed by the end where Benjamin was seated, and posted himself, at a +safe distance from the steward, in front of the Leather-Stocking. Hiram +stood, for a moment, cowering before the keen looks that Natty fastened +on him, and suffering under an embarrassment that was quite new; when +having in some degree recovered himself, he looked at the heavens, and +then at the smoky atmosphere, as if it were only an ordinary meeting +with a friend, and said in his formal, hesitating way: + +“Quite a scurcity of rain, lately; I some think we shall have a long +drought on't.” + +Benjamin was occupied in untying his bag of dollars, and did not observe +the approach of the magistrate, while Natty turned his face, in which +every muscle was working, away from him in disgust, without answering. +Rather encouraged than daunted by this exhibition of dislike, Hiram, +after a short pause, continued: + +“The clouds look as if they'd no water in them, and the earth is +dreadfully parched. To my judgment, there'll be short crops this season, +if the rain doesn't fail quite speedily.” + +The air with which Mr. Doolittle delivered this prophetical opinion +was peculiar to his species. It was a jesuitical, cold, unfeeling, and +selfish manner, that seemed to say, “I have kept within the law,” to the +man he had so cruelly injured. It quite overcame the restraint that the +old hunter had been laboring to impose on himself, and he burst out in a +warm glow of indignation. + +“Why should the rain fall from the clouds,” he cried, “when you force +the tears from the eyes of the old, the sick, and the poor! Away with +ye--away with ye! you may be formed in the image of the Maker, but Satan +dwells in your heart. Away with ye, I say! I am mournful, and the sight +of ye brings bitter thoughts.” + +Benjamin ceased thumbing his money, and raised his head at the instant +that Hiram, who was thrown off his guard by the invectives of the +hunter, unluckily trusted his person within reach of the steward, who +grasped one of his legs with a hand that had the grip of a vise, and +whirled the magistrate from his feet, before he had either time to +collect his senses or to exercise the strength he did really possess. +Benjamin wanted neither proportions nor manhood in his head, shoulders, +and arms, though all the rest of his frame appeared to be originally +intended for a very different sort of a man. He exerted his physical +powers on the present occasion, with much discretion; and, as he had +taken his antagonist at a great disadvantage, the struggle resulted +very soon in Benjamin getting the magistrate fixed in a posture somewhat +similar to his own, and manfully placed face to face. + +“You're a ship's cousin, I tell ye, Master Doo-but-little,” roared the +steward; “some such matter as a ship's cousin, sir. I know you, I do, +with your fair-weather speeches to Squire Dickens, to his face, and then +you go and sarve out your grumbling to all the old women in the town, +do ye? Ain't it enough for any Christian, let him harbor never so much +malice, to get an honest old fellow laid by the heels in this fashion, +without carrying sail so hard on the poor dog, as if you would run him +down as he lay at his anchors? But I've logged many a hard thing against +your name, master, and now the time's come to foot up the day's work, +d'ye see; so square yourself, you lubber, square yourself, and we'll +soon know who's the better man.” + +“Jotham!” cried the frightened magistrate--“Jotham! call in the +constables. Mr. Penguillium, I command the peace--I order you to keep +the peace.” + +“There's been more peace than love atwixt us, master,” cried the +steward, making some very unequivocal demonstrations toward hostility; +“so mind yourself! square your self, I say! do you smell this here bit +of a sledge-hammer?” + +“Lay hands on me if you dare!” exclaimed Hiram, as well as he could, +under the grasp which the steward held on his throttle--“lay hands on +me if you dare!” + +“If you call this laying, master, you are welcome to the eggs,” roared +the steward. + +It becomes our disagreeable duty to record here, that the acts of +Benjamin now became violent; for he darted his sledge-hammer violently +on the anvil of Mr. Doolittle's countenance, and the place became in +an instant a scene of tumult and confusion. The crowd rushed in a dense +circle around the spot, while some ran to the court room to give the +alarm, and one or two of the more juvenile part of the multitude had +a desperate trial of speed to see who should be the happy man to +communicate the critical situation of the magistrate to his wife. + +Benjamin worked away, with great industry and a good deal of skill, +at his occupation, using one hand to raise up his antagonist, while he +knocked him over with the other; for he would have been disgraced in +his own estimation, had he struck a blow on a fallen adversary. By this +considerate arrangement he had found means to hammer the visage of +Hiram out of all shape, by the time Richard succeeded in forcing his +way through the throng to the point of combat. The sheriff afterward +declared that, independently of his mortification as preserver of the +peace of the county, at this interruption to its harmony, he was never +so grieved in his life as when he saw this breach of unity between his +favorites. Hiram had in some degree become necessary to his vanity, and +Benjamin, strange as it may appear, he really loved. This attachment was +exhibited in the first words that he uttered. + +“Squire Doolittle! Squire Doolittle! I am ashamed to see a man of your +character and office forget himself so much as to disturb the peace, +insult the court, and beat poor Benjamin in this manner!” + +At the sound of Mr. Jones' voice, the steward ceased his employment, and +Hiram had an opportunity of raising his discomfited visage toward the +mediator. Emboldened by the sight of the sheriff, Mr. Doolittle again +had recourse to his lungs. + +“I'll have law on you for this,” he cried desperately; “I'll have the +law on you for this. I call on you, Mr. Sheriff, to seize this man, and +I demand that you take his body into custody.” + +By this time Richard was master of the true state of the case, and, +turning to the steward, he said reproach fully: + +“Benjamin, how came you in the stocks? I always thought you were mild +and docile as a lamb. It was for your docility that I most esteemed +you. Benjamin! Benjamin! you have not only disgraced yourself, but your +friends, by this shameless conduct, Bless me! bless me! Mr. Doolittle, +he seems to have knocked your face all of one side.” + +Hiram by this time had got on his feet again, and with out the reach of +the steward, when he broke forth in violent appeals for vengeance. The +offence was too apparent to be passed over, and the sheriff, mindful +of the impartiality exhibited by his cousin in the recent trial of the +Leather-Stocking, came to the painful conclusion that it was necessary +to commit his major-domo to prison. As the time of Natty's punishment +was expired, and Benjamin found that they were to be confined, for that +night at least, in the same apartment, he made no very strong objection +to the measure, nor spoke of bail, though, as the sheriff preceded the +party of constables that conducted them to the jail, he uttered the +following remonstrance: + +“As to being berthed with Master Bump-ho for a night or so, it's but +little I think of it, Squire Dickens, seeing that I calls him an honest +man, and one as has a handy way with boat-hooks and rifles; but as for +owning that a man desarves anything worse than a double allowance, for +knocking that carpenters face a-one-side, as you call it, I'll maintain +it's agin' reason and Christianity. If there's a bloodsucker in this +'ere county, it's that very chap. Ay! I know him! and if he hasn't +got all the same as dead wood in his headworks, he knows summat of me. +Where's the mighty harm, squire, that you take it so much to heart? +It's all the same as any other battle, d'ye see sir, being broadside +to broadside, only that it was foot at anchor, which was what we did in +Port Pray a roads, when Suff'ring came in among us; and a suff'ring time +he had of it before he got out again.” + +Richard thought it unworthy of him to make any reply to this speech, but +when his prisoners were safely lodged in an outer dungeon, ordering the +bolts to be drawn and the key turned, he withdrew. + +Benjamin held frequent and friendly dialogues with different people, +through the iron gratings, during the afternoon; but his companion paced +their narrow' limits, in his moccasins, with quick, impatient treads, +his face hanging on his breast in dejection, or when lifted, at moments, +to the idlers at the window, lighted, perhaps, for an instant, with the +childish aspect of aged forgetfulness, which would vanish directly in an +expression of deep and obvious anxiety. + +At the close of the day, Edwards was seen at the window, in earnest +dialogue with his friend; and after he departed it was thought that he +had communicated words of comfort to the hunter, who threw himself on +his pallet and was soon in a deep sleep. The curious spectators had +exhausted the conversation of the steward, who had drunk good fellowship +with half of his acquaintance, and, as Natty was no longer in motion, +by eight o'clock, Billy Kirby, who was the last lounger at the window, +retired into the “Templeton Coffee-house,” when Natty rose and hung a +blanket before the opening, and the prisoners apparently retired for the +night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + + “And to avoid the foe's pursuit, + With spurring put their cattle to't; + And till all four were out of wind, + And danger too, neer looked behind.” + --Hudibras. + +As the shades of evening approached, the jurors, witnesses, and other +attendants on the court began to disperse, and before nine o'clock the +village was quiet, and its streets nearly deserted. At that hour Judge +Temple and his daughter, followed at a short distance by Louisa Grant, +walked slowly down the avenue, under the slight shadows of the young +poplars, holding the following discourse: + +“You can best soothe his wounded spirit, my child,” said Marmaduke; “but +it will be dangerous to touch on the nature of his offence; the sanctity +of the laws must be respected.” + +“Surely, sir,” cried the impatient Elizabeth, “those laws that condemn a +man like the Leather-Stocking to so severe a punishment, for an offence +that even I must think very venial, cannot be perfect in themselves.” + +“Thou talkest of what thou dost not understand, Elizabeth,” returned +her father. “Society cannot exist without wholesome restraints. Those +restraints cannot be inflicted without security and respect to the +persons of those who administer them; and it would sound ill indeed to +report that a judge had extended favor to a convicted criminal, because +he had saved the life of his child.” + +“I see--I see the difficulty of your situation, dear sir,” cried the +daughter; “but, in appreciating the offence of poor Natty, I cannot +separate the minister of the law from the man.” + +“There thou talkest as a woman, child; it is not for an assault on Hiram +Doolittle, but for threatening the life of a constable, who was in the +performance of--” + +“It is immaterial whether it be one or the other,” interrupted Miss +Temple, with a logic that contained more feeling than reason; “I know +Natty to be innocent, and thinking so I must think all wrong who oppress +him.” + +“His judge among the number! thy father, Elizabeth?” + +“Nay, nay, nay; do not put such questions to me; give me my commission, +father, and let me proceed to execute it.” + +The Judge paused a moment, smiling fondly on his child, and then dropped +his hand affectionately on her shoulder, as he answered: + +“Thou hast reason, Bess, and much of it, too, but thy heart lies too +near thy head, But listen; in this pocketbook are two hundred dollars. +Go to the prison--there are none in this pace to harm thee--give this +note to the jailer, and, when thou seest Bumppo, say what thou wilt to +the poor old man; give scope to the feeling of thy warm heart; but try +to remember, Elizabeth, that the laws alone remove us from the condition +of the savages; that he has been criminal, and that his judge was thy +father.” + +Miss Temple made no reply, but she pressed the hand that held the +pocket-book to her bosom, and, taking her friend by the arm, they issued +together from the inclosure into the principal street of the village. + +As they pursued their walk in silence, under the row of houses, where +the deeper gloom of the evening effectually concealed their persons, no +sound reached them, excepting the slow tread of a yoke of oxen, with +the rattling of a cart, that were moving along the street in the +same direction with themselves. The figure of the teamster was just +discernible by the dim light, lounging by the side of his cattle with +a listless air, as if fatigued by the toil of the day. At the corner, +where the jail stood, the progress of the ladies was impeded, for a +moment, by the oxen, who were turned up to the side of the building, and +given a lock of hay, which they had carried on their necks, as a reward +for their patient labor, The whole of this was so natural, and so +common, that Elizabeth saw nothing to induce a second glance at the +team, until she heard the teamster speaking to his cattle in a low +voice: + +“Mind yourself, Brindle; will you, sir! will you!” The language itself +was so unusual to oxen, with which all who dwell in a new country are +familiar; but there was something in the voice, also, that startled Miss +Temple On turning the corner, she necessarily approached the man, and +her look was enabled to detect the person of Oliver Edwards, concealed +under the coarse garb of a teamster. Their eyes met at the same instant, +and, not withstanding the gloom, and the enveloping cloak of Elizabeth, +the recognition was mutual. + +“Miss Temple!” “Mr. Edwards!” were exclaimed simultaneously, though a +feeling that seemed common to both rendered the words nearly inaudible. + +“Is it possible!” exclaimed Edwards, after the moment of doubt had +passed; “do I see you so nigh the jail! but you are going to the +rectory: I beg pardon, Miss Grant, I believe; I did not recognize you at +first.” + +The sigh which Louisa tittered was so faint, that it was only heard by +Elizabeth, who replied quickly, “We are going not only to the jail, Mr. +Edwards' but into it. We wish to show the Leather-Stocking that we do +not forget his services, and that at the same time we must be just, we +are also grateful. I suppose you are on a similar errand; but let me beg +that you will give us leave to precede you ten minutes. Good-night, sir; +I--I--am quite sorry, Mr. Edwards, to see you reduced to such labor; I +am sure my father would--” + +“I shall wait your pleasure, madam,” interrupted the youth coldly. “May +I beg that you will not mention my being here?” + +“Certainly,” said Elizabeth, returning his bow by a slight inclination +of her head, and urging the tardy Louisa forward. As they entered the +jailer's house, however, Miss Grant found leisure to whisper: + +“Would it not be well to offer part of your money to Oliver? half of it +will pay the fine of Bumppo; and he is so unused to hardships! I am sure +my father will subscribe much of his little pittance, to place him in a +station that is more worthy of him.” + +The involuntary smile that passed over the features of Elizabeth was +blended with an expression of deep and heartfelt pity. She did not +reply, however, and the appearance of the jailer soon recalled the +thoughts of both to the object of their visit. + +The rescue of the ladies, and their consequent interest in his prisoner, +together with the informal manners that prevailed in the country, all +united to prevent any surprise on the part of the jailer, at their +request for admission to Bumppo. The note of Judge Temple, however, +would have silenced all objections, if he had felt them and he led the +way without hesitation to the apartment that held the prisoners. The +instant the key was put into the lock, the hoarse voice of Benjamin was +heard, demanding: + +“Yo hoy! who comes there?” + +“Some visitors that you'll be glad to see,” returned the jailer. “What +have you done to the lock, that it won't turn.” + +“Handsomely, handsomely, master,” cried the steward: “I have just drove +a nail into a berth alongside of this here bolt, as a stopper, d'ye +see, so that Master Doo-but-little can't be running in and breezing up +another fight atwixt us: for, to my account, there'll be but a han-yan +with me soon, seeing that they'll mulct me of my Spaniards, all the same +as if I'd over-flogged the lubber. Throw your ship into the wind, and +lay by for a small matter, will ye? and I'll soon clear a passage.” + +The sounds of hammering gave an assurance that the steward was in +earnest, and in a short time the lock yielded, when the door was opened. + +Benjamin had evidently been anticipating the seizure of his money, for +he had made frequent demands on the favorite cask at the “Bold Dragoon,” + during the afternoon and evening, and was now in that state which by +marine imagery is called “half-seas-over.” It was no easy thing to +destroy the balance of the old tar by the effects of liquor, for, as he +expressed it himself, “he was too low-rigged not to carry sail in +all weathers;” but he was precisely in that condition which is so +expressively termed “muddy.” When he perceived who the visitors were, he +retreated to the side of the room where his pallet lay, and, regardless +of the presence of his young mistress, seated himself on it with an air +of great sobriety, placing his back firmly against the wall. + +“If you undertake to spoil my locks in this manner, Mr. Pump,” said the +jailer, “I shall put a stopper, as you call it, on your legs, and tie +you down to your bed.” + +“What for should ye, master?” grumbled Benjamin; “I've rode out one +squall to-day anchored by the heels, and I wants no more of them. +Where's the harm o' doing all the same as yourself? Leave that there +door free out board, and you'll find no locking inboard, I'll promise +ye.” + +“I must shut up for the night at nine,” said the jailer, “and it's now +forty-two minutes past eight.” He placed the little candle on a rough +pine table, and withdrew. + +“Leather-Stocking!” said Elizabeth, when the key of the door was turned +on them again, “my good friend, Leather-Stocking! I have come on a +message of gratitude. Had you submitted to the search, worthy old man, +the death of the deer would have been a trifle, and all would have been +well------” + +“Submit to the sarch!” interrupted Natty, raising his face from resting +on his knees, without rising from the corner where he had seated +himself; “d'ye think gal, I would let such a varmint into my hut? No, +no--I wouldn't have opened the door to your own sweet countenance then. +But they are welcome to search among the coals and ashes now; they'll +find only some such heap as is to be seen at every pot-ashery in the +mountains.” + +The old man dropped his face again on one hand, and seemed to be lost in +melancholy. + +“The hut can be rebuilt, and made better than before,” returned +Miss Temple; “and it shall be my office to see it done, when your +imprisonment is ended.” + +“Can ye raise the dead, child?” said Natty, in a sorrowful voice: “can +ye go into the place where you've laid your fathers, and mothers, and +children, and gather together their ashes, and make the same men and +women of them as afore? You do not know what 'tis to lay your head for +more than forty years under the cover of the same logs, and to look at +the same things for the better part of a man's life. You are young +yet, child, but you are one of the most precious of God's creatures. +I had hoped for ye that it might come to pass, but it's all over now; +this, put to that, will drive the thing quite out of his mind for ever.” + +Miss Temple must have understood the meaning of the old man better than +the other listeners; for while Louisa stood innocently by her side, +commiserating the griefs of the hunter, she bent her head aside, so +as to conceal her features. The action and the feeling that caused it +lasted but a moment. + +“Other logs, and better, though, can be had, and shall be found for you, +my old defender,” she continued. “Your confinement will soon be over, +and, before that time arrives, I shall have a house prepared for you, +where I you may spend the close of your long and harmless life in ease +and plenty.” + +“Ease and plenty! house!” repeated Natty, slowly. “You mean well, you +mean well, and I quite mourn that it cannot be; but he has seen me a +sight and a laughing-stock for--” + +“Damn your stocks,” said Benjamin, flourishing his bottle with one hand, +from which he had been taking hasty and repeated draughts, while he made +gestures of disdain with the other: “who cares for his bilboes? There's +a leg that been stuck up on end like a jibboom for an hour, d'ye see, +and what's it the worse for't, ha? canst tell me, what's it the worser, +ha?” + +“I believe you forget, Mr. Pump, in whose presence you are,” said +Elizabeth. + +“Forget you, Miss Lizzy?” returned the steward; “if I do, dam'me; you +are not to be forgot, like Goody Pretty-bones, up at the big house +there. I say, old sharpshooter, she may have pretty