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. Thof 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, dye see, in plain English, and thats 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, dye 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 skippers grog. Twas there I got my taste, which, you must have often seen, is excel lent. Well, heres 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 isnt so much as a headland, or an island, that I dont know either the name of it or something more or less about it. Take enough, woman, to color the water. Heres sugar. Its 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 mans 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 lets taste the grog. Hem! its the right kind of stuff, I must say, that you keep in this country; but then youre 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 youd 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 its 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 ships head to the southard, 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, Ive 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 massys sake! and want 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, dye 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 didnt walk? didnt she? Im 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 Remark able, 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 couldnt 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 cund 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 Id have her hauled up above Lonon 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 stewards 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 damme if I know to this day how we got therewhether 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 tother, so as to poke her nose out now and then and take a look to windard 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 dont 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 fort, as theres more houses than one to live in. Why, when the Judge agreed with me to come and live with him, Id 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 couldnt 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 youve left your anchors down in the same place, mistress. I think yo must find that the ship rides easy.

How you talk, Benjamin! theres 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 didnt calculate on sich carrins on. To my notion, Benjamin, shes likely to turn out a desput 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? Arnt her eyes as bright as the morning and evening stars? and isnt her hair as black and glistening as rigging that has just had a lick of tar? doesnt 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 Ive often heard the captain say, was an image of a great queen; and arnt 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 wont keep your company. I dont gainsay her being comely to look on, but I will maintain that shes 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 wouldnt 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 didnt understand you, woman; you are none of the best linguister; and then Miss Lizzy has been exercising the kings English under a great Lonon lady, and, for that matter, can talk the language almost as well as myself, or any native-born British subject. Youve forgot your schooling, and the young mistress is a great scollard.

Mistress! cried Remarkable; dont make one out to be a nigger, Benjamin. Shes 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 Ive always heern say that the Bay State was provarbal for pronounsation!

Ive often heard of that Bay of State, said Benjamin, but cant say that Ive 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 its no bad place for the taking of ling; but for size it cant 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 Lononers 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 shant do sitch a thing, Benjamin. This treatment is a newity to me, and what I wont put up with. I have a hundred and fifty dollars at use, besides a bed and twenty sheep, to good; and I dont crave to live in a house where a body mustnt call a young woman by her given name to her face. I will call her Betsey as much as I please; its 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, theres none here who will contradict you; for Im 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?

Youre a monkey yourself, Mr. Penguillum, cried the enraged housekeeper, or a beara black, beastly bear! and aint fit for a decent woman to stay with. Ill 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 PittyPatty———Prettybones, mayhap Im some such matter as a bear, as they will find who come to grapple with me; but damme if Im a monkey a thing that chatters without knowing a word of what it saysa 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 dont find all the Johnny Raws laughing at him.

Stop your grog, indeed! said Remarkable, rising with great indignation, and seizing a candle; youre groggy now, Benjamin and Ill 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.

Whos that you say is drunk? cried Benjamin fiercely, rising and making a movement toward Remarkable. You talk of mustering yourself with a lady youre 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. Be fore, however, he was quite lockedto 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 didnt get the first Christmas greeting on every soul in it, man, woman, and childgreat and smallblack, 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. Hollisters confounded distillations, and so Ill 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. Dont 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 mans 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! Aggymerry Christmas, AggyI say, do you hear me, you black dog! theres a dollar for you; and if the gentle men get up before I come back, do you come out and let me know. I wouldnt 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 fatherhe loves to he first; but I only; struggle with him as a competitor.

Its 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 allin 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 Dukes 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 seeperhaps 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 wont 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, Im 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 ones 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 seeho! 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 thanthat isha!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, Id 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 bushesa combination about mischief, Ill 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 ladys reluctance, Richard, stimulated doubtless by his sense of duty, prevailed; and they were soon so near as distinctly to hear sounds.

The bird must he had, said Natty, by fair means or foul. Heigho! Ive known the time, lad, when the wild turkeys wasnt 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, beavers tail and bears 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 possessthis 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 Im sartain that I shall miss the bird. Them Indians can shoot one time as well as another; nothing ever troubles them. I say, John, heres a shilling; take my rifle, and get a shot at the big turkey theyve put up at the stump. Mr. Oliver is over-anxious for the creatur, and Im 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 wolfs howl. Is John old? When was a Mohican a squaw with seventy winters? No! the white man brings old age with himrum 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 yesyou 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 heardJohn 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 Ill give him another shilling myself; though, per haps, 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 laughterthough 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 Ill 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 thethe 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, butturning 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 dont get the bird before me, and the Frenchmans powder dont hang fire this damp morning, youll see as fine a turkey dead, in a few minutes, as ever was eaten in the Judges shanty. I have knowed the Dutch women, on the Mohawk and Schoharie, count greatly on coming to the merry-makings; and so, lad, you shouldnt 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 sheepI 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 fathers daughter, and in my presence.