bones, but I can't +say so much for her flesh, d'ye see, for she looks somewhat like anatomy +with another man's jacket on. Now for the skin of her face, it's all the +same as a new topsail with a taut bolt-rope, being snug at the leeches, +but all in a bight about the inner cloths.” + +“Peace--I command you to be silent, sir!” said Elizabeth. + +“Ay, ay, ma'am,” returned the steward. “You didn't say I shouldn't +drink, though.” + +“We will not speak of what is to become of others,” said Miss Temple, +turning again to the hunter--“but of your own fortunes, Natty. It +shall be my care to see that you pass the rest of your days in ease and +plenty.” + +“Ease and plenty!” again repeated the Leather-Stocking; “what ease can +there be to an old man, who must walk a mile across the open fields, +before he can find a shade to hide him from a scorching sun! or what +plenty is there where you hunt a day, and not start a buck, or see +anything bigger than a mink, or maybe a stray fox! Ah! I shall have a +hard time after them very beavers, for this fine. I must go low toward +the Pennsylvania line in search of the creatures, maybe a hundred mile; +for they are not to be got here-away. No, no--your betterments and +clearings have druv the knowing things out of the country, and instead +of beaver-dams, which is the nater of the animal, and according to +Providence, you turn back the waters over the low grounds with your +mill-dams, as if 'twas in man to stay the drops from going where He +wills them to go--Benny, unless you stop your hand from going so often +to your mouth, you won't be ready to start when the time comes. + +“Hark'ee, Master Bump-ho,” said the steward; “don't you fear for Ben, +When the watch is called, set me of my legs and give me the bearings and +the distance of where you want me to steer, and I'll carry sail with the +best of you, I will.” + +“The time has come now,” said the hunter, listening; “I hear the horns +of the oxen rubbing agin' the side of the jail.” + +“Well, say the word, and then heave ahead, shipmate,” said Benjamin. + +“You won't betray us, gal?” said Natty, looking simply into the face +of Elizabeth--“you won't betray an old man, who craves to breathe the +clear air of heaven? I mean no harm; and if the law says that I must +pay the hundred dollars, I'll take the season through, but it shall be +forthcoming; and this good man will help me.” + +“You catch them,” said Benjamin, with a sweeping gesture of his arm, +“and if they get away again, call me a slink, that's all.” + +“But what mean you?” cried the wondering Elizabeth. “Here you must stay +for thirty days; but I have the money for your fine in this purse. Take +it; pay it in the morning, and summon patience for your mouth. I will +come often to see you, with my friend; we will make up your clothes with +our own hands; indeed, indeed, you shall be comfortable.” + +“Would ye, children?” said Natty, advancing across the floor with an air +of kindness, and taking the hand of Elizabeth, “would ye be so kearful +of an old man, and just for shooting a beast which cost him nothing? +Such things doesn't run in the blood, I believe, for you seem not to +forget a favor. Your little fingers couldn't do much on a buckskin, nor +be you used to push such a thread as sinews. But if he hasn't got past +hearing, he shalt hear it and know it, that he may see, like me, there +is some who know how to remember a kindness.” + +“Tell him nothing,” cried Elizabeth, earnestly; “if you love me, if you +regard my feelings, tell him nothing. It is of yourself only I would +talk, and for yourself only I act. I grieve, Leather-Stocking, that the +law requires that you should be detained here so long; but, after all, +it will be only a short month, and----” + +“A month?” exclaimed Natty, opening his mouth with his usual laugh, “not +a day, nor a night, nor an hour, gal. Judge Temple may sintence, but he +can't keep without a better dungeon than this. I was taken once by the +French, and they put sixty-two of us in a block-house, nigh hand to old +Frontinac; but 'twas easy to cut through a pine log to them that was +used to timber.” The hunter paused, and looked cautiously around the +room, when, laughing again, he shoved the steward gently from his post, +and removing the bedclothes, discovered a hole recently cut in the logs +with a mallet and chisel. “It's only a kick, and the outside piece is +off, and then--” + +“Off! ay, off!” cried Benjamin, rising from his stupor; “well, here's +off. Ay! ay! you catch 'em, and I'll hold on to them said beaver-hats.” + +“I fear this lad will trouble me much,” said Natty; “'twill be a hard +pull for the mountain, should they take the scent soon, and he is not in +a state of mind to run.” + +“Run!” echoed the steward; “no, sheer alongside, and let's have a fight +of it.” + +“Peace!” ordered Elizabeth. + +“Ay, ay, ma'am.” + +“You will not leave us, surely, Leather-Stocking,” continued Miss +Temple; “I beseech you, reflect that you will be driven to the woods +entirely, and that you are fast getting old. Be patient for a little +time, when you can go abroad openly, and with honor.” + +“Is there beaver to be catched here, gal?” + +“If not, here is money to discharge the fine, and in a month you are +free. See, here it is in gold.” + +“Gold!” said Natty, with a kind of childish curiosity; “it's long sin' +I've seen a gold-piece. We used to get the broad joes, in the old war, +as plenty as the bears be now. I remember there was a man in Dieskau's +army, that was killed, who had a dozen of the shining things sewed up in +his shirt. I didn't handle them myself, but I seen them cut out with my +own eyes; they was bigger and brighter than them be.” + +“These are English guineas, and are yours,” said Elizabeth; “an earnest +of what shall be done for you.” + +“Me! why should you give me this treasure!” said Natty, looking +earnestly at the maiden. + +“Why! have you not saved my life? Did you not rescue me from the jaws +of the beast?” exclaimed Elizabeth, veiling her eyes, as if to hide some +hideous object from her view. + +The hunter took the money, and continued turning it in his hand for some +time, piece by piece, talking aloud during the operation. + +“There's a rifle, they say, out on the Cherry Valley, that will carry +a hundred rods and kill. I've seen good guns in my day, but none quite +equal to that. A hundred rods with any sartainty is great shooting! +Well, well--I'm old, and the gun I have will answer my time. Here, +child, take back your gold. But the hour has come; I hear him talking +to the cattle, and I must be going. You won't tell of us, gal--you won't +tell of us, will ye?” + +“Tell of you!” echoed Elizabeth. “But take the money, old man; take the +money, even if you go into the mountains.” + +“No, no,” said Natty, shaking his head kindly; “I would not rob you so +for twenty rifles. But there's one thing you can do for me, if ye will, +that no other is at hand to do. + +“Name it--name it.” + +“Why, it's only to buy a canister of powder--'twill cost two silver +dollars. Benny Pump has the money ready, but we daren't come into the +town to get it. Nobody has it but the Frenchman. 'Tis of the best, and +just suits a rifle. Will you get it for me, gal?--say, will you get it +for me?” + +“Will I? I will bring it to you, Leather-Stocking, though I toil a day +in quest of you through the woods. But where shall I find you, and how?” + +“Where?” said Natty, musing a moment--“to-morrow on the Vision; on the +very top of the Vision, I'll meet you, child, just as the sun gets over +our heads. See that it's the fine grain; you'll know it by the gloss and +the price.” + +“I will do it,” said Elizabeth, firmly. + +Natty now seated himself, and placing his feet in the hole, with a +slight effort he opened a passage through into the street. The ladies +heard the rustling of hay, and well understood the reason why Edwards +was in the capacity of a teamster. + +“Come, Benny,” said the hunter: “'twill be no darker to-night, for the +moon will rise in an hour.” + +“Stay!” exclaimed Elizabeth; “it should not be said that you escaped in +the presence of the daughter of Judge Temple. Return, Leather-Stocking, +and let us retire Before you execute your plan.” + +Natty was about to reply, when the approaching footsteps of the jailer +announced the necessity of his immediate return. He had barely time to +regain his feet, and to conceal the hole with the bedclothes, across +which Benjamin very opportunely fell, before the key was turned, and the +door of the apartment opened. + +“Isn't Miss Temple ready to go?” said the civil jailer; “it's the usual +hour for locking up.” + +“I follow you, sir,” returned Elizabeth “good-night, Leather-Stocking.” + +“It's a fine grain, gal, and I think twill carry lead further than +common. I am getting old, and can't follow up the game with the step I +used to could.” + +Miss Temple waved her hand for silence, and preceded Louisa and the +keeper from the apartment. The man turned the key once, and observed +that he would return and secure his prisoners, when he had lighted +the ladies to the street. Accordingly they parted at the door of the +building, when the jailer retired to his dungeons, and the ladies +walked, with throbbing hearts, toward the corner. + +“Now the Leather-Stocking refuses the money,” whispered Louisa, “it can +all be given to Mr. Edwards, and that added to--” + +“Listen!” said Elizabeth; “I hear the rustling of the hay; they are +escaping at this moment. Oh! they will be detected instantly!” + +By this time they were at the corner, where Edwards and Natty were in +the act of drawing the almost helpless body of Benjamin through the +aperture. The oxen had started back from their hay, and were standing +with their heads down the street, leaving room for the party to act in. + +“Throw the hay into the cart,” said Edwards, “or they will suspect how +it has been done. Quick, that they may not see it.” + +Natty had just returned from executing this order, when the light of +the keeper's candle shone through the hole, and instantly his voice was +heard in the jail exclaiming for his prisoners. + +“What is to be done now?” said Edwards; “this drunken fellow will cause +our detection, and we have not a moment to spare.” + +“Who's drunk, ye lubber?” muttered the steward. + +“A break-jail! a break-jail!” shouted five or six voices from within. + +“We must leave him,” said Edwards. + +“'Twouldn't be kind, lad,” returned Natty; “he took half the disgrace of +the stocks on himself to-day, and the creatur' has feeling.” + +At this moment two or three men were heard issuing from the door of the +“Bold Dragoon,” and among them the voice of Billy Kirby. + +“There's no moon yet,” cried the wood-chopper; “but it's a clear night. +Come, who's for home? Hark! what a rumpus they're kicking up in the +jail--here's go and see what it's about.” + +“We shall be lost,” said Edwards, “if we don't drop this man.” + +At that instant Elizabeth moved close to him, and said rapidly, in a low +voice: + +“Lay him in the cart, and start the oxen; no one will look there.” + +“There's a woman's quickness in the thought,” said the youth. + +The proposition was no sooner made than executed. The steward was seated +on the hay, and enjoined to hold his peace and apply the goad that +was placed in his hand, while the oxen were urged on. So soon as this +arrangement was completed, Edwards and the hunter stole along the houses +for a short distance, when they disappeared through an opening that led +into the rear of the buildings. + +The oxen were in brisk motion, and presently the cries of pursuit were +heard in the street. The ladies quickened their pace, with a wish to +escape the crowd of constables and idlers that were approaching, some +execrating, and some laughing at the exploit of the prisoners. In the +confusion, the voice of Kirby was plainly distinguishable above all +the others, shouting and swearing that he would have the fugitives, +threatening to bring back Natty in one pocket, and Benjamin in the +other. + +“Spread yourselves, men,” he cried, as he passed the ladies, his heavy +feet sounding along the street like the tread of a dozen; “spread +yourselves; to the mountains; they'll be in the mountains in a quarter +of an hour, and then look out for a long rifle.” + +His cries were echoed from twenty mouths, for not only the jail but the +taverns had sent forth their numbers, some earnest in the pursuit, and +others joining it as in sport. + +As Elizabeth turned in at her father's gate she saw the wood-chopper +stop at the cart, when she gave Benjamin up for lost. While they were +hurrying up the walk, two figures, stealing cautiously but quickly under +the shades of the trees, met the eyes of the ladies, and in a moment +Edwards and the hunter crossed their path. + +“Miss Temple, I may never see you again,” exclaimed the youth; “let me +thank you for all your kindness; you do not, cannot know my motives.” + +“Fly! fly!” cried Elizabeth; “the village is alarmed. Do not be found +conversing with me at such a moment, and in these grounds.” + +“Nay, I must speak, though detection were certain.” + +“Your retreat to the bridge is already cut off; before you can gain the +wood your pursuers will be there. If--” + +“If what?” cried the youth. “Your advice has saved me once already; I +will follow it to death.” + +“The street is now silent and vacant,” said Elizabeth, after a pause; +“cross it, and you will find my father's boat in the lake. It would be +easy to land from it where you please in the hills.” + +“But Judge Temple might complain of the trespass.” + +“His daughter shall be accountable, sir.” + +The youth uttered something in a low voice, that was heard only by +Elizabeth, and turned to execute what she had suggested. As they were +separating, Natty approached the females, and said: + +“You'll remember the canister of powder, children. Them beavers must be +had, and I and the pups be getting old; we want the best of ammunition.” + +“Come, Natty,” said Edwards, impatiently. + +“Coming, lad, coming. God bless you, young ones, both of ye, for ye mean +well and kindly to the old man.” + +The ladies paused until they had lost sight of the retreating figures, +when they immediately entered the mansion-house. + +While this scene was passing in the walk, Kirby had overtaken the cart, +which was his own, and had been driven by Edwards, without asking the +owner, from the place where the patient oxen usually stood at evening, +waiting the pleasure of their master. + +“Woa--come hither, Golden,” he cried; “why, how come you off the end of +the bridge, where I left you, dummies?” + +“Heave ahead,” muttered Benjamin, giving a random blow with his lash, +that alighted on the shoulder of the other. + +“Who the devil be you?” cried Billy, turning round in surprise, but +unable to distinguish, in the dark, the hard visage that was just +peering over the cart-rails. + +“Who be I? why, I'm helmsman aboard of this here craft d'ye see, and a +straight wake I'm making of it. Ay, ay! I've got the bridge right ahead, +and the bilboes dead aft: I calls that good steerage, boy. Heave ahead.” + +“Lay your lash in the right spot, Mr. Benny Pump,” said the +wood-chopper, “or I'll put you in the palm of my hand and box your ears. +Where be you going with my team?” + +“Team!” + +“Ay, my cart and oxen.” + +“Why, you must know, Master Kirby, that the Leather-Stocking and +I--that's Benny Pump--you knows Ben?--well, Benny and I--no, me and +Benny; dam'me if I know how 'tis; but some of us are bound after a cargo +of beaver-skins, d'ye see, so we've pressed the cart to ship them 'ome +in. I say, Master Kirby, what a lubberly oar you pull--you handle +an oar, boy, pretty much as a cow would a musket, or a lady would a +marling-spike.” + +Billy had discovered the state of the steward's mind, and he walked for +some time alongside of the cart, musing with himself, when he took the +goad from Benjamin (who fell back on the hay and was soon asleep) and +drove his cattle down the street, over the bridge, and up the mountain, +toward a clearing in which he was to work the next day, without any +other interruption than a few hasty questions from parties of the +constables. + +Elizabeth stood for an hour at the window of her room, and saw the +torches of the pursuers gliding along the side of the mountain, and +heard their shouts and alarms; but, at the end of that time, the last +party returned, wearied and disappointed, and the village became as +still as when she issued from the gate on her mission to the jail. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + + “And I could weep”-- + th' Oneida chief + His descant wildly thus begun-- + “But that I may not stain with grief + The death-song of my father's son.” + --Gertrude of Wyoming. + +It was yet early on the following morning, when Elizabeth and Louisa met +by appointment, and proceeded to the store of Monsieur Le Quoi, in order +to redeem the pledge the former had given to the Leather-Stocking. The +people were again assembling for the business of the day, but the hour +was too soon for a crowd, and the ladies found the place in possession +of its polite owner, Billy Kirby, one female customer, and the boy who +did the duty of helper or clerk. + +Monsieur Le Quoi was perusing a packet of letters with manifest delight, +while the wood-chopper, with one hand thrust in his bosom, and the other +in the folds of his jacket, holding an axe under his right arm, stood +sympathizing in the Frenchman's pleasure with good-natured interest. +The freedom of manners that prevailed in the new settlements commonly +levelled all difference in rank, and with it, frequently, all +considerations of education and intelligence. At the time the ladies +entered the store, they were unseen by the owner, who was saying to +Kirby: + +“Ah! ha! Monsieur Beel, dis lettair mak me de most happi of mans. Ah! ma +chére France! I vill see you again.” + +“I rejoice, monsieur, at anything that contributes to your happiness,” + said Elizabeth, “but hope we are not going to lose you entirely.” + +The complaisant shopkeeper changed the language to French and recounted +rapidly to Elizabeth his hopes of being permitted to return to his own +country. Habit had, however, so far altered the manners of this pliable +person age, that he continued to serve the wood-chopper, who was in +quest of some tobacco, while he related to his more gentle visitor +the happy change that had taken place in the dispositions of his own +countrymen. + +The amount of it all was, that Mr. Le Quoi, who had fled from his own +country more through terror than because he was offensive to the ruling +powers in France, had succeeded at length in getting an assurance that +his return to the West Indies would be unnoticed; and the Frenchman, who +had sunk into the character of a country shopkeeper with so much grace, +was about to emerge again from his obscurity into his proper level in +society. + +We need not repeat the civil things that passed between the parties on +this occasion, nor recount the endless repetitions of sorrow that the +delighted Frenchman expressed at being compelled to quit the society of +Miss Temple. Elizabeth took an opportunity, during this expenditure of +polite expressions, to purchase the powder privately of the boy, who +bore the generic appellation of Jonathan. Before they parted, however, +Mr. Le Quoi, who seemed to think that he had not said enough, solicited +the honor of a private interview with the heiress, with a gravity in his +air that announced the importance of the subject. After conceding the +favor, and appointing a more favorable time for the meeting, Elizabeth +succeeded in getting out of the store, into which the countrymen now +began to enter, as usual, where they met with the same attention and +bien seance as formerly. + +Elizabeth and Louisa pursued their walk as far as the bridge in profound +silence; but when they reached that place the latter stopped, and +appeared anxious to utter something that her diffidence suppressed. + +“Are you ill, Louisa?” exclaimed Miss Temple; “had we not better return, +and seek another opportunity to meet the old man?” + +“Not ill, but terrified. Oh! I never, never can go on that hill again +with you only. I am not equal to it, in deed I am not.” + +This was an unexpected declaration to Elizabeth, who, although she +experienced no idle apprehension of a danger that no longer existed, +felt most sensitively all the delicacy of maiden modesty. She stood for +some time, deeply reflecting within herself; but, sensible it was a +time for action instead of reflection, she struggled to shake off her +hesitation, and replied, firmly: + +“Well, then it must be done by me alone. There is no other than yourself +to be trusted, or poor old Leather-Stocking will be discovered. Wait for +me in the edge of these woods, that at least I may not be seen strolling +in the hills by myself just now, One would not wish to create remarks, +Louisa--if--if--You will wait for me, dear girl?” + +“A year, in sight of the village, Miss Temple,” returned the agitated +Louisa, “but do not, do not ask me to go on that hill.” + +Elizabeth found that her companion was really unable to proceed, +and they completed their arrangement by posting Louisa out of the +observation of the people who occasionally passed, but nigh the road, +and in plain view of the whole valley. Miss Temple then proceeded +alone. She ascended the road which has been so often mentioned in our +narrative, with an elastic and firm step, fearful that the delay in the +store of Mr. Le Quoi, and the time necessary for reaching the summit, +would prevent her being punctual to the appointment Whenever she pressed +an opening in the bushes, she would pause for breath, or, perhaps, +drawn from her pursuit by the picture at her feet, would linger a moment +to gaze at the beauties of the valley. The long drought had, however, +changed its coat of verdure to a hue of brown, and, though the same +localities were there, the view wanted the lively and cheering aspect of +early summer. Even the heavens seemed to share in the dried appearance +of the earth, for the sun was concealed by a haziness in the atmosphere, +which looked like a thin smoke without a particle of moisture, if such +a thing were possible. The blue sky was scarcely to be seen, though now, +and then there was a faint lighting up in spots through which masses +of rolling vapor could be discerned gathering around the horizon, as if +nature were struggling to collect her floods for the relief of man. The +very atmosphere that Elizabeth inhaled was hot and dry, and by the time +she reached the point where the course led her from the highway +she experienced a sensation like suffocation. But, disregarding her +feelings, she hastened to execute her mission, dwelling on nothing +but the disappointment, and even the helplessness, the hunter would +experience without her aid. + +On the summit of the mountain which Judge Temple had named the “Vision,” + a little spot had been cleared, in order that a better view might +be obtained of the village and the valley. At this point Elizabeth +understood the hunter she was to meet him; and thither she urged +her way, as expeditiously as the difficulty of the ascent, and the +impediment of a forest, in a state of nature, would admit. Numberless +were the fragments of rocks, trunks of fallen trees, and branches, +with which she had to contend; but every difficulty vanished before her +resolution, and, by her own watch, she stood on the desired spot several +minutes before the appointed hour. + +After resting a moment on the end of a log, Miss Temple cast a glance +about her in quest of her old friend, but he was evidently not in the +clearing; she arose and walked around its skirts, examining every place +where she thought it probable Natty might deem it prudent to conceal him +self. Her search was fruitless; and, after exhausting not only herself, +but her conjectures, in efforts to discover or imagine his situation, +she ventured to trust her voice in that solitary place. + +“Natty! Leather-Stocking! old man!” she called aloud, in every +direction; but no answer was given, excepting the reverberations of her +own clear tones, as they were echoed in the parched forest. + +Elizabeth approached the brow of the mountain, where a faint cry, like +the noise produced by striking the hand against the mouth, at the same +time that the breath is strongly exhaled, was heard answering to her own +voice. Not doubting in the least that it was the Leather-Stocking lying +in wait for her, and who gave that signal to indicate the place where he +was to be found, Elizabeth descended for near a hundred feet, until she +gained a little natural terrace, thinly scattered with trees, that grew +in the fissures of the rocks, which were covered by a scanty soil. +She had advanced to the edge of this platform, and was gazing over the +perpendicular precipice that formed its face, when a rustling among +the dry leaves near her drew her eyes in another direction. Our heroine +certainly was startled by the object that she then saw, but a moment +restored her self-possession, and she advanced firmly, and with some +interest in her manner, to the spot. + +Mohegan was seated on the trunk of a fallen oak, with his tawny visage +turned toward her, and his eyes fixed on her face with an expression of +wildness and fire, that would have terrified a less resolute female. +His blanket had fallen from his shoulders, and was lying in folds around +him, leaving his breast, arms, and most of his body bare. 'The medallion +of Washington reposed on his chest, a badge of distinction that +Elizabeth well knew he only produced on great and solemn occasions. But +the whole appearance of the aged chief was more studied than common, and +in some particulars it was terrific. The long black hair was plaited on +his head, failing away, so as to expose his high forehead and piercing +eyes. In the enormous incisions of his ears were entwined ornaments +of silver, beads, and porcupine's quills, mingled in a rude taste, and +after the Indian fashions. A large drop, composed of similar materials, +was suspended from the cartilage of his nose, and, falling below his +lips, rested on his chin. Streaks of red paint crossed his wrinkled +brow, and were traced down his cheeks, with such variations in the lines +as caprice or custom suggested. His body was also colored in the same +manner; the whole exhibiting an Indian warrior prepared for some event +of more than usual moment. + +“John! how fare you, worthy John?” said Elizabeth, as she approached +him; “you have long been a stranger in the village. You promised me a +willow basket, and I have long had a shirt of calico in readiness for +you.” + +The Indian looked steadily at her for some time without answering, and +then, shaking his head, he replied, in his low, guttural tones: + +“John's hand can make baskets no more--he wants no shirt.” + +“But if he should, he will know where to come for it,” returned Miss +Temple. “Indeed old John. I feel as if you had a natural right to order +what you will from us.” + +“Daughter,” said the Indian, “listen: Six times ten hot summers have +passed since John was young tall like a pine; straight like the bullet +of Hawk-eye, strong as all buffalo; spry as the cat of the mountain. He +was strong, and a warrior like the Young Eagle. If his tribe wanted to +track the Maquas for many suns, the eye of Chingachgook found the print +of their moccasins. If the people feasted and were glad, as they counted +the scalps of their enemies, it was on his pole they hung. If the squaws +cried because there was no meat for their children, he was the first +in the chase. His bullet was swifter than the deer. Daughter, then +Chingachgook struck his tomahawk into the trees; it was to tell the lazy +ones where to find him and the Mingoes--but he made no baskets.” + +“Those times have gone by, old warrior,” returned Elizabeth; “since then +your people have disappeared, and, in place of chasing your enemies, you +have learned to fear God and to live at peace.” + +“Stand here, daughter, where you can see the great spring, the wigwams +of your father, and the land on the crooked river. John was young +when his tribe gave away the country, in council, from where the blue +mountain stands above the water, to where the Susquehanna is hid by the +trees. All this, and all that grew in it, and all that walked over it, +and all that fed there, they gave to the Fire-eater----for they loved +him. He was strong, and they were women, and he helped them. No Delaware +would kill a deer that ran in his woods, nor stop a bird that flew over +his land; for it was his. Has John lived in peace? Daughter, since John +was young, he has seen the white man from Frontinac come down on his +white brothers at Albany and fight. Did they fear God? He has seen his +English and his American fathers burying their tomahawks in each other's +brains, for this very land. Did they fear God, and live in peace? He has +seen the land pass away from the Fire-eater, and his children, and the +child of his child, and a new chief set over the country. Did they live +in peace who did this? did they fear God?” + +“Such is the custom of the whites, John. Do not the Delawares fight, and +exchange their lands for powder, and blankets, and merchandise?” + +The Indian turned his dark eyes on his companion, and kept them there +with a scrutiny that alarmed her a little. + +“Where are the blankets and merchandise that bought the right of the +Fire-eater?” he replied in a more animated voice; “are they with him in +his wigwam? Did they say to him, Brother, sell us your land, and take +this gold, this silver, these blankets, these rifles, or even this rum? +No; they tore it front him, as a scalp is torn from an enemy; and they +that did it looked not behind them, to see whether he lived or died. Do +such men live in peace and fear the Great Spirit?” + +“But you hardly understand the circumstances,” said Elizabeth, more +embarrassed than she would own, even to herself. “If you knew our laws +and customs better, you would Judge differently of our acts. Do not +believe evil of my father, old Mohegan, for he is just and good.” + +“The brother of Miquon is good, and he will do right. I have said it to +Hawk-eye---I have said it to the Young Eagle that the brother of Miquon +would do justice.” + +“Whom call you the Young Eagle?” said Elizabeth, averting her face from +the gaze of the Indian, as she asked the question; “whence comes he, and +what are his rights?” + +“Has my daughter lived so long with him to ask this question?” returned +the Indian warily. “Old age freezes up the blood, as the frosts cover +the great spring in winter; but youth keeps the streams of the blood +open like a sun in the time of blossoms. The Young Eagle has eyes; had +he no tongue?” + +The loveliness to which the old warrior alluded was in no degree +diminished by his allegorical speech; for the blushes of the maiden who +listened covered her burning cheeks till her dark eyes seemed to glow +with their reflection; but, after struggling a moment with shame, she +laughed, as if unwilling to understand him seriously, and replied in +pleasantry: + +“Not to make me the mistress of his secret. He is too much of a Delaware +to tell his secret thoughts to a woman.” + +“Daughter, the Great Spirit made your father with a white skin, and he +made mine with a red; but he colored both their hearts with blood. When +young, it is swift and warm; but when old, it is still and cold. Is +there difference below the skin? No. Once John had a woman. She was +the mother of so many sons”--he raised his hand with three fingers +elevated--“and she had daughters that would have made the young +Delawares happy. She was kind, daughter, and what I said she did. You +have different fashions; but do you think John did not love the wife of +his youth--the mother of his children?” + +“And what has become of your family, John--your wife and your children?” + asked Elizabeth, touched by the Indian's manner. + +“Where is the ice that covered the great spring? It is melted, and gone +with the waters. John has lived till all his people have left him for +the land of spirits; his time has come, and he is ready.” + +Mohegan dropped his head in his blanket, and sat in silence. Miss Temple +knew not what to say. She wished to draw the thoughts of the old warrior +from his gloomy recollections, but there was a dignity in his sorrow, +and in his fortitude, that repressed her efforts to speak. After a long +pause, however, she renewed the discourse by asking: + +“Where is the Leather-Stocking, John? I have brought this canister +of powder at his request; but he is nowhere to be seen. Will you take +charge of it, and see it delivered?” + +The Indian raised his head slowly and looked earnestly at the gift, +which she put into his hand. + +“This is the great enemy of my nation. Without this, when could the +white man drive the Delawares? Daughter, the Great Spirit gave your +fathers to know how to make guns and powder, that they might sweep the +Indians from the land. There will soon be no red-skin in the country. +When John has gone, the last will leave these hills, and his family will +be dead.” The aged warrior stretched his body forward, leaning an elbow +on his knee, and appeared to be taking a parting look at the objects of +the vale, which were still visible through the misty atmosphere, though +the air seemed to thicken at each moment around Miss Temple, who became +conscious of an increased difficulty of respiration. The eye of Mohegan +changed gradually from its sorrowful expression to a look of wildness +that might be supposed to border on the inspiration of a prophet, as he +continued: “But he will go on to the country where his fathers have met. +The game shall be plenty as the Ash in the lakes. No woman shall cry for +meat: no Mingo can ever come The chase shall be for children; and all +just red men shall live together as brothers.” + +“John! this is not the heaven of a Christian,” cried Miss Temple; “you +deal now in the superstition of your forefathers.” + +“Fathers! sons!” said Mohegan, with firmness.--“all gone--all +gone!--have no son but the Young Eagle, and he has the blood of a white +man.” + +“Tell me, John,” said Elizabeth, willing to draw his thoughts to other +subjects, and at the same time yielding to her own powerful interest +in the youth; “who is this Mr. Edwards? why are you so fond of him, and +whence does he come?” + +The Indian started at the question, which evidently recalled his +recollection to earth. Taking her hand, he drew Miss Temple to a seat +beside him, and pointed to the country beneath them. + +“See, daughter,” he said, directing her looks toward the north; “as far +as your young eyes can see, it was the land of his. But immense volumes +of smoke at that moment rolled over their heath, and, whirling in the +eddies formed by the mountains, interposed a barrier to their sight, +while he was speaking. Startled by this circumstance, Miss Temple sprang +to her feet, and, turning her eyes toward the summit of the mountain, +she beheld It covered by a similar canopy, while a roaring sound was +heard in the forest above her like the rushing of winds. + +“What means it, John?” she exclaimed: “we are enveloped in smoke, and I +feel a heat like the glow of a furnace.” + +Before the Indian could reply, a voice was heard crying In the woods: +“John! where are you, old Mohegan! the woods are on fire, and you have +but a minute for escape.” + +The chief put his hand before his mouth, and, making it lay on his lips, +produced the kind of noise that had attracted Elizabeth to the place, +when a quick and hurried step was heard dashing through the dried +underbrush and bushes, and presently Edwards rushed to his side, with +horror an every feature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + + “Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.” + --Lay of the Last Minstrel. + +“IT would have been sad, indeed, to lose you in such manner, my old +friend,” said Oliver, catching his breath for utterance. “Up and away! +even now we may be too late; the flames are circling round the point of +the rock below, and, unless we can pass there, our only chance must be +over the precipice. Away! away! shake off your apathy, John; now is the +time of need.” + +Mohegan pointed toward Elizabeth, who, forgetting her danger, had sunk +back to a projection of the rock as soon as she recognized the sounds of +Edwards' voice, and said with something like awakened animation: + +“Save her--leave John to die.” + +“Her! whom mean you?” cried the youth, turning quickly to the place the +other indicated; but when he saw the figure of Elizabeth bending toward +him in an attitude that powerfully spoke terror, blended with reluctance +to meet him in such a place, the shock deprived him of speech. + +“Miss Temple!” he cried, when he found words; “you here! is such a death +reserved for you!” + +“No, no, no--no death, I hope, for any of us, Mr. Edwards,” she replied, +endeavoring to speak calmly; there is smoke, but no fire to harm us. “Let +us endeavor to retire.” + +“Take my arm,” said Edwards; “there must be an opening in some direction +for your retreat. Are you equal to the effort?” + +“Certainly. You surely magnify the danger, Mr. Edwards. Lead me out the +way you came.” + +“I will--I will,” cried the youth, with a kind of hysterical utterance. +“No, no--there is no danger--I have alarmed you unnecessarily.” + +“But shall we leave the Indian--can we leave him, as he says, to die?” + +An expression of painful emotion crossed the face of the young man; he +stopped and cast a longing look at Mohegan but, dragging his companion +after him, even against her will, he pursued his way with enormous +strides toward the pass by which he had just entered the circle of +flame. + +“Do not regard him,” he said, in those tones that de note a desperate +calmness; “he is used to the woods, and such scenes; and he will escape +up the mountain--over the rock--or he can remain where he is in safety.” + +“You thought not so this moment, Edwards! Do not leave him there to meet +with such a death,” cried Elizabeth, fixing a look on the countenance of +her conductor that seemed to distrust his sanity. + +“An Indian born! who ever heard of an Indian dying by fire? An Indian +cannot burn; the idea is ridiculous. Hasten, hasten, Miss Temple, or the +smoke may incommodate you.” + +“Edwards! your look, your eye, terrifies me! Tell me the danger; is it +greater than it seems? I am equal to any trial.” + +“If we reach the point of yon rock before that sheet of fire, we are +safe, Miss Temple,” exclaimed the young man in a voice that burst +without the bounds of his forced composure. “Fly! the struggle is for +life!” + +The place of the interview between Miss Temple and the Indian has +already been described as one of those platforms of rock, which form a +sort of terrace in the mountains of that country, and the face of it, +we have said, was both high and perpendicular. Its shape was nearly +a natural arc, the ends of which blended with the mountain, at points +where its sides were less abrupt in their descent. It was round one of +these terminations of the sweep of the rock that Edwards had ascended, +and it was toward the same place that he urged Elizabeth to a desperate +exertion of speed. + +Immense clouds of white smoke had been pouring over the summit of the +mountain, and had concealed the approach and ravages of the element; +but a crackling sound drew the eyes of Miss Temple, as she flew over the +ground supported by the young man, toward the outline of smoke where she +already perceived the waving flames shooting forward from the vapor, now +flaring high in the air, and then bending to the earth, seeming to light +into combustion every stick and shrub on which they breathed. The sight +aroused them to redoubled efforts; but, unfortunately, a collection of +the tops of trees, old and dried, lay directly across their course; and +at the very moment when both had thought their safety insured, the warm +current of the air swept a forked tongue of flame across the pile, which +lighted at the touch; and when they reached the spot, the flying pair +were opposed by the surly roaring of a body of fire, as if a furnace +were glowing in their path. They recoiled from the heat, and stood on a +point of the rock, gazing in a stupor at the flames which were spreading +rap idly down the mountain, whose side, too, became a sheet of living +fire. It was dangerous for one clad in the light and airy dress of +Elizabeth to approach even the vicinity of the raging element; and those +flowing robes, that gave such softness and grace to her form, seemed now +to be formed for the instruments of her destruction. + +The villagers were accustomed to resort to that hill, in quest of timber +and fuel; in procuring which, it was their usage to take only the +bodies of the trees, leaving the tops and branches to decay under the +operations of the weather. Much of the hill was, consequently, covered +with such light fuel, which, having been scorched under the sun for the +last two months, was ignited with a touch. Indeed, in some cases, there +did not appear to be any contact between the fire and these piles, but +the flames seemed to dart from heap to heap, as the fabulous fire of the +temple is represented to reillumine its neglected lamp. + +There was beauty as well as terror in the sight, and Edwards and +Elizabeth stood viewing the progress of the desolation, with a strange +mixture of horror and interest. The former, however, shortly roused +himself to new exertions, and, drawing his companion after him, they +skirted the edge of the smoke, the young man penetrating frequently into +its dense volumes in search of a passage, but in every instance without +success. In this manner they proceeded in a semicircle around the +upper part of the terrace, until arriving at the verge of the precipice +opposite to the point where Edwards had ascended, the horrid conviction +burst on both, at the same instant, that they were completely +encircled by fire. So long as a single pass up or down the mountain was +unexplored, there was hope: but when retreat seemed to be absolutely +impracticable, the horror of their situation broke upon Elizabeth as +powerfully as if she had hitherto considered the danger light. + +“This mountain is doomed to be fatal to me!” she whispered; “we shall +find our graves on it!” + +“Say not so, Miss Temple; there is yet hope,” returned the youth, in +the same tone, while the vacant expression of his eye contradicted his +words; “let us return to the point of the rock--there is--there must +be--some place about it where we can descend. + +“Lead me there,” exclaimed Elizabeth; “let us leave no effort untried.” + She did not wait for his compliance, but turning, retraced