My fathers 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 hastned, 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, hut 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 moments 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 gobblers 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.

Dont be boasting, Billy Kirby, said Natty, throwing the breech of his rifle into the snow, and leaning on its barrel; youll get but one shot at the creatur, for if the lad misses his aim, which wouldnt be a wonder if he did, with his arm so stiff and sore, youll find a good piece and an old eye coming ater you. Maybe its true that I cant 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 plays a jewel. Ive 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 Kirbystand backmake em stand back, boysgib a nigger fair playposs-up, - gobbler; shake a head, fool; dont 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, be 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.

Nothe shot is mine, said the young hunter; you have my money already. Leave the mark, and let me try my luck.

Ah! its but money thrown away, lad, said Leather-Stocking. A turkeys head and neck is but a small mark for a new hand and a lame shoulder. Youd 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 turkeys 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 youll 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 playgib a nigger fair play. What right a Nat Bumppo advise a young man? Let em shootclear 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 hed 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 didnt, 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 fireNatty Bumppo gun he snapNatty Bumppo miss a turkey!

Natty Bumppo hit a nigger, said the indignant old hunter, if you dont get out of the way, Brom. Its 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 Joneleab it to lady.

Sartain, said the wood-chopper; its 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 blieve Ill try luck once more myself; so, Brom, heres my money, and I take the next fire.

Its 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 Bumppos right to shoot at Abraham Freeborns 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 murmursfor the whole of the spectators had begun to take sides with great warmthexcept from the Leather- Stocking himself.

I think Miss Elizabeths thoughts should be taken, said Natty. Ive 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 hasnt 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, its 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 thats bad falls on him like a judgment. But Ill change the stone, for Billy Kirby hasnt 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 turkeys head at a hundred yards? I was a fool for trying. You neednt 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 Ill show you a man whos made better shots afore now, and that when hes 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 womans 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 indict able 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 childrenwe 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 sheriffs 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 youll 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 whats right between man and man, Ill 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 I materials too precious to be wasted in the forestI 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, be fore 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 mat ter, 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 fathers 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 pro genitor 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 particularnot 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 forestersfor the three hunters, notwithstanding their difference in character, well deserved this common namepursued 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 Templeto 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, Im 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 theres new laws in the land, and Im sartin that theres new ways in the mountains. One hardly knows the lakes and streams, theyve altered the country so much. I must say Im 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 Im 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 manhis 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.

Im not the man I was, Ill 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 hadnt 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 Im 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 nights 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 fathers 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 he 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 fathers family of one whose Manners so singularly contradicted the inferences to be drawn from his situation. The expiring heat of the apartmentfor its great size required a day to reduce its temperaturehad 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 Dukes 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 theres a warm latitude round about the table there, thof its 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, dye see, its time to be getting all snog, and for putting the ports in and stirring the fires a bit. Mayhap Ive 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.

Theres a shift of wind, your honor, returned the steward; and when theres a shift of wind, you may look for a change in this here climate. I was aboard of one of Rodneys fleet, dye see, about the time we licked De Grasse, Mounsheer Lor Quaws countryman, there; and the wind was here at the southard and east'ard; and I was below, mixing a toothful of hot stuff for the captain of marines, who dined, dye see, in the cabin, that there very same day; and I suppose he wanted to put out the captains 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 marines 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 theres a lull, as if the last blast was out of the bellows; and theres a streak along the mountains, to the northard, that, just now, wasnt wider than the bigness of your hand; and then the clouds drive afore it as youd 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 Im a judge of weather, its 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 cut, 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 c 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 s his daughter remained as inmates of the mansion-house during the night, and the excess of last nights merriment c induced the gentlemen to make an early retreat to their several apartments, Long before midnight, the whole s 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, hut 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 I of their toilets in a clear, cold atmosphere, that penetrated through all the defences of even Miss Temples 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. II 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 he 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 f or 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 Ed wards 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 in creasing 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 waysand, 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.