her steps +to the brow of the precipice, murmuring to herself, in suppressed, +hysterical sobs, “My father! my poor, my distracted father!” + +Edwards was by her side in an instant, and with aching eyes he examined +every fissure in the crags in quest of some opening that might offer +facilities for flight. But the smooth, even surface of the rocks +afforded hardly a resting-place for a foot, much less those continued +projections which would have been necessary for a descent of nearly a +hundred feet. Edwards was not slow in feeling the conviction that this +hope was also futile, and, with a kind of feverish despair that still +urged him to action, he turned to some new expedient. + +“There is nothing left, Miss Temple,” he said, “but to lower you from +this place to the rock beneath. If Natty were here, or even that Indian +could be roused, their ingenuity and long practice would easily devise +methods to do it; but I am a child at this moment in everything but +daring. Where shall I find means? This dress of mine is so light, and +there is so little of it--then the blanket of Mohegan; we must try--we +must try--anything is better than to see you a victim to such a death!” + +“And what will become of you?” said Elizabeth. “In deed, indeed, neither +you nor John must be sacrificed to my safety.” + +He heard her not, for he was already by the side of Mohegan, who yielded +his blanket without a question, retaining his seat with Indian dignity +and composure, though his own situation was even more critical than +that of the others. The blanket was cut into shreds, and the fragments +fastened together: the loose linen jacket of the youth and the light +muslin shawl of Elizabeth were attached to them, and the whole thrown +over the rocks with the rapidity of lightning; but the united Pieces did +not reach half-way to the bottom. + +“It will not do--it will not do!” cried Elizabeth; “for me there is no +hope! The fire comes slowly, but certainly. See, it destroys the very +earth before it!” + +Had the flames spread on that rock with half the quickness with which +they leaped from bush to tree in other parts of the mountain, our +painful task would have soon ended; for they would have consumed already +the captives they inclosed. But the peculiarity of their situation +afforded Elizabeth and her companion the respite of which they had +availed themselves to make the efforts we have recorded. + +The thin covering of earth on the rock supported but a scanty and faded +herbage, and most of the trees that had found root in the fissures had +already died, during the in tense heats of preceding summers. Those +which still retained the appearance of life bore a few dry and withered +leaves, while the others were merely the wrecks of pines, oaks, and +maples. No better materials to feed the fire could be found, had there +been a communication with the flames; but the ground was destitute of +the brush that led the destructive element, like a torrent, over the +remainder of the hill. As auxiliary to this scarcity of fuel, one of the +large springs which abound in that country gushed out of the side of +the ascent above, and, after creeping sluggishly along the level land, +saturating the mossy covering of the rock with moisture, it swept around +the base of the little cone that formed the pinnacle of the mountain, +and, entering the canopy of smoke near one of the terminations of the +terrace, found its way to the lake, not by dashing from rock to rock, +but by the secret channels of the earth. It would rise to the surface, +here and there, in the wet seasons, but in the droughts of summer it was +to be traced only by the bogs and moss that announced the proximity of +water. When the fire reached this barrier, it was compelled to pause, +until a concentration of its heat could overcome the moisture, like an +army awaiting the operations of a battering train, to open its way to +desolation. + +That fatal moment seemed now to have arrived, for the hissing steams of +the spring appeared to be nearly exhausted, and the moss of the rocks +was already curling under the intense heat, while fragments of bark, +that yet clung to the dead trees, began to separate from their trunks, +and fall to the ground in crumbling masses. The air seemed quivering +with rays of heat, which might be seen playing along the parched stems +of the trees. There were moments when dark clouds of smoke would sweep +along the little terrace; and, as the eye lost its power, the other +senses contributed to give effect to the fearful horror of the scene. +At such moments, the roaring of the flames, the crackling of the furious +element, with the tearing of falling branches, and occasionally the +thundering echoes of some falling tree, united to alarm the victims. +Of the three, however, the youth appeared much the most agitated. +Elizabeth, having relinquished entirely the idea of escape, was fast +obtaining that resigned composure with which the most delicate of her +sex are sometimes known to meet unavoidable evils; while Mohegan, who +was much nearer to the danger, maintained his seat with the invincible +resignation of an Indian warrior. Once or twice the eye of the aged +chief, which was ordinarily fixed in the direction of the distant hills, +turned toward the young pair, who seemed doomed to so early a death, +with a slight indication of pity crossing his composed features, but it +would immediately revert again to its former gaze, as if already looking +into the womb of futurity. Much of the time he was chanting a kind of +low dirge in the Delaware tongue, using the deep and remarkable guttural +tones of his people. + +“At such a moment, Mr. Edwards, all earthly distinctions end,” whispered +Elizabeth; “persuade John to move nearer to us--let us die together.” + +“I cannot--he will not stir,” returned the youth, in the same horridly +still tones. “He considers this as the happiest moment of his life, +he is past seventy, and has been decaying rapidly for some time; he +received some injury in chasing that unlucky deer, too, on the lake, Oh! +Miss Temple, that was an unlucky chase, indeed! it has led, I fear, to +this awful scene.” + +The smile of Elizabeth was celestial. “Why name such a trifle now?--at +this moment the heart is dead to all earthly emotions!” + +“If anything could reconcile a man to this death,” cried the youth, “it +would be to meet it in such company!” + +“Talk not so, Edwards; talk not so,” interrupted Miss Temple. “I am +unworthy of it, and it is unjust to your self. We must die; yes--yes--we +must die--it is the will of God, and let us endeavor to submit like his +own children.” + +“Die!” the youth rather shrieked than exclaimed, “no--no--no--there must +yet be hope--you, at least, must-not, shall not die.” + +“In what way can we escape?” asked Elizabeth, pointing with a look of +heavenly composure toward the fire “Observe! the flame is crossing the +barrier of wet ground--it comes slowly, Edwards, but surely. Ah! see! +the tree! the tree is already lighted!” + +Her words were too true. The heat of the conflagration had at length +overcome the resistance of the spring, and the fire was slowly stealing +along the half-dried moss; while a dead pine kindled with the touch of a +forked flame, that, for a moment, wreathed around the stem of the tree, +as it whined, in one of its evolutions, under the influence of the air. +The effect was instantaneous, The flames danced along the parched trunk +of the pine like lightning quivering on a chain, and immediately a +column of living fire was raging on the terrace. It soon spread from +tree to tree, and the scene was evidently drawing to a close. The log +on which Mohegan was seated lighted at its further end, and the Indian +appeared to be surrounded by fire. Still he was unmoved. As his body was +unprotected, his sufferings must have been great; but his fortitude was +superior to all. His voice could yet be heard even in the midst of these +horrors. Elizabeth turned her head from the sight, and faced the valley +Furious eddies of wind were created by the heat, and, just at the +moment, the canopy of fiery smoke that overhung the valley was cleared +away, leaving a distinct view of the peaceful village beneath them. “My +father!----my father!” shrieked Elizabeth “Oh! this--surely might have +been spared me--but I submit.” + +The distance was not so great but the figure of Judge Temple could be +seen, standing in his own grounds, and apparently contemplating, in +perfect unconsciousness of the danger of his child, the mountain in +flames. This sight was still more painful than the approaching danger; +and Elizabeth again faced the hill. + +“My intemperate warmth has done this!” cried Edwards, in the accents of +despair. “If I had possessed but a moiety of your heavenly resignation, +Miss Temple, all might yet have been well.” + +“Name it not--name it not,” she said. “It is now of no avail. We must +die, Edwards, we must die--let us do so as Christians. But--no--you may +yet escape, perhaps. Your dress is not so fatal as mine. Fly! Leave me, +An opening may yet be found for you, possibly--certainly it is worth +the effort. Fly! leave me--but stay! You will see my father! my poor, +my bereaved father! Say to him, then, Edwards, say to him, all that can +appease his anguish. Tell him that I died happy and collected; that I +have gone to my beloved mother; that the hours of this life are nothing +when balanced in the scales of eternity. Say how we shall meet again. +And say,” she continued, dropping her voice, that had risen with her +feelings, as if conscious of her worldly weakness, “how clear, how very +dear, was my love for him; that it was near, too near, to my love for +God.” + +The youth listened to her touching accents, but moved not. In a moment +he found utterance, and replied: + +“And is it me that you command to leave you! to leave you on the edge +of the grave? Oh! Miss Temple, how little have you known me!” he cried, +dropping on his knees at her feet, and gathering her flowing robe in +his arms as if to shield her from the flames. “I have been driven to the +woods in despair, but your society has tamed the lion within me. If I +have wasted my time in degradation, 'twas you that charmed me to it. +If I have forgotten my name and family, your form supplied the place of +memory. If I have forgotten my wrongs, 'twas you that taught me charity. +No--no--dearest Elizabeth, I may die with you, but I can never leave +you!” + +Elizabeth moved not, nor answered. It was plain that her thoughts had +been raised from the earth, The recollection of her father, and her +regrets at their separation, had been mellowed by a holy sentiment, that +lifted her above the level of earthly things, and she was fast losing +the weakness of her sex in the near view of eternity. But as she +listened to these words she became once more woman. She struggled +against these feelings, and smiled, as she thought she was shaking +off the last lingering feeling of nature, when the world, and all its +seductions, rushed again to her heart, with the sounds of a human, +voice, crying in piercing tones: + +“Gal! where be ye, gal! gladden the heart of an old man, if ye yet +belong to 'arth!” + +“Hist!” said Elizabeth; “'tis the Leather-Stocking; he seeks me!” + +“'Tis Natty!” shouted Edwards, “and we may yet be saved!” + +A wide and circling flame glared on their eyes for a moment, even above +the fire of the woods, and a loud report followed. + +“'Tis the canister, 'tis the powder,” cried the same voice, evidently +approaching them. “'Tis the canister, and the precious child is lost.” + +At the next instant Natty rushed through the steams of the spring, and +appeared on the terrace, without his deerskin cap, his hair burnt to his +head, his shirt, of country check, black and filled with holes, and +his red features of a deeper color than ever, by the heat he had +encountered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + + “Even from the land of shadows, now + My father's awful ghost appears.” + --Gertrude Of Wyoming. + +For an hour after Louisa Grant was left by Miss Temple, in the situation +already mentioned, she continued in feverish anxiety, awaiting the +return of her friend. But as the time passed by without the reappearance +of Elizabeth, the terror of Louisa gradually increased, until her +alarmed fancy had conjured every species of danger that appertained to +the woods, excepting the one that really existed. The heavens had become +obscured by degrees, and vast volumes of smoke were pouring over the +valley; but the thoughts of Louisa were still recurring to beasts, +without dreaming of the real cause for apprehension. She was stationed +in the edge of the low pines and chestnuts that succeed the first or +large growth of the forest, and directly above the angle where the +highway turned from the straight course to the village, and ascended the +mountain laterally. Consequently, she commanded a view, not only of the +valley, but of the road beneath her. The few travellers that passed, she +observed, were engaged in earnest conversation, and frequently raised +their eyes to the hill, and at length she saw the people leaving the +court house, and gazing upward also. While under the influence of +the alarm excited by such unusual movements, reluctant to go, and +yet fearful to remain, Louisa was startled by the low, cracking, but +cautious treads of some one approaching through the bushes. She was on +the eve of flight, when Natty emerged from the cover, and stood at her +side. The old man laughed as he shook her kindly by a hand that was +passive with fear. + +“I am glad to meet you here, child,” he said; “for the back of the +mountain is a-fire, and it would be dangerous to go up it now, till it +has been burnt over once, and the dead wood is gone. There's a foolish +man, the comrade of that varmint who has given me all this trouble, +digging for ore on the east side. I told him that the kearless fellows, +who thought to catch a practysed hunter in the woods after dark, had +thrown the lighted pine-knots in the brush, and that 'twould kindle like +tow, and warned him to leave the hill. But he was set upon his business, +and nothing short of Providence could move him, if he isn't burnt and +buried in a grave of his own digging, he's made of salamanders. Why, +what ails the child? You look as skeary as if you'd seed more painters. +I wish there were more to be found! they'd count up faster than the +beaver. But where's the good child with a bad father? Did she forget her +promise to the old man?” + +“The hill! the hill!” shrieked Louisa; “she seeks you on the hill with +the powder!” + +Natty recoiled several feet at this unexpected intelligence. + +“The Lord of Heaven have mercy on her! She's on the Vision, and that's +a sheet of fire agin' this. Child, if ye love the dear one, and hope to +find a friend when ye need it most, to the village, and give the alarm. +The men are used to fighting fire, and there may be a chance left, Fly! +I bid ye fly! nor stop even for breath.” + +The Leather-Stocking had no sooner uttered this injunction, than he +disappeared in the bushes, and, when last seen by Louisa, was rushing +up the mountain, with a speed that none but those who were accustomed to +the toil could attain. + +“Have I found ye!” the old man exclaimed, when he burst out of the +smoke; “God be praised that I have found ye; but follow--there's no time +for talking.” + +“My dress!” said Elizabeth; “it would be fatal to trust myself nearer to +the flames in it.” + +“I bethought me of your flimsy things,” cried Natty, throwing loose the +folds of a covering buckskin that he carried on his arm, and wrapping +her form in it, in such a manner as to envelop her whole person; “now +follow, for it's a matter of life and death to us all.” + +“But John! what will become of John?” cried Edwards; “can we leave the +old warrior here to perish?” + +The eyes of Natty followed the direction of Edwards' finger, where he +beheld the Indian still seated as before, with the very earth under his +feet consuming with fire. Without delay the hunter approached the spot, +and spoke in Delaware: + +“Up and away, Chingachgook! will ye stay here to burn, like a Mingo +at the stake? The Moravians have teached ye better, I hope; the Lord +preserve me if the powder hasn't flashed atween his legs, and the skin +of his back is roasting. Will ye come, I say; will ye follow me?” + +“Why should Mohegan go?” returned the Indian, gloomily. “He has seen the +days of an eagle, and his eye grows dim He looks on the valley; he looks +on the water; he looks in the hunting-grounds--but he sees no Delawares. +Every one has a white skin. My fathers say, from the far-off land, Come. +My women, my young warriors, my tribe, say, Come. The Great Spirit says, +Come. Let Mohegan die.” + +“But you forget your friend,” cried Edwards, + +“'Tis useless to talk to an Indian with the death-fit on him, lad,” + interrupted Natty, who seized the strips of the blanket, and with +wonderful dexterity strapped the passive chieftain to his own back; when +he turned, and with a strength that seemed to bid defiance, not only to +his years, but to his load, he led the way to the point whence he had +issued. As they crossed the little terrace of rock, one of the dead +trees, that had been tottering for several minutes, fell on the spot +where they had stood, and filled the air with its cinders. + +Such an event quickened the steps of the party, who followed the +Leather-Stocking with the urgency required by the occasion. + +“Tread on the soft ground,” he cried, when they were in a gloom where +sight availed them but little, “and keep in the white smoke; keep the +skin close on her, lad; she's a precious one--another will be hard to be +found.” + +Obedient to the hunter's directions, they followed his steps and advice +implicitly; and, although the narrow pas sage along the winding of the +spring led amid burning logs and falling branches, they happily achieved +it in safety. No one but a man long accustomed to the woods could have +traced his route through the smoke, in which respiration was difficult, +and sight nearly useless; but the experience of Natty conducted them to +an opening through the rocks, where, with a little difficulty, they soon +descended to another terrace, and emerged at once into a tolerably clear +atmosphere. + +The feelings of Edwards and Elizabeth at reaching this spot may be +imagined, though not easily described. No one seemed to exult more than +their guide, who turned, with Mohegan still lashed to his back, and, +laughing in his own manner, said: + +“I knowed 'twa the Frenchman's powder, gal; it went so all together; +your coarse grain will squib for a minute. The Iroquois had none of the +best powder when I went agin' the Canada tribes, under Sir William. Did +I ever tell you the story, lad, consarning the scrimmage with--” + +“For God's sake, tell me nothing now, Natty, until we are entirely safe. +Where shall we go next?” + +“Why, on the platform of rock over the cave, to be sure; you will be +safe enough there, or we'll go Into It, if you be so minded.” The young +man started, and appeared agitated; but, Looking around him with an +anxious eye, said quickly: + +“Shalt we be safe on the rock? cannot the fire reach us there, too?” + +“Can't the boy see?” said Natty, with the coolness of one accustomed to +the kind of danger he had just encountered. “Had ye stayed in the place +above ten minutes longer, you would both have been in ashes, but here +you may stay forever, and no fire can touch you, until they burn the +rocks as well as the woods.” + +With this assurance, which was obviously true, they proceeded to the +spot, and Natty deposited his load, placing the Indian on the ground +with his back against a fragment of the rocks. Elizabeth sank on the +ground, and buried her face in her hands, while her heart was swelling +with a variety of conflicting emotions. + +“Let me urge you to take a restorative, Miss Temple,” said Edwards +respectfully; “your frame will sink else.” + +“Leave me, leave me,” she said, raising her beaming eyes for a moment +to his; “I feel too much for words! I am grateful, Oliver, for this +miraculous escape; and next to my God to you.” + +Edwards withdrew to the edge of the rock, and shouted: + +“Benjamin! where are you, Benjamin?” + +A hoarse voice replied, as if from the bowels of the earth: + +“Hereaway, master; stowed in this here bit of a hole, which is all the +time as hot as the cook's coppers. I'm tired of my berth, d'ye see, and +if-so-be that Leather Stocking has got much overhauling to do before he +sails after them said beaver I'll go into dock again, and ride out my +quarantine, till I can get prottick from the law, and so hold on upon +the rest of my 'spaniolas.” + +“Bring up a glass of water from the spring,” continued Edwards, “and +throw a little wine in it; hasten, I entreat you!” + +“I knows but little of your small drink, Master Oliver,” returned the +steward, his voice issuing out of the cave into the open air, “and +the Jamaikey held out no longer than to take a parting kiss with Billy +Kirby, when he anchored me alongside the highway last night, where you +run me down in the chase. But here's summat of a red color that may suit +a weak stomach, mayhap. That Master Kirby is no first-rate in a boat; +but he'll tack a cart among the stumps, all the same as a Lon'on pilot +will back and fill, through the colliers in the Pool.” + +As the steward ascended while talking, by the time he had ended his +speech he appeared on the rock with the desired restoratives, exhibiting +the worn-out and bloated features of a man who had run deep in a +debauch, and that lately. + +Elizabeth took from the hands of Edwards the liquor which he offered and +then motioned to be left again to herself. + +The youth turned at her bidding, and observed Natty kindly assiduous +around the person of Mohegan. When their eyes met, the hunter said +sorrowfully: + +“His time has come, lad; see it in his eyes--when an Indian fixes his +eye, he means to go but to one place; and what the wilful creatures put +their minds on, they're sure to do.” + +A quick tread prevented the reply, and in a few moments, to the +amazement of the whole party, Mr. Grant was seen clinging to the side of +the mountain, and striving to reach the place where they stood. Oliver +sprang to his assistance, and by their united efforts the worthy divine +was soon placed safely among them. + +“How came you added to our number?” cried Edwards. “Is the hill alive +with people at a time like this?” + +The hasty but pious thanksgivings of the clergyman were soon ejaculated, +and, when he succeeded in collecting his bewildered senses, he replied: + +“I heard that my child was seen coming to the mountain; and, when the +fire broke over its summit, my uneasiness drew me up the road, where I +found Louisa, in terror for Miss Temple. It was to seek her that I came +into this dangerous place; and I think, but for God's mercy, through the +dogs of Natty, I should have perished in the flames myself.” + +“Ay! follow the hounds, and if there's an opening they'll scent it out,” + said Natty; “their noses be given them the same as man's reason.” + +“I did so, and they led me to this place; but, praise be to God that I +see you all safe and well.” + +“No, no,” returned the hunter; “safe we be, but as for well, John can't +be called in a good way, unless you'll say that for a man that's taking +his last look at 'arth.” + +“He speaks the truth!” said the divine, with the holy awe with which he +ever approached the dying; “I have been by too many death-beds, not to +see that the hand of the tyrant is laid on this old warrior. Oh! how +consoling it is to know that he has not rejected the offered mercy in +the hour of his strength and of worldly temptations! The offspring of +a race of heathens, he has in truth been 'as a brand plucked from the +burning.'” + +“No, no,” returned Natty, who alone stood with him by the side of +the dying warrior; “it is no burning that ails him, though his Indian +feelings made him scorn to move, unless it be the burning of man's +wicked thoughts for near fourscore years; but it's natur' giving out in +a chasm that's run too long.--Down with ye, Hector! down, I say! Flesh +Isn't iron, that a man can live forever, and see his kith and kin driven +to a far country, and he left to mourn, with none to keep him company.” + +“John,” said the divine, tenderly, “do you hear me? do you wish the +prayers appointed by the church, at this trying moment?” + +The Indian turned his ghastly face toward the speaker, and fastened his +dark eyes on him, steadily, but vacantly. + +No sign of recognition was made: and in a moment he moved his head again +slowly toward the vale, and began to sing, using his own language, in +those low, guttural tones, that have been so often mentioned, his notes +rising with his theme, till they swelled so loud as to be distinct. + +“I will come! I will come! to the land of the just I will come! The +Maquas I have slain! I have slain the Maquas! and the Great Spirit calls +to his son. I will come! I will come to the land of the just! I will +come!” + +“What says he, Leather-Stocking?” Inquired the priest, with tender +interest; “sings he the Redeemer's praise?” + +“No, no--'tis his own praise that he speaks now,” said Natty, turning in +a melancholy manner from the sight of his dying friend; “and a good +right he has to say it all, for I know every word to be true.” + +“May heaven avert such self-righteousness from his heart! Humility +and penitence are the seals of Christianity; and, without feeling them +deeply seated in the soul, all hope is delusive, and leads to vain +expectations. Praise himself when his whole soul and body should unite +to praise his Maker! John! you have enjoyed the blessings of a gospel +ministry, and have been called from out a multitude of sinners and +pagans, and, I trust, for a wise and gracious purpose. Do you now feel +what it is to be justified by our Saviour's death, and reject all weak +and idle dependence on good works, that spring from man's pride and +vainglory?” + +The Indian did not regard his interrogator, but he raised his head +again, and said in a low, distinct voice: + +“Who can say that the Maqous know the back of the Mohegan? What enemy +that trusted in him did not see the morning? What Mingo that he chased +ever sang the song of triumph? Did Mohegan ever he? No; the truth lived +in him, and none else could come out of him. In his youth he was a +warrior, and his moccasins left the stain of blood. In his age he was +wise; his words at the council fire did not blow away with the winds.” + +“Ah! he has abandoned that vain relic of paganism, his songs,” cried the +divine; “what says he now? is he sensible of his lost state?” + +“Lord!! man,” said Natty, “he knows his end is at hand as well as you +or I; but, so far from thinking it a loss, he believes it to be a great +gain. He is old and stiff, and you have made the game so scarce and +shy, that better shots than him find it hard to get a livelihood. Now +he thinks he shall travel where it will always be good hunting; Where no +wicked or unjust Indians can go; and where he shall meet all his tribe +together agin. There's not much loss in that, to a man whose hands are +hardly fit for basket-making Loss! if there be any loss, 'twill be to +me. I'm sure after he's gone, there will be but little left for me but +to follow.” + +“His example and end, which, I humbly trust, shall yet be made +glorious,” returned Mr. Grant, “should lead your mind to dwell on the +things of another life. But I feel it to be my duty to smooth the way +for the parting spirit. This is the moment, John, when the reflection +that you did not reject the mediation of the Redeemer, will bring balm +to your soul. Trust not to any act of former days, but lay the burden +of your sins at his feet, and you have his own blessed assurance that he +will not desert you.” + +“Though all you say be true, and you have scriptur' gospels for it, +too,” said Natty, “you will make nothing of the Indian. He hasn't seen +a Moravian priest sin' the war; and it's hard to keep them from going back to +their native ways. I should think 'twould be as well to let the old man +pass in peace. He's happy now; I know it by his eye; and that's more +than I would say for the chief, sin' the time the Delawares broke up +from the head waters of their river and went west. Ah's me! 'tis a +grevious long time that, and many dark days have we seen together sin' +it.” + +“Hawk-eye!” said Mohegan, rousing with the last glimmering of life. +“Hawk-eye! listen to the words of your brother.” + +“Yes, John,” said the hunter, in English, strongly affected by the +appeal, and drawing to his side, “we have been brothers; and more so +than it means in the Indian tongue. What would ye have with me, +Chingachgook?” + +“Hawk-eye! my fathers call me to the happy hunting grounds. The path +is clear, and the eyes of Mohegan grow young. I look--but I see no +white-skins; there are none to be seen but just and brave Indians. +Farewell, Hawk-eye--you shall go with the Fire-eater and the Young Eagle +to the white man's heaven; but I go after my fathers. Let the bow, and +tomahawk, and pipe, and the wampum of Mohegan he laid in his grave; for +when he starts 'twil be in the night, like a warrior on a war-party, and +he can not stop to seek them.” + +“What says he, Nathaniel?” cried Mr. Grant, earnestly, and with obvious +anxiety; “does he recall the promises of the mediation? and trust his +salvation to the Rock of Ages?” + +Although the faith of the hunter was by no means clear, yet the fruits +of early instruction had not entirely fallen in the wilderness. He +believed in one God, and one heaven; and when the strong feeling excited +by the leave-taking of his old companion, which was exhibited by the +powerful working of every muscle in his weather-beaten face, suffered +him to speak, he replied: + +“No--no--he trusts only to the Great Spirit of the savages, and to his +own good deeds. He thinks, like all his people, that he is to be young +agin, and to hunt, and be happy to the end of etarnity, its pretty much +the same with all colors, parson. I could never bring myself to think +that I shall meet with these hounds, or my piece, in another world; +though the thought of leaving them forever sometimes brings hard +feelings over me, and makes me cling to life with a greater craving than +beseems three-Score-and-ten.” + +“The Lord in his mercy avert such a death from one who has been sealed +with the sign of the cross!” cried the minister, in holy fervor. “John--” + +He paused for the elements. During the period occupied by the events +which we have related, the dark clouds in the horizon had continued +to increase in numbers and multitude; and the awful stillness that now +pervaded the air, announced a crisis in the state of the atmosphere. The +flames, which yet continued to rage along the sides of the mountain, +no longer whirled in uncertain currents of their own eddies, but blazed +high and steadily toward the heavens. There was even a quietude in the +ravages of the destructive element, as if it foresaw that a hand greater +titan even its own desolating power, was about to stay its progress. +The piles of smoke which lay above the valley began to rise, and were +dispelling rapidly; and streaks of livid lightning were dancing through +the masses of clouds that impended over the western hills. While Mr. +Grant was speaking, a flash, which sent its quivering light through the +gloom, laying bare the whole opposite horizon, was followed by a loud +crash of thunder, that rolled away among the hills, seeming to shake the +foundations of the earth to their centre. Mohegan raised him self, as if +in obedience to a signal for his departure, and stretched his wasted arm +toward the west. His dark face lighted with a look of joy; which, with +all other expressions, gradually disappeared; the muscles stiffening +as they retreated to a state of rest; a slight convulsion played, for a +single instant, about his lips; and his arm slowly dropped by his side, +leaving the frame of the dead warrior reposing against the rock with +its glassy eyes open, and fixed on the distant hills, as if the deserted +shell were tracing the flight of the spirit to its new abode. + +All this Mr. Grant witnessed in silent awe; but when the last echoes of +the thunder died away he clasped his bands together, with pious energy, +and repeated, in the full, rich tones of assured faith; + +“Lord! how unsearchable are Thy judgments; and Thy ways past finding +out! 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the +latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin, worms destroy this +body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for my self, and +mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” + +As the divine closed this burst of devotion, he bowed his head meekly to +his bosom, and looked all the dependence and humility that the inspired +language expressed. + +When Mr. Grant retired from the body, the hunter approached, and taking +the rigid hand of his friend, looked him wistfully in the face for some +time without speaking, when he gave vent to his feelings by saying, in +the mournful voice of one who felt deeply: + +“Red skin or white, it's all over now! he's to be judged by a righteous +Judge, and by no laws that's made to suit times, and new ways. Well, +there's only one more death, and the world will be left to me and the +hounds, Ah's me! a man must wait the time of God's pleasure, but I begin +to weary of life. There is scarcely a tree standing that I know, and +it's hard to find a face that I was acquainted with in my younger +days.” + +Large drops of rain now began to fall, and diffuse themselves over +the dry rock, while the approach of the thunder shower was rapid and +certain. The body of the Indian was hastily removed into the cave +beneath, followed by the whining hounds, who missed and moaned for the +look of intelligence that had always met their salutations to the chief. + +Edwards made some hasty and confused excuse for not taking Elizabeth +into the same place, which was now completely closed in front with +logs and bark, saying some-thing that she hardly understood about its +darkness, and the unpleasantness of being with the dead body. Miss +Temple, however, found a sufficient shelter against the torrent of rain +that fell, under the projection of a rock which overhung them, But long +before the shower was over, the sounds of voices were heard below them +crying aloud for Elizabeth, and men soon appeared beating the dying +embers of the bushes, as they worked their way cautiously among the +unextinguished brands. + +At the first short cessation in the rain, Oliver conducted Elizabeth to +the road, where he left her. Before parting, however, he found time +to say, in a fervent manner that his companion was now at no loss to +interpret. + +“The moment of concealment is over, Miss Temple. By this time to-morrow, +I shall remove a veil that perhaps it has been weakness to keep around +me and my afffairs so long. But I have had romantic and foolish wishes +and weakness; and who has not, that is young and torn by conflicting +passions? God bless you! I hear your father's voice; he is coming up +the road, and I would not, just now, subject myself to detention. Thank +Heaven, you are safe again; that alone removes the weight of a world +from my spirit!” + +He waited for no answer, but sprang into the woods. Elizabeth, +notwithstanding she heard the cries of her father as he called upon her +name, paused until he was concealed among the smoking trees, when she +turned, and in a moment rushed into the arms of her half-distracted +Parent. + +A carriage had been provided, into which Miss Temple hastily entered; +when the cry was passed along the hill, that the lost one was found, and +the people returned to the village wet and dirty, but elated with the +thought that the daughter of their landlord had escaped from so horrid +and untimely an end.* + + * The probability of a fire in the woods similar to that here described + has been questioned. The writer can only say that he once witnessed a + fire in another part of New York that compelled a man to desert his + wagon and horses in the highway, and in which the latter were + destroyed. In order to estimate the probability of such an event, it + is necessary to remember the effects of a long drought in that climate + and the abundance of dead wood which is found in a forest like that + described, The fires in the American forests frequently rage to such + an extent as to produce a sensible effect on the atmosphere at a + distance of fifty miles. Houses, barns, and fences are quite commonly + swept away in their course. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + + “Selictar! unsheathe then our chief's scimetar; + Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of war; + Ye mountains! that see us descend to the shore, + Shall view us as victors, or view us no more.” + --Byron. + +The heavy showers that prevailed during the remainder of the day +completely stopped the progress of the flames; though glimmering fires +were observed during the night, on different parts of the hill, wherever +there was a collection of fuel to feed the element. The next day the +woods for 'many miles were black and smoking, and were stripped of every +vestige of brush and dead wood; but the pines and hemlocks still reared +their heads proudly among the hills, and even the smaller trees of the +forest retained a feeble appearance of life and vegetation. + +The many tongues of rumor were busy in exaggerating the miraculous +escape of Elizabeth; and a report was generally credited, that Mohegan +had actually perished in the flames. This belief became confirmed, and +was indeed rendered probable, when the direful intelligence reached the +village that Jotham Riddel, the miner, was found in his hole, nearly +dead with suffocation, and burnt to such a degree that no hopes were +entertained of his life. + +The public attention became much alive to the events of the last few +days; and, just at this crisis, the convicted counterfeiters took the +hint from Natty, and, on the night succeeding the fire, found means to +cut through their log prison also, and to escape unpunished. When this +news began to circulate through the village, blended with the fate of +Jotham, and the exaggerated and tortured reports of the events on the +hill, the popular opinion was freely expressed, as to the propriety of +seizing such of the fugitives as remained within reach. Men talked of +the cave as a secret receptacle of guilt; and, as the rumor of ores +and metals found its way into the confused medley of conjectures, +counterfeiting, and everything else that was wicked and dangerous to +the peace of society, suggested themselves to the busy fancies of the +populace. + +While the public mind was in this feverish state, it was hinted that +the wood had been set on fire by Edwards and the Leather-Stocking, and +that, consequently, they alone were responsible for the damages. This +opinion soon gained ground, being most circulated by those who, by their +own heedlessness, had caused the evil; and there was one irresistible +burst of the common sentiment that an attempt should be made to punish +the offenders. Richard was by no means deaf to this appeal, and by noon +he set about in earnest to see the laws executed. + +Several stout young men were selected, and taken apart with an +appearance of secrecy, where they received some important charge from +the sheriff, immediately under the eyes, but far removed from the ears, +of all in the village. Possessed of a knowledge of their duty, these +youths hurried into the hills, with a bustling manner, as if the fate +of the world depended on their diligence, and, at the same time, with an +air of mystery as great as if they were engaged on secret matters of the +state. + +At twelve precisely a drum beat the “long roll” before the “Bold +Dragoon,” and Richard appeared, accompanied by Captain Hollister, who +was clad in Investments as commander of the “Templeton Light Infantry,” + when the former demanded of the latter the aid of the posse comitatus +in enforcing the laws of the country. We have not room to record the +speeches of the two gentlemen on this occasion, but they are preserved +in the columns of the little blue newspaper, which is yet to be found on +the file, and are said to be highly creditable to the legal formula +of one of the parties, and to the military precision of the other. +Everything had been previously arranged, and, as the red-coated drummer +continued to roll out his clattering notes, some five-and-twenty +privates appeared in the ranks, and arranged themselves in the order of +battle. + +As this corps was composed of volunteers, and was commanded by a man +who had passed the first five-and-thirty years of his life in camps and +garrisons, it was the non-parallel of military science in that country, +and was confidently pronounced by the judicious part of the Templeton +community, to be equal in skill and appearance to any troops in the +known world; in physical endowments they were, certainly, much superior! +To this assertion there were but three dissenting voices, and one +dissenting opinion. The opinion belonged to Marmaduke, who, however, saw +no necessity for its promulgation. Of the voices, one, and that a pretty +loud one', came from the spouse of the commander himself, who frequently +reproached her husband for condescending to lead such an irregular band +of warriors, after he had filled the honorable station of sergeant-major +to a dashing corps of Virginia cavalry through much of the recent war. + +Another of these skeptical sentiments was invariably expressed by Mr. +Pump, whenever the company paraded generally in some such terms as +these, which were uttered with that sort of meekness that a native of +the island of our forefathers is apt to assume when he condescends to +praise the customs or character of her truant progeny: + +“It's mayhap that they knows summat about loading and firing, d'ye see, +but as for working ship? why, a corporal's guard of the Boadishey's +marines would back and fill on their quarters in such a manner as to +surround and captivate them all in half a glass.” As there was no one +to deny this assertion, the marines of the Boadicea were held in a +corresponding degree of estimation. + +The third unbeliever was Monsieur Le Quoi, who merely whispered to the +sheriff, that the corps was one of the finest he had ever seen second +only to the Mousquetaires of Le Boa Louis! However, as Mrs. Hollister +thought there was something like actual service in the present +appearances, and was, in consequence, too busily engaged with certain +preparations of her own, to make her comments; as Benjamin was absent, +and Monsieur Le Quoi too happy to find fault with anything, the corps +escaped criticism and comparison altogether on this momentous day, when +they certainly had greater need of self-confidence than on any other +previous occasion. Marmaduke was said to be again closeted with Mr. +Van der School and no interruption was offered to the movements of the +troops. At two o'clock precisely the corps shouldered arms, beginning on +the right wing, next to the veteran, and carrying the motion through to +the left with great regularity. When each musket was quietly fixed in +its proper situation, the order was given to wheel to the left, and +march. As this was bringing raw troops, at once, to face their enemy, it +is not to be supposed that the manoeuver was executed with their usual +accuracy; but as the music struck up the inspiring air of Yankee-doodle, +and Richard, accompanied by Mr. Doolittle preceded the troops boldly +down the street, Captain Hollister led on, with his head elevated to +forty-five degrees, with a little, low cocked hat perched on his crown, +carrying a tremendous dragoon sabre at a poise, and trailing at his +heels a huge steel scabbard, that had war in its very clattering. There +was a good deal of difficulty in getting all the platoons (there were +six) to look the same way; but, by the time they reached the defile +of the bridge, the troops were in sufficiently compact order. In this +manner they marched up the hill to the summit of the mountain, no other +alteration taking place in the disposition of the forces, excepting that +a mutual complaint was made, by the sheriff and the magistrate, of a +failure in wind, which gradually' brought these gentlemen to the rear. +It will be unnecessary to detail the minute movements that succeeded. +We shall briefly say, that the scouts came in and reported, that, so far +from retreating, as had been anticipated, the fugitives had evidently +gained a knowledge of the attack, and were fortifying for a desperate +resistance. This intelligence certainly made a material change, not only +in the plans of the leaders, but in the countenances of the soldiery +also. The men looked at one another with serious faces, and Hiram and +Richard began to consult together, apart. + +At this conjuncture, they were joined by Billy Kirby, who came along the +highway, with his axe under his arm, as much in advance of his team as +Captain Hollister had been of his troops in the ascent. The wood-chopper +was amazed at the military array, but the sheriff eagerly availed +himself of this powerful reinforcement, and commanded his assistance in +putting the laws in force. Billy held Mr. Jones in too much deference +to object; and it was finally arranged that he should be the bearer of +a summons to the garrison to surrender before they proceeded to +extremities. The troops now divided, one party being led by the captain, +over the Vision, and were brought in on the left of the cave, while the +remainder advanced upon its right, under the orders of the lieutenant. +Mr. Jones and Dr. Todd--for the surgeon was in attendance also--appeared +on the platform of rock, immediately over the heads of the garrison, +though out of their sight. Hiram thought this approaching too near, and +he therefore accompanied Kirby along the side of the hill to within +a safe distance of the fortifications, where he took shelter behind a +tree. Most of the men discovered great accuracy of eye in bringing some +object in range between them and their enemy, and the only two of the +besiegers, who were left in plain sight of the besieged, were Captain +Hollister on one side, and the wood-chopper on the other. The veteran +stood up boldly to the front, supporting his heavy sword in one +undeviating position, with his eye fixed firmly on his enemy, while the +huge form of Billy was placed in that kind of quiet repose, with either +hand thrust into his bosom, bearing his axe under his right arm, which +permitted him, like his own oxen, to rest standing. So far, not a word +had been exchanged between the belligerents. The besieged had drawn +together a pile of black logs and branches of trees, which they had +formed into a chevaux-de-frise, making a little circular abatis in front +of the entrance to the cave. As the ground was steep and slippery in +every direction around the place, and Benjamin appeared behind the works +on one side, and Natty on the other, the arrangement was by no means +contemptible, especially as the front was sufficiently guarded by the +difficulty of the approach. By this time, Kirby had received his orders, +and he advanced coolly along the mountain, picking his way with the same +indifference as if he were pursuing his ordinary business. When he was +within a hundred feet of the works, the long and much-dreaded rifle of +the Leather-Stocking was seen issuing from the parapet, and his voice +cried aloud: + +“Keep off! Billy Kirby, keep off! I wish ye no harm; but if a man of ye +all comes a step nigher, there'll be blood spilt atwixt us. God forgive +the one that draws it first, but so it must be.” + +“Come, old chap,” said Billy, good-naturedly, “don't be crabb'd, but +hear what a man has got to say I've no consarn in the business, only +to see right 'twixt man and man; and I don't kear the valie of a +beetle-ring which gets the better; but there's Squire Doolittle, yonder +be hind the beech sapling, he has invited me to come in and ask you to +give up to the law--that's all.” + +“I see the varmint! I see his clothes!” cried the indignant Natty: “and +if he'll only show so much flesh as will bury a rifle bullet, thirty to +the pound, I'll make him feel me. Go away, Billy, I bid ye; you know my +aim, and I bear you no malice.” + +“You over-calculate your aim, Natty,” said the other, as he stepped +behind a pine that stood near him, “if you think to shoot a man through +a tree with a three-foot butt. I can lay this tree right across you in +ten minutes by any man's watch, and in less time, too; so be civil--I +want no more than what's right.” + +There was a simple seriousness in the countenance of Natty, that showed +he was much in earnest; but it was also evident that he was reluctant to +shed human blood. He answered the taunt of the wood-chopper, by saying: + +“I know you drop a tree where you will, Billy Kirby; but if you show a +hand, or an arm, in doing it, there'll be bones to be set, and blood to +staunch. If it's only to get into the cave that ye want, wait till a two +hours' sun, and you may enter it in welcome; but come in now you shall +not. There's one dead body already, lying on the cold rocks, and there's +another in which the life can hardly be said to stay. If you will come +in, there'll be dead with out as well as within.” + +The wood-chopper stepped out fearlessly from his cover, and cried: + +“That's fair; and what's fair is right. He wants you to stop till it's +two hours to sundown; and I see reason in the thing. A man can give up +when he's wrong, if you don't crowd him too hard; but you crowd a man, +and he gets to be like a stubborn ox--the more you beat, the worse he +kicks.” + +The sturdy notions of independence maintained by Billy neither suited +the emergency nor the impatience of Mr. Jones, who was burning with +a desire to examine the hid den mysteries of the cave. He therefore +interrupted this amicable dialogue with his own voice; + +“I command you Nathaniel Bumppo, by my authority, to surrender your +person to the law,” he cried. “And I command you, gentlemen, to aid me +in performing my duty. Benjamin Penguillan I arrest you, and order you +to follow me to the jail of the county, by virtue of this warrant.” + +“I'd follow ye, Squire Dickens,” said Benjamin, removing the pipe from +his month (for during the whole scene the ex-major-domo had been very +composedly smoking); “ay! I'd sail in your wake, to the end of the world, +if-so--be that there was such a place, where there isn't, seeing that +it's round. Now mayhap, Master Hollister, having lived all your life on +shore, you isn't acquainted that the world, d'ye see.” + +“Surrender!” interrupted the veteran, in a voice that startled his +hearers, and which actually caused his own forces to recoil several +paces; “surrender, Benjamin Pengullan, or expect no quarter.'” + +“Damn your quarter!” said Benjamin, rising from the log on which he was +seated, and taking a squint along the barrel of the swivel, which had +been brought on the hill during the night, and now formed the means of +defence on his side of the works. “Look you, master or captain, thof I +questions if ye know the name of a rope, except the one that's to hang +ye, there's no need of singing out, as if ye was hailing a deaf man on a +topgallant yard. May-hap you think you've got my true name in your sheep +skin; but what British sailor finds it worth while to sail in these +seas, without a sham on his stern, in case of need, d'ye see. If you +call me Penguillan, you calls me by the name of the man on whose hand, +d'ye see, I hove into daylight; and he was a gentleman; and that's more +than my worst enemy will say of any of the family of Benjamin Stubbs.” + +“Send the warrant round to me, and I'll put in an alias,” cried Hiram, +from behind his cover. + +“Put in a jackass, and you'll put in yourself, Mister Doo-but-little,” + shouted Benjamin, who kept squinting along his little iron tube, with +great steadiness. + +“I give you but one moment to yield,” cried Richard. “Benjamin! +Benjamin! this is not the gratitude I expected from you.” + +“I tell you, Richard Jones,” said Natty, who dreaded the sheriff's +influence over his comrade; “though the canister the gal brought be +lost, there's powder enough in the cave to lift the rock you stand on. +I'll take off my roof if you don't hold your peace.” + +“I think it beneath the dignity of my office to parley further with +the prisoners,” the sheriff observer to his companion, while they both +retired with a precipitancy that Captain Hollister mistook for the +signal to advance. + +“Charge baggonet!” shouted the veteran; “march!” + +Although this signal was certainly expected, it took the assailed a +little by surprise, and the veteran approached the works, crying, +“Courage, my brave lads! give them no quarter unless they surrender;” and +struck a furious blow upward with his sabre, that would have divided the +steward into moieties by subjecting him to the process of decapitation, +but for the fortunate interference of the muzzle of the swivel. As it +was, the gun was dismounted at the critical moment that Benjamin was +applying his pipe to the priming, and in consequence some five or +six dozen of rifle bullets were projected into the air, in nearly a +perpendicular line. Philosophy teaches us that the atmosphere will not +retain lead; and two pounds of the metal, moulded into bullets of thirty +to the pound, after describing an ellipsis in their journey, returned +to the earth rattling among the branches of the trees directly over the +heads of the troops stationed in the rear of their captain. Much of +the success of an attack, made by irregular soldiers, depends on the +direction in which they are first got in motion. In the present instance +it was retrograde, and in less than a minute after the bellowing report +of the swivel among the rocks and caverns, the whole weight of the +attack from the left rested on the prowess of the single arm of the +veteran. Benjamin received a severe contusion from the recoil of his +gun, which produced a short stupor, during which period the ex-steward +was prostrate on the ground. Captain Hollister availed himself of this +circumstance to scramble ever the breastwork and obtain a footing in the +bastion--for such was the nature of the fortress, as connected with +the cave. The moment the veteran found himself within the works of his +enemy, he rushed to the edge of the fortification, and, waving his sabre +over his head, shouted: + +“Victory! come on, my brave boys, the work's our own!” + +All this was perfectly military, and was such an example as a gallant +officer was in some measure bound to exhibit to his men but the outcry +was the unlucky cause of turning the tide of success. Natty, who +had been keeping a vigalent eye on the wood-chopper, and the enemy +immediately before him, wheeled at this alarm, and was appalled at +beholding his comrade on the ground, and the veteran standing on his own +bulwark, giving forth the cry of victory! The muzzle of the long rifle +was turned instantly toward the captain. There was a moment when the +life of the old soldier was in great jeopardy but the object to shoot at +was both too large and too near for the Leather-Stocking, who, instead +of pulling his trigger, applied the gun to the rear of his enemy, and +by a powerful shove sent him outside of the works with much greater +rapidity than he had entered them. The spot on which Captain Hollister +alighted was directly in front, where, as his feet touched the ground, +so steep and slippery was the side of the mountain, it seemed to recede +from under them. His motion was swift, and so irregular as utterly to +confuse the faculties of the old soldier. During its continuance, he +supposed himself to be mounted, and charging through the ranks of his +enemy. At every tree he made a blow, of course, as at a foot-soldier; +and just as he was making the cut “St. George” at a half burnt sapling +he landed in the highway, and, to his utter amazement, at the feet +of his own spouse. When Mrs. Hollister, who was toiling up the hill, +followed by at least twenty curious boys, leaning with one hand on the +staff with which she ordinarily walked, and bearing in the other +an empty bag, witnessed this exploit of her husband, indignation +immediately got the better, not only of her religion, but of her +philosophy. + +“Why, sargeant! is it flying ye are?” she cried--“that I should live to +see a husband of mine turn his hack to an inimy! and such a one! Here +I have been telling the b'ys, as we come along, all about the saige of +Yorrektown, and how ye was hurted; and how ye'd be acting the same agin +the day; and I mate ye retraiting jist as the first gun is fired. Och! I +may trow away the bag! for if there's plunder, 'twill not be the wife of +sich as yerself that will be privileged to be getting the same. They do +say, too, there is a power of goold and silver in the place--the Lord +forgive me for setting my heart on woorldly things; but what falls in +the battle, there's scriptur' for believing, is the just property of the +victor.” + +“Retreating!” exclaimed the amazed veteran; “where's my horse? he has +been shot under me--I----” + +“Is the man mad?” interrupted his wife--“devil the horse do ye own, +sargeant, and ye're nothing but a shabby captain of malaishy. Oh! if the +ra'al captain was here, tis the other way ye'd be riding, dear, or you +would not follow your laider!” + +While this worthy couple were thus discussing events, the battle began +to rage more violently than ever above them. When Leather-Stocking saw +his enemy fairly under headway, as Benjamin would express it, he gave +his attention to the right wing of the assailants. It would have been +easy for Kirby, with his powerful frame, to have seized the moment to +scale the bastion, and, with his great strength, to have sent both of +its defenders in pursuit of the veteran; but hostility appeared to be +the passion that the wood-chopper indulged the least in at that moment, +for, in a voice that was heard by the retreating left wing, he shouted: + +“Hurrah well done, captain! keep it up! how he handles his bush-hook! he +makes nothing of a sapling!” and such other encouraging exclamations to +the flying veteran, until, overcome by mirth, the good-natured fellow +seated himself on the ground, kicking the earth with delight, and giving +vent to peal after peal of laughter. + +Natty stood all this time in a menacing attitude, with his rifle pointed +over the breastwork, watching with a quick and cautions eye the least +movement of the assail ants. The outcry unfortunately tempted the +ungovernable curiosity of Hiram to take a peep from behind his cover at +the state of the battle. Though this evolution was performed with great +caution, in protecting his front, he left, like many a better commander, +his rear exposed to the attacks of his enemy. Mr. Doolittle belonged +physically to a class of his countrymen, to whom Nature has denied, +in their formation, the use of curved lines. Every thing about him was +either straight or angular. But his tailor was a woman who worked, +like a regimental contractor, by a set of rules that gave the same +configuration to the whole human species. Consequently, when Mr. +Doolittle leaned forward in the manner described, a loose drapery +appeared behind the tree, at which the rifle of Natty was pointed with +the quickness of lightning. A less experienced man would have aimed at +the flowing robe, which hung like a festoon half-way to the earth; but +the Leather-Stocking knew both the man and his female tailor better; +and when the smart report of the rifle was heard, Kirby, who watched the +whole manoeuvre in breath less expectation, saw the bark fly from the +beech and the cloth, at some distance above the loose folds, wave at the +same instant. No battery was ever unmasked with more promptitiude than +Hiram advanced from behind the tree at this summons. + +He made two or three steps, with great precision, to the front and, +placing one hand on the afflicted part, stretched forth the other with a +menacing air toward Natty, and cried aloud: + +“Gawl darn ye: this shan't he settled so easy; I'll follow it up from +the 'common pleas' to the 'court of errors.'” + +Such a shocking imprecation, from the mouth of so orderly a man as +Squire Doolittle, with the fearless manner in which he exposed himself, +together with, perhaps, the knowledge that Natty's rifle was unloaded, +encouraged the troops in the rear, who gave a loud shout, and fired a +volley into the tree-tops, after the contents of the swivel. Animated by +their own noise, the men now rushed on in earnest; and Billy Kirby, who +thought the joke, good as it was, had gone far enough, was in the act +of scaling the works, when Judge Temple appeared on the opposite side, +exclaiming: + +“Silence and peace! why do I see murder and blood shed attempted? Is not +the law sufficient to protect itself, that armed bands must be gathered, +as in rebellion and war, to see justice performed?” + +“'Tis the posse comitatus,” shouted the sheriff, from a distant rock, +“who-” + +“Say rather a posse of demons. I command the peace.” + +“Hold shied not blood!” cried a voice from the top of the Vision. “Hold, +for the sake of Heaven, fire no more! all shall be yielded! you shall +enter the cave!” + +Amazement produced the desired effect. Natty, who had reloaded his +piece, quietly seated himself on the logs, and rested his head on his +hands, while the “Light Infantry” ceased their military movements, and +waited the issue in suspense. + +In less than a minute Edwards came rushing down the hill, followed by +Major Hartman, with a velocity that was surprising for his years. They +reached the terrace in an instant, from which the youth led the way, by +the hollow in the rock, to the mouth of the cave, into which they +both entered, leaving all without silent, and gazing after them with +astonishment. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + + “I am dumb. Were you the doctor, and I knew you not?” + --Shakespeare. + +During the five or six minutes that elapsed before the youth and Major +reappeared. Judge Temple and the sheriff together with most of the +volunteers, ascended to the terrace, where the latter began to express +their conjectures of the result, and to recount their individual +services in the conflict. But the sight of the peace-makers ascending +the ravine shut every mouth. + +On a rude chair, covered with undressed deer-skins, they supported a +human being, whom they seated carefully and respectfully in the midst of +the assembly. His head was covered by long, smooth locks of the color +of snow. His dress, which was studiously neat and clean, was composed of +such fabrics as none but the wealthiest classes wear, but was threadbare +and patched; and on his feet were placed a pair of moccasins, ornamented +in the best manner of Indian ingenuity. The outlines of his face were +grave and dignified, though his vacant eye, which opened and turned +slowly to the faces of those around him in unmeaning looks, too surely' +announced that the period had arrived when age brings the mental +imbecility of childhood. + +Natty had followed the supporters of this unexpected object to the +top of the cave, and took his station at a little distance behind him, +leaning on his rifle, in the midst of his pursuers, with a fearlessness +that showed that heavier interests than those which affected himself +were to be decided. Major Hartmann placed himself beside the aged man, +uncovered, with his whole soul beaming through those eyes which so +commonly danced with frolic and humor. Edwards rested with one hand +familiarly but affectionately on the chair, though his heart was +swelling with emotions that denied him utterance. + +All eyes were gazing intently, but each tongue continued mute. At length +the decrepit stranger, turning his vacant looks from face to face, made +a feeble attempt to rise, while a faint smile crossed his wasted face, +like an habitual effort at courtesy, as he said, in a hollow, tremulous +voice: + +“Be pleased to be seated, gentlemen. The council will open immediately. +Each one who loves a good and virtuous king will wish to see these +colonies continue loyal. Be seated--I pray you, be seated, gentlemen. +The troops shall halt for the night.” + +“This is the wandering of insanity!” said Marmaduke: “who will explain +this scene.” + +“No, sir,” said Edwards firmly, “'tis only the decay of nature; who is +answerable for its pitiful condition, remains to be shown.” + +“Will the gentlemen dine with us, my son?” said the old stranger, +turning to a voice that he both knew and loved. “Order a repast suitable +for his Majesty's officers. You know we have the best of game always at +command.” + +“Who is this man?” asked Marmaduke, in a hurried voice, in which the +dawnings of conjecture united with interest to put the question. + +“This man,” returned Edwards calmly, his voice, how ever, gradually +rising as he proceeded; “this man, sir, whom you behold hid in caverns, +and deprived of every-thing that can make life desirable, was once the +companion and counsellor of those who ruled your country. This man, whom +you see helpless and feeble, was once a warrior, so brave and fearless, +that even the intrepid natives gave him the name of the Fire-eater. This +man, whom you now see destitute of even the ordinary comfort of a cabin, +in which to shelter his head, was once the owner of great riches--and, +Judge Temple, he was the rightful proprietor of this very soil on which +we stand. This man was the father of------” + +“This, then,” cried Marmaduke, with a powerful emotion, “this, then, is +the lost Major Effingham!” + +“Lost indeed,” said the youth, fixing a piercing eye on the other. + +“And you! and you!” continued the Judge, articulating with difficulty. + +“I am his grandson.” + +A minute passed in profound silence. All eyes were fixed on the +speakers, and even the old German appeared to wait the issue in deep +anxiety. But the moment of agitation soon passed. Marmaduke raised his +head from his bosom, where it had sunk, not in shame, but in devout +mental thanksgivings, and, as large tears fell over his fine, manly +face, he grasped the hand of the youth warmly, and said: + +“Oliver, I forgive all thy harshness--all thy suspicions. I now see it +all. I forgive thee everything, but suffering this aged man to dwell in +such a place, when not only my habitation, but my fortune, were at his +and thy command.” + +“He's true as ter steel!” shouted Major Hartmann; “titn't I tell you, +lat, dat Marmatuke Temple vas a friend dat woult never fail in ter dime +as of neet?” + +“It is true, Judge Temple, that my opinions of your conduct have been +staggered by what this worthy gentle man has told me. When I found it +impossible to convey my grandfather back whence the enduring love of +this old man brought him, without detection and exposure, I went to the +Mohawk in quest of one of his former comrades, in whose justice I had +dependence. He is your friend, Judge Temple, but, if what he says be +true, both my father and myself may have judged you harshly.” + +“You name your father!” said Marmaduke tenderly--“was he, indeed, lost +in the packet?” + +“He was. He had left me, after several years of fruit less application +and comparative poverty, in Nova Scotia, to obtain the compensation for +his losses which the British commissioners had at length awarded. After +spending a year in England, he was returning to Halifax, on his way to a +government to which he had been appointed, in the West Indies, intending +to go to the place where my grandfather had sojourned during and since +the war, and take him with us.” + +“But thou!” said Marmaduke, with powerful interest; “I had thought that +thou hadst perished with him.” + +A flush passed over the cheeks of the young man, who gazed about him at +the wondering faces of the volunteers, and continued silent. Marmaduke +turned to the veteran captain, who just then rejoined his command, and +said: + +“March thy soldiers back again, and dismiss them, the zeal of the +sheriff has much mistaken his duty.--Dr. Todd, I will thank you to +attend to the injury which Hiram Doolittle has received in this untoward +affair,--Richard, you will oblige me by sending up the carriage to the +top of the hill.--Benjamin, return to your duty in my family.” + +Unwelcome as these orders were to most of the auditors, the suspicion +that they had somewhat exceeded the whole some restraints of the law, +and the habitual respect with which all the commands of the Judge were +received, induced a prompt compliance. + +When they were gone, and the rock was left to the parties most +interested in an explanation, Marmaduke, pointing to the aged Major +Effingham, said to his grand son: + +“Had we not better remove thy parent from this open place until my +carriage can arrive?” + +“Pardon me, sir, the air does him good, and he has taken it whenever +there was no dread of a discovery. I know not how to act, Judge Temple; +ought I, can I suffer Major Effingham to become an inmate of your +family?” + +“Thou shalt be thyself the judge,” said Marmaduke. “Thy father was my +early friend. He intrusted his fortune to my care. When we separated he +had such confidence in me that he wished on security, no evidence of +the trust, even had there been time or convenience for exacting it. This +thou hast heard?” + +“Most truly, sir,” said Edwards, or rather Effingham as we must now call +him. + +“We differed in politics. If the cause of this country was successful, +the trust was sacred with me, for none knew of thy father's interest, if +the crown still held its sway, it would be easy to restore the property +of so loyal a subject as Colonel Effingham. Is not this plain?'” + +“The premises are good, sir,” continued the youth, with the same +incredulous look as before. + +“Listen--listen, poy,” said the German, “Dere is not a hair as of ter +rogue in ter het of Herr Tchooge.” + +“We all know the issue of the struggle,” continued Marmaduke, +disregarding both. “Thy grandfather was left in Connecticut, regularly +supplied by thy father with the means of such a subsistence as suited +his wants. This I well knew, though I never had intercourse with +him, even in our happiest days. Thy father retired with the troops +to prosecute his claims on England. At all events, his losses must +be great, for his real estates were sold, and I became the lawful +purchaser. It was not unnatural to wish that he might have no bar to its +just recovery.” + +“There was none, but the difficulty of providing for so many claimants.” + +“But there would have been one, and an insuperable one, and I announced +to the world that I held these estates, multiplied by the times and my +industry, a hundredfold in value, only as his trustee. Thou knowest that +I supplied him with considerable sums immediately after the war.” + +“You did, until--” + +“My letters were returned unopened. Thy father had much of thy own +spirit, Oliver; he was sometimes hasty and rash.” The Judge continued, +in a self-condemning manner; “Perhaps my fault lies the other way: I may +possibly look too far ahead, and calculate too deeply. It certainly was +a severe trial to allow the man whom I most loved, to think ill of me +for seven years, in order that he might honestly apply for his just +remunerations. But, had he opened my last letters, thou wouldst have +learned the whole truth. Those I sent him to England, by what my agent +writes me, he did read. He died, Oliver, knowing all, he died my friend, +and I thought thou hadst died with him.” + +“Our poverty would not permit us to pay for two passages,” said the +youth, with the extraordinary emotion with which he ever alluded to the +degraded state of his family; “I was left in the Province to wait for +his return, and, when the sad news of his loss reached me, I was nearly +penniless.” + +“And what didst thou, boy?” asked Marmaduke in a faltering voice. + +“I took my passage here in search of my grandfather; for I well knew +that his resources were gone, with the half pay of my father. On +reaching his abode, I learned that he had left it in secret; though the +reluctant hireling, who had deserted him in his poverty, owned to my +urgent entreaties, that he believed he had been carried away by an old +man who had formerly been his servant. I knew at once it was Natty, for +my father often--” + +“Was Natty a servant of thy grandfather?” exclaimed the Judge. + +“Of that too were you ignorant?” said the youth in evident surprise. + +“How should I know it? I never met the Major, nor was the name of Bumppo +ever mentioned to me. I knew him only as a man of the woods, and one who +lived by hunting. Such men are too common to excite surprise.” + +“He was reared in the family of my grandfather; served him for many +years during their campaigns at the West, where he became attached to +the woods; and he was left here as a kind of locum tenens on the lands +that old Mohegan (whose life my grandfather once saved) induced the +Delawares to grant to him when they admitted him as an honorary member +of their tribe. + +“This, then, is thy Indian blood?” + +“I have no other,” said Edwards, smiling--“Major Effingham was adopted +as the son of Mohegan, who at that time was the greatest man in his +nation; and my father, who visited those people when a boy, received the +name of the Eagle from them, on account of the shape of his face, as I +understand. They have extended his title to me, I have no other Indian +blood or breeding; though I have seen the hour, Judge Temple, when I +could wish that such had been my lineage and education.” + +“Proceed with thy tale,” said Marmaduke. + +“I have but little more to say, sir, I followed to the lake where I had +so often been told that Natty dwelt, and found him maintaining his old +master in secret; for even he could not bear to exhibit to the world, in +his poverty and dotage, a man whom a whole people once looked up to with +respect.” + +“And what did you?” + +“What did I? I spent my last money in purchasing a rifle, clad myself +in a coarse garb, and learned to be a hunter by the side of +Leather-Stocking. You know the rest, Judge Temple.” + +“Ant vere vas olt Fritz Hartmann?” said the German, reproachfully; +“didst never hear a name as of olt Fritz Hartmann from ter mout of ter +fader, lat?” + +“I may have been mistaken, gentlemen,” returned the youth, “but I had +pride, and could not submit to such an exposure as this day even +has reluctantly brought to light. I had plans that might have been +visionary; but, should my parent survive till autumn, I purposed taking +him with me to the city, where we have distant relatives, who must +have learned to forget the Tory by this time. He decays rapidly,” he +continued mournfully, “and must soon lie by the side of old Mohegan.” + +The air being pure, and the day fine, the party continued conversing +on the rock, until the wheels of Judge Temple's carriage were +heard clattering up the side of the mountain, during which time the +conversation was maintained with deep interest, each moment clearing +up some doubtful action, and lessening the antipathy of the youth to +Marmaduke. He no longer objected to the removal of his grandfather, who +displayed a childish pleasure when he found himself seated once more in +a carriage. When placed in the ample hall of the mansion-house, the eyes +of the aged veteran turned slowly to the objects in the apartment, and +a look like the dawn of intellect would, for moments flit across his +features, when he invariably offered some use less courtesies to those +near him, wandering painfully in his subjects. The exercise and the +change soon produced an exhaustion that caused them to remove him to +his bed, where he lay for hours, evidently sensible of the change in his +comforts, and exhibiting that mortifying picture of human nature, which +too plainly shows that the propensities of the animal continue even +after the nobler part of the creature appears to have vanished. + +Until his parent was placed comfortably in bed, with Natty seated at +his side, Effingham did not quit him. He then obeyed a summons to the +library of the Judge, where he found the latter, with Major Hartmann, +waiting for him. + +“Read this paper, Oliver,” said Marmaduke to him, as he entered, “and +thou wilt find that, so far from intending thy family wrong during life, +it has been my care to see that justice should be done at even a later +day.” + +The youth took the paper, which his first glance told him was the will +of the Judge. Hurried and agitated as he was, he discovered that the +date corresponded with the time of the unusual depression of Marmaduke. +As he proceeded, his eyes began to moisten, and the hand which held the +instrument shook violently. + +The will commenced with the usual forms, spun out by the ingenuity of +Mr. Van der School: but, after this subject was fairly exhausted, the +pen of Marmaduke became plainly visible. In clear, distinct, manly, +and even eloquent language, he recounted his obligations to Colonel +Effingham, the nature of their connection, and the circumstances in +which they separated. He then proceeded to relate the motives of his +silence, mentioning, however, large sums that he had forwarded to his +friend, which had been returned with the letters unopened. After +this, he spoke of his search for the grandfather who unaccountably +disappeared, and his fears that the direct heir of the trust was buried +in the ocean with his father. + +After, in short, recounting in a clear narrative, the events which our +readers must now be able to connect, he proceeded to make a fair and +exact statement of the sums left in his care by Colonel Effingham. A +devise of his whole estate to certain responsible trustees followed; to +hold the same for the benefit, in equal moieties, of his daughter, on +one part, and of Oliver Effingham, formerly a major in the army of Great +Britain, and of his son Ed ward Effingham, and of his son Edward Oliver +Effingham, or to the survivor of them, and the descendants of such +survivor, forever, on the other part. The trust was to endure until +1810, when, if no person appeared, or could be found, after sufficient +notice, to claim the moiety so devised, then a certain sum, calculating +the principal and interest of his debt to Colonel Effingham, was to be +paid to the heirs-at-law of the Effingham family, and the bulk of his +estate was to be conveyed in fee to his daughter, or her heirs. + +The tears fell from the eyes of the young man, as he read this +undeniable testimony of the good faith of Marmaduke, and his bewildered +gaze was still fastened on the paper, when a voice, that thrilled on +every nerve, spoke near him, saying: + +“Do you yet doubt us, Oliver?” + +“I have never doubted you!” cried the youth, recovering his recollection +and his voice, as he sprang to seize the hand of Elizabeth; “no, not one +moment has my faith in you wavered.” + +“And my father--” + +“God bless him!” + +“I thank thee, my son,” said the Judge, exchanging a warm pressure of +the hand with the youth; “but we have both erred: thou hast been too +hasty, and I have been too slow. One-half of my estates shall be thine +as soon as they can be conveyed to thee; and, if what my suspicions tell +me be true, I suppose the other must follow speedily.” He took the hand +which he held, and united it with that of his daughter, and motioned +toward the door to the Major. + +“I telt you vat, gal!” said the old German, good-humoredly; “if I vas +as I vas ven I servit mit his grand-fader on ter lakes, ter lazy tog +shouldn't vin ter prize as for nottin'.” + +“Come, come, old Fritz,” said the Judge; “you are seventy, not +seventeen; Richard waits for you with a bowl of eggnog, in the hall.” + +“Richart! ter duyvel!” exclaimed the other, hastening out of the room; +“he makes ter nog as for ter horse vilt show ter sheriff mit my own +hants! Ter duyvel! I pelieve he sweetens mit ter Yankee melasses!” + +Marmaduke smiled and nodded affectionately at the young couple, and +closed the door after them. If any of our readers expect that we are +going to open it again, for their gratification, they are mistaken. + +The tete-a-tete continued for a very unreasonable time--how long we +shall not say; but it was ended by six o'clock in the evening, for +at that hour Monsieur Le Quoi made his appearance agreeably to the +appointment of the preceding day, and claimed the ear of Miss Temple. +He was admitted; when he made an offer of his hand, with much suavity, +together with his “amis beeg and leet', his père, his mere and his +sucreboosh.” Elizabeth might, possibly, have previously entered into +some embarrassing and binding engagements with Oliver, for she declined +the tender of all, in terms as polite, though perhaps a little more +decided, than those in which they were made. + +The Frenchman soon joined the German and the sheriff in the hall, who +compelled him to take a seat with them at the table, where, by the aid +of punch, wine, and egg nog, they soon extracted from the complaisant +Monsieur Le Quoi the nature of his visit, it was evident that he had +made the offer, as a duty which a well-bred man owed to a lady in such +a retired place, before he had left the country, and that his feelings +were but very little, if at all, interested in the matter. After a few +potations, the waggish pair persuaded the exhilarated Frenchman that +there was an inexcusable partiality in offering to one lady, and not +extending a similar courtesy to another. Consequently, about nine, +Monsieur Le Quoi sallied forth to the rectory, on a similar mission to +Miss Grant, which proved as successful as his first effort in love. + +When he returned to the mansion-house, at ten, Richard and the Major +were still seated at the table. They at tempted to persuade the Gaul, +as the sheriff called him, that he should next try Remarkable Pettibone. +But, though stimulated by mental excitement and wine, two hours of +abstruse logic were thrown away on this subject; for he declined their +advice, with a pertinacity truly astonishing in so polite a man. + +When Benjamin lighted Monsieur Le Quoi from the door, he said, at +parting: + +“If-so-be, Mounsheer, you'd run alongside Mistress Pettybones, as the +Squire Dickens was bidding ye, 'tis my notion you'd have been grappled; +in which case, d'ye see, you mought have been troubled in swinging clear +agin in a handsome manner; for thof Miss Lizzy and the parson's young +'un be tidy little vessels, that shoot by a body on a wind, Mistress +Remarkable is summat of a galliot fashion: when you once takes 'em in +tow, they doesn't like to be cast off agin.” + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + + “Yes, sweep ye on!-- + We will not leave, + For them who triumph those who grieve. + With that armada gay + Be laughter loud, and jocund shout-- + But with that skill Abides the minstrel tale.” + --Lord of the Isles. + +The events of our tale carry us through the summer; and after making +nearly the circle of the year, we must conclude our labors in the +delightful month of October. Many important incidents had, however, +occurred in the intervening period; a few of which it may be necessary +to recount. + +The two principal were the marriage of Oliver and Elizabeth, and the +death of Major Effingham. They both took place early in September; and +the former preceded the latter only a few days. The old man passed +away like the last glimmering of a taper; and, though his death cast a +melancholy over the family, grief could not follow such an end. One of +the chief concerns of Marmaduke was to reconcile the even conduct of a +magistrate with the course that his feelings dictated to the criminals. +The day succeeding the discovery at the cave, however, Natty and +Benjamin re-entered the jail peaceably, where they continued, well fed +and comfortable, until the return of an express to Albany, who brought +the governor's pardon to the Leather-Stocking. In the mean time, proper +means were employed to satisfy Hiram for the assaults on his person; +and on the same day the two comrades issued together into society again, +with their characters not at all affected by the imprisonment. + +Mr. Doolittle began to discover that neither architecture nor his +law was quite suitable to the growing wealth and intelligence of the +settlement; and after exacting the last cent that was attainable in his +compromise, to use the language of the country he “pulled up stakes,” + and proceeded farther west, scattering his professional science and +legal learning through the land; vestiges of both of which are to be +discovered there even to the present hour. + +Poor Jotham, whose life paid the forfeiture of his folly, acknowledged, +before he died, that his reasons for believing in a mine were extracted +from the lips of a sibyl, who, by looking in a magic glass, was enabled +to discover the hidden treasures of the earth. Such superstition was +frequent in the new settlements; and, after the first surprise was over, +the better part of the community forgot the subject. But, at the same +time that it removed from the breast of Richard a lingering suspicion +of the acts of the three hunter, it conveyed a mortifying lesson to him, +which brought many quiet hours, in future, to his cousin Marmaduke. It +may be remembered that the sheriff confidently pronounced this to be no +“visionary” scheme, and that word was enough to shut his lips, at any +time within the next ten years. + +Monsieur Le Quoi, who has been introduced to our readers because no +picture of that country would be faithful without some such character, +found the island of Martinique, and his “sucreboosh,” in possession of +the English but Marmaduke and his family were much gratified in soon +hearing that he had returned to his bureau, in Paris; where he afterward +issued yearly bulletins of his happiness, and of his gratitude to his +friends in America. + +With this brief explanation, we must return to our narrative. Let the +American reader imagine one of our mildest October mornings, when the +sun seems a ball of silvery fire, and the elasticity of the air is felt +while it is inhaled, imparting vigor and life to the whole system; the +weather, neither too warm nor too cold, but of that happy temperature +which stirs the blood, without bringing the lassitude of spring. It was +on such a morning, about the middle of the month, that Oliver entered +the hall where Elizabeth was issuing her usual orders for the day, and +requesting her to join him in a short excursion to the lakeside. The +tender melancholy in the manner of her husband caught the attention of +Elizabeth, who instantly abandoned her concerns, threw a light shawl +across her shoulders, and, concealing her raven hair under a gypsy hat, +and took his arm, and submitted herself, without a question, to his +guidance. They crossed the bridge, and had turned from the highway, +along the margin of the lake, before a word was exchanged. Elizabeth +well knew, by the direction, the object of the walk, and respected the +feelings of her companion too much to indulge in untimely conversation. +But when they gained the open fields, and her eye roamed over the placid +lake, covered with wild fowl already journeying from the great northern +waters to seek a warmer sun, but lingering to play in the limpid sheet +of the Otsego, and to the sides of the mountain, which were gay with the +thousand dyes of autumn, as if to grace their bridal, the swelling heart +of the young wife burst out in speech. + +“This is not a time for silence, Oliver!” she said, clinging more fondly +to his arm; “everything in Nature seems to speak the praises of the +Creator; why should we, who have so much to be grateful for, be silent?” + +“Speak on!” said her husband, smiling; “I love the sounds of your voice. +You must anticipate our errand hither: I have told you my plans: how do +you like them?” + +“I must first see them,” returned his wife. “But I have had my plans, +too; it is time I should begin to divulge them.” + +“You! It is something for the comfort of my old friend, Natty, I know.” + +“Certainly of Natty; but we have other friends besides the +Leather-Stocking to serve. Do you forget Louisa and her father?” + +“No, surely; have I not given one of the best farms in the county to the +good divine? As for Louisa, I should wish you to keep her always near +us.” + +“You do!” said Elizabeth, slightly compressing her lips; “but poor +Louisa may have other views for herself; she may wish to follow my +example, and marry.” + +“I don't think it,” said Effingham, musing a moment, “really don't know +any one hereabouts good enough for her.” + +“Perhaps not her; but there are other places besides Templeton, and +other churches besides 'New St. Paul's.'” + +“Churches, Elizabeth! you would not wish to lose Mr. Grant, surely! +Though simple, he is an excellent man I shall never find another who has +half the veneration for my orthodoxy. You would humble me from a saint +to a very common sinner.” + +“It must be done, sir,” returned the lady, with a half-concealed smile, +“though it degrades you from an angel to a man.” + +“But you forget the farm?” + +“He can lease it, as others do. Besides, would you have a clergyman toil +in the fields?” + +“Where can he go? You forget Louisa.” + +“No, I do not forget Louisa,” said Elizabeth, again compressing her +beautiful lips. “You know, Effingham, that my father has told you that +I ruled him, and that I should rule you. I am now about to exert my +power.” + +“Anything, anything, dear Elizabeth, but not at the expense of us all: +not at the expense of your friend.” + +“How do you know, sir, that it will be so much at the expense of my +friend?” said the lady, fixing her eyes with a searching look on his +countenance, where they met only the unsuspecting expression of manly +regret. + +“How do I know it? Why, it is natural that she should regret us.” + +“It is our duty to struggle with our natural feelings,” returned the +lady; “and there is but little cause to fear that such a spirit as +Louisa's will not effect it.” + +“But what is your plan?” + +“Listen, and you shall know. My father has procured a call for Mr. +Grant, to one of the towns on the Hudson where he can live more at his +ease than in journeying through these woods; where he can spend the +evening of his life in comfort and quiet; and where his daughter may +meet with such society, and form such a connection, as may be proper for +one of her years and character.” + +“Bess! you amaze me! I did not think you had been such a manager!” + +“Oh! I manage more deeply than you imagine, sir,” said the wife, archly +smiling again; “but it is thy will and it is your duty to submit--for a +time at least.” + +Effingham laughed; but, as they approached the end of their walk, the +subject was changed by common consent. + +The place at which they arrived was the little spot of level ground +where the cabin of the Leather-Stocking had so long stood. Elizabeth +found it entirely cleared of rubbish, and beautifully laid down in turf, +by the removal of sods, which, in common with the surrounding country, +had grown gay, under the influence of profuse showers, as if a second +spring had passed over the land. This little place was surrounded by a +circle of mason-work, and they entered by a small gate, near which, to +the surprise of both, the rifle of Natty was leaning against the wall. +Hector and the slut reposed on the grass by its side, as if conscious +that, however altered, they were lying on the ground and were surrounded +by objects with which they were familiar. The hunter himself was +stretched on the earth, before a head-stone of white marble, pushing +aside with his fingers the long grass that had already sprung up +from the luxuriant soil around its base, apparently to lay bare the +inscription. By the side of this stone, which was a simple slab at +the head of a grave, stood a rich monument, decorated with an urn and +ornamented with the chisel. + +Oliver and Elizabeth approached the graves with a light tread, unheard +by the old hunter, whose sunburnt face was working, and whose eyes +twinkled as if something impeded their vision. After some little time +Natty raised himself slowly from the ground, and said aloud: + +“Well, well--I'm bold to say it's all right! There's something that I +suppose is reading; but I can't make anything of it; though the pipe and +the tomahawk, and the moccasins, be pretty well--pretty well, for a man +that, I dares to say, never seed 'ither of the things. Ah's me! there +they lie, side by side, happy enough! Who will there be to put me in the +'arth when my time comes?” + +“When that unfortunate hour arrives, Natty, friends shall not be wanting +to perform the last offices for you,” said Oliver, a little touched at +the hunter's soliloquy. + +The old man turned, without manifesting surprise, for he had got the +Indian habits in this particular, and, running his hand under the bottom +of his nose, seemed to wipe away his sorrow with the action. + +“You've come out to see the graves, children, have ye?” he said; “well, +well, they're wholesome sights to young as well as old.” + +“I hope they are fitted to your liking,” said Effingham, “no one has a +better right than yourself to be consulted in the matter.” + +“Why, seeing that I ain't used to fine graves,” returned the old man, +“it is but little matter consarning my taste. Ye laid the Major's head +to the west, and Mohegan's to the east, did ye, lad?” + +“At your request it was done.” + +“It's so best,” said the hunter; “they thought they had to journey +different ways, children: though there is One greater than all, who'll +bring the just together, at His own time, and who'll whiten the skin of +a blackamoor, and place him on a footing with princes.” + +“There is but little reason to doubt that,” said Elizabeth, whose +decided tones were changed to a soft, melancholy voice; “I trust we +shall all meet again, and be happy together.” + +“Shall we, child, shall we?” exclaimed the hunter, with unusual fervor, +“there's comfort in that thought too. But before I go, I should like to +know what 'tis you tell these people, that be flocking into the country +like pigeons in the spring, of the old Delaware, and of the bravest +white man that ever trod the hills?” + +Effingham and Elizabeth were surprised at the manner of the +Leather-Stocking, which was unusually impressive and solemn; but, +attributing it to the scene, the young man turned to the monument, and +read aloud: + +“Sacred to the memory of Oliver Effingham Esquire, formally a Major +in his B. Majesty's 60th Foot; a soldier of tried valor; a subject of +chivalrous loyalty; and a man of honesty. To these virtues he added +the graces of a Christian. The morning of his life was spent in honor, +wealth, and power; but its evening was obscured by poverty, neglect, +and disease, which were alleviated only by the tender care of his +old, faithful, and upright friend and attendant Nathaniel Bumppo. His +descendants rest this stone to the virtues of the master, and to the +enduring gratitude of the servant.” + +The Leather-Stocking started at the sound of his own name, and a smile +of joy illuminated his wrinkled features, as he said: + +“And did ye say It, lad? have you then got the old man's name cut in the +stone, by the side of his master's! God bless ye, children! 'twas a kind +thought, and kindness goes to the heart as Life shortens.” + +Elizabeth turned her back to the speakers. Effingham made a fruitless +effort before he succeeded in saying: + +“It is there cut in plain marble; but it should have been written in +letters of gold!” + +“Show me the name, boy,” said Natty, with simple eagerness; “let me +see my own name placed in such honor. 'Tis a gin'rous gift to a man who +leaves none of his name and family behind him in a country where he has +tarried so long.” + +Effingham guided his finger to the spot, and Natty followed the windings +of the letters to the end with deep interest, when he raised himself +from the tomb, and said: + +“I suppose it's all right; and it's kindly thought, and kindly done! But +what have ye put over the red-skin?” + +“You shall hear: This stone is raised to the memory of an Indian Chief +of the Delaware tribe, who was known by the several names of John +Mohegan Mohican------'” + +“Mo-hee-can, lad, they call theirselves! 'hecan.” + +“Mohican; and Chingagook--” + +“'Gach, boy; 'gach-gook; Chingachgook, which interpreted, means +Big-sarpent. The name should be set down right, for an Indian's name has +always some meaning in it.” + +“I will see it altered. 'He was the last of his people who continued +to inhabit this country; and it may be said of him that his faults were +those of an Indian, and his virtues those of a man.'” + +“You never said truer word, Mr. Oliver; ah's me! if you had knowed him +as I did, in his prime, in that very battle where the old gentleman, who +sleeps by his side saved his life, when them thieves, the Iroquois, +had him at the stake, you'd have said all that, and more too. I cut +the thongs with this very hand, and gave him my own tomahawk and knife, +seeing that the rifle was always my fav'rite weapon. He did lay about +him like a man! I met him as I was coming home from the trail, with +eleven Mingo scalps on his pole. You needn't shudder, Madam Effingham, +for they was all from shaved heads and warriors. When I look about me, +at these hills, where I used to could count sometimes twenty smokes, +curling over the tree-tops, from the Delaware camps, it raises mournful +thoughts, to think that not a red-skin is left of them all; unless it be +a drunken vagabond from the Oneidas, or them Yankee Indians, who, they +say, be moving up from the seashore; and who belong to none of +Gods creatures, to my seeming, being, as it were, neither fish nor +flesh--neither white man nor savage. Well, well! the time has come at +last, and I must go----” + +“Go!” echoed Edwards, “whither do you go?” + +The Leather-Stocking; who had imbibed unconsciously, many of the Indian +qualities, though he always thought of himself as of a civilized being, +compared with even the Delawares, averted his face to conceal the +workings of his muscles, as he stooped to lift a large pack from behind +the tomb, which he placed deliberately on his shoulders. + +“Go!” exclaimed Elizabeth, approaching him with a hurried step; “you +should not venture so far in the woods alone, at your time of life, +Natty; indeed, it Is Imprudent, He is bent, Effingham, on some distant +hunting.” + +“What Mrs. Effingham tells you is true, Leather-Stocking,” said Edwards; +“there can be no necessity for your submitting to such hardships now. So +throw aside your pack, and confine your hunt to the mountains near us, +if you will go.” + +“Hardship! 'tis a pleasure, children, and the greatest that is left me +on this side the grave.” + +“No, no; you shall not go to such a distance,” cried Elizabeth, +laying her white hand on his deer-skin pack--“I am right! I feel his +camp-kettle, and a canister of powder! He must not be suffered to wander +so far from us, Oliver; remember how suddenly Mohegan dropped away.” + +“I knowed the parting would come hard, children--I knowed it would!” + said Natty, “and so I got aside to look at the graves by myself, and +thought if I left ye the keep sake which the Major gave me, when we +first parted in the woods, ye wouldn't take it unkind, but would know +that, let the old man's body go where it might, his feelings stayed +behind him.” + +“This means something more than common,” exclaimed the youth. “Where is +it, Natty, that you purpose going?” + +The hunter drew nigh him with a confident, reasoning air, as If what he +had to say would silence all objections, and replied: + +“Why, lad, they tell me that on the big lakes there's the best of +hunting, and a great range without a white man on it unless it may be +one like myself. I'm weary of living in clearings, and where the hammer +is sounding in my ears from sunrise to sundown. And though I'm much +bound to ye both, children--I wouldn't say it if It was not true--I +crave to go into the woods agin--I do.” + +“Woods!” echoed Elizabeth, trembling with her feelings; “do you not call +these endless forests woods?” + +“Ah! child, these be nothing to a man that's used to the wilderness. I +have took but little comfort sin' your father come on with his settlers; +but I wouldn't go far, while the life was in the body that lies under +the sod there. But now he's gone, and Chingachgook Is gone; and you be +both young and happy. Yes! the big house has rung with merriment this +month past! And now I thought was the time to get a little comfort in +the close of my days. Woods! indeed! I doesn't call these woods, Madam +Effingham, where I lose myself every day of my life in the clearings.” + +“If there be anything wanting to your comfort, name it, +Leather-Stocking; if it be attainable it is yours.” + +“You mean all for the best, lad, I know; and so does madam, too; but +your ways isn't my ways. 'Tis like the dead there, who thought, when the +breath was in them, that one went east, and one went west, to find their +heavens; but they'll meet at last, and so shall we, children. Yes, and +as you've begun, and we shall meet in the land of the just at last.” + +“This is so new! so unexpected!” said Elizabeth, in almost breathless +excitement; “I had thought you meant to live with us and die with us, +Natty.” + +“Words are of no avail,” exclaimed her husband: “the habits of forty +years are not to be dispossessed by the ties of a day. I know you too +well to urge you further, Natty; unless you will let me build you a hut +on one of the distant hills, where we can sometimes see you, and know +that you are comfortable.” + +“Don't fear for the Leather-Stocking, children; God will see that his +days be provided for, and his indian happy. I know you mean all for the +best, but our ways doesn't agree. I love the woods, and ye relish the +face of man; I eat when hungry, and drink when a-dry; and ye keep stated +hours and rules; nay, nay, you even over-feed the dogs, lad, from pure +kindness; and hounds should be gaunty to run well. The meanest of God's +creatures be made for some use, and I'm formed for the wilderness, If ye +love me, let me go where my soul craves to be agin!” + +The appeal was decisive; and not another word of en treaty for him to +remain was then uttered; but Elizabeth bent her head to her bosom and +wept, while her husband dashed away the tears from his eyes; and, with +hands that almost refused to perform their office, he procured his +pocket-book, and extended a parcel of bank-notes to the hunter. + +“Take these,” he said, “at least take these; secure them about your +person, and in the hour of need they will do you good service.” + +The old man took the notes, and examined them with curious eye. + +“This, then, is some of the new-fashioned money that they've been making +at Albany, out of paper! It can't be worth much to they that hasn't +larning! No, no, lad---- take back the stuff; it will do me no sarvice, +I took kear to get all the Frenchman's powder afore he broke up, and +they say lead grows where I'm going, it isn't even fit for wads, seeing +that I use none but leather!--Madam Effingham, let an old man kiss your +hand, and wish God's choicest blessings on you and your'n.” + +“Once more let me beseech you, stay!” cried Elizabeth. “Do not, +Leather-Stocking, leave me to grieve for the man who has twice rescued +me from death, and who has served those I love so faithfully. For my +sake, if not for your own, stay. I shall see you in those frightful +dreams that still haunt my nights, dying in poverty and age, by the side +of those terrific beasts you slew. There will be no evil, that sickness, +want, and solitude can inflict, that my fancy will not conjure as your +fate. Stay with us, old man, if not for your own sake, at least for +ours.” + +“Such thoughts and bitter dreams, Madam Effingham,” returned the hunter, +solemnly, “will never haunt an innocent parson long. They'll pass away +with God's pleasure. And if the cat-a-mounts be yet brought to your eyes +in sleep, tis not for my sake, but to show you the power of Him that led +me there to save you. Trust in God, madam, and your honorable husband, +and the thoughts for an old man like me can never be long nor bitter. +I pray that the Lord will keep you in mind--the Lord that lives in +clearings as well as in the wilderness--and bless you, and all that +belong to you, from this time till the great day when the whites shall +meet the red-skins in judgement, and justice shall be the law, and not +power.” + +Elizabeth raised her head, and offered her colorless cheek to his +salute, when he lifted his cap and touched it respectfully. His hand was +grasped with convulsive fervor by the youth, who continued silent. The +hunter prepared himself for his journey, drawing his belt tighter, and +wasting his moments in the little reluctant movements of a sorrowful +departure. Once or twice he essayed to speak, but a rising in his throat +prevented it. At length he shouldered his rifle, and cried with a clear +huntsman's call that echoed through the woods: “He-e-e-re, he-e-e-re, +pups--away, dogs, away!--ye'll be footsore afore ye see the end of the +journey!” + +The hounds leaped from the earth at this cry, and scenting around the +grave and silent pair, as if conscious of their own destination, they +followed humbly at the heels of their master. A short pause succeeded, +during which even the youth concealed his face on his grandfather's +tomb. When the pride of manhood, however, had suppressed the feelings +of nature, he turned to renew his entreaties, but saw that the cemetery +was occupied only by himself and his wife. + +“He is gone!” cried Effingham. + +Elizabeth raised her face, and saw the old hunter standing looking back +for a moment, on the verge of the wood. As he caught their glances, he +drew his hard hand hastily across his eyes again, waved it on high for +an adieu, and, uttering a forced cry to his dogs, who were crouching at +his feet, he entered the forest. + +This was the last they ever saw of the Leather-Stocking, whose rapid +movements preceded the pursuit which Judge Temple both ordered and +conducted. He had gone far toward the setting sun--the foremost in that +band of pioneers who are opening the way for the march of the nation +across the continent. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pioneers, by James Fenimore Cooper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIONEERS *** + +***** This file should be named 2275-0.txt or 2275-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/2275/ + +Produced by Gary Rezny and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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